Our Father Knows Best - Isaiah 48

This is what the LORD says -- your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

     I am the LORD your God, who teaches you what
     is best for you, who directs you in the way you
     should go.

     If only you had paid attention to My commands,
     your peace would have been like a river, your
     righteousness like the waves of the sea.
    
                    -- Isaiah 48:17-18


If only....how I wish I had...we don't get "do overs"...so I can't go back and re-do...

But God in His amazing grace allows us to begin TODAY....

Alexander Whyte said that the successful Christian life is a "series of starting agains."

So today is the first day of the rest of your (and my) life!

Tears in Whose Bottle?

                                        Tears in Whose Bottle!

Psalm 56:1,2,8

Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up; fighting all day, he oppresses me. My enemies would hound me all day, For there are many who fight against me, O Most High....You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book?

Sad words from a sad time in the life of David. He was alone. He was hiding in the land of the enemy, Gath, (the home of Goliath, whom he had killed a few years before). He was desperate and he was afraid.

It was an ancient custom observed by mourners at a funeral. They would collect some of the tears they shed for departed loved ones and place them in small flasks, and leave in their tombs as memorials of their love.

God will never forget, nor is He indifferent to, the trials of  His much-loved people.

Are they not in Your book?


P.S. The future? No bottle needed! No reminder needed! No memorial needed!

     And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold the Tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people; God himself will be with them and be their God.

"And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain,  for the former things have passed away." (Revelation 21:3-4)

Challenging Words from a Long Time Ago!

                                     

                                             Challenging Words from a Long Time Ago!

John Chrysostom, one of the early church fathers -- 1600 years ago -- observed:

"Do you see how everywhere Paul puts the health of the community into the hands of each individual?"

Yes! We are called to "serve one another in love," "be at peace with one another," "submit to one another," "live in harmony with one another, "forgive one another," "teach and admonish one another," "be patient, bearing with one another in love," "confess your sins to one another," and so many other admonitions.

We all have a part in  the nurturing and growing of those who are following Christ alongside of us!

And as we nurture each other the whole body of Christ becomes stronger.

So it is just as that early church leader  said, 'the health of the entire Christian community is in the hands of each individual.'

God's Shining Face

The LORD said to Moses, tell Aaron and his sons, 'This is how you are to bless the Israelites: say to them:

'"The LORD bless you and keep you;

 the LORD make His face to shine upon you

and be gracious to you.

The LORD turn His face toward you

and give you peace.'"

Numbers 6:22-26

Ancient words. 

Familiar words.

This morning's prayer: LORD, let me read these words as if for the first time.

A shining face is the opposite of an angry, glaring face.

Someone might look at me with disgust or hatred.

Or indifference.

A shining face shows favor, friendliness, and eagerness to speak and share intimate fellowship.

A shining face is a welcoming face.

A shining face displays joy in closeness.

God's shining face shows His love and grace toward us, His creatures.

I might say to someone, 'God bless you!'

I mean 'God bless you in your activity. Make your day successful.'

But this Aaronic blessing is so much more.

God wants His people to have a close, joyous, gracious personal relationship with Himself.

It's His shining face He wants us turn to us.

Is that the greatest miracle of all?

We can stand up straight and tall in His Presence,

feeling the warmth of His Love-Light shining upon us, as we bask in His closeness.

I love these ancient words. I'm afraid I had forgotten their centrality to our faith.

Remember the old hymn, Lead On, O King Eternal?

Lead on, O King Eternal, we follow,

 not with fears;

For gladness breaks like morning,

where'er Your Face appears....

God's shining Face is a golden theme in scripture, appearing dozens of times, reminding us we can enter His Presence with boldness, because He has turned His shining Face on us.

Is this the greatest miracle of all?

Maybe we shall greet each other with these words every day.....

The LORD bless you and keep you;

The LORD make His Face to shine upon you

and be gracious to you.

The LORD turn His Face toward you

and give you peace.

My peace I give you, said the Lord Jesus.

Unintended Consequences

It's a trendy phrase these days - Unintended Consequences.

It seems to fit a lot of situations and it sounds sort of  sophisticated and worldly-wise.
So we like to use it!


It reminds me of a poem by Robert Frost that I read many years ago: The Exposed Nest.


 In this verse the poet finds his young daughter trying to save a group of baby birds after their nest was destroyed by a harvesting machine. She is trying to put the nest back together and  move it to a secure place and to construct a grassy screen to shade the tiny birds from the harsh glare of the sun.

The poet paints such a detailed picture for us:

'Twas a nest full of young birds on the ground...
And left defenseless to the heat and light..
You wanted to restore them to their right..

And the way the tiny birds responded..

.
The way the nest-full every time we stirred
Stood up to us as to a mother-bird
Whose coming home has been too long deferred


And the consequences of this random act of kindness...

Made me ask would the mother-bird return
And care for them in a such a change of scene
And might meddling make her more afraid...
We saw the risk we took in doing good,
But dared not spare to do the best we could
Though harm should come of it, so built the screen
You had begun, and gave them back their shade.
All this to prove we cared.

The poem ends on a sad note, though, as Frost explains that after restoring the nest to a safe place and shading it from the glare of the sun, they never came back to see if the mother did return and care for her little ones. Maybe they still perished.

The poem is a moving description of compassion for the baby birds in their hour of danger, but also raises questions about whether such kindness is always wise and whether it does any good.

But what about the lines....We saw the risk we took in doing good....but dared not spare to  do the best we could.....

Isn't that the way it really is? We can't just leave the baby birds. We have to do the best we can. I guess that is my prayer today. That if I encounter a problem, a need, a troubled person, a baby bird exposed to the hostile world, that I will just, with God's merciful eyes and gracious spirit, do the best I can, trusting God to complete the task.

If that is my prayer today, then it has to end with a prayer of thanksgiving that God Himself, knowing the consequences of sending His Son to this hostile world, to this stronghold of the enemy,  would still do what had to be done to rescue us.

Not unintended consequences, in His plan, but fully intended consequences.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow....praise Him all creatures here below....

Long ago, even before He made the world,

God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy

and without fault in His eyes.

His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into

His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ.

And this gave Him great pleasure.

So we praise God for the wonderful kindness He has poured

out on us because we belong to His dearly loved Son.

He is so rich in kindness that He purchased our freedom

through the blood of His Son, and our sins are forgiven.

God's secret plan has now been revealed to us; it is a plan centered on Christ,

Designed long ago according to His good pleasure.

And this is His plan:

At the right time He will being everything together

Under the authority of Christ--everything in heaven and on earth.

Furthermore, because of Christ, we have received an inheritance from God,

 for He chose us from the beginning,

And all things happen, just as He decided long ago.

Ephesians 1 , NLT

Summer Christmas Gift - - The Gift of Becoming

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
          -- Romans 6:23

But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions... For it is by grace you have been saved through faith -- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God...
          -- Ephesians 2:4-8


It was the first thing we learned as we came to Christ: it is because of God's grace we are saved. It is a gift of God -- completely free and unfettered-- completely unaffected by our own works -- because of God's grace we receive the free gift of His love and salvation.

The Rest of the Story

Then what happens?

Once we receive the gift we become the gift!

See these verses from John 17 (Christ's prayer for His disciples and for us who follow):

Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you have granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him (verses 1-2).

I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me...(verse 6).

I pray for them...for those you have given me (verse 9).


Once we receive the gift we become the gift!

The gift God the Father joyfully gives His Son: we are that gift!

(But first we have to receive the gift!)

Why did He do this? this rescue mission to earth to
bring His disobedient children back into His family -

We are told in Hebrews 12:2:

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God...

"For the joy set before him...."  We are the cause of that joy -- because we are God's gift to our Savior.

~~~~~~~~~~

How to receive the gift?

He [the jailer] brought them [Paul and Silas] out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved."
                     -- Acts 16:23

Who was there? The 120 - Acts 1:1-15

Acts 1:1-15

" In my former book [The Gospel of Luke], Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day He was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen. After His suffering, He showed Himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a period of 40 days and spoke about the Kingdom of God.  On one occasion He gave them this command: Do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the gift My Father promised, which  you have heard me speak about...."

"Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath's day walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying.....they joined constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers...a group numbering about 120."

I've always wondered about the group of 120: who were they?

We know the 11 apostles were there. They are listed by name. And we know Mary the mother of Jesus was there, and His brothers. We are told that.

And we assume Matthias and Joseph Barsabbas were there, because Peter, anxious to fill the vacant spot (the 12th disciple) left by Judas, who had betrayed Christ and killed himself, suggested one of them take Judas' place.

So that's 17 or 18 gathered there obediently awaiting the promised gift of the Holy Spirit to strengthen, comfort and guide them.

What about the other 100 or so "believers"?

It's exciting to think about.

Likely Martha, Mary, and Lazarus were there. Maybe Peter's mother-in-law, who had been healed by Christ.

What about the no-longer-blind Bartimaeus, who met Jesus on the road to Jericho?

What about the chief tax-collector Zacchaeus, who wanted to see Jesus but was too short to see over the crowd and climbed up into the sycamore tree?
Jesus spotted him right away and said "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today."  He got a better look at the Savior than he could have imagined.

What about the widow of Nain, and her son, who Jesus raised from the dead?

What about the Roman centurion in Capernaum, who asked Jesus to heal his servant?

And what about Simon, the man from North Africa, who was recruited to help Jesus carry His cross?

And what about the rich young ruler, who turned away sadly when Jesus told him he needed to give away his wealth? Maybe he reconsidered his position and his priorities and came back?

Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, and his daughter?
And the woman who only touched the hem of His robe for healing.

The woman at Jacob's well? The little boy with the lunch of loaves and fishes He gave Jesus to feed the great crowd?

Nicodemus? He visited Jesus one night and was told he needed to be "born again." Then we see him caution the Jewish leaders not to pre-judge Jesus at His trial, and then we learn of him helping prepare His body for burial. I would like to think he was one of the 120.

What about the Emmaus disciples, Cleopas and his companion (Mary?) They had returned to Jerusalem earlier, according to Luke 24, and probably stayed once they knew that Jesus had been raised from the dead, joining the other disciples who were waiting.

There are so many more - lepers, blind, lame, demon-possessed. Some just hungry and thirsty.

John reminds us, "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written" (John 21:25).


We don't know who all were in the group of 120 "believers."

But we know they were obedient and expectant, waiting for the promised gift the Father was sending the empower and comfort them.

They probably all shared their own experiences with Christ, marveling with each other as their stories unfolded. 

"I was so shocked," Zacchaeus might have said, "When Jesus looked up at me and said to get down fast and hurry to MY home because He was going to visit ME...in MY home!"

And we know as they waited in Jerusalem, they were (1) obedient, (2) joined together in fellowship, and (3) constantly in prayer.

Certainly good practices to follow for all of us today!










 

Slingshots - then and now

Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag, and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. 1 Samuel 17:40.

How many times have I read or heard this story? Hundreds? At least! And yet it is still so astonishing. Containing all the elements of a heroic epic, this simple story of a young brave boy challenging and overcoming the enemies of his people, remains thrilling.

I have heard secular historians making fun of this tale, as an "obvious myth written to encourage primitive people." Like a Hebrew Beowulf, they would say.

It is certainly not fantasy. It is in God's record. Also, it is not fantasy because, unknown by most secular historians, "slingshooters" were an important part of the armies of the ancient world.

The Greeks had large companies of them going into battle. And in Judges 20:16 we read
that the tribe of Benjamin had "seven hundred chosen men who were left-handed, each of whom could sling a stone at a hair and not miss."

Slingshots were formidable military weapons, capable of being propelled (underhanded seemed to work best) with deadly accuracy.

(Hand-sized round stones are sometimes found by archaeologists. The leather slings have long ago vanished.)

Obviously young David would not do well with a sword (he would be too short and unable to get close enough) and what good would a suit of armor be if your enemy towered over you?

As Goliath closed in, David ran "quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead" (1 Samuel 17).

So David chose the right weapon to kill Goliath. And then he chose a sword to cut his head off.

David was a hero for many reasons: he was young and not a military man, he was brave, he was eager to serve God. But more importantly, he was armed with the name of God. ...I come against you, he told Goliath, not with a sword and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

Remember reading Hamlet?

These words of Shakespeare, a Bible student, are often memorized by students:

To be or not to be: that is the question.

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing them end
them?

David chose to fight, to take arms against the sea of troubles surrounding God's people and to end them.

We are in a battle, too, "against the flaming arrows of evil" (Ephesians 6). And we have a lot of miltary equipment at our disposal. Paul encourages us to use it all.

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can stand against the devil's schemes. For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of the dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Therefore, put on the full armor of God....with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, the breastplate of righteousness in place, and your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace....the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one...the helmet of salvation...the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.

(Ephesians 6)

The sword is the only offensive weapon mentioned here. The other items are defensive-- critical armor to provide for our safety.

Paul lists a lot of enemies here and urges us (he repeats it twice to make certain we understand) to put on all the armor to defend ourselves from their assaults. Just one or two pieces of the armor won't do it -- we must have ALL of the armor.

How could we go into battle without our helmet? our shield? That would be really stupid!

Soldiers regularly check their weapons, their jeeps and tanks, their head gear, cleaning and oiling and refitting them, doing whatever it takes to keep them in good working order. After all, their life depends on how well their equipment functions!


We need to keep our equipment in good working order, too. And we must be clothed with protective armor to repel all the slings and arrows Satan hurls against us.

After all, we are soldiers in a battle that has eternal consequences.


Note: As slings were used in the ancient world they became larger and heavier, and then they were mechanized and became catapults. The armies also used archers with bows and arrows. They too became larger and heavier and had to be braced against a person's stomach. They later became crossbows.

How God Helps Us! -- C S Lewis

                                         How God Helps Us!

                                                       --  C S Lewis

How God Helps Us -- Thoughts from C S Lewis:

"What do we mean when we talk of God helping us? We mean God putting into us a bit of Himself, so to speak. He lends us a bit of His reasoning powers and that is how we think. He puts into us a little of His love and that is how we love one another.

When you teach a child writing, you hold his hand while he forms the letters: that is, he forms the letters because you are forming them.

We love and reason because God loves and reasons and He holds our hand while we do it."

That Moment!

I am thinking of another hymn we used to sing. The title is: To God Be the Glory.

The first line begins, "To God be the glory, great things He has done. So loved He the world that He gave us His Son..."

It's a truly great hymn of praise.

But right now I am pondering this line from the second verse:
"The vilest offender who truly believes - that moment from Jesus a pardon receives!"

"That moment" - that moment -.....no probation time, no internship, no "let's try it for 30 days and see if you can handle it"....no trial period, no further education or training needed....no application to fill out and be reviewed!

"That moment"!

Remember the jailer in Acts 16:31?  His urgent question to Paul
and Silas was just "What must I do to be saved?"

The answer? "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!"

"That moment from Jesus a pardon received"....

Still the greatest mystery of all -- why does He care that much about us?All our lives - now and forever - are about "that moment!"

I Am With You Always! He Promised!

"Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" 

(Matthew 28:20).

No human being could give us such a comforting and encouraging promise! Jesus spoke these words after His resurrection and before He ascended into heaven! 

During those intervening 40 days He was preparing them for what was to come. And He instructed them to wait in Jerusalem for the special Gift God had promised to send them (John 14-17). He had told them that His physical presence would be replaced by His Holy Spirit to live in each of them. They obeyed, waited, and received the miraculous Gift on the day we still call Pentecost -- 50 days after Passover!

Notice the verbs: they obeyed, waited, and received! A picture of our own daily walk with Jesus! He always keeps His promises! So we, too, obey, wait, and receive!

Greek scholars tell us that the original Greek word order would be, "I with you am" -- reminiscent of the Hebrew expression God gave Moses in Exodus 3:14 -- "I am who I am!" Jesus is the great "I am!"- the eternal God who was, and is, and is to come! He is now and will be forever!

He alone is the Alpha and Omega as He reminds us again in Revelation 22. Always, forever, our Immanuel! How blessed we are that He shared that with us! And He wanted them to understand that before He left!

He would, through the Holy Spirit, always be with them!

************

(Probably the disciples would say that the best day of their lives was Resurrection Day! But I think Jesus would say that the best day for Him was 40 days later -- Ascension Day! He had finished the work He had come to do --  now He was leaving it in their hands! Now He was going Home!)

Pay Attention!

 

                                        Pay Attention! 

When you opened your eyes this morning, God had already taken care of every unfolding detail of your day.

Every moment you would find fearful and challenging, every event that would sap your strength, every person who would tax your patience -- all of it He has already prepared you for.

He has covered every second with His grace...tucked His love into every moment and wrapped it all with the quiet strength your heart would need. He will show you all during this day how much He loves you and cares for you..... will remind you that nothing can separate you -- ever -- from His love.

 My dear friend -- just PAY ATTENTION!

That Great Day - Who Can Imagine?

I'm still imagining that glorious day when we stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ and He presents crowns to us for our humble obedient pilgrimage here on earth in His service.

But who can think about crowns without thinking about the crown He had on His head while on the cross -- the crown He chose to wear while dying in unspeakable pain -- the crown of cruelty and mockery that the soldiers purposely "twisted together and set on His head." They spit on Him, abused and tortured Him and then they led Him away to  crucify Him (Matthew 27). 

Jesus suffered all the pain for our sin so that we wouldn't have to. He endured the agony of the abandonment of His Father so that we would never have to. He wore the mockery of His crown so that He could give us glorious crowns of celestial beauty.

Who can imagine it?

"No angel in the sky can fully bear that sight, but downward bends his burning eyes at mysteries so bright."

Jesus wore the crown of despicable horror so we could have a crown of glory? 

(He did that for us?)

Who can even imagine a God like that?

What does it mean to remember no more? - Jerry Bridges

What does it mean,  "To remember no more?"

To remember no more is God's way of expressing absolute forgiveness. In Hebrews 8:12 (which quotes Jeremiah 31:34) God says:


For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.

And again in Hebrews 10:17-18, He says,

Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.


Note that in both passages remember no more is equated with forgiveness.

Psalm 130:3-4 states that the same truth in a somewhat different way:

If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O LORD, who should stand? But with you there is forgiveness, therefore you are feared.

Here the Psalmist considers the prospect that God does remember our sins, that He does keep such a record of them.

If this were true, it would be a terrifying thought. The Psalmist says: "Who could stand?"

It is a rhetorical question. None of us could successfully stand before God's bar of judgment.

But then the Psalmist goes on to exclaim: "But with you there is forgiveness."

God does not keep a record of our sins. Instead He forgives.

This, of course, anticipates the sacrifice of Christ for our sins, for "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness"  (Hebrews 9:22)

       From The Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's a "bad news/good news" story -- the bad news first: yes, we are great sinners in the eyes of God.

Next the really good news: God has forgiven us of all our sins--past, present and future.

Now that's really good news!

Keepers of the Lighthouse, Journal - 1920's

Journal of a Lighthouse Keeper, during the 1920's -

off the west coast of Australia

                                            ~~~~~

He cleans the stairs and re-paints constantly the wooden framework. He polishes the brass daily and cleans the lens.

It's a hard job, and a busy one.The days can leave him exhausted and sore, worried about the look of a storm front coming in at a gallop, or frustrated by the way hailstones crush the vegetable patch, or helpless as he sees ships headed into stormy seas. 

But if he doesn't think about it too hard, he knows who he is and what he's there for.

He just has to keep the light burning. And the lens clean.

Nothing more.

"People imagine the light must be huge, but it's not-- the actual luminescence comes from a flame of vaporized oil that burns in an incandescent mantle. It gets magnified and directed through a giant set of glass prisms twelve feet high, called a  first order Fresnel lens, which bends the light into a beam so intense you can see it more  than thirty miles away. Amazing to think a little thing can become so strong that you can see it miles off.

"My job -- my job...it's to keep the lens clean."

A light must be seen.

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

-- Matthew 5:14-16

Why is it Important to be Heart-Broken? Oswald Chambers

          Why is it Important to be Heartbroken?

Thoughts from Oswald Chambers:

"The first thing God does is get us grounded on strong reality and truth.

He does this until our cares for ourselves individually have been brought

into submission to His way for the  purpose of His redemption.

Why shouldn't we experience heartbreak?

Through those doors God is opening up ways of  fellowship with His Son.

Most of us collapse at the first grip of pain. We sit down at the door of God's purpose and enter a slow death through self-pity. And all the so-called Christian sympathy of others helps us to our death bed.

But God will not. He comes with the grip of the pierced hand of His Son, 

as if to say, "Enter into fellowship with Me; arise and shine."

If God can accomplish His purposes in this world through a broken heart,

then why not thank Him for breaking yours?"

             [Yes, why not thank Him for breaking mine?]

The Good Judge

I know that the LORD will  maintain the cause of the afflicted

and give justice for the poor. 

Surely the righteous shall give thanks in Your name;

the upright will dwell in Your presence.

Psalm 140:12-13

Father,

The world seems so full of hurt for so many.

It is distressing to see how the poor and powerless are often

treated.

We know You are the only truly righteous Judge, and someday You will even things out.

In the meantime, You have asked us to extend justice in Your name. To seek out injustice and cruelty and evil around us and confront it  whenever we can, and to begin to establish Your perfect and holy 

kingdom  here "on earth, as it is in heaven."

Help us be strong and speak for You. Show us where we can do the most good. Help us relieve suffering wherever we encounter it --

for all Your created ones.

And help us keep our eyes on that future  kingdom that is still to come -- that kingdom that will be all eternal goodness and perfection for ever.

Help us to find people to bring with us when we arrive in Your

presence where there is no sadness, no suffering, no tears -- only perfect joy with You forever!

Amen

Pardons

When? That moment!

"The vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus, a pardon receives"!  (From the hymn, "To God be the Glory")

We are hearing a lot about presidential pardons right now. A presidential pardon is inviolable -- it cannot be overruled or overturned by any one -- not even a unanimous proclamation by the Supreme Court or Congressional action can prevent a pardon from being given. Only one thing can prevent a pardon from being received: it can be refused!

That does not happen very often, of course. But in 1830 President Andrew Jackson issued one for George Wilson, who was sentenced to death by hanging for certain crimes related to theft of government mail. President Jackson, and many of Wilson's friends, wanted him to be pardoned, and so President Jackson issued the pardon.

But Wilson refused it. We don't know why. So President Jackson contacted the prison and instructed them to cancel the hanging. That should solve the problem, right?

No. They couldn't legally cancel the sentence.

It went to the Supreme Court.

The decision? Wilson had faced trial, been found guilty, and sentenced to death. Without the pardon, he had no other recourse. The law had to be carried out! And so George Wilson was hung as the law required!

Isn't that like our position? We have disobeyed God's law -- we are guilty before the law -- and death is our sentence.

But God has given us a pardon, provided by the sacrifice of Jesus, who took our punishment and paid our sentence. We can walk away free -- free of guilt and punishment! No one can overturn or overrule God's pardon. But if I don't accept the pardon, then I stand guilty before the law and must  serve the sentence.  Without the pardon I must meet the demands of the law. Which is death.

But I have accepted my pardon!  Have you?

He Meant What He Said -- C S Lewis

God tells us, "Be ye perfect, as I am perfect." 

From C S Lewis -- 

"The command, 'Be ye perfect" is not idealist wishing. Nor is it a command to do the impossible.

He is going to make us into creatures that can obey that command.

If we let Him -- for we can prevent Him if we choose -- He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into a god or goddess, a dazzling, radiant immortal creature, pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine,  a bright stainless mirror which reflects back to God perfectly (though, of course, on a smaller scale) His own boundless power and delight and goodness. 

The process will be long and sometimes very painful, but that is what we are in for, nothing less. He meant what He said."

My Heart - Christ's Home -C S Lewis

 

"Imagine Yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, you understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on. You know that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. 

But presently He starts knocking the house about in ways that hurt abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? 

The explanation is the He is building quite a different house than the one you thought of --throwing out a new wing here, putting up an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be a decent little cottage, but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself."

God's Masterpiece

 We Are God's Masterpiece

"For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we could do the good things He planned for us long ago"(Ephesians 2:10)

During construction a house can look like a really messy and disorganized place. Hard to imagine it to ever be a real home, ready for occupancy.

But the architect had a plan and then one day -- there it is finished, beautiful and a palace fit for a king!

    "Father, thank You that You have a perfect plan for my life and are at work now, detailing me to accomplish the good things You have panned for me to do for Your glory! You won't leave me incomplete - You will continue to shape and mold me for Your glory!

When Satan tells me I am a mess and no good and of no value, help me to remind him that I am a work in progress - You are not finished with me yet! and I am anxiously awaiting that day when I will be like You - that glorious day I see You face to face!

Amen"

He Who Forgets

Praise to our gracious God who forgets! 

God, in His mercy, promises to forget our sins! Forever! Over and over!

In Psalm 103 He tells us He has removed our sins "as far as the east is from the west!" So far the distance can't even be measured.

In Isaiah 38 He says He has placed all our sins behind His back -- where He can't even see them! And He doesn't keep a list to remind Him of our failures. He also tells us He doesn't want us to keep lists either, in 1 Corinthians 13.

And in Micah 7 He tells us He has "hurled" our iniquities into the deep sea!

He "hurled" them, not just dropped them overboard where they could possibly float and be retrieved later.

The deep sea we know about is the Challenger Deep, in the Mariana Trench -- that's over 7 miles deep! (Mt. Everest is 5.5 miles high. So that deep sea is much deeper than Mt Everest is tall. No chance of retrieving them there!)

Looks like our God wants us to know for sure about His short memory. Looks like He wants us to be able to count on it!

A good example is Peter. When Jesus, after His resurrection, came to Peter, He didn't chastise or accuse him! He didn't bring his failures up at all! He didn't ask if He would ever be able to trust Peter again...no 'I told you so' comments! Jesus didn't even refer to Peter's sins...but, we are told, Peter wept bitterly. Peter remembered, and we weep with Peter.

We know "If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

I prayed a silly prayer this morning: "Remember when I __________ ? Well, I've just done something worse..."  Silly --  God doesn't remember the older sin...and won't remember this one either.

Can we count on God?

A Hymn From the Early Church

Recorded for us in Philippians 2:6-11, we find an early hymn or creedal chant, used by our church ancestors.  

Paul deeply loved his friends at Philippi and was greatly encouraged by their love for him. He wrote this letter from imprisonment in Rome.

He wants them to always remember that they (and we)  should exhibit the same mind set as Jesus had -- complete humility.

The hymn begins describing Jesus:

     "Who, being in the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to be used for His own advantage.

      Rather, He made Himself nothing, by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 

      And being found in appearance of a man, He humbled Himself by being obedient to death -- even death on a cross!"

That's how the hymn begins. Here is how it ends:

     "Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name,

      that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth. 

      And every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father."

     It would be so amazing to worship with these wonderful people and sing this song or chant it with them! (I guess I should say,  "It will be great to worship with these wonderful people" - because according to God's message for us -- someday we will!)

Praise God from whom all blessings flow

Praise Him all creatures here below

Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

He did descend, undressing all the way!

 I am re-reading a favorite poet this morning -- George Herbert, well known priest and poet, who was born in 1593 and died of tuberculosis in 1633, at age 39. We have over 90 of his poems set to music and sung as hymns in any Orthodox churches today.

One of my favorites is "The Bag" from "The Temple":

     "Hast thou not heard, that my Lord Jesus died? The let me tell you a strange story.

     The God of power, as He did ride in His majestic robes of glory resolved to light, and one day He did descend, undressing all the way.

     And when they asked what He would wear, He smiled and said as He did go, He had new clothes a-making here below."

This picture brings so many tears. Our Immanuel, the King of Kings, had to take off His royal clothing as He came to that manger in Bethlehem, and then had to attire Himself with our clothes and become one of us.

He removed His royal robes and jeweled crowns and put on our humble human garb -- why would he do that? It is certainly "a strange story."

Stranger yet, He removed His spectacular royal garb so that we could remove our filthy, pitiful garb and clothe ourselves in His glorious royal clothes of righteousness and reign with Him forever! As His beloved children! When God looks at us He sees Jesus! We are "clothed in Christ" (Galatians 3:27).  He wore our clothes so we could wear His!

He wore a crown of thorns so that we could wear a crown of life!

He paid the debt we owed for our sin so that we wouldn't have to!

Who could ever imagine a God like that!

                           ****************

"I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness." (Isaiah 61:10)

         

(US) In honor of our veterans - FDR's Prayer on D Day

"For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people."

Franklin Roosevelt's D-Day Prayer

June 6, 1944

My fellow Americans, last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join me in prayer:

Almighty God: our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a  mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard, for the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tired, by night and by day, without rest -- until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men's souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice rise, and tolerance and good will among all thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home -- fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas -- whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them -- help us, Almighty God to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too -- strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in thee; Faith in our sons; Faith in each other. Faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled...

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy... Lead us to the saving of our country...

Thy will be done, Almighty God.

Amen.



Cast Your Cares

                             

                                           Cast Your Cares

Psalm 55:22 -- "Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you."

And the same idea is repeated hundreds of years later by the Apostle Peter when he tells us to 'cast your cares on the Lord for He cares for you.'

Peter would have known Psalm 55 very well -- remember the Old Testament was the BIble he read, as well as Jesus, John and Paul and all the other apostles.

God does not take all our troubles away, but He sustains us and gives us the strength and courage to handle all our challenges. 

If we are in a storm, and we pray to Him, He may quiet the storm as He did in Mark 4 when He and His disciples were in a boat on the Sea of Galilee.  A fierce storm came up and the "waves broke over the boat so that it was nearly swamped."

Jesus was asleep. The disciples were terrified and woke Him up. "Don't You care if we drown?" they asked Him. He rebuked the wind and stilled the waves. It was completely calm."

He may do this right now for you as you go through your storm.

Or He may just allow the storm to challenge you and give you the strength to face it and walk through it as He did in Matthew 14. That time the disciples were on a boat battling the waves and wind, trying to safely land and pick up Jesus.

It was night. Jesus decided to walk out to them, walking on the lake. When they saw Him they were terrified. "It is a ghost" they said and cried out in fear.

Jesus told them to "Take courage. Don't be afraid. It is I."

Peter said, "Lord if it be You, tell me to come to you on the water."

And Jesus said. "Come."

So he did.

He started out bravely, but got afraid and began to sink. Peter then prayed the shortest prayer in the Bible, "Lord, save me!"

Immediately Jesus reached out and caught him.

Peter was present for both of these miracles.

Sometimes Jesus chooses to stop the storm and other times He doesn't -- He chooses to help us get through it. Keeps the storm away from us or walks with us through it. Either way is OK, right?

Not my will, but Your will be done is our prayer.

"Take courage" -- not look for courage...take it...it is here. I am giving it to you!

"Don't be afraid. It is I."

The Receivers - Philip Yancey

Then the King will say to those on his right, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.

Then the righteous will answer him, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did you see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?"

The King will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."
                  -- Matthew 25:37-40



From The Jesus I Never Knew, by Philip Yancey

Commenting on this passage, the great American theologian Jonathan Edwards said that God has designated the poor as His "receivers."

Since we cannot express our love by doing anything to profit God directly, God wants us to do something profitable for the poor, who have been delegated the task of receiving Christian love.

One night I was absently flipping the channels of television when I came across what seemed to be a children's movie, starring the young Hayley Mills. I settled back and watched the plot unfold.

She and two friends, while playing in a country barn, stumbled across a vagrant (Alan Bates) sleeping in the straw.

"Who are you?" Mills demanded. The vagrant jerked awake and, seeing the children, muttered, "Jesus Christ!"

What he meant was an expletive, the children took as the truth.

They actually believed the man to be Jesus Christ.

For the rest of the movie (Whistle Down the Wind), they treated the vagrant with awe, respect, and love.

They brought him food and blankets, sat and talked with him, and told him about their lives.

In time their tenderness transformed the vagrant, an escaped convict who had never known such mercy.

Mills's mother, who wrote the story, intended it as an allegory of what might happen if all of us took literally Jesus' words about the poor and the needy.

By serving them, we serve Jesus.

"We are a contemplative order," Mother Teresa told a rich American visitor who could not comprehend her fierce commitment to the dregs of Calcutta. "First we meditate on Jesus, and then we go out and look for Him in disguise."

According to this parable, Jesus knew the world He left behind would include the poor, the hungry, the prisoners, the sick.

The decrepit state of the world did not surprise Him.  He made plans to cope with it: a long-range plan and a short-range plan. The long-range plan involves His return, in power and great glory, to straighten out planet earth. The short-range plan means turning it over to the ones who will ultimately usher in the liberation of the cosmos. He ascended so that we would take His place.

"Where is God when it hurts?" I have often asked. The answer is another question, "Where is the church when it hurts?"


[Note: According to Scripture, we, the church, are part of the long-range plan (we come with Christ when He returns to make things right here on earth) and the short-range plan (we take His place here now). All of God's plans from before creation involve us, His special people, His children and heirs, His bride.]