October 5

1 Kings 8
You’ve seen the posters and bumper stickers, “In God we trust. All others pay cash,” or “In God we trust; everyone else keep your hand where we can see therm.” If you were to stand before the nation and proclaim the glory of the LORD, what would you say? Solomon at the high point of his life and the life of Israel says this, “There is no God in heaven above or on earth below like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts.” One of the great things about the glory of our LORD is that he keeps His covenant. He keeps His promises. If He promised it, I can depend upon it. I can bank on it, as we used to say. Well what has he promised?

As many as receive Him to them He gives the right to become the children of God.
I will never leave you nor forsake you.
Ask according to His will and He will do it.

What is His will? Our sanctification, That we should become like Him. He is faithful to bring it about. Will He do it? Of course He will. He desires that we keep our focus upon Him and claim His unfailing promise. When was the last time I claimed His promise for the sake of His glory? When the priests came out of the sanctuary the cloud of glory of the Lord filled the temple so that the priests could not enter it. Most of His promises relate to Him changing our lives so that we reflect His glory. We are His sanctuary. He receives the greatest glory when we claim His promises to change us into the image of His glory. Someday we will be able to stand before all creation and say, “Look at the glory of the Lord! Look at how he has changed our lives. Look at how we are spotless and without blemish because of what He has done!” What a day that will be. His cloud of glory will settle upon us. Oh that it would happen now. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

Psalm 96
He is great! What is so great about Him? He is our Creator. A long look at His creation reveals His greatness for He is necessarily greater than His creation. We are to fear Him; why? He told Moses that to see His glory fully and frontally would kill us. We couldn’t take it. Infinite power and infinite purity scares me. If we could instantly be placed on the surface of the sun, the heat of the radiated power would vaporize us instantly. Why should being exposed completely to the infinite God, who created that sun, be any less threatening? I don’t walk in fear of the sun destroying me, but I do know my rightful position in relation to it. I know to wear sunscreen, a wide brimmed hat and long sleeves if I am going to be exposed to its rays. I know that I cannot get too far from it, or I will die. I know that I cannot get too close to it, or I will die. So with God, I cannot get too far or too close to Him, or I will die. I need a healthy fear of Him.
Honor and majesty are before Him. Last week I performed a wedding ceremony. Part of the vows that I made the groom give to the bride was to “share with you all the honor of my name.” What if the grooms name was not honorable? What if he was a cheating scoundrel? What would he be sharing with her? His name had to be honorable if that vow were to be of any value to His bride. Suppose honor were something that was already ingrained in Him, suppose that honor was a deep part of His character, then the vow would have great meaning and benefit to his bride. Honor must go before him. We are the bride of our great God. He seeks to share with us all the honor of His name. His honor goes before Him in strength. He is not a scoundrel, but is faithful and true. He keeps His promises. He is pure. We benefit greatly from Him.
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. How is strength in a sanctuary? Beauty I think I understand, but how can strength be in a sanctuary? Maybe I should defer to my friend, Mark Pruitt, an architect to speak to this issue. Some sanctuaries are plain and unadorned. Some are simply the vegetation of the outdoors. Some are grandiose and gaudy. I have had opportunity to travel a little in Germany and Mexico. I have seen great cathedrals and chapels which were built hundreds of years ago. Buildings over a hundred years old in Oklahoma are rare indeed. Most buildings in Oklahoma of that age are decaying and weak. But the cathedrals are strong and will probably endure much longer. But their strength is more than just their ability to stand strong through the ages. When you walk into a cathedral, there is just an atmosphere of strength. There is something about the architecture that exudes strength. It makes you look up. It makes you feel small. It makes you realize the power of a greater force. Hopefully that force would be God, but sometimes it is another god. The point is that He is STRONG! When I come to worship Him, is that what I find, a God who is strong? Is He stronger than all the problems of my day? Indeed He is.
Greatness, honor and strength are all part of His glory. To bless His name, I need to know these things about Him, relate them to my life and then speak them to others. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

Hosea 5
It happened again last week, another school shooting. According to one website, it is the 142nd since 2013. School shootings have always been around; there is actually one website that has chronicled the school shootings by year. However, the lists begin to expand significantly in the last two decades. Violence in the land is increasing, not just in the schools. The spirit of fornication also is on the increase. According to a 2013 survey the CDC reports that 47% of high school student had ever had sex, 34% had had sex in the last 3 months, and 15% had had sex with 4 or more people. It would appear on a governmental level that officials have taken the view that young people are going to fornicate, so we must teach them how to do it without getting an STD or getting pregnant. On a religious level we see a similar setting. A couple of the pastors in the larger churches in our town have gone on record in support of GLBTG behaviors, even providing space in their churches for support groups for people. In many churches divorce and remarriage have long been dropped as a point of concern. I wonder how long it will before open marriage will be accepted in some church circles.
Addressing all levels of society (priest, citizen, king v. 1), God speaks to the nations of Israel and Judah of the self-infliction of their own judgment (snare at Mizpah, spread a net on Tabor v.1). Their self-inflicted judgment is sent by God due to a spirit of violence (slaughter v.2) and a spirit of fornication (harlotry v.3). In a nation that is supposed to represent the people of God to the rest of the world, how did this happen? The key to the answer is the focal point to the chapter. It’s found in verse 4, “They do not know their Lord.” O sure they go through the motions. They bring their flocks and herds to Jerusalem to present the required sacrifices, but they do not find Him there. It’s just a ritual performed in blood. Their children instinctively pick up on it. Sensing the falsehood of their parents, the children become pagan.
How can they do their constant rituals and not know the Lord? Ritual is easy. It is the mindless repetition of the prescription for worship. That which has meaning is repeated often enough that the meaning is no longer a concern, just the repetition of the acts or the words. Even in writing these meditations, I find myself frequently becoming more interested in how to express the glory rather than engaging with the glory of God. It quickly degenerates to nothing more than a knowledge about God rather actually knowing God. There are a number of people that I know quite a bit about their lives, but I do not know them. I’ve read the biographies of a number of famous people, but I do not know them. I can know a multitude of things about God but not actually know Him. Knowing Him is a life changing encounter on a daily basis. The reason killing humans is so heinous is because we are created in the image of God. To kill another, except when under the authority of God to do so, is to strike out at image and glory of God. The reason fornication is so heinous is because we are created male and female in the image of God and marriage is to reflect His image of oneness. To jump from sexual partner to sexual partner is to shatter that image of oneness. We were created in His image to reflect His glory. When we do otherwise, we bring shame on His glory. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

Philippians 1
I occasionally make things out of wood (book shelves, chest of drawers etc.). I enjoy the challenge of designing and figuring out how to make the pieces so that they fit together in one strong beautiful unit. However, once I reach that point in my mind where I know that most of the hurdles have been cleared, I start to lose interest. The mundane finishing parts don't excite me too much. I currently (2005) have a project that I have been doing for Beth that is unfinished. It is in the state where she can use it and is using it. But the trim work that I planned around the top is not finished. It's been that way for probably 8 or nine months now. I just can't get motivated to finish the work.
Do you ever feel like God has quit working on you? He hasn't! He completes His work! Unlike the glory of John Chaffin, who often leaves a trail of unfinished projects in his wake, the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ is such that He always finishes His work. He has begun a good work in every person who has trusted Him as their Lord and Savior. Granted it is a work that is a lifetime in progress. But, He will complete His work. That work is to mold us into His own image.
How does He work on us in this life? He works on us through our relationship with Him. The more open we are to Him in our personal relationship, the more He accomplishes in changing us. That is why Paul said, "To live is Christ." His whole life revolved around the Lord Jesus Christ. That is a large part of why God used him so mightily. Paul also realized that because his life was Christ to die would be gain because then he would just have more of Christ! It is the glory of Christ to change us. It is the glory of Christ that our lives should revolve around Him! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John