Friday, July 11, 2014

Do not fret

 Do not fret because of those who are evil
    or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither,
    like green plants they will soon die away.
 Trust in the Lord and do good;
    dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.
 Commit your way to the Lord;
    trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
    your vindication like the noonday sun.
 Be still before the Lord
    and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
    when they carry out their wicked schemes.
 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
    do not fret—it leads only to evil.

Psalm 37:1-8

Monday, June 9, 2014

God's Children


God Disciplines His Children

 
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.  We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin. And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, 

 

“My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you  
For the Lord disciplines those he loves,

As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all.

Found in Hebrews 12:1-8 and Proverbs 3:1-12

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Seek Him

The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed,
    a stronghold in times of trouble.
Those who know your name put their trust in you,
    for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you. 
 Sing praises to the Lord, who sits enthroned in Zion!
    Tell among the nations what he has done!

Psalm 9:9-11

Friday, April 25, 2014

Fighting against God


How do you know if you are fighting against the plan of God?  Over time, you will find out.  Here is an excellent example.  The disciples of Jesus of Nazareth were preaching all that they had seen and heard about Jesus to crowds of people after Jesus death and resurrection. The religious were infuriated because it threatened their understanding of faith and religion.  In fact, they wanted this 'foolish talk" to stop. And they worked every angle to make it stop by putting Jesus' followers in jail and  forbidding them to even speak of the name Jesus.

"Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings!  The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.  God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins.  We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

  When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death.  But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while.  Then he addressed the Sanhedrin: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing.  After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered.  

Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail.  But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”  Acts 5:29-39

Monday, April 21, 2014

Come forth...

The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves 
will hear His voice and come forth. —John 5:28-29

An ancient painting I saw recently made a deep impression on me. Its title, Anastasis, means “resurrection,” and it depicts the triumph of Christ’s victory over death in a stunning way. The Lord Jesus, newly emerged from the tomb, is pulling Adam and Eve out of their coffins to eternal life. What is so amazing about this artwork is the way it shows how spiritual and physical death, the result of the fall, were dramatically reversed by the risen Christ.
Prior to His death on the cross, the Lord Jesus predicted a future day when He will call believers into a new and glorified existence: “The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth” (John 5:28-29).
Because of Christ’s victory over death, the grave is not final. We naturally will feel sorrow and grief when those we love die and we are separated from them in this life. But the believer does not grieve as one who has no hope (1 Thess. 4:13). The witness of Jesus’ resurrection is that all Christians will one day be taken from their graves to be clothed with glorified resurrection bodies (1 Cor. 15:42-44). And so “we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17). —Dennis Fisher

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Remember

Sing the song of Moses to remember God

God also said to Moses, "Say this to the people of Israel, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.' This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations. Exodus 3:15

God wanted to be remembered throughout all generations. He made a way for His people to be saved through the shed blood of a lamb. That blood was to be painted on the doorposts of their houses.  And when He saw the blood, He would allow the Angel of death to pass over - leaving the family and oldest son who was appointed to die to remain alive.  And then God made a way for the saved people to cross over the Red Sea. And after they learned of His commands,  roamed through a desert for 40 years, and delivered to the edge of the Promised Land, God told Moses, "Now write down for yourselves this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it [the song] may be a witness for me against them." Deuteronomy 31:19

It wasn't that God was against Israel...it was that the song would remind them at some point in time, how Israel came against God.  But, God would be compassionate and receive His people once again...because He is God and His Promise holds true.  The song Moses was to record was a song of all God had done, all the people had done, and all God was going to do in the future [very, very, distant future] through the faith and perseverance of His people, and through the outstretched arm of the LORD (see Deuteronomy 32). And when Moses finished reciting all the words to all the people, he said to them; 'they are not just idle words for you - they are your life!' 

When Jesus came, He too wanted us do something so that we remember Him.  We read that "when the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, ' I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you' and he took the cup and then the bread in order of the Passover meal and, "gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you, do this in REMEMBRANCE of me." Luke 22:15-19  Earlier he had told his followers that He was the bread of life...that he was the way and the truth and the life...that in Him was life and life everlasting.  By taking that bread, they were in agreement with Him. 

When we look ahead to the word we are given in the last book of the bible, Revelation, Chapter 15, we see a picture of the completion God promised to Israel in the song He told His people to remember Him by.

"And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying,

   "Great and amazing are your deeds,
   O Lord God the Almighty!
  Just and true are your ways,
   O King of the nations!
4 Who will not fear, O Lord,
   and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
    All nations will come
   and worship you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed."

After this I looked, and the sanctuary of the tent of witness in heaven was opened, and out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright linen, with golden sashes around their chests. And one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever, and the sanctuary was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished." Revelation 15:3-8

Revelation Chapter 16
gives us a glimpse of those plagues.  There will be plague of boils, blood, fire, darkness, frogs, hail, and earthquakes.  Those were the same plagues poured out onto Egypt in the time before the Exodus of God's people. This is not a coincidence.  He has a plan of redemption - in every generation - and we have a choice to either believe in Him or not. And He has made it clear, from the beginning. What I am telling you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.  You don't have to ask a great theologian for understanding, or go to the ends of the earth for a sacred teaching. God has made it very near to you in His Word - the bible. 

What a picture.  God has from the beginning wanted us to remember Him.  How are you remembering God today?  Have you received His Passover Lamb?  Have you received His Messiah - Jesus?  I pray that you have so that you too can sing the song of Moses, and the song of the Lamb.

Deuteronomy 32  - The Song Moses is commanded to teach Israel

   "Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak,
   and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
May my teaching drop as the rain,
   my speech distill as the dew,
like gentle rain upon the tender grass,
   and like showers upon the herb.
For I will proclaim the name of the LORD;
   ascribe greatness to our God!  "The Rock, his work is perfect,
   for all his ways are justice.
A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,
   just and upright is he.
They have dealt corruptly with him;
   they are no longer his children because they are blemished;
   they are  a crooked and twisted generation.
Do you thus repay the LORD,
   you foolish and senseless people?
Is not he your father, who created you,
   who made you and established you?
Remember the days of old;
   consider the years of many generations;
ask your father, and he will show you,
   your elders, and they will tell you.
When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,
   when he divided mankind,
he fixed the borders of the peoples
   according to the number of the sons of God.
But the LORD’s portion is his people,
   Jacob his allotted heritage.
  "He found him in a desert land,
   and in the howling waste of the wilderness;
he encircled him, he cared for him,
   he kept him as the apple of his eye.
Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
   that flutters over its young,
spreading out its wings, catching them,
   bearing them on its pinions,
the LORD alone guided him,
   no foreign god was with him.
He made him ride on the high places of the land,
   and he ate the produce of the field,
and he suckled him with honey out of the rock,
   and oil out of the flinty rock.
Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock,
   with fatof lambs,
rams of Bashan and goats,
   with the very finest of the wheat—
   and you drank foaming wine made from the blood of the grape.
  "But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked;
    you grew fat, stout, and sleek;
  then he forsook God who made him
   and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.
  They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods;
   with abominations they provoked him to anger.
They sacrificed to demons that were no gods,
   to gods they had never known,
to new gods that had come recently,
   whom your fathers had never dreaded.
You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you,
   and you forgot the God who gave you birth.
  "The LORD saw it and spurned them,
   because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.
And he said, 'I will hide my face from them;
   I will see what their end will be,
For they are a perverse generation,
   children in whom is no faithfulness.
They have made me jealous with what is no god;
   they have provoked me to anger with their idols.
So I will make them jealous with those who are no people;
   I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
For a fire is kindled by my anger,
   and it burns to the depths of Sheol,
devours the earth and its increase,
   and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.
  "'And I will heap disasters upon them;
    I will spend my arrows on them;
they shall be wasted with hunger,
   and devoured by plague
   and poisonous pestilence;
I will send the teeth of beasts against them,
   with the venom of things that crawl in the dust.
Outdoors the sword shall bereave,
   and indoors terror,
for young man and woman alike,
   the nursing child with the man of gray hairs.
  I would have said, "I will cut them to pieces;
    I will wipe them from human memory,"
had I not feared provocation by the enemy,
   lest their adversaries should misunderstand,
lest they should say, "Our hand is triumphant,
   it was not the LORD who did all this."'
  "For they are a nation void of counsel,
   and there is no understanding in them.
If they were wise, they would understand this;
   they would discern their latter end!
How could one have chased a thousand,
   and two have put ten thousand to flight,
unless their Rock had sold them,
   and the LORD had given them up?
For their rock is not as our Rock;
    our enemies are by themselves.
For their vine comes from the vine of Sodom
   and from the fields of Gomorrah;
their grapes are grapes of poison;
   their clusters are bitter;
their wine is the poison of serpents
   and the cruel venom of asps.
  "'Is not this laid up in store with me,
   sealed up in my treasuries?
Vengeance is mine, and recompense,
    for the time when their foot shall slip;
for the day of their calamity is at hand,
   and their doom comes swiftly.'
For the LORD will vindicate his people
   and have compassion on his servants,
when he sees that their power is gone
   and there is none remaining, bond or free.
Then he will say,'Where are their gods,
    the rock in which they took refuge,
who ate the fat of their sacrifices
   and drank the wine of their drink offering?
Let them rise up and help you;
   let them be your protection!
  "'See now that I, even I, am he,
   and there is no god beside me;
  I kill and I make alive;
    I wound and I heal;
   and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
For I lift up my hand to heaven
   and swear, As I live forever, if I sharpen my flashing sword
   and my hand takes hold on judgment,
I will take vengeance on my adversaries
   and will repay those who hate me. I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
   and my sword shall devour flesh—
with the blood of the slain and the captives,
   from the long-haired heads of the enemy.'
  "Rejoice with him, O heavens;
   bow down to him, all gods,
for he avenges the blood of his children
   and takes vengeance on his adversaries.
He repays those who hate him
   and cleanses his people’s land."