How He Went Back Home

 Jesus' resurrection and appearances to His followers removed any doubt that He was, in truth, their long-awaited Messiah! Their Immanuel!

He apparently only appeared to His believers and followers -- not to Herod, or Pilate, or His outspoken belligerent critics in the religious circle.

He only stayed around 40 days before He left them and ascended to His place of honor and glory --He went back home! Certainly His best day!

Here's how Luke describes it in Acts 1:9-11 -- As the disciples watched in wonder -- 

"He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 'Men of Galilee,' they said, 'Why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.'"

As I write this I am looking at the sky -- some lovely morning pinkish clouds and billowing white displays of morning beauty -- I am looking for Jesus! You probably are, too. This would be a perfect day for Him to come back and call us up to be with Him!

Yes, Maranatha!  Our Lord Jesus!

(I guess we'd better get busy - there's lots to do yet!)

What we learned from the Jews - Joseph Loconte

                                        What We Learned from the Jews


Every culture, in one way or anther, reaches out for God.
  
This has been true throughout human history.

The Jews in Jesus' day were very much like, but also very different from, the other cultures around them.

Virtually every other society viewed nature as divine.  The list of gods and goddesses, representing every aspect of the physical world, was endless.

No matter where we look -- among the Babylonians, Egyptians, Persians, Greeks or Romans -- we find people worshiping nature as the living and breathing embodiment of divinity.

Not the Jews.  The opening pages of Genesis assert the non-divinity of the cosmos: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth..."  (Genesis 1:1).

The heavens and the earth are not eternal. They came into existence, we are told, from the hand of a Being outside of them, a Creator utterly distinct from His creation.

While other religions assumed the presence of deities all about them, the religion of the Jews began in a radically different place.

Jewish philosopher Leon Kass says the opening lines of Scripture set Judaism at odds with the rest of the known world: "This perfectly natural human tendency [nature worship] the Bible seeks to oppose, and right from the first verse, by denying that the heavens -- or any other beings -- are worthy of human reverence."

In another sense, though, the Jews are like people in other societies. They, too, are God-seekers.

More importantly, they believed firmly that they had discovered the one true God and that they were known and favored by Him among all the peoples of the earth.

They championed the idea that God is not only personal, but purposeful, a Supreme Being with a supremely moral agenda for mankind.

Scholar Paul Johnson calls the introduction of this idea "one of the great turning points in history, perhaps the greatest of all."

   -- From The Searchers, by Joseph Loconte


Most ancient religions viewed history in a circular pattern - cycles of planting and harvest, birth and death, in never-ending circles like a spinning stationery bicycle wheel.

History was not "going" anywhere.

The Jews, however, viewed history as a straight line, a journey along a road, with a definite destination -- starting someplace and ending someplace.

History was going somewhere......

This road was revealed to them in the Old Testament Scriptures.

My best friend

I remember how hard it was when I was a child to find and keep a "best friend."
What a joy to have someone I could tell anything to -- hopes, dreams, hurts.

Remember Anne of Green Gables? When she discovered the friendship of Shirley Barry and they became "kindred spirits" forever? They were both so joyous at that remarkable discovery.

These thoughts came to me this morning when reading Psalm 25:14.

The LORD confides in those who fear Him; He makes His covenant
known to them. (NIV)

How can this be true? Does it really mean what is says? (I think it always does!) If we fear (worship) Him, He will reveal to us His secrets?

It would have to be a really close friend for us to "confide" in them. Someone trustworthy and dependable to keep our secrets. And those people we have to search out and start sharing our secrets slowly and carefully until we are certain that they are worthy of our trust (trustworthy).

Jesus told His disciples, "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know His master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything I learned from my Father I have made known to you." (John 15:15)

So God Himself is the revealer of His divine secrets, those mysterious thoughts of His own heart, and He will share them with us.

"Privy" (to be secret or privately informed about) is a word hardly used anymore. But when a character in a story boasts he was "privy" to something, then we know he was in the "in crowd." The select group that surrounds a powerful king or businessman.

And who doesn't want to be in the "inner circle"?

So I guess we are in that orb of the LORD's confidence when we connect ourselves to Him through Jesus Christ --

And the LORD of the universe, through our worship of Him, will share His secrets with us!

Here is the verse (Psalm 25:14) from The Message:

God-friendship is for God-worshipers; They are the ones He
confides in.

I need to work on my "God-worship".

P.S. I think we can relate this idea to current news. Sometimes we can be praying for a certain problem or situation we want changed. And it changes! Everyone is quick to applaud the important people involved, but we know that the prayers of His people first moved the hand of God to make the change in response to our heart-felt prayers.

When the Berlin Wall fell, Ronald Reagan received much credit -- and he deserved it, and economical problems contributed. But what the world does not, or chooses not, to recall is the steadfast group of 500,000 Christians who, with lighted candles marching silently night after night, carrying signs that said they were praying for freedom and for the wall to come down. Only CNN showed that group, and only for a short time.

He Loves Me...He Loves Me Not...

Remember that silly game? What  a trivial way to assess someone's love for another!
And to measure another's love on nothing more substantial than the number of petals on a garden flower...or the random throwing of dice....

Talk about missing the point. Talk about trivializing a truth of great importance....well, that was
me and my friends when we were growing up (back in the dark ages).

I started thinking about a reunion we hosted recently, a re-gathering of the church members of the small inter-denominational church I grew up in -- folks we had known decades ago and had not, in most cases, even seen since.

Everyone brought pictures of their families, their homes and pets and awards, all brought out of their
purses or pockets with "bragging rights."

"And this is our granddaughter. She is 16 now. We are so proud of her! She's in the honor society!"
"Here's a picture of my grandson in his baseball uniform. He loves baseball and leads his team in scoring!"
"Oh, here's a picture of my son -- he's a doctor, you know -- and a professor at UT Medical."

On and on. "Bragging rights."

It is easy to notice that each person comments only on the good things about his child or grandchild.
Maybe there is also real concern and maybe heartbreak in the picture, too. Maybe that young girl's
friendships are leading her down a slippery path into drugs. But that story is not told.

Maybe that young boy is often disobedient and disrespectful to his parents. Maybe there was a loud and angry family row just as they were leaving to come to the reunion.

We don't know -- because, of course, deep down every person displaying their photos are exercising their "bragging rights" and they are proud and loving of their children.

They are not remembering their grievances and disappointments. Like a fine painting, their loved ones are being displayed in the best possible light.
Now that I am older I see that much of my life I have labored under the misconception that God is, if not angry, then disappointed in me. That He looks at me, not with pride, but with my faults on His mind.

I see it differently now. God is not filling His mind with petty thoughts about my failures. He is not
keeping a list (we are told in I Corinthians 13 that a loving person does not do that, and God, is, above all, a loving God).

He loves us (me). Really, really loves us (me). He's proud of us (me).

He is gracious, seeing all those evidences of His grace in my life. He truly loves me.

Now I think I understand Job 1:8 when God challenges Satan: "Have you considered my servant Job?"
God was exercising His "bragging rights."

And Zephaniah 3:17:

The LORD your God is with you. He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you.  He will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with singing.

The picture is perfect: a mother quieting her baby with a soft lullaby.  Expressions of delight and love
cover her face. (Even if he has a dirty diaper!)

That's God. He loves us. He really really loves us. He is not filling His mind with our failures. He
delights in us just as He delights in His Son.

Now that I think about it -- what about Hebrews 11 -- that list of faithful God-honoring people that God calls to our attention. They were, none of them, perfect. Many were very far from perfect.

But God is relating their faithfulness and the things He brought out, produced, in their lives. The righteousness of His Son -- shining through their sinful, selfish lives.

                His desire is to lavish His love on us (I John 3:1)
                He is our Father and loves us even as He loves His Son. (John 17:23)
                His plans for our future has always been filled with hope (Jeremiah 29:11)

Have you considered My servant, Job?

              God's bragging rights include me!

WOW!

God Hurls!

Hurl - to throw or fling with force or violence, to cast down, to overthrow.



Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance?

You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.

You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
                   Micah 7:18-19

Notes:

1. The prophet's name, Micah, actually means "Who is like Yahweh?" Here, in chapter 7, verses 18-19, he asks the question rhetorically: Who is like our God?  There is no one like our LORD - no other god, no other religion is like ours - the religion of grace and forgiveness!

2. He delights to show mercy. Not grudgingly, not hesitantly, not in response to our begging and pleading. It is in response to His very nature - He delights to show mercy.

He is not a reluctant forgiver. He is eager to apply the sacrifice of His Son to our lives. He is joyous in His forgiveness.

3. He hurls our sins away! This word picture shows us a God who
vigorously throws our sins out of sight - he doesn't just drop them over the side or even pitch them out to sea - He HURLS them - like something to be rid of and forgotten forever.

Corrie ten Boom once said about this passage, "And then God put up a sign saying, 'No fishing allowed!'"

She said this because she knew we have a tendency to 'go fishing' in that vast sea of forgiveness, attempting to drag up some past sin and renew its guilt in our lives.

We are not as serious about appropriating God's forgiveness as He is in extending it!

Instead of living in the sunshine of God's love and forgiveness, we too often live under the shadow of guilt.

That's a sign of unbelief - and unbelief is a sin that especially saddens the heart of God.

After all He has done to give us peace with Him - TODAY - focus on His forgiveness -- repeat the gospel to yourself all day! (After all, it is the good news!).

Get serious TODAY about receiving God's gift.

YES.... TODAY....RIGHT NOW.....


    And remember, "No Fishing Allowed"!