He Is Our Hope and Strength

“The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.” (Joe 3:16 AV)

 

The power of the underlined portion lies in the context in which it is stated.  The context of Joel is the judgment on an unbelieving and rebellious world for rejecting Jesus Christ as their LORD and Savior.  The valley of decision spoken of earlier is the valley where the battle of Armageddon will be fought.  Prior to this cataclysmic battle, there will be seven years of unbelievable judgments on the world as a means to turn them toward repentance.  Amid all this turmoil, the children of Israel who have trusted in Christ as their Messiah are encouraged to remember the LORD is their hope and strength when their world seems to be turned upside down.

Trouble will come.  Hard times are a part of being human.  Death is inevitable and all that death brings with it cannot be avoided.  There are times of sorrow for the child of God.  There are times of deep trial for the child of God.  I do not have enough room in this little entry to begin to list all my wife and I have gone through over the past 36 years.  Our life is no different than anyone else’s.  There are times we may think that might be the case.  But it is not.  Each of us has those things that turn our world upside down.  A deathly sick child or a child that rebels against God and pays a heavy price.  Perhaps someone has lost their job and struggled to make ends meet.  Maybe there were hard times of adjustment in a marital relationship.  Perhaps there was a struggle to keep up a house, pay the bills, or keep the utilities on.  We think our experiences are unique, but they are not.  They are all part of living in a fallen world.  Sometimes these experiences come like a watershed.  One after another and we don’t know how we will ever survive.  I have had a couple of those times.  The death of two close friends, my mother, and the parting of all of my children at the same time all came within months of one another.  My world radically changed in a few short months.  It was my tribulation.  I remember those days but I also remember that in time, God was able to heal me and make me stronger.  These times are common.  We are never prepared for them.  Even though some of these events are a foregone conclusion, when they happen, we are almost surprised.  It is when our world is turned upside down that we need to be reminded that God is our hope and our strength.

Israel will survive the Great Tribulation.  In part because they will be met in the wilderness and cared for by God Himself.  This does not mean their situation will be trouble-free.  They will still suffer some of the effects of global judgment.  Just as they did in Egypt, the faithful will endure some aftereffects of God’s hand on the unbeliever.  They cannot expect to live problem-free even when God is right there with them.  But, they can and will have Him as their hope and strength.  They will make it through.  And You will, too.  The God of Israel is the same as the God of the Christian.  He is one and the same.  Israel may be God’s people, but the church is the assembly of God’s children.  If God loves His people unconditionally and actively, imagine what He feels toward you!  I am learning this truth more and more as I write.  Our current situation will never get better.  At least physically speaking.  But we have a hope.  It is the hope of eternal life and the strength of His ever-abiding presence that gets us through day by day.  There are days we forget this.  There are moments when we are overwhelmed and we forget our hope and strength.  Forgetfulness does not change reality.  He is still there.  He is still the God of our hope and strength and always will be.

He Will Fix It

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

 

The reader can take this verse one of two ways.  He or she can look at the first part and come under conviction.  Perhaps that might be warranted.  But the second half is extremely encouraging.  Despite Israel’s self-destructive behavior, God can help them.  Despite their behavior being an offense to God, God can help them.  Even though they turned their back on God, God can help them.  Their help does not reside within them.  They cannot undo the mess they have caused.  They cannot get themselves from a state of desolation to a state of fruitfulness on their own.  They have destroyed all that God had done for them which would result in a fruitful nation.  Without God, they are hopeless.  That is why the second half of the verse is so encouraging.  Six little words mean the whole world.  I know that God has done this often with me.  We have a way of ruining things God is trying to accomplish.  We have a way of taking what He meant as a blessing and turning it into the opposite.  But, the LORD is our help.

Have you ever had a son or daughter get themselves in a state of complete hopelessness and cry out for intervention?  I am thinking about climbing a tree and not knowing how to get down.  Or getting themselves tangled in a toy and not able to figure a way out.  Toddlers have a way of doing that.  You buy this wonderful toy that was meant to sit at and explore, but they turn it into mini monkey bars.  Soon, they have their arms and legs entangled to the point they cannot figure out how to get themselves out of it.  It reminds me of an app I see advertised where the point is to untangle a mess of ropes on a peg board.  Anyway, your toddler was having fun while sticking his head in one opening, and his arms in another.  And his legs in yet another.  He’s trying to do something no other human being alive has ever accomplished and only he, in his little mind, knows what that is.  He has fun for a while.  He is exploring.  However, he learns his endeavor is impossible and seeks a way to undo what he has done.  Frustration eventually ends in fear.  It is then you hear a shrill from the playroom as if your son had just seen a ghost.  You run in and can’t help but chuckle.  That only makes your son all the more frustrated.  He thinks he is forever trapped.  He will expire entangled in a weave of plastic and wood.  You look it over, solve the riddle, and free your son.  You fix what mess he had gotten into.

I am so glad God never gives up on us.  No matter the tangled mess we make, He is always there to straighten it out.  If we ask Him, that is.  God is so patient with us.  Like a loving father is toward his children, so too is the Father toward us.  One wonders how many times we have made Him chuckle.  More times than not, His reaction was probably a sigh and pity.  As He looks at the hopelessness of our predicament, the LORD may have expressed a bit of anger, but that anger does not last long.  In His infinite wisdom, He begins to show us the path out.  One step at a time.  One leg at a time.  One finger at a time.  It may take a while, but God is our help.  He will not allow us to remain in the situation we have created.  The key is to cry out for help.  Like my son who may be trapped, I am not helping him unless he asks.  If he thinks he can figure it out himself, more power to him.  But if he cries out, I come running.  So, too, does the LORD.  He will not stand idly by as we suffer from our own foolishness.  He is there.  He always is.

Someone Notices

“Strangers have devoured his strength, and he knoweth it not: yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not.” (Ho 7:9 AV)

 

As someone who is turning grey faster than I care to admit, I can understand this analogy.  I have a sister that turned grey at an earlier age.  Or at least it seemed that way.  There is a trait some of us have.  There is a spot on our bangs that tends to turn grey long before the rest of our heads.  It is the Cruella Deville syndrome.  It looks like someone threw a snowball and hit us right in the head.  My sister had jet-black hair, so for a while, it looked like she purposely colored it that way.  It was highly noticeable.  This morning, for the first time, I realized my hair is doing the same thing.  It has been turning grey very slowly for the better part of the last decade.  But this morning, while my hair was wet, it looked just like my sisters.  That one spot on our left side about the size of a baseball shimmered like a beacon from a lighthouse.  Every once in a while, when I pass under a certain type of light, the observer can really see my grey hair.  My wife will blurt out from time to time, “You are getting really grey”.   I don’t know what she is talking about.  I take care of my hair every day and don’t think I am getting all that grey. This morning was different.  That hereditary bleach spot was hard to miss.

Hosea is speaking of the effect of Israel’s neighbors as they influenced her towards apostasy.  As a nation, they were instructed by God to remain separate and holy.  However, over several hundred years, they had closer and closer relationships with their pagan neighbors and eventually took on their gods and form of religion.  It happened over several hundred years, so the changes were very gradual.  Just like grey hair.  It didn’t occur to them how far from God they drifted until they were carried away to Assyria and Babylon.  What is surprising is the amount of preaching they ignored along the way.  We read the messages from the minor and major prophets and marvel at the reaction of a rebellious nation.  But we have to remember, these books span the entire four hundred years or so of Israel’s compromise.  There were several of them that ministered at the same time.  So, in the whole scope of the history of their drifting, it was no different than today.  We have preachers who will warn us of the consequences of living in the flesh and the world, but how much of that preaching is truly efficacious? 

But there is another way of looking at this verse as well.  Trials of faith will also have a life-changing effect on us.  These changes may not be immediately noticeable.  At least not to the one going through it.  Trouble has a way of adding wrinkles to the face and grey hair to the head.  They can wear us down.  They can make us feel older than we are.  These times have a way of whittling away our youthful energy.  As we focus on the problem ahead, most other interests and or responsibilities seem extremely minor.  The key is to listen to those who are observing.  They can see the grey hair long before we can.  They notice changes because they are not around us as often as we are.  I see myself in the mirror several times in one day.  I don’t notice the subtle changes that are occurring.  But others who do not see me that often, do. They notice the weight gained or lost.  They notice how tired we look.  They notice we are not what we used to be.  These are observations designed to help us realize where we are and the changes that need to take place.  Listen to them.  They do not mean to make these observations to make us feel bad.   They make them because they are aware, concerned, and even shocked.  Rather than take offense, we can thank God others see what we cannot.  Whether we are in need because of our own sin (as in Israel above) or by trials of faith or persecution, the observation is meant as a motive for change.

Praise God For His Sovereignty

“A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.” (Pr 16:9 AV)

 

Boy, am I so glad for this!  My heart may want to do one thing, but ultimately, it is the LORD who decides whether I get to or not.  This does not mean the LORD condones sin.  He, in His infinite wisdom, has given mankind a will of its own.  Each individual is free to make choices.  The ability to do such is what God granted.  What we do with that ability is all on us.  There is another way in which we can look at this.  God’s hand of protection is active and present.  Even if our wicked hearts wanted to sin, sometimes God frustrates the ability to do just that.  Putting sin aside for the remainder of this entry, I would rather consider how much of my plans and God’s plans came into conflict and He controlled the outcome of my life.  Just because it may have been in my heart to do something or be someone, God has the final say.  I can devise all I want.  But unless the LORD sanctions my plans, it may be impossible to pursue them.  I, for one, may not have found these times particularly comfortable, but I am very grateful for them.  I am glad the LORD directs my steps.  I shudder to think where I would be if He didn’t.

When I think of this I think of my youngest son, Josh.  Josh is a remarkable person.  He is a natural leader.  He has the disposition to make decisions quickly, heads in a direction he is convinced he should go, and motivates others to follow.  Currently, he pastors a medium-sized church and if he continues on the path God has laid out, it will grow into a large one.  But that wasn’t his first choice.  Growing up, he played baseball.  A super-intelligent kid, he also was a talented pitcher.  He played little league, in high school, and was even picked up by a college team.  Because of his lack of adequate coaching, he didn’t have all the skills he should have had and was rejected by major colleges in the Illinois and Kentucky markets.  Because of the way he was used in high school, his arm was also all used up by the second year of his college career.  He began to lose interest in a game in which he would never excel above his peers.  Josh tried engineering and while plowing through the coursework, realized it wasn’t for him.  Then he wanted to pursue law enforcement and got a job as a loss prevention officer for a major retailer.  While in that capacity, he realized God was calling him into the ministry all along.  It was rather comical.  He was the one who walked away from theological debates between me and his two brothers.  He had no interest in the deeper things of the Bible.  Then God called him.  Praise the LORD God directed his steps.

I have often laid awake at night thinking of how much of my life I would have changed if I had the opportunity to do so.  The mistakes of life are the things I would change.  Looking at all the experiences over the last forty years or so, I can say God directed my steps.  When it came to making choices that would have destroyed my future, He intervened and saved me from a life of heartache.  When it comes to other events, I stop and think how different my life would have been if something else would have transpired.  But God knows what He is doing.  He always knows best.  Even if we would rather not, it is part of God’s sovereign plan.  Trusting this truth is hard to do, sometimes.  Believing it is all for good is a hard pill to swallow when you are going through the trial of your life.  However, remembering you are not the first to go through it and you won't be the last, all the while watching how the LORD brings others through the same fire, helps one get by day by day.  God’s sovereignty is not something we can opt out of.  We cannot choose to allow, or not allow, God to be God.  He will be whether we accept it or not.  The thing to do is always trust the LORD knows what He is doing and thank Him for directing our steps.  As we react in gratitude, maybe He will strengthen us and show us why it is all happening.

A Taste Of What it Will Be Like

“I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.” (Da 7:9-10 AV)

 

Daniel is seeing the day when the rulers of this world are cast down and the LORD Jesus Christ sits on His throne to rule all of creation.  At the moment, the kingdoms of this world are under the influence of Satan.  Mankind has chosen evil instead of good.  This is evident as we watch our leaders pass laws that make it legal to murder and mutilate children.  The world is so sick by their own intellect they cannot see the satanic origin of all of this.  It is truly evil.  They have the gall to think if they erase Christianity from the face of the planet, they will be free of the guilt their conscience bears.  Not true.  The conscience is something that every human being is born with.  Getting rid of that which testifies with the conscience that something is evil will not erase guilt and shame.  These emotions are inherent to our condition as a human being.  We are created in the image of God and no matter how much we seek to flee it, this will never change.  But what I would like to really think about this morning is the simple yet indescribable appearance of God Himself.  One wonders when we witness the Ancient of days sitting upon His throne, what our reaction might be.

Daniel gives a rather dramatic picture of the appearance of Jesus Christ.  Pure wool is pure white and glistening.  It has the properties of a finely spun monofilament that seems pure white but reflects light back from within the fibers and not from the surface area of the fibers.  The use of words ‘fiery’, ‘flame’, and ‘fire’ are hard to describe.  These words come from two words.  The second is fire.  But the first is what puzzles the reader.  It means shiny.  When we think of fire, we think of a yellow, orange, and blue flame.  The fire may emit light, but it doesn’t travel far.  If it is concentrated and reflected, it goes a bit further.  But the use of the words here implies a far more intense light than an open flame could produce.  What comes to mind is lightning.  It was lightning that accompanied the voice of God on Mount Sinai.  Of God’s lightning, Elihu of the book of Job says, “He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.” (Job 37:3 AV)  The light that appears with Jesus Christ will be like the light of the Mount of Transfiguration.  So bring that it outshines the sun.  This light encompasses His throne, chariot, and the path He will take when He returns.  When one considers the innumerable souls that circumspect His throne as ministers of His court, the sight would be overwhelming, to say the least.

I have been thinking about eternity quite a bit lately.  Perhaps it is the times in which we live.  Perhaps it is part of getting older.  Or perhaps the reality check we experience with Lisa’s diagnosis.  Maybe it is a combination of all three.  I am beginning to see my friends pass away.  I am becoming that older preacher everyone else comes to because the preachers I grew up with are all gone.  No matter the cause, my thoughts are becoming more heaven-bound day by day.  Part of those thoughts regards the appearance of God.  The wonder that my eyes will behold with the pure holiness I will encounter can only mean that when it happens, all composure will be lost as I fall flat on my face before the One who gave everything that I might be there.  The human mind cannot comprehend the likeness of God because there is simply no comparison.  As Daniel did above, we can only describe what we see as compared to what we know.  We do not know what God looks like.  We never will until eternity.  It begs the question of how I will respond.  I am sure whatever the response, it will be exactly what He wishes.  Part of me feels deeply intimidated and humbled at the thought of seeing Jesus face to face. But another is equally excited.  To see the deep love which I have experienced on the face of the One who loves me with eternal love is something I cannot wait to see.  Daniel was moved by this sight for the rest of his life.  He was never the same.  We will be, too!  Glory!

Untroubled Truth

“O Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in thee, and no secret troubleth thee, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and the interpretation thereof.” (Da 4:9 AV)

Belteshazzar is the Chaldean name Nebechanezzar gave to Daniel.  The secret which the king desires Daniel to reveal is the interpretation of his dream foretelling his seven-year bout with psychosis resulting in living as a wild beast.  What is amusing is the response of the soothsayers in the previous verse.  They told the king they could not tell it.  That didn’t mean they didn’t know it.  They probably knew the interpretation of the dream and didn’t want to be the one to tell the king he was going to lose his mind and eat grass like a wild ox for seven years.  Hence the phrase above.  Nebby knew Daniel was not afraid of the truth.  He was willing to die two times previously.  He was willing to die over the change of diet.  And, he was willing to die over Nebby’s first dream and interpretation.  Daniel’s three friends were willing to die over false worship.  Death did not concern the children of Israel.  Therefore, Daniel was not afraid to tell it like it is.  Which is exactly what he did.  We spoke of Martin Luther in a recent post.  We spoke of his willingness to stand on what he knew to be the truth.  In this time of meditation, let us consider not whether we will or will not stand, but rather, the effect truth has on us.  Even the most distasteful of truths.

There are truths we do not like to consider.  Ugly truths.  Truths we would rather ignore.  The truth of human beings suffering for all of eternity in a devil’s hell is not something we muse upon regularly.  The utter depravity of mankind and all they are capable of is not a thought we often ponder.  We don’t like to think of the impending death of someone close to us even though the word of God is clear that all are appointed to it.  Many truths do not occupy much of our time.  Truths we wish to avoid.   Some are more personal.  We don’t like to dwell upon how much we have done or failed to do for the glory of God.  Dwelling on the hideousness of our sin is not something upon which we spend a great deal of time.  We do not think about the ugliness that can be part of our ministry.  We just want to think of the salvation decisions or the baptisms that come our way.  We would rather not think about the consequences of obedience.  Sometimes it costs a great deal.  We would rather not remember those trials of faith that drove us to our knees.  We don’t want to think of the potential trials that still await the rest of our pilgrimage.  There are theological truths we don’t particularly enjoy thinking of as they apply to us.  The wrath of God.  The justice of God.  The holiness of God as it pertains to our walk with Him.  We want to think only happy thoughts.  Thoughts of freedom and pleasure.

Daniel was not intimidated or fearful of reality.  He did not have his head stuck in the sand hoping it would all go away.  Daniel (and I think the other soothsayers) knew Nebby was getting a little to big for his britches and was due for a fall.  What bothered Daniel was not necessarily the fall of Nebby, but the degree it would involve.  I think what bothered Daniel was Nebby’s condition for seven years.  He saw a madman.  He saw someone completely undone by mental disease.  He saw a horrible sight of someone he knew and respected.  Others saw it too.  They simply could not come to terms with it.  I think that is why we as God’s people are failing the human race.  We cannot look into the ugly truth of depravity and condemnation.  We know of it.  We simply avoid meditating on it.  We cannot bear the thought of those whom we know being tortured for all of eternity.  We think if we can push it out of our minds then we won’t be compelled to do something about it.  Nebby respected Daniel because he was not afraid of the truth.  Most will mock us.  But there will be a few who will appreciate your candor and see the love behind the words.  We need to be like Daniel because a person’s soul depends on it.

Stand Alone

“It shall be for the priests that are sanctified of the sons of Zadok; which have kept my charge, which went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.” (Eze 48:11 AV)

That is no small feat!  The entire nation other than the sons of Zadok and the sons of Jonadab went after false Gods.  Talk about a minority.  That was not an easy thing to do.  These two families vowed to follow the LORD even if they were the last ones to do so.  This reminds me of Noah and his family.  Only eight souls on the entire planet left who loved the LORD and who were worth saving from a flood.  One wonders if that is how the LORD will find His church.  This question is quite straightforward this morning.  How faithful will we be to the word of God and to His presence?  It is one thing to be doctrinally faithful.  There isn’t much of a cost to believe the right things.  What is difficult is to remain practically faithful.  The sons of Zadok did more than hold faithful to the teaching of the word of God.  They performed them among a nation that treated the things of God as expendable.  The sons of Jonadab lived a life of complete separation.  This had to be a challenge.  They had neither homes nor fields.  No farm to till.  No crops to harvest.  Nothing to trade among their brethren.  The sons of Jonadab disengaged from society because society was corrupt.  What the sons of Zadok this was a bit harder.  They had to minister to and for a populace that wanted nothing to do with the laws of God.  They came to worship on Saturday but lived like the heathen the rest of the week.  No wonder God set them apart for special recognition and reward.

When I was a senior in High School, our English teacher assigned a theme paper for an end-of-the-year project.  It had to be rather lengthy.  This wasn’t a ten-page paper.  It had to be a project that took the better part of a half-year to complete.  Being newly saved in March of that year, I choose to do a paper based on the small booklet, Trail of Blood.  It was a small booklet that briefly followed the history of Bible believers through the history of Christianity.  When I got to Martin Luther, I kind of stalled.  Martin Luther fascinated me.  He struck me as a profoundly honest man who could not deny himself, his conscience, or the word of God.  As a monk, he was tormented by the conflict between the church and the word of God.  His church taught a system of works to either gain or keep salvation.  The word of God clearly taught salvation was by faith alone.  Shutting himself in his monastic cell for days and months on end, he finally surrendered to true salvation by faith alone.  This started a life of standing against the abuses and false doctrine of his former church.  He is famously quoted as saying, “Here I stand.  I cannot do otherwise.”  The statement regards the challenge of his former church fathers questioning the authority of the word of God over all other church authorities, specifically as applied to salvation and indulgences.  Martin Luther stood in the middle of a court.  He stood alone.  It was him against all of Europe.  And, he takes this famous stand.

There are few people like Martin Luther.  In any given age there are those who will stand for the right against all odds.  The question becomes, will we be that person?  In a day when God is hated among the world's population and those who claim the name of Christ are slowly abandoning Biblical authority, being in the minority is not easy.  It is beginning to become difficult to go to fellowships.  All one has to do is stand on the veracity of a single translation and you are marked as a radical.  Stand up for decent standards of separation and you are tagged as ‘one of those fundamentalists’.  Stick with the orthodox doctrine handed down by our forefathers and you are ostracised and an ignorant simpleton who needs to get himself a real education.  It is not easy to stand on truth when the numbers of those who seem to be shrinking.  But stand we must.  God honored the sons of Zadok and the sons of Jonadab because they defied the odds.  They beat back criticism.  They stood fast and used the attacks of those who would not ally themselves as a motive to double down on the truth.  This is where the child of God must be.  He or she must stand even if they are the last ones left.  One cannot live with oneself if he or she does not.