April 14

LEVITICUS 18 Various sexual perversions and sins are addressed here. God’s people are to reflect His glory. If we are caught up in sexual perversion, we mar the image of His glory. The practices that are mentioned here are things that were practiced in Egypt and in the countries in which God was removing the people to give the land to Israel. Notice that verses 24 & 25 specifically state that it was because of these practices that God was removing them from the land. In general the practices included: various forms of incest, sexual impurity, child sacrifice, homosexuality, and bestiality. His glory is not found in these practices. But it is His glory to forgive them and restore those ensnared by them. Lord let us reflect Your glory by walking in purity and forgiving those ensnared by such sin. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * PSALM 104 Light, what is it? The website Oracle Think Quest Education Foundation defines light as “simply a name for a range of electromagnetic radiation that can be detected by the human eye.” But what is electromagnetic radiation? At this point I begin to have difficulty grasping all of the concepts involved. But this I understand, God created the human eye and light. Both were created so that His creation might be able to know and understand the reality around them and to interact with it. While light has many more functions than revealing reality, in relation to the eye, light helps the brain of an organism understand reality. But light has more functions than that. The light from the sun brings life. Without sunlight we would die. It provides heat for our planet. It provides energy so that plants can do photosynthesis to convert light into food. The Psalmist says, “You are clothed with honor and majesty, Who cover Yourself with light as with a garment, Who stretch out the heavens like a curtain.” Now on the one hand, God’s word is always scientifically accurate, but on the other hand, the main emphasis of a passage is not always the scientific import that the words project but the effect of the image that the words project. What does the image, “You cover Yourself with light as with a garment,” project in your spirit? Well, the first image that I get is brilliant terror. Then the science behind the word sends my mind reeling in several directions. The first is that in His presence, His light, reality is truly found. I live in the darkness of world that shade reality. What I often think is a true description of my world, I often later find to be skewed by my nature, my worldview and my enemy. All of these are contrary to His marvelous light. The second is that in His presence, His light, energy is created in my exhausted life. His light comes under my wings lifting me up to soar as the eagle. A third is that His light brings me emotional warmth. There is nothing better than basking in the sunlight on a cool day. So too, there is nothing better than basking in the light of His presence in the dinginess of this sinful world. The Psalmist uses many other images as well, such as clouds and wind. As I write, there is a thunderstorm going on outside. Nothing provokes the image of raw power in me as does an electrical storm. A moment ago a sudden surge of wind swept through the window next to me. An electrical bolt accompanied by a shock of thunder boomed through the neighborhood. Was He riding by on His chariot? Was He walking on the wind? He is certainly an awesome God of power! His angels are ministers of fire. He created the foundations of the Earth! He sets the boundaries of the oceans! He keeps the water cycle, cycling! He keeps the food cycle going! In short He holds life together. Without Him, there is no life! This is His glory! The light of His glory lights up my life. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * ISAIAH 11-12 “All Things Bright and Beautiful, the Lord God Made them All” Perhaps you have sung the song before. On the one hand, I appreciate its sentiment. Although we live in a cursed world, it is still very beautiful indeed. It is so beautiful in fact that we usually don’t want to leave it. We cling to it. It feels like home. On the other hand, This world is full of dark and troublesome things. Indeed we do live in a sin cursed world. There are arachnids, insects and snakes whose bite can cause serious damage and even death. We are all aware of animals of prey which we don’t want to meet alone in the wild, such as lions and tigers and bears (oh my). Then there are a host of plants as well that can be dangerous to our existence if not producing annoying allergies. And then there are weather patterns that we cannot control that produce drought, flood, tornados, hurricanes etc. Add to these earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions. It does not seem that our Creator created a very safe world for us. We must keep in mind that we do live in a cursed creation. It is cursed because of our sin! In the words of Ken Ham could you imagine a song entitled, “All Things Bright and Beautiful, the Lord God Cursed them All?” How do these things reveal the glory of our Lord Jesus? It is for the redemption of that cursed world that the Lord Jesus came. Today’s passage gives us a glimpse of how He shall change it when He returns to rule as the promised Messiah. He will take this mess and restore it to its original glorious state. Can you imagine a child playing with a cobra? Can you imagine the Palestinian and the Israeli living in peaceful coexistence? Can you imagine a calf and a lion lying down together to eat grass? Our Lord Jesus will do that. In the meantime He desires that we permit Him to uproot the sin in our own lives that he might reign supreme in our hearts. He desires the death of ourselves that He might live in us. He does it as we trust Him. Now that is glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * LUKE 12:32-59 Wal*Mart once had a bunch of shopping baskets lined up in the isle near the cash registers. They were full of clearance items. One basket had a bunch of toys marked $3.00. My first thought was, "I'd bet Liam might like something in there." My eyes landed on a Fantastic Four toy. My thought was, "Surely that toy is not $3.00!" I picked it up and took it over to the scanner. Sure enough, if it was $3.00, it hadn't made it into the computer yet. The computer price was more than I was willing to pay out of my budget. I was born with a sin nature, yet I desire to give things to my children. I enjoy making them happy. But I also am constrained by wise use of the money that God has given me over which He has made me a steward and by what is good for them. I put the toy back. Jesus says that the Father desires to give us the Kingdom. He takes pleasure in it! He is absolutely good. Then why don't we have the entire kingdom right now? He is constrained only by His own goodness and by what is good for us. After Jesus says that the Father takes pleasure in giving to us the kingdom, He launches into a variety of things in which we are given responsibility. Do you suppose there is a connection between the Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom, what is good for us and the responsibilities He lays upon us? My three oldest children are in their twenties. I never gave any of them a car when they were living at home. Part of the reason was that I simply could not afford it. But then, my parents never gave me a car either. I remember buying my first car. It cost me something. I didn't take it lightly. I learned responsibility for taking care of it. I had it three months, and then it died. I sold it to a junk yard. I had acquaintances in high school whose parents gave them everything. One of them had a parent who gave him a brand new Z-28 for high school graduation. He wrecked in a high speed race within a year. I guess that he didn't know how to use it wisely. It really didn't mean anything to Him. It didn't cost him anything. If I had been able, I probably would never have given my children a car, when they were in their teens. They needed to learn some responsibility first. I am constrained not only by my lack of ability but also by my goodness and by what is good for them. It is the pleasure of the Father and Jesus to give us the kingdom. They are constrained only by their goodness and what is good for us. What are the responsibilities that we have? First, we are to learn the inestimable value of the eternal kingdom by investing what we cannot keep of this earthly kingdom for the eternal kingdom. You will learn the value of the eternal kingdom and receive of that kingdom in direct proportion to what you are willing to invest right now. So many people make such an issue out of tithing. It is like they are tied to some magical percentage of 10%. It is like they have the mindset, "How much of this earthly kingdom can I keep for myself?" If we really understand this principle, our mindset is, "How much of this earthly kingdom, which I am going to lose anyway, can I invest in the eternal kingdom, which I will never lose? How much can I give away?" Second, we are to be looking for the second coming of Jesus. If I really believe He is returning, I will be working to hasten His return. I will be seeking to build His kingdom now as opposed to just enjoying the kingdom of this earth. Third, I will understand that building His kingdom will bring opposition from those who desire to build an earthly kingdom, perhaps even within your own family unit. We should always strive to be at peace with people but never at the cost of turning from Jesus. This is the glory of Jesus. It is His pleasure and the Father's pleasure to give us the kingdom. But our ability to receive the eternal kingdom is in direct proportion to our focus upon Him. How much of His glory can we really see? Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john

April 13

LEVITICUS 17 Humans have always tried to create God in our likeness. Our Lord is not created in our likeness. He is beyond us. He is separate from us. He is different. He is holy. It is easy for us in our own minds to put parameters upon God, to define what He is like, to make Him fit our own paradigms. This has always been true of humanity. It is as true today as it was in the days of the ancients. However, the ancients were often more blatant in expressing it. In the days of Moses and the Egyptians they included their gods in everything. Hence, if they were going to have meat at a meal they would offer the animal first to their idols as a way of sanctifying the meal. Here, the Lord is making sure that the Israelites break from their Egyptian idolatry. He forbids them to eat sacrificial meat. The meat which they bring to the tabernacle is left there. Only the priests ate of it. If they ate meat at home, it was to be completely drained of the blood. Why? Because of God’s holiness. One constant for all ages is that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. That is why Cain’s sacrifice was not accepted. It was not a blood sacrifice. Life is in the blood. Sin requires death. Therefore, for the remission of sin, blood must be shed. Out of that death, our Lord brings life. Out of His death the Lord brings life. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * PSALM 103 Regularly we must remind ourselves of the benefits of following the Lord. Otherwise, we get wrapped up in our challenges and forget to bless Him. If we took the time to find an example of each of the things David mentions, the result would be a lengthy book. But we should do a few anyway, in so doing we see His glory and bless His holy name. He forgives all my iniquities. Dare I air my dirty laundry? Before Him I have confessed them. If I commit public sins, I will confess them as sin publicly. If I commit private sins, I will confess them privately to God. If there is a sin that seems to have a bind on me, I will find a partner to whom I can confess and who will help me in the struggle of overcoming. (Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much James 5:16.) Suffice it to say that, according to God’s standard, I have broken every one of the Ten Commandments multiple times. Apart from His forgiveness, I stand condemned before a holy God. Yet, He has forgiven me because He died and rose again on my behalf. I could stop the list right here and that would be enough to bless Him for eternity. He heals all my diseases. In the past He has healed me of Pneumonia, flus, colds, back injuries, ankle injuries, shoulder injuries, knee injuries, mononucleosis, ear infections, but on this earth He will not heal me of all diseases. I will still age; I will still die. That is one thing that I have in common with all who can read or will read this book. We will age and die, but as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have the right to come before His throne and ask if He might heal us now. He might say, “Yes.” He might say, “No,” or “Not now.” But as a believer in the Lord Jesus, He will one day grace me with a new body that will never see disease. He redeems my life from destruction as described in the last sentence, but He also has redeemed me on other occasions that are now past. Laura and I were driving on I-70 in the middle of the night. We hit black ice. There was a semi in front of us and behind us. The car began to spin out of control at 65 mph. Somehow we ended up in a snow bank with absolutely no injuries. Snow was packed up around the engine under the hood. A Highway patrolman appeared almost immediately, helped dig us out and sent us on our way with this instruction, “The highway is covered with black ice between here and the state border. Take the next exit and find a motel.” I don’t think our missing the semis or his appearance were accidents, rather they were His hand of redemption from destruction. He crowns me with lovingkindness and tender mercies. On a few occasions in my life, I can recall where His Spirit has whispered to my spirit, “I love You.” They were those experiences where words cannot express the bliss of the experience. I would walk through hell to experience it again. He satisfies my mouth with good things, so that my youth is renewed like the eagle’s. You know, sometimes I get really weary. I just want to lay down and quit. But He won’t let me. In the nick of time, He always provides what I need. It might be a vacation; it might be a retreat; it might be a prayer summit; it might be an encouraging friend; it might be just His refreshing presence. I am 57 years old. My life has been brief and will soon be over. Fifty-seven years from now, my grandchildren might think of me on occasion, but they will probably be the only ones. One hundred years from now, no one on earth (if it is still here) will think of me or remember me, or care, but the Lord will. As the flowers which I buy for my wife today will be gone tomorrow, so I will soon be gone. But He will call me to His eternal home, and there I will literally dwell with Him forever. Bless the LORD, O my soul! LORD, You are glorious! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * ISAIAH 10:5-34 Wouldn’t it be cool if God raised up out of Lybia the greatest missionary force the world has ever seen? Here is a country that oppresses its own people. Here is a country that outlaws any conversion from Muslin to anything else. Here is a country which forbids any effort to witness to others. Wouldn’t it be cool if God raised up out of Lybia the greatest missionary force the world has ever seen? God raises up people and nations for a purpose. He has a purpose for all of us. He has a purpose for the United States. He has a purpose for Lybia. If He is so purposeful, why is everything such a mess? It is simply that in the midst of doing that for which He raised us up, we rebel. We either refuse to be what He has designed us to be, or taking the gifts which He has given us and thinking that they originated with us, we wield them for our own glory boasting against Him, or we exceed the boundaries of what He intended for us. Isaiah pronounces judgment against Assyria. God raised up Assyria to judge Syria and Israel, but Assyria went further than what God intended. Assyria exalted itself against the Lord (v.15). It went beyond His intended purpose. It sought to annihilate the Lord’s chosen people. You can read how Assyria devastated the individual cities as it approached Jerusalem. Look at the list! Aiath, Migron, Michmash, Geba, Ramah, Gibeah, Gallim, Laish, Anathoth, Madmenah, Gebim, Nob, Jerusalem. But just when it seems that Assyria will have overrun them all and taken Jerusalem, “Behold, the Lord, The LORD of hosts, Will lop off the bough with terror; Those of high stature will be hewn down, And the haughty will be humbled. He will cut down the thickets of the forest with iron; And Lebanon will fall by the Mighty One.” That is exactly what happened within Isaiah’s lifetime. That is the way the Lord works. He lets the rebellion of man grow to its fullest, and then He simply lops it off. It has happened time and again throughout history. The unbeliever cries out, “How can God be just and loving and permit this?” The believer says, “It is God’s mercy that He waits so long and His justice that brings it to an end.” What do we see now? In 1966 One of the 16 points of Chairman Mao’s cultural revolution declared that all religions must be eradicated. The world watched in horror as millions, gave their lives and their freedom because they loved the Lord Jesus Christ more than life. Many Christians in the west thought that the church in China would be wiped out. Why did God raise up China? What is her purpose? Today there are probably over one hundred twenty million Christians in China. That is more than are in the United States! China is becoming one of the greatest missionary forces in the world! How cool is that? Wouldn’t it be cool if God raised up out of Lybia another of one of the greatest missionary forces the world has ever seen? That is the glory of our Lord! He makes even the wrath of man to praise Him! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * LUKE 12:1-31 If I were to ask you, "What is the greatest and most common sins among Americans?" What would you say? Would it be sexual immorality? Certainly our television programming and movies are full of it. I don't watch much broadcast TV but when I do it seems to be filled with references to divorce, adultery, fornication and homosexuality. These are all different forms of breaking the seventh commandment. Or would your answer be violence and hatred. Again the media is filled with violence. We seem to go from war to war. Our video games highlight violence. Again these are all forms of breaking the sixth commandment. Maybe you would say, "Sabbath breaking," or, "dishonoring parents," the fourth and fifth commandments. Or, would you say, "Stealing and lying," the eighth and ninth commandments? Or perhaps you would say that taking the Lord's name in vain is the most pervasive sin, the third commandment? Somebody once asked a very rich man (I have heard this attributed to J.P. Morgan and to Rockefeller), "How much is enough?" His answer was, "Just a little bit more." That is the heart of covetousness, the tenth commandment. You know our economy is somewhat based upon covetousness. We produce things people want. In order to get people to buy our brand, we come up with commercials and advertisements that incite the covetous nature in people. This product is better than that product--just a little bit more. For some people their self-concepts are formed by how well they meet the standards of Madison Avenue. Unless they have the latest clothes, electronic gadget, music or what have you, they think their life is unfulfilled. Somehow we let the advertising community tell us that our lives consist of the abundance of things we posses or the achievements we attain. Many years ago, I heard (via CD) the testimony of Neil Jeffries. He was the quarterback for the Baylor Bears in the early-mid-seventies when they defeated the Texas Longhorns for the first time in 17 years. This was the height of his career. He said that with in just a few hours after the victory and emptiness settled in. It wasn't enough. It didn't satisfy. He wanted more. Somehow we begin to think that life consists of the things we possess or the accomplishments we achieve or the recognition we receive. Of what then, does life consist? Well He is our Creator-not a watch maker who put us together and then left us to ourselves. He is intimately involved in all our affairs! He has Created us to enjoy Him forever. If that is true then, when we put our focus on the things He has created rather than upon Him, we are essentially turning our back on life itself. We are turning our back on that of which life consists! That is why focusing upon His glory is so important. If we are ashamed of His glory, it is only reasonable that He would be ashamed of us. It is time to quit focusing on creation and focus on the Creator. That is why I follow Jesus. He is my Creator. I rebelled against Him. He loved me in my rebellion. He died for me when I ignored Him. He sought me when I turned my back on that of which life consists! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor John

April 12

LEVITICUS 16 Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement is a great picture of the atonement that Jesus has accomplished upon our behalf! The Passover & feast of unleavened bread are a great picture of the Jesus as the Lamb of God sacrificed and raised on our behalf. The Day of Atonement is a great picture of the Lord Jesus as our High Priest as He takes away our sin. At the beginning of the day the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies with the blood of a bullock to make atonement for Himself. Then he would go perform the ritual of the two goats. He would slay and burn one goat representing the penalty of sin being carried out upon the sin of the people. He would enter the Holy of Holies a second time sprinkling the blood of the goat upon the mercy for a covering of sin for the people. He would take a second goat and lay his hands upon it. This represented the transference of the sins of the people to the goat. The goat would then be driven away into the wilderness. This indicated the carrying of the sins far away from the people. This is what Jesus had done for us. He offered Himself on the cross paying the death penalty for us. He offered His own blood in the heavenly temple to gain mercy for us. Our sins were transferred to Him upon the cross. He died carrying our sins into the grave. He rose again divesting Himself of all our sins. He forever removed them from us by rising from the dead. He did this because He loved the Father and He loved us. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * PSALM 102 I guess because my grandson is visiting me right now, I think about dirty diapers when I read about being changed. Babies are helpless to change themselves. Some of them like being changed. Some of them do not like it. In general they do not like being in their poop, but as they grow older, they don’t like the experience of being changed, especially if they have sat in it long enough to develop a rash. Coupled with the desire to not be controlled, the pain of the rash makes the experience of changing unbearable. What an analogy to us when we are helpless in our sin! The Psalmist says, “He shall regard the prayer of the destitute, And shall not despise their prayer.” As babies are destitute to change themselves, so are we helpless to change ourselves. Yet we are given this promise that He looks down from heaven, “To hear the groaning of the prisoner, To release those appointed to death.” That sounds a lot like Isaiah 61:1: The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; This is the passage that Jesus quoted and claimed to fulfill when He spoke in the synagogue in Nazareth. Jesus came to do that. To change the metaphor, He came to change our poopy diapers. We cannot change them ourselves. But you know, there must be cooperation on our part. I just heard my daughter-in-law cry out, “Come here! Let me change your poopy diaper.” Then I heard the footsteps of my granddaughter running away. Is that not just like us? The Lord of the Universe commands us to come to Him to permit us to be changed by him, but we run the other way. He has power to set us free, but we won’t cooperate. Does that diminish His glory? Only in the ability of others to see it. When we cooperate with Him and freely yield to his power to change, it increases the ability of other to see His changing power, and that increases his glory! Lord, let me cooperate with your changing power! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * ISAIAH 9:8-10:4 What parent among us will not discipline our child when we realize that it is needed? If we love our children, we discipline them in order to teach them how to live in this world. Is God any different? Of course He is not any different. He disciplines His own children. He disciplines us to teach us to live not only in this world, but also in the one to come. This passage is an excellent example! For generations the nation of Israel had been stiff-necked and disobedient. She had robbed the needy of justice, taken what was right from the poor, preyed upon widows and robbed the fatherless. The Lord promises that His judgment, discipline, will come. Even at that late point in Israel’s history, she thought that she could rebuild from past discipline. Israel still thought she could turn to Syria and the Philistines and with their help survive the current crisis. But the Lord warns that they will turn on Israel and devour her. God has extended His hand to discipline and it was extended still. But like a strong-willed child, Israel refuses to respond to the discipline of the Lord. She insisted on pursuing her own way. The result was the promised destruction of her leaders. So, where do I fit in this scheme? It is His glory to discipline me to teach me how to live in this world and in the next. I can learn to be compliant. One practical outworking of being compliant can be seen in how I respond to the poor, especially the widow and the orphan. He desires mercy upon them. When it is shown, it reveals His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * LUKE 11:29-54 "God show me a sign!" Have you ever said that? Sometimes I wish God would send me a certified letter about what He wants me to do. Come to think of it, He already has!! It's called the Bible and He sealed the letter in my life with His Holy Spirit. The generation in Jesus' day was seeking a sign. Hmmm, somehow healing the sick, the lame, the blind, the deaf, the mute, the leper, multiplying the loaves and fishes, delivering the demonized and raising the dead was not good enough. Hmmm, some people just are not reasonable. But before He laid into these unreasonable people, Jesus did condescend to give them one bit of information. He would give them one sign and one sign only, the sign of Jonah. What is that? Jonah died in the belly of the great fish and was resurrected in order to go preach repentance to the Ninevites. The Ninevites were the wickedest people on the face of the earth in Jonah's generation. They repented at his preaching. What is the sign? It is first of all the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. This is the bedrock of the Christian faith. Jesus is not just a good teacher, although, He was that. Jesus is not just a great man with good ideas, although, He was that also. Jesus is not just a man who greatly influenced the history of the whole earth, although, He did that. Jesus is the only man who has been raised from the dead, never to die again! Now that is a sign! If we can know anything about facts at all from history, this we know: Jesus was crucified and within three days his tomb was empty and his disciples 50 days after the resurrection were declaring Him to be risen from the dead and the enemies of Jesus had absolutely no legitimate explanation for the empty tomb. The only reasonable explanation is that He was alive again. If Jesus did not rise physically from the dead then there is absolutely no validity to the Christian faith. His resurrection makes repentance possible. Refusal to believe in the resurrection precludes the possibility of repentance. Without belief one remains under the judgment of God. Jesus pronounces woe upon those who do not believe because He knows that they will be judged and will take others with them into that judgment. Do you want to see the glory of Jesus? Look no further than the resurrection. He took a body that was totally decimated by the ravages of sin and death and raised it to perfection and holiness. The only imperfection in His body would be the scars in His hands, feet and side in order to forever remind us of the awful price that He paid to redeem our lives. His resurrection means that no matter how decimated our life might be by the ravages of sin, He can and will raise us to new life, if we will but repent and believe. What HOPE! What promise! What glory! But woe to those who will not trust! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john

April 11

LEVITICUS 15 They were desperate for a substitute teacher that day. I knew because they called me personally rather than using the computer to call. The teacher was also the cheerleading coach. She had a family emergency and had to leave in the middle of the day. I told them, “I don’t know anything about cheerleading.” “It’s okay,” was the reply. “The girls know what they are doing. You are there just to observe. If any of the girls get hurt, just immediately send someone to the office and we will take care of it.” I guess you’ve figured out that since I am telling this story, someone got hurt. The girls were doing this thing where one girl stands on the shoulders of another girl and then falls back. The others, lined-up on each side, catch her. The girl falling panicked, and instead of relaxing and coming down parallel to the ground, she came at an angle which prevented the other girls from catching her. She landed on her tailbone. There was a loud pop and a scream of pain, and I just knew that I had just witnessed a spinal cord injury. I did what I was trained to do. I made sure she didn’t try to get up. I sent a student immediately to the office. I stayed by her side until somebody else higher in authority came to assess the situation. There was nothing else I could do. By the way, it turned out that she had nothing more than a bad bruise, but it sure had me scared! That was at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. Consequently, the schools did mandatory seminars for substitute teachers on how to handle medical emergencies, which included how to handle situations where a student has lost bodily fluids. AIDS wasn’t the only one, there are many other deadly diseases which are transmitted through blood, mucus, vomit, spit, etc. In seven years of substitute teaching I never had to use the information on dealing with bodily fluids, only the one fall. I’m glad I did not have to deal with any loss of bodily fluid. Why does God go to such great length to give these health regulations concerning the loss of fluids? 1) He is our healer. He knew that we would not know that disease could be transmitted through the improper handling of the loss of bodily fluid. 2) These are symbols of sin and justice. Matthew Henry says of some of these verses:

If these ceremonial pollutions could not be done away but by sacrifice and offering, something greater and much more valuable must be expected and depended upon for the purifying of the soul from the uncleanness of sin. 7

There it is again. Our souls have been tremendously sullied by the infection of sin. We must be cleansed! Our sin vomits forth, so to speak, from our lives. It requires an emergency procedure and special handling so that the infection in our spiritual blood and spiritual fluids is removed and does not infect others. So the laws were physically useful in practicing cleanliness. They were spiritually useful as symbols of our need to be cleansed by His sacrifice. When we come to the realization that we have fallen and sullied spiritual fluids have come forth. We lie there and call upon the authority on High. He comes with forgiveness, healing and restoration. He cleanses our mess. That is His glory. He takes my sin which I vomit forth spiritually and ejaculate in spiritual adultery, and He cleanses me from the inside out. “Hallelujah! Now it cleanseth! It cleanseth, even me! Hallelujah! Now it cleanseth! Thro’ His blood I am set free!”—Rev. J.B. Weber. That is His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john 7 Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: Complete and unabridged in one volume (Le 15:19–33). Peabody: Hendrickson. * * PSALM 101 David declares that he will sing of the mercy and justice of the Lord, and then he says nothing directly about them. The rest of the Psalm talks about what he will do to ensure that justice rules in his life and in his land. He addresses some pretty basic levels of justice in this Psalm. First, in his own home he commits to walking with a perfect or blameless heart. What does it mean to walk blameless in my own home and what does that have to do with justice and mercy? If mercy and justice are realities anywhere in my life, it has to begin in my own home. It seems to me that David was a real loser here, more than eight wives, committed adultery which led to murder, failed to discipline his children (Amnon, Tamar and Absalom etc.). Wow, how could a man, who has committed to walking blameless in his house, setting no wicked thing before his eyes, and putting away a perverse heart, blow it so badly? Second he commits to justice and blamelessness in his neighborhood. He vows to not put up with those who slander his neighbor, or who looks on a neighbor with a proud heart. Is that what he was doing when he took his neighbor’s wife? Finally, he commits to executing justice in the land. He wants to destroy the wicked out of the land. What does any of this have to do with singing of the mercy and justice of the Lord? When did David write all of this anyway? Was it before his fall with Bathsheba? If so, then boy, did he blow it! Was it after his fall with Bathsheba? If so, then wow, what a recommitment and repeated failure. If man whom God calls, “A man after my own heart,” blows it so badly, is there any hope for me? Maybe by singing this, he is a living example of God’s mercy. Yes God’s mercy and justice should motivate us to walk with a blameless or perfect heart, but we are going to blow it. When we do, we need to repent turning to Him to receive His forgiveness.

I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus, the Nazarene, And wonder how He could love me, a sinner, condemned, unclean! Oh, how marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be, How marvelous, how wonderful, is my Savior’s love for me.

Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor John * * ISIAH 8:1-9:7 One of the most amazing things about the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ is that He is with us. “Immanuel” simply means “God with us.” If we were to judge by our circumstances as to whether or not God is with us, we might easily conclude, “No, He is not.” In Isaiah & Ahaz days, it would have been easy for Ahaz to conclude that God was not with them. When it came to the end of Ahaz’ life, he was not evaluated as a good king (2Kings 16:1-4), but from Isaiah it would seem that he was at least toying with the idea of being a Yahweh follower. For the sake of His people and His eternal plan, the Lord was with the nation at this time. Do you get the precarious circumstance that had befallen Judah and Ahaz at this time? Assyria was riding to the zenith of its world domination at this time. Israel and Syria were quite concerned and were convinced that only a strong alliance between Syria, Israel, Judah and Egypt could muster the force needed to with stand the surging tide of Assyria. Syria and Israel were threatening Judah with military force to join them voluntarily or be militarily subjugated to join them. Kind of a strange concept it is to force another country through military intimidation to join you in conquest. Yet it is a concept that has been used through the millennia by many countries. Indeed, Chengis Khan used it extensively to build the largest empire the world has ever seen. So what should Ahaz do? Join Syria and Israel in an alliance to fight Assyria? Or should he resist Syria and Israel, and if successful, what would he do if Assyria beat Syria and Israel? Ahaz was playing the field sacrificing to every god in order to try gain the right advantage to expand his kingdom. Enter Isaiah with an unwanted but much needed message. “God is with you. Don’t worry about Syria, Israel or Assyria. Depend totally on the presence of the One who is.” It wasn’t what Ahaz wanted to hear. God even makes Isaiah’s coming children to be a prophetic illustration of what he was going to do. God would be with them. Assyria would come in like a gentle but unstoppable flood. It would drown Syria and Israel. It would come up to Judah’s neck but not overwhelm them. Ahaz should not fear this but fear the Lord who was with him. Isaiah’s children are a sign in that even though they were just conceived, all these things would be accomplished before his son could talk. The Lord brings us a similar message today. We are not to fear our circumstances but fear Him because He is with us. We are not to pursue man’s solution but rather trust in His presence. It is a difficult thing to do when everyone else is running after what seems to be right to them. But He tells us to wait upon Him. He ordains our children to be signs of waiting upon Him. Where is the American church today? Never has there been so great a proliferation of programs and schemes to build the church as we have seen, and yet the futurists tell us that we are losing this generation. Maybe it is because we have been trusting in the hand of man rather than truly turning and trusting in the God who is with us. We must somehow live so that the fear of God is upon us. I am convinced that can only be done as we go back to the Word (law and testimony) and listen to what the Spirit says to us through it. He will show His glory in that manner. His glory will be revealed as He is with us. As He is with us, we experience that He indeed is the Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * During off-season football in high school, we were put into weight training. In the early years I was quite weak and couldn't lift anything that would impress anyone. But with persistence late in my Junior year and at the beginning of my Senior year, I was capable of benching 240 lbs. Now compared to the average power lifter who competes, that isn't much. However, compared to the person who doesn't compete, its not too shabby. It was certainly far more than I ever thought I would be able to do. I probably couldn't do 130 now. But it took persistence. Part of the glory of Jesus is that He accomplished mighty feats in His days. That which He accomplished He accomplished in the power of the Holy Spirit. With the finger of God, He cast out demons. By the Spirit of God, He entered Satan's house, bound him, took captive a host of captives, and set them free. Jesus still accomplishes mighty feats through us. He said that greater things than He did, we would do because He was going to the Father. One reason that He was going to the Father was to send the Holy Spirit to live in us. Today's passage is that classic passage of "ask and it shall be given, seek and you will find, knock and it shall be opened unto you." He precedes it with the man who received help from his neighbor at midnight because he asked persistently. How does He end it? "How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" This same Spirit who resided in Jesus, by Whom He did His works of power, now resides in us. We too with the finger of God can cast out demons. The Kingdom of God has come upon us--now but not yet! That is part of His glory! He has bound the strong man. We may spoil his goods--by the Spirit. But we must ask and at times-with persistence. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john

April 10

Leviticus 14 Newton wrote the words of the hymn Amazing Grace. Newton’s mother was apparently a believer. She had desired him to become a minister of the gospel. She died before he reached 7 years of age. His father remarried. Neither his father nor step-mother were believers; although, they were moral people. His father, a sea merchant, tried to direct him in learning the skills of being a sea merchant. He was left to his own spiritually. He vacillated between trying to be a Christian and living the immoral life of a sailor. The leprous infection of sin took hold of his life. At times he desired the integrity of a godly life, but he constantly fell back into dissipation. I have not yet reached reading of his conversion point, but I know that it eventually happened. The instruction for the cleansing of a healed leper, which is found in this chapter, is such a picture of what happens when a sinner finds amazing grace. Only after 8 days of no leprous condition would the priest declare the leper cleansed. Then a series of sacrifices were made in order to declare the miraculous cleansing. The ex-leper was to present himself to the Lord via the priests. Then a ritual was performed which spoke of His cleansing. This ritual is a picture of the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ and His cleansing of our lives. Our baptism is like the ritual which declares that we have died with Christ and risen to walk in newness of life. It declares our cleansing. Our walking in newness of life is proof that it has happened. Like Newton, we are unable to cleanse ourselves of the spiritual leprous infection of sin, but Jesus can. He delivers me from the habitual sin. What I cannot break, He can. He is the bondage breaker. That is the glory of my Jesus. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * PSALM 100 You know that there is only one reason a sheep would enter into the gates of the temple. There is only one reason that a sheep would enter the court. A sheep comes to die, to be a sacrifice. He first tells us that we are His people and the sheep of his pasture. Then He commands us to enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Hmmmm. . . Why in the world would I ever want to do that? I can only do that if I am convinced that He is good, merciful and true. How can a God who is good, merciful and true ask me to die for Him? Doesn’t that seem kind of incongruent? If He were good, would he not protect me from death? Does not goodness protect from unpleasantness and death? Does not goodness seek pleasure for its object? If God the Father loved God the Son, how could He ask Him to die for us? Sounds like a pretty awful thing to ask of your beloved son. Does love require the preservation of goodness, the expression of mercy or the enforcement of truth? If so, then perhaps it would change the way we view the expression of love. What if those three elements were more important than providing comfort or pleasure for the object of love? Did you know that www.Dictionary.com has 47 separate entries for the definition of “good?” Its first entry is, “morally excellent; virtuous; righteous; pious: a good man.” However, its nineteenth entry is, “agreeable; pleasant: Have a good time.” Can a certain circumstance be morally excellent but not pleasant? If so, then it can be both bad and good at the same time. Can a certain time be morally excellent but not pleasant? Is the death burial and resurrection of our Lord a ‘good’ thing? So while He was hanging on the cross, was it a ‘good’ time or a ‘bad’ time for Him? Well, it was both. It was bad. It was not pleasurable. It was not agreeable. It was good. It accomplished our redemption. It made it possible to restore us to a morally excellent state. While Jesus was upon the cross, He cried out, “My, God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” He was enduring the moral punishment for our sins. He was enduring the full wrath of a righteous God against our sin. At the point in which He cried out, He was not experiencing the mercy of God, but the wrath of God. Whether you agree or not, the moral excellence of God, (his goodness) was on display. There is goodness in justice, and His justice was being meted out. But His goodness led to the showing of His mercy. Dictionary.com defines mercy as: 1. compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence: Have mercy on the poor sinner. 2. the disposition to be compassionate or forbearing: an adversary wholly without mercy. 3. the discretionary power of a judge to pardon someone or to mitigate punishment, especially to send to prison rather than invoke the death penalty. 4. an act of kindness, compassion, or favor: She has performed countless small mercies for her friends and neighbors. 5. something that gives evidence of divine favor; blessing: It was just a mercy we had our seat belts on when it happened God accepted the sacrifice of His Son and had mercy upon Him, raising Him from the dead. His death, burial and resurrection are also evidence of His truth. Since truth is the actual state of a matter, it is impossible that the Creator could be anything but truth. However, truth also refers to faithfulness to a standard. That the Son should die for us at the request of the Father clearly demonstrates that He is true. He remained faithful to His love for the Father, and they remained faithful to their love for us. The definitions all sound rather cold and factual, but grasping His goodness, mercy and truth are very important in my motivation for entering His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise as a sheep. I can joyfully enter, knowing that I will die, because His goodness means that upon my sacrifice, He will produce the highest form righteousness in me. My death releases Him to build righteousness in me, ever expanding His glory. As His goodness is displayed in my death, He pours His mercy upon me resulting in my resurrection as He was raised. His goodness and mercy showered upon me yields faithfulness in my relationship with Him allowing me to fully enjoy His love. Immersed in the bliss of His love, I cannot but help to bring great glory to His name! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * ISAIAH 7 I had an English prof in college who seemed to want to make a big deal out of the fact that the Hebrew word translated as virgin in this passage can also be translated as a young maid. She felt that as a Christian, she did not have to insist upon a virgin birth. I guess it made Jesus more palatable to her if His was of just an ordinary birth. Ahaz was stuck between a rock and a hard place. The mightiest nation of the world of his day was threatening invasion to Syria, Israel, Egypt and his own, Judah. Consequently, his neighbors were threatening him to join them in an alliance against Assyria. It appeared if he did not join the alliance, then he would be invaded by his neighbors. If he did join the alliance, then he might be invaded by Assyria. Which would be more palatable to believe, join your neighbors and stand against the mightiest nation on earth, or stand along against the mightiest nation on earth? In the midst of this decision Isaiah gives him this instruction to trust only in the Lord. As a miraculous sign to encourage faith, he tells him that the virgin will conceive and bear a son. Now what is the greater sign, that a maiden would conceive and bear a child, or that a virgin would conceive and bear a child? It seems to me that the greater sign is that the virgin would conceive. I mean, after all, maidens get pregnant everyday, but the only sure route to not conceiving is maintaining virginity. Hmmm. . . If I had to make a choice to believe for a miracle, I think I would want a miraculous sign, not an ordinary everyday event. 750 years later Matthew quotes this Isaiah passage as speaking of Jesus. It is a scriptural demonstration that Jesus was virgin born. As virgin born, One conceived apart from sexual intercourse, He would not have received genetic material passed on to him from Joseph and eventually from Adam. He would have be a new creation inside the womb of Mary. As a new creation, a new Adam, he would not have inherited the sin nature that all of us would have received. When we were bound and dead in our trespasses and sins, He came as a new creation, a perfect God-man, sinless, Immanuel, God with us. When we were between a rock and a hard place, invaded by sin and destruction, He entered our world through a virgin birth and brought us victory. Now that is glory! Where do you need freedom from sin? That is why He came! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * Luke 10:25-42 I’ve met people who have at one time been great servants of the Lord whose faith somewhere along the line found shipwreck. I’ve heard testimonies before of people who had loved ones murdered. The Lord showed His glory to those people in such a way that they were eventually able to go to the murderer in prison and take the gospel to them. Forgiveness fell like lightning. Now there is glory for you! It is the glory of God to change us from a people who hated Him and murdered His Son to a people who love Him. It is the glory of God to change us from a people who have enemies to a people who love our enemies. Some how I think that change only comes from dwelling on the glory of God. What would cause a Samaritan, one deeply hated by the Jews to risk his life to save a Jew, one of those who hated him? What would cause him to take from his own income to provide healing for a man whom he had never met. Surely that can only come from spending time thinking upon the greatness of God and out of that mindset grew a compassion for people in need. On the heels of that story comes the story of Mary & Martha. Mary chose to sit at the feet of Jesus and hear His word. This bothered Martha who was busy meeting the needs of the group. It was noble that she was concerned about meeting needs, but there is also a time when we need to sit and gaze upon the glory of Jesus. It is out of that understanding and experiencing His glory that comes the power to truly serve others. That is why it cannot be taken away. Deep inside there is always that shining of the glory of Christ that gives strength to keep on giving. It is His glory that motivates us in the hard times. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john

April 9

LEVITICUS 13 To my knowledge, I have never met a leper. Why does God seem to focus so much on leprosy? Was it that common among them? If He were to teach us some health regulations today, upon what would He focus? What contagious disease would He cause us to isolate? Flu? Measles? Whooping Cough? Chicken Pox? Pneumonia? Did they not have these diseases in those days? Surely they did! Why leprosy? Certainly in our country leprosy is uncommon. Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare; and he shall cover his mustache, and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ He shall be unclean. All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp. Remember, much of the law is symbolic to speak of spiritual truth. Much of it speaks of Jesus. Much of it speaks of sin, its consequences, its spread and its removal. I think that is why God picks on leprosy. Leprosy is a debilitating disease that attacks the nervous system. It decreases the body’s ability to sense pain. Consequently the afflicted person will frequently do very severe damage to himself, simply because he cannot feel pain. Sin is that way. It decreases our ability to feel spiritual pain. It decreases our ability to feel the sense of loss from being separated from God. Leprosy is contagious with continued close contact. For that reason the Lord instructed the leper to cover his mouth (a visible sign) and cry out, “Unclean!” (an audible sign). Then people could avoid close contact and contracting leprosy. Sin is like that. It is contagious with continued close contact. “Do not be deceived: ‘Evil company corrupts good habits.’” 1 Cor. 15:33. Unlike lepers, sinners do not cover their mouths and proclaim, “Unclean! Unclean!” As a matter of fact, sinners rush headlong trying to lure others to join them in their practice. Misery loves company. Unlike leprosy which infected a very small percentage of the population, sin infects us all. It has corrupted us all. We are like an unclean, filthy rag. The leper doomed the bearer to living alone outside the camp. Can you imagine not only contracting this insidious disease, but also having to bear it alone? It would be like Bob Merill’s lyrics from Magoo’s Christmas Carol, “Where is a voice to answer mine back? Where are two shoes to click to my clack? I’m all alone in the world!” Sin is like that. It isolates us from one another because we instinctively know that something is wrong with us, and if anyone really knew us, they wouldn’t like us. So we wear masks, which we think will make us attractive to others. The masks become layered increasing the loneliness. But how does this speak of the glory of the Lord Jesus? In the Old Testament only two people were healed of leprosy, Miriam and Naaman. Yet, Jesus repeatedly healed the leper and gave authority to his disciples to heal the leper. Why? He was compassionate for sure. He desired to heal the whole man, not just the spirit. But it was a symbol of the spirit infected with sin. Matthew, Mark and Luke each record the healing of specific leper. Each makes it a point to record that when Jesus healed the leper, He touched him. This is an act that no other observant Jew would have done. To touch a leper would have made them unclean. Indeed, some Rabbis even boasted of throwing rocks at lepers in order to drive them away. They did not want to become unclean. Not so with Jesus! He takes our unclean body, soul and spirit and embraces us. The filth flees from Him. We are made whole and clean. We can lay down our masks. He sees our filth and loves us anyway. If we come to Him, He removes the filth and tells us to sin no more. The mask is useless. He sees through it. Others may see it, but He sees through it. When we realize that, we can let the mask down and let others see because the one for whom it really counts has already seen me and embraced me. What does it matter what anyone else thinks? That is the glory of my Jesus. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * PSALM 99 My dogs just came in from being outside for a while. As normal, they were excited to be back in our presence. They run & jump & are simply a quiver with delight. They tremble in our presence. Tell me; is there a larger qualitative difference between me and my dogs, or between me and God? Well, if we are speaking intelligence and power and moral purity, then the answer is a no-brainer. Since God is an infinite being, the divide between God and me is infinitely greater than the divide between my dog and me. In another sense, I have something my dogs cannot have. I am created in His image. My dog can never share that. In that sense the divide between my dog and me is infinitely greater than the divide between God and me. Let me ask you this, since the qualitative intellectual, power and moral divide is infinitely greater between God and me than it is between my dog and me, and since my dog trembles and is a quiver of delight in my presence, should I not be all-the-more a quiver of delight and tremble in the presence of the infinite Almighty? When I consider the vast justice and holiness of God, it should bring a trembling to my soul. Why? His justice and holiness is perfect; my justice and holiness is not perfect. I need only to look at the Ten Commandments to view how far short I fall from the demands of His perfect justice and holiness. When I consider perfect justice, I realize that I am deserving of death many times over (the soul that sins shall die). It causes me to tremble. If this was all I knew about God, I would never come to God for I know that coming to Him would condemn me to death. But praise be to God, He is also a God who forgives (v.8)! That is what excites me most about His glory. Jesus, the perfectly holy and just God, knew that He must condemn my sin in death, but He also wanted me to live. So He became my sin on my behalf so that He could carry away my sin, punish it and forgive me. Mercy triumphs over judgment! That should make me want to worship at His holy hill! His justice makes me tremble. His forgiveness makes me become a quiver of delight. My dogs delight in my renewed presence. They dance at that renewal. How much more should I tremble and dance in delight in the renewed presence of our holy-forgiving God! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor John * * Isaiah 6 If I could only use one word to describe our infinite God, what would it be? Certainly in Isaiah’s throne room vision of the Lord, that word is Holy. But have you ever used a word so much that it no longer really means anything? Holy is one of those words. We use it for everything. We have the Holy Bible. We declare, “Holy, cow!” as if a cow could be holy, or for the crass among us, “Holy, s___!” as if those two words even remotely belong together. Maybe that is how the expression developed. The two words are polar opposites; therefore, to use one to describe the other is a vast surprise which doesn’t fit. So what does holy mean? It means sacred or set apart or different. I remember that one of my systematic quoting and old theologian as the word describing that “numinous other.” It causes a trembling and fear because the holy One is so different. There is this unexplainable, but overwhelming sense of difference. Within the context of Isaiah it evokes several senses. The first is that these creatures called Seraphim cannot help but constantly call out, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty!” What is a Seraph (‘im’ is the Hebrew plural—like our ‘s’)? We really know very little about them except that their name means, “fiery serpent,” or “burning one.” What is it about these creatures or about God that they had this constant compulsion to declare Him three times Holy? What is there about fire (fiery ones) that exudes holiness? Why would they instinctively cover their faces and feet in the presence of the Holy One? Why do the door posts of the temple shake at the sound of their declaration? Why does the temple fill with smoke at their declaration? Fire has always had the symbol and function of burning away that which is impure. Are these seraphim in the throne all of the time non-stop? Or are they here because of Isaiah’s presence? Whatever the case, the vision of the LORD and the declaration of the seraphim brought about in Isaiah a second sense of fear and dread. Isaiah felt as though he were literally coming apart. The Holiness of God was undoing him. In the presence of this holy God, Isaiah became painfully aware of his own lack of holiness! There was no cure for his lack of holiness! He could not but help to declare the dismay of his doom. The third sense of this holiness of God is that He will not allow us to remain in the state of impurity. Immediately one of the seraphim was dispatched to take a live coal from the altar and touch it to the lips of the prophet. As the sizzle of the searing of his flesh decreased, so the sin of Isaiah was removed. The holiness of God will not allow us to remain in the state of impurity in His presence. His holiness cleanses us from sin. It is interesting to me that the apostle John records in John 12:41, “These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.” Who did Isaiah see when he had this vision? John says that it was the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Seven hundred years before the birth of the God-man Jesus, John saw His glory. The best way that the seraphim could describe Him was, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!” Clearly John equates Jesus with Yahweh. Jesus came to take away the sin of the world. The whole earth is full of His glory! He takes away our sin not by pressing hot coals to our lips, but by dying in our place. He took the wrath of God toward our sin upon Himself. The sin was removed to Jesus at His death. He did that so that He could make us holy like Himself. While the whole earth is naturally filled with His glory, there is a greater glory with which He desires to fill the earth. It is an earth filled with holy people. People cleansed by the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Some will hear and never believe, but some will hear, believe and be cleansed. They will believe through our speaking the Word. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * Luke 10:1-24 Growing up in Oklahoma, I experienced numerous electrical storms. I’ve lived in Oregon, North Carolina and three months in New Jersey. I’ve never lived anywhere that has such violent displays of electrical power such as in Ok. I love them. There is something about the atmosphere during those storms that is simply exhilarating! One night in the fall of ’94 my family and I sat on our porch in Norman and watched the lightning for almost half-an hour. The sky was constantly filled with streaks and sheets of lightning as it struck and shimmered throughout the whole sky. It was a beautiful display of power, a light show unequaled by any human-produced light show. The glory of Jesus is greater than lightning. Jesus had chosen the 12 that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to deliver those in bondage, to heal the sick and to preach the presence of the Kingdom of God. Satan had ruled the world since the fall of Adam and Eve. Jesus came to reclaim His kingdom to destroy the works of the Evil One. Each of the 12 had ministered to others so that now they had 70 workers to accomplish another similar mission. (Now that’s multiplication in discipleship! Each of the 12 must have reached 4-5 others!) Jesus sent them out. Their mission was numerically, hugely successful. As they returned, they were overwhelmed with excitement as to what they had seen Jesus do through them. The demons had fled in Jesus’ name. Jesus remarked on their return, “I saw Satan fall like lightning form heaven. Behold I give you authority. . .“ What an awesome thing that Jesus gives His authority to His servants to uproot the kingdom of darkness with power like that of lightning! It is a beautiful thing to see people set free from the bonds of the enemy of our souls. Jesus gives us the authority to do that! But then He gives a word of warning, “Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” I like seeing people set free. It is better than sitting on the porch in the evening and watching a violent electrical storm. It is like seeing lightning fall from heaven destroying the works of the enemy and creating new life in people. What an awesome display of power! But Jesus’ warning implies that the greatest glory, the greatest power is displayed when we see Him work in our lives when He breaks the penalty and power of sin in our own lives enabling our names to be written in the book of Life in heaven. Thank you Lord for what You have done in me and enrolling me in the membership of the redeemed in heaven. Indeed Your glory is great! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor John

April 8

LEVITICUS 11,12 My father-in-law was a POW in Stalag 17b during WII. He said of their meals in the camp, “They gave us frozen rutabaga soup with maggots on top, and a little bread. One time they gave us German sausage, but I didn’t eat it because it had human teeth in it. Some guys would catch rats and eat them, but I didn’t.” The last few weeks of his POW experience involved a 281 mile forced march, with very little to eat. The last day as a prisoner they noticed a friendly tank. It dawned upon them that they were liberated. Soon, they were able to eat a nourishing meal. Why is God concerned about what we eat, whether we touch dead animals, or the fl ow of blood from our bodies? Wouldn’t the Creator of the universe have more important things to worry about? We learn in the New Testament that the dietary laws have been lifted. If they were so important that the Creator of the Universe included them in the laws that He was giving to His people, then why did He revoke them? Does God really care that much about what we eat? Hmmmm. . . Jesus said that the Father knew the number of hairs on our heads. If He cares enough to know the number of hairs on our heads, then He probably cares about what we eat. What is there about these dietary restrictions that are significant? Clearly He makes the point that our eating is to reflect His holiness. He wants His people to be different in health as well as in moral purity. It is interesting to note that in some of the areas of the world and different times in history that Jewish people have consistently outlived their Gentile neighbors because they ate a healthier diet. The marked difference at times was so great that it caused problems:

I quote Dr. Kellogg again. “Even so long ago as the days when the plague was desolating Europe, the Jews so universally escaped infection that, by this their exemption, the popular suspicion was excited into fury, and they were accused of causing the fearful mortality among their gentile neighbors by poisoning the wells and springs.”6

Was God’s concern more than just health? Yes, but it did include health. Was it more than being a separate people? Yes, but it did include being a separate people. Then why did He raise the restrictions? He raised them because there are ways of addressing health issues other than total abstinence of certain foods. He raised them because there are other ways of having His people be different than observing dietary restrictions. The bottom line is this: “45 ‘For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” We were prisoners of war. He liberated us and adopted us. He no longer wants us to eat like POWs. Or live like POWs. He wants us to be like Him. He wants us to be holy. He wants us to share in His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john 6 McGee, J. Vernon: Thru the Bible Commentary. electronic ed. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1981, S. Le 10:20 * * PSALM 98 “Sing to the Lord a new song!” Laura and I had an acquaintance decades ago who was widowed at a young age. Her husband was a pastor. He was in an accident, received a blood transfusion and contracted a disease from which he eventually died. It was a miserable time for him and her. It was one of those times when you feel like saying, “How can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” (Ps 137:4) She eventually remarried, and the Lord gave her a new song. Actually its main line was the first verse of this Psalm. I learned the song from Laura, who learned it at a women’s retreat where our acquaintance taught it to the women. It is an exciting song and one of the few songs that I can play and sing on the guitar from memory. This Psalm and the song remind me that, although I may be enduring horrible circumstances, the Lord will reverse them. He will once again do marvelous things. He will bring me through the circumstances into victory. He will again allow me to again see His salvation. When I do, it is incumbent on me to quit singing my self-pity song and ring out a new song. Here is an old Scottish song that reminds me to belt out a new song to the glory of our Lord:

Cheer up ye saints of God! Ye’ve nothin to worry about, Nothin to make ya feel afraid, Nothin to make ya doubt. Remember Christ your Savior reigns, So why not trust Him and shout! You’ll be sorry ya worried at all tomorrow morning!

Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * The above picture is a recreation of a watchtower that might have been typical of a vineyard in Israel. It is from Nazareth village in Nazareth. The watchkeeper would be looking for people, animals or threats that might bring harm to the vineyard. The above is a winepress excavated by archaeologists in Nazareth. It is estimated to be from near the first century AD. ISAIAH 5 I remember biting into a wild grape. I popped it into my mouth expecting to experience its succulent sweetness. Instead, my taste buds immediately rebelled. It was like the entire inside of my mouth revolted into a puckering rejection of the sour fruit. I immediately spat out the grape. Needless to say, I did not try anymore of the fruit from that vine. Who is the Well-Beloved? In all three synoptic Gospels the Father twice calls the Son His, ‘Beloved.’ He does so once at His baptism and once at His transfiguration. Here in Isaiah it states that His Well-Beloved had a vineyard. Who is the vineyard in Isaiah? It is the nation of Israel. The vineyard was planted and well cared for. It should have produced an abundance of sweet grapes. Rather, it produced wild grapes. He loves His people too much to allow them to produce inedible fruit. He promises destruction of the nation if they continue on the same path. But what specifically is He upset about? He discusses that fruit in verses 8-23. It is a six-fold woe that includes: 1) The rich taking advantage of the poor. 2) Drunkenness. 3) Parading their idolatry before God. 4) Reversing moral standards. 5) Self-wisdom. 6) Intoxicating themselves so that can no longer observe justice. So what is the Lord going to do about it? In 24-32, He pronounces a fiery-judgment. So who is this Well-Beloved? He is the One is intimately loved by the Father. He is the One provides all our needs. He is the One who has ordained that we should bring forth fruit that remains. He is the One also will bring a fiery-judgment upon His own people, in order that they might bear that fruit. For this our souls love Him! He is my King! O Lord, let me bear fruit for Your pleasure. You take no delight in burning Your servants. Let me bear the fruit that You delight in! Let me not be revolting to Your mouth! You alone are worthy of honor. Let Your honor be multiplied in me because it is for this that I am created. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor john * * LUKE 9:37-62 How much would you pay for. . . When Laura and I first married, we operated our household budget on a cash only basis. There were a lot of things we wanted that we could not get because we didn't have enough money. "Someday, when we have money. . . " became a joke between us. One particularly brutally hot summer, we wanted an air conditioner (our house had no AC). We read in the classifieds that one of the fraternities was having a yard sale. Among the items for sale were all their air-conditioners. We arose bright and early to be among the first at the sale. It wasn't early enough. A man in front of us bought every one of the air conditioners (5-10 of them) for about $25.00 each. He had rental property and wanted them for his rent houses. I offered him $50.00 for just one of them. He refused, rather rudely, I might add. I searched all the stores for new air conditioners. They were all more than we could afford. We eventually found a used one for $100. It wasn't a great deal, but at least we had a little AC. It was all the extra money I had, but it was worth it. The new comfort was well worth the loss of the $100. How much would you pay for a little comfort? How much would you pay to see the glory of Jesus, to be on a familiar basis with His glory? Is that your final answer? The cost of experiencing His glory will cost you everything. It will cost you your right to comfortable shelter, housing, safety etc. You may not know where you will lay your head at night. Is it worth it? It will cost you your right to have life long relationships with those you love the most. Is it worth it? It will cost you the dreams of all that you could have been, might have been or maybe even are. It may even cost it for your children. Is it worth it? When I was a freshman in college, I took a fencing class in the spring. The president of the fencing club, an Argentine, came and watched everyone fencing in the class. He singled myself and one other person out and fenced with us briefly. After class he came to me and said, "Come out to the fencing club and in two months I will make you the state champion." Now I don't know if that says a lot about what he saw in my raw ability or whether it said more about the pitiful state of fencing in the state of Oklahoma. But it was quite an offer. I really did think on it for maybe a day. I was already working 20+ hrs. a week, taking a full load of classes, heavily involved in church and Campus Crusade for Christ. To add another activity such as fencing to my schedule would have required lessening my involvement elsewhere, which I was not willing to do. Was it worth not trying out for fencing club? Absolutely! I had experiences with CCC that showed me the glory of Jesus that I would not trade for anything. What would you give to experience the glory of Jesus? It will cost you everything. Is it worth it? Do I really have to answer that? Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today! --Pastor John