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.

Why do we hate God? Jonathan Edwards

Jonathan Edwards preached a sermon once on the four things that men hate about God. He titled his sermon Man Naturally God's Enemy.

At the beginning of the sermon Edwards said: "There are four things about God that make men hate him."

I wondered what his list of four things were. I guessed the first three:

(1) The first thing man hates about God is His Holiness.

     Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate
       wrong. Habakkuk 1:13

God's holiness terrifies man.  Contemplating it increases our own sense of sin. We try to minimize God's holiness by minimizing Him -- and, finally, by denying His existence all together -- then we don't have to deal with our own sin issue. 

Because if there is no God -- no measure of righteousness in the universe -- then we can't consider ourselves sinners! We have not violated any standard of righteousness!

But, sadly, if our lives are not accountable, then our lives don't count.

(2) The second thing man hates about God is His Omniscience.

If He knows everything, then we can't hide anything from Him.

     Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight.
       Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes
       of Him to whom we must give account.  Hebrews 4:13

(3) The third thing man hates about God is His Sovereignty.

God has absolute authority and rule over all His creation. In order to be sovereign, He must be all-knowing, all-powerful and absolutely free. If He were limited in any of these areas His sovereignty would not be absolute.

If God is sovereign, then I am not. There cannot be
two equal absolute sovereigns. I am not the ruler of my life, much less the world around me. I am not the
"Captain of my fate."

God is the center of everything - not man and not me!

What I do does not change anything!

And man really hates this!

     Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory  
     and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and
     earth is yours.

     Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over
     all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all
     things.  1 Chronicles 29:11-12

So what's the fourth thing man hates about God?

(4) The fourth thing man hates about God is His Immutability! That is, He never changes - never has and never will. He does not mutate.....

So why is that so offensive to man?

Edwards explains, "Man faces this dilemma: Not only does man know and know clearly that God is holy and omniscient and sovereign, but he knows that God will always be holy; He will always be omniscient; He will always be sovereign.

"And there is nothing we can do to make Him less holy, less omniscient, or less sovereign.

"These attributes are not open to negotiation. We cannot find God involved in a process of change whereby He can enter into certain mutations to compromise with us."

     I, the LORD, do not change. Malachi 3:6

     Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.
          Hebrews 13:8

              As Thou has been, Thou forever wilt be!

So man hates God especially for the fact that He never changes.

He is never going to be someone we will like better.
He is never going to be any different than He is now.

(We might wait till our mother gets in a better mood before we tell her we  broke her favorite piece of china. Bot God's standard is always the same!)

God's holiness, omniscience and sovereignty are perfect. And perfection cannot change - any change would indicate less than perfection at any stage.

And God is always perfect - so there can be no changing His character, ever!


But once we embrace God and welcome Him into our hearts, isn't it funny how that thing we hate most becomes the thing we love most about Him?

We cannot depend on human beings - they change - they mutate - they vary with the circumstances around us.

We might please them one day and make them angry the next. We don't know how they will react - we cannot predict how our actions will be received.


But God is always the same. His will is invariable.

We know what pleases Him and how He wants us to live. All the time and in every circumstance.


We can count on Him to keep His promises and to fulfill His eternal plan.

We can count on Him always to be who He says He is!

And that's really good news for His children!

Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day

Earth's joys grow dim, it's glories pass away

Change and decay in all around I see

O Thou who changes not, abide with me!

Living with eyes wide open.....

Open my eyes that I may see
Wonderful things in your law.

(Psalm 119:18)

This was one of those mornings when I just don't seem to get it.

Like I am reading a scriptural passage I know is important but I can't get my brain to focus on what that message is. The ideas are blurry and indistinct. I know there is something more....something that adds to my picture of God's character and would direct me toward more holiness and obedience....but I can't seem to shake off the feeling that I am hopelessly distracted from what He is wanting to tell me.

So I pray: "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law." I am asking, not just for assistance at this moment, I am asking for a miracle.

The word open used in this verse is the same word used in the story in Numbers 22 when the Lord opened Balaam's eyes so he could see the angel of the Lord standing on the road in front of him with his sword drawn.

And when Hagar was fleeing with Ishmael and was in the desert, thirsty, desperate for water -- Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.


And in Luke 24 we read about the two grief-stricken disciples on their way to Emmaus, who didn't realize they were walking and talking with the risen Savior --
then their eyes were opened and they recognized him.

When I ask God to "open my eyes" to more of His truth, I am asking Him to reveal Himself to me, not in an ordinary physical way, but in a supernatural way.

When Hagar saw the well, when Balaam saw the angel, and when the disciples saw Jesus, they were not seeing things that had not been there before.

God wasn't miraculously causing the well and the angel to appear -- they were already there.
The miracle was not in the appearance of the well and the angel and Christ, but the miracle was the Holy Spirit's work so they could see what was already there.

Were they so distraught by grief, by unbelief, by desperation that they couldn't see?


I think I am sometimes that way. The words and phrases are there, but because of my distractions, my disobedience, or my unbelief I just can't really get His message.

The word has to do with removing a veil, or a covering from our eyes. And I can't do that for myself.

It is a good time to remember that everything we have is a gift from God: our faith, our joy and peace, and even our repentance -- He is the source of all. And that includes our understanding of His Word --

Another Miracle When God Opened Someone's Eyes....

William Tyndale translated much of the Bible into early modern (contemporary) English in the early 1500's. He was the first to draw directly from the Hebrew and the Greek texts. (He was a well-known linguist -- fluent in at least 8 languages.)
He was also the first to take advantage of the new printing press and so copies could be distributed fairly quickly.

The Catholic Church and the English monarchy arrested Tyndale and he was burned at the stake in 1536.(Some records say he was strangled by one of the King's men before being tied to the stake, and some say a dear friend pierced him with his sword so he wouldn't feel the fiery pain -- I hope one of those is true.)

His last words, though, expressed his final prayer: "God, Open thou the King of England's eyes."

Was this prayer answered? Well, within 4 years of Tyndale's death, there were already 4 English translations being circulated in England. These included the Miles Coverdale version, Thomas Matthews', Richard Taverner's, and the Great Bible.

And then in the early 1600's the England's King James was gathering an assembly of the great linguists and theologians of the day to publish a brand new translation which would be called The Authorized King James Bible. It was completed in 1611.

So Tyndale's last prayer was answered in ways he could not even imagine.


(And we think things change fast these days!)

King James' scholars owed a great deal to Tyndale-- 83% of the King James New Testament and 75% of the Old Testament came directly from Tyndale's translation.


So really most of the credit for the "Authorized Version" should not go to all those scholars, it rightly belongs to William Tyndale!

Tyndale was the first one to substitute "love" for "charity." And he was the first to use the word "Jehovah" for the transliterated sacred Hebrew tetragrammaton, YHWH.

Living With Eyes Wide Open...

But back to David, the writer of Psalm 119. He doesn't just pray that God will open his eyes. He tells us why. He wants to live by God's law. And if he is to live by it, God will have to teach him from it (verse 26), give him understanding (verse 27)and keep him from false ways (verse 29).

And David was acknowledging that he would do his part: he would cherish and long for God's law (verse 20), he would meditate on God's decrees (verse 25) and delight in God's statues (verse 24), and let God's statues be his counselor (verse 24) and that he would obey God's law (verse 21).

Asking God to open our eyes is not something to be taken lightly. There are obligations and responsibilities for me when I am being instructed by the Holy Spirit. It makes me more accountable!

I should not pray this prayer without serious intent to live out what He is teaching me within.

How to Make God Smile

How we make God smile....

The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear Him,

In those who trust in His mercy. 

 Psalm 147:11

The LORD loves the righteous.

Psalm 146:8

How God makes us smile...

                                     Praise be to the LORD,

   For He has heard my cry for mercy.

  The LORD is my strength and shield;

My heart trusts in Him and I am helped.

My heart leaps for joy

And I will give thanks to Him in song.

Psalm 28:6-7

What makes us both smile....

The LORD your God 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

What is more than eternal? John MacArthur

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.*

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 
(John 3:15-17)


Explanation from John MacArthur:

*This is the first of ten references to "eternal life" in John's gospel. The same Greek word is translated eight times as "everlasting life."

The two expressions appear in the New Testament nearly 50 times.

Eternal life refers not only to eternal quantity but also to divine quality of life.

It means literally "life of the age to come" and refers therefore to resurrection and heavenly existence in perfect glory and holiness.

This life for believers in the Lord Jesus is experienced before heaven is reached.

This "eternal life" is in essence nothing less than participation in the eternal life of the Living Word, Jesus Christ.

It is the life of God in every believer, yet not fully manifest until the resurrection.


[Note: This explanation by John MacArthur helps me understand Christ's words more fully when He said, at the Upper Room just before He was arrested:

Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

          -- John 17:1-3

And from 1 John, chapter 5:

     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 of
     God does not have life...

     We know also that the Son of God has come and
     has given us understanding, so that we may know
     him who is true. And we are in him who is true--
     even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God
     and eternal life.


We are already in Him and so we are already participating in eternal life - it has already been given to us.]

Don't worry about the clothes!

A favorite old hymn - sung by our pioneer ancestors -

Come ye sinners, poor and needy,

Weak and wounded, sick and sore;

Jesus ready stands to save you,

Full of pity, love and power.

Come, ye weary, heavy laden

Lost and ruined by he fall;

If you linger till you're better

You will never come at all

Let not conscience make you linger

Nor of fitness fondly dream;

All the fitness He requireth

Is to feel your need of Him!

These amazing words were written by Joseph Hart, who born in 1712 and died in 1768.

He was well-educated, became proficient in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, (which he later taught)  and spent much time translating and writing poetry.

He lived in London, served as pastor of Jewin Street Chapel, and had a large congregation.

But Joseph Hart was not a Christian, believing as many people of his day, that the atonement of Jesus Christ was a myth and all one needed to do was believe in God and salvation was assured.

He even wrote a tract denouncing Christianity and ridiculing the popular preacher John Wesley. He titled his piece, The Unreasonableness of Religion Being Remarks and Animadversions on the Rev. John Wesley's Sermon on Romans 8:32.

But he had persistent doubts about his own salvation.

Maybe, he considered, righteous acts were the key, and he began to concentrate on living a good life and performing deeds that would honor God.

The doubts persisted: was he really and truly saved?
Did belief in God take care of it? Did righteous deeds?

He prayed for a sign, some special revelation from God, and writes later that he had sincere torments "for more than a year."

Just before Easter, 1757, Joseph Hart, "had such an amazing view of the agony of Christ in the garden [of Gethsemane]" that he began to understand that all Christ's sufferings were for him and for his salvation.

He began re-reading the Bible and searching for answers.

Shortly after, on Whitsunday (Pentecost), he was converted under the ministry of George Whitefield, and began to feel the confidence that God had indeed, through the sufferings of Jesus Christ, eternally saved his soul, and that all those who trust in our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, would find salvation.

He apologized publicly to John Wesley and the other Christians he had ridiculed and his life became a living testimony to the grace and goodness of God.

He wrote a number of hymns, but in the days of colonial America, "Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy," was the most popular, as newly arriving settlers from England came to these shores and brought the song with them.

When he died, in May of 1768, it was reported that tens of thousands gathered around his graveside at Bunhill Fields.

What makes these words to appealing to us today, as well as then?

To me it is these phrases: if you linger till you're better, you will never come at all...and All the fitness He requireth, is to feel your need of Him....

Is it foolish to try to fix yourself up in order to come to Jesus. We are unable to do that. All our righteous acts are as "filthy rags" as Isaiah says.

We're just wasting time and energy trying to be good enough!

We come to Jesus just as we are...poor, wretched, and needy. That is how we are and that is how He receives us.

Come now!

Then He clothes us in His righteousness and forever sees us in the radiance of His glory!



To God be the glory --- such great things He has done!

I sought the LORD and He answered me;

He delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to Him are radiant;

Their faces are never covered with shame.

--Psalm 34:4-5

I delight greatly in the Lord;
My soul rejoices in my God.
For He has clothed me with garments of salvation
And arrayed me in a robe of righteousness.
--Isaiah 61:10

How do people see God?

 

You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air,  or like any creature...and when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon, the stars -- all the heavenly array -- do not be enticed to bowing down to them and worshipping them....."  Deuteronomy 4:15-19

God always makes His instructions perfectly clear.....in this case He illustrated it with a profound example -- God has no form --You saw no form of any kind -- There was nothing His people could see -- so always remember, My people, your God can't be seen -- so don't try to make up a god you can see ..... because I have no form and I alone am God!

How could He have made it any clearer -- I AM GOD AND I CAN'T BE SEEN! - Don't try to make Me into something you can see! Don't try to make Me less than what I am!

What we used to call "object lessons" - with a profound Object and a profound lesson - don't try to take a picture of Me - put away your camera! I am bigger than all that - You will have to see Me with your "other" eyes -

Maybe is this because the Holy God is to live in us? People who want to see what God is like should be able to observe us?

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)

How can I be Transformed?

Paul tells the Roman Christians (and us) in his letter to them (Romans 12:2):
    'be transformed by the renewing of your mind...'

Frankly sometimes that seems as difficult to me now as it did when I first read the words as a child.

Paul insists that our mind is the battlefield in our fight to resist being shaped by society around us and so God demands the 'renewal' of our mind.

Michael Frost of The Navigators says this:

'When the Spirit renews our minds, all of life becomes an act of worship. That's because the Spirit not only opens our eyes to see who Christ really is, but also breaks our hearts to see who we really are...and when that happens, we find within ourselves that there's this growing and nurturing sense of the greatness of God and the beauty of God's love...all of life becomes charged with the presence of God, and we find ourselves wanting to offer more and more of our lives to God as act of sacrificial worship....as we steadfastly focus on Jesus, devoting ourselves as His students and disciples, the Spirit renews our thinking and our behavior, and we become more like Him. He actually transforms us into the image of  Son of God.'

I love these words. They help me understand the process. I love the idea that "all of life" can become "an act of worship." And our lives can be "charged with the presence of God" and we will want to give  more and more of ourselves to Him.  

That's what I want to happen to me.

Father, please transform me into the image of Your Son. Help me focus on Him and allow Your Spirit to renew my thinking and behavior. I love You and want so much to please You. Amen.

As He Came Down

                           

                                  As He Came Down

Reading Philippians 2:6-11 this morning and praising God that He loved us so much that He came down in Person to save us. Didn't send an angel - He came Himself!

Scholars tell us that this passage was actually a hymn sung in the early churches, or, if not sung, then chanted together. I like to think of it as a song and wish some musician today would put a melody to it and allow us to sing it, too!  "Way too cool!" as one of my friends says.

Here are the first lines of the passage:

     Have the same mindset as Christ Jesus....Who being in the very       nature of God, did not consider equality with God something to
     be used to His own advantage, rather made Himself nothing by       taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human                 likeness.....

(Paul wrote this, and he wasn't with Jesus on that last night, when
He washed the feet of His disciples - certainly the epitome of 
'servanthood' - but I am certain he had heard about it!)

It brings to my mind an old poem written 400 years ago by George
Herbert:
     

    The God of power, as He did ride in His majestic glory,

     resolved to come to us, and so one day  

     He  did descend, undressing all the way!

     
What a picture! What love!

Genesis - Beer Lahai Roi - A God Who Sees

Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.

The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert....and he said, "Hagar, where have you come from and where are you going?"

"I am running away from my mistress Sarai," she answered.

Then the angel of the LORD told her, "Go back to your mistress and submit to her."

The angel added, "I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count."

She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: "You are the God who sees me."

For she said, "I have now seen the One who sees me."                   

That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi -- well of the Living One who sees me.   (Genesis 16:6-14)




"I believe," says J. Vernon McGee, and many others, "that the angel of the LORD here is none other than the pre-incarnate Christ gone out to seek the lost again. He's that kind of Shepherd..."

He is our God of grace, the One who sees us and the One who comes after us. The Hound of Heaven He is called by Francis Thompson.

Adam and Eve tried to hide from God, but He sought them, asking "Where are you?"

God is always the One to pull us back to Him.

Hagar had another encounter with God.

When Ishmael was a child and they were wandering in the desert, near death, she placed her child under a bush and removed herself so she would not have to watch him die.

As she sat there, she began to sob, along with her child.

God heard their cry, and the angel of God called from heaven, "What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid.... Lift the boy up and take him by the hand..."

"Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink." (See the whole story in  Genesis, chapter 21).

So the God who sees is also the God who hears.

Our union with God is invisible, and so sometimes we might feel alone, ignored or even abandoned by
Him. The cords that connect us to Him may sometimes seem broken -- no, they are just invisible!

Ask Him to open your eyes, as He opened Hagar's eyes to see the well and receive the life-giving water.

It was there, but He had to open her eyes so she could see it!

And ask Him to open your ears to hear His Words of comfort.

"He heard their cry" contains our hope.

He is the God who sees and the God who hears.

He is everywhere. We need to have our eyes and ears opened by His Spirit.

And, look, He knew her name. "He calls his sheep by name," we read in John 10.

When we are aware of His Presence we will feel more loved and more secure -- safer -- than we ever felt at any other time.

Open our eyes, LORD.

Open my eyes, that I may see

Glimpses of Truth Thou hast for me.

Place in my hands the wonderful key

That shall unclasp and set me free.

Open my ears, that I may hear

Voices of Truth Thou sendest clear

And while the wave notes fall on my ear

Everything false will disappear.

We can't open our own eyes or ears any more than the blind and deaf men could open theirs when Jesus came to them.

It took the look and the voice of Jesus to reveal Him to their physical senses.

If they could have opened their own eyes and ears, they wouldn't have needed Jesus!

It's the same for us today.

Open our eyes, Lord, we want to see Jesus

To reach out and touch Him, and say that we love Him

Open our ears, Lord, and help us to listen...

And everything false will disappear......

Who Could Imagine?

                                     

                                      Who Could Imagine?   

      Jeremiah 31:34 tells us that God says, "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." And in Hebrews 10:17 He says, "Their lawless acts I will remember no more."

      In both of these passages 'remember no more' is equated with 'forgiveness.' 

      Psalm 130:4 states this truth another way: "If You, O LORD,  kept a record of sins, O LORD, who could stand?  But with You there is forgiveness."

      So God deliberately chooses to not only forget our sins but also to not even keep a record  -- a list somewhere that He could go back to and check if He wanted to refresh His memory...like if He got tired of fooling with us and wanted to really punish us! 

     Since God is all-knowing, this act of forgetfulness is a conscious deliberate act of His divine will. And  'no more' means it is permanent! 

      Who could even imagine a God like this?

      Thanks to Him and praise Him forever that we don't have to imagine -- He has explained it to  us - and showed us at the Cross!    

Because He Loves us!

 

                                           Because We Love Him!

Psalm 91:14-15 -- "Because he loves Me, says the LORD, I will protect him, for he acknowledges My Name; he will call on Me and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation."

So many practical promises here: He will rescue us; protect us; allow us to pray to Him and promises to answer; He will be with us in trouble...and He will deliver us...and He will honor us -- both now and forever!

All these gifts! (Remember Forrest Gump? ( 'Life is like a box of chocolates'? Well that's like these verses! So open the box and start indulging yourself today!)

Prayers God Hears - Charles Spurgeon

From Charles Spurgeon.....

  "But wherever there is a heart enlarged with sorrow, or a lip quivering with agony, or a deep groan or a penitential sigh, the heart of Jehovah is open. 
   "He marks them down in the registry of His memory. He puts our prayers, like rose petals, between the pages of His Book of Remembrance, and when at last the volume is opened, there will be a precious fragrance springing from it. "

I just love these precious words and even more the truth behind them.

Remember the old song - "Does Jesus Care?":

Oh, yes, He cares, I know He cares,

His heart is touched with my grief.

When the days are weary

The long nights dreary,

I know my Savior cares!

Jesus, when Lazarus died, visited the town of Mary and Martha,

and the scripture tells us that He wept (John 11:35).

The Jews around commented, "See how he loved him!"

But why would Jesus weep for Lazarus? Did He not know He would be performing a miracle and that Lazarus would walk forth from the grave fully alive?

In verse 33 we read, "When Jesus saw her [Mary] weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit..."

It seems clear to me that Jesus was weeping with them because He was was touched by their grief.  He was weeping for and with them, not for Lazarus.

He was "weeping with them that weep" as we are admonished later in Romans 12:15.

                  O, yes, He cares! I know He cares....

                         I know my Savior cares....

Still Amazed by Grace - John Newton

                             Remembering John Newton....

The following is written on the grave marker for John Newton, redeemed and forgiven atheist slave trader, the author of Amazing Grace and other hymns, and active participant and leader in the abolitionist movement of the 1700's.

He was born in 1725 and died in 1807 -- roughly an English contemporary of George Washington.


His epitaph:

John Newton, a clerk,
once an infidel and libertine,
a servant of slaves in Africa,
was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and
appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy.

* * * * * * * *

Some of his remembered quotes:

I am not what I ought to be; I am not what I want to be; I am not what I hope to be in another world; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am.

God sometimes does His work with gentle drizzles, not storms.

If we seem to get no good by attempting to draw to Him, we may be sure we will get none by keeping away from Him.

This is faith: a renouncing of everything we are apt to call our own and relying wholly upon the blood, righteousness and intercession of Jesus.

Near death, he said,

Although my memory's fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.

 

His most famous quote:

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now I see.

[He also wrote the great hymn, Glorious things of Thee are Spoken, Zion City of our God! Today we sing those stirring words to a familiar tune by Franz Joseph Haydn.

How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds is another hymn by John Newton:

How sweet the name of Jesus sounds

in a believer's ear!

It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and

Drives away his fear.

It makes the wounded spirit whole

And calms the troubled breast

'Tis manna to the hungry soul

And to the weary, rest.

Dear name -- the rock on which I build

My shield and hiding place

My never-ending treasure,

Filled with boundless stores of grace.

Jesus, my shepherd, brother, friend,

My prophet, priest and King

My Lord, my life, my way, my end

Accept the praise I bring!

Imagine the miracle: a confirmed atheist; cruel, self-serving slave trader; transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit - writing the gentle, loving words above.

 A transformed life is the greatest miracle of all! - restored and pardoned, as the words appear on his grave stone.

God Looks With Approval on These Things...

 

1 Peter 3:8-12. From The Message

Summing up: Be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions.

No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. 

Instead, bless --  that's your job  - bless. You'll be a blessing and also get a blessing.

Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day fill up with good, here's what you do: Say nothing evil or hurtful; snub evil and cultivate good, run after peace for all you're worth.

God looks on all this with approval.....

Creation or Re-Creation - Which is the most Difficult?

       Creation or Re-Creation -  which is the hardest?


One of my favorite saints, Bernard of Clairvaux, wrote this 900 years ago:*

     'Creation was not so vast a work as redemption; for it
     is written of man and of all things made...'He spoke the
     word and they were made' (Psalm 148:5)

     But to redeem the creation which sprang at His word, what               hardships He endured, what shames and pain He suffered!

     In the first creation He gave me myself, but in His new
     creation He gave me Himself, and by that gift restored to me
     the self I had lost.'

I love that idea....At creation He gave me myself, but at my
redemption He gave me Himself!

It's the history of the world - from creation to re-creation...all that matters is what He did in the first place and then later in the second place, and then what He will do in the future!

It's all about Him - history is simply his-story!


*From On Loving God, by Bernard of Clairvaux

In Times of Trouble -Thankfulness - Fanny Crosby

                 In Times of Trouble - Fanny Crosby

"Though sometimes He leads thru waters deep
Trials fall across the way
Tho sometimes the path seems rough and steep
See His footprints all the way!" 

From He Keeps Me Singing



"For I know whate'er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well"

"Though my weary steps may falter, and my soul athirst may be
Gushing from the Rock before me, Lo! A spring of joy I see"

"When my spirit, cloth'd immortal, wings its flight to realms of day
This is my song through endless ages: Jesus led me all the way."

From All the Way My Savior Leads Me



I can't sing or pray this hymn without thinking about the author -- Fanny Crosby--and thanking God for His work through her! Just thinking about her, blind since a child, and living to be 95 years old! and her utter dependence on Him who "led her all way" brings tears of joy. 

She wrote over seven thousand hymns. Most people's favorite, is, I guess, Blessed Assurance.

Blessed assurance -- Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine (and that's what it is -- a foretaste, guarantee, a deposit--of glory later)

And I love this phrase, "Echoes of mercy, whispers of love."

"This is my story, this is my song: Praising my Savior all the day long!"

Apparently one day she was visiting a friend, Mrs. Joseph Knapp, whose husband was one of the founders of Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Mrs. Knapp was playing their new pipe organ, which was said to be the largest pipe organ ever placed in a private dwelling. 

She called Fanny over and asked her to listen to a new melody she was composing. She played it over several times and then asked Fanny, "What do you think the tune says?"


In just a few moments Fanny cried out enthusiastically, "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!"

And the hymn was born. That was 1873 and has become a victorious rallying call for millions of people, who, with that blind poetess, praise God for loving and redeeming us -- for giving us His blessed assurance!


P.S. I also found out that Fanny, when 12 years old, enrolled in the New York City of the School for the Blind. Years later she taught there, and became a good friend of the secretary of the Board, Grover Cleveland! Fanny had, it appears, a number of friends in high places.

Can I still say "God, I love you! "?

Sometimes things are just "Not OK".

                 And sometimes things are truly dreadful.

Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:19-20: "Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

He repeats this theme often in his letters to the early churches. 

And Jesus gave thanks, even when on His way to Gethsemane.

Praise God and thank Him for everything! we are told.

Job had more bad news than any of us could ever imagine. But, he says, "Though He slay me, yet I will trust in Him" (Job 13:15).

Daniel's friends, when facing the fiery furnace, assured King Nebuchadnezzar, "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from Your Majesty's hand. But even if He does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up" (Daniel 3:17-18).

Even if He does not.....we will still worship Him only...

Habakkuk expressed it this way in his praise song: "Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vine, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior (Habakkuk 3:17-18).

Even though....yet I will....

There's a story about  Arthur Blessitt that I love to recall.

Remember him? He is the Christian preacher who has carried a large heavy cross around the world --  literally,  he has taken the cross to every country and Guinness Book of World Records awards him with making the longest walk ever! And he is still at it!

Well, once he was in northern Israel at the beginning of the rainy season. It was cold. He was exhausted. There was no place to put his cross and he had no shelter or food or dry clothes. Finally he found an empty park bench at a bus stop. He lay down. Then it began to rain harder.

He looked at the rain and commanded, "Stop in the name of Jesus!"

What happened? A large flash of lightning and crashing thunder. The rain poured harder than ever!

And Arthur just looked up a the sky and proclaimed, "God, I love you!"

Sounds like Job and Daniel's friends, and Habakkuk.......

                    but does it sound like me?

Good News from Psalm 65:3

 

 Good News from Psalm 65:3

"When we were overwhelmed by sin, You forgave our transgressions."

And it's all due to His grace.

So how should we live?

How should we display and extend to others the grace He has extended to us?

"Lord, because Your grace is underserved, I should be humble;

Because it is costly I should be holy and loving;

Because it is unconditional I should be at peace;

And always through it all I should be supremely grateful every moment.

Amen."

Humble, holy, loving, at peace..and grateful,,."Lord, help me to to others just as You have been to me!''