Encouraging Words in a Discouraging TIme

“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” (Jude 1:20-21 AV)

Jude utters these words to the end-time saints.  Those who are overwhelmed by false teachers and prophets.  Those who are discouraged by apathy and carnality among God’s people.  Those who have seen better days.  Those who have witnessed a moving of the Holy Spirit and have witnessed the holiness which is the result.  This is the audience of this letter.  He encourages them not to give up the faith.  He instructs them to stay in the love of God and encourage one another as the day of the LORD’s appearing draws near.  Because he uses the phrase “building up yourselves”, he suggests that survival isn’t the only goal here.  Rather, growth is.  Even in discouraging times, it is possible to increase as a believer.  There are three actions they must take.  First, prayer is of the utmost importance.  Prayer goes a long way in overcoming challenges to our faith.  Second, they must always remember that God loves them and, because He does, they are to live in that love by returning that love upon God.  Third, to remain encouraged means we look for the mercy of God until eternal life is our dwelling place.  That mercy is forgiveness of sin.  But that mercy is also seeing the grace of God in the midst of trials and troubles.  Jude has a heart for those who must go through the deep waters prior to eternal graduation.  In some way, regardless of the current dispensational time-line, this is all of us.

I watched a comedian last night who had a bit on being unintelligent and depressed as a symptom of addiction to news.  I think he might be on to something.  Never before has mankind been so discontented.  Never before has there been a general loss of hope.  This is not unique to the lost world.  It is a disease that has encroached the body of Christ.  More and more, we see discouragement, depression, and even suicide.  The numbers are staggering.  At one time, I served in a church whose county had the highest suicide rate per capita of any in the nation and also the highest prescription use of antidepressants.  This was a county in the heart of the Bible belt.  This was a county where the vast majority of citizens claimed a personal relationship with God.  How is that possible?  How can people who know the LORD and who know their Bibles walk in discouragement?  Jude thinks it is possible.  He thinks it's even probable.  The closer we get to the LORD’s return, things will get better.  Not worse.  Many thought that our last national election would turn our nation around.  What we found out is that we are too far gone for one person to completely erase a century of secularism and liberalism.  It will take more than that.  It will take the return of Christ.  So, the elation many felt a bit over a year ago has turned from cautious optimism to unfortunate reality.  The forces of darkness march on.  Our current situation is a mere hiccup.  Can we be encouraged?

Jude certainly thinks so.  He gives us the formula for surviving and thriving amid a world that is ever-increasingly rebelling against the LORD.  He tells us to encourage one another by building each other up in the faith.  He then tells us to pray.  A lot.  Thirdly, we are not to forget that God loves us and because He does, we must live to please Him in that love.  Lastly, never stop looking heavenward!  Jesus is coming back.  Because no man knows the day nor the hour, His return is always imminent!  Those of the mindset that the coming of the LORD is centuries away are fools.  His return is just as likely today as it is one hundred years from now.  Because not even the Son knows the day or hour, but only the Father, it could be now!  So, we can look at the heavens, from whence cometh our help.  He is coming back.  Don’t just survive – thrive!

He Hears

“In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me.” (Ps 120:1 AV)

Just being heard is sometimes enough.  What is missing from this psalm is how God answered.  Or if He answered at all.  What follows the words above are the specifics of what the writer is seeking.  He is seeking relief from his persecutors.  There is no mention of what the LORD had done.  We don’t know who the writer is nor the circumstances of which he speaks.  All we know is the state of his heart and the comfort he received in simply knowing God heard him.  As stated before, sometimes that is all we need.  Sometimes all we need is to pour our hearts out to the LORD.  Sometimes, all we need to do is process the emotions bottled up from events too overwhelming to handle perfectly.  Sometimes, all we need is to know our God hears and cares.  What He chooses to do in response to our prayer doesn’t matter as much as knowing He hears.  That way, whatever He chooses to do or not to do is received and welcomed.  Even if the cause of distress is not immediately resolved, we are ok; because He hears.

One of the skills of a good hospital chaplain is learning how to listen.  There is little, if anything, I could do regarding a patient’s physical challenges.  I could not adjust medication, schedule rehab, or diagnose disease.  What I could do is to lend an ear.  Most of my visits were just that.  Pulling up a chair and holding a hand as they verbalized their struggle was about all I could do.  Offering a bit of scripture helped.  So did prayer.  But honestly, the biggest help to someone in distress is to be a sounding board for their troubles.  Over the few years I served as a chaplain, the LORD allowed me to see a few hundred patients.  There are a few I remember.  Each one taught me something different.  As the Holy Spirit led me to minister to unique needs, He taught me the best way to treat people as individuals and do the best I could do to help them.  My greatest fear was getting a call from someone who had passed unexpectedly or by tragedy.  One evening, late in the night, that call came.  A patient had been attacked and beaten.  He died while in the emergency room.  He was a young man in the wrong neighborhood at the wrong time of night and lost his life because of it.  I expected to find a family so distraught that there would be no comfort to be found.  At that moment, I learned a listening ear is often more help than a speaking tongue.  This family simply needed to process their shock and emotional distress.  No words were going to bring their loved one back.  No hatred was going to make it right.  An ear is what they needed.

We may not know how God will answer.  We may not even know if He will.  But knowing that He loves us with and everlasting love, that He has a purpose for all things, and that He will guide us to our heavenly home is sufficient.  Knowing that He hears might be all that we need.  It certainly was for our psalmist.  Even the LORD Jesus Christ starts out His prayer for Lazarus stating that the Father always hears Him.  I think that might be where faith starts.  We must believe that He is.  But we also must believe that He will reward those who diligently seek Him.  Maybe not with the answer we had hoped.  Maybe not with an answer at all.  Rather, He rewards us with the comfort in knowing that He always hears.  That is enough.  That is comforting.  That is assurance.  That is hope.  That is the greatest need of our hearts.  He hears us.

Keeping From Evil

“And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed [be] the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife.” (1Sa 25:39 AV)

Nabal was a very wealthy rancher who was shearing his sheep in the fields.  The custom was to visit the flocks and shear them while they pastured.  This left the flock and the workers vulnerable to predators, both wild and tame.  Thieves could take advantage and attack.  They could kill all the laborers and steal the flock.  Or, wild animals could take advantage of the helpless nature of a recently sheared sheep and enjoy a meal of lamb chops.  Nabal would be a responsible businessman if he set sentries to guard the laborers and the flocks.  But he did not.  David noticed that, and without requiring any up-front reimbursement, set his 600 men around the shearing floor and protected Nabal, his servants, and their flocks.  Nabal never asked them to leave because he had no intention of reimbursement.  He enjoyed the benefits of having David and his men provide security, yet refused to cover their costs in doing so.  This would amount to theft.  This explains David’s desire to attack Nabal.  Nabal’s wife, Abigail, was told of the situation and intervened.  She prepared food and supplies for David and his men.  This act of integrity kept David’s hand of rash justice at bay.  In other words, what would have turned out badly, God intervened and saved David from an extreme choice. 

I don’t think the evil David speaks of is necessarily sinful.  But the principle can certainly be applied that way.  The examples are too numerous to recall.  A story is told of a young man who was planning a weekend getaway with his girlfriend.  The problem was he didn’t keep it to himself.  He involved his younger sister and best friend.  The younger sister, having a conscious, told her father of her brother’s plans.  So, Dad got to work.  He set in motion one small roadblock after another.  Dad, who owned his own business and hired his son, stated that inventory had to be done before they went home Friday evening.  It shouldn’t take too long.  He and his son stayed until almost eleven that night.  It was too late for his son to start his weekend with his girlfriend, so they decided to go the next morning.  When this young man went to his car, he found he has two flat tires.  One on the front and another on the back.  Both mom and dad were gone with their cars, so he had to wait for them to return.  Having fixed his car, it was not early afternoon.  At least they could spend one evening in immorality.  One was better than none.  On the way to pick his girlfriend up, he had a phone call.  It was her.  She was at the hospital with her mother.  Her mother fell and needed some X-rays.  As emergency rooms go, it took hours.  First her leg.  Then her head.  It wasn’t until very late that evening that she was discharged.  The romantic getaway never happened.  Seeing as how his plans were ruined, he got up and went to church.  That morning, the Preacher happened to preach on moral purity.  Talk about keeping someone from evil!

We all have a trail of bad and sinful decisions we have left behind.  We have wreaked havoc on a life that should have been holy and separated.  As horrible as that trail is, imagine what it might look like if God had not interrupted our plans for even more evil! There are times when we are well aware that the LORD has kept us back from sin.  A needy child requires our attention.  The dog needs to go out.  An unexpected bill pops up.  A road is closed.  These interruptions are ways in which God can and does often frustrate our wicked intentions.  But then there are the Abigails.  There are those saints that seem to know how to intervene when we need it the most.  There is no judging.  There is no condemnation.  They simply know when to show up and pray or encourage.  They are a reminder that the battle for righteousness can be waged and won.  They call, text, or show right at the time we need them to the most.  Perhaps if we were more involved in the lives of others, we can be that person.  There are times when we need someone like that, but there are also times when we need to be that person.  Praise the LORD for keeping us from doing more harm to our own lives!

Always Good

“Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this [is] known in all the earth.” (Isa 12:5 AV)

Note ‘things’ is plural.  God isn’t singular.  Listen to David.  “Blessed [be] the Lord, [who] daily loadeth us [with benefits, even] the God of our salvation. Selah.” (Ps 68:19 AV)  David had a rough life.  Running from his father-in-law, having a wife that ran out on him, and losing four sons to sin was difficult.  Add to that ruling a nation and all that might encompass, and it can be safely said that David did not have it easy.  Reading certain psalms, one might conclude David had it worse than most.  Yet, it appears David had a balanced view.  Not week by week or month by month.  It appears David’s balanced view was daily.  If he could recognize the good hand of the LORD as a daily thing, this means he was looking for it.  Adding to the scope of this truth, Isaiah does not limit his observation to a local situation.  Isaiah tells us that the excellent things of the LORD are throughout all of creation.  If we cannot see it, we are looking at the wrong thing.

Knowing this truth, we would naturally express our joy and gratitude.  The extent of our observation is equal to our response to it.  Isaiah tells us we should sing.  Sing unto the LORD.  There should be a voice of humility, which deeply appreciates what God has done.  Although Isaiah could be commanding the expression of singing, I don’t think he is.  This is particularly intriguing as Isaiah is the prophet to a failing nation.  It won’t be much longer and both Israel and Judah march off to captivity.  Perhaps one reason they failed is that they forgot how good God was and is to them.  I see the same in the saints today.

We are encouraged to complain and critique.  We find what is wrong and not what is right.  The world constantly pours upon us the spirit of hopelessness.  There is one disaster after another.  There is always one more thing to be anxious about.  It would be good if we simply shut it all off.  Newsmax and FoxNews make their money by scaring us to death.  The more they stir up the masses, the larger their corporation becomes.  If it isn’t the news, then the pharmaceutical companies are telling us we are falling apart.  Recognizing the good hand of the LORD goes a long way in how we live.  As I write this, we are sitting in the hospital getting fluids.  My wife has had a rough couple of days, and it was evident.  Along comes a hospitality service that spontaneously gives flower arrangements to patients.  It is a non-for-profit that exists just to brighten someone’s day.  Someone on the staff must have mentioned she wasn’t doing well.  There you have it!  God is good all the time.  It may be a simple thing to some, but to Lisa, it means to world.

Our Sophisticated God

“[Though] hand [join] in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered.” (Pr 11:21 AV)

Though hand join in hand is a pretty encompassing condition.  It matters not how much the wicked collude.  God sees it all, and all will be made right.  It doesn’t matter how much the wicked think they are secret and safe.  God is a God who sees all.  It amazes me just how secret we think our lives and choices are.  We forget that our Creator is everywhere, all the time.  We forget there is nothing He does not know.  He knows every thought and intention of the heart.  He knows it all.  The ridiculous notion that a secret conspiracy can be successful is beyond the absurd.  Just because man cannot discern it does not suggest God is ignorant as well.  Though hand join in hand, God sees it anyway!

A study of history will reveal many conspiracies to commit treason or crimes that were so massive, it boggles the mind.  From the assassination of Julius Ceaser to modern government operations, the millennia of human history tell of successful and not so successful plans of men to change the course of history.  Or get away with a large-scale crime.  Documentaries regarding well-known crime syndicates are popular.  Even more popular are films based on the same subject matter.  Conspiracy theories abound because the nature of man makes them probable.  It is believed that most evil activity is done in secret and kept secret.  What is troubling today is the level of sophistication it takes to get away with a plot, but also the level of sophistication it takes to discover it.  It requires a certain level of electronic communication expertise to construct a web of evil unprecedented in human history.  Reading of certain subjects that have circulated in the recent past, this writer is astounded by the level of technology used to catch those who would do harm.  One would think that technology could advance to the point that activity would be undetectable.  Not so.  There is always a trail.  There are always breadcrumbs.  Nothing happens is a vacuum.  Today, the only thing that protects a criminal is an apathetic judicial system that rewards, rather than punishes, crime.  The tools are there.  The will to use them for good is fading.

This is not so with God.  As advanced as our technology is, it will never reach the standard of Almighty God.  One catastrophic power failure would put an end to all the tools we have at our disposal.  If today’s technology indicates the challenge it is to operate in secret, imagine what the Creator possesses!  He knows and sees everything.  The pride of man that thinks all he needs is a more complex web to succeed is fooled.  There is nothing that can match an infinite God.  If man possesses the ability to stay one step ahead, imagine what God will do.  The futility of thinking that man can get away with wickedness as long as the plan is sophisticated enough is absolutely insane.  We are no different that simple Adam and Eve, who ran into the woods thinking they could hide from the all-seeing God.  Though hand join in hand, God still sees it and will judge it.

Remember By What You Have Access

“By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” (Ro 5:2 AV)

Last night, I was awoken in the middle of sleep to pray for someone very special to me.  To say this person is facing a battle is an understatement.  The situation was a bit dicey last night so I was extra passionate for the LORD’s intervention.  As I lay there on my bed, a fresh remembrance of the privilege of prayer came to mind.  The Holy Spirit had to remind me that any access to the Father is not by our own merit.  Rather, it is by the blood of Jesus Christ.  Let me explain.

The Bible correctly teaches that if we harbor sin in our hearts, the LORD will not hear our prayer.  Nor should He.  If we are living in open rebellion against His law, then why would a Creator who deserves our obedience and worship entertain anything we say?  So, we naturally go to God, and the first thing we do is confess our sins.  Then, we check our request against the known will of God.  If it passes the muster, we have confidence to enter the throne room of heaven knowing our petition is heard.  The problem comes when we forget that access is by the blood of Christ.  Not by our confession.  Not by our verification.  Even if we were completely right with God, we would be denied access without the blood of Christ covering our sin.  If you are like me, then our minds go back to all that we have done or failed to do, realizing there is no merit to be offered.  We are completely and hopelessly wicked.  We then offer our prayer in limited faith.  Somehow we forget that we have access by the blood of Christ and not by our success as a Christlike believer.  I used to joke that we needed to find that righteous man because the prayer of a righteous man avails much.  We are that righteous man or woman.  Not because we have made ourselves so.  Rather, the grace of God and the blood of Christ have.

After this fresh reminder, I was more emboldened and confident as prayers went up for this person.  No longer did I doubt the LORD’s ear.  I know He heard me, and if it would be His will, He would answer me.  And He did!  Our pride keeps us from a life with the LORD we could otherwise have.  We have no merit.  We have no worth.  God loves us in spite of who and what we are.  By our own efforts, we never will be perfect.  When we shed this body of sin and are translated into the image of Jesus Christ, it will be by the hand of God.  Therefore, when we come boldly into the throne of grace, the only way to do that is faith in the blood of Christ.  While praying last night, I used that defense quite a bit.  When condemnation flooded my soul, I simply confessed my sin and named the blood of Christ as my key to the door of the throne room.  It is all on Him!  Praise be to God!

What Is The Knowledge of the Holy?

“The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy [is] understanding.” (Pr 9:10 AV)

The mystics of the last century made much of this verse, indicating a deeper knowledge of the person of God.  Most commentators of that time period define it that way.  They point to the plural form of the word as an indication that the holy must mean the three persons of the trinity.  Much is made of the singular use of the word ‘LORD’ being too restrictive to only one person of the trinity while the Hebrew word expands it to three.  In fact, there are devotions written with that title.  Knowledge of the Holy.  I don’t think Solomon was limiting the ‘holy’ to mean and mystic experience with the three persons of the Godhead.  Rather, because the Hebrew word for holy is a plural noun, and given that it appears in the context of eternal wisdom, I think Solomon is say that understanding comes by way of knowing God and all things pertaining to God including His wisdom, law, and graces.

The word ‘holy’ is a unique term.  It is a difficult one to understand.  The common misunderstanding is that holy means pure.  It is especially used to describe purity in matters of intimacy.  But the biblical understanding of the term is far deeper.  When the Bible says that God is holy, it is referring to His natural state.  That is, He is unaffected by the natural or spiritual world in any way that would cause Him to cease being God.  Therefore, all of His attributes are holy.  Not just His moral attributes.  When the Bible states that God is holy, it is making the statement of His uniqueness of being and attributes.  His holiness is the highest possible state of existence.  When the Bible speaks of His wisdom, law, and grace as being holy, the same applies.  They are uniquely different from all that exists.  Knowledge of the holy is not limited to the person of God.  Knowledge of the holy encompasses all that God is and all that God has revealed about Himself to creation.  Knowledge of the holy is not a mere experience.  Rather, knowledge of the holy is comprehending the nature of God, His law, and His graces as it applies to how we live.

I am so burdened for humanity.  They are running from the knowledge of the holy.  Even our Christian ‘Apologists’ are doing the same.  Reason rather than faith becomes the ultimate authority, and that only leads to confusion of face.  Knowledge of the Holy must first believe that He is.  Period.  Faith is not a feeling.  Faith is a choice.  By faith, many in Hebrews chapter eleven did great things.  They choose to believe God.  They choose to believe what God said.  Reason played a part.  Reason may even have played a significant part.  But reason without faith will lay the soul in shipwreck.  Knowledge of the holy means knowing something so different that what our senses can understand that faith is required to accept it.  The entire book of proverbs was not written to avoid dire consequences for wrong decisions.  Although that is a natural application, it is not the principal one.  Listen to Solomon. “That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee. Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?” (Pr 22:19-21 AV)  Solomon states the words of his book was to prove God exists and that faith in Him is the greatest good.

Knowledge of the holy means we see universal truths that play out regardless of culture, time, and situation.  The universal law of consequences from choices proves there is an absolute, and that absolute is God!  Knowledge of the holy is far more than a mystic experience whose definition fluctuates from one to another.  Rather, knowledge of the holy is to know God, His person and ways, that we might draw to Him by faith.