July 14

Joshua 20-21
In the words of Drs. Hinson & Kroll,

For the sinner, to be found in the city of refuge was to be found in the only place of salvation. The correspondence between these cities and the Lord Jesus is striking.

I am guilty of breaking the law. I am worthy of execution because of my sin. Yet I have fled to the city of refuge, found only in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him I am safe for he is both the executioner and the city of refuge. He has received me and I am safe in Him.
The Lord gave them rest on all sides. Here in chapter 21 we read:

44 The LORD gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand. 45Not a word failed of any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.

Let us be diligent to enter into His rest. The writer of Heb. 4 shows us the importance of that rest for us:

11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. 12For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. 14Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

In His presence we find rest. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

Psalm 13
I have a friend who recently felt like he was cheated out of $15.00 in an undisclosed set up fee from someone else who is also a friend of mine. He called the one up and complained. Whether he meant to or not, he came across as “yelling and screaming” on the phone. It all escalated. Both friends are currently in difficult situations. Both felt unjustly used by the other. I told the one friend that he was within his rights to complain about the $15.00 dollars, but the manner in which he did it was wrong, and he owed the other an apology. You can imagine how that went. He is obsessed with his rights and the $15.00. He is convinced that he did not yell and scream at the other. Yet I cannot understand how the other friend can be so upset if he did not in some fashion raise his voice. Anyway it is a big enough deal between them both that they both are emotionally stressed out over $15.00. What’s going on here?
What is going on here in Psalm 13? On the one hand, the Psalmist seems to be in the depths of despair. The enemy seems to have surrounded him. He has daily sorrow. He is genuinely afraid of dying. On the other hand, he concludes, “The Lord has dealt bountifully with me.” What made the difference? Three statements separate the two outlooks.
The first statement is that he will trust in the mercy of the Lord. The word that is here translated as ‘mercy’ refers to the abundant loving kindnesses of God’s eternal nature. It may also have reference to the covenant relationship with Yahweh. As David looks at his situation, he makes the choice to take his focus off of his situation and put it on the eternal character of God. He knows how God is, and he is willing to wait upon the appearance of those loving kindnesses.
The second statement is that he will rejoice in the Lord’s salvation. He makes a willful choice to rejoice. He is on the verge of dying and he makes a choice to rejoice! May his tribe ever increase! How I need to learn to rejoice in the midst of dramatic struggle, especially facing death.
The third statement is that he will sing to the Lord. Nothing lifts the spirit like singing to the Lord. Remember the Dallas Holms song?

When you’re up against a struggle that shatters all your dreams,
And your hopes are cruelly crushed by Satan’s manifested schemes,
And you feel the urge within you to submit to earthly fears,
Don’t let the faith you’re standing in, seem to disappear.
Praise the Lord! He can work through those who praise Him.
Praise the Lord! Our God inhabits praises.
Praise the Lord! The chains that seek to bind you,
Serve only to remind you they fall powerless behind you when you praise Him!

That is the glory of our Lord! Our measly $15.00, $15,000.00, $15,000,000.00, $15,000,000,000.00 or even $15,000,000,000,000.00 is nothing compared to His glory! We can let it go. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JEREMIAH 39
“Is there any Word from the Lord?” Zedekiah’s question still echoes down through the ages to us. Two days ago we read the question, when Zedekiah secretly inquired of Jeremiah. There was a word, but it was not what Zedekiah wanted to hear. That Word came true. Zedekiah’s eyes were put out. The last thing he saw was the execution of his sons in front of him. He was put in chains and hauled off to Babylon. He lived the rest of his life with that vision in his mind and with the knowledge that according to the word of the Lord, it could have been different. In sharp juxtaposition Jeremiah and Ebed-Melech are rewarded with their lives. It is the glory of the Lord that He ALWAYS keeps his Word. For Jeremiah and Ebed-Melech, it is what C.S. Lewis called, “A severe mercy.” For Zedekiah it was judgment. It could have been different, but Zedekiah would not receive it. The result is that we see the severe mercy of the Lord and the severe judgment of the Lord. Lord, enable me to hear your word and do it! I receive your mercy. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

Acts 19:1-20
Ephesus, the Roman center of power for Asia, was indeed quite a religious city. The temple of Diana (or Artemis as the Greeks would say) was there. The Ephesians wanted an impressive temple for her. So, they built a structure that was a replica of the Parthenon found on the Acropolis of Athens. But they made it much larger! Its foundation still stands today. It was 425' long and 220' wide and contained 127 pillars to support the roof and its colonnade was 60' high. Diana was the mother goddess of the earth. As happens in many areas where pagan religions abound, the city was also filled with much occultic activity. Within the city was a strong contingent of Jews. Even within that contingent was a strong contingent of people who had traveled back to the Holy Land, heard the preaching of John the Baptist and were baptized by him signifying their preparing themselves for the coming of the Messiah.
How would the glory of our Lord outshine the glory of such a religious establishment? The Lord doesn't deviate from the principles that He has established in the church thus far. His glory is going to shine through His people as they speak His glory and do His works. For three months Paul spoke the message in the synagogue. Twelve men from the disciples of John believed the message and turned to Jesus. Then the rest of the synagogue hardened their heart toward the message. Paul remained in that city 2 more years preaching the message of Jesus. The way it is written here it seems to imply that after the message was rejected by the Jews that Paul began doing the glorious works of Jesus. Seven unbelieving sons of a Jewish chief priest sought to use the name of Jesus to work the same works. The glory of the Lord will not be compromised. Their exorcism worked -- to their own detriment, for they did not have the authority and protection of the Lord. Their failure increased the glory of our Lord. The result? Many left their magic and occult to follow Jesus. The glory of the Lord was so evident to them that the burned their books. They didn't sell them. They burned them. They needed no profit from their past acts of darkness. All that was important to them was the glory of Jesus.
How much money are we talking here? 50,000 pieces of silver. Assuming that the piece of silver referred to here is the drachma, this would equal 50,000 days wages. Now that would be a different figure in different areas. Assume in our area that a days wage for a laborer is $80. That would equal about $4,000,000. That's a lot of money! Why not sell it and give it to the poor or for building a temple to Jesus or something else? Isn't this a waste? They needed no profit from their past acts of darkness. All that was important to them was the glory of Jesus. Selling the books would allow others to be enslaved by the powers of darkness. Selling the books would continue to give the enemy a foothold in the lives of others. They needed a clean break from the past and they needed to not provide a door for others to go where they went. This was a way to proclaim the glory of Jesus. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

July 13

JOSHUA 18-19
Go, walk through the land, survey it, and come back to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh. The Lord allotted to them a possession. It was their privilege to walk through it and obtain it for themselves. In so doing, they would be fulfilling the glory of the Lord. We find that even Joshua received a possession. He claimed it and built Timnath Serah. Does the Lord have a possession for us? Is it to be surveyed and claimed? Is it to be done for His glory? Obviously the answer to the last question is, “Yes.” The answer to all the questions is, “Yes.” We have a spiritual possession which the Lord has set aside for us. He expects us to claim it and use it for His glory. It consists of many things and people. It includes our families, our talents, our spiritual gifts, our natural gifts, our finances, our desires, our needs, our neighborhoods. Have we every surveyed them? Do we even know what is available? When we know what is available do we know what it means to claim them for His glory? When we claim them for His glory do we know what it means to build them for His glory?
Joshua built a city for the glory of God. It was called Timnath Serah. It was in the mountains of Ephraim southwest of Shechem. This is the same place as Timnath Heres. The Nelson Electronic Dictionary says,

“Some scholars suggest that the consonants for Heres (hrs) were deliberately written backwards as Serah (srh) as a reminder of these pagan worship practices.”

How about that? Joshua took a place that was filled with pagan worship, surveyed it, claimed it for the glory of God, rebuilt it and reversed its name, all for the glory of God! Is that not a picture of what we should be about? Should not all that God has given us be surveyed, claimed and rebuilt for the glory of our King? Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 12
A friend of mine was just in my office. He is constantly flattering me. I presume he does it because he thinks that I will help him more if he flatters me all the time. I hope he is incorrect. I hope that what I do is done because it is what Jesus would have me do. Sometimes I just want to tell him to shut up, but that would be rude. Maybe I should tell him that the Psalmist asks the Lord to cut off all flattering lips. Now that evokes a gross mental picture. Flattering lips mix truth with exaggeration in order to manipulate the one being flattered into action that the flatterer desires.
The words of the Lord are pure words. What does that mean? I was looking at some of the cross references for this. Consider these verses:

2 Samuel 22:31 As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

Psalm 18:31 As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
Psalm 19:8b The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.

Pure and proven refer to the refiner’s fire. The refiner brings the metal to its melting point where the different metals or impurities separate. He is then able separate them and gain only the metal desired. Pure words are not mixed with any false meaning. The Lord does not exaggerate His words in order to manipulate us into doing what He desires. Yes, He occasionally uses the figure of speech called hyperbole, but He does not do it to manipulate us into obeying Him. He commands us.
It is interesting to me that the pure words of our Lord become a shield to us if we trust Him. Shield from what? They protect me from walking in a path of wickedness. His words tell me that He has loved me with an everlasting love. That tells me that I am valuable in His sight and motivates me to seek Him. His words also tell me that He is a jealous God and won’t forever strive with my sin and foolishness. That tells me that I do have sin and foolishness, and I had better not mess with it. His words tell me what that sin is. If I trust and listen, His words protect me from a path of foolishness and sin then end of which is waste and death. Thank You, Lord, that your words are pure. Enable me to listen to Your words and trust in You. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JEREMIAH 38
In Matthew 10:39 Jesus says, “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” Zedekiah is an interesting case study in this principle in life. Zedekiah desperately wanted to remain king. He wanted that more than obedience to the Lord. He had a choice, hang on to what he wanted, or let go and submit to the king of Babylon. If he were to let go, the Lord promised him life. If not, well we will soon see what happened to Zedekiah. Ultimately, he hung on to his life and lost it.
As I write, I have a friend who is struggling with this same issue. We worked with him to get him to a point where he was almost on his own feet again. Then, in a desperate attempt to provide his own companionship, he lost most of the headway that he had made. You see, he wasn’t willing to lose his life. Now he is struggling with the depression over another failure and again waffling with losing his own life. Do we not do the same thing? Our choices are just more culturally acceptable than his were. It is the glory of the Lord that He should enable us to lose our lives in HIM! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

ACTS 18
Why did the Lord appear to Paul in the night by a vision to encourage him to not be afraid? He must have been very afraid. Remember, he had been stoned and left for dead in Lystra on his first journey. He had been jailed in Philippi. He had been run out of town in a number of various other towns. He had been laughed out of town in Athens. His opposition has followed him to Corinth. I think I'd be afraid and intimidated also. Apparently it was so bad for Paul that he needed the personal encouragement from the Lord. Our Lord knows just what we need and when we need it. He always gives it just at the appropriate time.
We also find this story concerning Apollos, an eloquent man mighty in Scriptures. The Lord adds him to the company of those who are planting and encouraging churches. What was his giftedness? He vigorously refuted those who denied Jesus as the Messiah. He also showed from Scripture that Jesus is the Christ. Now there is Paul, Silas and Timothy; Barnabas and John Mark, Aquilla, Priscilla and Apollos. Our Lord continued to safeguard and raise up people to make disciples of all ethnic groups. He continues to do so today, for His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

July 12

JOSHUA 16-17
It had been a long dry spell in a hot Oklahoma summer. My older brother and I went for a bicycle ride down the county section line roads. He was 5 years my senior, and his legs were a lot more powerful than mine. We came to a valley on the road. The dry weather and constant travel on the road had turned the valley road into fine loose sand a couple of inches deep. My bike went a few feet and then my tires seemed to be engulfed in the sand. Try as I might, I could not make my pedals turn. Without any forward momentum, I had to dismount my bike. I was still pointed downhill. If I could not overcome the hold of the sand going downhill, what would happen when I had to ascend out of the valley? Why didn’t my brother slow down? He was still mounted and already going up the hill. I was becoming fearful that I would be left behind. I began to call for help. He waited to get to the top of the hill before he turned and answered my call. No he wouldn’t return to help me. “You can do it!” was his only reply. I was really frustrated. I was just barely big enough to ride the bike. It was extremely heavy. It was impossible to push through the sand. Even if it got it through the sand, without any momentum, I would have to push it all the way up the hill. I begged and complained. But he wouldn’t come back to help. Now I was fighting tears of frustration. All he would do was say, “Do it yourself.” He did not help me. Obviously, I am no longer in the valley. Yes, I made it home with the bicycle, and no, he did not help me. He just kept telling me that I had to do it.
The tribe of Manasseh could not drive out the people in the valley of Jezreel. The Canaanites had chariots of iron, a military technology that the Israelites did not posses. Mountain living is nice, but it takes a lot more land per person to make a living there. And it is a lot more difficult. They complained to Joshua. It is not enough room! Give us more! There wasn’t any more room. The Lord had given them all that they needed. “Do it yourself!” was essentially Joshua’s reply. Where is the glory of the Lord in this? I believe that His glory is visible and available at all times. However, there are times when He simply says, “Trust me; you can do it; do it yourself.” It is to His glory to strengthen us. So He leaves us in situations to strengthen us or to show us our hearts. If we keep our eyes upon Him, we need only to trust and put one foot in front of the other. Sometimes it is through tears of frustration. But He is waiting for us on the other side of the valley of depression. Finally the dawn breaks and his glory is seen. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 11
We have once again entered a political season. It seems that we never leave the political season. I remember from past political seasons much criticism of the President, whether Republican or Democrat, for spending too much time out of the office. The criticism was that he was campaigning and not running the country. In all cases there was probably some truth on both sides of the fence. The point was that the President was not in his office doing his job. Does God have an office?
“The Lord is in His holy temple.” Well, where else would He be? Why do we need to be told that? We need to be told because we think and act like He is not. A king would be in His court for several reasons: 1) to receive worship (honor from others), 2) to reveal, establish and administrate justice, mercy and grace, 3) to transact the business of the kingdom, 4) interact with his subjects. God is in His temple for the same reasons.
There are times when we feel like He is not in His office. There are times when we feel like He no longer reveals, establishes or administrates justice, mercy or grace. David was in one of those times when he penned this Psalm. Was it when he was being hunted by Saul? Or perhaps it was in Absalom’s rebellion. Whatever the case, he had a sense that the foundations of righteousness and justice had been obliterated. What was he to do? There was no one to whom He could run. It appeared helpless. He purposely slows down and reminds himself, “The Lord is in His holy temple.” He reminds himself that the Lord is, loves and administers righteousness. There are times when we must slow ourselves down and remind ourselves of the very same thing.
We have an advantage over David. He had to go to the tabernacle to seek the presence of God, which he did on one occasion. Today we, the people of God, are his temple. The Lord is in His temple in heaven, but He is also in His temple on earth, the people of God. He is among us to reveal, establish and administrate justice, mercy and grace. Let us NEVER forget that! He seeks to do that in us! That is His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JEREMIAH 37
“Is there a word from the Lord?” What a question! It is a question that we all have! It is a kind of a haunting question. Why would Zedekiah ask such a thing secretly of Jeremiah? I think that deep down inside, Zedekiah knew that Jeremiah was right. Deep down inside he knew that Jeremiah spoke for the Lord. But his throne was more important than anything else. Hoping against hope, he hoped that the Lord would forgive him and permanently send Nebuchadnezzar away. His political supporters were such that if he surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar, he would lose their support and his throne. If Nebuchadnezzar returned, they would be crushed. The only chance for him was some kind of miracle of God. He hoped God would change His mind.
It is the glory of God that His character never changes. The Lord gave Jeremiah the strength to speak the unpopular truth to Zedekiah, “You will be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.” Not only that but Jeremiah boldly pointed out Zedekiah’s own waffling spirit. And then he asked to not be sent back to the dungeon. How could Jeremiah be so strong? He knew the glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord was more important than where Jeremiah lived. Jeremiah could have eased his own suffering by coming in line with the false prophets. But the Glory of the Lord was too important to him. Is the glory of the Lord more important than my own comfort? Hmmmm. . . Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

ACTS 17:16-34
Paul starts from a common point of reference with the Athenians and moves to the specific glory of Jesus. What is that common point? Don Richardson explores that in his book, Eternity In Their Hearts. Richardson delves into Athenian history, recorded some by the poet that Paul quotes. He reveals that centuries earlier, Athens had experienced a plague that could not be checked by any of their gods. After sacrificing to the One true God who made heaven and earth, who’s name they did not know, the plague was checked. The monument that Paul saw was an altar to that God. Paul uses that common point of reference to reveal that Jesus is the Man sent from the Unknown God to reveal how we might find Him. Paul stresses the resurrection of Jesus as and assurance of the authority of Jesus and establishing Him as judge of all.
That is just like the glory of our Lord. He uses something in centuries past that He did to demonstrate His love for a certain people and then connects it with the present. Our Lord is our creator, lover, healer, savior and judge. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

July 11

JOSHUA 14-15
Yesterday (2010), on the way back to MIU, a man was approaching me from the opposite direction on the footpath. Seeing me, he reached down and picked up a huge rock with one hand. He then crouched holding the rock out and looking at me as if he were going to hit me with the rock. I was quite startled. I wasn’t sure what to do. The only way around him was to walk up a mound to the right of him. I am 55 years old. It is not a time in my life when I want to start acting like Nicolas Cage or Harrison Ford. But then, I have never been able to back down from a challenger, even when I knew I would be defeated. My options seemed to be: 1) to be fearful and back down 2) to fight or 3) to trust the Lord to protect me and see if I could just walk around him. Option one is just not in my character. Option two is stupid. If the man were a better fighter than I, I would only get beaten, and he would get what he wanted anyway. If I were a better fighter than he, I would only beat him, and there is a strong likelihood that there would be some severe and unpleasant spiritual and legal repercussions for me. That only left option three. I made the decision to move forward and unaggressively walk up the mound. I guess he realized that I was not going to be intimidated by his stance. By the time I was even with him, I had the higher ground. He set the rock down and went on his way after I passed. I think it was the glory of the Lord that protected me. What if he had attacked as I passed by? I honestly do not know what I would have done or how it would have turned out. But this one thing I know, God would ultimately have been glorified.
Caleb is 85 years old. He was forty years old when they left Egypt. He was chosen to represent Judah when the spies were selected to spy out the land. He and Joshua alone brought back a good report because they knew the glory of the Lord. But the Lord promised him that for his faithfulness he would receive the land upon which his feet had walked. After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness and 5 years of fighting in the campaigns to break the back of the Canaanites, Caleb reports, “I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in. Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the LORD spoke in that day.” Caleb knew it was the glory of the Lord that sustained him. That gave him the faith to say, “Give me this mountain!” May his tribe increase! What mountain is there in my our your life that for the glory of God, we need to face? His glory is more than sufficient! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 10
David Hannum, P.T. Barnum’s rival in the Cardiff Giant Hoax is reported to have said, “A sucker is born every minute.” It was eventually revealed that Hannum was the sucker. Perhaps Barnum could have added to the quote, “And two out looking for him.” That is a very cynical view of life, but probably fairly true. Have you ever wondered why payday loan stores and pawn shops are usually located in or near a low income community? One reason is that the rich do not need them. Another reason is that the rich are rich because they understand the principle of unreasonable usury. If the rich need a loan, they know how to and are able to get a low interest rate and to borrow only what they know they can pay back. They know that if you convert the fees and charges of a payday loan into an APR that it would be equal to 50-200%! Then again there are the Donald Trumps of the world who know how to use loans to get what they want, and then if they are unable to pay it back, they know how to use the bankruptcy laws to their advantage so that they can convert the travesty into an economic advantage for them. On the other hand the poor are usually desperate and make desperate decisions in order to make ends meet now.
Jesus said that the poor will always be with us. It is easy to make a simple claim that the poor are with us because, as the first thirteen verses of this Psalm indicate, the wicked are abundant and seek to take advantage of those who have the propensity to fall into poverty. Indeed, that is one of the reasons that the poor are with us. But there would be those who are in poverty whether or not the wicked were there. Otherwise, how could the wicked crouch and wait to catch the poor in his net? It is also easy to make a simple claim that the poor are with us because of their own poor decisions. And that would very often be accurate. So it would seem that the poor will always be with us because of two reasons. The poor are desperate, and the rich are heartless.
Why doesn’t God do anything? Is it His place? To the degree that He is the Great Judge of all the earth. It is His place. And because we are moral agents, He delays His judgment for at least two reasons, to reveal our hearts and to give us time to repent. During that delay, it appears that God doesn’t care. But let us not be deceived. God is a judge and a help, particularly to those most vulnerable, the fatherless and the oppressed. They are in poverty not by choice but by circumstance. A simple view of the Lord as our King and Judge forces us to declare and ask that He will do something about the poverty. When we ask Him to do something, He calls us to join in with Him in doing something. He asks us to work with Him in seeing His glory in the way He works to rescue the perishing. That is His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JEREMIAH 36
With the exceptions of Satan, Adam and Judas, in my opinion, this is one of the most flagrant acts of rebellion recorded in Scripture. A day of fasting had been called by someone. The people were gathered in Jerusalem to fast over their national crisis (under the thumb first of Egypt and now of Babylon). It was day of fasting or humiliation when one humbles one’s self before the Mighty God to seek His forgiveness for one sin. A public day of fasting is for public repentance. Jehoiakim had been repeatedly warned by Jeremiah. Remember 22:13-23? Jehoiakim was specifically warned about abusing the poor, but he would not listen. Jeremiah was detained by authorities at the court, probably because of his warnings against Jehoiakim. Now was the time for Jehoiakim to repent. It was appropriate for the day of fasting. If this whole day were not just a pretense, now was the time for Jehoiakim to publicly humble himself. Jeremiah dictated the prophecies given to date to Baruch. He had them delivered to the public celebration. Note that the king was not in attendance. After the reading, the officials warned Baruch and Jeremiah to go hide while they took the message to Jehoiakim.
It was a moment of great tension. Everyone present knew what was at stake. Would the king humble himself, or would he respond inappropriately. Everyone sensed what would happen and no one really wanted to oppose the king. The king listened intently; at some point, he rose and took the scroll. It was evident what he was about to do. Three men implored him not to, but their pleas were not strong enough. The king took the very words of God in his hands and threw them in the fire! And yet, no one expressed dismay at such flagrant disrespect against the Lord! There was not enough passion with in their lives to drive them to fall to their knees and cry for mercy for themselves and their nation when such pride had filled the leadership.
Our country writhes in the filth of our pride. Our president has declared that we are not a Christian nation. You know what? He is descriptively correct. Maybe our nation was once founded upon Christian principles, but the issue is that we no longer function that way! And none of us really has the passion to cry out before God and beg His forgiveness for our sin! Why? The fault is not the presidents; it is ours! Look at our churches! We are more concerned about running our programs in a way that is more attractive to people than we are about gathering together to humble ourselves before God to listen to what He has to say about us, repent and proclaim His glory! Why would we want to attract more people rather than call them to repentance? Even if we did gather to listen, would we truly hear His voice, or would we be like Jehoiakim and burn the word of the Lord in the nearest fire? I fear that the glory of the Lord has become so sullied among us that all the world can see is our sin. Why would the world want our Lord, when all that they can see is our sin, our lack of passion for Him? That is all that could be seen of Jehoiakim. Lord, uncover our sin! Bring a spirit of repentance upon us! Remove our sin as far as the east is from the west! Humble us! Unveil your glory once again! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

ACTS 17:1-15
When Paul preached, what did he preach? I think it is summarized in verse 3, "explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ." It is a simple message, a true message and not difficult to grasp. Yet at the same time it is impossible to grasp. This simple message speaks of the glory of Christ. This simple message had such a life changing message upon people in Palestine, Asia Minor and Macedonia that when Paul and Silas came to Thessalonica, their enemies cried out in a frustrated rage, "These who have turned the world upside down have come here too." Can speaking the glory of Christ be that powerful? It can and will be. We are just too afraid to speak it. Or we really haven’t seen it. Or we speak of things related to the glory of Christ but not the essence of His Glory. The King of Creation, the King of Glory, became flesh for the express purpose of being the substitute for our sin. He died in our place. He defeated death and thereby that sin, by rising from the dead. He ever lives to intercede for us. If we repent and believe in Him, we can know God. It is a simple glorious message that has and will turn the world upside down. Indeed, we serve a glorious king! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

July 10

JOSHUA 12,13
“Now Joshua was old, advanced in years. And the LORD said to him: “You are old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed.” How old was he? Well, let’s see. He was 110 years old when he died (Joshua 24:29). We are not too sure how old he was when he left Egypt. We normally associate him with Caleb because they spied out the land together. Caleb was forty when they left Egypt, and from Caleb’s conversation, we can assume that the conquest lasted five years (Joshua 14:7-12). I wouldn’t think that Joshua was any younger than Caleb. Indeed, I think he was older. So Joshua is at least 85 at this point. I suspect that he is much closer to 110. Joshua has much to reflect upon the glory of the Lord during those years.
He was with Moses when they left Egypt. The first mention of him is in Exodus 17 when Moses makes him general of the army when they fight that famous battle against Amalek. He saw the glory of the Lord in the midst of the battle. It was clear that when Moses raised his hands, they won. When Moses lowered his hands, they lost. Joshua knew that it was the glory of the Lord that produced his victory.
Joshua went with Moses when he went up on the mountain of God to receive the law (Exodus 24:13-18). He was nearby when the fiery finger of God inscribed the law upon the stone tablets. He alone dwelt next to the cloud on the mountain and experienced the thunders and lightings of the presence of the glory of the Almighty God as Moses entered the cloud for forty days and forty nights. As they returned, it was Joshua who remarked that there was a sound of war in the camp (Exodus 32:17). He was unaware of the apostasy that occurred in the valley below. While it was Moses with whom God spoke face to face as with a friend, it was Joshua who refused to leave the tabernacle where the glory of God dwelt (Exodus 33:11).
It was Joshua that was jealous for the glory of Moses when men were prophesying in the camp. But Moses corrected his thought relating to the glory of the Lord, saying, “I wish the LORD would give his Spirit to all his people so everyone could be a prophet (Numbers 13:29).” It was Joshua who was selected among his tribe to be one of the twelve spies sent into the land. Only he and Caleb brought a positive report because they knew the glory of the Lord. When they rebuked the people, the people took up stones to kill them. It was then that the glory of the Lord appeared and prevented any harm to him (Numbers 14:6-10).
It was Joshua who led them across the Jordan. It was Joshua who met the commander of the Lord’s army. It was Joshua who led them in the renewal of the covenant signs. It was Joshua who led them around Jericho. It was Joshua who led them against AI. It was Joshua who stumbled in making the treaty with Gibeon. It was Joshua who had seen the mighty victories against the Canaanite kings. What a legacy! My how he had seen the glory of the Lord! When you and I die, will we with Joshua be able to say, “I have seen the glory of the Lord in my life, and this how I have seen it. . . ! God forgive me for being satisfied with lesser things. Let me thirst and crave nothing less than the glory of God. Let not my life be mediocre! Let it only be saturated and dripping with the glory of God. May people see not me but the glory of God! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 9
We were driving in the middle of the night going east on I-70. Laura was driving; I was sleeping. We hit black ice at 70mph. I woke up when she screamed. The first thing that I saw was snow coming over the hood. My first thought was, “Lord, I’m coming home!” It was rather frightening. We came to an abrupt stop in a 4-foot-deep snow bank. A highway patrolman came right behind us and dug us out. He said, “It is black ice all the way from here to the border. Take the next exit and find a motel.” We started on our way. This time I was driving. Even going slow, I soon went into a spin. I was trying to remember my driver’s education, “When you go into a spin, turn into the direction of the spin.” That was just counter-intuitive. Its kind-of like, if a guy throws a left hook, you lean into it. I soon found myself sliding off the highway again. We dug ourselves out again, and we took the next exit.
The Lord is a just judge. The concept is both frightening and comforting at the same time. It is frightening because I know that I have sinned. In Psalm 7 we learned that the Lord is angry with the wicked all day long. How many sins must I commit in order to be considered wicked? The Scripture is clear, one sin makes me wicked. IF the Judge is angry with me, I am fearful to be judged by Him. However, this judge is also merciful. 9:10 says, “You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.” So, I, who am wicked, am supposed to run to the judge, who is angry with the wicked all day long?
That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. It seems counter-intuitive. It is kind-of like turning into the direction of a spin on ice. Yet, that is what He desires. He delights as a judge in dispensing mercy. He wants to show us His mercy so that we may revel in His love. It is only by turning into His direction of the spin that we are in that we can find mercy. It always brings us back to Him. Turning into His direction is called, ‘repentance’. When I turn that direction, instead of finding a God who is angry with me all day long, I find a God who delights in my embrace. To turn away from Him is to invite His wrath. To turn toward Him is to invite His embrace. Why do I hesitate? Should be a no-brainer. But it is not. It is counter-intuitive. I rejoice in the fact that He is a just judge and invites me to seek Him. What glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JEREMIAH 35
Jonadab, the son of Rechab, was the founder of the Rechabites. He recognized the value of obeying his glorious Lord. He also knew the corrupting influence of cities and wine. In the days of the Kings, Israel excelled in the production of wine. They exported wine all over the world. Of course, if there is something that a nation produces a lot of, the nation is usually first a consumer of it. Israel was surely a consumer of their product. The Canaanite religions were excessive in their use of wine. We can safely assume that as Israel picked up the worship of the Canaanite Gods, they also picked up their drinking habits. Centuries before Jeremiah, Jonadab charged his sons to live the life of nomads and not drink wine for the purpose of avoiding the corrupting influences of cities and wine. According to the KJV Commentary, “During the reign of Jehu (841–814 B.C.) the Rechabites assisted in the eradication of the Baalim from Israel (II Kgs 10:15–23). Obviously, the Rechabites had been holding true to their tradition.
As an object lesson to the nation, Jeremiah tests the Rechabites who are now living in Jerusalem because of the Babylonian invasion. He sets wine before them and asks them to drink. They passed the test. They refused to drink the wine out of obedience to their fathers. The Lord points out how much He appreciated their obedience and His desire for Israel to be equally obedient to Him. There is One who was totally obedient, the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians tells us that he was obedient to the Father even to the point of death, even death on a cross. It is the glory of our Lord that He is obedient to the Father. He wants us to share in His glory. Will we obey? If we do we may share in His glory. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

ACTS 16:22-40
Have you ever been a prisoner? We all have been at one time or another. Maybe not in a conventional prison but, we have been prisoners trapped in the confines or consequences or our own sin. Jesus is the ultimate liberator because He makes us free from the very bars that we have built.
Paul and Silas were in prison. It was a literal prison. They were there unjustly. They could have been bitter. They could have allowed emotional walls to go up that would have enslaved them against the jailer and the people of Philippi. But they knew too much about the glory of their king. Indeed, Paul had been left for dead and Jesus raised him up. Paul had encouraged others that through much tribulation we must enter the kingdom of God. They knew that in every town that they entered, tribulation and maybe death awaited them there. Why did they still go? Because they knew that in every town they entered, the glory of their king needed to be revealed.
They had received many stripes and were placed in the securest cell with their feet in stocks. But they chose to focus on the glory of their king. That focus on the glory made all the difference in the world. You know, whenever I focus on the glory of my King, I cannot help but sing. So too, they could not help but sing. Picture this: Many stripes--that means that their back was beaten until the skin broke in multiple places. You know they had to be experiencing physical pain. In prison with no knowledge of if or when release would come. You know they had to be experiencing emotional pain. Feet in stocks. If your back is bruised and bloodied and your feet are stationary in stocks, how can you possibly lie down? It is midnight. I am sure they have been in the stocks for some hours now. Now they begin singing. Why? Because of the glory of their King. It has nothing to do with their remarkable character, which they had. It has all to do with their remarkable King. Choosing to focus on Him made all the difference in the world. They could have been prisoners in a second cell, an emotional one. But they chose to focus on the glory. A Roman family embraced that glory because Paul and Silas made the choice to focus upon it. Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

July 9

Joshua 11
Five times in this chapter the word “commanded” is used to describe how Joshua completed the destruction of the kings of Canaan in obedience to the Lord. If, as we said before, Joshua’s conquest of Canaan is a type of our battle over the flesh after our conversion, then observe how important is obedience to the command of the Spirit of the Lord. Yes, the Christian life is the exchanged life for the life of Christ. We can never let loose of that truth. However, in the midst of that exchange there is a call to obedience. When we lay hold of the life of Christ and in His power learn to put to death the deeds of the flesh, as Joshua, we enter into rest. The Christian life becomes one of rest. Lord, I present my life for today to You. What You desire to accomplish through me, I yield. I take your Life as my own. As You direct me, I choose to obey. I will consider myself dead to the deeds of the flesh as it seeks to raise its ugly head. Thank you for Your great Life. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

Psalm 8
What makes a name excellent? Is it not what a person does which positively exhibits what that person is? If I say, “Mickey Mantle,” and you are my age and a baseball fan, you immediately think of the man who held the homerun record for decades. I still remember watching him on television on October 10, 1964, Game 3 of the Worlds series. It was the bottom of the ninth. The Yankees were tied 1-1 with the St. Louis Cardinals. Mantle walked to the plate and slammed a home run on the first pitch. I was elated. I immediately took a victory lap around the house. When I hear the name Mickey Mantle, that is what I think of. However, if you are old enough to be my father, you might think of a man who could not hold his alcohol, was inclined to gambling and womanizing, and was therefore not worthy of being a role model for kids. A few years before his death, Bobby Richardson shared the gospel with Mickey. He prayed to ask Jesus to be his savior. His life seemed to then fall in line with a godly lifestyle. A few years ago, I used the name Mickey Mantle in a sermon as an illustration of heroes. After the sermon a man the age of my father told the negative things about Mickey Mantle that I had never learned from baseball cards or the newspapers. In his mind it was not an excellent name.
What makes God’s name excellent? What He has created should alone make His name excellent. When I consider the stars and moon, it sends me reeling in awe of our fantastic creator. Just the sheer size alone, mass and volume, dwarfs me in overwhelming smallness. Then I consider the complexity of how it is set in place, then I am amazed at His capacities. Why should He ever think about me? I am less than a grain of sand in the whole world in comparison to the Universe! Yet, He is mindful of us. I never think of sand, unless it annoys me. He not only constantly thinks of us, but He has made us a little like Himself. He has given us some glory and honor. He has given us the right and ability to rule over the sentient beings of this earth. Even as He rules, so can and should we. Does that make His name excellent? We are born to rule under Him. Wow! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JEREMIAH 34
From a worldly aspect, I chose a severe mercy. I had a good paying job working for Mercury Marine with good benefits, but the Lord directed me to go to seminary in Portland, Oregon. Resigning my job, I packed up my wife and baby and headed for Portland, no job, no promise of a job, only a promise of expenses. We went. For 6 months I was without a significantly-paying job. We ran out of money after a month. For 4¾ years we were without a full-time job. The security of a job was gone; I had only the security of the Almighty God, whom I could not see with my physical eyes nor hear with my physical ears. Ah but, I can see Him with my spiritual ears and see Him with my spiritual eyes. He only said, “Trust me.” I learned in my experience that He is trustable and worth the exchange.
It is a severe mercy and a severe justice at the same time. Right up unto the very end the Lord was offering the nation mercy. Already they had filled the country with innocent blood. They had sacrificed their children to Molech making them pass through the fire. For that God said that He was taking them into captivity. Justice demanded their removal from the land. Even as the king of Babylon had overrun all the villages and cities of Israel except Lachish, Azekah and Jerusalem, and even as he laid them under siege, and even as certain doom was looming before the nation, the Lord offered them mercy. The Law had stipulated that no Hebrew could be retained as a slave. Hebrews could be kept up to six years as a hired servant, but on the seventh year they must be set free. They had not obeyed the Law. He promised that if they would just set their Hebrew slaves free, then He would look mercifully upon them. A severe mercy indeed, their economy was based on save labor. To set them free would compromise their already dying economy. They initially agreed and cut a covenant with the Lord. But they reneged on the covenant. They sealed their fate. Death and exile were now coming. A severe justice indeed.
I was sinning in rebellion to God. Sin was having its way in my life. It had laid siege to the major centers of my life. I was in its control. The Lord set before me a choice, a severe mercy or a severe justice. The severe justice? I could die in my trespasses and sins and be forever lost and separated from Him. The severe mercy? He became flesh and died in my place paying the penalty of my sin. What must I do to find mercy? He said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” In my already perishing life He said, “I want your money, your wife, your children, your parents, your lands, your cars, everything you own. Yes, I want your very life. Don’t hold anything back. Then I will give you true life.” Now that is severe mercy, both on His part (it cost Him His life) and on my part (it costs me my life). Do I value Him to be greater than my already perishing life? If so, then why am I so reluctant to let go? The Israelites refused to let go. They died. The Lord constantly lays before us choices. Of course there is the choice of receiving salvation, but there is also the choice of walking in sanctification. When I let go, I truly live! Now that is real glory. Severe mercy means denying self. I choose severe mercy; do you? Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

ACTS 16:1-21
Time Out!!! What's going on here? We've just had this big fight in Antioch that necessitated a special trip to Jerusalem on which the council decided and the decision required two envoys be sent back with Paul and Barnabas to validate their report. The issue was over circumcision--was it required to be part of the people of God. And now Paul is taking one of his associates and circumcising him in order that he might accompany him. Isn't that a classic example of saying one thing and doing another? Ah, but here again is the glory of our Lord. The issue was the requirement to be part of the people of God not the voluntarily laying down of one's rights in order to share the Gospel with them. That makes all the difference in the world.
Would I be willing to do that to share the Gospel with others? I can hear Timothy now, "Paul, you want me to do what so that I may be able to share the gospel with people who do that? But it’s not a requirement. This is getting awfully personal!"
I can also hear Paul's response, "Yes, but unless you do it, they won't engage in any kind of relationship with you. They will consider you unclean. In short, they will not listen to you."
Timothy was willing. For the glory of the Lord Jesus, he laid down his right not to be cut on. He allowed circumcision, while at the same time helping deliver the decree which said it was not necessary. Our Lord's glory is really awesome. He can change the heart of someone to that point of commitment all because of His glory. The Lord changes hearts!
The Lord establishes two things that seem contradictory. Outward keeping of the law is not necessary to be one of His children. He calls his children to voluntarily acts of laying down their rights related to the outward keeping of the law in order to promote His glory. Having established these things for the church-Jew and Gentile alike-, the Lord redirects Paul's ministry geographically and for the time being, mostly toward Gentiles in the Roman city of Philippi.
Our Lord changes hearts. He doesn't just lay down the law, He changes hearts. Do we get it? He loves us so much that He doesn't beat us into submission like some brute animal. But He uses our circumstances and His glory to change our hearts. Indeed, we serve a glorious king! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John

July 8

JOSHUA 10
Every once in a while I get an old e-mail hoax forwarded to me. It usually has something to do with how NASA scientists have mathematically proven that there is a day missing in time. The e-mail usually associates the day with Joshua’s battle where the Sun stood still and with Isaiah”s miracle of the sun going backward. Without being a scientist, I know that NASA scientists could not have mathematically proven this. But I won’t bore you with the details. Although, it is interesting to consider how this miracle could possibly have taken place. After all, the laws of motion seem to indicate that if the Lord all-of-a-sudden stopped the earth, then everything not attached to the surface would have kept traveling and, relatively speaking, have been hurled eastward and perhaps off of the planet. There have been a few suggestions as to how the Lord may have arranged this mechanically without devastating the earth with massive tidal waves. Personally, while I find this interesting, I ultimately don’t care. After all, if my God is big enough to speak the universe into existence with all of its galactic and planetary motions, then He is able to stop the rotation of one little planet for one day and start it again and control all the laws of motion without doing harm to it. I mean, that is the point, isn’t it? He is after all, God. Do I have to be able to analyze it to believe it? I don’t think so. Sometimes we just need to let God be God, rather than trying to analyze everything.
In his book Life on the Mississippi, Mark Twain compares and contrasts two views of the river. One view is when he was a boy, and the river just awed him on a daily basis. The other view is after he had become a river boat pilot. He had so analyzed the river and knew it so well that it no longer held any wonder for him but spoke only of danger. Do I sometimes I approach the glory of my Lord in the same way? Do I have to use my western analytical mind so much that I cease to be truly awed by His glory? Can I not just sit back and be awed by the God of the Universe, who will enter time and space and reorder it, if need be, just to provide for my need and glorify Himself? Granted, making the sun stand still is probably a once-in-a-creation event, but still it causes me to reflect that our Lord is able to reorder all the daily events combining His sovereign design with the billions of free will decisions of His creatures in order to reveal His glory. From time to time He enters time and space and does something to order those events so that I know He did it. Wow! Now there is something that I just have to let awe me! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

PSALM 7
There have been times in my life when I have been attacked by those whom I considered to be my brothers. While I make no claim to being sinless, in many of those instances there was no sin of my own of which I needed to repent, but rather, they were looking for fault in me because they did not like the direction we were going. It is painful indeed. What is the appropriate response?
The title to this Psalm indicates that it is a response to the words of Cush the Benjamite. Saul was a Benjamite. We can only assume that this near or distant kinsman of Saul had been slandering David. Most likely this occurred during the time before David became the king of the united kingdom. How did David respond? He first spent some time in self-evaluation. He sought to see if any of the accusations were true. How else could he say, “If I have . . . , Let the enemy pursue me and overtake me; Yes, let him trample my life to the earth, and lay my honor in the dust.” Then he appeals to the Lord to rise up and judge. He asks for a judgment of the wicked. Finally, he rests in the fact that God is a just judge. He is angry with the wicked every day. He lets it go there.
Hmm. . . if God is angry with those who have inappropriately judged me, why should I be angry with them. If I really believe that God is a just judge, it is only right that I should rejoice in justice, but why should I take their punishment into my own hands? I would not want to be a sinner in the hands of an angry God. He is much more capable of punishing sin than I am. He is also much more capable of extending mercy than I am. It is His glory to extend both as needed. The appropriate response to being attacked is to spend time in letting God judge me and reveal to me my heart. Then it is appropriate to call upon Him to judge. Then it is appropriate to revel in the fact that He is a just and merciful judge. When I do that, it allows for others to see the operation of His justice and His mercy. It also allows for greater healing in my life. Lord, search me and try me and show me any hurtful way. Judge me and those around me. You are a just judge! Be merciful in judgment! Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

JEREMIAH 33
Yesterday, Jeremiah 32, could be summed up by saying, “When you are in the pits, it is time to look at the long term work of God, not your momentary distress. What is God seeking to accomplish?” Today, Jeremiah 33, we continue in sort of the same vein. Jeremiah is still in the court prison for speaking in the name of the Lord. If the choice were left to me, I wouldn’t want to be a prison Inmate anywhere. Yet it is in this prison that the Lord challenges Jeremiah, “Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” The KJV Commentary describes Mighty as: “Mighty. Inaccessible, hidden. The mysteries of eternity are available to the believer only through a call unto the Lord. “ Inaccessible—how many times have I felt like the situation was hopeless only to find later that the Lord was working through the situation to produce a result which was far better than I thought the situation would lead? How could Jeremiah ever be delivered out prison? He was in the court prison because he was preaching a message that was tantamount to sedition and treason. If the Chaldeans were not effective in their siege, then Jeremiah would remain in prison. If they were effective, the nation would surely perish and become nothing on the face of the earth. It is literally the old saying of, “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”
So what is this inaccessible, hidden thing that the Lord shows Jeremiah? It is simply the goodness and the mercy of the Lord. He will raise up out of the rubble a nation that will properly respond to the Lord. How will He do it? It will be a man, a God-man, the descendant of David. He will be called a righteous branch. While Israel was destroyed because of its unrighteousness, He will provide One who will make them righteous. While Israel was destroyed because of its unrighteous kings, He will provide a righteous King who will rule over them. You see, He had made two covenants one with the Levites and one with David. The Levites, which technically included the priests, were the family that was supposed to bring the people to the temple, and cover their sin. The line of David was supposed to rule in such a way that it led the people in righteous living. Both families had failed. Could God no longer keep His covenant? He would keep His covenant because He is good and full of mercy. He kept it in the God-man, Jesus Christ. Jesus, through the sacrifice of Himself, makes us righteous when we yield to Him. Jesus, through His eternal Spirit, empowers us, rules in us, when we yield to Him. When He returns, He will also establish a nation where He will be the true King. He would like to see that happen in His church right now. The availability of the New Covenant makes it possible. Will we yield? Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john

ACTS 15:22-41
It feels like dissension could never bring glory to Jesus. And it is probably true that Jesus prefers that His glory be increased through routes other than dissension. But, even people who are normally Spirit-filled sometimes miss the mark and sin. The dissension at Antioch brought the landmark decision from the "home" church in Jerusalem. James writing for the majority (actually among the apostles it was probably unanimous) phrased it as, "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us." Dissension led to a unanimous decision, which led to a blessing upon the Gentile church.
The dissension now healed, Paul and Barnabas return their attention on planting churches among the Gentiles. Woops, dissension arises again. Barnabas wants to take his nephew John Mark with them again. Paul is dead set against it. After all John Mark had revealed that he didn't have what it takes in Perga of Pamphylia--he deserted them and went home. Barnabas ever the 'Son of Encouragement' insists John Mark has repented and is ready for the task. The dissension is too strong. Barnabas departs to go a different direction with John Mark and Paul chooses Silas who accompanied them from the Jerusalem Council. How can this dissension glorify Jesus? In the long run, there are now two missionary teams instead of one, and John Mark is restored. At the end of Paul's life he requests the ministry of John Mark.
Did the dissension bring glory to the Lord? What came out of the dissension brought glory to the Lord. That is just like our Lord. He takes what we make bad and if we trust Him, He will bring glory to Himself. Indeed, we serve a glorious king! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor John