A Prayer for Every Day - From Valley of Vision

O Lord and Maker of all Things

O Lord and Maker of all things, from whose creative power the first light came forth, who looked upon the world's first morning and saw that it was good, praise You for this light that now streams through my windows to rouse me to the life of another day.

     I praise You for the life that stirs within  me;
     I praise You for the bright and beautiful world into which I go;
     I praise You for earth and sea and sky, for scudding cloud and singing bird;
     I praise You for the work You have given me to do;
     I praise You for all that You have given me to fill my leisure hours;
     I praise You for my friends;
     I praise You for music and books and good company and all pure pleasures. 
                             AMEN.

Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow

Praise Him ye creatures here below

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost!

Not asking for eough? C S Lewis

And Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."  (John 4:10)


If the Samaritan woman knew who she was talking to, she would have asked for more!

Do we ask for enough?

If we realize exactly Who we are talking with, shouldn't we ask for more?



From The Weight of Glory by C S Lewis:

     "If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has no part of the Christian faith.

     "Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the reward promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.

     "We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.

     "We are far too easily pleased."


And I pray that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know his love that surpasses knowledge--that you maybe filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

..who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.
                                --Ephesians 3:17-20

Two Words - Jerry Bridges

When the Jew of the Old Testament celebrated the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), he had to exercise
 (1) repentance, and (2) faith.

To repent is to acknowledge sincerely and humbly one's sins and desire to turn from sin and strive to lead a godly life - a life that pleases God.

Faith, on the Day of Atonement, is believing God's promise that his sins were transferred to the second goat (the scapegoat) and they no longer contaminated his life - they no longer hung over his head. They were removed - as far as the east is from the west, the Psalter said in Psalm 103.

(The blood of the first goat was sprinkled on the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies. The High Priest then laid his hands on the living second goat, symbolically transferring the sins of the Jewish people to that goat, and then led it out into the wilderness. That second goat is known as the scapegoat.)

From Jerry Bridges in The Gospel for Real Life:

''Of course the scapegoat could not itself carry away the sins of the people. It was only symbolic -- a type of the true scapegoat who was to come, Jesus Christ.

Today we see the reality of the symbol.

We see Jesus as the One who not only propitiated the wrath of God symbolized in the sacrifice of the first goat, but who also removed our sins from the presence of God, symbolized by the second goat led away into the desert, bearing the sins of the people."

              -- The Gospel for Real Life, by Jerry Bridges



The same two attitudes -- repentance and faith -- are still necessary for all of us today.

God's requirements have not changed. 

We come to Jesus and trust in Him as our Savior (the first goat) and our scapegoat, or sin-bearer/remover (the second goat).


In coming to Christ for salvation we must acknowledge ourselves as sinners before a holy God.

Just as the ancient Jews repented and trusted in God for salvation, so do we.

Repentance and faith - for them and for us.

We must repent of our sins, laying them on Jesus, and trusting Him to be true to His Word and take them away forever.

More from Jerry Bridges:

"But it is not just in coming to Christ that we must exercise penitence and faith. Rather, these two heartfelt attitudes should characterize our lives throughout every day.

We not only come to God through faith in Christ as both our propitiation and our scapegoat, we must live in his presence every day on the same basis.

Obviously, our sins have been put away...

Subjectively, however, we must believe the testimony of God that they truly have been put away.

We must believe that, just as the Old Testament scapegoat symbolically carried away the sins of the Jews from the presence of God, so Jesus actually carried away our sins."

                                        ~~~~~~~~~


What does propitiation mean? To appease God, to satisfy His holiness, to enable us (who are covered in sin) to come to Him.

Through the Old Testament sacrificial system we see the way by which how God taught that a sinful human being might approach Him.

Sin means death.

But the sacrificial system taught that there was a way of escape. Another may die in a sinner's place.

And that's the reality of the gospel - Old Testament for the ancient Jews - and New Testament for us.

How to Live Right Now

                                                             How to Live Right Now

Be soft.

Do not let the world make you hard.

Do not let the pain make you hate.

Do not let bitterness steal your sweetness.

Do not let the unkindness around you make you cynical.

Take pride and joy that, even though the rest of the world might disagree, you still believe it to be a beautiful place.

And live each day in joyous expectation of what is coming!

Remember that when God looked at what He had created, He declared it good.

Albert Einstein once said that there are two ways to live our lives. One way is to believe that nothing is a miracle., And the other way is to believe that everything is a miracle!

Since I have a functioning brain, I choose the second option.

Which do you choose?

Because The Days are Evil

                                                    

                                                        Because the Days are Evil

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.  Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is" (Ephesians 5:15-17).

Because the days are evil....we are to act wisely and understand what the will of the Lord is....

Earlier in Ephesians, Paul said that when he prayed for his dear friends in Ephesus, he prayed that they would have "wisdom and divine revelation" -- two gifts from God Himself -- now he tells them to walk wisely and understand God's will -- two things they can do using the gifts God has given them.

I think Paul's prayer for his friends is a prayer I can pray for my friends: that God would grant them "wisdom and divine revelation".

So I am doing that. What more could anyone need?

What I love - Tom T Hall and Chesterton

Because of a problem with my eyes I can't read as much these days.

It is frustrating to me, because I spend much time, usually, reading and studying my favorite authors and scholars.

I am trying to focus on the world around me with spiritual eyes, instead of physical eyes.

The words to an almost--forgotten song come back to me. The words are by Tom T. Hall....

I love little baby ducks, old pick-up trucks,

Slow-moving trains.....and rain.

I love little country streams, sleep without dreams,

Sunday school in May.....and hay.

And I love you, too.

I love leaves in the wind, pictures of my friends,

Birds in the world...and squirrels.

I love coffee in a cup, little fuzzy pups,

Bourbon in a glass....and grass.

And I love you, too.

I love honest open smiles, kisses from a child,

Tomatoes on the vine.....and onions.

I love winners when they cry, losers with they try

Music when it's good....and life.

And I love you, too!

Here's another one: hummingbirds fanning my face.....and grace!

And that brings me back to some transforming lines by G. K. Chesterton:

Here dies another day

During which I have had eyes, ears, hands

And the great world around me;

And with tomorrow begins another,

Why am I allowed two?

Indeed, why are we allowed another day of miracles?

Hummingbirds fanning my face...and grace!

It's all about grace -- that's why we get another day!

Graces - Old and New

                                                            Graces - Old and New

Remember this? "God is great. God is good.  And we thank Him for our food. Amen."

A short table grace we said as children, usually in a hurry! It was simple and yet the theology is profound when you stop and think about it.

But there's another profound one hardly anybody remembers: "Be present at our table, Lord. Be here and everywhere adored. These mercies bless and grant that we may feast in paradise with Thee! Amen."

WOW! Over 500 years ago our ancestors sang that blessing as they gathered around their dinner tables. They sang it to the tune "Praise God from whom all blessings flow..." It times of peace and prosperity and in times of turmoil and persecution, when they probably whispered it.

I am so challenged by their faithfulness in choosing these words. Asking Him to join us at our tables here on earth, and anticipating that future day when we will gather with Him at His table, the great Marriage Feast we read about in Revelation.

Maybe a simple meal now, but a great feast then!

And I love the line, "Be here and everywhere adored." We see that in Revelation, too. It's our dream also, that Christ will be honored and glorified everywhere. 

I am so moved by this table grace that reaches across centuries past and into the future. What a day that will be! Maranatha! - Come, Lord Jesus.

...hallowed be Your name.  

Your  kingdom come, Your will be done,

on earth, as it is in heaven.

Discarding the Valuable, Keeping the Worthless

                                                          Holding on to the Worthless

The weight of gold that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents [about 25 tons], not including the revenues from merchants and traders from all the Arabian kings and governors of the land.

King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred bekas [7 1/2 pounds] went into each shield. He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold with three minas [3 3/4 pounds] of gold in each shield.

Then the king made a great throne inlaid with ivory and overlaid with gold...all King Solomon's goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold.

The king had a fleet of trading ships at sea along the coasts of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons....

Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift -- articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons, and spices and horses and mules....

King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings.... 
                           1 Kings 10:14-25



Later, after Solomon's death, his son, Rehoboam, ascended to the throne.


Here's what happened:


After Rehoboam's position as king was established and he became strong, he and all Israel with him abandoned the law of the LORD.

Then the prophet Shemaiah came to Rehoboam and to the leaders of Judah who had assembled in Jerusalem...and told them, "This is what the LORD says, 'You have abandoned Me; therefore I now abandon you to Shishak.'"


Because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem in the fifth year of King Rehoboam.


With 1200 chariots and sixty thousand horsemen and the innumerable troops of Libyans, Sukkites and Cushites that came with him from Egypt, he captured the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem....

When Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem, he carried all the treasures of the temple of the LORD and the treasures of the royal palace.

He took everything, including the gold shields Solomon had made.

So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace.

Whenever the king went to the LORD's temple, the guards went with him, bearing the shields, and afterwards they returned them to the guard room.

    -- 2 Chronicles 12:1-11


Their king had abandoned the law of the LORD (the text says, the king "and all Israel with him") and so lost his country's priceless heritage...all that Rehoboam's grandfather, King David, had set aside for the temple and royal treasuries, and all that his father, King Solomon, had later acquired...all gone...in the fifth year of his reign...what several generations accomplished was squandered in just a few years...

And those solid gold shields....

It's fascinating to imagine -- the guards probably polished the bronze to shining perfection -- but they were still bronze, not gold!

Who were they trying to fool?

So the guards, who had previously carried solid gold shields to escort their King, now carried cheap imitations!




Do we do this? Let what is priceless slip through our fingers and hold on tenaciously to what is without value? Polish it up and try to make it look good?

Not acknowledging that what we are grasping is only a substitute, a counterfeit, not the real thing!

Letting go of the important and holding on to the trivial.

It's time to reverse that - right now!

It's All Mine Now! - David Platt

...when you come to Jesus--when you unite your life with His--everything that belongs to Him becomes yours.

Yes, as we've already discussed, His righteousness replaces your unrighteousness.

But there's more.

• When you come to Jesus, His Spirit fills your spirit.
• His love becomes your love.
• His joy becomes your joy.
• His mind becomes your mind.
• His desires become your desires.
• His will becomes your will.
• His purpose becomes your purpose.
• His power becomes your power.

The Christian life thus becomes nothing less than the outliving of the indwelling Christ.

This reality marks the critical distinction between superficial religion and supernatural regeneration.

Superficial religion involve a counterfeit "Christian" life that consists of nothing more than truths to believe and things to do, and it misses the essence of what it means to follow Jesus.

Supernatural regeneration, on  the other hand, involves an authentic Christian life that has been awakened by the Spirit, truth and love, passion, power and purpose of Jesus.

  -- From Follow Me, Chapter 3, by David Platt

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. 

 Galatians 2:20

Heartgard for Humans

                                                        Heartgard for Humans 

"A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart" (Luke 6:45).

Those words were spoken by Jesus. He was likely thinking about words recorded hundreds of years earlier by Solomon in the Old Testament, "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it" (Proverbs 4:23).

We understand something Jesus' audience did not at that time understand: that Jesus Himself was the source of the inspired writings of Solomon, and all the other words recorded in the Old Testament. Jesus, The Word, had become flesh, and came to dwell with His people on earth. 

(Remember, the last time He came to us He came in disguise, as a little baby in the manger in Bethlehem, Next time He will not be in disguise - everyone will see Him coming and will recognize Him. His audience then will either cheer in glorious praise or fall down and cringe in horror and fear. Be on the winning side!)

So how do we 'Guard our heart'?

How do we protect it and keep safe and pure to be God's temple-home?

First, by staying in God's Word. Seeing what God loves and values and purpose to love and value  those things. See what God hates - and hate those things, too. Seek to model our lives - our hearts - after Christ. Don't give evil any entrance into our hearts - guard the door with prayer and reliance on the Holy Spirit

(I remember a friend once told me that when she heard Satan knocking at her door she just sent a quick message to Jesus, saying, "Jesus, would You get the door for me?")

Remember, our God is not a God who hides Himself. He eagerly reveals Himself to us. He always tells us what He wants and helps us do those things.

He takes pleasure in our obedience.

What an amazing God we have!.

P.S. We buy a product called Heartgard for our puppies, to protect them from various diseases that could cost them pain and discomfort, and maybe even prove fatal. We give it to them once a month - our heart guard is best taken daily!

One Set of Values - T S Eliot

I've come back to thinking about the Menorah - the gold candlestick divinely designed for the tabernacle and the temple of the ancient Jews.

The construction of it teaches us much about what God expects.

Here's another paragraph from the Chumash - Stone edition of the ancient Jewish commentary on the Torah:

The Menorah, whose flames were fed by the purest oil of the olive, symbolized the illumination of the intellect. It was placed near the southern wall of the Tabernacle, opposite the Table on the north. The Ark was equidistant from both. 

Thus the Ark, containing the Word of God, cast its spiritual emanations, as it were, upon the Menorah and the Table, which represented intellectual achievement and material prosperity. This symbolized the conviction that both our spiritual and temporal lives be guided by, and work to serve, the dictates of the Torah. 

Jewish life cannot be compartmentalized in the realms of sacred and temporal.  The Torah regulates all aspects of life and demands purity in all of them. Indeed the requirement that the entire, very intricate Menorah had to be hammered out of one ingot of gold, symbolized the indivisibility of the Torah; a Jewish life must be constructed from one set of values. It may not be a hodge-podge of separate bits and pieces, grafted together to suit anyone's convenience. All areas of life must derive from the same set of values.

 This is the opposite of what we see and hear in our secular humanistic culture today. We emphasize compartmentalizing --looking at someone's physical and spiritual and emotional and mental lives as distinct and separate entities.

We hear it often -- keep a politician's personal life separate from his public life...don't take your religion to work...all kinds of subtle suggestions that we are under different constraints if we are in public than when we are in private.

Apparently in the lives of the Jews there were no "public" and "private" distinctions. Their lives were to be constructed from one set of values.

As are ours.

It is easy to see why our culture wants sharp lines drawn between our spiritual lives and our public lives.  Accountability is not as much of an issue, for one thing. But I am thinking now about something else.....if we consciously divide a person's life into separate, unrelated parts, then look how easy it is to drop one of the parts and not consider it at all in the evaluation of a person's life and work.

This is heavy on my mind right now because I am re-reading T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets.

Here's the deal about that: In high school and college we studied and discussed T. S. Eliot, especially The Wasteland and Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and his well-known final work, Four Quartets.

He wrote Wasteland in 1922. (Prufrock in 1917). Then around 1927 he converted to Christianity and his worldview changed. It is so noticeable in Four Quartets, which he published in 1943. (It was Four Quartets that made him most famous and led to his highest acclaim.)



I didn't know until recently about his conversion experience. He was a completely different person when he wrote Four Quartets. That's why it is so different from his earlier works.

Now when I read Four Quartets I understand it so much better, though it is still somewhat difficult in areas.  But I follow his images and ideas and see generally where he is going.

His phrases make wonderful, profound sense! And he even uses lines from Julian of Norwich (1300's -- and all shall be well...and all manner of thing shall be well....)

Now I am enthralled with Four Quartets -- I pick it up throughout the day and read and re-read sections, receiving more delights everytime I read the lines-- because YES, I CAN SEE IT MORE CLEARLY NOW -- He had accepted the good news of Jesus Christ and his thoughts are no longer mysterious and confusing. They led to a destination.

So here is my frustration: why didn't my literature professors ever mention that T. S. Eliot had become a Christian after he wrote The Wasteland? No one ever mentioned it. I guess they didn't know because no one had ever told them -- and of course, since they believed in keeping a person's spiritual life separate from the rest of his life, why would they even consider it important...

.Duh?....how can it not be important - it changed all his thinking.

Becoming a Christian was a central, pivot point....it turned around his whole outlook on life, his writings, his philosophy, and pointed him a different direction. A different destination.

Life suddenly had meaning. It was not accidental ramblings into various paths of meaningless journeys - his life became centered and focused.  There was a revolution - he threw off the old and put on new!

The world (our culture today) does not want to hear that. They WANT accidental, meaningless lives. Then they are not accountable for their actions and not responsible for the outcome.

So why I expect anything different? Duh on me!

     With the drawing of this Love and the voice of this Calling
     We shall not cease from exploration
     And the end of all our exploring
     Will be to arrive where we started
     And know the place for the first time.....
                    T. S. Eliot, Four Quartets

How is God Helping Us? - C S Lewis

 

                                                          How is God Helping Us?

Words from C S Lewis --

"What do we mean when we talk of God helping us?

We mean God is putting into us a bit of Himself, so to speak.

He lends us a little of His reasoning powers and that is how we think.

He puts  a little of His love into us and that is how we love one another.

When you teach a child writing you hold its hand while he forms the letters; he forms the letters because you are forming them. 

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

                                                                -- Mere Christianity

The Fire on God's Altar - Charles Spurgeon

Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually;

 it shall not go out. 

 Leviticus 6:13

Keep the altar of private prayer burning.

This is the very life of all piety. The sanctuary and family altars borrow their fires here; therefore let this burn well. Secret devotion is the very essence, evidence, and barometer of vital and experiential religions.

Burn here the fat of your sacrifices. Let your closet seasons be, if possible, regular, frequent, and undisturbed. Effectual prayer avails much. 

Have you nothing to pray for? Let us suggest the church, the ministry, your own soul, your children, your relations, your neighbors, your country, and the cause of God and truth throughout the world.

Let us examine ourselves on this important matter. Do we engage with lukewarmness in private devotions? Is the fire of devotion burning dimly in our hearts? Do the chariot wheels drag heavily? 

If so, let us be alarmed at this sign of decay. Let us go with weeping, and ask for the Spirit of grace and of supplication. Let us set apart special sessions for extraordinary prayer. For if this fire be smothered beneath the ashes of worldly conformity, it will dim the fire on the family altar and lessen our influence both in the church and in the world.

The text will also apply to the altar of the heart.

This is a golden altar indeed. God loves to see the hearts of His people glowing toward Himself. Let us give to God our hearts, all blazing with love, and seek His grace, that the fire may never be quenched, for it will not burn if the Lord does not keep it burning. 

Many foes will attempt to extinguish it, but if the unseen hand behind the wall pours on the sacred oil, it will blaze higher and higher.

Let us use texts of Scripture as fuel for our heart's fire; they are live coals. Let us attend to sermons, but above all, let us be much alone with Jesus.

                -- Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

Doubting in the Darkness

 

                                                    Has God Ever Lied to You?

"And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son does not have life" (1 John 5:11-12).

The Enemy will try to sow seeds of distrust and doubt in our minds.

He will whisper, "Surely you don't believe you are saved and forgiven just by believing and receiving Jesus Christ as your Savior? You know there has to be more to it than that!"

But God tells us we can't do more than that! He did everything needed! There is nothing else we can do - He already did it all.

Has God ever lied to you?

Here's the deal: Never doubt in the darkness what God has told you in the light!

Just tell the Enemy where to go - literally!

Is It Just My Imagination? - C. S. Lewis

We read of spiritual efforts, and our imagination makes us believe that, because we enjoy the idea of doing them, we have done them.

I am appalled to see how much of the change which I thought I had undergone lately was only imaginary.

The real work seems still to be done. It is so fatally easy to confuse an aesthetic appreciation of the spiritual life with the life itself--to dream that you have waked, washed, and dressed, and then to find yourself still in bed. 

(From a letter Lewis wrote to Arthur Greeves, June 15, 1930)

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


I feel this way often, too -- that I have admired spiritual growth, sometimes in others, and voiced my desire for that same growth, and then been distracted by the daily issues of life, and let that desire drift away. I was just imagining, or pretended that I had obeyed the Holy Spirit and allowed God to work on the particular problem within my heart. I was not really in earnest - other things quickly got in the way - and I just moved on.

I rejoice in Philippians 1:4-6 -- In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

He is faithful to His part of the work. I need to be faithful to my part.

In Times Of Trouble

                                     In Times of Trouble

A reminder in times of trouble...

       "Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish" (Isaiah 38:17).

A prayer for times of trouble...

     Father, the circumstance I am in in right now is difficult and painful. I would not have chosen it, but You, in Your love and wisdom, have chosen it for me. And I know You Intend it for my good, and so, by faith, I thank You for the good You are going to do in my life through it. Help me to genuinely believe this and be able to thank You with all my heart. Amen.

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for their good, for those who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).

               Not some things, not most things, but ALL THINGS!

 

Excusing God - Is God on Trial?

I was reading in Numbers a day or two ago, studying Balak and Balaam.

Then in the following chapter, chapter 25, I came across the story about the Israelites forsaking their real God for the make-believe pagan deities of Moab -- just after God's great demonstrations of His love and mercy to them in turning Balaam's curses into blessings -- and after all the great things God did for them in leaving Egypt!

Can't they remember anything?

While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, who invited them to the sacrifices of their gods. The people ate and bowed down before these gods. So Israel joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor. And the LORD'S anger burned against them (Numbers 25:1-3).

So God told Moses to command the leaders to kill those who participated in the pagan worship and "expose them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that the LORD'S fierce anger would turn away from Israel."

Then an Israelite man brought a foreign woman to his family "right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting."

So while his family and countrymen were repenting of their sin and asking God's forgiveness, a man walks up with a pagan woman, right in front of them, and flaunts his disobedience.

The text records that "when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear through both of them--through the Israelite and into the woman's body. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped; but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000" (Numbers 25:6-9). 

I was curious about my own reaction to this story and so I told it today at Bible study and watched the women's faces as I got to the part about Phinehas and I asked them their feelings at that moment.

I was curious: would they wince and turn away? Would they feel a need to explain why God was so strict in His punishment? Would they try to defend God? Was it like "God in the hands of angry sinners?"
In other words, would they react like I do when I come across stories like this?

Yes.....

We talked about it. We looked at Psalm 139.

If only you would slay the wicked, O God! ... They speak of You with evil intent; Your adversaries misuse Your Name.
Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD and abhor those who rise up against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.

David had it right. We must hate what God hates if we are truly on the road to holiness. We must be offended just as He is when He looks upon man's evil. We must be angry when our people promote sin. We must not look away and pretend ignorance.

When we are not offended, as God is, when we witness sin and when we do not react against evil as He has told us to, then we are not aiming for holiness.

Come to think of it, when we are not on the road to holiness, isn't it because we just don't want to be on that road? Isn't it a definite choice? There is a toll on that road.

We went back to Phinehas.

The LORD said to Moses, Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites; for he was as zealous as I am for my honor among them, so that in my zeal I did not put an end to them. Therefore tell him that I am making my covenant of peace with him. He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood, because he was zealous for the honor of his God and made atonement for the Israelites (Numbers 25:10-13).

We read about his birth in Exodus 6:25. He was Aaron's grandson and Moses' nephew. What we know most about him is that he was "zealous for the honor of his God."
And God richly blessed him and his descendants...it's easy to trace because when we turn to Ezra, chapter 7 we find out that Ezra himself was a direct descendant of -- Phinehas.
Ezra "was a teacher well versed in the Law of Moses, which the LORD, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted him everything he asked, for the hand of the Lord was on him" (Ezra 7:1-7).

Could anyone be better qualified to lead the Israelites from their exile in Babylon back to Israel than Ezra -- from the line of Phinehas?

God always keeps His covenants!

Prayer: That we see evil as God sees it -- that we hate evil as God hates it --that we show our hatred of evil even as God shows it.

Is this what our nation needs? It saved the Israelites from God's wrath. Might it do the same for us?

The Really Big Picture

 

                                                             The Really Big Picture

I'm reading Psalm 57 this morning. It was written by David about the time he was hiding in a cave to escape the wrath of King Saul, who was determined to kill him, and had all the royal powers to assist him in accomplishing that.

In the first verses David talks about all the danger he is facing and the scary future he is facing. His life seems doomed.

Then in verse 7 he remembers who his God is -- "My heart, O God, is steadfast. I will sing and make music. Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. I will praise you, Lord, among the nations. I will sing of you among the peoples.l For great is your love, reaching to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be all over the earth."

Prayer: Abba, Father, remind me of the big picture. I need Your perspective as I face this day. Help me remember who You are, not who I am. Remind me who is really in control.Amen.

What's in the basket? T M Moore

You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.

John 15:3

There is an old story about a pastor and his grandson.  The pastor had been encouraging his grandson to read his Bible and study its words about how to live a Christian life.

One day the young boy came to his grandfather and confessed, "I do read it a lot each day, but I can't seem to remember what I read. I can't retain it!"

His grandfather's advice, "Take this basket to the creek and fill it with water and return it to me."

Obediently, the boy took the basket to the creek and filled it with water. But by the time he got back to his grandfather, all the water had all leaked out of the
 woven basket.

He questioned the older man and was told, "Try it again," which he did, but the same results - no water left in the basket.

"OK, try it once more," the old man said.

Again, it was empty.

"But how can I carry water in this basket?" he asked.

"Maybe you can't," the pastor said, "but look how clean the basket is!"

That's how God's Word is.

In Paul's letter to the Romans, he calls the Gospel "the power of God for salvation" (Romans 1:16)

He actually means all of God's Word - Genesis to Revelation, since it all contains the message and story of Jesus.

"The  Bible is no ordinary book," says T. M. Moore.

"It is the Word of God, and has the power to open minds, penetrate hearts, and retool consciousnesses and wills so that people become altogether new by believing in Jesus.

"Nothing compares with the Bible's power to make us new.

"Because it is the very Word of God, it knows us, is able to be implanted in our souls, and works with the Spirit of God to accomplish results we could never achieve -- with the power of the Word working with in us....

"The power of the Word of God is spiritual power....that power becomes effective in our lives as the Spirit of God uses the Word of God to accomplish real transformation in how we think, feel and will....

"As we position ourselves before the Word of God --whether reading or hearing it -- the Spirit takes that Word and applies it to the spiritual core of our lives...

"If we are truly listening, and willing to be taught, and if we can face up to areas of our lives where we need to repent of sin and cling more closely to God, then the Spirit will implant that Word in new ways, and further His work of making all things new [and clean] in our lives..."

And sometimes we are not even conscious of what the Spirit of God is doing; and how He is silently at work in our lives...He is cleaning us by the very work of His Spirit in our obedient hearts!

Cleanse me...and I will be clean...

wash me and I will be whiter than snow.

Psalm 51:7



How Does God Describe Himself to Us?

 

                                          How Does God Describe Himself to Us?

A great verse for this morning:

     The LORD your God is in your midst. The Mighty One will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing" (Zephaniah 3:17).

 Ever notice how often, in Scripture, God compares Himself to us as our parent or spouse - the 2 most intimate of human relationships - that's  how He describes Himself to us!

Here He is a Parent holding His beloved child, comforting and singing His love. Quieting the fears and ending the tears. The loveliest lullaby in the universe!

Seems to me we talk a lot about loving God - as we certainly do and should - but maybe sometimes we should just sit quietly and let Him love us! Just let  His love surround us, wash over us, fill us to overflowing - apparently that  gives Him  great pleasure --  let's do it now!

Timothy Keller - What Jesus Never Says

There are plenty (of human teachers) who have said, "I'm the divine consciousness."



But they think of divinity as being in all of us, in the trees and the rocks and the human spirit.

Jesus, however, understands that there is a God who is uncreated, beginningless, infinitely transcendent, who made this world, who keeps everything in the universe going, so that all the molecules, all the stars, all the solar systems are being held up by the power of this God.

And Jesus says, "That's who I am."

And He says it all the time.

Jesus refers to Himself throughout the Gospels in a unique manner. He says, "I am the bread of life"; "I am the light of the world"; "I am the way and the truth and the life"; "I am the true vine"; I am the Good Shepherd."

The use of the phrase "I am" is significant because it is the personal name God uses for Himself. It is a name so sacred that Israelites would not even utter it. 

And Jesus is claiming this name for Himself.

Remember when Jesus healed the paralyzed man He said, "Your sins are forgiven."

He was basically claiming that all sins are against Him.

Since  you can only forgive sins against yourself -- and sins are offenses against God -- He is claiming to be God.

Every prophet, religious teacher, sage -- every wise man or women who has ever lived -- has buttressed his or her statements with something like "Thus says the Lord."

Jesus never says that.

All Jesus ever says is "Truly, truly, I say."

Even Jesus' footnotes and sidebars -- everything He says -- assume that He is the uncreated, transcendent, eternal Creator of the universe.

I believe you'll see in the end you can't simply like
anybody who makes claims like those of Jesus.

Either He's a wicked liar or a crazy person and you have nothing to do with Him, or He is who He says He is and your whole life has to revolve around Him and you have to throw everything at His feet and say, "Command me."

Do you pray to Jesus when you're in trouble, and otherwise mostly ignore Him because you get busy?

Either Jesus can't hear you because He's not who He says He is -- or if He is who He says He is, He must become the still point of your turning world, the center around which your entire life revolves.

---From King's Cross, Chapter 4, by Timothy Keller

~~~~~

There's no in-between ground with Jesus. He didn't give us that option. You have to decide: "Was He just a crazy man, or a cosmic con artist? Or is He who He says He is?"


You must decide. Ultimately, you will decide.

Quoteworthy -- From Prince Caspian - C S Lewis (Narnian Chroicles)

Lucy shuddered and nodded. When they had sat down she said, "Such a horrible idea has come into my head, Su."

"What's that?"

"Wouldn't it be dreadful if some day in our own world, at home, men started going wild inside, like the animals here, and still looked like men, so that you'd never know which was which?"

"We've got enough to bother about here and now in Narnia," said the practical Susan, "without imagining things like that."

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

"Welcome, child,"  he said.

"Aslan," said Lucy, "you're bigger."

"That is because you are older, little one," answered he.

"Not because you are?

"I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger."

Really Thirsty? C S Lewis

Back to Narnia.....

A favorite and powerful portrait of Jesus appears in The Chronicles of Narnia, by 

C S Lewis.

In these timeless mythical tales, Aslan is a great lion to gives his life to right the wrong that has invaded his world.

Aslan is the answer to the question of what Christ might be like if He entered a world like Narnia for the purpose of redeeming it from evil.

Many, including me, have found themselves irresistibly drawn to Aslan's Christ-like character.

But Aslan is "not a tame lion" the children are reminded many times.

Approaching him involves a risk. He cannot ever be bargained with. They must learn to trust him at all costs.

But Lucy was thirsty, and Aslan was positioned near the stream. She daren't approach further for fear of him.

     "Are you not thirsty?" said the Lion.

      "I'm dying of thirst," said Jill

     "Then drink," said the Lion.

     "May I -- could I -- would you mind going away while I do?"
       said Jill.

     The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to  move aside for her convenience.

      The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.

     "Will you promise not to -- do anything to me, if I do come?"
 said Jill.

     "I make no promise," said the Lion.
    
     Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer.

     "Do you eat girls?" she said.

     "I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms," said the Lion.

     It didn't say this as if it were boasting, not as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.

     "I daren't come and drink." said Jill.

     "Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion.


     "Oh dear!" said Jill, coming a step nearer. "I suppose I must go and look for another stream then."

     "There is no other stream," said the Lion.


Dying of thirst....and there is no other stream.....


                                        *From The Chronicles of Narnia,  The Silver Chair.

Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.

Indeed the water I give him will become in him

 a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

    John 4:14

Scars

When I woke up this morning I was hearing "Crown Him With Many Crowns" -- the Lamb upon His throne...and how heavenly anthems are all that can be heard there around His throne. What a picture to try to imagine. And then these concluding words:

Crown Him the Lord of love; Behold His hands and side,

Those wounds, yet visible above, in beauty glorified....

His reign shall no know end, and round His pierced feet,

Fair flowers of paradise extend their fragrance ever sweet.

John saw it, too. Then I saw the Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne... (Rev. 5:6)

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever! (Rev. 5:13)

Does this mean Christ's wounds will be visible forever? He will keep His scars?

When He healed a leper here on earth, the diseased person lost their scars and scabs. Their skin was clear and pure, so the priest could pronounce them cured.

Whenever He healed a cripple, the limbs were straightened. There would be no evidence they had ever been "imperfect" or "damaged."

So why does Jesus keep His scars? It seems logical to keep them while He was on earth. He could, and did, show them to His disciples after His resurrection and before He ascended to heaven. Look at My hands and My feet, He said. Touch Me and see. (Luke 24) And we know He also showed them His side, and they would have seen the marks on His forehead where the thorns pierced Him.

But He is God. He healed others and removed all trace of their disease. Why didn't He remove His own?

The most obvious answer is that, in His love and perfect patience, He wanted to show His followers  the evidence. To reassure them, as He does so often with us. What a kind and caring Father He is.

I suppose, for another reason, because scars tell a story. I have a small scar on my wrist and every time I see it I remember that day in east Texas, when I, about 7 years old, slipped on some rocks in a stream and cut my wrist.

It is easy to come across people who scars these days and most of then will gladly (and sometimes proudly) share what happened that always-remembered time they received their wound.

It's a story they are usually happy to share...

So Christ, when we gaze at Him in glory, will retain the evidence of His love, and His story will continue to astonish us every time we see Him. And Christ's scars, because He is the God-man, are God's scars!

And maybe also to remind us that wounds do heal. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5).

All our wounds will be healed by the time we get to heaven. There will be no handicaps; promises will be kept; dreams will come true.


The wounds we suffered on earth will be healed.

And Christ's scars are a mark that the battle has been won. He is standing, a Victor in the cosmic conflict. Satan is gone. A reminder of Genesis 3 -- Christ was wounded, but Satan's injuries were fatal. The scars are sort of Medals of Victory!

Thinking about His scars now reminds me that here on earth the battle is still raging, but victory is coming! We know the end of the story. The Church, His people, has established a stronghold in this alien planet. And so now we push forward, knowing that the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

All hail, Redeemer, hail! For Thou hast died for me

Thy praise and glory shall not fail throughout eternity.

We all bear scars now - physical and emotional.

Those will be healed when we see Christ.

But He will keep His scars and we can gaze at them in wonder throughout eternity!

Is there just no limit to how much He loves us?