June 30

Joshua 2
“For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, . . . And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath” Is it not interesting that when some hear irrefutable evidence concerning the Lord that they believe, but others, when they hear, choose not to believe and fight against Him. Is it not interesting that frequently those who hear and believe are the despised and rejected of society as opposed to the rich and the powerful. Here the woman who believed was a woman who regularly sold her body for the pleasure of men. She chooses to trust in the Lord. The Lord receives her faith. She is listed in the genealogy of Jesus. She is listed in both Hebrews 11 and James 2 as a woman of faith and works. What grace and mercy! And it is available to us all from the God in heaven above and on earth beneath. What about those who do not believe? They become vessels of His wrath. Their end is destruction. In them we see His justice displayed. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

A view of some of the mountains surrounding Jericho:


Proverbs 30
Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Apart from Jesus, there are only two men in Scripture who ascended into heaven, Enoch and Elijah, but they never descended (unless you consider Elijah’s appearance at the Mount of Transfiguration as descending). There is One man who has both descended and ascended into heaven. Speaking to Nicodemus, Jesus makes the claim of descending in John 3:13. One thousand years before it happened, David prophesied of the ascension of Jesus in Psalm 68:18. The apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:9&10 recognizes that prophecy and explains it of Jesus.
Who has gathered the wind in His fists? How can one gather wind in His fists? Yet Jesus has done this on at least two occasions. In Exodus 14:21 “Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided.” Once again in Joshua 3:16–17 we find:

That the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan. So the waters that went down into the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. 17 Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.

He used the wind in His fists to part the Red Sea to provide the salvation of Israel (a type of our salvation). He used the wind in His fists to part the Jordan River to provide access to the Land of Canaan (a type of our rest). He will one day (in the Millennial Kingdom) use the wind of His fists to dry up the Nile River Isaiah 11:15.

“The LORD will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt; With His mighty wind He will shake His fist over the River, And strike it in the seven streams, And make men cross over dryshod.”< blockquote>
Can you do that? Who has bound the waters in a garment? The Lord appeared to Moses on Mt. Sinai clothed in dark clouds, I would say that that is having bound the waters in a garment. Exodus 19:9 And the LORD said to Moses,

“Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever.”

The Psalmist says in 104:1-3,

“You are clothed with honor and majesty, Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment, Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain. He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters, Who makes the clouds His chariot, Who walks on the wings of the wind,”

In Matthew 26:64 Jesus said,

“Hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

In Revelation 1:7 John says,

“Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.”

Jesus not only binds water in a garment but He also binds them into modes of fancy transportation. Can you do that?
Who has established all the ends of the earth? Well obviously, Jesus has established the ends of the earth! listen to John 1:1–5,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”

In Acts 17:26 Paul says,

“And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings.”

Can you do that?
There is one who can do all of these things. What is His name? It is Yahweh. What is His Son’s name? It is Yahweh Saves, or better known in English as Jesus. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JEREMIAH 25
Today (2014) the Supreme Court struck down Obama’s health care requirement that employers had to provide health insurance which pays for abortions when the employer held a deeply religious conviction that abortion was wrong. It is the first time that the high court has declared that businesses can hold religious views under federal law. Social media, newspapers, TV, and radio are ablaze with hot fuming words especially against the ruling. Unfortunately even a former parishioner of mine is spewing her verbiage on Facebook about how terrible it is that Hobby Lobby is cramming its religious views down its employee’s throats. It is indeed sad that my former parishioner feels that way.
Last March I visited the Killing Fields outside of Phnom Penh. One of the most moving places was the killing tree. It was a tree where soldiers took babies by the heels and swung their heads against the tree crushing their skulls to kill them. In some cases one soldier would throw the baby up in the air while another would catch the baby with the point of his bayonet. The world was out raged, and so was I, when we learned of these atrocities. Why are we outraged when the Supreme Court rules that a religious company not be compelled to pay for abortions by providing insurance for its employees who desire to kill their babies?
What does any of this have to do with the glory of God? Does not something cry out within us when we learn of the atrocities of the killing fields that says, “Where is the justice of God?” Of course it does! The answer is seen in today’s passage in Jeremiah. Previously God had told the nation through Jeremiah and other prophets that His long suffering had come to an end. Manasseh had spilled much innocent blood, and because of this, God was going to destroy the nation. Manasseh had led his people to sacrificing babies on the altars of Molech. Are we any different when our government leads us in sacrificing babies upon the altars of pleasure, in the abortion chambers of America? When is God going to bring an end to this government? I see little difference between the killing tree of Cambodia and the abortion chamber of the USA and the altars of Molech in ancient Israel. I know this that God will be just when He destroys this country. For Him not to do so would make Him unjust. So when Jeremiah records the following words, it reveals the glory of God!

30‘The LORD will roar from on high, And utter His voice from His holy habitation; He will roar mightily against His fold. He will give a shout, as those who tread the grapes, Against all the inhabitants of the earth. 31A noise will come to the ends of the earth— For the LORD has a controversy with the nations; He will plead His case with all flesh. He will give those who are wicked to the sword,’ says the LORD.” 32 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Behold, disaster shall go forth From nation to nation, And a great whirlwind shall be raised up From the farthest parts of the earth. 33 “And at that day the slain of the LORD shall be from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall become refuse on the ground.

There are times when enough is enough and justice must be served. There are times when God gives mercy, and there are times when He gives justice. It is His glory to do both. Those who fume against not forcing companies to pay for abortions are walking close to the justice side of God. They should be careful to repent soon lest they end up receiving justice instead of mercy for it is the glory of the Lord Jesus to dispense both. For their sakes, those railing against the right of Hobby Lobby not to pay for insurance which pays for abortion, I hope they will repent soon so that they may receive the glorious mercy of the Lord and not His justice. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

ACTS 10:1-23
At this point in the book of Acts it has been an undetermined number of years since Jesus ascended and Pentecost came. With over-conservative certainty we can say that by now the church numbers more than 20,000 men, women and children. Certainly that is a healthy number for a city the size of Jerusalem. But the church is mostly Jewish believers in Jesus, including a number of the priests and Levites. When are they going to start making disciples of the nations? They had given their stamp of approval on the Holy Spirit's demonstration upon the half-Jewish Samaritans. But they have not made any concerted effort to reach outside their Jewish culture with the good news of Jesus. Why?
They were still trapped in their turn-of-the-millennium-Jewish world-view. Any consorting with Gentiles would render them unclean. From their world-view, Jesus may be the Messiah, but the Messiah was for the Jews. If the Gentiles want Jesus, they needed to first convert to Judaism. How does the Lord of Glory communicate the need to depart their world-view and begin making disciples of all ethnic groups? He arranges a series of circumstances to coincide with two different visions given to two different men. As we will see tomorrow, He will then confirm the meeting and visions with the outpouring of His Spirit. Without this vision Peter would never have left his world-view, even though he had heard the command of our Lord to make disciples of all ethnic groups. Without Peter going to Cornelius, there would never have been the auditory and visual confirmation that Gentiles could be saved without first becoming Jews. Without this confirmation Paul's ministry would have been rejected by the church. Our glorious Lord orchestrated all of these events to push and confirm to His church that we are to make disciples of all ethnic groups. His ability to orchestrate the details of our lives in order to accomplish His purposes is amazing! Indeed we serve a glorious king! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John