June 3

DEUTERONOMY 7
As I write, I have five living grandchildren. They are each a delight to my soul and precious in my sight. When they come, I want nothing more than to bless them. But if I gave them everything they asked for, it would not be healthy. They would end up with a diet that is full of sugar and lacking in nutrition. The puppies would probably be mangled, and other dangerous things would happen. Sometimes they are quite demanding. Sometimes I have to say, “No.” Nevertheless I suspect that I am more merciful with them than I was with their fathers, and I am probably more faithful to them than I was to their fathers. “Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments.” Now, I am not trying to represent that I am, by any stretch of the imagination, godlike, but I do want to communicate how much I want to bless them. Verses 12-13 tell us,
Then it shall come to pass, because you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers. 13“And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flock, in the land of which He swore to your fathers to give you.
It is the glory of the Lord that He desires to bless His people. But notice, it is dependent upon His people listening to, keeping and doing His judgments. The greatest blessing that He can give to us is for us to experience His glory. Hmmm. . . the more we listen to, keep and do his judgments, the more He blesses us. The more He blesses us, the more glory He receives. It is also to his glory that He disciplines His people. So the more we do not listen to, keep and obey, the more He disciplines. The more He disciplines, the more He is glorified. So then, He is glorified whether I obey or disobey, but if I am obedient, then I can enjoy His glory. If I am disobedient, His glory will be painful. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PROVERBS 3
The intricate balances of the creation of the earth and its inhabitants are truly amazing. “The universe, with its constants, laws, and initial conditions, requires exquisite balance to produce the relatively stable environment which makes life possible.” Many different scientific disciplines other than physics have demonstrated this principle of balance. The balance of the distance of the earth from the sun, and the distance of the moon from the earth are both perfectly balanced to produce life on the earth. The amount of salinity in the oceans is also a perfect balance to support life.
Some years ago I was having a bad problem with pre-ventricular contractions of my heart. I was having so many that the sensation was a fluttering in my chest. Whenever I felt the fluttering, I would check my pulse and there would be no pulse. I had a blood pressure of 60/40 (very low). I went to my uncle who was a doctor for help. How did he fix it? He prescribed a high blood pressure medicine. Apparently the medication restores the proper balance of electrolytes so that the synapsis of the nerves of the heart would fire properly-or something like that. These balances take great wisdom to plan and enact.

The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; By understanding He established the heavens; By His knowledge the depths were broken up, And clouds drop down the dew (19-20).

The Lord Jesus was active in that wisdom and creation. Consider these verses:

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
John 1:1–3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
Hebrews 1:1–2 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds.

Tell me, if he can design and create a universe as intricately balanced as this one, can I trust Him to give me wise wisdom to live this life? Where do you and I really place our confidence (v. 26)? When we make decisions, do we lean on our own understanding or on Him? What would happen if we trusted solely upon Him? Since He has created all things for His own glory, if we lean on Him for the direction of our lives, it should be evident that the result will be His glory. It is our inheritance (v. 35). Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

ISAIAH 64
A few years back during our deep drought, we were plagued with wildfires. One started near highway 51 (an east-west highway between Stillwater and Tulsa) and burned relentlessly driven by hot dry winds from the south. It burned everything in its path for 6 miles. Firefighters were brought in from miles around. It would have helped if the heavens had been rended and a huge thunderstorm would have gushed water on the parched ground and vegetation, but alas there was no rain in the forecast. They were evacuating the little town of Glencoe when they finally brought it under control and the little town was spared.
Our lives are in a deep drought of the presence of the Almighty God. The hot dry winds of unrighteousness blow hot around us deepening the dryness of our souls.

But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

God hates sin. His wrath rightly burns against the sin that pervades our lives.

Verse 5: You are indeed angry, for we have sinned—In these ways we continue; and we need to be saved.
Verse 2: As fire burns brushwood, As fire causes water to boil—To make Your name known to Your adversaries, That the nations may tremble at Your presence!
Verse 7: And there is no one who calls on Your name, Who stirs himself up to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us, And have consumed us because of our iniquities.

Yet in the midst of His hatred of sin there is hope. He has rent the heavens. An overabundance of cleansing rain has fallen washing away sin and iniquity for all who will step into its raging flood. That rending happened in the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross and resurrection. In the cross He, in our place, took the wrath of an angry God. In the resurrection He sloughed of the sin for which He died, and conquered death. All of those who will identify with Him in is death and resurrection will find hope and cleansing before a holy God. They will be made clean and find joy in His pleasure.
Today you can still drive to Glencoe and see the charred remains of trunks standing in the fields, but with the overabundance of rain which we have had recently, the fields are lush and green and thriving once again. The trunks stand as scarred reminders of a less happier time. That is what Jesus does with our lives when we repent and believe in Him. He restores our lives to lush green with His presence. Yes, the scars of sin remain, but they are only reminders of our rebellion and His wrath. It is to His glory that we are renewed. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JOHN 13:21-38
Jesus was completely aware of what Judas was about to do. When asked to reveal who was about to betray Him, He used a method that indicates that He was still offering friendship with Judas. He dips the bread and offers it Judas. It was an act that in their culture was a gesture of friendship. Dr. Alfred Edersheim says of this event:
--He looked down into the abyss which was about to open at His Feet. He saw more than even this. He saw Judas about to take the last fatal step, and his soul yearned in pity over him. The very sop, which He would so soon hand to him, although a sign of recognition to John, was a last appeal to all that was human in Judas. . . . Coming after the terrible warning and woe on the Betrayer, it must be regarded as the final warning and also the final attempt at rescue on the part of the Savior.
What a demonstration of love! Having set the example Jesus then gives His now famous new commandment, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another." He loves even those who betray Him. He loved Judas so much, and still He permitted Judas to choose hell over heaven.
Following this exchange, He addresses Peter's denial. He warns Peter also. And yet, He also loved Peter deeply. In verses 31&32 Jesus had said,
"Now the Son of man is glorified and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately."
While this refers to what Jesus would accomplish in the totality of His death and resurrection, it also applies to what was happening right then. He was displaying His awesome love for His disciples. Are you aware that He holds the same love for you? What a glorious Lord! The Lord Jesus is indeed glorious. Speak His glory to someone else today!
--Pastor John