Thursday, May 31, 2012
May 31
Psalm 150
It is said that St. Francis of Assisi would preach to the animals. That is a little strange if you ask me. However, he seemed to take Mark 16:15 literally, and I guess Ps. 150:6 lent a little credence to his practice. I suppose if the stars themselves sing praise to the Lord, then anything that has breath could also give praise to the Lord. Maybe I should teach my dogs to sing. In what ways do lions and tigers and bears (Oh my!) give praise to the Lord? But then, if the very rocks would cry out in praise in the presence of the Lord if we did not, then I am sure that everything that has breath would do the same. What would a dog look like when it is praising the Lord? Would it tilt its head? Would it roll over? Would it whirl in circles? Would it howl and sing? When the manifest presence of the Lord came down on Sinai, even the animals were forbidden to touch the mountain lest they die. The creatures described in heaven, which were created to live in the constant manifest presence of the Lord and give Him praise, seem to cower at His greatness. If all these praise the Lord, then why do we, who were created in His image, not constantly declare forth the glories of His praise? He has hidden His face from us, lest we die and have no opportunity to repent. Lord change me, so that my breath is constantly spent giving praise to Your name. You are indeed worthy of all praise! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
May 30
Psalm 149
Let us rejoice in our Maker. When I study the works of creation, I am astounded, to say the least, concerning the greatness of our Master-Designer. The quantity, quality, complexity and brilliance of all that He has done is staggering to my mind. Revelation 4:11 says, “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.” I like the way the Authorized Version translates it, “And for thy pleasure they are and were created.” He enjoyed creating us! It was thrilling to Him! It was joy for Him to do so! And unbelievably to us, He desires that we be passionate about our joy in Him! Listen to what Col. 1:16 says, “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.” He receives pleasure in our enjoying Him! It is “for Him” that we are created. When we refuse to delight in the praise of Him, The rest of the obedient creation hangs their head in wonder at our refusal. Satan rejoices.
The children of Zion are commanded to be joyful in their King. It would be easier to approach this passage by saying, “This passage is for the Jews in the land, particularly Zion. Therefore, it does not apply to me.” However, the writer of Hebrews 12:22 (NLT) says, “No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering.” The Living Bible paraphrase says, “. . . and to the gathering of countless happy angels.” We then are spiritual children of Zion. As such we are commanded to be joyful in our King!
His name is to be praised with joy! One of the obvious out-workings of joy is dancing. Dancing means to whirl around in circular movements. When I am gone for a long time, my dogs dance upon my return. They will literally run around in circular movements in expressing their joy at my return. In a very real sense the creation dances to the praise of God! Electrons spin around the nucleus of an atom creating the bonds of physics that hold things together. The planets whirl on their axis and around the sun creating life that brings glory to God. The stars whirl around the centers of their galaxy declaring the glory of God! Is there ever such a thing as a dance of sadness? I think we usually refer to it as a dirge, but a dirge is usually just the music. It tends to lack the expression of physical music.
Unfortunately, Satan loves to corrupt that which should bring glory to God. I was raised in an environment that taught that almost all dancing was evil. Indeed the proponents of such teaching have one good point. They purport that the purpose of dancing is to excite sexual passion between a man and a woman. So, if a man and a woman, who are not in a marriage covenant, dance together for that purpose, then it can only lead to an illegitimate expression of sexual passion. I would guess that more often than not, it is true. It is interesting that in Exodus 32:19 when Israel became physical idolaters and spiritual adulteresses with the golden calf, and when Moses came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, that Moses’ anger became hot! Israel was to be in a covenant relationship with Yahweh, not a golden calf (probably much like one of the gods of Egypt). She gave what should have been reserved for Yahweh to an idol. Dancing should have been a whirling in celebration of love for Yahweh. In contrast it became a whirling about in celebration of a golden calf.
So is it wrong for a husband and wife to participate together in dance? No it is not because sexual passion was invented by our Creator as a good thing that was to reflect His image. Within the godhead there is this infinite passion between the Father, the Son and the Spirit. That passion led to the creation. The creation in return dances for joy in the presence of the Creator. Indeed, it could be argued that between a married couple, a dance is a good thing, for that dance could create a passion that strengthens the bond between them and produces offspring as well.
But dancing wasn’t the only method of expressing joy in praise toward Yahweh. The timbrel and harp were also called upon for the expression of joy. In the worship wars of today, so many people focus on the style of music and the instruments of music as to what is godly and what is not. It seems to me that they are missing the point. The point is not what style of music but what condition of the heart. From this Psalm it would seem that the Lord wants His praise to be joyful (2&5), humble (4), vocal (6a) and Scriptural (6b). The question for each culture is what instruments can help us best as a group express joy, in humility according to Scripture. That will vary from culture to culture and even with subgroups within those cultures. But one thing is clear from this Psalm, that praise is to be joyous no matter how it is expressed! How dare we approach praise in any other manner! I like Isaac Watts poem that Robert Lowry set to music.
Come, we that love the Lord,
And let our joys be known;
Join in a song with sweet accord,
And thus surround the throne.
We’re marching to Zion,
Beautiful, beautiful Zion;
We’re marching upward to Zion,
The beautiful city of God.
The sorrows of the mind
Be banished from the place;
Religion never was designed
To make our pleasures less.
Let those refuse to sing,
Who never knew our God;
But children of the heav’nly King
May speak their joys abroad.
The men of grace have found
Glory begun below;
Celestial fruits on earthly ground
From faith and hope may grow.
The hill of Zion yields
A thousand sacred sweets
Before we reach the heav’nly fields,
Or walk the golden streets.
Then let our songs abound,
And every tear be dry;
We’re marching through Immanuel’s ground
To fairer worlds on high
--Verses by Isaac Watts and Refrain by Robert Lowry
Can we declare His praise in any manner other than joyously? Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Let us rejoice in our Maker. When I study the works of creation, I am astounded, to say the least, concerning the greatness of our Master-Designer. The quantity, quality, complexity and brilliance of all that He has done is staggering to my mind. Revelation 4:11 says, “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.” I like the way the Authorized Version translates it, “And for thy pleasure they are and were created.” He enjoyed creating us! It was thrilling to Him! It was joy for Him to do so! And unbelievably to us, He desires that we be passionate about our joy in Him! Listen to what Col. 1:16 says, “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.” He receives pleasure in our enjoying Him! It is “for Him” that we are created. When we refuse to delight in the praise of Him, The rest of the obedient creation hangs their head in wonder at our refusal. Satan rejoices.
The children of Zion are commanded to be joyful in their King. It would be easier to approach this passage by saying, “This passage is for the Jews in the land, particularly Zion. Therefore, it does not apply to me.” However, the writer of Hebrews 12:22 (NLT) says, “No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering.” The Living Bible paraphrase says, “. . . and to the gathering of countless happy angels.” We then are spiritual children of Zion. As such we are commanded to be joyful in our King!
His name is to be praised with joy! One of the obvious out-workings of joy is dancing. Dancing means to whirl around in circular movements. When I am gone for a long time, my dogs dance upon my return. They will literally run around in circular movements in expressing their joy at my return. In a very real sense the creation dances to the praise of God! Electrons spin around the nucleus of an atom creating the bonds of physics that hold things together. The planets whirl on their axis and around the sun creating life that brings glory to God. The stars whirl around the centers of their galaxy declaring the glory of God! Is there ever such a thing as a dance of sadness? I think we usually refer to it as a dirge, but a dirge is usually just the music. It tends to lack the expression of physical music.
Unfortunately, Satan loves to corrupt that which should bring glory to God. I was raised in an environment that taught that almost all dancing was evil. Indeed the proponents of such teaching have one good point. They purport that the purpose of dancing is to excite sexual passion between a man and a woman. So, if a man and a woman, who are not in a marriage covenant, dance together for that purpose, then it can only lead to an illegitimate expression of sexual passion. I would guess that more often than not, it is true. It is interesting that in Exodus 32:19 when Israel became physical idolaters and spiritual adulteresses with the golden calf, and when Moses came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, that Moses’ anger became hot! Israel was to be in a covenant relationship with Yahweh, not a golden calf (probably much like one of the gods of Egypt). She gave what should have been reserved for Yahweh to an idol. Dancing should have been a whirling in celebration of love for Yahweh. In contrast it became a whirling about in celebration of a golden calf.
So is it wrong for a husband and wife to participate together in dance? No it is not because sexual passion was invented by our Creator as a good thing that was to reflect His image. Within the godhead there is this infinite passion between the Father, the Son and the Spirit. That passion led to the creation. The creation in return dances for joy in the presence of the Creator. Indeed, it could be argued that between a married couple, a dance is a good thing, for that dance could create a passion that strengthens the bond between them and produces offspring as well.
But dancing wasn’t the only method of expressing joy in praise toward Yahweh. The timbrel and harp were also called upon for the expression of joy. In the worship wars of today, so many people focus on the style of music and the instruments of music as to what is godly and what is not. It seems to me that they are missing the point. The point is not what style of music but what condition of the heart. From this Psalm it would seem that the Lord wants His praise to be joyful (2&5), humble (4), vocal (6a) and Scriptural (6b). The question for each culture is what instruments can help us best as a group express joy, in humility according to Scripture. That will vary from culture to culture and even with subgroups within those cultures. But one thing is clear from this Psalm, that praise is to be joyous no matter how it is expressed! How dare we approach praise in any other manner! I like Isaac Watts poem that Robert Lowry set to music.
Come, we that love the Lord,
And let our joys be known;
Join in a song with sweet accord,
And thus surround the throne.
We’re marching to Zion,
Beautiful, beautiful Zion;
We’re marching upward to Zion,
The beautiful city of God.
The sorrows of the mind
Be banished from the place;
Religion never was designed
To make our pleasures less.
Let those refuse to sing,
Who never knew our God;
But children of the heav’nly King
May speak their joys abroad.
The men of grace have found
Glory begun below;
Celestial fruits on earthly ground
From faith and hope may grow.
The hill of Zion yields
A thousand sacred sweets
Before we reach the heav’nly fields,
Or walk the golden streets.
Then let our songs abound,
And every tear be dry;
We’re marching through Immanuel’s ground
To fairer worlds on high
--Verses by Isaac Watts and Refrain by Robert Lowry
Can we declare His praise in any manner other than joyously? Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Monday, May 28, 2012
May 28
Psalm 147
My kitchen sink is clogged. It is most annoying. I spent an hour working on it Saturday afternoon. I thought I had it unclogged. A bottle of drain opener and gallons of HOT water and it seemed to be flowing. Sunday afternoon it was clogged again. We tried a bladder controlled high water pressure. It didn’t touch it. I poured boiling water down the drain. It is still clogged. I guess grease is pretty good way of stopping up sink drains. Boiling water normally melts the grease. I am really frustrated. I guess I am going to have to call Rotorooter. I think there is a metaphor in here somewhere.
Like the residue of grease from daily washing of dishes, sometimes the residue of sin builds up in our lives freezing the flow of life-giving water causing the build-up life disabling activity. In our seasonal year, God sends beautiful snow, frost, hail and other curious weather phenomenon. They are beautiful when temporary, but in areas where the seasons do not change (Antarctica etc.), the cold becomes deadly and the environment barren. When sin builds up, we need something to melt it away. He sends forth His word and it melts it all. It makes the water flow washing away the caustic sin of my life. That is what is amazing about Him. He can unclog my life when I am frustrated and unable. He does it through His word. That is His glory. That is why I daily need His word. Lord use you word to melt my heart frozen by the build-up of greasy sin! Unclog my spiritual heart! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
My kitchen sink is clogged. It is most annoying. I spent an hour working on it Saturday afternoon. I thought I had it unclogged. A bottle of drain opener and gallons of HOT water and it seemed to be flowing. Sunday afternoon it was clogged again. We tried a bladder controlled high water pressure. It didn’t touch it. I poured boiling water down the drain. It is still clogged. I guess grease is pretty good way of stopping up sink drains. Boiling water normally melts the grease. I am really frustrated. I guess I am going to have to call Rotorooter. I think there is a metaphor in here somewhere.
Like the residue of grease from daily washing of dishes, sometimes the residue of sin builds up in our lives freezing the flow of life-giving water causing the build-up life disabling activity. In our seasonal year, God sends beautiful snow, frost, hail and other curious weather phenomenon. They are beautiful when temporary, but in areas where the seasons do not change (Antarctica etc.), the cold becomes deadly and the environment barren. When sin builds up, we need something to melt it away. He sends forth His word and it melts it all. It makes the water flow washing away the caustic sin of my life. That is what is amazing about Him. He can unclog my life when I am frustrated and unable. He does it through His word. That is His glory. That is why I daily need His word. Lord use you word to melt my heart frozen by the build-up of greasy sin! Unclog my spiritual heart! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Friday, May 25, 2012
May 25
Psalm 144
Why does evil exist? That is a good question for which the Scripture has only one clear answer, “It is allowed to reveal His glory.” But how does allowing evil to exist show His glory? I mean, wouldn’t it be better if He just never allowed it to exist? That way, when anyone thought about evil and asked, “Why doesn’t evil exist?” the answer would clearly be, “Oh evil does not exist because we have such a glorious God. He would never allow such a thing.” Hmmm. . . But if everything but God is finite (Is evil finite? Can evil exist outside of time and space?), then how would we even begin to think in terms of something which we had not experienced? My mind becomes severely twisted when I start trying to think these things through. Physicists talk about the fabric of space. I don’t quite get that. I think of space as nothing. How can nothing have fabric? I guess space is something, but if nothing is something then it is not nothing so it can’t be something. If evil did not exist, how could finite beings think of it? I think I am going into an existential spiral and getting intellectual motion sickness. Before Adam and Eve partook of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, I do not think that they really understood what evil was. They only knew that God said, “Don’t go there.” Eve took the fruit because she did not understand what it was. When Adam saw her with the fruit, he immediately ‘knew’ what evil was because he saw her doing it. He knowingly chose to take the fruit from her because he desired her more than God. In an instant evil became experienced and entrenched. It was no longer a question of, “What is it?” but, “What do we do about it?”
Enter death. Apparently death is the infinite God’s only solution for evil. How would He apply the solution? I don’t think I can adequately explain why evil exists, but even my opponents in explaining the answer would agree with me in this, “Evil exists.” No one can deny that evil exists! To deny that is to deny existence! To deny that is to deny all reason!
So if this infinite God hates evil, then does He not hate evil infinitely? If He hates it infinitely, then He will always be about eradicating it. If He is about eradicating it, and He is infinite, then surely He is able to eradicate it instantly. Then why does/did He not do it instantly? When God first warned Adam and Eve, He said, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” I am told by the Hebrew experts that the language could be literally translated, “Dying you shall die.” It became a process, not instantaneous. Certainly that matches with reality. Why did He choose a process for the finite world? I am beginning to sound like a child, “Why? Why? Why?” I am not sure that I can give adequate answers for the discerning mind, but this I know, “The eradication of evil is a process. It does not happen instantly.” This matches Scripture and reality.
This infinite God, who has permitted evil, who is bent on eradicating it, who has chosen to use a process rather than doing it instantly, this God has also chosen to have us participate with Him in its eradication. Therefore, He trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle. He has chosen to have us partner with Him in the eradication of evil. Now it is obvious from Scripture that this is going to mean different application for different people at different times, but the metaphor of the training for battle remains constant through time. It is in the training for battle and war that we learn His hatred of evil. But it is also in the training and war that we learn His lovingkindness and protection. Apart from the contrast of war and loving kindness we would never experience the depths of either.
Wiki Answers says the average life expectancy of the “D-day” soldier was 1-2 seconds. I cannot begin to get my mind around such carnage. That is evil. But those who survived should have a greater appreciation for experiencing lovingkindness and protection. The life of the average soldier on that day was literally like the passing of a shadow. But what is the length of my life in comparison to Eternity? It is like the passing of a shadow. I am 57 years old. In some respects I still feel like I am only beginning life. The average life expectancy of a male in the world is 64.52 years, in the USA it is 75.6 years. I have 7 to 18 years left according to the averages, just a shadow. In my 57 years I have enjoyed much of His lovingkindness and protection. I have experienced a little of the ravages of His war on evil, but mostly His lovingkindness and protection. I am experiencing the blessings of His lovingkindness and protection. I am privileged to see my sons and daughter to grow up and produce fruit and become ‘pillars’ in society! But there is yet much evil to be eradicated, and I have only a shadow left!
O God of glory will you come down out of heaven in Your awesome glory and eradicate evil! Continue to use my hands and fingers in the battle for the eradication of evil! Do it in a way that brings You the most possible glory! Keep me from falsehood! Give me new songs to sing to you! Glorify Yourself in delivering Your servant from evil! Lord, I have family, friends and neighbors whose lives are entrenched in evil. Use my hands and fingers to set them free from the bonds of evil! In so doing, glorify Yourself! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Why does evil exist? That is a good question for which the Scripture has only one clear answer, “It is allowed to reveal His glory.” But how does allowing evil to exist show His glory? I mean, wouldn’t it be better if He just never allowed it to exist? That way, when anyone thought about evil and asked, “Why doesn’t evil exist?” the answer would clearly be, “Oh evil does not exist because we have such a glorious God. He would never allow such a thing.” Hmmm. . . But if everything but God is finite (Is evil finite? Can evil exist outside of time and space?), then how would we even begin to think in terms of something which we had not experienced? My mind becomes severely twisted when I start trying to think these things through. Physicists talk about the fabric of space. I don’t quite get that. I think of space as nothing. How can nothing have fabric? I guess space is something, but if nothing is something then it is not nothing so it can’t be something. If evil did not exist, how could finite beings think of it? I think I am going into an existential spiral and getting intellectual motion sickness. Before Adam and Eve partook of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, I do not think that they really understood what evil was. They only knew that God said, “Don’t go there.” Eve took the fruit because she did not understand what it was. When Adam saw her with the fruit, he immediately ‘knew’ what evil was because he saw her doing it. He knowingly chose to take the fruit from her because he desired her more than God. In an instant evil became experienced and entrenched. It was no longer a question of, “What is it?” but, “What do we do about it?”
Enter death. Apparently death is the infinite God’s only solution for evil. How would He apply the solution? I don’t think I can adequately explain why evil exists, but even my opponents in explaining the answer would agree with me in this, “Evil exists.” No one can deny that evil exists! To deny that is to deny existence! To deny that is to deny all reason!
So if this infinite God hates evil, then does He not hate evil infinitely? If He hates it infinitely, then He will always be about eradicating it. If He is about eradicating it, and He is infinite, then surely He is able to eradicate it instantly. Then why does/did He not do it instantly? When God first warned Adam and Eve, He said, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” I am told by the Hebrew experts that the language could be literally translated, “Dying you shall die.” It became a process, not instantaneous. Certainly that matches with reality. Why did He choose a process for the finite world? I am beginning to sound like a child, “Why? Why? Why?” I am not sure that I can give adequate answers for the discerning mind, but this I know, “The eradication of evil is a process. It does not happen instantly.” This matches Scripture and reality.
This infinite God, who has permitted evil, who is bent on eradicating it, who has chosen to use a process rather than doing it instantly, this God has also chosen to have us participate with Him in its eradication. Therefore, He trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle. He has chosen to have us partner with Him in the eradication of evil. Now it is obvious from Scripture that this is going to mean different application for different people at different times, but the metaphor of the training for battle remains constant through time. It is in the training for battle and war that we learn His hatred of evil. But it is also in the training and war that we learn His lovingkindness and protection. Apart from the contrast of war and loving kindness we would never experience the depths of either.
Wiki Answers says the average life expectancy of the “D-day” soldier was 1-2 seconds. I cannot begin to get my mind around such carnage. That is evil. But those who survived should have a greater appreciation for experiencing lovingkindness and protection. The life of the average soldier on that day was literally like the passing of a shadow. But what is the length of my life in comparison to Eternity? It is like the passing of a shadow. I am 57 years old. In some respects I still feel like I am only beginning life. The average life expectancy of a male in the world is 64.52 years, in the USA it is 75.6 years. I have 7 to 18 years left according to the averages, just a shadow. In my 57 years I have enjoyed much of His lovingkindness and protection. I have experienced a little of the ravages of His war on evil, but mostly His lovingkindness and protection. I am experiencing the blessings of His lovingkindness and protection. I am privileged to see my sons and daughter to grow up and produce fruit and become ‘pillars’ in society! But there is yet much evil to be eradicated, and I have only a shadow left!
O God of glory will you come down out of heaven in Your awesome glory and eradicate evil! Continue to use my hands and fingers in the battle for the eradication of evil! Do it in a way that brings You the most possible glory! Keep me from falsehood! Give me new songs to sing to you! Glorify Yourself in delivering Your servant from evil! Lord, I have family, friends and neighbors whose lives are entrenched in evil. Use my hands and fingers to set them free from the bonds of evil! In so doing, glorify Yourself! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Thursday, May 24, 2012
May 24
Psalm 143
I am sure that by now most everyone who reads this has heard the news of Tom White’s (leader of Voice of the Martyrs) death. Tom had been accused of inappropriately touching a young girl. Whether or not he was guilty, Tom apparently could not live with what was about to happen, so he took his own life. Hmmm. . . what does this tell me about the glory of the Lord and our own lives?
Apart from the Lord, I am faithless (v1), unrighteous (v1), powerless (v5) and unmerciful (v11). David makes it very clear that this is true of himself, and sadly I see myself there too (and you). Yet the Lord is the opposite of each of these negative attributes. David makes it abundantly clear in this Psalm that he is distressed over his lack of power to deliver himself from these sins. Any student of David’s life is aware of the coarse cruelty and sexual promiscuity of which David was capable. We are acutely aware of David’s unfaithfulness, unrighteousness, at times powerlessness to do the right thing and at times unmercifulness. Yet the Lord at one time called him, “A man after His own heart.” (1 Samuel 13:14)
Why would the Lord call this flawed man this? Because this flawed man recognized his flaws. Whenever the flaws flared up, he pressed back into the Lord to remember His glory, to receive of Him the life change he needed. What does David see as he presses in? He sees faithfulness in the Lord in contrast to his own unfaithfulness. If any of us had been God, when David exhibited his unfaithfulness, we would have left David hanging by his own rope. Yet God remained faithful. Because of His faithfulness, David returned to the Lord. David sees righteousness in God. If any of us had been God, when David exhibited his unrighteousness, we would have instantly judged him and given him what he deserved, death. Because David sees righteousness in God, he returns to him. David muses on the works of God’s hands. One cannot do that and not be overwhelmed by the vast power of the living God! David would see his own powerlessness in his own sin. So he would return to the living God to beg His power to walk as he ought. David rejoices in the lovingkindness and mercy that he finds at the throne of God. Consequently, he returns to receive, to drink long from that well! His own failure teaches him how dried up and thirsty he is. Only at that well can we be restored! It is the well of His Holy Spirit. That is why he is called a man after God’s own heart.
There is hope for me and you if we press into drinking of the glory of the Lord. Only by drinking of the faithfulness, righteousness, power, lovingkindness and mercy of the Lord can we be restored. That is His glory! That is His desire! I don’t know why Tom White took his own life, but I suspect that it was somewhat related to not being able to drink of the well of the glory of Christ. Somehow Tom’s own glory gained preeminence over the Glory of Christ. All the more reason for me to press in to the heart of the Lord to see His Glory, for I am sure that Tom White was a better man than I! After all, it is all about the glory of Christ, not mine or Tom’s. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
I am sure that by now most everyone who reads this has heard the news of Tom White’s (leader of Voice of the Martyrs) death. Tom had been accused of inappropriately touching a young girl. Whether or not he was guilty, Tom apparently could not live with what was about to happen, so he took his own life. Hmmm. . . what does this tell me about the glory of the Lord and our own lives?
Apart from the Lord, I am faithless (v1), unrighteous (v1), powerless (v5) and unmerciful (v11). David makes it very clear that this is true of himself, and sadly I see myself there too (and you). Yet the Lord is the opposite of each of these negative attributes. David makes it abundantly clear in this Psalm that he is distressed over his lack of power to deliver himself from these sins. Any student of David’s life is aware of the coarse cruelty and sexual promiscuity of which David was capable. We are acutely aware of David’s unfaithfulness, unrighteousness, at times powerlessness to do the right thing and at times unmercifulness. Yet the Lord at one time called him, “A man after His own heart.” (1 Samuel 13:14)
Why would the Lord call this flawed man this? Because this flawed man recognized his flaws. Whenever the flaws flared up, he pressed back into the Lord to remember His glory, to receive of Him the life change he needed. What does David see as he presses in? He sees faithfulness in the Lord in contrast to his own unfaithfulness. If any of us had been God, when David exhibited his unfaithfulness, we would have left David hanging by his own rope. Yet God remained faithful. Because of His faithfulness, David returned to the Lord. David sees righteousness in God. If any of us had been God, when David exhibited his unrighteousness, we would have instantly judged him and given him what he deserved, death. Because David sees righteousness in God, he returns to him. David muses on the works of God’s hands. One cannot do that and not be overwhelmed by the vast power of the living God! David would see his own powerlessness in his own sin. So he would return to the living God to beg His power to walk as he ought. David rejoices in the lovingkindness and mercy that he finds at the throne of God. Consequently, he returns to receive, to drink long from that well! His own failure teaches him how dried up and thirsty he is. Only at that well can we be restored! It is the well of His Holy Spirit. That is why he is called a man after God’s own heart.
There is hope for me and you if we press into drinking of the glory of the Lord. Only by drinking of the faithfulness, righteousness, power, lovingkindness and mercy of the Lord can we be restored. That is His glory! That is His desire! I don’t know why Tom White took his own life, but I suspect that it was somewhat related to not being able to drink of the well of the glory of Christ. Somehow Tom’s own glory gained preeminence over the Glory of Christ. All the more reason for me to press in to the heart of the Lord to see His Glory, for I am sure that Tom White was a better man than I! After all, it is all about the glory of Christ, not mine or Tom’s. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
May 23
Psalm 142
The title says it was David’s prayer in the cave. At least a couple of times, David hid in caves from Saul’s army. Here was a young man who had tasted great military success. He had singlehandedly defeated the Philistine champion. Over the years he went on to lead portions of Israel’s army in successful fight after fight against the Philistine. During the time, he learned vital military skills in leading men into battle. He had become Israel’s champion. The people sang his praise, “Saul has killed his thousands, but David his ten-thousands.” He had accomplished all that King Saul had asked him to do, including marrying Saul’s daughter with its attendant bride price of 200 Philistine foreskins. He had even been secretly anointed as King by the prophet Samuel. Saul’s son Jonathan had recognized that David would be king in his place, and he was fine with it. But David’s meteoric rise to power and the promises that came with it were nowhere on the scope of fulfillment without some sort of mutiny. Mutiny against the Lord’s anointed did not exist in David’s theology.
So here he sits in a cave with his men. He is hunted as a criminal. Instead of leading Israel’s finest, He is leading Israel’s disenchanted. Instead of receiving recognition and adulation of the people, He is receiving scorn and rejection. From a strictly human perspective, this is a hopeless situation. He felt as if no one cared for his soul. The walls of the cave began to close in and shut like the bars of a prison. His physical problems were not the major problem. He was in a prison of the soul. How does one break out of such an impenetrable prison?
David cries out to the Lord. He declares his trouble before him. He complains to the Lord. Wait a minute! He complains to the Lord? Did not the Lord kill thousands of people in the wilderness for the sin of complaining? Yes He did, but their complaint was of a different order. Their complaint was against the Lord and His leadership. It arose out of an unbelief that the Lord loved them and would bring a good resolution to their complaint. David’s complaint is of an altogether different sort. David’s complaint is on the one hand recognizing the realities of his awful situation, and on the other hand, recognizing the realities of who God is and then submitting to His leadership.
Look at how he holds this tension before him. When his spirit was overwhelmed he says, “Then You knew my path. In the way in which I walk, they have secretly set a snare for me.” He does not discount the problem at all, but he declares what he knows to be true of God in this situation. God is omniscient and this difficulty did not in any way catch God by surprise. God knows beforehand the traps that our enemy sets for us. Declaring such truth enables David to begin the process of relaxing in the face of death. The only physical refuge that David had was the cave with all of it amenities, snakes, spiders, bugs, scorpions etc. David brings back to mind that God made the cave, “You are my refuge.” He brings back to mind that God provides his needs, “You are my portion.” A complaint given to the Lord in belief also looks beyond the complaint to a time of greater fulfillment. David says, “You shall deal bountifully with me.” I once was told that a component of maturity is being able to endure a current deprivation in order to obtain a future reward. That doesn’t mean that I have to like the current deprivation.
So the glory of the Lord can be seen even in the worst of circumstances. It is His glory to welcome our complaint of the present as long as we are focused upon Him. Focusing on Him enables us to see His omniscience, His protection, His provision and His reward. We can see that even in the midst of great problems! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
The title says it was David’s prayer in the cave. At least a couple of times, David hid in caves from Saul’s army. Here was a young man who had tasted great military success. He had singlehandedly defeated the Philistine champion. Over the years he went on to lead portions of Israel’s army in successful fight after fight against the Philistine. During the time, he learned vital military skills in leading men into battle. He had become Israel’s champion. The people sang his praise, “Saul has killed his thousands, but David his ten-thousands.” He had accomplished all that King Saul had asked him to do, including marrying Saul’s daughter with its attendant bride price of 200 Philistine foreskins. He had even been secretly anointed as King by the prophet Samuel. Saul’s son Jonathan had recognized that David would be king in his place, and he was fine with it. But David’s meteoric rise to power and the promises that came with it were nowhere on the scope of fulfillment without some sort of mutiny. Mutiny against the Lord’s anointed did not exist in David’s theology.
So here he sits in a cave with his men. He is hunted as a criminal. Instead of leading Israel’s finest, He is leading Israel’s disenchanted. Instead of receiving recognition and adulation of the people, He is receiving scorn and rejection. From a strictly human perspective, this is a hopeless situation. He felt as if no one cared for his soul. The walls of the cave began to close in and shut like the bars of a prison. His physical problems were not the major problem. He was in a prison of the soul. How does one break out of such an impenetrable prison?
David cries out to the Lord. He declares his trouble before him. He complains to the Lord. Wait a minute! He complains to the Lord? Did not the Lord kill thousands of people in the wilderness for the sin of complaining? Yes He did, but their complaint was of a different order. Their complaint was against the Lord and His leadership. It arose out of an unbelief that the Lord loved them and would bring a good resolution to their complaint. David’s complaint is of an altogether different sort. David’s complaint is on the one hand recognizing the realities of his awful situation, and on the other hand, recognizing the realities of who God is and then submitting to His leadership.
Look at how he holds this tension before him. When his spirit was overwhelmed he says, “Then You knew my path. In the way in which I walk, they have secretly set a snare for me.” He does not discount the problem at all, but he declares what he knows to be true of God in this situation. God is omniscient and this difficulty did not in any way catch God by surprise. God knows beforehand the traps that our enemy sets for us. Declaring such truth enables David to begin the process of relaxing in the face of death. The only physical refuge that David had was the cave with all of it amenities, snakes, spiders, bugs, scorpions etc. David brings back to mind that God made the cave, “You are my refuge.” He brings back to mind that God provides his needs, “You are my portion.” A complaint given to the Lord in belief also looks beyond the complaint to a time of greater fulfillment. David says, “You shall deal bountifully with me.” I once was told that a component of maturity is being able to endure a current deprivation in order to obtain a future reward. That doesn’t mean that I have to like the current deprivation.
So the glory of the Lord can be seen even in the worst of circumstances. It is His glory to welcome our complaint of the present as long as we are focused upon Him. Focusing on Him enables us to see His omniscience, His protection, His provision and His reward. We can see that even in the midst of great problems! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
May 22
Psalm 141
How does being a person who is ‘safe to correct’ relate to the glory of the Lord? When I was a sophomore in college, I was involved in the central action group (CAG) of Campus Crusade for Christ. One of the things that the staff asked of us was that we each fill out a weekly ministry report and turn it in. On the report were various questions like, “The number of people with whom you shared the 4-Laws? . . . the Holy Spirit booklet? How many people came to your Bible Study/Action Group? What are you studying in that group? There were a few other questions but the one that always made me most uncomfortable was, “What are you reading in the Word in your Quiet Time?” One week during CAG, our campus director brought to our attention that many of us were not filling in the question as to what we were reading in the Word. He wanted to know why. My immediate response was, “Well that is a very personal thing between God and me.” Immediately one of the other staff members guffawed and said, “O come on! If we can’t share with one another on that level, then we really don’t have a discipling relationship at all!”
I was immediately angry and embarrassed, but I held my tongue. He went on to explain the importance of being open with each other about our relationship with the Lord. Later I began to think on it. He was right. If I cannot open up and share with those who are ‘righteous’, then it isn’t much of a relationship. If the truth were known, it wasn’t so much about my privacy as it was that I was really inconsistent in reading the word and did not want to admit it. Also, when I did read the Word, its words often seemed silent, and it became a check on my checklist of things to get done. I did not want to admit that to anyone else, especially those discipling me, lest I be seen as less spiritual. You know, for a while I really thought staff member who guffawed was arrogant. But eventually I came to see that it was a wound of love. The next year, he became the who was discipling me. The year after that, I met Laura. It was to him that I went for advice when I was seeking the Lord’s will about asking Laura to marry me. You know, he gave me a number of good questions to ask about our relationship that really helped me understand what the Lord wanted. He was trustable because he was righteous. A large part of my recognition that he was righteous was that I learned that he loved me. By that I mean that he genuinely wanted the best for me. For him to have held his tongue would not have been love. His correction was followed up with genuine interest in my life, in helping me grow in my relationship with him.
I have learned through this experience and a multitude of other experiences, how to determine whether a correction is from a person who is righteous and a person who is not. The unrighteous seek only to wound. The righteous seek to wound for the purpose of bringing healing. The righteous will continue to remain in the life of the one they wound in order to help them heal. The unrighteous wound and run, or wound and drive away the victim, or wound and kill the victim. As a possible victim, the Psalmist pleads with the Lord to protect him from the wounds of the unrighteous. He also pleads for the grace to receive the wounds of the righteous, “Let the righteous strike me; It shall be a kindness. And let him rebuke me; it shall be as excellent oil; let my head not refuse it.”
But how does that relate to the glory of the Lord? I do not think that I could possibly have the humility to allow someone else to correct me unless I knew that ultimately my life was in the hands of a great God who was shaping and directing my life through the wounds of others. I need the assurance that He is the sovereign God who is in control. When I have entered His courts to view His glory and allow my prayer to rise up before Him as incense, and when I have lifted up my hands before him in the evening sacrifice of praise, I am reminded of the greatness of His glory. I am reminded that I can trust Him in His sovereign directing of my life. You see, even in my being corrected, it is still all about His glory. The same is true for you. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
How does being a person who is ‘safe to correct’ relate to the glory of the Lord? When I was a sophomore in college, I was involved in the central action group (CAG) of Campus Crusade for Christ. One of the things that the staff asked of us was that we each fill out a weekly ministry report and turn it in. On the report were various questions like, “The number of people with whom you shared the 4-Laws? . . . the Holy Spirit booklet? How many people came to your Bible Study/Action Group? What are you studying in that group? There were a few other questions but the one that always made me most uncomfortable was, “What are you reading in the Word in your Quiet Time?” One week during CAG, our campus director brought to our attention that many of us were not filling in the question as to what we were reading in the Word. He wanted to know why. My immediate response was, “Well that is a very personal thing between God and me.” Immediately one of the other staff members guffawed and said, “O come on! If we can’t share with one another on that level, then we really don’t have a discipling relationship at all!”
I was immediately angry and embarrassed, but I held my tongue. He went on to explain the importance of being open with each other about our relationship with the Lord. Later I began to think on it. He was right. If I cannot open up and share with those who are ‘righteous’, then it isn’t much of a relationship. If the truth were known, it wasn’t so much about my privacy as it was that I was really inconsistent in reading the word and did not want to admit it. Also, when I did read the Word, its words often seemed silent, and it became a check on my checklist of things to get done. I did not want to admit that to anyone else, especially those discipling me, lest I be seen as less spiritual. You know, for a while I really thought staff member who guffawed was arrogant. But eventually I came to see that it was a wound of love. The next year, he became the who was discipling me. The year after that, I met Laura. It was to him that I went for advice when I was seeking the Lord’s will about asking Laura to marry me. You know, he gave me a number of good questions to ask about our relationship that really helped me understand what the Lord wanted. He was trustable because he was righteous. A large part of my recognition that he was righteous was that I learned that he loved me. By that I mean that he genuinely wanted the best for me. For him to have held his tongue would not have been love. His correction was followed up with genuine interest in my life, in helping me grow in my relationship with him.
I have learned through this experience and a multitude of other experiences, how to determine whether a correction is from a person who is righteous and a person who is not. The unrighteous seek only to wound. The righteous seek to wound for the purpose of bringing healing. The righteous will continue to remain in the life of the one they wound in order to help them heal. The unrighteous wound and run, or wound and drive away the victim, or wound and kill the victim. As a possible victim, the Psalmist pleads with the Lord to protect him from the wounds of the unrighteous. He also pleads for the grace to receive the wounds of the righteous, “Let the righteous strike me; It shall be a kindness. And let him rebuke me; it shall be as excellent oil; let my head not refuse it.”
But how does that relate to the glory of the Lord? I do not think that I could possibly have the humility to allow someone else to correct me unless I knew that ultimately my life was in the hands of a great God who was shaping and directing my life through the wounds of others. I need the assurance that He is the sovereign God who is in control. When I have entered His courts to view His glory and allow my prayer to rise up before Him as incense, and when I have lifted up my hands before him in the evening sacrifice of praise, I am reminded of the greatness of His glory. I am reminded that I can trust Him in His sovereign directing of my life. You see, even in my being corrected, it is still all about His glory. The same is true for you. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Friday, May 18, 2012
May 18
Psalm 137
In Psalm 135 we learned that God treasured His people, Jacob, Israel. In Psalm 137 His treasured people are in exile. This Psalm is written in the depths of despair by an exile. What had the exiles experienced? Their whole land was invaded. City after city was sacked and destroyed. Refugees, probably by the thousands fled to Jerusalem, the capital, for protection. The city was laid under siege for more than a year. Running out of food and strength, the king tried to make a break for it. It was unsuccessful. The city wall was breached. Many were raped, killed and pillaged. In ancient wars, it was not uncommon for even babies to be purposely killed. Many were taken on a 900 mile (500 as the crow flies) forced march to live the rest of their lives in in exile. Only the poor of the land were left in the land. I am sure that many were thinking, “If this is God treasuring us, I’d hate to see what He does to His enemies.”
In their day, the fate of the city was considered to be tied up in whether or not your god was stronger than the god of the invading army. The captors demanded songs of their captors in order to rub the noses of their captors in what they supposed to be the fact that their god was stronger than the captive’s god. How can you sing a song of praise to a god who is either impotent or does not treasure you? And so, this is the position in which the captives found themselves. How could they be anywhere but in the depths of despair?
This is where faith must step in. Faith is not a Pollyanna approach to life that colors the darkest of circumstances in rosy color hues. It recognizes the dark circumstances, but it refuses to believe the enemy’s lie that they are not treasured by God or that God is impotent. It looks beyond attendant circumstances. It trusts that God does indeed possess a reason for leading one through the horrible circumstances, and that reason is ultimately for my good and His glory. In the midst of those circumstances we must continually refuse the taunts of the enemy’s lies that he forces into our minds. We must take those thoughts captive by the power of the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. We must tear down the strongholds of those taunts. He has given us weapons that are indeed powerful for tearing down those strongholds, but we must tear them down! That does not mean that He will change the circumstances. It means that He will change our mindset as we cooperate with Him! The exiles probably died in Babylon. Some of their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren returned to rebuild Jerusalem and see better circumstances, but for the most part, they died in Babylon.
Did God treasure the exiles? Yes He did, but He was seeking to cure them and their seed of their idolatry, and he was somewhat successful! Israel has had little problem with literal idolatry since then. The things that I treasure, I want to keep them clean and pure. He was seeking to make them clean and pure. In His goodness He designs circumstances of our lives to cure us of our spiritual idolatry. In the midst of those circumstances we must not allow ourselves to succumb to the lies of the enemy, but we must look beyond the circumstance to what He is trying to accomplish. Even when we do not know specifically what He is working to accomplish, we must cling to the truth that it is for our purification for the praise of the glory of His grace. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
In Psalm 135 we learned that God treasured His people, Jacob, Israel. In Psalm 137 His treasured people are in exile. This Psalm is written in the depths of despair by an exile. What had the exiles experienced? Their whole land was invaded. City after city was sacked and destroyed. Refugees, probably by the thousands fled to Jerusalem, the capital, for protection. The city was laid under siege for more than a year. Running out of food and strength, the king tried to make a break for it. It was unsuccessful. The city wall was breached. Many were raped, killed and pillaged. In ancient wars, it was not uncommon for even babies to be purposely killed. Many were taken on a 900 mile (500 as the crow flies) forced march to live the rest of their lives in in exile. Only the poor of the land were left in the land. I am sure that many were thinking, “If this is God treasuring us, I’d hate to see what He does to His enemies.”
In their day, the fate of the city was considered to be tied up in whether or not your god was stronger than the god of the invading army. The captors demanded songs of their captors in order to rub the noses of their captors in what they supposed to be the fact that their god was stronger than the captive’s god. How can you sing a song of praise to a god who is either impotent or does not treasure you? And so, this is the position in which the captives found themselves. How could they be anywhere but in the depths of despair?
This is where faith must step in. Faith is not a Pollyanna approach to life that colors the darkest of circumstances in rosy color hues. It recognizes the dark circumstances, but it refuses to believe the enemy’s lie that they are not treasured by God or that God is impotent. It looks beyond attendant circumstances. It trusts that God does indeed possess a reason for leading one through the horrible circumstances, and that reason is ultimately for my good and His glory. In the midst of those circumstances we must continually refuse the taunts of the enemy’s lies that he forces into our minds. We must take those thoughts captive by the power of the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. We must tear down the strongholds of those taunts. He has given us weapons that are indeed powerful for tearing down those strongholds, but we must tear them down! That does not mean that He will change the circumstances. It means that He will change our mindset as we cooperate with Him! The exiles probably died in Babylon. Some of their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren returned to rebuild Jerusalem and see better circumstances, but for the most part, they died in Babylon.
Did God treasure the exiles? Yes He did, but He was seeking to cure them and their seed of their idolatry, and he was somewhat successful! Israel has had little problem with literal idolatry since then. The things that I treasure, I want to keep them clean and pure. He was seeking to make them clean and pure. In His goodness He designs circumstances of our lives to cure us of our spiritual idolatry. In the midst of those circumstances we must not allow ourselves to succumb to the lies of the enemy, but we must look beyond the circumstance to what He is trying to accomplish. Even when we do not know specifically what He is working to accomplish, we must cling to the truth that it is for our purification for the praise of the glory of His grace. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Thursday, May 17, 2012
May 16
Psalm 135
I’ve heard it said that we know more about what is outside the atmosphere of the earth than we know about what lies beneath the surface of our oceans. It has been easier to build crafts that can enter a vacuum than to build crafts that can take us to the depths where the weight of water pops ordinary vessels like a pimple. We have all probably seen TV shows of the excursions of people who have gone to the depths to find and explore the wreckage of the Titanic, or to explore the depths of the Marianas Trench the deepest spot in the oceans seven miles below the surface. In order to accomplish these feats we have had to engineer special submarines that cannot be crushed at those depths. To exit those special vehicles in a wet suit would immediately crush the human body. We cannot do as we please.
Contrast that with space. We can hurl ourselves to the moon and come back safely. During the ride, we can jump outside the vehicle in a special space suit and make repairs. It is almost as if we could do as we please in space. Is it not interesting that we can figure out how to live in deep space, but not how to live in the depths of the sea. Yet that is an illusion. In space we have a limited amount of time before we must return. In space we are one careless mistake away from death. We really don’t do what we please, but we have a little more liberty than the depths of the sea.
Often times portions of Psalms are repeated in other Psalms. We find this Psalm to be very similar to Psalm 115. However, I noted one difference. Psalm 115:3 says, “But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.” Psalm 135:5–6 says, “For I know that the LORD is great, And our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the LORD pleases He does, In heaven and in earth, In the seas and in all deep places.” He knows what kind of life exists in the heat vents of the Marianas Trench. He knows the vacuum of space. He does what He pleases in either case. He created the water whose weight crushes the people in the depths of the sea. He created the vacuum that sucks the life of man in space. Neither extreme has any effect upon Him for He is life. He does not possess it as if someone or something could ever take it away. He is life itself. He needs neither oxygen, pressure or lack of pressure. He lives independently of all things, because He is life! Take away oxygen, water, pressure, food and we die, but He does not! Without those things He still does as He pleases.
So what difference does that make to me? This God who does as He pleases has declared that those who trust in His Son are His special treasure! He simultaneously judges His people and has compassion upon them. There is nothing in this life that threatens me that threatens Him. He designs all things that come into my life to cause me to look to Him and understand who He is. When I see what I presume to be bad in my life, I can rest assured that he is doing it to draw me to Himself, and that is good! He does what He pleases under pressure and in a vacuum. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
I’ve heard it said that we know more about what is outside the atmosphere of the earth than we know about what lies beneath the surface of our oceans. It has been easier to build crafts that can enter a vacuum than to build crafts that can take us to the depths where the weight of water pops ordinary vessels like a pimple. We have all probably seen TV shows of the excursions of people who have gone to the depths to find and explore the wreckage of the Titanic, or to explore the depths of the Marianas Trench the deepest spot in the oceans seven miles below the surface. In order to accomplish these feats we have had to engineer special submarines that cannot be crushed at those depths. To exit those special vehicles in a wet suit would immediately crush the human body. We cannot do as we please.
Contrast that with space. We can hurl ourselves to the moon and come back safely. During the ride, we can jump outside the vehicle in a special space suit and make repairs. It is almost as if we could do as we please in space. Is it not interesting that we can figure out how to live in deep space, but not how to live in the depths of the sea. Yet that is an illusion. In space we have a limited amount of time before we must return. In space we are one careless mistake away from death. We really don’t do what we please, but we have a little more liberty than the depths of the sea.
Often times portions of Psalms are repeated in other Psalms. We find this Psalm to be very similar to Psalm 115. However, I noted one difference. Psalm 115:3 says, “But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.” Psalm 135:5–6 says, “For I know that the LORD is great, And our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the LORD pleases He does, In heaven and in earth, In the seas and in all deep places.” He knows what kind of life exists in the heat vents of the Marianas Trench. He knows the vacuum of space. He does what He pleases in either case. He created the water whose weight crushes the people in the depths of the sea. He created the vacuum that sucks the life of man in space. Neither extreme has any effect upon Him for He is life. He does not possess it as if someone or something could ever take it away. He is life itself. He needs neither oxygen, pressure or lack of pressure. He lives independently of all things, because He is life! Take away oxygen, water, pressure, food and we die, but He does not! Without those things He still does as He pleases.
So what difference does that make to me? This God who does as He pleases has declared that those who trust in His Son are His special treasure! He simultaneously judges His people and has compassion upon them. There is nothing in this life that threatens me that threatens Him. He designs all things that come into my life to cause me to look to Him and understand who He is. When I see what I presume to be bad in my life, I can rest assured that he is doing it to draw me to Himself, and that is good! He does what He pleases under pressure and in a vacuum. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Monday, May 14, 2012
May 14
Psalm 133
I remember walking to grade school in the fall. The long hot summer was over. As the weather changed, so did the dew points. The grass was drenched with the early morning dew. There was something refreshing about it. The dry heat of summer was gone; a new, cooler, moister and more pleasant weather pattern had finally arrived. Believe me; after some of those more brutal Oklahoma summers, the dew of fall and its typical rainstorms were very welcome
The first brothers fought, and Cain rose up and slew Abel. In only ten generations violence so filled the earth that God used a flood to wipe it clean. Within 5 generation Nimrod arose as a mighty ruler in Babel. Legends, if they can be trusted, indicate that he enjoyed using leopards to hunt other men. Ishmael mocked Isaac; that is when Abraham sent Ishmael away. Their rivalry remains in their descendants to this day. Jacob bested Esau in the conflict for the family birthright and the family blessing. Joseph’s ten brothers sold him into slavery. The history of the human race apart from the grace of God is a history of brother against brother. It is like a long, dry and hot summer. Sometimes one wonders if it will ever end.
Jesus came in order to reverse the curse, to destroy the effects of sin. One of the plagues of sin is the lack of brotherly love. He came to reverse that curse. He felt so strongly about it that on the night in which He was betrayed, He said,
John 13:34–35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
One of the most obvious displays of His glory is when His children love each other. It graphically displays that the long hot summer of human discontent and hate is now coming to an end. How pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It glorifies His name! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
I remember walking to grade school in the fall. The long hot summer was over. As the weather changed, so did the dew points. The grass was drenched with the early morning dew. There was something refreshing about it. The dry heat of summer was gone; a new, cooler, moister and more pleasant weather pattern had finally arrived. Believe me; after some of those more brutal Oklahoma summers, the dew of fall and its typical rainstorms were very welcome
The first brothers fought, and Cain rose up and slew Abel. In only ten generations violence so filled the earth that God used a flood to wipe it clean. Within 5 generation Nimrod arose as a mighty ruler in Babel. Legends, if they can be trusted, indicate that he enjoyed using leopards to hunt other men. Ishmael mocked Isaac; that is when Abraham sent Ishmael away. Their rivalry remains in their descendants to this day. Jacob bested Esau in the conflict for the family birthright and the family blessing. Joseph’s ten brothers sold him into slavery. The history of the human race apart from the grace of God is a history of brother against brother. It is like a long, dry and hot summer. Sometimes one wonders if it will ever end.
Jesus came in order to reverse the curse, to destroy the effects of sin. One of the plagues of sin is the lack of brotherly love. He came to reverse that curse. He felt so strongly about it that on the night in which He was betrayed, He said,
John 13:34–35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.
One of the most obvious displays of His glory is when His children love each other. It graphically displays that the long hot summer of human discontent and hate is now coming to an end. How pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It glorifies His name! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Friday, May 11, 2012
May 11
Psalm 130
“It’s a hole where you put people to forget about them.” What’s that? If you have ever seen Labyrinth, you might recognize that definition. It might not be an exact quote, but it is close. It is the definition of an oubliette. If I remember correctly, it is a French word, and its etymology does come from a word which means to forget. Apparently they were holes chiseled in rock in the bottom of French dungeons. The only door was in the floor of the dungeon, the ceiling of the oubliette. They would literally drop the inmate into the oubliette. It was the very depths of the dungeon, and there was no way out. One could cry out for help in the oubliette, but the only ones who could hear were the inmates above. Alone, no light, no help, left to sit in your own waste, maybe you would get some bread and water, maybe not. The people of the middle ages indeed had some cruel and unusual punishments.
Ever felt that you were in a spiritual oubliette? Ever been times when you felt spiritually and emotionally that there was absolutely no light or help to be had? Ever felt that the only ones who heard you were other inmates, who were better off than you but powerless to help? “Out of the depths I have cried to You, O LORD; Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.” The glory of the Lord is that He will come to us in those situations. He will be our light, our life, our perfume to take away the stench, our bread to satisfy our hunger and our water to quench our thirst. Though we be in the depths of the oubliette, He will come to us. He will hear our voice; He will forgive our sin out of which our oubliette is carved. He will bring His morning light and with it redemption. Physically the oubliette may remain, but spiritually He is with us with His light. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
“It’s a hole where you put people to forget about them.” What’s that? If you have ever seen Labyrinth, you might recognize that definition. It might not be an exact quote, but it is close. It is the definition of an oubliette. If I remember correctly, it is a French word, and its etymology does come from a word which means to forget. Apparently they were holes chiseled in rock in the bottom of French dungeons. The only door was in the floor of the dungeon, the ceiling of the oubliette. They would literally drop the inmate into the oubliette. It was the very depths of the dungeon, and there was no way out. One could cry out for help in the oubliette, but the only ones who could hear were the inmates above. Alone, no light, no help, left to sit in your own waste, maybe you would get some bread and water, maybe not. The people of the middle ages indeed had some cruel and unusual punishments.
Ever felt that you were in a spiritual oubliette? Ever been times when you felt spiritually and emotionally that there was absolutely no light or help to be had? Ever felt that the only ones who heard you were other inmates, who were better off than you but powerless to help? “Out of the depths I have cried to You, O LORD; Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.” The glory of the Lord is that He will come to us in those situations. He will be our light, our life, our perfume to take away the stench, our bread to satisfy our hunger and our water to quench our thirst. Though we be in the depths of the oubliette, He will come to us. He will hear our voice; He will forgive our sin out of which our oubliette is carved. He will bring His morning light and with it redemption. Physically the oubliette may remain, but spiritually He is with us with His light. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Thursday, May 10, 2012
May 10
Psalm 129
The amount of persecution against the cause of Christ in this world is truly staggering. This morning I noted that the president has come out clearly in favor of promoting and supporting same sex marriage. To me, the timing would appear to be a reaction to North Carolina passing the marriage amendment. The current president has repeatedly made comments and supported actions that repudiate his alleged profession of being a Christian. Consider this paragraph from the Manahattan Declaration of Oct. 2009:
We see this, for example, in the effort to weaken or eliminate conscience clauses, and therefore to compel pro-life institutions (including religiously affiliated hospitals and clinics), and pro-life physicians, surgeons, nurses, and other health care professionals, to refer for abortions and, in certain cases, even to perform or participate in abortions. We see it in the use of anti- discrimination statutes to force religious institutions, businesses, and service providers of various sorts to comply with activities they judge to be deeply immoral or go out of business. After the judicial imposition of "same-sex marriage" in Massachusetts, for example, Catholic Charities chose with great reluctance to end its century-long work of helping to place orphaned children in good homes rather than comply with a legal mandate that it place children in same-sex households in violation of Catholic moral teaching. In New Jersey, after the establishment of a quasi-marital "civil unions" scheme, a Methodist institution was stripped of its tax exempt status when it declined, as a matter of religious conscience, to permit a facility it owned and operated to be used for ceremonies blessing homosexual unions. In Canada and some European nations, Christian clergy have been prosecuted for preaching Biblical norms against the practice of homosexuality. New hate-crime laws in America raise the specter of the same practice here
It would appear that the president has added one more link in the chain that will eventually, if left unchecked, lead to further curtailment of religious liberty and eventual persecution of believers in the USA. Perhaps a good dose of persecution is what the Laodicean Church of the USA needs in order to cure it of its carnality.
“Let Israel now say, . . .” This is a corporate song referring to the corporate experience of God’s people. We really do not know when it was written. Quite probably it was around the time of the return from Babylon. The Babylonians cruelly treated Israel in her destruction by them. In cruel circumstances many are prone to respond by asking, “How could a righteous, loving God allow this to happen to me/us?” Clearly the implication of the question is that God is either not righteous or not loving. But in contrast Israel is called to declare that the Lord is righteous, because He does bring deliverance by cutting the chords of their captors. Israel then asks for equity upon their non-repentant persecutors.
What a contrast with the attitude of Jesus upon the cross and Stephen while being stoned, when they asked God to forgive the ones killing them! Or is it? When Jesus and Stephen uttered those words, they were in the process of dying. Jesus and Stephen died in shame as criminals. Israel was kicked out of the land in shame as criminals. If this Psalm was written upon their return to the land, then their persecutors are long since dead. Their persecutors no longer have a chance to repent. Within the watching crowd of Jesus’ and Stephen’s death were persecutors who would one day repent. Notably, Saul was among the Stephen crowd. Their prayers were literally answered. Many in the crowd later repented and found forgiveness.
But one day, Jesus will return. He will not return in shame as a criminal. When He returns, He will bring with Him Stephen, those who were persecuted and all those who have believed. At that point there will be no more opportunity for repentance and forgiveness. There will be no more opportunity for blessing from the Lord. Only righteousness and justice will be dispensed. Fortunately for me and hopefully you, I have already claimed the righteousness of Jesus, which He has so freely given me. Consequently for me, the justice of the Father and Son will have already been carried out upon the cross. But those who refused the forgiveness of the cross will be condemned. They will receive the curse laid out at the end of this Psalm, and rightly so for they rejected the offered sacrifice and forgiveness of the King. He would be unrighteous not to condemn them. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
The amount of persecution against the cause of Christ in this world is truly staggering. This morning I noted that the president has come out clearly in favor of promoting and supporting same sex marriage. To me, the timing would appear to be a reaction to North Carolina passing the marriage amendment. The current president has repeatedly made comments and supported actions that repudiate his alleged profession of being a Christian. Consider this paragraph from the Manahattan Declaration of Oct. 2009:
We see this, for example, in the effort to weaken or eliminate conscience clauses, and therefore to compel pro-life institutions (including religiously affiliated hospitals and clinics), and pro-life physicians, surgeons, nurses, and other health care professionals, to refer for abortions and, in certain cases, even to perform or participate in abortions. We see it in the use of anti- discrimination statutes to force religious institutions, businesses, and service providers of various sorts to comply with activities they judge to be deeply immoral or go out of business. After the judicial imposition of "same-sex marriage" in Massachusetts, for example, Catholic Charities chose with great reluctance to end its century-long work of helping to place orphaned children in good homes rather than comply with a legal mandate that it place children in same-sex households in violation of Catholic moral teaching. In New Jersey, after the establishment of a quasi-marital "civil unions" scheme, a Methodist institution was stripped of its tax exempt status when it declined, as a matter of religious conscience, to permit a facility it owned and operated to be used for ceremonies blessing homosexual unions. In Canada and some European nations, Christian clergy have been prosecuted for preaching Biblical norms against the practice of homosexuality. New hate-crime laws in America raise the specter of the same practice here
It would appear that the president has added one more link in the chain that will eventually, if left unchecked, lead to further curtailment of religious liberty and eventual persecution of believers in the USA. Perhaps a good dose of persecution is what the Laodicean Church of the USA needs in order to cure it of its carnality.
“Let Israel now say, . . .” This is a corporate song referring to the corporate experience of God’s people. We really do not know when it was written. Quite probably it was around the time of the return from Babylon. The Babylonians cruelly treated Israel in her destruction by them. In cruel circumstances many are prone to respond by asking, “How could a righteous, loving God allow this to happen to me/us?” Clearly the implication of the question is that God is either not righteous or not loving. But in contrast Israel is called to declare that the Lord is righteous, because He does bring deliverance by cutting the chords of their captors. Israel then asks for equity upon their non-repentant persecutors.
What a contrast with the attitude of Jesus upon the cross and Stephen while being stoned, when they asked God to forgive the ones killing them! Or is it? When Jesus and Stephen uttered those words, they were in the process of dying. Jesus and Stephen died in shame as criminals. Israel was kicked out of the land in shame as criminals. If this Psalm was written upon their return to the land, then their persecutors are long since dead. Their persecutors no longer have a chance to repent. Within the watching crowd of Jesus’ and Stephen’s death were persecutors who would one day repent. Notably, Saul was among the Stephen crowd. Their prayers were literally answered. Many in the crowd later repented and found forgiveness.
But one day, Jesus will return. He will not return in shame as a criminal. When He returns, He will bring with Him Stephen, those who were persecuted and all those who have believed. At that point there will be no more opportunity for repentance and forgiveness. There will be no more opportunity for blessing from the Lord. Only righteousness and justice will be dispensed. Fortunately for me and hopefully you, I have already claimed the righteousness of Jesus, which He has so freely given me. Consequently for me, the justice of the Father and Son will have already been carried out upon the cross. But those who refused the forgiveness of the cross will be condemned. They will receive the curse laid out at the end of this Psalm, and rightly so for they rejected the offered sacrifice and forgiveness of the King. He would be unrighteous not to condemn them. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
May 8
Psalm 127
As a freshman in college, I was taking too many classes, working too many hours and involved in too many activities. The combination resulted in too little sleep. I would study up on the fourth floor of the library in the religion section. Occasionally the Campus Crusade for Christ staff would have their morning devotions there. Frequently I would fall asleep at my study desk. On one of those occasions I awoke with a handwritten note on my open text book. It simply read, “It is vain for you to rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows; For so He gives His beloved sleep.”—Psalm 127:2. It was signed by one of the CCC staff women. I was confronted with the practical fact that it is the glory of the Lord to give his children sleep. If I order my life so that I am not getting enough sleep and that happens on a continual basis, then it demonstrates that I really do not trust that He will provide for me in such a way so that I will plan to take the sleep that is needed for good health. I wish I could say that I learned my lesson then. I had to relearn that lesson in seminary. As my age is catching up with me, I think that the Lord is forcing me to learn that lesson. I can no longer keep the schedules I used to keep and remain buoyant.
There is a similar lesson to be learned in relation to making the Lord the center of our families or cities. It is the glory of the Lord to provide the grace to build into our children’s lives. I really believe that some form of consistent reading of the word as parents with children is a necessary ingredient for allowing the Lord to build our families. Where else can our children see the glory of the Lord except when we read them diligently to our children, and talk of them when we sit in our houses, when we walk by the way, when we lie down, and when we rise up. Somehow they have to hear the word and see it lived out in our lives. It has to be something that God accomplishes. He does everything through His Spirit and His Word. That is how He shows His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
As a freshman in college, I was taking too many classes, working too many hours and involved in too many activities. The combination resulted in too little sleep. I would study up on the fourth floor of the library in the religion section. Occasionally the Campus Crusade for Christ staff would have their morning devotions there. Frequently I would fall asleep at my study desk. On one of those occasions I awoke with a handwritten note on my open text book. It simply read, “It is vain for you to rise up early, To sit up late, To eat the bread of sorrows; For so He gives His beloved sleep.”—Psalm 127:2. It was signed by one of the CCC staff women. I was confronted with the practical fact that it is the glory of the Lord to give his children sleep. If I order my life so that I am not getting enough sleep and that happens on a continual basis, then it demonstrates that I really do not trust that He will provide for me in such a way so that I will plan to take the sleep that is needed for good health. I wish I could say that I learned my lesson then. I had to relearn that lesson in seminary. As my age is catching up with me, I think that the Lord is forcing me to learn that lesson. I can no longer keep the schedules I used to keep and remain buoyant.
There is a similar lesson to be learned in relation to making the Lord the center of our families or cities. It is the glory of the Lord to provide the grace to build into our children’s lives. I really believe that some form of consistent reading of the word as parents with children is a necessary ingredient for allowing the Lord to build our families. Where else can our children see the glory of the Lord except when we read them diligently to our children, and talk of them when we sit in our houses, when we walk by the way, when we lie down, and when we rise up. Somehow they have to hear the word and see it lived out in our lives. It has to be something that God accomplishes. He does everything through His Spirit and His Word. That is how He shows His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Monday, May 7, 2012
May 7
Psalm 126
The Glory of the Lord is that He sets the captive free. I do not know about you, but He has set this captive free. I was chained to sin; He broke the chains. I was a debtor beyond my ability to repay; He paid my debt. There are times of poverty, but He replaces them with His riches. There will be times of poverty, but He will replace them with His riches. The principle is: Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. That is an aspect of His glory! I certainly want to exchange my poverty and slavery for His riches and freedom because it is all about experiencing His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
The Glory of the Lord is that He sets the captive free. I do not know about you, but He has set this captive free. I was chained to sin; He broke the chains. I was a debtor beyond my ability to repay; He paid my debt. There are times of poverty, but He replaces them with His riches. There will be times of poverty, but He will replace them with His riches. The principle is: Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. That is an aspect of His glory! I certainly want to exchange my poverty and slavery for His riches and freedom because it is all about experiencing His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Friday, May 4, 2012
May 4
Psalm 123
The summer before my eighth grade school year, I went to a one-week-long Christian youth camp. The Holy Spirit began to convict me there that the Lord wanted me in a relationship with Him, not just my compulsory church attendance. I determined then that that was what I wanted. I did a thing that the Baptists call, ‘rededication.’ As much as I knew how at that age, I offered myself to our Lord. I knew that I should somehow be a witness for him, but did not know how to do it. So I began carrying my Bible with me to school as a declaration that I was a follower of Jesus. (I would have benefited much more if I would have read, studied and applied it as much as I carried it.)
The result was that among my peers, I developed a reputation. From a few it was a reputation of admiration. Most could not have cared less. Others held me in contempt. Some found ways to express their contempt by the statements they would make. Generally that contempt expressed itself in being ignored by those who did not want to follow Christ. It could be that they felt condemned by me. I hope not. I can honestly say that was never my intention. However, Friedrich Nietzsche, (a man whose philosophy I hold in contempt) said: “Man is more sensitive to the contempt that others feel towards him than to the contempt that he feels towards himself.” Perhaps that was true of me. I really don’t know. I hope it wasn’t true. One of the side benefits of that reputation was that I was never tempted by a peer to join in their immorality. Sometimes a downside was a feeling of isolation. How should a follower of Jesus handle the contempt that Jesus and Paul said is bound to happen to a Christ follower?
Dictionary.com defines contempt as:
1. the feeling with which a person regards anything considered mean, vile, or worthless; disdain; scorn.
2. the state of being despised; dishonor; disgrace.
As a believer in the USA, it is really the major kind of persecution that I have experienced for the name of Christ. The Psalmist is feeling that kind of contempt. He says, “I will lift up my eyes, O You who dwell in the Heavens.” The one place that he can gain relief from the contempt of His peers is gazing into the face of the Lord of glory. It is only in lifting up our eyes upon Him that we get the relief we need or desire from the contempt of others. Does that mean that He will take their contempt away? No! It means that when I have gazed upon His glory it changes me! Their contempt becomes a mute issue in comparison to the sweetness of His glory.
I have four dogs. Occasionally I feed them from what I am snacking on. Whenever they realize that I am snacking on something, they will surround me. Their eyes will be intently focused on the food in my hand. Wherever my hand goes, their eyes are following. They know that if they watch long enough and closely enough that they might receive some tasty morsel. When we are wounded by the contempt of others for the name of Christ, it is time to stare intently upon His glory until we receive the mercy we need from Him. When He reveals His glory to us, its sweetness causes all contempt of others to melt in comparison. Oh, He is sweet! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
The summer before my eighth grade school year, I went to a one-week-long Christian youth camp. The Holy Spirit began to convict me there that the Lord wanted me in a relationship with Him, not just my compulsory church attendance. I determined then that that was what I wanted. I did a thing that the Baptists call, ‘rededication.’ As much as I knew how at that age, I offered myself to our Lord. I knew that I should somehow be a witness for him, but did not know how to do it. So I began carrying my Bible with me to school as a declaration that I was a follower of Jesus. (I would have benefited much more if I would have read, studied and applied it as much as I carried it.)
The result was that among my peers, I developed a reputation. From a few it was a reputation of admiration. Most could not have cared less. Others held me in contempt. Some found ways to express their contempt by the statements they would make. Generally that contempt expressed itself in being ignored by those who did not want to follow Christ. It could be that they felt condemned by me. I hope not. I can honestly say that was never my intention. However, Friedrich Nietzsche, (a man whose philosophy I hold in contempt) said: “Man is more sensitive to the contempt that others feel towards him than to the contempt that he feels towards himself.” Perhaps that was true of me. I really don’t know. I hope it wasn’t true. One of the side benefits of that reputation was that I was never tempted by a peer to join in their immorality. Sometimes a downside was a feeling of isolation. How should a follower of Jesus handle the contempt that Jesus and Paul said is bound to happen to a Christ follower?
Dictionary.com defines contempt as:
1. the feeling with which a person regards anything considered mean, vile, or worthless; disdain; scorn.
2. the state of being despised; dishonor; disgrace.
As a believer in the USA, it is really the major kind of persecution that I have experienced for the name of Christ. The Psalmist is feeling that kind of contempt. He says, “I will lift up my eyes, O You who dwell in the Heavens.” The one place that he can gain relief from the contempt of His peers is gazing into the face of the Lord of glory. It is only in lifting up our eyes upon Him that we get the relief we need or desire from the contempt of others. Does that mean that He will take their contempt away? No! It means that when I have gazed upon His glory it changes me! Their contempt becomes a mute issue in comparison to the sweetness of His glory.
I have four dogs. Occasionally I feed them from what I am snacking on. Whenever they realize that I am snacking on something, they will surround me. Their eyes will be intently focused on the food in my hand. Wherever my hand goes, their eyes are following. They know that if they watch long enough and closely enough that they might receive some tasty morsel. When we are wounded by the contempt of others for the name of Christ, it is time to stare intently upon His glory until we receive the mercy we need from Him. When He reveals His glory to us, its sweetness causes all contempt of others to melt in comparison. Oh, He is sweet! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Thursday, May 3, 2012
May 3
Psalm 122
I learned something about Israel last week that I guess I already knew, but I had just never heard that comparison before. “The modern state of Israel is about the geographic size of the panhandle of Oklahoma.” Like the panhandle, a good portion of it is dry. Hmm. . . How could such a little state be the focus so many world events? It wouldn’t seem that such a little country would matter in the affairs of the world. How many times has its capital, Jerusalem been destroyed and rebuilt? How many nations have surrounded its walls? Since David captured Jerusalem around 1000 B.C. these nations have sought to control its gates: Egypt, Ethiopia, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Syria, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, the Seleucids, Rome. That was only the first thousand years. From the time of the Muslim conquest to the present it has been the recipient of waves of conquerors, Muslim and/or so-called Christian. Why is it the site of so much upheaval? Simple, it represents everything that Satan detests—the rule and reign of God.
The Psalmist states it in a positive way in the last verse, “I will now say, ‘Peace be within you.’ Because of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your good.” For whatever reason, God has chosen Jerusalem to be the focus place of His redemptive plan. It would seem to me therefore that to act in aggression against Jerusalem, without the direct instruction of God, would be to act in aggression against God’s redemptive plan. Jerusalem was the place that God set to place His presence in order to redeem the human race. To act in aggression against Jerusalem without the direct instruction of God would be to act in aggression against God’s presence. Jerusalem was the place where God chose to set His name. To act in aggression against Jerusalem without the direct instruction of God would be to act in aggression against God’s Name. Jerusalem was the place where God chose to set His glory. To act in aggression against Jerusalem without the direct instruction of God would be to act in aggression against God’s glory.
For these reasons we must pray for the peace of Jerusalem, all the while realizing that true peace will never come until the Prince of Peace reigns upon His throne there. If I really understand praying for the peace of Jerusalem, my prayers go beyond physical peace. It is a prayer asking for the return of the Prince of Peace. He said that the end would not come until the Gospel of the Kingdom was preached as a witness to all nations (ethnic groups). I am convinced that praying for the peace of Jerusalem includes praying for the completion of the Great Commission. Yes, it includes praying for physical peace right now, but ultimately physical peace will never come until Jesus returns physically and comes to destroy those who destroy the earth. Then His glory will shine like the sun, and all shall see it. Then the nations will stream to Jerusalem to worship Him and bring the glory He so richly deserves. Then the nations will see and experience His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
I learned something about Israel last week that I guess I already knew, but I had just never heard that comparison before. “The modern state of Israel is about the geographic size of the panhandle of Oklahoma.” Like the panhandle, a good portion of it is dry. Hmm. . . How could such a little state be the focus so many world events? It wouldn’t seem that such a little country would matter in the affairs of the world. How many times has its capital, Jerusalem been destroyed and rebuilt? How many nations have surrounded its walls? Since David captured Jerusalem around 1000 B.C. these nations have sought to control its gates: Egypt, Ethiopia, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Syria, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, the Seleucids, Rome. That was only the first thousand years. From the time of the Muslim conquest to the present it has been the recipient of waves of conquerors, Muslim and/or so-called Christian. Why is it the site of so much upheaval? Simple, it represents everything that Satan detests—the rule and reign of God.
The Psalmist states it in a positive way in the last verse, “I will now say, ‘Peace be within you.’ Because of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your good.” For whatever reason, God has chosen Jerusalem to be the focus place of His redemptive plan. It would seem to me therefore that to act in aggression against Jerusalem, without the direct instruction of God, would be to act in aggression against God’s redemptive plan. Jerusalem was the place that God set to place His presence in order to redeem the human race. To act in aggression against Jerusalem without the direct instruction of God would be to act in aggression against God’s presence. Jerusalem was the place where God chose to set His name. To act in aggression against Jerusalem without the direct instruction of God would be to act in aggression against God’s Name. Jerusalem was the place where God chose to set His glory. To act in aggression against Jerusalem without the direct instruction of God would be to act in aggression against God’s glory.
For these reasons we must pray for the peace of Jerusalem, all the while realizing that true peace will never come until the Prince of Peace reigns upon His throne there. If I really understand praying for the peace of Jerusalem, my prayers go beyond physical peace. It is a prayer asking for the return of the Prince of Peace. He said that the end would not come until the Gospel of the Kingdom was preached as a witness to all nations (ethnic groups). I am convinced that praying for the peace of Jerusalem includes praying for the completion of the Great Commission. Yes, it includes praying for physical peace right now, but ultimately physical peace will never come until Jesus returns physically and comes to destroy those who destroy the earth. Then His glory will shine like the sun, and all shall see it. Then the nations will stream to Jerusalem to worship Him and bring the glory He so richly deserves. Then the nations will see and experience His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
May 2
Psalm 121
At the beginning of the Civil War, the Native Americans who had been displaced to Oklahoma began to discuss among themselves as to which side they should align themselves. Many of them wanted to be aligned with the southern Confederacy. Many others felt that it was a white man’s war, and they should just stay out of it. It began to appear that a majority would side with the South. Many felt that it would not go well with them if they sided with the south or if they sought to remain in Oklahoma among those who desired the break-up of the union. They gathered their possessions and relatives and followed the Creek leader, Opothle Yahola. They had had some communications with the Union, asking that the Union honor the treaties by giving them protection from those who would attack them. But the Union was spread too thin, and it would not send the needed support until years later. Opothle Yahola sought to move his band of loyalists to an area where they could live peacefully. Col. Douglas Cooper of Texas took about 1400 men to bring Yahola’s band under submission or to drive them from the area. On November 19, 1861 He caught up with them probably near what is now called the twin mounds, east of Stillwater, near the intersection of SH51 & SH18. While the Southern cavalry was driven back, Yahola knew that his band could not stay. They broke camp during the night and fled. Eventually Cooper drove the group of men, women and children into Kansas.
When Yahola’s group finally reached the military fort in Kansas, it was in the middle of a blizzard. The military was either unable or unwilling to help them. That winter many died from exposure. They had looked to the U.S. Government for help, but they did not receive it. It was another fine example of the U.S. reneging on one of its treaties with Native Americans.
When the Psalmist needed help, to where did he look? If he needed to be kept from harm, or preserved from spoiling, to where would he look? The old Jebusite city of Jerusalem was built outcrop of rock south of Mount Moriah. The site was picked because of its steep inclination. It was perfect for lining the top with walls. An invader would be forced to scale a steep hill or cliff before scaling the city walls. The only way that David was able to conquer the city was through sneaking through the water tunnel to gain access to the city. From the old city, one had to look up to Mount Moriah. It was there that Abraham was told to sacrifice Isaac. It was there that David bought the field from Araunah the Jebusite and offered the sacrifice that stayed the hand of the Death Angel. It was there that Solomon built the first temple. Just outside of the city gates, northwest of the temple, Jesus was crucified, buried and rose again. Where does the Psalmist look for help? From the old city of Jerusalem, he had to look up to the hills, to Mount Moriah. It stands for eternity as the place of God’s sacrifice in order to deal with our sin.
When I need help, to where do I look? I look to the cross. The government will fail me as it did Yahola. The church will sometimes fail me. My family will sometimes fail me. Even I will fail me, but Jesus never fails. He will preserve my soul, and that is one thing that is glorious about Him! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
At the beginning of the Civil War, the Native Americans who had been displaced to Oklahoma began to discuss among themselves as to which side they should align themselves. Many of them wanted to be aligned with the southern Confederacy. Many others felt that it was a white man’s war, and they should just stay out of it. It began to appear that a majority would side with the South. Many felt that it would not go well with them if they sided with the south or if they sought to remain in Oklahoma among those who desired the break-up of the union. They gathered their possessions and relatives and followed the Creek leader, Opothle Yahola. They had had some communications with the Union, asking that the Union honor the treaties by giving them protection from those who would attack them. But the Union was spread too thin, and it would not send the needed support until years later. Opothle Yahola sought to move his band of loyalists to an area where they could live peacefully. Col. Douglas Cooper of Texas took about 1400 men to bring Yahola’s band under submission or to drive them from the area. On November 19, 1861 He caught up with them probably near what is now called the twin mounds, east of Stillwater, near the intersection of SH51 & SH18. While the Southern cavalry was driven back, Yahola knew that his band could not stay. They broke camp during the night and fled. Eventually Cooper drove the group of men, women and children into Kansas.
When Yahola’s group finally reached the military fort in Kansas, it was in the middle of a blizzard. The military was either unable or unwilling to help them. That winter many died from exposure. They had looked to the U.S. Government for help, but they did not receive it. It was another fine example of the U.S. reneging on one of its treaties with Native Americans.
When the Psalmist needed help, to where did he look? If he needed to be kept from harm, or preserved from spoiling, to where would he look? The old Jebusite city of Jerusalem was built outcrop of rock south of Mount Moriah. The site was picked because of its steep inclination. It was perfect for lining the top with walls. An invader would be forced to scale a steep hill or cliff before scaling the city walls. The only way that David was able to conquer the city was through sneaking through the water tunnel to gain access to the city. From the old city, one had to look up to Mount Moriah. It was there that Abraham was told to sacrifice Isaac. It was there that David bought the field from Araunah the Jebusite and offered the sacrifice that stayed the hand of the Death Angel. It was there that Solomon built the first temple. Just outside of the city gates, northwest of the temple, Jesus was crucified, buried and rose again. Where does the Psalmist look for help? From the old city of Jerusalem, he had to look up to the hills, to Mount Moriah. It stands for eternity as the place of God’s sacrifice in order to deal with our sin.
When I need help, to where do I look? I look to the cross. The government will fail me as it did Yahola. The church will sometimes fail me. My family will sometimes fail me. Even I will fail me, but Jesus never fails. He will preserve my soul, and that is one thing that is glorious about Him! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
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