Quoteworthy....The Silver Trumpets

And the LORD spoke to Moses saying: Make two silver trumpets for yourself; you shall make them of hammered work; you shall use them for calling the congregation and for directing the movements of the camp... when you go to war in your land against the enemy who opposes you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the LORD your God, and you will be saved from your enemies. Also in the days of your gladness, in your appointed feasts...you shall blow the trumpets."
    -- Numbers 10: 2, 9, 10


Reminds me of Susan in the Chronicles of Narnia. Aslan gave her a special horn to blow in times of distress.

But these silver trumpets were to be used for many things -- to call the people together, to announce travel instructions and to call out to God when facing the enemy.

And we also have two trumpets: God's Word and prayer. We can call on God when we need direction in our journey,  when we need help in opposing the enemy, and when we want to call on our friends and spiritual family members.We can read His Word and determine His path for us and find help to combat the enemy.  We can gather with our spiritual family and read His Guidebook, sharing and gleaning spiritual truth from others.

There are many trumpets in Scripture. From Exodus all the way to Revelation.

In Exodus: 

On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled...the smoke billowed up like smoke from a furnace...and the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him. (Exodus 19)


In Revelation there are seven trumpets mentioned. The final one:

The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven which said:


  "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever." (Revelation 19)


Remember our revival? Our special trumpet call? 

G I N Y  -- God I Need You!


And His answer? G I N Y back -- Grace Is Now Yours!


We must all have our trumpets ready as we go out into the world --


Remember these words?

When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more....when the morning breaks eternal, bright and fair...when the saved on earth shall gather over on the other shore...and the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there!

We're sure anxious to hear that trumpet!

Trying to avoid God? - C S Lewis

If God exists, mere movement in space will never bring you any nearer to Him or any farther from Him that you are at this very moment.

How, then, it may be asked, can we either reach or avoid Him?

The avoiding, in many times and places, has proved so difficult that a very large part of the human race failed to achieve it.

But in our own time and place it is extremely easy. Avoid silence, avoid solitude, avoid any train of thought that leads off the beaten track. Concentrate on money, sex, status, health and (above all) your own grievances.

Keep the radio on. Live in a crowd. Use plenty of sedation. If you must read books, select them very carefully. But you'd be safer to stick to the papers. You'll find the advertisements helpful, especially those with a snobbish or a sexy appeal.


About the reaching, I am a far less reliable guide. That is because I never had the experience of looking for God. It was the other way round; He was the hunter (or so it seemed to me) and I was the deer. He stalked me...took unerring aim, and fired.


--From The Seeing Eye, by C. S. Lewis




I think all of us who bear the name of Christ can see how God led us to Himself. How the searching of our hearts for the "something that was missing" was, in fact, the way He drew us to Him.

And now as I am older, I see that the reaching and avoiding of God that Lewis talks about applies to our daily walk with God also, as well as our original coming to Him. 

We can still try to "avoid Him." But it is truly hard.

Remember Paul's sermon in Athens at Mars Hill?

The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else....God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us.
                   --Acts 17:24-25, 27

It would appear that, because God revealed Himself to us in His creation and sustains us through His providence, that we have an obligation to seek Him.


I have read that the word Paul uses for "reaching out for--or feeling after" is the same Greek word that Homer used in his story about Cyclops, the giant one-eyed monster who captured Odysseus and his men and held them captive in a cave.

Odysseus got the Cyclops drunk and then blinded him with a sharp stake. Then the prisoners tried to make their escape. And Cyclops began groping around and feeling his surroundings, intending to recapture Odysseus. That's the very word Paul uses to describe how God intends for us to "seek out God...and to reach for Him."

In our sin we are as blind as Cyclops. And Paul is saying that because of God's creation we have an obligation to feel after God and seek Him, even though we cannot see Him.

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.

-- James 4:8

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

I will be found by you," declares the LORD.

-- Jeremiah 29:13-14

Looking for the Right Job? C S Lewis

 

                                               Looking for the Right Job?

Thoughts from C S Lewis:

"We have in our day started by getting the whole picture upside down.

Starting with the doctrine that every individual is of 'infinite value,' we then picture God as a kind of employment agency whose business it is to find suitable careers for souls, square holes for square pegs.

In fact, however, the value of the individual does note lie in him. He is capable of receiving value.

He receives it by union with Christ.

There is no question of finding for him a place in the living temple which will do justice to his inherent value.

The place was there first.

The man was created for it.

He will not be truly himself until he is there."

"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10).

After all, It Was Our Lord's Supper

                          After All, It was Our Lord's Supper

There are some symbols and celebrations in our church calendar that link us with all of Christendom: Christmas, baptism, Pentecost, the cross, the empty tomb....all our major  doctrines are enveloped in each of these. None more so than the Lord's Supper.

In other places and times it might be called Eucharist, Holy Communion, Sacrament of the Altar, or Blessed Sacrament.

No matter what it is called, for the last 2000 years, it is celebrated in accordance with the instructions of our Lord Jesus Christ given at His last meal with His disciples, in that private upper room in a stranger's home. A borrowed room for a homeless God-man who was facing a voluntary, horrifying, cruel death --  the holy, sinless God for His sinful unworthy, ungrateful creatures.


With His suffering death looming closely at hand, what did Jesus consider most important?

Apparently He treasured most the opportunity to explain to His disciples what exactly was going to happen, and what it all meant.

T. S. Eliot reminds us that too often we "have the experience, but miss the meaning."

Of all the terms for the celebration, probably the Lord's Supper paints the simplest picture of what happened that night so many centuries ago.

Lord's Supper is probably the most commonly used term. I like the term Eucharist, though, because it, I believe, paints the most profound truth of the event.

Eucharist: from the Greek word eucharistia, which means "thanksgiving."

     And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them...(Luke 22:19)

He gave thanks! When the rest of the world would have said, "It's time to get out of Dodge " and raced for the nearest and quickest way out of town, He lingered. He waited. Pondered the events to take place and shared the meaning of it all with His friends. He wanted desperately for them to understand.

He didn't want them to miss the meaning.

Eucharistia - thanksgiving. When He had given thanks. Knowing that the iron spikes would pierce His hands and feet the next day, that He would be on public display while He died, for hours, jeered by the crowd. Until He took that last gasping breath --"It is finished!"

He gave thanks.

(Another phrase from T. S. Eliot: And still we call this Friday good...Yes, it has been called "Good Friday" for centuries.)

But there is more in the word than thanksgiving.

The root word of eucharistia is grace (charis).

Grace is a gift. He was giving us the gift. Or was He receiving the gift? For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross....Maybe we are the gift....We are the gift to Him, as He is the gift to us....

But there is another word hidden in there: Joy (chara).

Joy: the holy grail sought by all of mankind for all our history.

From Augustine in his Confessions:  "Without exception...all try their hardest to reach the same goal, that is joy."

C S. Lewis describes that same longing, or yearning, as coming from the deepest emptiness of our heart, because the very genesis of our search for it was placed in our hearts by God Himself.

Just as the little word joy is found hidden deep in the meaning of thanksgiving, so is it found deep in our lives in the act of thanksgiving. After all, have you ever seen someone who is truly thankful, expressing his gratitude to God, who was angry? Bitter? Mean-spirited? Impatient? Depressed? Overwhelmed? Unhopeful? Joy is like a precious oil that cleanses us from thoughts and actions that displease God.

Why live a life of cheerless ingratitude?

Thanksgiving precedes the miracle, and releases our joy. Daniel, praying and thanking God..as was his usual custom...knowing the lions' den was waiting...Jesus and the loaves and fishes...Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus...our Savior Redeemer in the upper room...the disciples on the road to Emmaus...
thanksgiving first and then the miracle of God's action.

Thanksgiving.

Grace.

Joy.

It's all there, in the word eucharistia and in the event of the Eucharist.

When we celebrate Lord's Supper, or Eucharist, are we going to "have the experience, but miss the meaning"?

Interesting application of Scripture in US History

Here's an Interesting Application of Scripture....from US History

I'm reading some British records of the months just preceding the beginning of the American revolution.

Late in 1775 Parliament was arguing various approaches to end the revolutionary fever sweeping their 13 colonies over the Atlantic in America.

King George III was determined to take harsh action. Most of Parliament agreed with him, but a few disagreed.

One of those was David Hartley. When a bill came up for discussion -- a bill that would prohibit all trade and communication among the colonies during the "course of the present rebellion" he realized that the colonies would be even more inflamed and more eager to declare their independence. If the bill passed Britain would lose that valuable part of their Empire. 

And the bill was passed.

His speech to Parliament included these words: "The Opposition was overpowered by numbers," he voiced. "An inflexible majority in Parliament have now declared all America to be an independent hostile State. But Parliament would rue this day," he went on, for the fate of America was clear for all of them to see. "You may bruise its heel, but you cannot crush its head. It will revive again. The New World is before them. Liberty is theirs. They have possession of a free government, their birthright and inheritance.....If you will cast them off, my last wish is to them. 'may they go and prosper!'"

Sally Lloyd-Jones - A happy/sad celebration/revival

One of my favorite books is a children's Bible story book by Sally Lloyd-Jones titled The Jesus Story Book Bible -- Every Story Whispers His Name.

I read it myself often and share it in Bible study classes.

This is how she paraphrases Nehemiah 8-10; Malachi 1, 3 and 4; and Ezra 7:

Have you ever been to a party that lasted a whole week? How about a sermon that went on all day?

Well, that's what happened to God's people after they came home from being slaves. They had forgotten how God wanted them to live, or who they were supposed to be. So Ezra and Nehemiah read them the rules God had given Moses.

But something odd happened: the more the sermon went on, the sadder they got. Why? Was the sermon that boring? No, not really. It was strange, you see. As Ezra read the book of rules, it worked like a mirror. It showed them what they were like, and they didn't like what they saw. They saw that they had not been living the way they should. They saw that they were cruel and selfish.

"We've blown it," they cried. "Now God will punish us!"


They thought they knew what God was going to do. But they didn't. Of course, they might have picked up a clue from Ezra's name, which means, "Help is here!" And an even stronger one from Nehemiah's name because his name means "God wipes away our tears."

And that, as you'll see, is just exactly what God was getting ready to do.

Ezra looked at God's children. Great, hot tears were welling up in their eyes, and streaming down their cheeks. He stopped his sermon--mid-sentence--and shut the book. "We're having a party!" he shouted.


And so that's just what they did! All week long.

"God wants us to be happy!" Ezra said.

All day they listened to stories about the wonderful things God had done for His people. How He made the world. How He gave a special promise to Abraham. How He rescued them from slavery. How He spoke to Moses and showed them how to live. How He brought them to a special land, how He rescued them -- no matter what -- time after time, over and over again -- because of His Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always Forever Love.

They remembered how God had always, all through the years, been loving His children -- keeping His promise to Abraham, taking care of them, forgiving them. Even when they disobeyed. Even when they ran away from Him. Even when they thought they didn't need Him.

Then God told His children something more...

I can't stop loving you.
You are My heart's treasure.
But I lost you. Now I am coming back for you.

I am like the sun that gently shines on you, chasing away darkness and fear and death.
You'll be so happy--
You'll be like little calves running free in an open field.

I am going to send My Messenger -- the Promised One.
The One you have been waiting for.
The Rescuer.

He is coming! So, get ready!

It had taken centuries for God's people to be ready, but now the time had almost come for the best part of God's Plan.

God Himself was going to come. Not to punish His people -- but to rescue them.

God was getting ready to wipe away every tear from every eye. And the true party was just about to begin....

How Christ Restored Peter

 

                                              How Christ Restored Peter

What Christ DIDN'T say to Peter...

After His resurrection, when Christ appeared to Peter, He asked him, "Peter, do you love Me?" And Peter answered, "Yes, You know I love You!"

Notice what Jesus didn't say - He didn't say, "Peter, are you going to fail Me again?" "Peter, will I be able to count on you ever again?"

These words of Jesus  -- what He didn't  say -- gives me great comfort....

How about you?

Read the whole conversation in John, chapter 21. 

What a wonderful, forgiving Savior we have!

As the Bible throughout teaches us  -- God forgives us and never holds our sins against us   -  He doesn't "keep a list",  and we are told to not keep a list either in 1 Corinthians 13.

As Christ has been to us, we should be to each other.

.

"If You, LORD, kept a record of sins, who could stand?" (Psalm 130:3)

It's All Mine Now! - David Platt

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

What is God Like? My Prayer Today

 What is God Like? 

That's easy!

He tells us!

   "For to You, Lord, I lift up my soul. For You, Lord, are good and ready to forgive,

 and abundant in mercy to all who call upon You."

    -- Psalm 86:4-5

God, You are so abounding in mercy, so ready to forgive, the picture of such goodness -- qualities I can't even understand in this life. 

I worship You with my heart and soul. 

As I sit here now in regret over past sin, please remind me of Your forgiveness.

Please let me feel Your mercy. Fill me with it so I can extend it to others You put in my path today. 

May my family know Your grace. Lift their burdens and shine Your face upon them today.

I thank you for Your grace, which I do not deserve, and for your mercies which are new and  abundant each morning. This is my 'strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.'

 Amen.

Quotes to Ponder

Winston Churchill:

A lie makes it halfway around the world while the truth is still putting its shoes on in the morning.


Robert Jastrow, the founder and director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and author of God and the Astronomers, reaches this conclusion when considering modern scientific research:

For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.

Robert Jastrow, God and the Astronomers



Samuel Adams, in a letter to his daughter, Hannah, in 1780:

If you carefully fulfill the various duties of life, from a principle of obedience to your heavenly Father, you shall enjoy that peace which the world cannot give nor take away...you cannot satisfy me so much as by seeking most earnestly the favor of Him who made and supports you--who will supply you with whatever His infinite wisdom sees best for you in the world, and above all, who has given us His Son to purchase for us the reward of eternal life.

Philip Yancey/C. S. Lewis

During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith. They began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of gods appearing in human form. Resurrection? Some religions had accounts of return from death.

The debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis wandered into the room. "What's all this rumpus about?" he asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity's unique contribution among the world religions. Lewis responded, "Oh, that's easy. It's grace."

After some discussion, the conferees had to agree. The notion of God's love coming to us, no strings attached, seems to go against every instinct of humanity. The Buddhist eight-fold path, the Hindu doctrine of karma, and Muslim code of law--each of these offers a way to earn approval. Only Christianity dares to make God's love unconditional.

From What's So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey

What was Harder: Creating Us or Redeeming Us? Bernard of Clairvaux

 

                What was harder: Creating Us or Redeeming Us?

Profound words written almost a thousand years ago by Bernard of Clairvaux:

"I owe all that I am to Him who made me, but how can I pay my debt to Him who redeemed me?

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

But to redeem that creation that sprang into being at His word, how much He spake, what wonders He wrought, what hardships He endured, what shames He suffered!

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

Created first and then restored, I owe Him myself twice over in return for myself.

But what have I to offer Him for the gift of Himself? Could I multiply myself a thousand-fold and then give Him my all -- what would that be in comparison with God?

[In creating me He gave me the gift of myself....in Redeeming me He gave me the gift of Himself --- Wow!]

The Really Big Picture - Becoming the Gift

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

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this not from yourselves -- it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:9

The lost sinner who hears God's Word that Christ died for his sins and places his trust in Him receives the gift -- the supreme gift of all -- restoration to God and eternity with Him.

And then one day, that redeemed sinner catches a glimpse of the bigger story.

Note these words from Christ's prayer, just before His arrest and crucifixion, to His Father, in John, chapter 17.....

"I have revealed You to those whom You gave Me out of the world. They were Yours; You gave them to Me....

"I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those You have given Me...

"Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, and to see My Glory..."


So this is the really big picture....

Once we receive the gift, we become the gift!

We come to God through Jesus Christ's atonement for us -- it is His gift to us -- and then God presents us as a gift to His Son!


Once we receive the gift, we become the gift!



            And this is the biggest story of all!

What Makes Angels Celebrate? (Part 2)

 So what do the angels know that we don't know that makes them celebrate with such exuberance when a sinner repents?

Back to Max Lucado --

"They know what heaven holds. They've seen the table, and they have heard the music, and they can't wait to see your face when you arrive.

When you arrive and enter the party something wonderful will happen. A final transformation will occur. You will be just like Jesus. Drink deeply from 1 John 3:2: 'We have not yet been shown what we will be like in the future. But we know when we see Him we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is.'

Of all the blessings of heaven, one of the greatest will be you! You will be God's magnum opus, His work of art. The angels will gasp. God's work will be completed. At last you will have a heart like His.

You will love with perfect love.

You will worship with a radiant face.

You will hear each word God speaks.

Your heart will be pure, your words like jewels, your thoughts will be like treasures.

You will be just like Jesus. (And so will all the people around you!)

You will, at long last, have a heart like His.

There is another reason for the celebration. Part of the excitement is from our arrival. The other part is from our deliverance. Jesus rejoices that we are headed to heaven, but He equally rejoices that we are saved from hell.

One phrase summarizes the horror of hell: 'God is not there.'"

---From Just Like Jesus

What Makes Angels Celebrate?

In Luke 15 we read Jesus' parables about a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost boy. 

The point is clear -- all of heaven rejoices when the lost is found. 

At the end of each one Jesus describes a party, a celebration. The shepherd throws a party for the lost-now-found sheep. The housewife throws a party for the lost-now-found coin, and the father throws a party in honor of his lost-now-found son.

The shepherd, when he finds his sheep, happily puts it on his shoulder and goes home. The housewife tells her friends, "Be happy with me for I have found the coin I lost." And the father of the prodigal tells his other son, "Be happy. He was lost but now is found."

Jesus speaks about the great rejoicing in heaven when the lost is found!

Max Lucado comments on this -

"We don't always share such enthusiasm, do we? When you hear of a soul saved, do you drop everything and celebrate? Do we call out a band, cut the cake, and throw a party?

When a soul is saved, the heart of Jesus becomes the night sky on the fourth of July, radiant with explosions of cheer. 

Can the same be said about us? Perhaps this is an area where our hearts need some attention.

Why do Jesus and His angels rejoice over one repenting sinner? Can they see something we can't? Do they know something we don't?"

(Will continue in my next writing...in the meantime, think about your own heart...do you respond like Jesus and His angels? Why or why not?)

The Departure

For to me, to live is Christ and to die gain. If I am to go on living in the  body, this will mean fruitful labor for me.

Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!

I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far, but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.

Philippians 1:21-26

Death held no terrors for Paul.

It simply means "departing."

When used by soldiers, it meant, "to take down your tent and move on."

Paul elaborated on that image in 2 Corinthians 5:1-8:

     Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed,

we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven,

not built with human hands. (verse1)

What a beautiful picture of death: The "tent" we live in now will be taken down and the spirit will go home to be with Christ in heaven.

After all, a tent is a temporary dwelling. It is not designed to be permanent, at least not in our culture.

The tabernacle in the Old Testament was a tent that was carried around in the wilderness until the Jews entered the Promised Land. 

It was a very important tent - it housed the altar, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, with the Ark of the Covenant. But it was not meant to be permanent.

Sailors at the time of Paul also used the word for departure:

it meant to loosen a ship and set sail.

Alfred Lord Tennyson expressed this idea in his memorable poem, Crossing the Bar.

Sunset and evening star, and one clear call for me!

And may there be no moaning of the bar, when I put out to sea.

But such a tide as moving seems asleep, too full for sound and foam,

When that which drew from out the boundless deep, turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell, and after that the dark!

And may there be no sadness of farewell, when I embark.

For though from out our bourne of Time and Place the flood

may bear me far

I hope to see my Pilot face to face, when I have crossed the bar.

But departure was also a political term: it described the setting free of a prisoner. 

God's people are in bondage down here on earth, to the limitations of the body and temptations, but at death, we will be set free for ever!  Or earlier, if Christ comes while we are still inhabiting our earthly tents!

Departure was also used by farmers.  It meant "to unyoke the oxen."  The day's work was finished. Free the oxen and feed them, giving them rest.

Paul had taken Christ's yoke, which is a easy yoke to bear (Matthew 11:28-30), but look how many burdens he carried in his ministry.  Look at some of them he tells us about in 2 Corinthians 11:22-12:10.

To depart and be with Christ would mean laying aside all our burdens, because our work is finished, and going to be with Jesus for our eternal rest.

No matter how you look at it, death cannot steal our joy.

Paul was single-minded. He had a Godward Heart. Death could not trouble him - he looked to the hope God had given him.

Warren Wiersbe suggests a simple test to show us what we value most - what gives us the most pleasure and makes life worth living for us.

Take the verse in Philippians 1:21: "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain."

Leave two blanks: For me to live is_______________

and to die is___________.

Fill those blanks in for yourself.

For me to live is....money.....and to die is to ...leave it all behind? Or For me to live is....being famous....and to die is to...be forgotten...?  To live...is power....and to die is to....leave it all behind...?

How do you fill in the blanks?

FDR and D-Day

                                              June 6, 1944 -- D-Day..

Today is the 82nd anniversary of D-Day. 

My mother remembered that day most of her life. What she recalled especially was FDR in a radio broadcast praying for our soldiers that day. She reminded us of that prayer often.

Within  11 months the war in Europe was over. Hitler was dead. FDR was dead. Truman was President and the horrors of the Nazi concentration (death) camps for Jews were being exposed and documented.

And the war in Asia was nearing its end.

Here are some words from FDR's prayer broadcast that day -- 82 years ago today.

He began, "In this poignant hour, I ask you to join me in prayer.

Almighty God, 

Our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity. Lead them straight and true, with steadfastness in their faith. They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again and we know that by Thy grace and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph..."

(We still refer to these brave men as 'The greatest generation'!)

Today, the 82nd anniversary of that crucial day, is another great day to remember to pray for our nation....

Be Reconciled to God

 

                                                           Be Reconciled to God!

He told us to do it, and He did all the work!

 Paul wrote to his friends in Corinth, "Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: 'We implore you, on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God'" (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Then he said, "For He made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

So that's how God Himself arranged for us to be reconciled to Him! He took the punishment His holiness required, paid our debt  for us - and gave us His favor! All we do is thank Him and praise Him!

Father, You have done it all. You  my took my sin and paid the penalty. You tore open the veil that kept me from You. You allow me to come to You --  I  can approach You ANYTIME!

You will never let go of me! How could I forget that? Forgive me, Father, for forgetting that sometimes. You are standing right here beside me -- eager to be my  Friend and Helper. You will never let go of me. How could I forget that?

Forgive me, Father, for letting distractions cloud my thinking. My greatest joy in life is knowing and loving You. All else is 'trivial pursuit.'

Hold me close today and help me remember how much You love me, my abba Father. 

Amen!

Why Am I Still Here?

"If God has chosen you to live here another day as His ambassador, it is only because you have an assignment to fulfill. You have a Master to please. You have someone to connect with. 

You may not know who it is before your day begins or who it was after your day ends. It may be someone watching you from a distance. You may not have direct connect. Maybe you were left here to intercede for somebody.

Therefore, whatever you do, make certain you fill up with Jesus every morning. You need a fresh word from Him each day to speak to others. Determine to be sensitive, alert, and available to the people God brings into your path.

If you are moping around thinking you have nothing left in the tank and nothing of any value to offer anyone, you are very wrong. When He is finished with you here, He will call you home.

If you are 105 and still here, I would venture to say that your hospice nurse needs to find Jesus!"

        (From Front Porch Moments, by Gayle Rogers Foster)

The Potters and the Gardeners - Charles Spurgeon

                   The Potters and Gardeners - Charles Spurgeon

These were the potters and those who dwelt among plants and hedges, who lived there in the king's service
             (1 Chronicles 4:23).


Potters were among the ranks of manual workers, but the king needed potters and therefore they were elevated to royal service, although the material upon which they worked was nothing but clay.

In the same way we also may be engaged in the most menial part of the Lord's work, but it is a great privilege to do anything for the King; and therefore we will play our part, hoping that, even though we live among the pots, we will soar in the service of our Master.

They may have wanted to live in the city, amid its life, society and refinement, but they kept their assigned places because they were doing the King's work.

There is no ideal place for us to serve God except the place He sets us down.

We are not to run from it on whim or sudden notion, but we should serve the Lord by being in it a blessing to those among whom we live.

These potters and gardeners had royal company, for they lived with the king, and although among hedges and plants, they lived with the king there.

No lawful place or gracious occupation, however menial, can keep us from communion with our Lord.

In hovels, run-down neighborhoods, and jails, we may keep company with the King.

In all works of faith we can count upon Jesus' fellowship.

It is when we are in His work that we can reckon on His smile.

You unknown workers who are serving the Lord amid the dirt and wretchedness of the lowest of the low, be of good cheer, for jewels have often been found among rubbish, earthen pots have been filled with heavenly treasures, and ugly weeds have been transformed into precious flowers.

Dwell with the King and do His work, and when He writes His chronicles, your name shall be recorded.

[The names of these potters and gardeners are recorded for us in 1 Chronicles, chapter 4.  The book was written for the exiles who returned from Babylonian captivity  when King Cyrus gave them the opportunity and means to go back to their homes in Judea. The author wanted them to know they were part of God's special treasure, His Chosen People who would come back to Israel and prepare for the coming Messiah. After all, it was prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem and would be reared in Nazareth and would attend Temple in Jerusalem. They were, each one, a part of God's eternal plan. Just like we are!]

The Meaning of History- James M Boice

Thoughts on redemption....



"But all are not to be redeemed. That is hard saying, yet it is the teaching of the Word of God.

... to make the Christian view of history complete  there must be added to the other doctrines already considered--creation, providence, revelation and redemption--the doctrine of God's final judgment at the end of history.

Christians express belief in this doctrine in the Apostles' Creed: "From thence [that is, heaven]
He [Christ] shall come to judge the quick and the dead."

In saying that Christ is to judge the dead as well as the living (the quick) the Creed is saying that in the ultimate analysis the meaning of history is not found only at the end of history -- as if everything had been building up to one final peak of accomplishment    which shall then be judged fit or not fit for glory.

The meaning of history is rather found in any given moment in the choice or choices made by any given individual no matter who that person is, where he or she has come from, nor how important he or she may seem to be...

The important moment in history is always now."

  --From Foundations of the Christian Faith by
James Montgomery Boice.

God's Intended Destiny for Us

 

                                                  God's Intended Destiny for Us

Sometimes sharing the gospel awakens an intense resentment in the one we are talking to.

That's because the gospel reveals our sin and unholiness -- and that's bad news.

But we have to hear the bad news first before we can hear the really good news!

The good news is that He has rescued us from our sin and is eager to forgive and welcome us into His family!

Hearing the gospel can also awaken an intense longing -- yearning -- an intense desire -- to know God and receive His love and forgiveness.

What does He want to do with us?

God has only one intended destiny for mankind: holiness.

His goal is to make us saints. He does not save us out of pity. He saves us because He created us to be holy.

That begins at the cross. 

Christ takes on our sin and by His death pays the debt we owe God for our disobedience.  And by His perfect life of obedience He clothes us in His garments of righteousness.

It's like we come to Him with all our garbage - sin, guilt, hurt, bitterness, hatred, anger, broken dreams and hearts and messed up relationships. We put them in a really big garbage bag and take it to the Cross. He takes that bag and casts it away into eternal forgetfulness,

Then He reaches down and gives us a bottomless Treasure Chest - a chest full of love, forgiveness, joy, peace, eternal life, healing -- every good and perfect gift.

And the most precious gift of all -- His presence with us every moment of every day - forever!

And He begins the process of making us like Him - holy -  and able to fit into His family of saints.

What a great exchange! How could anyone resist such an offer?

Read Hebrews 10:14 --  "For by one sacrifice, He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy."