Matthew 16:9 Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?
Judson has a Little Critters book in which one of the stories is entitled "I Just Forgot". The "Little Critter" is explaining away some of his behavior by that phrase every parent has heard (and used themselves!) -- "I forgot". This morning, when I was out for my morning jog, I was reflecting on the events of the previous day. The day started out very well. I was encouraged by an answered prayer and by all that God does to remind me He has life well under control. Though Josh is well on the road to recovery, certainly there are still some very difficult challenges along the way, and yesterday was one of those challenging days. There were several other little aggravations that came up during the day, and before I knew it, my joyful, victory attitude had dissolved into blech and blah! This morning when I was recalling the events of yesterday, this little verse in Matthew 16:9 came to mind... "Do ye not yet understand, neither remember..." I had to chuckle to myself as I compared my "I just forgot" attitude toward my Heavenly Father to those I sometimes encounter from my own children. I encourage you to do a little search in the Bible on the word "remember". May we all endeavor to remember those things God has done to assure and reassure us of His promises and His power. In those moments we begin to feel overwhelmed by our circumstances, let's take a moment to rewind and remember. Certainly, I don't care to have the story of my life sprinkled with the phrase, "I just forgot"! :o) Blessings, friend!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Cry out to Jesus
Cry Out To Jesus by Third Day
To everyone who's lost someone they love
Long before it was their time
You feel like the daysYou had were not enough
When you said goodbye
And to all of the peopleWith Burdens and Pains
Keepin' you back from your lives
You believe there is nothing
And there is no one
Who can make it right
There is hope for the helpless
Rest for the weary
And love for the broken heart
And there is grace and forgiveness
Mercy and healing
He'll meet you wherever you are
Cry out to Jesus
Cry out to Jesus
For the marraige that's struggling
Just to hang on
They've lost all of theirFaith and love
And they've done all they can
To make it right again
Still it's not enough
For ones who can't break
The addictions and chains
Who try to get up
But you crawl back again
Just remember that you're
Not alone in your shame
And your suffering
There is hope for the helpless
Rest for the weary
And love for the broken heart
And there is grace and forgiveness
Mercy and healing
He'll meet you wherever you are
Cry out to Jesus
Cry out to Jesus
Cry out to Jesus
When you're lonely
And it feels like
The whole world is fallin' on you
You just reach out
You just cry out
To Jesus
Cry to Jesus
To the widow
Who suffers from being alone
Wipin' the tears from her eyes
And for the children
Around the world
Without a home
Say a prayer tonight
There is hope for the helpless
Rest for the weary
And love for the broken heart
And there is grace and forgiveness
Mercy and healing
He'll meet you wherever you are
There is hope for the helpless
Rest for the weary
And love for the broken heart
And there is grace and forgiveness
Mercy and healing
He'll meet you wherever you are
Cry out to Jesus
Cry out to Jesus
Oh cry out to Jesus
Cry to Jesus
To everyone who's lost someone they love
Long before it was their time
You feel like the daysYou had were not enough
When you said goodbye
And to all of the peopleWith Burdens and Pains
Keepin' you back from your lives
You believe there is nothing
And there is no one
Who can make it right
There is hope for the helpless
Rest for the weary
And love for the broken heart
And there is grace and forgiveness
Mercy and healing
He'll meet you wherever you are
Cry out to Jesus
Cry out to Jesus
For the marraige that's struggling
Just to hang on
They've lost all of theirFaith and love
And they've done all they can
To make it right again
Still it's not enough
For ones who can't break
The addictions and chains
Who try to get up
But you crawl back again
Just remember that you're
Not alone in your shame
And your suffering
There is hope for the helpless
Rest for the weary
And love for the broken heart
And there is grace and forgiveness
Mercy and healing
He'll meet you wherever you are
Cry out to Jesus
Cry out to Jesus
Cry out to Jesus
When you're lonely
And it feels like
The whole world is fallin' on you
You just reach out
You just cry out
To Jesus
Cry to Jesus
To the widow
Who suffers from being alone
Wipin' the tears from her eyes
And for the children
Around the world
Without a home
Say a prayer tonight
There is hope for the helpless
Rest for the weary
And love for the broken heart
And there is grace and forgiveness
Mercy and healing
He'll meet you wherever you are
There is hope for the helpless
Rest for the weary
And love for the broken heart
And there is grace and forgiveness
Mercy and healing
He'll meet you wherever you are
Cry out to Jesus
Cry out to Jesus
Oh cry out to Jesus
Cry to Jesus
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Joy Part 4
Psalms 51:8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
In this case "hear" means to listen and obey. What's up with that? How do you listen and obey joy and gladness? I think you could go a lot of directions with this. In light of the historical context of David confessing his sin of adultery and murder, I will consider Deuteronomy 28 as a springboard for this verse. In this chapter, God is telling the Israelites the potential results of their response to His commandments. He says if they will listen and obey his commands, they will receive great blessings. However, "if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee". That is some serious stuff! As He is explaining the curses, He says in verses 45-48, "Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever. Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee."
I think when we lose our joy, when serving God becomes a task rather than a pleasure, we find ourselves in that state because we have forgotten "the abundance of all things". It is very easy to get weighed down by life. Our human nature is to live in the present circumstances, short-sighted, focused on that thing that is demanding our physical attention. In doing so, we quite naturally lose sight of the abundance of all things. However, when we begin to allow God to remind us of all he has blessed us with, and when we allow him to put truth and wisdom in our inward and hidden parts, we can Supernaturally begin to focus on the reality of the abundance of all things. Our journey in this life is a vapor. Our circumstances at this moment are for just this moment. Our standing in Christ, our daily fellowship with the Creator of the universe is unchanging. In that abundance, we find joy. In that amazing gift, we can hear joy and gladness and serve the Giver in accordance. However, as with every aspect of our journey with God, we cannot make this happen by desire alone. We must pray daily to have God's perspective. We must diligently continue to ask him to unplug our stopped up places and to make us hear joy and gladness. It doesn't mean we won't experience the other emotions of life. Jesus certainly did. David certainly did. It simply means our focus will be on that thing that speaks most loudly in our heart. It that thing in your life your current circumstance or is that thing consistently joy and gladness at the abundance of all things? Oh, that God would constantly cause me to remember these truths! Coming up: broken bones that rejoice!
In this case "hear" means to listen and obey. What's up with that? How do you listen and obey joy and gladness? I think you could go a lot of directions with this. In light of the historical context of David confessing his sin of adultery and murder, I will consider Deuteronomy 28 as a springboard for this verse. In this chapter, God is telling the Israelites the potential results of their response to His commandments. He says if they will listen and obey his commands, they will receive great blessings. However, "if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee". That is some serious stuff! As He is explaining the curses, He says in verses 45-48, "Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever. Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee."
I think when we lose our joy, when serving God becomes a task rather than a pleasure, we find ourselves in that state because we have forgotten "the abundance of all things". It is very easy to get weighed down by life. Our human nature is to live in the present circumstances, short-sighted, focused on that thing that is demanding our physical attention. In doing so, we quite naturally lose sight of the abundance of all things. However, when we begin to allow God to remind us of all he has blessed us with, and when we allow him to put truth and wisdom in our inward and hidden parts, we can Supernaturally begin to focus on the reality of the abundance of all things. Our journey in this life is a vapor. Our circumstances at this moment are for just this moment. Our standing in Christ, our daily fellowship with the Creator of the universe is unchanging. In that abundance, we find joy. In that amazing gift, we can hear joy and gladness and serve the Giver in accordance. However, as with every aspect of our journey with God, we cannot make this happen by desire alone. We must pray daily to have God's perspective. We must diligently continue to ask him to unplug our stopped up places and to make us hear joy and gladness. It doesn't mean we won't experience the other emotions of life. Jesus certainly did. David certainly did. It simply means our focus will be on that thing that speaks most loudly in our heart. It that thing in your life your current circumstance or is that thing consistently joy and gladness at the abundance of all things? Oh, that God would constantly cause me to remember these truths! Coming up: broken bones that rejoice!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Joy - Part 3
Today, I'll take a look at Psalms 51:7, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." Hyssop is a plant that was often used in the Old Testament to dip in blood as part of the Jewish sacrifices. Interestingly, it was also used to paint blood on the doorways of the Israelites before the visit of the death angel and just before their escape from Egypt. These are such great pictures for the New Testament Christian. Hebrews 9 offers several verses that clarify the picture these Old Testament rituals paint for the New Testament believer:
Hebrews 9: 15-28: And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Again, those of us who have accepted Jesus' sacrifice for the punishment of our sin have so much in which to rejoice!
There is an important point to remember in our rejoicing. God does view us through the blood of Jesus as redeemed and holy, but let us be mindful of the importance of living holy lives. Though our standing in Christ is unmovable, our state in life is always changing. Simply stated, unconfessed sin will rob our joy. Ps 66:18 says, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." When our daily relationship with God is blocked -- stopped up as referenced in part 2 of the joy blogs -- we cannot possibly have joy.
One last thing to consider... If you are familiar with the Old Testament sacrificial system, and the care the priests took to cleanse themselves before entering into the Holy of Holies, you know how vital it was that their cleansing be carried out correctly. The priests would die immediately upon entering into the presence of God were they not properly cleansed. Friend, if you are a Christ-follower, the Bible says the presence of God dwells IN us. Let's ponder that today. Every day I deserve death as I am in the presence of the Holy God. Every day, His mercy and grace give me life! Am I careful to be clean in the presence of my Savior? Am I joyful at the gift of His great mercy? Thank you, Jesus!
Hebrews 9: 15-28: And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Again, those of us who have accepted Jesus' sacrifice for the punishment of our sin have so much in which to rejoice!
There is an important point to remember in our rejoicing. God does view us through the blood of Jesus as redeemed and holy, but let us be mindful of the importance of living holy lives. Though our standing in Christ is unmovable, our state in life is always changing. Simply stated, unconfessed sin will rob our joy. Ps 66:18 says, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." When our daily relationship with God is blocked -- stopped up as referenced in part 2 of the joy blogs -- we cannot possibly have joy.
One last thing to consider... If you are familiar with the Old Testament sacrificial system, and the care the priests took to cleanse themselves before entering into the Holy of Holies, you know how vital it was that their cleansing be carried out correctly. The priests would die immediately upon entering into the presence of God were they not properly cleansed. Friend, if you are a Christ-follower, the Bible says the presence of God dwells IN us. Let's ponder that today. Every day I deserve death as I am in the presence of the Holy God. Every day, His mercy and grace give me life! Am I careful to be clean in the presence of my Savior? Am I joyful at the gift of His great mercy? Thank you, Jesus!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Joy - Part 2
In regards to the joy of our salvation in Psalms 51, I note that the requests David makes of God that lead up to his petition for restoration of joy are promises the New Testament believer has in place.
Verse 1: "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions." Colossians 2:13-14 says, "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it." Consider the transgressions blotted out!
David continues in verses 2 and 3: "Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me." 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Done deal.
David goes on to admit that his sin, though affecting many lives, was only against God and continues by acknowledging his sinful nature -- the same nature with which we are all born according to Romans 3:23.
So why do we still lack joy? David had to ask for the things we already have. Happy is our state! Indeed, I think we fail to grasp the significance of salvation, as I mentioned in part 1 of the joy blogs. However, I believe there are other contributing factors as well.... The next verse in Psalms 51 is one that I find very intriguing. Verse 6: "Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom." The Hebrew word translated "inward parts" is only used one other time in the Bible, and that is in Job 38:36 which says, "Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?" In the context, this is a rhetorical question asked by God himself.
The Hebrew word translated "hidden" means to stop up, shut up or keep close. Yes, we have places inside us that are stopped up -- blocked from anything going in or coming out. It reminds me of Job 41:15, speaking in reference to Leviathan, a picture of Satan, "His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal. Relate this to Paul. By way of review, Paul was a religious zealot, doing those things he felt sure were pleasing God. At the time, those things happened to involve active persecution of early Christians. On his way to one such persecution session, God literally stopped him in his tracks and temporarily blinded him in order to get his attention and reveal Truth. When Paul finally received his sight again, Acts 9:18 describes it like this, "And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized." It seems that those hidden parts in which God desires to inject wisdom, are our "blind spots", the hard, prideful places that we manage to keep shut up. I think we are afraid to open these stopped up places -- far too uncomfortable! Face it, we all have them. If you're reading this and thinking of someone you know, may I encourage you to turn your eyes upward and ask God to reveal those very places within yourself!
The beautiful thing about the whole concept of the inward parts and hidden part is that God is the only one who can inject truth and wisdom into our innermost being. Sure, we can acquire knowledge. Lots of people do. We can even have an emotional response to that knowledge. Lots of us do that as well. But, how often does that knowledge and/or emotional response translate into true change? I submit to you, never! Without an injection of truth into our hidden parts, we remain unchanged. Therefore, Christians are often some of the most miserable people you will meet. Sad isn't it? We have this knowledge and these experiences that really don't translate into real life. The resultant misery manifests in our lack of joy and sometimes downright meanness. Sadly, some of the meanest people I have known claim the title "Christian". So what now? What do we do? We pray. We pray and ask God to break up those scales and open up those hidden parts. We ask him to do the impossible -- the thing that no man can do. We pray for soft hearts and ask God to change us. He wants to do that. Psalms 51 says that it is his desire!
For the one who cries this prayer to God, the stopped up places will be unplugged, and "out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38). We become free, and the joy of our salvation is restored. Then will we "teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee".
Isaiah 12:3 "Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." So, why don't we? Just do it!
Verse 1: "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions." Colossians 2:13-14 says, "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it." Consider the transgressions blotted out!
David continues in verses 2 and 3: "Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me." 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Done deal.
David goes on to admit that his sin, though affecting many lives, was only against God and continues by acknowledging his sinful nature -- the same nature with which we are all born according to Romans 3:23.
So why do we still lack joy? David had to ask for the things we already have. Happy is our state! Indeed, I think we fail to grasp the significance of salvation, as I mentioned in part 1 of the joy blogs. However, I believe there are other contributing factors as well.... The next verse in Psalms 51 is one that I find very intriguing. Verse 6: "Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom." The Hebrew word translated "inward parts" is only used one other time in the Bible, and that is in Job 38:36 which says, "Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?" In the context, this is a rhetorical question asked by God himself.
The Hebrew word translated "hidden" means to stop up, shut up or keep close. Yes, we have places inside us that are stopped up -- blocked from anything going in or coming out. It reminds me of Job 41:15, speaking in reference to Leviathan, a picture of Satan, "His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal. Relate this to Paul. By way of review, Paul was a religious zealot, doing those things he felt sure were pleasing God. At the time, those things happened to involve active persecution of early Christians. On his way to one such persecution session, God literally stopped him in his tracks and temporarily blinded him in order to get his attention and reveal Truth. When Paul finally received his sight again, Acts 9:18 describes it like this, "And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized." It seems that those hidden parts in which God desires to inject wisdom, are our "blind spots", the hard, prideful places that we manage to keep shut up. I think we are afraid to open these stopped up places -- far too uncomfortable! Face it, we all have them. If you're reading this and thinking of someone you know, may I encourage you to turn your eyes upward and ask God to reveal those very places within yourself!
The beautiful thing about the whole concept of the inward parts and hidden part is that God is the only one who can inject truth and wisdom into our innermost being. Sure, we can acquire knowledge. Lots of people do. We can even have an emotional response to that knowledge. Lots of us do that as well. But, how often does that knowledge and/or emotional response translate into true change? I submit to you, never! Without an injection of truth into our hidden parts, we remain unchanged. Therefore, Christians are often some of the most miserable people you will meet. Sad isn't it? We have this knowledge and these experiences that really don't translate into real life. The resultant misery manifests in our lack of joy and sometimes downright meanness. Sadly, some of the meanest people I have known claim the title "Christian". So what now? What do we do? We pray. We pray and ask God to break up those scales and open up those hidden parts. We ask him to do the impossible -- the thing that no man can do. We pray for soft hearts and ask God to change us. He wants to do that. Psalms 51 says that it is his desire!
For the one who cries this prayer to God, the stopped up places will be unplugged, and "out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38). We become free, and the joy of our salvation is restored. Then will we "teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee".
Isaiah 12:3 "Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." So, why don't we? Just do it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)