October 11

1 Kings 14
Nothing gets by the Lord. Many times one may think that he is getting by the Lord, but it just does not happen. Jeroboam received the kingship of the larger part of Israel because of Solomon’s sin. His wives had turned his heart away to worship their gods. One would think that Jeroboam would get the impact of the message, but he didn’t. In his desire to be great, he eclipsed the glory of the Lord. He did exactly what Solomon fell into. He made two images of the Lord as a bull and placed them at convenient places for Israel to worship them. He did so in order to secure his own greatness.
What does the Lord say? “You have done more evil than all who were before you, for you have gone and made for yourself other gods and molded images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me behind your back.” More evil than Solomon? More evil than Absalom? More evil than David? More evil than Saul? He cast God behind his back? How can one cast behind his back the One who spoke the Universe into existence? How can one cast behind his back the One died on the cross, who bore the wrath of a just God for him? How can one cast behind his back the One who gave him the kingdom? Yet Jeroboam did it. Did he know the glory that he was denying? How could his heart be so hard? He has failed to really grasp the true glory of the One who created him. He has failed to grasp the glory of the One who put him on the throne. Can it happen to me? Yes! That is why I have to stay in the Word. I have to stay focused. I am capable of casting God behind my back, but when I stop to reflect upon His true glory, how can I do such evil? Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

Psalm102
I guess because my grandson is visiting me right now, I think about dirty diapers when I read about being changed. Babies are helpless to change themselves. Some of them like being changed. Some of them do not like it. In general they do not like being in their poop, but as they grow older, they don’t like the experience of being changed, especially if they have sat in it long enough to develop a rash. Coupled with the desire to not be controlled, the pain of the rash makes the experience of changing unbearable. What an analogy to us when we are helpless in our sin! The Psalmist says, “He shall regard the prayer of the destitute, And shall not despise their prayer.” As babies are destitute to change themselves, so are we helpless to change ourselves.
Yet we are given this promise that He looks down from heaven, “To hear the groaning of the prisoner, To release those appointed to death.” That sounds a lot like Isaiah 61:1:

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

This is the passage that Jesus quoted and claimed to fulfill when He spoke in the synagogue in Nazareth. Jesus came to do that. To change the metaphor, He came to change our poopy diapers. We cannot change them ourselves. But you know, there must be cooperation on our part. I just heard my daughter-in-law cry out, “Come here! Let me change your poopy diaper.” Then I heard the footsteps of my granddaughter running away. Is that not just like us? The Lord of the Universe commands us to come to Him to permit us to be changed by him, but we run the other way. He has power to set us free, but we won’t cooperate. Does that diminish His glory? Only in the ability of others to see it. When we cooperate with Him and freely yield to his power to change, it increases the ability of other to see His changing power, and that increases his glory! Lord, let me cooperate with your changing power! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

Hosea 11
How do you love someone who won’t love you back? What if that person who won’t love you has given you marriage vows to love you ‘til death do you part? What if that person has consistently sought other lovers? The Lord speaks clearly in this chapter of His love for Israel. He called Israel out of bondage of slavery in Egypt (a double reference as Matthew interprets verse 1 as a prophetic reference to Joseph, Mary and Jesus’ flight to Egypt and return to Galilee). He brought them into the promised land, but Israel (Ephraim) immediately turned and called out and worshipped other gods. He taught Israel how to walk. Unlike the harsh chords of slavery, He drew them to Himself with kindness and gentleness. He taught Israel how to walk. He healed him of his diseases. He took special efforts to feed them, giving them manna every morning. Yet they wouldn’t come to Him. How do you love someone who won’t love you back? You let them go back into the slavery out of which you lifted them for they are determined to go there. But how do you let them go? How do you let them go to destruction like Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim? If you love them you can’t. It tears you up to see them punished. You let them go back into their bondage, and hopefully one day they will realize how they have blown it and will return from their bondage.
My wife has always been extremely loving to me. I’ve never had to deal with a spouse who would not remain faithful. I can only imagine the extreme pain of deceptive love. Yet as I think about this chapter and as I am honest about myself, I see that I am too often like Israel. The Lord has loved me ferociously. He has called me out of bondage to sin. He has taught me to walk; He has fed me; He has healed me, yet every time I sin it is as if I have been unfaithful to Him. I made vows to love Him and Him alone, to be faithful to Him, and I have broken them. How does He love me? How much pain does He feel because of my choices? What does He do about it? He lets me go back into the bondage of my choices until I see what a mess I am making of myself. He waits for me to see the misery of my sin until I return to Him. In extreme cases He even sends us back into the slavery of the taskmaster of sin. Yet He still loves looking every day for my return. That is incredible indeed! Why do I sit so long in the misery of my flesh? Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

Colossians 3
We tend to be very exclusive. We often get our identity from being exclusive. Take for example the phrase "I'm proud to be an American," or the phrase, "American by birth, Southern by the grace of God." Young people looking for an identity often attach themselves to certain sub-cultures. They might be Goths or Hip-Hop. When I was young, there were the "greasers" or "soc's". Woe to the one who was a "geek." Yet with the advent of the Napoleon movie, "Geeks" became cool. By narrowing or excluding others, we can better define our own identity.
However, with Christ, identity is not measured by whom or what we exclude; although, the unrighteous is excluded. Rather, identity is gained by our association with Christ. Christ receives us if we will come. What is unholy He excludes. But our identity is found in Him. He is all. He also abides in all who come to Him. It is not an identity found in exclusion but in inclusion, inclusion in Christ.
That goes against the natural grain. We get our identity by exclusion because it means that in some respect our measure of exclusion makes us better than those we exclude. So, we feel better about ourselves. But it is not so with Christ and our identity. So, if we include all others, how do we recognize who we are?
The magnificence and infinitude of Christ is such that the identity of each one of His billions of children can be unique yet come from Him. He indeed is all. The more I understand His infinitude, the more I can grasp my identity from being united with Him rather than from excluding others. I am who I am because He is who He is. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john