Permanence of Promise

“And the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers.” (Jer 33:19-21 AV)

It would be interesting to see what covenant theologians like Mr. Anderson do with these verses.  The LORD is saying that as impossible as it would be for man to cease day and night, months and seasons, so too would the covenant He made with David be impossible to cease.  Man cannot break the covenant of time God made from eternity.  No more can man break an unconditional covenant God makes with men.  Sorry Covenant Theologian, but the covenants God made with Abraham, Isaac, and David cannot be canceled any more than you or anyone else can stop the earth from rotating.

Enough of theology.  Let us consider the more practical applications of God’s promises.  There are too may to consider.  The covenant of forgiveness says that if we confess our sin to the LORD, He forgives.  The covenant of eternal security states we are permanently saved and our relationship with our Father cannot be annulled.  There is a covenant of purpose.  That God has a purpose for our lives.  There is a covenant of God’s grace.  There is covenant of God’s presence.  There is a covenant of God’s provision.  There are many promises to God’s children and no matter what we do, we cannot cancel these promises because we are not the ones who made them!  God is the only one and He has promised not to.

How truly gracious our God is.  His mercy is everlasting.  His care is greater than we can comprehend.  His word is absolute.  His word is eternal.  His word cannot be destroyed nor corrupted.  When He says He will do, He will!  I have learned just recently just how faithful God is.  Even when we think we know what we are doing and the LORD has to rescue us from ourselves, God is faithful!  He is always near!  All we need to do is cry out to Him and He will be ever present!

Nothing Too Hard

“Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:” (Jer 32:17 AV)

What a wonderful verse!  I wish we could remember this when the times we live in are tough.  The context mattes little here in the sense this verse can be applied in limitless sets of circumstances.  This truth is universal.  There is nothing our God cannot do.

My grandson, Titus, was wearing an awesome t-shirt the other day.  It was a shirt his mother bought him for Father’s Day.  There was a horizontal line down the middle.  On the left the shirt read “your father”.  Underneath that phrase was a really thin silhouette of a man.  On the right-hand side was written “my father”.  Under that caption was the silhouette of a body builder.  It made me chuckle because there is a precious principle in that simple shirt.  Little Titus will always see his Dad as the biggest and strongest of all Dads.  For little Titus, Dad will always be his hero!  There isn’t another man on the planet that could even come close in comparison to his Dad!  In this simple shirt lies the principle of our heavenly Father.  There is no comparison.

No matter what our situation is, it is not as it is because God is powerless to do anything about it.  He is not.  No matter what we face, our God is always greater.  We may not have things turn they way we want them to.  But this is not because God is unable to turn them.  Yes, sometimes they are as they are because we have caused the situation ourselves.  Other times, they are what they are because God sees value in us learning through difficulties.  Yet another reason may be that God’s plan may require us to suffer a bit for His glory.  It is important to remember that no matter what the issue at hand might be, it is not as it is because God is too weak!  There is nothing my God cannot do!

One More Chance

“Therefore now amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; and the LORD will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you.” (Jer 26:13 AV)

This is an encouraging verse in light of what the LORD said in chapter fifteen and verse six.  The verse reads, “Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.” (Jer 15:6 AV) Whether it was the fained repenting of the nation or His own repenting of judgment, it seemed as though the LORD had had enough.  It seemed as though the last nail had been nailed in the coffin of Judah.  Yet, our text indicates the LORD was giving one more chance.  Amazing!

As a parent, there were times I really didn’t want to have to correct my child.  Mostly because I was weary.  Time and again, I would have to correct him and inflict minor corporal punishment.  After repeated attempts to change behavior, maybe I just gave up for a time and let it go.  Perhaps I got to the point that I realized that no matter how sorry he felt, he would simply turn around and do it again.  So, I succumbed to the temporary temptation to simply let it go.  This is not the case above.  It is one more, and perhaps final, attempt at mercy and grace.  Like counting to three before chastisement is inflicted, the LORD is giving one more warning.  Even when He is weary of repenting, He gives one more chance.  Like our children, we seldom take advantage of that grace and amend our ways.

God is very good to us.  Too good!  He is merciful and slow to anger.  He knows how frail we are and realizes our enemies are too much for us.  The world, the devil, and especially the flesh are all overwhelming.  The LORD looks on the heart.  He sees the desire we have to live right.  He knows our frame is weak.  He knows our old man is strong.  He takes compassion and mercy on us.  One more time.  If we amend our ways, He will refrain from final judgment.  Just one more time.

Eventually, We Will 'Get It'

“The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.” (Jer 23:20 AV)

One of the hardest things about being a grandparent is keeping up with the energy level of a disobedient three-year-old.  Especially when they are in circumstances that make correction difficult.  A public place or with extended family makes correction a bit of a challenge.  When Mom or Dad are not around and grandparent is tasked with correcting a disobedient toddler, patience begins to wear a bit thin.  But, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.  Consistent and just correction is successful.  That child will eventually ‘get it’.  He or she will understand that grandpa or grandma means what they say and after repeated correction, will heed warnings and commands.  They will get it.  Eventually.

Israel has a record of disobedience followed by the chastening of the LORD.  Reading the Old Testament makes one wonder why they never learned.  Why did they not remember the lessons of the Old Testament when Christ incarnate appeared as their Messiah?  How many times does God’s people need to learn things the hard way.  Since that opportunity almost 2,000 years ago was rejected, Israel has suffered tremendously for her stiff neck.  Even today, there are headlines celebrating abortion and gay marriage in Tel Aviv.  Won’t they ever learn.  This obstinance will result in the appearance of the Anti-Christ.  According to the verse above, there will come a tipping point wherein a remnant of Israel will finally ‘get it’.

The New Testament saint in not immune.  We have those besetting sins that we struggle with.  Sin has consequences.  These consequences are often harsh.  If you are attempting to live in victory over sin, you have asked yourself the same question. “Will I ever get it?”  Disobedience and failure are a frustration that every child of God faces.  Just read of Paul in Romans 7.  We pray, seeking God’s mercy, forgiveness, and grace in the face of repeated failures.  We weep because we think we will never have victory.  We are no immune.  We are just like Israel.  But be encouraged.  We will get it!  It may take time and harsh circumstances, but we will ‘get it’!  It’s a promise we can claim!

Free and Rejected Healthcare

“The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?” (Jer 8:20-22 AV)

The curse of the prophet is that he can see the true condition of himself and those whom he is attempting to reach.  In this particular passage, Jeremiah laments that from all that God had sent to heal the nation from their sin, in the end, it was rejected.  There is balm in Gilead.  There are physicians there.  It is just that the people of God do not want it.  They would rather be sick in their sin than to take God’s remedy to overcome it.   This results in the prophet being in astonishment.  He is depressed.  He knows that the day to reap fruits is gone.  There is no more planting for an eventual harvest.  Opportunity has ceased and the people have not changed.

Part of being a hospital chaplain was seeing the frequent flyers.  Those patients who came in to seek relief from symptoms while refusing the cure.  Specially when their disease would eventually be fatal, it was difficult to minister to these people.  Part of survival was to protect one’s emotions so that the health care provider not go down repeated down spirals of despair.  Just this morning I was reminded at how far the bride of Christ is to the holiness that could be her glory.  She has become too entertained, too impulsive towards her desires, too independent and separated from her bridegroom that her backsliding is as Judah compared to Israel.  We have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  Israel did not.  We have the complete word of God and more revelation than they ever did. Yet we are filthy.  This is the condition of the bride of Christ from the top down.  It isn’t just those in the pews.  It includes our leadership as well.

We assume that we are different.  Surely, we believe, the LORD would not require a severe time of cleaning for the body of Christ as He did Israel in her captivity.  But why not?  Why is it the body of Christ believes we are immune from the judgment of God for our falling away?  Why do we believe that persecution cannot come to us because we might be the raptured generation?  Perhaps.  Perhaps not.  Sometime has to break.  The body of Christ cannot continue as she is without the LORD doing something.  For His glory and for our good!

Lord of My Life?

“O generation, see ye the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, We are lords; we will come no more unto thee?” (Jer 2:31 AV)

It is a dangerous thing to exercise the ability of self-determination apart from the LORD.  Israel got to the point they rejected God’s authority as found in His word and became a law unto themselves.  They no longer followed the word of God.  Rather, they followed their own law.  The motive was perception.  They saw submission as a fruitless endeavor (wilderness) and a place of no hope or insight (darkness).  There is a conflict of priorities.  There is a collision of goals.  Israel’s goals were of this world.  God’s priorities are always spiritual.  When values, goals, and thinking does not match the LORD’s, we become lords of our own lives.  But it never was because the word of God was a wilderness or darkness.

There are two reasons we would reject the will of God when searching for an answer.  We either received an answer we didn’t like, or the timing was taking too long.  In both cases, the wisdom of the word of God would be a wilderness or darkness.  Impatience or rebellion will cause any of us to become lord of our own lives.  If you are a parent, you have probably had a time or two like this with your teenage child.  He asks your advice or permission, and either you deny permission or ask for time to think about it.  Neither of these options are good to him, so he goes off and does what he wants to do anyway.  These occasions are so numerous, I cannot think of one of the top of my head.

Teenagers are not the only age group prone to this attitude.  We all are.  Once we realize we have the ability of self-determination (to some extent), or inclination is to be lord of our own destiny.  We want to make choices for ourselves.  We want to determine for ourselves.  We don’t want authority.  We reject wisdom and experience.  There is a large misunderstanding here.  God may allow us to make independent choices, but He does not allow us to escape the consequences of those choices.  The questions above are profound ones.  The LORD is asking us if there was ever a time He refused to guide us.  If not, then why do we think we would do a better job of being our own lord?

Repentence Unto Surrender

“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities. But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.” (Isa 64:6-8 AV)

There is so much in these three verses.  When sharing the gospel with others, we are accustomed to using verse six.  Our goal is to attest to the truth that we are utterly fallen and wicked.  That there is no good in and of ourselves.  Even those things we do right are done for the wrong motive.  Very few are the righteous acts of a fallen soul that are pure in intent, motive, and outcome.  What we do not consider is the end result.  When a soul is willing to admit to the truth of verses six and seven, verse eight should be the result.  In a way, the transition from verse six to verse eight perfectly illustrates what repentance is.  It is not a work of the flesh.  It is a work of the heart and mind.  When the writer admits to the true condition of self, surrendering to God’s mercy, the result is total surrender to the hand of God to shape him into whatever the Creator wishes.  Repentance means surrender to truth in the heart and mind resulting in a surrender of the will.  What the Spirit has placed upon my heart is the application of verse eight.

There is a type of prayer often referred to as a prayer of desperation.  Often called a ‘foxhole prayer’, it is a desperate prayer for intercession or rescue from the LORD, vowing a change of life in the event of a rescue.  Sometimes, these prayers are a good thing.  Specially if the penitent is willing to admit his fault and forsake his shortcomings that caused the problem.  But often, foxhole prayers if answered, do not result in a change of life.  Once the situation ceases, the petitioner goes back to the same old life.  When true repentance comes, we are like a lump of clay.  We have no will of our own.  Whatever the LORD wishes, we are surrendered to His hand.

I remember a hard time of life just after my salvation experience.  I was still too much in the world.  On one particular night, an invitation to accompany co-workers to a bar after work was extended.  They promised they would not pressure me to drink.  They just wanted me to come.  I relented because they were the only friends I had.  A half a beer and anti-acid later, I thought I was going to die.  In severe pain on my bed I prayed a foxhole prayer.  I didn’t ask for the LORD to keep me alive nor take away the pain.  What I did pray is the LORD do whatever it took to mature me no matter how many temper tantrums I might throw.  Decades later and countless tantrums thrown, slowly the LORD has grown me up.  Not nearly as much as I could have changed.  For which I am ashamed.  The reminder that we are the clay and He is the potter is a reminder we need every day.  Repentance isn’t a one-time act.  It is a way of life.  A surrender, moment by moment if necessary, to the will of the Potter.

God's Grace Is Always Present

“I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.” (Isa 63:7 AV)

When we stop and think how our lives could be without the grace of God, we realize even though we know life could be better, it is far better than we deserve.  If there are any negatives, the majority are of our own making.  And that is also a grace from God.  The fact that He requires we learn from our mistakes and in the process, are conformed to the image if His Son, is in itself a mercy.  Israel did not, and will not have, and easy road.  They suffered much for their choices.  The vast majority of hardships were consequences of a lack of faith and direct disobedience.  Like the majority of us, we tend to learn the hard way.  Yet, when we consider the alternative, God has been very gracious.  His lovingkindness has exceeded what we can perceive.

My father had a way of pushing us to our limits.  Whether it was camping trips and Scouting activities, or work around the house, or that dreaded paper route in the snow belt; he had a way of allowing circumstances to measure our strength.  He punishments were also not that easy to bare.  Often severe, they were meant to teach a lesson that would save us from future hardships worse than the chastening we received.  At the time, it was difficult to see how these were motivated by love.  But they were.  At least that is the conclusion we come to.

If we cannot see the lovingkindness of the LORD nor His tender mercies, we are simply choosing to look at the wrong things.  God will restore Israel.  She will accept her Messiah.  She will not make the same mistake twice.  God will honor His unconditional covenants with His chosen people.  The mercies of God will reign again.  How much truer is that for the children of God?  How much more applicable is that for the bride of Christ?  The mercy available to Israel is also in force for the saints.  We just have to look for it.

NONE!

“To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?” (Isa 40:18 AV)

I was saved out of a religion that made much use of graven images.  Statues were more than a mere visual representation of what we thought the past was.  Statues of Christ and saints abounded.  However, they became a source of visual worship.  We knew they were wood and stone.  There wasn’t a person that actually believed these idols were a god themselves.  What they were was our perception of what Christ or God must be.  In this sense, those who use idols see no harm.  But there actually is.

Our human nature wants to understand.  There is no harm in this.  However, when we want to understand that which cannot be understood, there is.  Specially when it comes to the LORD.  There is no equivalent.  There is no comparison.  There is no representation that can come close to illustrating the reality of God.  In fact, the remainder of Isaiah chapter 40 the LORD speaks and uses His creation to compare Himself to something mankind can grasp.  If we could understand every single wonder of creation; from the depths of the earth to the uttermost atom of the cosmos; we could begin to understand our God.  Both conservative and contemporary Christians alike have made the same mistake.  Albeit, from two different directions.  The conservative has made God an academic object of study.  He has brought God down to his intellectual abilities.  God has become impersonal.  The contemporary has brought God down to the level of man’s lack of holiness.  God is just one of the boys.  He is all love and acceptance.  He is no law, order, and justice.  He is the laughing Christ.  He is the Santa Claus Father.  There is no academic study of God.  Contemporary Christianity has likened God to man.  Conservative Christianity has likened God to a book.

God cannot be likened to anything.  There are no adequate words to fully explain what and who He is.  In this sense, and only in this sense, can we truly worship the God who created and saved us.   He is a wonder to behold.  A God who controls all things.  A God who has no limits and a God who must be feared.  A God, who first and foremost, must be understood and un-understandable!  A God who is so far above our ability to know that He is unknowable is His fullest.  THAT IS THE WONDER OF OUR GOD!

Our Highway of Hope

“And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” (Isa 35:10 AV)

I am reminded from time to time how life does have its trials and challenges.  Every time I hear of someone’s loved one passing away, I am reminded that life has its times of sorrow and sighing.  Every time I hear of a child going astray resulting in the concern of a parent, I am reminded that life has sorrow and sighing.  Every time I hear of strife in the church, I am reminded that life has sorrow and sighing.  Every time I hear of some adverse diagnoses, I am reminded that life has its times of sorrow and sighing.  When news comes of a lay-off and financial problems are eminent, I am reminded that life has its sorrow and sighing.  Life has its problems.  A curse brought to us by Adam and our own choices.  Not all hardships are a direct result of sin.  Some are steps of faith.  But they all come as a consequence of our human condition.

But there will come a time when it will all be wiped away.  The highway of our LORD will be a highway where the redeemed return and leave it all behind.  We know this passage is a millennial one.  For those of us who are saved, we will already be glorified in heaven and these things will not be a concern anymore.  They will be wiped away.  For those believers who survive the tribulation and enter the millennial reign with Christ, they will come by way of the highway of the LORD.  As they travel closer to Jerusalem, all the troubles they endured will be over.  Gone will be the troubles of the last seven years.  Gone will be the old devil himself.  Gone will be the world that persecuted them.  One wonders if this should be a metaphor for the present life of a saint.

We are on a journey. If we have been washed in the blood of Christ, we are always one day closer to eternity.  Perhaps we should seek to have the same mindset as those who will walk the highway of our God.  Perhaps we should look forward and not down.  Perhaps our eyes should be on the prize rather than on the present.  Perhaps our minds should relinquish the past to the past and place our hope in our inevitable future.  There will come a time when our sorrows shall cease.  There will come a time when our sighing shall end.  This is guaranteed!

He Hears

“For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.” (Isa 30:19 AV)

We know this promise is for the millennial Hebrew.  We know that in this life, we will have tribulation and trials.  We will experience the chastening of the LORD.  These experiences will cause weeping.  We will have to say goodbye the dearest on earth to us.  We will suffer financial hardships, health issues, and persecutions along the way.  These may also cause weeping.  This weeping will not cease until glory crests the horizon.  What we can take solace in is the fact that God does hear us when we weep and He will answer us as we cry.

Perhaps the greatest of all traits my mother possessed that I will miss the most was her strength and nurturing ability.  She may not have been able to remove the circumstances of the pain, but she had a way of making the pain seem far less that it actually was.  I remember the pain of my first real break-up.  BTW, this is why I don’t condone dating as the world promotes it.  Too many damaged lives come from playing with the emotions.  Anyway, when I got dumped, I was devastated.  It was more about being rejected than it was losing the person I thought I loved.  I had come over to see my family because I just needed to get away.  Without saying a word about it, my mother knew there was something terribly wrong.  She looked at me, read it in my eyes, and hugged me tight.  While the weeping and sobbing flooded my soul, she held me tight.  It seemed as though the stress ebbed from me to her.  It didn’t change the circumstances.  But her love considerably eased the pain I felt.

The answer may not be a resolution to the way we want it.  It may not be a complete healing.  It may not be the end of all persecution.  It may not be a promotion and raise.  Perhaps the trials of faith may continue.  God will definitely not remove His chastening hand if we refuse to repent no matter how much we cry out.  But what we can count on is for the LORD to hear us when we weep and answer by His presence.  God hears our weeping and crying.  He takes is seriously.  He may not resolve the situation to our liking, but He does hear and He does care.

Grow Up Time?

“Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.” (Isa 28:9 AV)

Those two questions are profound.  Those two questions are a challenge.  There are three types of saints in our churches.  There are the babes in Christ who need attention and are learning the basics of the Christian life.  There are those who have grown beyond the basics, don’t need as much emotional support, and who thrive in learning the deeper things of God.  Then there are those who never really grow beyond the emotional neediness of a young babe in Christ.  This question is for the first and last group!  Are we the type of person that has the desire to grow?

Thirty plus years of ministry has taught me the most difficult of all of God’s saints are the ones stuck in the ‘needy’ mode.  The high maintenance people who never really want to mature.  Those who are constantly asking for attention and never taking the time to learn so they might minister to other weaker brethren.  These are the saints that demand the most of your time and contribute least to the body of Christ.  God asks a question above.  God is looking for those who are weaned from the basics and excessive emotional dependence that He might teach them greater truths of life.

Years ago, I taught a Bible class of ninth and tenth graders.  I did this for several years.  There was one student in particular who asked a lot of questions.  At first, it was flattering.  But a few minutes into this, it dawned on me that she was raising her hand and asking questions a grade schooler would know. She wasn’t asking because she wanted to learn.  She was asking because she wanted the attention.  Furthermore, she was asking basic questions as a way of setting her own benchmark that I wouldn’t hold her to a reasonable standard.  If she could pass off that she was not all that intelligent, then maybe she wouldn’t have to work so hard.  This is the type of person to whom these questions are asked.  Are you the type of person that wants to grow?  Or, are you the person that wants to stay a babe and require attention?

Losing From Winning

“Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips: In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.” (Isa 17:10-11 AV)

I have seen those who love not God prosper in this life.  Materially speaking.  These two verses state that material blessing will be hindered for those who would reject God.  This is not a contradiction.  The above verse is more a principle than a hard and fast rule.  What is meant by that is at the end of it all, those who love not the LORD will suffer loss for it.  Maybe not crops or nice things.  But there is more to lose than a barn full of grain.  Peace of mind and heart can escape the soul of those who love themselves more than they love God.

There are cultures in our nation that value hard work and material gain as the highest of all virtues.  Providing the best of material things seems to be the highest of all callings.  If one works outside the home twice as many hours as another, somehow that seems like a virtuous thing.  Sweat equity is the highest measure of worth.  The problem is, there is more to life than providing material needs.  There are social and spiritual needs that are far more important.  Much to my sorrow, I have seen families suffer because of a virtue that was out of priority.  I have seen children fall away from the LORD because mom and dad didn’t make them their priority.  They may have been well fed and provided for, but the factory or farm became more important that church and family time.  Even into their later years, mom and dad left a large inheritance for their children.  But the spiritual cost was the souls of their grandkids.  Sin became an issue.  Broken families become the norm.  God will not bless what man forsakes.

The life we are building is not measured by the things we possess or the lack of want which we have established.  The measure of a man is not the size of callouses on his hands, but rather, the quality of his family.  Either the hands callous, or our kids do.  One or the other.  The choice is ours.

A Reminder We've Won

“Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” (Isa 14:15 AV)

Sometimes, we forget, or perhaps neglect to believe, the simplest of truths.  One of those truths is the enemies of the saint are defeated.  It may not be realized at this moment, but they are defeated.  These enemies are real.  The flesh, the world, and the Devil are all real.  All one has to do is to strive for the LORD and he will find out really quick there are enemies that do not want the believer to have even one victory.  They each have their power.  They each have their relentless attacks.  What is illuminating about this verse is the need to remind the Devil just what awaits him.  As though he couldn’t have guessed that going up against the LORD meant certain destruction.

Having been in the ministry for over thirty years, I have had my share of battles.  I cannot say for certain which ones were the devil himself as opposed to one of his minions, but what I can say is that spiritual battles are real.  The devil wants us to fail.  He knows he cannot win, so he wants to wreak as much havoc and destruction on the people of God and His reputation as he can.  Sometimes, those battles take us to the edge.  Such has been the case for me a few times.  Right to the edge.  We don’t think we can survive.  Not one more minute.  Then, the Spirit of God does battle with the forces of evil and eventually there is relief.  What would help is to remember that the devil will suffer an eternal torment beyond what we can even comprehend and the torture he has brought upon us will pale in comparison to what he will experience for the rest of eternity.

 I used to get picked on a lot in school.  It was relentless.  Partly because I was not a fighter.  Partly because of our family’s character.  But it was relentless.  One of the satisfactions afforded me is that I knew that what went around, came around.  With interest.  Those who would cause me harm eventually got caught without me ratting them out and they were gone.  Expelled or bullied by someone bigger.  God’s justice may not come when we wish, but when it does, it will come in force!

God is...We Trust

“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.” (Isa 12:2 AV)

There is a seeming contradiction here.  The act of trusting is future tense.  “I WLL trust…”  Yet, the act of saving is present tense.  “…God is…JEHOVAH is…he also is…” How we feel about our circumstances does not change the present condition of them.  The writer will trust and not be afraid because at the present, God is!

It can only work this way.  It cannot work the opposite.  It cannot work in the manner that we trust, then if we trust, God becomes our salvation.  Then it becomes our trust that establishes the attributes of God.  Rather, God is what He is and we trust because of that.  A picture comes to mind.  I hate heights.  Scared to death of them.  The fear of falling is the greatest reason I repented and ask Christ to save me.  Hell is a bottomless pit.  I couldn’t even imagine the sensation of falling for all of eternity.  Imagine one of those rope bridges spanning a deep canyon below.   You have to cross it. (I couldn’t do it.  Shoot me now!) That rope bridge is either going to hold your weight, or it isn’t.  As you watch others cross safely, you are finally convinced that it is safe.  You cross that bridge.  That bridge was just as strong before you crossed it as it was when you crossed.  Crossing the bridge didn’t make it any stronger.  The strength existed before the choice. 

So too is the salvation of God.  It waits for us to trust.  Christ died for our sins 2000 years ago.  The conditions of our salvation already existed.  He did not die afresh when we trusted.  Life’s challenges and trials are the same.  God knows the future.  We are in His hand.  Our problem has always been one of trust and faith.  God has not changed.  His power is infinite.  Faith and trust are hard.  No one has a right to make light of it.  We are terrified because we need to learn to trust.  Yet, God is there.  His arms are open to catch us if we simply take a leap of faith.  He has never changed.  So, we trust in the past and present, realizing the future in the process.

God Tries it All

“What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?” (Isa 5:4 AV)

God tries everything He can to change the errant direction of His people.  He tries everything He can do to reach the lost with the gospel of Christ.  Where we need encouragement is to realize and embrace the reality that even if we cannot see what the LORD is doing, He is doing.  God loves His creation too much to allow it to be wasted.  He loves the souls of mankind too much to see them drop off into eternity without a fight.  He loves His people too much to see them backslide away from His love without fighting for them. He will do everything He can do to encourage the souls of men to repentance and faith.  Everything.

There are times when we give up hope on others and ourselves.  Will things every change?  Can God do something with me or another?  Is that person, or me, beyond reclamation?  How many times does the LORD have to correct a soul before he or she will learn.  The unspoken prayer requests given at church prayer meeting are often errant loved ones who seem to be exhibiting no interest in the things of God.  Either they are lost, or they are backslidden and in serious sin.  We pray for these knowing that God can do anything.  But what we realize is the LORD will not force a choice on the souls of men.  The only hope we have is that God will try everything possible to encourage a right direction.  When it comes to our own walk, we struggle over stubborn sins.  We struggle over our own shortcomings.  We wonder if the LORD can do anything to change who and what we are.  We fail to remember the LORD has been changing us all along.  We also must realize one of my favorite promises in all of scripture.  “The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.” (Ps 138:8 AV)

God never quits.  We do.  God never abandons us.  We leave Him.  If there is little or no change, it is because we have chosen to reject the encouragement He has sent.  If there is no change, it was not because of a failure on God’s part.  When we are down on ourselves thinking that we might be beyond God’s ability to change us, remember, He can and will change us!  He will never stop trying.  For that soul whom we weep for, remember, God will do everything He can do to encourage that soul to seek Him.  He will not stop!  He loves that soul more than you or I ever could.  Even though we may not see it, His hand is trying everything!

God's Safe Space

“And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.” (Isa 4:6 AV)

There’s much ado about ‘safe spaces’ today.  People want a place to go where they can be accepted for who and what they are without fear of judgment or opinion.  A place where only those of like mind can assemble.  A place where there is no dissenting opinion.  A place where they are the most important person and all must conform to make them feel comfortable.  The only true safe space is in the presence of God.  Yet, it is not quite the same.

Life has problems.  Life has challenges.  Life brings with it contrariness that makes us uncomfortable, but at the same time, it matures us.  These dissenting opinion, and even yes, persecution is needful in the sense that it makes us stronger.  The safe space provided by God is His tabernacle.  It is any place wherein the Spirit of God meets with the souls of men.  In the Old Testament, it was the tabernacle and then the temple.  But in the New Testament, the tabernacle is the human heart, for that is where the Holy Spirit dwells with those who have repented and believed on Christ.  The tabernacle is the house of God wherein the LORD meets with His people.  What the tabernacle is not is a place of no change.  The tabernacle is not a safe space that is free from confrontation.  God’s safe space is not a place where we feel that no challenge will come our way and we can remain exactly like we are.  That is the contemporary idea of the house of God.  God’s safe space is where we meet with God.  He comforts as well as challenges.  He asks us to come apart from the world and the devil so that we can feel safe in the arms of God.  What God does not do is give us a place where no change takes place.  His safe space is not a perpetual state of immaturity.  His safe space is safe from the devil and world.  But the flesh needs tending to.  These safe spaces are a treasure.  A place where God is real and we are fed.  A place where the Holy Spirit of God speaks clearly and distinctly.  A place where the devil is not welcomed and the world is warned.  A place which only the people of God can enjoy.

At a time when the people of God are confronted more than ever by those who wish to destroy them, it amazes me how much we don’t flee to our safe space.  It amazes me how comfortable we have become in the devil’s world and seek not the protective and ever-growing place of the tabernacle of God.

Work That Vineyard

“My vineyard, which is mine, is before me: thou, O Solomon, must have a thousand, and those that keep the fruit thereof two hundred.” (So 8:12 AV)

The opinions on this verse are all over the place.  It is common to read the one speaking is Christ and the vineyard is the church.  However, Solomon is the type of Christ in this book.  It is clear that Solomon is not the one speaking here because the speaker addresses him.  So, the speaker must be the king’s newlywed wife.  The vineyard is a gift to his new wife.  The other vineyards are hired out to keepers for a return on his property.  But the Shunamite has her vineyard.  Exactly what that vineyard is to us can vary.  One thing is for sure, that vineyard was hers to work and hers to enjoy the fruits thereof.

There are many things God gives us as a token of His love which are ours and ours alone.  Our families.  Our life.  Our ministry.  These belong to us as a matter of stewardship and blessing.  God does not give a vineyard that needs tending and work without also giving the fruits that come with that labor.  This is important to remember.  A gift from God often comes with responsibility.  We think of gifts like a Christmas gift.  A toy given to the child by which he can be entertained.  The gifts of God are more like the gifts spouses give to one another.  A new mixer for a wife.  A new power tool for a husband.  These gifts are by grace through love.  To enjoy them, they have to be used.  Being used, it takes work.

The church, which is more akin to the vineyard, is a gift from God.  It is a place of delight and edification.  It is a place where God speaks to us, where we enjoy the company of those of like heart and mind, and a place of escape from the wickedness of the world.  But, to enjoy the fruits of a church, it takes time, resources, and labor.  It takes foresight, planning, and execution.  One cannot simply come to a field and expect delicious grapes to appear all on their own.  One must plant, tend to, and reap in order to enjoy.  Remember, however, it is your vineyard!  Yours. It is the vineyard God gave to You and no one else!  No, work it!