Lost In Transition

“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what [shall be] the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Mt 24:3 AV)

I find it a bit odd that the same disciples who could not grasp the coming death of Christ and who fled at Calvary and who went back to fishing after Calvary would be asking for signs of His coming.  If one is asking for signs of His coming, that infers he has to be going.  He is present with them.  Why ask of His coming unless He has to go first?  Sometimes, we believe things in the back of our minds that have not made it to our hearts.  We know it is true, but we have a hard time coming to terms with it.  Jesus repeatedly warned His disciples that He had to suffer and die, but that He would rise again.  It wasn’t for ignorance they had a hard time accepting the death of Christ.  They knew it.  And that is why they phrase the question above as they did.

We had the privilege to minister to a unique family.  The parents of this family came from separate but very abusive backgrounds.  There was history of the two wherein both were abused by authority figures in their younger years.  When they accepted Christ, one of the two struggled with the unconditional love of God.  He never had an example of unconditional love in his entire life.  He knew, in his head, that God is not man.  He knew, in his head, that what was impossible with the people in his early life is possible with God.  Yet, he had a hard time accepting that a God could love unconditionally.  This forced him to see unfortunate circumstances of life and history as a manifestation of God’s conditional love.  If God loved unconditionally, then bad things wouldn’t happen.  He could not see God’s unconditional love in balance with man’s ability of self-determination.  God does not force His will on individual men.  At least where choices are concerned.  He does with consequences of those choices.  But not choices themselves.  Anyway, this fella, since he could not understand unconditional love, would not allow God to love him.  We had a time with him.  But he finally allowed what he knew to be true in his head to reach his heart.

There are things we struggle with.  God’s plan for us or our own usefulness to God’s plan.  We struggle with faith.  We wonder of God really will take care of us.  We wonder if the LORD can really do as we hope.  We wonder if our life is not in vain.  Many thoughts come into our heads.  But deep down inside, the LORD has given us that which we need.  We just have to let it get from our head to our heart.

Jesus Had Compassion

“So Jesus had compassion [on them], and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.” (Mt 20:34 AV)

The compassions of the LORD, they fail not!  There is not deep theological application here.  No rebuke. To profound truth.  Simple compassion.  Compassion of the LORD.  These two men were blind.  Blind for a very long time.  They cried out for the mercy of God and the LORD heard their cries.  He asks what it is they need.  There only response was that they might receive their sight.  The LORD had compassion.  That is the message.  The LORD had compassion.

It was the summer of 1981.  I had just finished my junior year of high school.  My father got a new job and we moved 90 minutes away from all my friends.  Going to a new High School was actually the easy part.  It was at that school, free from the reputation of our family in my home town (all good, by the way) that I was no longer the dweeb that others picked on.  I was able to wear more adult cloths to school and not get mocked.  Athletes respected me because I help them pass Physics.  I may not have been the most popular, but I was no longer disrespected.  However, there were no real close friends.  All my childhood friends lived too far away.  With graduation looming on the horizon, I had no plan.  No hope for the future.  Lonely and without any purpose of life, I toyed with the idea of suicide.  But, God knew what he was doing.  He had to get me alone so that all the noise of life did not distract me for the reality of my lost soul!  I had to be confronted with my most pressing need – salvation in Christ.  With the ministry of a faithful soul-winner, the LORD heard my cries of loneliness, purposelessness, and sinfulness.  On March 28, 1982, Jesus had compassion on me and saved my soul!  The result was I followed Him!

When someone shows compassion on us, we usually try to pursue some sort of relationship with him or her.  Depending on the measure of compassion, our relationship may be deeper or not.  Christ gave His life for me!  He died in my place!  He gave me a purpose.  He filled the void of loneliness!  He resolved my guilt!  He did it all.  The least that I can do is follow Him!

More Faith To Believe a Lie

“At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.” (Mt 14:1-2 AV)

It takes more faith to believe a lie than it does to believe the truth.  Herod was more willing to believe that someone whom he had beheaded rose from the dead with his head intact than to believe Jesus was the Messiah.  No doubt, he had more faith to believe a head reattached itself and John rose from the dead than Jesus, who would rise from this dead without losing his head would be the son of God.  It takes much more faith to believe a lie than it does the truth!

The world calls us crazy for believing the truth of the word of God.  But who has more faith?  I believe the world was created in six days, only thousands of years ago.  God, according to His word, created all things with preconditioned age.  He created Adam and Eve as fully functional adults.  When a human foot print is found inside of a dinosaur foot print, it was so because they co-existed.  Yet, rebellious man believes they were formed, separated by millions of years, in some miraculous way.  Tremendously inconsistent if one think that lays of sediment containing the fossil record was laid down over millions of years, having a human footprint inside of a dinosaur footprint would be impossible! Design demands a designer.  The origin of information.  The missing link.  The list goes on and on.  The origin of acceptable morals conflicts with the survival of the fittest.  It takes much more faith to believe God does not exist than to accept Him as Spirit, who exists, yet cannot be seen.

How many truths do we reject that would take less faith to believe than the lie we cling to?  The Bible is full of paradoxes.  Like the one we saw yesterday.  The book of Proverbs is full of them.  To have internal riches, one should make himself externally poor.  To gain true love, one must give it away freely.  To gain heaven, one must give up trying to gain it himself and accept it as a free gift.  Without faith, it is impossible to please Him!  But some of us exercise more faith in rebellion against God than exercising faith in obedience to him!

Rest, Not Leisure

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” (Mt 11:29 AV)

At first, this seems to be a paradox.  How can an ox have rest of soul when yoked to another while plowing a field?  Wouldn’t he be must more restful if he was in the pasture, grazing at his content?  Maybe.  For the ox is a mere animal.  He has no soul.  But you and I are different.  We need that yoke in order to enjoy a rest of the soul.  We need the burden upon our necks in order to know that God is who He claims to be.  That yoke is the very thing that gives the rest of soul which we seek.

The yoke represents restrain and purpose.  The yoke restrains the liberty of the ox and keeps him headed in the direction of the master.  The labor he does is the very thing that will save his life.  He plows that the fields might be sown and harvested.  That harvest, in turn, is what feeds the ox.  If the ox was free to wander, he may starve to death.   But the practice of domestication offers him a safe haven of refuge and plenty of food to eat.  This yoke is also a yoke of purpose.  No other domesticated animal can plow like a team of oxen.  Horses can plow, but they often plow alone.  They are not team players when it comes to plowing.  They also must fight the urge to bolt.  Oxen, on the other hand, are created for plowing.  That yoke is unique to their purpose.

Rest does not come from having a leisurely life.  Rest for the soul does not come by catering to the flesh.  Rest for the soul comes when we accept and utilize our yoke.  We find our purpose and stay within the confines of God’s plan.  Then we can have that precious rest of the soul for which we deeply crave.

Preaching By A 25 Watt Bulb Doesn't Work

“The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Mt 4:16-17 AV)

Unless there is light beforehand, preaching the gospel message is ineffective.  Before the LORD preached on the gospel, He went to a part of His nation that sat in great spiritual darkness.  The distinction between the darkness they were in and His light to them through ministry and holiness was the foundation of His preaching.  Too many today diminish holiness and separation as prerequisites for preaching and then wonder why not many come to Christ.  There must be a distinction in order for the gospel to be relevant.

Have you ever noticed when a product is sold, there is usually a comparison of before and after?  A few years back, I went to a state fair.  I was having pretty serious shoulder problems then, and someone at a both was selling this special formula of ointment that was supposed to work better than anything else on the market.  I volunteered to be a guinea pig.  The sales lady rubbed down one shoulder with plain baby oil.  The other really bad shoulder she rubbed down with her product.  It was a contrastingly remarkable difference.  I could tell immediately what she was selling was far better than what I had been using.  But she couldn’t sell what she had unless she made a comparison against what was available.  This is why our light matters just as much, if not more, than the message of the gospel!

If having a testimony is was important to the Son of God, it should be even more important to us!  If holiness and a bright light was the foundation of the message for a perfect and sinless God, then for us as sinners it is even more important!  How we begin to think that we can live like the world, or half in the world, and be effective in trying to reach the world is beyond me!  Holiness must be a part of our message.  Our light is important!  We cannot preach by a dim flashlight!

No Parked Cars

“Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” (Ps 119:165 AV)

The word ‘…offend…’ here does not mean to take insult at.  It means to be stumbled.  A stumbling block.  There are two benefits here to loving the law of God.  The first is a peace.  A peace that can be had no other way.  Of knowing what is right and pursuing it.  When one fails, to make it right and get up and try again.  The other is a path of life free from stumbling blocks.  Nothing will trip you up.

I am reading a book in preparation of a series on addiction.  In the book, the writer says the only way to overcome addiction is to hate the consequences of sin more than one loves the pleasures of sin for a season.  As a young lad, I had my share of scraps and bumps.  Most could be avoided.  One such disaster I repeated a second time.  It appeared as though my sister Mary had a way of distracting my attention while we rode our bikes.  She might have planned it, I don’t know.  The first time, we were riding rather fast and she was engaging me in some conversation.  Because I was not looking, I ran right into the back of a parked car.  She had a hoot.  However, the second time was a little more serious.  This time, she challenged me to a race down Cherry street.  Cherry street was a downhill street.  The challenge was to get going as fast as one could then stop peddling at the top to see if we could make it all the way to the bottom without peddling again.  As we crested the hill, she again had my attention.  However, this time she yelled out a warning.  Too late, I hit that parked car so hard that I flipped off my bike almost over the entire car.  Needless to say, that was the last time I allowed my sister to distract me!   I hated the consequences of hitting parked cars more that the pleasure of competition!

We must love the law more than we hate the consequences of our actions.  This will free us from the offense of hitting a parked car.  To love the law is to avoid sin.  To love the law is to have peace with God!  To love the law is to know that we are right with God and we are free from a relentless enemy that seeks only our destruction!

God is Thrilled Too!

“Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the LORD of hosts.” (Zec 8:6 AV)

It is so wonderful to know that what we find wonderful, the LORD does too.  Many commentators have a hard time with this verse because of the definition of the word marvelous.  One of the definitions means too difficult.  Which would suggest that what was done was too difficult for both the remnant and the LORD.  However, another definition means wonderful.  One thing that is wonderful for one set of people for a specific reason may be wonderful to another for a different reason.  But it is wonderful for both.

One of my favorite Christmas movies is A Christmas Story.  Ralphie wants a Red Ryder BB gun.  His mother is adamantly opposed.  His father seems disinterested.  One scene after another has to do with this little boy’s daydreams of either owning a Red Ryder BB gun, or the reasons for being told no.  Christmas morning arrives and Ralphie and his little brother tear into the gifts.  One after another and there is no BB gun.  All the gifts are opened.  There is a mess on the floor.  Ralphie’s little brother is asleep on the floor.  Mom is in the kitchen bring coffee to Dad.  In the quietness of midmorning, Dad asks Ralphie if he sees that one last un-opened gift.  Ralphie looks around and doesn’t see it.  Dad tells him to look behind the desk.  Ralphie pulls out this long and narrow gift.  Dad watches and Ralphie opens it.  Out comes the prized Red Ryder BB gun.  As Ralphie loads the BB’s, Dad has an expression on his face of absolute joy!  A wonderment at the reaction of his eldest son receiving the prized and coveted gift of a lifetime!  Ralphie never thought it would happen.  Dad knew, but when he saw how it brought unspeakable joy to his son, it was a wonder to behold!

I imagine this is how the LORD feels when He blesses His children.  No matter how small or big, it doesn’t matter!  If it is a wonder to us, it is a wonder to the LORD!  Maybe for a different reason, but it is still a wonder!  If it means the world to us, it means the world to the LORD!  Nothing is impossible for God.  To do those things is not difficult.  What He marvels at is the joy!  The sheer joy which His children can experience.

Desire By Divestment

“And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.” (Hag 2:7 AV)

The commentators are almost as confused as I but this phrase.  All nations will never desire the LORD Jesus Christ.  That is, if all nations are defined as all people.  This passage is clearly speaking of the second coming.  The problem with our understanding is the ‘all nations’ desiring the LORD.  This desire is prior to His return which is exactly the opposite of revealed prophecy.

In reading one scholar, there was greater understanding.  The word ‘desire’ is actually a plural noun.  It is suggested the nations have desires yet unspecified in a specific manner.  All they know is what they have now is not what they desire.  The second point to consider is the word says all nations.  Not all people.  All nations are all cultural groups.  Even if those who have these desires are in the vast minority, it is still all nations.  So, what might be happening here is there are desires which all cultural groups or nations will desire which only the LORD Jesus can fulfill.  And, there will be a small portion of all nations that will desire something far better than what the world and the devil have to offer.  This better desire is, the LORD Jesus Christ.

Herein is my application, though.  This desire cannot come unless there is a shaking first.  In prophecy, this shaking is the great tribulation.  There has to be a shaking of what we have come to desire to show us there is a far better desire.  There has to be a rooting out of that which we have come to want and enjoy to reveal there are greater things for which one may aspire.  There is a vacuum which only the LORD can fill.  What the world, and the saint, must realize is we will never be truly content unless the LORD Jesus Christ is our one and only!  He must be our desire or there will come more shaking!

Eternal Principles are Present Daily

“The just LORD [is] in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame.” (Zep 3:5 AV)

If we cannot see the LORD’s hand, it is not His fault.  Every morning, the LORD reveals His judgments upon the children of men.  Every day the principles of His creation come into play.  It doesn’t matter what devices mankind can invent, the LORD’s master plan still marches on.  It doesn’t matter how many rocket ships man can produce; the law of gravity is still in force.  It doesn’t matter how many cures mankind can concoct, death will eventually come.  The judgments of God are sure. The stand fast.  They are present every moment of every day.  Whether we see them or not, does not affect the reality of their existence.  These judgments are there at the start of every day.  We just have to look for them.

 The physical world around us operates on law that do not change.  Gravity does not change.  Thermodynamics do not change.  Astronomy does not change.  Biology, outside of mutation, does not change.  If the physical world does not change and there are laws by which we order our lives, then there are metaphysical or spiritual principles that do not change as well.  The opposite of consistency is chaos.  The opposite of order is disorder.  Since there is an order to life and creation, then there can be direction and plans.  There can be security and predictability.  In short, God’s creation has certainty to it.  Knowing this, we can also have faith in God’s faithfulness.  As our passage says, “He faileth not.”

Next time we get up early in the morning with anxiety on our hearts, let us remember that God’s judgments are absolute.  They do not appear one day and disappear the next.  What was true yesterday is true today and will be true tomorrow.  God never fails.  We simply need to open our eyes and ask the LORD to reveal to us His eternal and faithful hand!

In Good Times or In Bad - Rejoice

“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither [shall] fruit [be] in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and [there shall be] no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God [is] my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ [feet], and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.” (Hab 3:17-19 AV)

Whatever the circumstances of life, we should strive to rejoice in the LORD, specially for salvation.  The prophet knows the LORD will visit Israel and Judah for their transgressions.  He knows the LORD will make barren the land.  He knows that he personally did not contribute to the disobedience yet will suffer with it because of association.  He knows harder times are coming.  But one thing never changes.  That is, God is His God of salvation.  He will keep him through it.  The LORD will give him a song in his heart no matter how dire the situation around him.  This is what separates the spiritual from the carnal!

I have to brag on my Mom a bit, here.  She has diabetes and has been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.  She had it beat for a bit, but now it has come back and is beginning to spread to other parts of her body.  They are going to put her on a new and stronger treatment program.  One that will cause her to lose her hair.  I made a funny by telling her she can start wearing wigs like the ladies do where I live.  Her response brought bouts of laughter.  She recalled the day when she did wear a wig.  I remember seeing it sitting on her dresser.  This period didn’t last very long.  She was always afraid it would fly off if she bent over, sneezed, or a gust of wind blew up. She was so paranoid it would fall off, she hardly ever wore it.  Then she told me of an embarrassing event in her teen life and it taught her never to stress about a thing.  So, she will proudly wear her bald head with a scarf on occasion, but what she said next spoke volumes.   She said, “all the trials of life will seem but a distant memory in light of eternity!”  What a lady!  My mother knows how to laugh and rejoice in the face of adversity!  A lesson we could all learn.

Which brings us back to our passage.  No matter how difficult life might be, if we have trusted Christ, then we are saved and heaven bound.  Nothing can change that!  Let us rejoice in the God of our salvation and rely upon Him as our strength, and the trouble we are faced with may not seem so bad.

It's All Good

“Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off.” (Na 1:15 AV)

The good news which Nahum is preaching is the end of persecution to the nation of Israel.  The good news he is preaching is that wrath is reserved for the enemies of God and not God’s people.  The good news Nahum is preaching is reclamation.  Restoration!  Redemption!  That is the good news.  This good news, which has yet to be realized, is the motive for present obedience.  The knowledge that someday, things will permanently change and the enemies of God defeated gives reason to continue in the word of God!

I am a news junky!  My phone is set to receive RSS feeds from dozens of sites.  From news sites to prophecy sites to other sites of personal interest.  I read them insidiously.  Mostly just the headlines, but on occasion, the stories as well.  What is of particular interest are political and prophetical news articles that give me direction in meditating on what the LORD might be trying to accomplish and how it all lines up with the future.  Law fascinates me.  The whole battle over universal health care was deeply interesting, not because of what it would mean for my healthcare, but rather, the political battles and strategic mastery of both sides of the argument.  Supreme Court cases would fascinate me as I tried to comprehend the twisted logic of those with whom I disagree and rejoice with the ones whom I agreed.  The problem with news obsession is that seldom is there good news.  It is all designed to stir up agitation, interest, or even make news so as to sell the news reporting business.  Hardly is it good news.  Yet, all the bad news points to good news in the future.

With all the bad news lately, we need encouragement.  Our encouragement is not in our nation, our government, our company, or our community.  Our encouragement is in the return of the LORD Jesus Christ!  This will all end!  Eventually the LORD will return and all will be set right.  There is still redemptive work to be done.  There are still souls looking for reclamation.  There are still backslidden saints who need restoration more desperately than they realize.  This is the good news!  Let us cancel the bad news by meditating on the good news!

The Monster is Beaten

“Who [is] a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth [in] mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” (Mic 7:18-19 AV)

The best news a child of God can have is that eventually, sin will have no more dominion over him.  The only dominion sin has now is that which we yield to.  If we never gave in, we would never be dominated.  The truth of the matter is, we cannot subdue our iniquities.  We do not have within ourselves the ability to subdue these things.  These things can only be subdued by the power of God and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  If we could only realize that God has already given us the victory and yield to the leading of the Holy Spirit, we could begin to enjoy the blessings of heaven a little earlier.

Almost everyone has had friends that lead them down the wrong path.  Even if a little bit.  I had such friends.  When I was a teenager, it wasn’t so much the drugs, but immorality was the addiction of choice.  I had a friend who was obsessed with girls.  He had several girlfriends at one time.  He was always trying to hook me up with a friend of his friend.  I always turned him down.  Except for one time.  He needed me to double date with my father’s truck.  I can’t remember what we did, but I can remember the ride to this friend of a friend’s house.  My buddy and his friend sat on the couch and made out.  The expectation was that as my friend was doing with his girl, I was supposed to do with this blind date.  The LORD intervened and I got really sick.  Praise!  That ended that!  My nerves subdued that iniquity!

This is what the LORD wants to do for us.  If we will let Him.  By life or by death, God will subdue our iniquity.  He will conquer them for us.  If we desire such victory in this life, we must yield.  In the next, it is automatic, but we don’t realize the joy of victorious submission.  We have already won!  Why not enjoy victory as soon as we can?  NOW!!!!!

Christ is the Only Answer

“But in the last days it shall come to pass, [that] the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make [them] afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken [it].” (Mic 4:1-4 AV)

With the troubles of our nation and the world, we know the only solution is the glorious return of the LORD Jesus Christ.  Let us place the blame squarely where it belongs.  It is not one single group.  It is not one single culture.  It is not one single belief.  It is the fact that mankind has rejected salvation in Christ and His word as our guide.  It can work.  I have seen it first-hand.

When we served in an inner-city church located near a military base, the LORD gave us a thorough mixer of different cultures.  We have believers from the south, north, east and west.  We had saints from the Philippines, Guam, Porto Rico, Guatemala, Mexico, Japan, Germany, and may other places that escapes my mind.  But one thing that united us all was our common salvation in Christ and commitment to His word.  Each culture was free to honor their customs but when we attended and served in our local church, there was no superiority of culture.  Our common culture of Christ was what kept us unified.

In our above passage, the word of God speaks of Christ’s return.  He will reign in Jerusalem and the word of God will be our constitution.  When all are subjected to it, there will be no more war!  There will be no more terrorism.  An election will not solve it. Changing out a president and relying on our traditions to save us will not work.  As along as our common sinful nature is allowed to rule the day, there will always be turmoil.  So, Church, it is time to do what we have been called to do.  If we want to change our nation, let us focus our energy and attention more on reaching others with the gospel of Christ than on who might be elected.  Let us be moved with compassion on our nation that is at the brink of complete disintegration.  Let us preach repentance of sin and salvation in Christ.  It is our only hope!

Truth Without Dare

“Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end [is] it for you? the day of the LORD [is] darkness, and not light.” (Am 5:18 AV)

This passage confused me somewhat.  Who wouldn’t want the day of the LORD?  And if they were looking for it, why would it be a day of darkness for them?  I would assume that the nation that was heading down the wrong road for compromise would want to wish for the day of the LORD lest they be totally lost in their sin.  One would think once they were in captivity, they would want the day of the LORD and it would be a day of light rather than darkness.  Then, I tried to make a comparison to the church today.  I don’t know of a single professing believer who wouldn’t want the day of the LORD and to whom that day would be a day of light. 

It appears in the day of Amos, there were backsliding Jews (in fact, most of them were) who desired the day of the LORD for the purpose of proving it wrong.  It was, in fact, a dare.  They were happily going down the road of compromise, not seeing the coming captivity as a reality, and desired the day of the LORD to prove God wrong.  However, they made a fatal assumption.  The assumption was that if the day of the LORD would come, then they would suffer some, but the bulk of God’s wrath would be on the Gentiles with whom they compromised.  The attitude of, “Oh, ok, I guess you were right so we will now get right with God.”  Thus, turning the day of the LORD to a day of light for them.  The sad reality was, the day of the LORD for them was a day of judgment.  They didn’t get to have their cake and eat it, too.  They would suffer captivity.  They would suffer judgment.  The dare would backfire.

There is a difference in proving the LORD as challenged in Malachi chapter three and daring the LORD like Satan tempted Jesus to do in Matthew chapter four.  In the first case, proving the LORD is in humility.  In the second, it is presumption.  In the first, subjection to authority is active.  In the second, it is a challenge to authority.  So, how does this apply to our current age?  If all are looking for the day of the LORD, how does this apply?

Any time we dare the LORD to verify His word, we do the same.  If we know what the word of God says, yet we walk contrary to it, daring the LORD to do something about it, we are acting in the same spirit.  When we know what the word of God says a play out the clock thinking God will not honor His word, we mock just the same.  It may not be about the day of the LORD.  It may be about the assembling of ourselves together, separation, personal devotion, etc.  God’s word is absolute.  It may not come to pass in our time or our way, but it is still true none the same!

Can We Keep Silent?

“The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy?” (Am 3:8 AV)

This is the heart of the preacher!  If God said it, it must be declared!  If God published it, it must be spoken!  If we ever loose that heart, the gospel will cease.  If the preacher ever loses the integrity to declare the truth of God’s word, then no one will ever hear.  God has chosen the vessel of men to reach other men.  There is no other way.  Gabriel is not going to descend with a host of heaven to visit the souls of the lost in an attempt to win them to Christ.  In fact, Jesus Himself could only must a congregation of 500, yet a few months later, the disciples where blessed with a congregation of 3,000.  Jesus told us that when He ascended a greater than He would indwell us.  He told us that when he ascended, we would do greater works than He.  It is because of the great privilege of the prophet to declare God’s truth.

What is astounding is the habit of publishing bad news verses good news.  Gossip is hard to stop.  Yet all that needs to happen is a little hurdle, and the preaching of the gospel ceases.  We will go the extra mile to spread falsehoods and talebearing, but if we are the least bit tired, we stay home from soul winning.  We will risk envy, malice, and broken relationships to reveal hidden transgressions, but we are too afraid to hand the checkout clerk an invitation to church.

The LORD is asking a simple question.  He is stating an obvious truth.  When God speaks, who can but help to share it with others.  It would be the natural response by the child of God to repeat his Father’s words.  “My daddy told me this” is a common playground boast.  What has happened to us?  Why are we silent?  Are we not proud enough of our Father that we no longer boast of Him?  Do we ever need revival!

Weep For The Sheep

“Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where [is] their God?” (Joe 2:17 AV)

I don’t think we weep enough for the sheep under our care.  The priests of Israel and Judah were tasked with the office of intercession.  They were to stand in the gap between the people and God.  They were to offer sacrifice and prayers for the people of God.  In this passage, the prayer was specifically for revival that the people not go into captivity.  The priests were tasked with weeping.  Serious prayers offered for a people bent on rebellion.  A people who would rather walk contrary to the scriptures than with them.  I must make a confession.  Sometimes this is hard.

What helps is to muse on the consequences of apathy or rebellion.  There are consequences for choices.  As a man of God, we sometimes allow frustration to trump compassion.  We wish the sheep were more faithful.  We are frustrated when the ignore instruction.  We are discouraged when their priorities are of this world and not of the world to come.  We are short of patience when time and again, pleasure is more important that duty.  Sometimes it is easier to be more compassionate on the drug user than the semi-faithful.  It is difficult to be constantly stirred to compassion for the lukewarm.  Maybe this is what the LORD meant in Revelation three.

Nonetheless, the duty of the priest (and the man of God) is to intercede with tears of sorrow and concern.  Prayers after prayers for the people who seem to be the hardest to turn.  Rather than frustration, intercession is the better course of action.  It is our responsibility.  It is our duty.  It is our calling.  It is our life.

Back From Destruction

“O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me [is] thine help.” (Ho 13:9 AV)

What a verse!  This about sums it up!  The LORD had brought this nation from the bonds of slavery to Egypt.  He had brought them over the river Jordan.  He had set them up in their own land and gave them laws of holiness and righteousness.  He blessed them for their obedience so there was no other nation before or after them.  But they turned from the LORD and went their own way.  They rejected the God of Israel to follow the god of prosperity and compromise.  In so doing, the fell to the wrath of God and the abuse of the very nations to which they lusted after.  They destroyed themselves.

But God did not forget His covenant with them.  He restored them only to have them reject their Messiah.  They would not accept Jesus by faith.  They killed him on a cruel cross.  They rejected Him afresh after the resurrection.  Yet, God is a God of promise.  He made a promise to Abraham and Isaac.  A promise which He would not renege.  A covenant of love and promise that would span the ages of human history.  A promise to be their help.

I have read of some of the godliest people who have come from a life of utter destruction.  Whether before or after salvation, it matters not, when God met them in their deepest time of need.  The addict who was on skid row.  The adulterer; alone, penniless, and destitute.  The aids patient, dying in the bed because he used contaminated needles.  All at their end.  But in the desperation, they cried out for mercy.  They knew they had no other hope.  It was at that point that God raised them up.

We are often at the end of ourselves.  We make a mess of the life which the LORD graciously gave to us.  We have made a complete disaster out of what the LORD intended to be a blessing.  Yet, God is a God of mercy and grace.  All we have to do is to admit that we have made a mess, deserve the mess, but we have nowhere else to turn!  God is our help.  Even in situations, that to us, seems hopeless.

Shape Without Substance is Insufficient

“They return, [but] not to the most High: they are like a deceitful bow: their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue: this [shall be] their derision in the land of Egypt.” (Ho 7:16 AV)

Growing up, our family was poor.  Not destitute, but poor.  This forced us to be creative and opportunistic.  Many things we had were never brand new.  They were often someone else’s cast offs.  We would find ourselves on the tailgate of my father’s truck going through people’s garbage at the side of the street collecting newspaper and glass.  That was back in the day when recycling was a business rather than the law.  There were many a time when in the process of gathering our recyclables, there was a treasure or two to be had.  One such treasure was a re-curve bow.  My brother Christ found it at the side of the curb and brought it home.

This re-curve was in rough shape.  However, being the re-purposing and restoration armatures we were, Chris glued the frayed wood and painted it camouflage.  I believe it was a 45-pound draw weight bow.  When he went into the army, he bequeathed this bow to me and I treasured it.  I added a sight, an anchor knob, and even upgraded the arrow rest.  It was now my hunting bow.  As bows go, every time I shot the bow, it returned exactly to the form it was before I pulled it back.  It never reshaped itself.  Right back to the original shape it had always been.

But there was a problem with that bow.  It was an internal problem.  One that would not easily be seen by passing glance.  One would have to inspect the bow rather closely.  He would have to look very carefully at the wood grain.  He would have to inspect, sometimes with the aid of a magnifier, for any and all stress marks.  On the outside, it returned to its original form.  But it was a deceitful bow.  What it was on the outside was not what it was on the inside.  Like its previous owner, we came to a point that it was unsafe to shoot.  Even if it could retain its original form, it could never be used for the purpose for which it was created.  It had lost its internal integrity.

Revival is not merely outward.  It must go all the way to the core.  Returning to godly behavior while not returning to God Himself is insufficient.  It may be practically wise, but it is deceitful.  God wants all of us.  Not merely our actions, but our heart.  All of us.

The Wealth of Affliction

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.” (Ho 2:14-15 AV)

Sometimes, the blessings of affliction are greater than the security of prosperity.  The LORD will take Israel into the wilderness because of their disobedience.  They had compromised with the pagan nations around them and had surrendered the blessings of holiness for the temporal trappings of prosperity.  It is often difficult to have both.  Affliction should not be feared.  There are times for it.  Prosperity has its place.  But so, too, does affliction.  In our passage, the LORD says they will sing again, in their affliction, as they did in their infancy.  They will again discover their spiritual roots and blessings which come of it because the comfort and security of prosperity is removed.  Perfect health is great.  But when pain comes, the LORD seems more real.

One of the fascinating things about older folks is listening to the way they lived decades earlier.  The speak of the hardships of country living.  No refrigeration.  No air conditioning.  No TV, radio, or phone service.  One of my good friends who has passed away used to tell me of the time he and his siblings rode horses to school.  Another, how he used to walk five miles through crop fields.  There are the stories of storing meat without refrigeration.  Of canning, hog killings, and sharing beds with siblings.  There are the times they entertained themselves the simple way liking catching frogs at the river, playing in the creeks, or simply having a time with the family dog.  They were hard times.  But they speak of those days with a smile on their faces because the hard times were the good times.

We are brainwashed into thinking we deserve and should pursue with all our might the good and prosperous way.  One commercial after another entices us to a product that will make our lives all the richer.  We are told that our lives are not what they could be unless we had the finest of the finest.  If truth be told, sitting at the edge of a pond with nothing more than the Word of God is far richer than a cruise around the world!  Affliction is a good thing.  It can also be a wealth of riches yet discovered!

Go Your Way

“But go thou thy way till the end [be]: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.” (Da 12:13 AV)

Knowledge of the future does not suspend responsibilities of the present.  Daniel knew what the end would be like.  He knew what nations would do what.  He saw the coming of Christ as a certain and foregone conclusion.  Nothing was going to stop the dispensational march into eternity.  Daniel saw the promises to Israel fulfilled.  He saw the conclusion of all iniquity.  He knew how uncertain the times would seem to those going through it.  He saw the temporary rise of the Devil and his AntiChrist only to see them cast into eternal hell fire.  He saw it all.  He knew what the end would be.  But he still had to go his way.

The closer we get to the end times, the more we are tempted to coast.  The more the world rejects Jesus Christ, the more we tend to sit back and wait out the clock.  But there is still a way to go.  There is still a life to live.  There is still a responsibility to preach the gospel.  Noah is a great example.  The flood was a foregone conclusion.  Rejection of God was a certainty.  Why preach?  No one was going to listen!  Why declare what was obvious to him?  No one would heed the warning.  Why endure the heckling?  No amount of effort on his part was going to change one thing.  The ark was going to be built.  Only he and his family would make it.  All others would parish.  So, why did Noah and his sons preach the righteousness of God to a losing proposition?  Because it was their way to go!

I find in the body of Christ a general attitude of apathy.  We are looking at the numbers and are discouraged to the point of idleness.  We don’t care.  It isn’t like it was in the past with sinners coming to Christ in droves.  We are enduring persecution at every turn.  We are giving up on personal ministry getting lazy with programmed and dramatic ministry designed to entice people rather than lead people to Christ.  Now, those things are no longer working.  So, we are no longer going our way.  Our rest is certain and future.  Just like Daniels. But until that time, we have a way we need to be going.

Don't Stay In The Dark

“And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom [is] an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. Hitherto [is] the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.” (Da 7:27-28 AV)

One has to wonder why the vision Daniel received troubled him.  What was it about the future that was disconcerting?  The vision ends with Messiah coming and restoring Israel.  The vision ends with God’s people in complete victory.  What is it that bothered Daniel?  We notice that he kept it in his heart.  What he did see, he mused on.  What he did understand, he thought upon.  However, in his meditations, something he saw, or failed to see, bothered him.  We don’t know exactly what it was that bothered him, but we do know one thing.  Because he kept the matter in his heart without further expounding on the matter, he was disturbed by the lack of understanding which he possessed.  In other words, in a general sense, what bothered Daniel was not what he knew, but what he didn’t know.

It is natural to want to know as much as one can know.  No one likes to live in the dark.  No one likes to live in partial darkness.  We all want as much facts as we possibly can know.  Daniel was no exception.  The LORD honored his concerns by sending more visions.  Theses addition dreams looked at the same prophetical events but from a different perspective.  One vision might have been the identity of coming kingdoms while another might have revealed the nature of coming kingdoms.  Sometimes, like Daniel, we do not know why it is bothering us.  We just know it is.  There is some fact or missing piece that eludes our understanding.  We don’t need it all.  But we do need that portion which clicks with our minds.

When it came to the question and method of salvation, my one question was the ease in which it seemed salvation was.  Why was it so easy?  Why not a set of rules?  Why not a process by which we participate?  It just seemed so easy.  We have these questions from time to time.  Often, they are unique to us and our experience.  The key is to ponder what one knows but seek more enlightenment.  Don’t stay in the dark.  Seek more until the LORD tells you faith is the next step.  But never, ever, stay in the dark!

Not For Your Eyes Only

“But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for [any] wisdom that I have more than any living, but for [their] sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.” (Da 2:30 AV)

There is the idea the first phrase of this verse means that Daniel does not have this dream and interpretation because he is better or more knowledgeable that others.  The word ‘…but…’ and the phrase that follows has me confused. What I think Daniel is saying (because he is the one who will interpret) is that the knowledge of the dream and the interpretation of it is not for the mere pleasure of wisdom, but rather, for the purpose of sharing it with those who need to hear it.   In other words, the prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream.  If he has knowledge, he is obligated to share that knowledge.  If we know the scriptures, we are obligated to share the scriptures.  Even if we may not be the subject of the revelation, there are others who are and who need it.

Several times, while getting coffee at a café, the creamer in the carafe had gone bad.  You know it is bad by the slimy film that rests on the top and refused to dissolve in the hot liquid gold beneath it.  There is it is, swimming above coffee, daring you to drink the whole drink, only to find yourself marking every bathroom from there to your destination.  We could do several things.  We could inform the café help of the pending pitcher of poison.  We could stand there and warn every customer of their fate if they choose to use the product.  We could hand the contaminated cream to the help and wait for a fresh one.  Or, we could simply walk away, allowing others to come to the same enlightenment as we just experienced.

The moral and ethical thing to do is to inform any and all who might be effected by your knowledge.  It would be the moral thing to do.  The same is true with biblical truth.  Most specially, the gospel.  To keep knowledge to ourselves, specially the good news of the gospel is a wicked thing to do.

The End of an Argument

“And in controversy they shall stand in judgment; [and] they shall judge it according to my judgments: and they shall keep my laws and my statutes in all mine assemblies; and they shall hallow my sabbaths.” (Eze 44:24 AV)

I know the context.  The context is the re-establishment of the priests as judge in cases brought before a court.  A controversy.  When there will be dispute in matters of the law, they are bound to judge according to the law.  The judgments of God.  The truth which the Spirit feels is important this morning is the principle of absolutes settling controversies.  There are controversies that abound in the body of Christ.  Most controversies go unsettled because absolutes are ignored.  Or worse, they are assumed as non-existent.  My opinion is useless.  My opinion does not matter.  My feelings or what I think does not establish anything.  What my feelings, opinions, or desires are to be fashioned to are the judgments of God.  The law.  The absolutes.

Reason has surpassed faith.  Unbiblical reasoning has surpassed faith.  This is not to say that faith and reason cannot coexist.  They should.  They must. But reason has limits.  Reason is bound by the ability of the thinker to understand.  Reason needs facts and since there are more facts than we can possibly discover, it would be impossible to know everything.  There are facts that are impossible for mankind to understand because we do not have any comparable equal in which to compare it with.  Can anyone really understand eternity?  Can anyone really understand the Trinity?  With the un-understandable comes controversy.  There are things that must be accepted by faith.  Reason can only take us so far.

I am musing over some absolutes like Biblical authority.  Many state they believe in the absolute authority of the scriptures, but they cannot bring themselves to define what they are.  If they define what they are, they cannot bring themselves to define in what form they are or if they can be discovered today.  There is controversy.  Academics has muddied the water of common sense theology.  Man’s reason of natural influences and negated God’s divine power to overrule natural forces.  So, there is controversy.  What God says matters more than what we think!  Truth is the great answer to all controversy!  Truth!

God our Strength

“Thy God hath commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God, that which thou hast wrought for us.” (Ps 68:28 AV)

It is not God’s hand that builds only.  God hand is the power that maintains as well.  God is the one who does it all.  We have quickly forgotten this.  What I have found in the body of Christ is a common stress over the dwindling size of the church.  We look at the past as the glory years and reminisce over all that WE have done for the LORD.  So, as we see a dispensation fail, the stress is laid upon our shoulders to keep that which WE thing we have wrought.  The body of Christ, because it sees itself as shrinking, stresses over how to make it increase again.  The problem is, for a generation, we have had our eyes on ourselves.  It was our programs.  Our efforts.  Our aggressive evangelism.  Our compromise.   Our Wall Street methods.  Our strength.  What we have failed to realize it that God gives the increase and by the power of Christ, nothing shall prevail against the church.

I have seen many couples stress over having a child.  They go through all shorts of tests, treatments, medications, etc to conceive.  Sometimes, it works.  Many times it does not.  What is interesting is when a couple stops stressing over trying to have children, they often find themselves pregnant.  Once they surrender the responsibility of something they cannot control, allowing the Creator to control it, they find themselves new parents in often miraculous ways.

Maybe, instead of stressing to reach what we consider a successful church body, we faithfully discharged the duties given to us by Christ and leave the building of the church to the Creator.  Paul said that he and Apollos planted and watered.  God was the one who gave the increase.  Let us commit to sharing the gospel and discipling the saved allowing God to grow and strengthen us!

Pruning No More

“And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor [any] grieving thorn of all [that are] round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I [am] the Lord GOD.” (Eze 28:24 AV)

That’s exactly what the world is to us.  A prickling brier and grieving thorn!  God used the nations around Israel as a means to purify them.  They were not to associate with them to the point they began to be like them.  Israel was to affect their neighbors.  Not the other way around.  These nations became the influence over Israel. When they did, God used them as a means to try to get Israel back to where they needed to be.  They were the means of God’s correcting hand.

I know a bit about prickling briers and grieving thorns.  Having spent thousands of hours in the woods, chasing the elusive whitetail and wild turkey, running into briers and thorns was a regular occurrence.  There were thorn apple trees, briers, and a particularly nasty single stem tree with tiny thorn on is that send fire through the veins!  We used to hunt grouse in years gone by.  Unfortunately, grouse hide in the thickest part of the wilderness.  If you don’t use a dog, there will be a blood trail through the woods and it won’t be that of wounded animal!  These thorns have a purpose.  For the wildlife, it is protection.  For man, it is to guide us in the simplest, and pain free path from point a to point b.  It may not be the shortest.  It may not be the flattest.  But it will be the one least likely to cause pain.

There will come a time when we no longer need the reminder of the briers and thrones.  For me, I have learned to use patience and foresight while going through the woods.  This also makes one a better stalking hunter.  We notice more sign, listen more intently, and even notice movement of game that we otherwise would have missed.  However, the briers and thorns will have no use when the LORD changes us perfectly and wholly into the image of Christ.  No more school of hard knocks.  No more prickling briers.  No more bloodletting on the branches and vines.  No more!