Better Than Before

“And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.” (Eze 36:11 AV)

Ezekiel chapter thirty-six is a great chapter!  It is a chapter of hope and restoration for the nation of Israel.  After they have learned from the unfortunate circumstances of rejection, the LORD reconciles them to Himself and restores them to a better situation than at the very beginnings.  The very beginnings were the start of the nation coming from the bondage of Egypt.  These beginnings were simple.  They came by way of some hard choices and experiences.  Yet, when they crossed the Red Sea, Moses wrote and taught a song for Mariam to sing to the people.  A song of great joy!  God had rescued them from incredibly oppressive circumstances and placed them in their own land.  There were some bumps along the way.  The LORD had to lead them by the way of faith.  They had to learn to trust and obey.  Then, Joshua led them into Canaan.  They learned what sanctification meant.  Again, there was great joy as long as they learned to trust the LORD and follow him.  A few harsh years interspersed among some good years and David shows up.  Through the leadership of David and Solomon, the nation experienced the greatest and most blessed of all years.  As good as all this was, the LORD promises Israel He will restore her to better years then at the very beginning.  These years cannot even compare to that which they enjoyed in the past.

The LORD was good to me and saved this wretched soul in the spring of 1982.  I can remember much of those early days.  They were bittersweet.  A young man of 18 who was raised in a faith tradition that taught everything else was a cult, when I trusted the LORD, it was a shock to those closest to me.  It was like I had gone off the deep end.  Working almost eighty hours in the food-service industry, going to church, and being around other believers was difficult.  It was a very lonely time.  Through all that, I learned the presence of God was more than sufficient.  He gave me peace and joy in my heart which is hard to explain.  He was the only relationship of any depth which I enjoyed.  It was in those early years of hardship and sweet fellowship I learned that God is a God beyond what I could ask or think.  He became my closest relationship and I wouldn’t trade those years for anything in the world.

Then life happened.  I got married, had three children, and studied for the ministry.  Over the years, the LORD has led me to several different ministries.  In those years, there were times I wasn’t as close to the LORD as I should or could have been.  At least not like I was at the beginning.  Even when I was close, it didn’t compare with the simplicity and intimacy which was there when this journey began.  It has changed.  It has matured.  In a lot of ways, it is better.  But in other ways, there is still something wanting.  Life has a way of cooling one’s relationship with the LORD.  We become busier.  We become committed to other things.  We learn, over time, to re-prioritize our relationship with the LORD and our practical walk with Him changes.  There is maturity in our prayer.  There is reasoning behind our discussions.  We pour out our hearts in more than mere emotion.  In the beginning, what did we really know?  We didn’t have the doctrine which we have now.  We didn’t have the experience of how the LORD works as we do now.  But we still miss the sweetness and simplicity which was at the beginning.  We miss the uncomplicated nature of our relationship with the LORD and the singularity of that relationship.

The LORD has promised He will make our relationship better than the beginning.  In eternity, we will have fellowship with one another.  We will see loved ones and rejoice with them of the goodness and mercy of Jesus Christ.  We will join our voices with the voices of the seraphim as we cry holy, holy, holy.  We will wonder at the majesty of our new home with the glory of the LORD Jesus Christ being the glory thereof.  The difference will be, the intimacy and simplicity we had with Christ at the beginning will be eternally greater than it was in the past.  When life gets complicated, we look back at the past and wish for simpler days.  We wish for the good times and forget there were other times, too.  We wax nostalgic as we consider the newness and freshness of salvation.  As wondrous as that was, what is coming cannot even be compared to it.  What is coming will be greater than what was.  This is a promise from the LORD.

No Savings Account

“When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby. But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby. Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.” (Eze 33:18-20 AV)

It is not hard to understand the principle above.  Albeit, a hard principle to accept and a hard principle to remember.  What the prophet is sharing with his congregation is if the righteous man does wrong, then all the righteousness he had done in the past does not absolve himself of the wrong which he just did.  However, if someone is living in sin, and gets right with God, then God’s grace will allow him to live.  This principle is oversimplified and one can make an argument to dispute this principle, but the principle still stands.  We will not take the time to explain the finer points of this principle because that is not the intended purpose of the message above.  The intended purpose is the assumed grace one feels he has because he has generally lived in the righteousness of the word.  He assumes that if he does enough good, then the LORD will turn a blind eye to the bad.  We have this false belief we can bank goodness so the LORD will give us a pass on that which is evil.  This is simply not the case.

There is an inherent flaw in our grading system.  At least as some teachers apply it.  Students know how to use the rules to their advantage.  Whatever assignments carry the collective weight of their grade, they will apply themselves to do their best.  When I taught Bible, I weighted grading heavier on homework, reading, and class projects than I did exams.  Exams really are not a good teaching tool in the sense of long term benefit.  The student can apply himself to studying for exams and then completely forget the subject matter shortly after the exam is taken.  Rather, I wanted them to read their material and do their homework.  If they worked through their material, they were far more likely to retain what they worked through rather than what they memorized.  However, there are unintended consequences which I had to correct.  One of them is, the student did not study too hard for tests because they applied themselves to homework and reading.  They banked all that hard work accomplished week in and week out so when exam time came, they could study other courses and cruise through Bible class exams.  All the good they did throughout the semester gave them a bit of room to relax the standard of academic excellence when exam time rolled around.

This is how we feel sometimes.  We feel we are entitled to a few missteps because we have faithfully walked with God in many other areas.  It is like we are banking righteousness.  If we do the right thing the majority of the time, then the LORD must look beyond the times when I failed Him.  Not so.  If one thinks about it, who would determine the value of those acts of righteousness and wickedness?  Exactly how are they weighted?  Who would keep score?  Now, the LORD does consider our faithfulness when exercising grace.  But He is not required to do so.  This is the misunderstanding of the people of God.  They didn’t understand grace.  They assumed grace was something someone earned.  If I bank some righteousness, then the LORD, by nature, will show grace.  When He shows grace to the wicked and not to me, that seems unfair.  There are a whole lot of more subtle details here to consider which we do not have the space to do, but suffice it to say, just because God shows grace to the wicked when the wicked repent does not mean they live a life free of consequences for their wickedness.  The point we are considering this morning is the erroneous thought of banking righteousness for the hope of future grace when we fail.  God is not obligated to show grace and will deal with sin.  He is fair whether we like it or not.

Shared Failure Means Opportunity

“In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.” (Eze 29:21 AV)

The context here is the judgment of Egypt by the Babylonians.  This occurs just before and after Judah is taken to Babylon.  Because God judges Egypt, somehow this elevates the influence of Israel.  This is the meaning of the horn.  A horn is a symbol of authority and influence.  Egypt was used to judge Israel more than once.  Towards to fall of Judah to Babylon, Egypt had caused problems for God’s people.  They did not target Judah, necessarily.  However, when Judah got in the way of their ambitions, they did wreak a bit of havoc.  Now that Babylon has invaded Judah and Egypt, the enemies of Judah have been humbled, and Israel once again becomes a nation of influence.  What we need to consider this morning is the open door of utterance now given Judah because their enemies are humbled.  What precedes this opening is of equal or more importance.  That is, Judah is humbled for their sin first.  It is the willingness to be humbled that opens the door of utterance.

Let’s face it.  Sometimes our failures impact how well we can help others.  However, when others fail along with you, then the impact of that failure is erased and the ability to help is opened up again.  Sports has a way of teaching us this principle.  I didn’t play a whole lot of sports when I was younger.  One of the sports I did play, recreationally, was volleyball.  I was OK.  Not the worst.  But not the best either.  At my last church, we had enough people to have a volleyball night.  Once a month, we would get together and play volleyball in the gym.  When it comes to sports, there is always that annoying person who is not as good as he thinks he is but feels he can coach everyone else.  He cannot set or spike, but he knows what I might be doing wrong in receiving a serve.  Invariably, this know-it-all will get a ball in the face.  He will miss receiving a serve.  He will try to set up for a spike and send it out of bounds.  Or he will get a ball in the face when he jumps up to spike it.  He does these things enough, he will be humbled with the rest of us.  When he is, he becomes silent.  After a few games, his words change to words of encouragement.  It took humility for his words to mean anything.

We should not feel as though our failures have forever removed all opportunities to help others who need our help.  Humility is a good thing.  We can make choices that temporarily close the mouth of exhortation.  We can do something that those around us use as a means to ignore the truth which we represent.  They can point fingers and wonder why someone who would name the name of Christ would do such a thing.  The devil will try to convince us that all other doors of opportunity have been lost and there is no future for us in serving the LORD.  But this is not true.  As Israel and Judah will blossom into influence even after the LORD judged them for their idolatry, the believer can be placed in a place of service when the LORD restores him or her.  There is a second chance.  The missing link is the humbling of those who have humbled us.  Only God can and will do this.  However, when we see the humility of the enemy, it is not time to rejoice.  It is time to welcome them into the fellowship of sinners and share with them the grace of God.  Sometimes, this is a far stronger message to preach.  If I share the need of a Savior to those who are lost in their sin, it is far easier if I include myself in that number.  The message has far more credibility.  So, be encouraged.  Your failures have not shut every door.  They have opened others.  Be ready.  Those who will join you on the heap of failure and humility may just join you with a ready ear.

Passed On, Not Passed Over

"For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.” (Pr 4:3-4 AV)

It is interesting how children think the rules or principles which their father instructs are exclusive to him.  To the child’s defense, he probably cannot think big picture enough to think the truths he is being taught are absolute and the source is beyond his father.  Here, Solomon is affirming the truths he is sharing with his children, not because he has come to these truths by his own wisdom, rather, they have been passed down from one generation to the next because the nature of truth is that it is timeless.  His father, David, taught him.  David’s father, Jesse, taught him.  And downward the progression goes.  When the child of Solomon grows into his own family, that child will teach his children also.  This may not occur to us when we are children, but having children of our own has a way of revealing the reality of the truth above.  Truth is timeless.  Truth is absolute regardless of our existence to discover it.  Truth is eternal because God is truth.  He has passed it down to man and He uses man to pass it on to other men.

There are skills that my father taught me.  Then, there are truths which my father taught me.  For example, he taught me a lot from camping and scouting.  He taught me how to identify different types of fir and pine trees.  He taught me how to cook outdoors with minimal cleanup.  He taught me how to survive in extremely cold conditions.  He taught me different knots and their uses.  Most of which I employ today.  He taught me first aid and triage.  These are all skills that can be adapted and even modified to the abilities of the one using them.  There is no absolute right and wrong was of applying the details of these skills.  But, then there were the truths which my father taught me.  Truths like stewardship of the world around you.  Always leave a campsite better than you found it.  Respect wildlife.  This has served me very well as I took up hunting a few years later.  Ethics on the field drove every one of my harvests, save two.  The harvests were legal, and even permissible, but in hindsight, I probably shouldn’t have harvested the animal.  There were two other occasions when I harvested a seriously wounded animal for mercy’s sake.  My father taught me to fear God.  One thing I took very seriously.  He taught me Sundays was church day no matter what.  The only out was if we were physically sick.  He taught me that if I wanted to buy something, I had to earn it myself.  He taught me there was no shame is working multiple jobs to make ends meet and the type of job you worked said less about you than the willingness to work.

The point is this.  Truth never changes.  It did not come into being by the preferences of an authority figure.  They always existed.  This holds true from spiritual truth from God’s word.  The preacher, if he is walking with God, should share truth of God’s word because it is God’s word.  He believes in those truths.  But those truths did not originate with him.  Many ears are offended at the truths from the pulpit and assume those truths are only valid as the preacher’s personal belief in them.  This is not true.  He studies.  He reads.  He consults.  Most of all, he listens to the leading and teaching of the Holy Spirit.  He is charged with the responsibility of sharing those truths to those whom God has given.  His hope is what he has learned by the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the writings of godly men will be learned, internalized, and passed on to others.  Paul said as such when he wrote, “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” (2Ti 2:2 AV)  It is silly to fight what we are being taught just because we might think they originated with the teacher.  Yes, we have the responsibility and privilege to examine everything.  We have that duty.  But not with the attitude all should be rejected just because we think someone invented a truth for the purpose of manipulation.  Test the veracity of the truth.  Absolutely.  Let us leave the testing to the authority of the word of God and accept what we are being taught as it aligns with His word.  Then, pass it on!

Sudden Fear Is Not to be Feared

“Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.” (Pr 3:25-26 AV)

This sudden fear is a very specific type of fear.  Sudden fear is only sudden fear if the one who is in fear doesn’t suffer directly from the source of sudden fear.  If we do suffer from the source of fear, then our response kicks in and we are no longer under fear.  What makes the fear above even more specific is the fear that comes is the result of the desolation of the wicked.  In other words, Solomon is encouraging his children, one of whom will be a king, that you shouldn’t fear when you see the sudden fall of a neighboring enemy because God is your confidence.  To explain it further, we can have a fear of driving when the road conditions are not safe.  This fear is an abiding fear.  This fear causes us to adjust to that fear so the source of that fear does not become a reality.  A sudden fear would be if we become a participant in an accident.  We are suddenly afraid for a very brief moment.  When the consequences of the accident become a greater influence, then fear abates.  In essence, what the writer is trying to tell his children is that just because bad things suddenly happen to bad people, it doesn’t mean those bad things will happen to you.

If we are not careful, fear can run our lives.  Our culture thrives on and profits from, fear.  All one has to do is listen to the news and we would hide in our basements until we pass.  We cannot live in a constant state of fear.  I learned this (at least somewhat) when I lived in tornado alley.  Tornadoes were common.  In the nine years, I lived there, we had a number of tornadoes come within five miles of my home.  On two occasions, tornadoes passed within a mile.  One of those two probably came within a half-mile.  For the first few years, the threat of a tornado terrified me.  You talk about a sudden fear.  That is the very definition of sudden fear.  But then I realized something.  Statistically speaking, the chance of personal injury or death from a tornado is imperceptibly small.  That is, compared to the entire population who lives in tornado ally.  That is not to minimize the tragedy of those who have lost material things or life, but statistically speaking, it is very small.  This changed my entire attitude.  I still had my ears glued to my NOAA radio.  I had a clear warning of a pending storm.  But in the last few years, I found myself going outdoors and looking in the general direction of the tornado to catch a glimpse of it.  If it got too close, we had plenty of basement in which to hide.  There was little to fear.  Precautions should be taken.  Absolutely.  It would be foolish not to exercise as many safety measures in the midst of a tornado warning.  I had snacks, an alternate power source, a flashlight, my phone, and my computer.  All in case I was trapped and could not emerge from a basement.  But no fear of sudden fear.

When I think of what faces us today, we need to be safe.  We need to be as safe as we can while still living our lives.  This constant barrage of fear makes us dependent on ourselves to overcome that fear.  Rather, we need to trust the LORD.  Bad things happen.  One should prepare as best as he can for the eventuality of bad things happening.  But we cannot recede into our shells because we think bad things might happen.  This only opens the door for those who will take advantage of our fear.  And that is exactly what is happening in our world today.  God is bigger than all this.  He is bigger than a disease.  He is bigger than social unrest.  He is bigger than death itself.  I, for one, am asking the LORD to help me not to live as a victim of fear.  I will take steps that are prudent to minimize risk.  I will take precautions so the actions of others are of less consequence to me.  But all the wisdom in the word of God does not guarantee bad things won’t happen.  It reduces the likelihood of it, sure.  But it doesn’t guarantee bad things cannot happen.  They most assuredly will.  All we can do is minimize the risk and trust the LORD with the rest.  That is life!  Like it or not!  Don’t live as a victim of sudden fear.  Trust the LORD with the things you cannot control.  He will only allow that which is part of His design to affect you.  Then He will guide you through it by life or by death.  But you are always in His hand!  Never fear!

Back To The Beginning

“Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? I will judge thee in the place where thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity.” (Eze 21:30 AV)

Abraham came out of the land of Ur.  This city is located in the northern territory of Chaldea.  It is the largest city of Shinar wherein the palace of Babylon stood.  Worship of the moon-god Sin was begun in this area and gives rise to the crescent moon on many state flags of the region.  Today, this area is modern-day Iraq.  It was from this place God called Abraham.  It was from Ur that God separated out a family and begun the nation of Israel.  This was truly their land of nativity.  It would also be the place wherein God removed Israel after centuries of idol worship.  They would go through the hardships of four-hundred plus years of slavery to a pagan nation, learning to worship their gods.  The LORD would bring them out only to see them turn to a golden calf.  Giving them Palestine through the leadership of Joshua, again the people would turn to the idols of their neighbors.  When Solomon arrived on the throne, this nation would again return to the gods of those around them.  Since the time of their nativity, these people have never learned to walk straight.  So, the LORD returns them to the land of their nativity.  Right back where it all started.  They can learn to walk right from the last time they veered.

There was an exercise we conducted with our children.  When they began to walk, we trained them to walk by keeping their eyes on the goal.  The end point.  Usually, it was either mom or dad.  What we added was a favorite toy.  Not in the hands of the receiving parent, but as an alternate choice.  They had to keep their eyes on the receiving hands so they would not veer off course for something we did not want them to attain.  Of course, when they started out, they always veered towards the object of an alternative choice.  This would cause them to tip to that side and fall.  Standing them upright, I always returned them to the point the veered off.  Never did I stand them upright where they fell.  The reason being, they would have been closer to the forbidden object.  By taking them back to the point of veering from the straight line, this reinforced the principle that you go back to the time a wrong decision was made, and make the right one.  By not going back to the time when my child made a wrong choice, he is not forced to confront that wrong choice and make a different one.  It was frustrating for the child.  To be sure!  The more we did this exercise, the angrier he seemed to be getting.  Until he settled into the reality wherein he could not have the forbidden object until he came to his mom, he would only get more and more frustrated.  Once he yielded to the demand, then he understood the best way to get where he truly wanted to go was to first go where he was supposed to go.

The LORD asks us to walk a path of righteousness and faith.  We often fail at it.  We fall flat on our faces.  We choose to panic under adverse circumstances.  Or, we choose to indulge in forbidden fruit.  Either way, at that point in our growth, we become stagnant.  We can go no further.  We can not learn new skills.  We cannot learn to trust in greater things.  We cannot gain victory over deeper rooted sin.  We cannot learn to walk until that point which caused us to veer off is addressed and overcome.  This is a pattern with the LORD.  Jonah is a classic example.  He was regurgitated on the banks of the river.  God told him a second time to go into the city of Nineveh and preach the gospel.  Jonah did not need to be retold because he had forgotten what God called him to do.  He was told the second time to go into Nineveh and the shores of the river because it was at the water’s edge he rejected the call, to begin with.  He had a choice.  Either go into Nineveh or seek another boat and try it all over again.  The place which the LORD may return us to may not be the exact place where we made the error.  The set of circumstances may be a different set of circumstances.  But the principles we are to learn do not change.  It amazes me some times how slow of a learner I am.  When asking the LORD why something may be happening, I am ashamed to admit the set of circumstances is addressing the elephant in the room.  I haven’t learned a lesson I should have already applied.  Back to Ur, I go.  Back to Ur you go.  Time to learn the lesson so we can get beyond the land of our nativity.

Pour It On

“Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.” (Pr 1:23 AV)

Reproof is one of the easiest forms of correction which the LORD sends our way.  Reproof is simply telling another they are wrong.  Reproving is revealing why they are wrong and exhortation is how they might be encouraged to be right.  Reproof can be very subtle and gentle.  It doesn’t have to be a 2x4 up the backside.  Reproof can be as simple as a compassionate reminder that another is in error with the spirit of helping correct that error.  However, this morning we do not wish to dwell so much on turning at reproof as we do the blessings that come from it.  Often, we focus on the negative without expressing the positive, and in doing so, we incite rebellion in the heart.  God told Adam and Eve they could eat of every tree before He told them they were forbidden from only one.  The positive came before the negative.  So, the promise above is for the outpouring of the spirit and knowledge of the word.  Of these two, there is no comparison.

There are very few things that I was exposed to as a child in which I grew up to do well.  We had many experiences.  Through scouting, we learned an abundance of outdoor skills as well as life skills.  Leadership skills were something that I treasure to this day.  Those few things which did stick with me I worked at and repeatedly practiced until they stuck.  Those things which did last decades were those things that came at the influence of a mentor which I was willing to listen to and follow.  In other words, it took correction, discipline, and repetition for the privilege to enjoy the fruits of the effort.  It is the enjoyment which we need to heed to this morning.

One of the wisest things my father did, among many, we require we learn music.  He taught us music appreciation by exposing us to a wide variety of musical styles.  Now, as believers, we know there is such a thing as good music and bad music.  So, I am not suggesting as a Christian parent we should expose our children to every genre out there.  However, being exposed to different genres helped me to discern what good and bad music are.  My father also required us to learn to play.  We were required to start out on the piano and hack away at it for an entire year.  After that, we could choose the instrument of our own choosing.  Most of us picked up the guitar.  I had a sister who chose the flute.  Another who choose the clarinet.  A brother chose the bass guitar.  Still another, the banjo.  BTW, banjo players get a whole lot of harassment.  But I think it is envy.  A good banjo player is an amazingly talented person.  Let me continue.  Over the years, I could only go so far with the guitar.  When playing progressed to the ‘B’ family of chords and bar chords, that is where I stopped learning.  Because of a broken wrist, I did not have the mobility to make those chords.  However, this is nothing a capo can’t fix.  Years later; almost thirty-five years later; I found myself with the opportunity to play some gospel bluegrass with friends of mine.  I hadn’t touched a guitar in thirty-five years.  But the muscle memory was still there.  I remembered all those chords.  Then, the mandolin player gave me his instrument to try out.  He showed me a few chords.  Simple.  That led to purchasing a mando and off to the races I went.  I won’t be headlining anywhere soon, and I need lessons terribly, but the scale structure was much easier than the guitar.  Picking is really fun.

Here’s the point.  We fail in treasuring the blessedness of the fullness of the spirit and knowledge of His word.  These are things that are more valuable than any other experience we could possess in this world.  The pleasure to sit in the quietness of the morning with a hot cup of coffee, reading His word, and listening to the Holy Spirit is something that should be treasured, valued, and sought.  Life can be completely in turmoil.  But if I have my Bible and a bit of quiet time, life is more than bearable.  To have that still small voice which beckons me to draw closer is a far better treasure than any relationship this world can offer.  To be led in our decisions, actions, and our world around us; to see how the Spirit is moving even in the subtlest of all ways; to read the same passage of scripture hundreds of times and still get fed from it is a nothing short of a miracle.  Reproof is one thing.  It is not necessarily a fun thing.  My father constantly correcting me when I didn’t form chords correctly, was not a fun thing.  Sorry, Dad, but I still form ‘F’ incorrectly and the ‘G’ family of chords I cheat to make the seventh a whole lot easier 😉.  But, it was worth it to be able to pick up a mandolin and within four months able to pick and play!  What joy to have an outpouring of the spirit and understanding of His word.  It makes reproof a welcomed thing.