Excited

I am going to pick up my granddaughter at the airport this morning, and I just commented to God that I was excited to see her.  His immediate response was, "I'm excited that you told Me."  (I never want to imply that I hear the audible voice of God.  Basically, I get little impressions rising in my soul that are not what my own normal thought processes would be.)

My response back to Him was, "What???!!!?  The mighty, magnificent God of majesty and power, of purity and perfection, is excited because I took half a second to make an off-the-cuff little comment to Him?  Little old me?  Insignificant, not really fascinating me?"

"Whoa!  Stop," He says.   "Insignificant?  I gave My Son for you.  He gave His blood, His life for you.  I see you in Him, as having been crucified, dead, buried, and then raised up...in Him.  I see you washed in that perfect cleansing blood that He shed.  You know that you are urged to come boldly and with confidence into My presence, to My throne of grace.  Because I have declared you righteous, I point My royal sceptre of acceptance and favour toward you to admit you freely into My presence any time you want to come, even if it's just to make a brief little comment.  I actually enjoy you.  I love it when you spend time with Me."

A scripture popped into my head.  A few days after my husband's funeral, Zephaniah 3:17 was given to me.  It says, "The Lord your God...the Mighty One...will rejoice over you with gladness; He will renew you (or quiet you) with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing."  (Oh, I know that was written to Israel, the "daughter of Zion" but I am now part of spiritual Israel, and I do a whole lot of claiming the promises that were spoken to her.)  Strong's concordance has the first "rejoice" as meaning "to be bright, cheerful", "gladness" as "blithesomeness, glee" and the second "rejoice" as "to spin around, rejoice..."  Isn't that quite a picture, that the Holy Lord of all is bright  and cheerful because of me, glad, blithesome, gleeful, singing, spinning around and rejoicing?  Oh, wow!  How entirely awesome!

I sometimes feel that I don't pray nearly enough, but I do make little comments to God throughout the day.  When I nearly trip or nearly cut myself, I do a quick little "thank You for my angels", referring to Psalm 91:11:  "for He shall give His angels charge over you to guard you in all your ways."  When I get a little ping of pleasure just because I look at the clock and it says 12:34, or a goldfinch comes to my bird feeder (not in December, I know), or a little bubble of exultation rises in me for no apparent reason, or a fabulous song starts to play itself in my head, I do a quick little moment of praise.

My wonderful, well-loved brother-in-law passed suddenly, unexpectedly, tragically early Sunday morning.  There have been many tears, much concern for his shattered, grieving wife, much heaviness of heart, such a sense of loss.  But even in the midst of that, the soul rises up and says, "Lord, You are good and You are faithful.  I know that You will see her through and give her strength and comfort.  I praise You."  He accepts praise that comes to Him with tears too.

So let's remember to keep on turning with our occasional, unplanned comments to our attentive, approving Heavenly Father who loves us so completely, and who enjoys any conversation we choose to have with Him.

The Wonder of It All

 I thought today about a former business partner of my husband's, who was raised Catholic but seemingly could simply not believe in the virgin birth of Jesus.  He could believe in God, he could believe in creation, but this one thing was the sticking point with him.

Isn't it strange that he could believe in a God who created the entire universe by commanding it with His Word (Jesus is the Word according to John 1:1-4), and yet balk at the idea that this same God, who made the first man complete with sperm, and the first woman complete with ova, could combine a sperm cell with an egg cell and speak the implantation of this fertilized egg cell into Mary's womb?  Amazing how the devil can put up such a variety of roadblocks in people's minds!

Let's take another look at this old, old story...

In multiple accounts of people's encounters with angels in the Old and New Testaments, their first reaction was generally fear.  For just two examples, look at Zechariah in Luke 1:12 and the shepherds in Luke 2:9. But Mary's reaction to Gabriel was somewhat different; "When she saw him, she was troubled by his words, and considered in her mind what kind of greeting this might be."  There must have been some fear too, because Gabriel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary..." but it was what he said to her that had her troubled.

So what was Gabriel's greeting?  He said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored.  The Lord is with you.  Blessed are you among women" (Luke 2:28).  We've looked before at the system of the Law under which Mary was raised, where there were all the sacrifices that had to be made to cover for them, the trespass offerings and sin offerings, the scapegoat, etc.  These were a repeated "reminder of sin" (Hebrews 10:3, 4).  So it bewildered Mary that the angel would declare her to be highly favoured, blessed among women, and that the Lord was with her.

The angel went on to explain the plan:  "Listen, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a Son and shall call His name Jesus.  He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest.  And the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever.  And of His kingdom there will be no end."  This must have been a lot to absorb.  Did she understand that he was talking about the Messiah that all of Israel had awaited so long?

Her response to this was very natural:  "How can this be, since I do not know a man?"  That word "know" from the Greek word "ginosko" is "used to convey the thought of connection  or union between man and woman" (Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words).   She is simply asking how, as a virgin, she can bear a child.  It's a perfectly reasonable question.  This had never, ever happened before.

Her question is different from Zechariah's question earlier in the chapter when Gabriel appears to him, promising a son after he and his wife are old.  Apparently, it was something that they had prayed for (Gabriel said "your prayer has been heard") and, unlike Mary's situation, there was precedent in the history of Israel, when old, old Abraham and old, old Sarah had a child which God had promised them.   Gabriel came to tell Zechariah, "Do not fear, Zechariah,...your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.  You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.  For he will be great in the sight of the Lord...and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.  He will turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God.  And he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah...to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."  Again, it was a lot to absorb.  But this was the angel Gabriel talking to him!

So when skeptical Zechariah said, "How shall I know this?  For I am an old man and my wife is well advanced in year" (in other words, "why should I believe you?"), can't you just see Gabriel standing up very, very tall and glaring down at him?  Sort of a "don't you know who I am?" attitude?  His answer was, "I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God.  And I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news..."

Mary's question was not one of skepticism, or unbelief, but simply asking for clarification.  Gabriel's answer to her was, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you.  Therefore, the Holy One who will be born will be called the Son of God...For with God nothing will be impossible."

Mary believed him, and received his word.  "I am the servant of the Lord.  May it be unto me according to your word."  Thus came about the miracle of the virgin birth of our Jesus.

It all boils down to God's love for all of us, expressed in the very well-known John 3:16:  "For God so loved the the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  What a wonder that He loved us so, and devised that perfect plan of a virgin birth, to bring to us God in the form of a man, who was then able to bear our sins and free us from Satan's grasp!

The song that floated into my head this morning was an old hymn called "The Wonder of It All" and here are its lyrics:

There's the wonder of sunset at evening, the wonder of sunrise I see,

But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul is the wonder that God loves me.

There's the wonder of springtime and harvest, the sky, the stars, the sun,

But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul is the wonder that has just begun.

     Oh, the wonder of it all, the wonder of it all, just to think that God loves me.

     Oh, the wonder of it all, the wonder of it all, just to think that God loves me.

That Peter!

When I was in nursing school, there was a student who had to speak up at least twice in ev-er-y class, often to ask a question where the answer was completely obvious, or had just been explained by the instructor.  His name was Mark, and we privately called him Question Mark.  It seems that he liked to hear the sound of his own voice.

Amongst Jesus' disciples, it seems to me Peter was that person.  I did a quick check in my concordance, and the instances where I found "Peter said", "Peter answered", "Simon Peter said", or "he said" when it referred to Peter came to at least 30 times in the 4 gospels.  That's more than the total of quotes from all the other disciples put together.   

One amusing incident that shows up in 3 of the gospels was when he and James and John accompanied Jesus onto a mountain.  There they were privileged to see Jesus transfigured before them, and Moses and Elijah appeared as well.  The disciples were stunned and afraid.  But only Peter felt the urge to speak up.  He said (so brilliantly!), "Lord, it is good for us to be here.  If You wish, let us make three tabernacles here; one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah"  (Matthew 17:4).  Mark's gospel records that he spoke up "for he did not know what to say" (9:5).  I find that amusing, and also the fact that nobody answered him or acknowledged what he said.  In fact, he was interrupted:  "while he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, 'This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.  Listen to Him'" (Matthew 17:5), indicating that the time had come to listen to Jesus, not Moses (representing the Law) or Elijah (representing the prophets), and certainly not to Peter.

Another account we read has Peter speaking out of turn again.  Jesus has begun to emphasize that it was going to be His lot to "be killed, and be raised on the third day" (Matthew 16:21) and Peter is bold enough to begin "rebuking Him, saying, 'Far be it from You, Lord!  This shall not happen to You.'"  Jesus turns and says to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan!  You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things that are of God, but those that are of men."  That is a really sharp response! 

I believe Jesus called this suggestion as being from Satan because the natural, physical, human component of Jesus' being would have really preferred to avoid the suffering that was ahead of Him, and it was a temptation to give in to that.  It was one of the things He was tempted with in His 40 days in the wilderness, when Satan came to Him and suggested a shortcut:  "the devil took Him up on a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their grandeur, and said to Him, 'All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me'" (Matthew 4:8, 9).  In other words, "let me give You what You came for but in an easy way."  

When He was being arrested, He said, "Do you think that I cannot now pray to My father, and He will at once give Me more than twelve legions of angels (and He must have been tempted to do just that), but how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that it must be so?" (Matthew26:53, 54).  In the garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:39), He came face to face with the same temptation again ("O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me.")  But how thankful we all are that He was able to resist that temptation ("Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will")!

It seems a little surprising that this rebuke for Peter comes right after he actually got something exactly right.  The first 3 gospels all record this instance, but let's see it in Matthew 16:15-19.  When Jesus asks, "...who do you (disciples) say I am?" Peter (who else?) speaks up:  "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus' answer to that is, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  (You are not, of yourself, smart or sharp or educated enough to have figured that out on your own, but you got that strictly by revelation from God Himself.) And I tell you (the Father had something to say to you first, and now I'm telling you something too) that you are Peter (Greek: petros which is a detached stone or boulder, or a stone that might be thrown or easily moved, according to Vine's Expository Dictionary) and on this rock (Greek: petra which can be defined as a sure foundation, again according to Vine's; i.e., something immovable) I will build My church."  He was not saying the church would be built on Peter, but rather on Peter's declaration that Jesus is "the Christ, the Son of the living God".  That is the solid, sure, immovable foundation.

Peter's name was originally Simon, and, as we just read, it was Jesus who gave him the name Peter (see Mark 3:16 and John 1:40-42).  When we come to the same realization that Peter came to that day, we get a new identity too.  Romans 10:10 tells us that "with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."  Believing and confessing what?  The previous verse tells us the answer:  "if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."  Saved from what?  Our old identity:  none righteous, no, not one (Romans 3:10) changed to our new identity "the righteousness of God in (Christ)" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

James 1:19 instructs us to be "swift to hear, slow to speak..."  Peter was swift to speak, maybe slow to hear, but we can still learn from his example (by not following it), and be reminded (1) to hear Jesus; take time to listen to Him, to the Shepherd who is always talking to His sheep, (2) to be so very thankful that Jesus resisted the temptation to call for a legion of angels and escape from the agony He was facing for us, and (3) that we have a new name, like Peter, a new identity in Jesus when we believe in Him as our Saviour, forever.  So, those are things for us to meditate on because we've looked at Peter's tendency to be "the big mouth" in his group.

Rifted rock, gentle wings

 This morning, a tune was floating through my mind, and I finally identified a line.  It was part of the chorus of a German hymn I grew up with.

I found it in my search engine, and also found that it is a sort of translation of an English hymn that my father loved, "Sweetly Resting."  These are its lyrics:

Verse 1:     In the rifted Rock I'm resting, safely sheltered I abide/ There no foes nor storms assail me while within the cleft I hide.

Verse 2:     Long pursued by sin and Satan, weary, sad, I longed for rest./ Then I found this heav'nly shelter opened in my Savior's breast.

Verse 3:     Peace which passeth understanding, joy the world can never give/ Now in Jesus I am finding; in His smiles of love I live.

Verse 4:     In the rifted Rock I'll hide me till the storms of life are past,/ All secure in this blest refuge, heeding not the fiercest blast.

Chorus:     Now I'm resting, sweetly resting in the cleft once made for me./ Jesus, blessed Rock of ages, I will hide myself in Thee.

Such a lovely picture of security and safety in our Rock of Ages!  ("Rifted" means broken open or split; cleft.)  

But the German version takes a somewhat different direction which is also beautiful.  I will roughly translate...

1.     Wehrlos und verlassen sehnt sich oft mein Herz nach stiller Ruh./ Doch Du deckest mit dem Fittich Deiner Liebe sanft mich zu. (Defenceless and forsaken, my heart often longs for quiet rest/ yet You gently cover me with the wings of Your love.)

2.     Drueckt mit Kummer, Mueh' und Sorgen, meine Zuflucht bist nur Du;/ Rettest mich aus allen Aengsten, troestet mich und deckst mich zu.  (Oppressed with grief, weariness and cares, my refuge or shelter is only You.  You rescue me from all fears; You comfort and reassure me, and cover me up.)

3.     Sicher bin ich und geborgen denn bei Dir ist suesze Ruh;/ Mach es auch in Leben stuermen, Herr, Dein Fittich deckt mich zu.  (I am safe and secure, because with You is sweet rest./ Though there may be storms in life, Lord, Your wings cover me.)

4.     Kommt denn meine letzte Stunde, geh' ich ein zur ew'gen Ruh/ Und Du deckst mit Deinen Fluegeln ewiglich Dein Kindlein zu.  (When my last hour comes, I will go into everlasting rest and You eternally cover Your little child with Your wings.)

Refrain:   Unter Deinem sanften Fittich find ich Frieden, Trost und Ruh/ denn Du schuermest mich so freundlich, schuetzest mich und deckst mich zu.  (Under Your gentle wings, I find peace, comfort and rest/ because You lovingly shield me, protect and cover me.)

How precious!  "Under His wings, I am safely abiding" would be a sister hymn.

When storms are raging around us and the news is always dreadful, be reminded that "he who dwells in the shelter of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty...He shall cover you with His feathers and under His wings you shall find protection; His faithfulness shall be your shield and wall" (Psalm 91:1, 4) and "Oh, how great is Your goodness which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have done for those seeking refuge in You before people!  You will hide them in the secret of Your presence from conspirators; You will keep them secretly in a shelter from the strife of tongues" and "The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer..." (2 Samuel 22:2).  

Go ahead and hide in the rifted Rock and know that His wings are covering you.

The God who is everything you need

 I have been using a little devotional book I received from the Institute for Creation Research.  It has well-written and thought-provoking little lessons every day.  Last week, there was one titled "The God of Hope"  based on Romans 15:13:  "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Spirit."  Apparently, this description of God is found nowhere else in the entire Bible.  The writer pointed out that God is not only the source of hope for both this life and the one to come, but He is also the object of our hope.

Two days later, the daily devotional was titled "The God of Patience and Consolation."  The text was again in Romans 15, verse 5 this time:  "Now may the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus."  My Modern English translation uses the term "God of perseverance and encouragement."  The context in the previous chapter has Paul addressing a divisive conflict in that particular church.  Believers were disagreeing and offending one another over differences in beliefs about what they could or could not eat.  Paul reminded them that "the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit," and that each should live for his neighbour's edification and not to please oneself, also not to judge one another and not to "put a stumbling block or obstacle in a brother's way."  The only way we can achieve something so difficult is through "the God of patience and encouragement."

I remembered that God is also called "the God of all comfort" in 2 Corinthians 1:3, 4:  "Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, by the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."

And there are several references to the God of peace.  One is 1 Thessalonians 5:23:  "May the very God of peace sanctify you completely.  And I pray to God that your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."

I would love to hear from you what other descriptive combination names of God you know.  Try to add them to the "comments" spot below, although I have been told that sometimes it doesn't actually allow comments.

Whatever your needs might be today, God is the One who is the answer.  He is your God of hope, of perseverance and encouragement, of comfort and of peace.

Disunity

 When our kids were young, there were always a few annual Penner family get-togethers.  The kids all had cousins close to their own ages, and they looked forward to these times.  I did too, except for one thing:  very often vociferous "discussions" would erupt, usually about politics or some disagreement about biblical understanding.  No one listened to anyone else ever; they were too busy loudly voicing their own opinions, and no one came away any the wiser ever, but it happened over and over again.  No one ever became actually irate and no one left hating anyone.  It just seemed to be a ritual and I found it unpleasant.

God desires our unity.  Psalm 133:1 says, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren (and of course sistern) to dwell together in unity."  Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, "I do not pray for these (disciples) alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word (that's us); that they all may be one , as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they may be one in Us..." (John 17:20-21).

Those gathered in the upper room waiting for the Holy Spirit "continued in one accord in prayer and supplication" (Acts 1:14).  When the day of Pentecost came, they were still gathered "with one accord in one place" (Acts 2:1).  After that powerful day, the believers "continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, ate their bread with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people.  And the Lord added daily those who were being saved" (Acts 2:46-47).  

After a lame man was healed in the name of Jesus, and the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees arrested Peter and John, threatening them and commanding them not to speak or preach in the name of Jesus, these two returned to the others and reported what had just happened.  "So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord..."  After they prayed, "the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.  Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul." (See Acts 4:1-32.)  No wonder the church was multiplying every day, when "through the hands of the apostles, many signs and wonders were done among the people.  And they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch.  Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly.  And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them.  Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed" (Acts 5:12-16).  What an amazing time it must have been!  I have no doubt that disunity would have killed the whole movement in no time.

Today, we who are called the family of God are busy barking at each other about vaccinations.  On one side, we have many self-righteously shaking their heads at the "anti-vaxxers", and on the other hand we have many shaking their heads at the " blind and uninformed" masses.  And many do much more than just shake their heads.  They become rude and verbally punitive.  Families are separated by those who refuse to get anywhere near those who don't agree on this, not even, in some cases, allowing parents, grandparents, sisters, friends or whoever to come visit if they are, or are not, vaccinated.

It's not too hard to understand why we aren't walking in the power and anointing of the early church when we let the fear of a virus interfere with the unity that Jesus prayed for.  Can we not trust in God's protection?  Jesus reached out and touched an "untouchable" leper, and instead of the leprosy contaminating Jesus, the leprosy had to go.  (See Matthew 8:1-3.) Jesus is living inside every one of us believers by His Spirit.  Let us also reach out in love to those around us who need us, who are hurting, whether we agree with them on this and all other issues or not.  And let us not allow fear, or pride, or arrogance, or a belief that we know better that these others keep us from being the hands and feet and eyes and voice of Jesus, expressing His love and compassion.

Second Corinthians 2:15 calls us the "fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing."  Many of us are not dispensing this fragrance, but a stink caused by our outrage at what we may see as pigheadedness or ignorance.  

Ephesians 4:29 is a verse we have visited before in these discussions..."Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers."  Let's just finish the chapter..."And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.  And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you."

My brothers and sisters in Jesus, please let us join in unity in walking out the Great Commission of Jesus (Matthew 28: 19-20 and Mark 16:15-18) and showing forth His love and grace.  Let us be more afraid that somebody will go to hell because we haven't told them of God's wonderful plan of salvation than that they may be a source of contamination or that they may be shedding a spike protein.

Choose

 After my father-in-law passed on, we found journals he had kept.  Even though there had to have been truly miserable days, he ended each day's record with this phrase:  "It was a good day."

Yesterday was my late husband's birthday and these anniversaries of important days are opportunities to be reminded of grief and loss, to have "blue" days and feel sorry for ourselves.  But yesterday was a lovely day with lots of sunshine, lovely temperatures, contact with good people, lots of blessings.  I was reminded of previous birthdays and was thankful for so many good years together.

It is always our choice:  do we give in to natural attitudes of sadness and self-pity, or do we choose to see our blessings and walk in gratitude?

When Satan came to Adam and Eve to tempt them, he certainly did not point out that there were hundreds of trees they were free to eat from.  He had to draw their focus to the one and only tree that was forbidden.  They were in paradise, where everything was perfect but they allowed themselves to be led to believe that they were missing out on something.  If they had answered the talking snake with glowing reports of how wonderful their life was, there would have been no giving in to the temptation.

My small group co-teacher had a lesson not long ago on Romans 1 where she pointed out that the slide into "all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; (being) full of envy, murder, strife, deceit...gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, proud, boastful, inventors of evil things, and disobedient toward parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, calloused and unmerciful..." (verses29-31) all started with not glorifying God nor giving thanks to Him (verse 21).  

Satan hates it when we praise God.  He wanted the position of being on God's throne.  His boast was "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit also on the mount of the congregation in the recesses of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High" (Isaiah 14:13, 14).  He really wanted even Jesus to worship him (Matthew 4:8,9).  

So when we glorify and praise God for all the blessings we do have, we rub the devil's nose in his own messes.  Psalm 8:2:  "Out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength because of Your enemies, to silence the enemy and the avenger."  When Jesus quoted part of this verse, He changed the words, not to misquote nor because He didn't remember how it was written, but in order to add commentary.  He said, "Out of the mouths of children and infants You have perfected praise" (Matthew 21:16).  So, in combining the two verses, we can see that praise is connected to our strength and thereby we can silence the enemy and the avenger!  How worthwhile then to choose praise!  Nehemiah said, "The joy of the Lord is your strength."  (8:10)

Some of my new favourite verses are Psalm 92:1, 2:  "It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises unto Your name, O Most High; to declare forth Your lovingkindness in the morning and Your faithfulness in the night..."

So let's choose to praise and be thankful, in order to confound the devil and silence his voice, to protect ourselves from sliding into ungodliness, and to strengthen ourselves.  Of course, at the same time, we are pleasing God and that is always a good thing.

Think on These Things

 We may all have those people in our lives who have their TV's locked onto the mainline news channels which are sending out their constant messages about the corona virus, updates on case numbers and deaths, spreading dread and fear, reporting on restrictions and lifting of restrictions.  How many countless conversations have we all been involved in over the last year and a half about exactly these topics?  No one could possibly guess.

We may also have the ones in our circles who get their news from newsmax or rumble and are also living in fear because of warnings from doctors of every stripe, microbiologists, virologists, research scientists, pharmacists, holistic practitioners and experts in all kinds of fields warning about immediate and long-term effects of the vaccines that have been so recently developed, about governmental controls, globalist agendas, about projected steep price hikes and shortages of many of our essentials and the need to stock up on basics now, etc.

To all of you, may I just once more encourage you with some words from the Book of books?  I will again take the liberty of injecting some of my own thoughts here and there and adding italics or capital letters, or whatever, and wandering between the Modern English version and the Passion translation at will.

Psalm 94:17-23:  I would have been killed so many times if You had not been there for me.  When I screamed out, "Lord, I'm doomed!" Your fiery love was stirred and You raced to my rescue.  Whenever my busy thoughts were out of control, the soothing comfort of Your presence calmed me down and overwhelmed me with delight.  It's obvious to all; You will have nothing to do with corrupt rulers who pass laws that empower evil and defeat what is right.  For they gang up against the lovers of righteousness and condemn the innocent to death.  But I know that all their evil plans will boomerang back onto them.  Every plot they hatch will simply seal their own doom.  (Remember Haman.)  For You, my God, will destroy them, giving them what they deserve.  For You are my true tower of strength, my safe place, my hideout, and my true shelter.  

Psalm 37:1-9  Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be jealous of those who do injustice.  For they will quickly wither like the grass, and fade like the green herbs.  Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land, and practice faithfulness.  Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.  (If you delight yourself in the Lord, the desires of your heart will be aligned with His word and His will.)  Commit your ways to the Lord; trust also in Him, and He will bring it to pass.  He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your judgment as the noonday.  Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of those who prosper in their way, because of those who make wicked schemes.  Let go of anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret - it surely leads to evil deeds.  For evildoers will be cut off, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the earth.

The repeated instruction not to fret lines up with Matthew 6:25-33 where Jesus teaches us not to worry about our food, our clothing, etc.  "For your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be given to you.  Therefore, take no thought (or don't worry) about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take thought (worry) about the things of itself.  Sufficient to the day is the trouble thereof."

John 14:1, words which the Lord spoke to His disciples on the very same evening when they were about to experience the worst outcomes they could ever have imagined:  "Don't let your heart be troubled.  (It is our responsibility not to fret, not to worry, and not to let our hearts be troubled.)  You believe in God; believe also in me."  The Passion Translation puts it this way:  "Don't worry or surrender to your fear.  For you've believed in God, now trust and believe in me also."  And verse 27:  "I leave the gift of peace with you - MY peace.  Not the kind of fragile peace given by the world, but MY perfect peace."  And then at the end of the same conversation, Jesus says, "I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation (and it was about to begin for the disciples in just a matter of hours.)  But be of good cheer (yes, He said 'cheer'!)  I have overcome the world."

So God's prescription for this malady of fear and anxiety we are seeing all around us is not to fret and worry, but trust in the Lord, be of good cheer.  Actually, in order to manage this, I need to bring us back to Philippians 4 where Paul while imprisoned gives us his instructions regarding all this.   Verse 4:  "Rejoice in the Lord always.  Again I will say, rejoice!"  Verses 6-8:  "Don't be worried about a thing.  Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude.  Tell Him every detail of your life.  Then God's wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ.  Keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind.  And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising Him always."

I'm going to tack on an old song of Janny Grein's that is not directly related to the topic today, but brings reassurance whenever I listen to it and helps me not to fret.  It's called "I Always Will Love You."

I always will love you.  I always will care.

I never will leave you.  I will always be there.

I always will want you.  I always will be.

I never will fail you.  I am all you need.

     My love will carry you, higher than the strongest bird can fly,

     Further that the longest river can flow.  My love for you I want you to know.

Typical

 I felt led to read Psalm 89 a while ago, and have been coming back to it.  I've been finding it a little puzzling and disturbing.  

It starts out with this great declaration:  "I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; with my mouth I will make known Your faithfulness to all generations."  And it goes on for 18 verses, lauding His greatness and faithfulness.  In fact, the word "faithful" shows up in verses 1, 2, 5 and 8 just in this section.

Then there are another 18 verses where the psalmist (somebody named Ethan the Ezrahite) extols God's covenant promises to King David, and again speaks of His faithfulness.  "My mercy I will keep for him forever, and My covenant shall stand firm with him...My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips" (vv. 28, 34).

Abruptly, in verse 38, the theme completely changes and we have "but You have cast off and abhorred, You have been furious with Your anointed.  You have renounced the covenant of Your servant; You have profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.  You have broken down all his hedges; You have brought his strongholds to ruin," etc.  This continues to the second last verse.  What happened to "I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever"?

In the final verse, there is one last pathetic little "Blessed be the Lord forevermore!  Amen and Amen."  That reminds me of my neighbour lady who used to come over and complain about everybody and everything in her life, and then sigh and say sadly, "Well, praise the Lord anyway."

As I said, I'm finding this a little troubling.  All this lumped into one psalm is a little hard to take.

But, as I think about it, it's typical of us mortal humans.  We can be so thankful and express such gratitude in one breath, and then complain bitterly as soon as everything is not exactly as we wish.

The children of Israel were led out of Egypt in a spectacular display of God's power and protection, and they danced and sang, "Sing to the Lord for He has triumphed gloriously!  The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!"  But three days into the wilderness, they found no water.  Their rejoicing turned quickly to complaining.  I get that no water is a big issue, but just think about what God has just done for you, people!  Expect Him to be prepared for even this!  If He can divide the Red Sea, and lead you through it on dry ground, and then close the waters back over the enemy behind you, can you not think that maybe He's got this?

Time after time, they saw God meet their needs, and time after time, they were so ready to gripe and accuse God of leading them out of Egypt to kill them in the wilderness.  I get impatient with them as I read that history.  

But, I know I have been guilty of the same, and am ever capable of giving in to attitudes of "woe-is-me", "what are You doing to me, God?", "why me?" and "it's not fair".

The book by Joyce Meyer I mentioned in a recent blog has a lot to say about praise, worship, bowing before God in reverence.  I'll quote a bit from pages 81-83:  "Worshiping needs to come before asking.  In our prayers, there needs to be more praise than petition...It is fine to ask God for things.  The Bible teaches us to do so, but I don't believe it is where we should start our conversations with God...When we tell God, 'I magnify You,' we are literally saying, 'I make You bigger than any problem or need that I have'...we should make Him larger than anything else in our life.  When we worship and praise Him, we are doing just that.  We are saying, 'You are so big, so great, that I want to worship You.'  By putting worship first, we are also saying, 'You're bigger than any need I have."

Let's be quick to worship, slow to grumble, ready to trust, magnifying His power and goodness and faithfulness, keeping His promises in our focus, and reminding ourselves of all the victories and glorious answers He has provided in the past.  He is El Shaddai, Almighty God who is more than enough.   Let's stick with the first section of Psalm 89.  Like verse 13:  "You have a mighty arm, and strong is Your hand, and victorious is Your right hand."  It's the same right hand as in Isaiah 41:10, which has come up a lot in my blogs:  "Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, I will help you, yes, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."

With the power and grace of God in us, we can be atypical as far as usual human behaviour goes, and live up to the potential of "I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; with my mouth I will make known Your faithfulness to all generations."

The Marvel of "Baby Jesus"

When one of the young mothers in our church posted a picture of her little boy on Facebook a while ago, it occurred to me that Jesus was once a wee little one like that.  He was a completely helpless baby at birth who depended entirely upon His mother for His survival.  When Philippians 2:6, 7 tells how Jesus, "being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men," it barely gives us a hint of how He "made Himself of no reputation,...coming in the likeness of men".

One Person of the omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent Trinity willingly became first just a fertilized ovum planted in Mary's womb, and then developed gradually over 9 months until birth.  After He was born, He had to learn absolutely everything.  Can you see Him noticing His little hands for the first time as He involuntarily waved them in front of His eyes?  He had given up being omniscient; He had to learn how to sit, crawl, walk, talk, eat by Himself, read, etc. just like anyone else.  He had given up being omnipresent; He was limited to being in one place at any one time.  He had given up being omnipotent; He could do nothing for Himself.  He had to be fed and carried and have His diaper (or whatever they used) changed like every baby before and after Him.

The One who is described as the Word, who was in the beginning, who was with God and was God,  and through whom everything was made (John 1:1, 30) had willingly confined Himself to a human body.  What a marvel!  God was experiencing what it was to be tired, hungry, cold, hot, rejected, misjudged.  Hebrews 4:15 says, "we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses..."  After returning home to Nazareth with His parents at the age of 12, it says "He was subject to them..."  He experienced being a teenager.  And He "increased in wisdom and stature" as He grew up over the years (Luke 2:51, 52).

Hebrews 4:15 goes on to say, that He "was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin."  So He experienced temptation as well.  Satan tried to tempt Him to take an easier route to providing salvation that what was in the eternal plan for Him:  "the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  And he said to Him, 'All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me'" (Matthew 4:8, 9).  Again, Satan, through Peter, tried to suggest that He shouldn't have to go the route of the cross.  "From that time, Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things, and be killed, and be raised the third day.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, 'Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!'  But He turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind Me, Satan!  You are a stumbling block to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men'" (Matthew 16:21-23).  And in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus struggled with having to endure the crucifixion and bearing the sin of all the world and experiencing separation from the Father.  He prayed earnestly, desperately, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me..."  Three times He asked if He could, please, please, please, be released from this assignment.  But how thankful we all are that He went on three times to say, "...nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will" (Matthew 26:39, 42, 44).  

So Jesus understands us when we suffer and struggle.  That is why we are admonished to "come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).

Maybe even more importantly, we should think about the fact that the eternal Jesus could be contained in a human body.  When we receive Him, He now is contained in our mortal bodies.  It was a mystery through all the thousands of years, but Jesus' finished work makes this possible..."the riches of the glory of this mystery...which is Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).  Christ Himself in you!  All of Him!  All His nature, His resurrection power, everything we need for "life and godliness" (2 Peter 1:3)!  We need to focus on this fact and walk around with the awareness of His very real presence in our spirits.  

When the accuser wants to hang around and point out all our faults and flaws and failings, we need to tell him, like Jesus did, "Get behind me, Satan!"  And remind ourselves and him,  "You, devil, are forever defeated and disarmed by my Saviour (Colossians 2:15) and He, the victorious One, actually lives in me.  I am more than a conqueror through Him.  He always leads me in His triumph.  The faith He gives me is the victory that overcomes the world.  I overcome because greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world" (Romans 8:37; 2 Corinthians 2:14; 1 John 5:4 and 4:4).

In the Eyes of Jesus

In Matthew 9:9, we read, "As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew, sitting at the tax office.  And He said to him, 'Follow Me.'  So he arose, and followed Him."  It's written by Matthew, about Matthew, so it's a little autobiographical note.

Matthew was sitting at the tax office.  He was a tax collector, or as the King James Bible puts it, a "publican."  Publicans, or tax collectors, were especially despised in Israel.  You read frequent references to "publicans and sinners", as though they are a category of sinners all on their own.

The Israelites hated the Romans, who ruled over them and oppressed them.  Even more, they despised the tax collectors, who were Jews who sold out to squeeze taxes out of their own people, on behalf of the governing Romans.  Not only did they collect taxes, but they added surcharges at will and lined their own pockets at the expense of their own people.  They were a sort of government-sponsored Mafia.  They were rich, greedy, and merciless.

If a Pharisee ever accidentally touched a publican, he would go straight home to wash his clothes and have a bath.  To avoid any such contact, it was a common practice to cross the street  to walk on the other side, away from the despicable tax collector.

So the looks Matthew would get from his own people were full of condemnation, hatred, revulsion, disgust, rejection, and also fear.  

The look Matthew got from Jesus, however, was one of love.  The Greek word for "saw" in that verse 9 is "eidon", which, besides being translated as "see"  or "saw", is also translated as "to behold, consider, know, look or look on, or perceive."  Jesus did not just casually glance at Matthew; He actually looked at him, considered him, knew him, perceived what was inside him.  He actually saw him.  He saw the real Matthew.  He recognized the needs in the man's life, how he knew misery, guilt and shame when he was alone, his loneliness, and fears.  It may have been the first time Matthew ever saw someone look at him with love since he took the position at the tax office.

This look was so powerful that it was sufficient motivation to leave his position, his source of income to follow Jesus.

This happened also to another tax collector named Zacchaeus.  He heard Jesus was coming to town, and he wanted to see this famous person.  Being short, he decided to climb a sycamore tree to get a good view.  Probably the fact that he was short wasn't the only reason he wouldn't have been able to see.  The people would not have made room for such a despicable person to get to the front of the crowd.

The story is in Luke 19.  Verse 5 says, "And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him..."  It's the same Greek word.  Jesus saw him, and it was with eyes of love.  At Jesus' invitation, Zacchaeus scrambled down from the tree, welcomed Him into his home, and was a changed man.

Peter experienced that love after Jesus' resurrection, even though he had denied his Lord three times.  I'm reminded of those lines in the song "He's Alive" by Don Francisco, where Peter says:

Back inside the house again, the guilt and anguish came.

Everything I'd promised Him just added to my shame.

When at last it came to choices, I denied I knew His name.

Even if He was alive, it would never be the same.

But suddenly the air was filled with a strange and sweet perfume.

Light that came from everywhere drove shadows from the room.

And Jesus stood before me with His arms held open wide.

And I fell down on my knees, and I just clung to Him and cried.

Then He raised me to my feet and as I looked into His eyes,

Love was shining out from Him like sunlight from the skies.

Guilt and my confusion disappeared in sweet release,

And every fear I’d ever had just melted into peace.

Let's take time to meditate on how Jesus looks at us.  There is no disgust, no disappointment, no frustration, no anger in His eyes as they rest on us.  Remember that He knew every sin, every failure, every mistake we would ever make, before He invited any of us into His family, but He invited us anyway.  So, leave all the distractions, worries, fears, guilt and self-condemnation behind, and spend time enjoying Him and letting Him enjoy you.  Let it be said of us that we responded to His invitation, "arose, and followed Him," like Matthew did.

Jehoshaphat

 My son and daughter-in-law are moving and brought me a few books that they're unloading.  One is a Joyce Meyer book from about 20 years ago called "The Battle Belongs to the Lord."  I've only read 2 chapters so far, but she has pulled me back to one of my favourite of all Old Testament stories.  In 2 Chronicles 20, we find the land of Judah, the Israelites who were God's chosen people, and their king Jeshoshaphat, who had initiated reforms designed to bring the people back to the worship of God.

The chapter starts with the information that 3 armies were marching on their land, described in verse 2 as "a great multitude".  They were the Moabites, the Ammonites and the Meunites.  In the book, Joyce Meyer has a list of "ites" that can come against us:  "fear-ites...disease-ites...poverty-ites...bad marriage-ites...stress-ites...grouchy neighbor-ites...insecurity-ites...rejection-ites...and on and on."

At the first report he received, King Jehoshaphat "feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah."  He "set himself to seek the Lord" instead of turning himself inside out trying to find a human solution.  How often we try to work out our own answers and responses instead of stopping to seek the Lord!  The purpose of the fast was not to twist God's arm somehow, but to allow all the people to focus on seeking the Lord.

Then he began to pray, starting with a focus first on who God is ("O Lord God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, and in Your hand is there not power and might so that no one is able to withstand You?"), and then, secondly, what He had already done for His people ("Are You not our God, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham, Your friend, forever?")  What a fabulous example for all of us to follow when attacks come against us!

Then Jehoshaphat admitted that he didn't have the answers he needed, and even if he knew what to do about the enemies, he wouldn't have had the strength to carry out the plan.  His entire dependence was on his God.  "For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us, nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You."

When the people had their attention on seeking God, on remembering just who He was and what He had done for them in the past, the answer came.  It came to "Jahaziel, the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly."  I have sometimes wondered why that whole list had to be there, describing who Jahaziel was exactly.  One thing that comes to me is that God is saying He knew the man perfectly, from far back in his history.  The same is true for us.  He knows us and chose us from before the foundations of the world (Psalm 139; Ephesians 1:4).

God's answer was the reassurance that they shouldn't "be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitdte, for the battle is not yours, but God's", followed by the instructions about what to do..."Tomorrow go down against them...Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord." And then there's that favourite line, "Do not fear, or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you."  I keep finding more and more of those "fear not, and don't be dismayed because the Lord is with you" references.

The people went out obediently early the next morning and made the quality decision to put the praisers out in front.  They sang, "Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever" before they even saw His answer manifested.

If we need a formula in the face of our enemies and issues, there is a really great one here.  (1) Seek the Lord.  He has answers for you that you couldn't dream up in a thousand years.  (2) Focus on the greatness of God.   List the names and qualities of God that will remind us that He is our "More-than-enough" and remember all He has already done for us.   Review the times He has come through for us and provided a way where there was just no way, all before we rush into telling Him our problems.  (3) Share the problem/question with God, admitting that we have no answers and no strength of our own in the situation but that we know we can entirely depend on Him.  And leave the burden with Him instead of picking it back up and giving in to worry and stress.  (4) When you get His answer, go with it, knowing that He is with us and that is all we need.  (5) Start praising right away, before you see how God works it out.

We can face even lockdowns and epidemics this way!

Judgment vs Justification

I am still plowing my way through the Bible...about 2 weeks to go.  I've been finding the prophets difficult with all the warnings of woes and judgment.  (Just finishing up Amos.)  It makes me ever more thankful that I am living in this present age of grace.  Under the Law, there was the constant need to offer animal sacrifices for sins and trespasses and iniquities.  

Interesting to think about the fact, though, that when a sacrifice was brought, the priest did not examine the person who presented it, but rather the lamb, or whatever animal was brought.  It always needed to be without blemish.  When we present ourselves before God, He is not examining us, but our Sacrifice, the perfect, sinless Lamb of God, without blemish.  How completely amazing!  How freeing to know that we can come freely to our heavenly Father and He will not turn away from us in disgust and disappointment!

Sometimes the apostle Paul answered accusers who thought he was teaching the idea that, because we are under grace, we are free to live lawlessly, and sin as much as we happen to feel like sinning.  For example, Romans 5:1, 2 and 15:  "What shall we say then?  Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?  Certainly not!  How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?...What then?  Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?  Certainly not!"  And Romans 3:8:  "And why not say, 'Let us do evil that good may come'? - as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say..."

So why not go ahead and sin, exactly?  Paul, in I Corinthians, repeated this thought:  "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful (profitable).  All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any...all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify"  (6:12 and 10:23b).  Choosing sin is first unprofitable, secondly addicting, and thirdly not edifying, which is to say, it won't build up but rather tear us down.  It's a little like choosing poor diet, sedentary lifestyle and all kinds of unhealthy choices.  We're free to do those things, but they only ruin us.

Though we are completely free in the grace of God, we still reap what we sow.  That is a law as sure as the law of gravity.  Jesus taught this:  "Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy" (Matthew 5:7) and "Judge not that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you...Judge not and you shall not be judged.  Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned.  Forgive and you will be forgiven.  Give and it will be given to you:  good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom.  For with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you" (Matthew 7:1 and Luke 6:37, 38).

Let me just  make a clarification here about the "Forgive and you will be forgiven" part.  Since Jesus became our propitiation, bearing our punishment and God's wrath against sin for us, we are already forgiven.  Ephesians 1:7, 8 says, "In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and understanding."  God's forgiveness is ours.  But our own feelings of guilt and condemnation can keep us from fellowshipping freely with our Lord.  Also forgiveness from people will come your way more freely if you are one who forgives easily.  "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap" (Galatians 6:7).

So, all that rambling to remind us that we are so, so blessed to have Jesus as our substitutionary sacrifice, giving us the freedom to live in God's marvelous grace and freed from any judgment, but we are foolish to abuse the grace whereby we were justified.  

Ezekiel to Easter

I have been plowing my way through Jeremiah, Lamentations and now Ezekiel with all their woes and warnings, and this blog sort of randomly wanders its way through these books. 

Jeremiah does have its bright spots, assurances of restoration sprinkled throughout the prophecies of doom and destruction.  It starts out with the Lord assuring Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.  Before you were born, I sanctified you."  It's true for all of us too:  God knew us before we were born and set us apart for a holy purpose, which He will show us as we seek it out.  

Then, when Jeremiah expressed his doubts about his assignment, he is assured, "...whatever I command you, you shall speak.  Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you."  We've looked before at the "fear not for I am with you" scriptures.

One of the well-known Jeremiah passages shows up in chapter 9, verses 23 and 24:  "'Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom; let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, for in these I delight,' says the Lord."

We used to sing Jeremiah 32:17 KJV:  "Ah, Lord God, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by Thy great power/Ah, Lord God, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by Thine outstretched arm./Nothing is too difficult for Thee, nothing is too difficult for Thee,/Great in counsel and mighty in deed./Nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing, nothing is too difficult for Thee.

It used to be said that Jeremiah 33:3 was God's phone number.  I guess that was in the days when letters were used in combination with numbers.  Anyway, this is where God says, "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know."  That's a great verse to memorize, meditate on and keep close.

Lamentations is a collection of five songs of Jeremiah, in which he wails over the destruction of Israel and Judah.  In the middle of this, he reminds himself, "Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.  'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I hope in Him'" (3:23, 24).

Then in Ezekiel, God pours out His grief and anguish, indignation and wrath at the rebellion and rejection and what He calls the harlotry of His own people as they turn from worship of Him to bowing down and burning incense and sacrificing to gods of their own making, and He pronounces His judgments on them as a result.  

Actually, I'm not very far into the book of Ezekiel so far, but from previous readings I know that it ends with a description of the restoration of Israel, and the rebuilding of the holy city, and the last sentence says, "the name of that city shall be 'The Lord is there (Jehovah Shammah).'"

This is my sort-of segue to the days we have just celebrated, Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday.  Father God laid all the judgments and punishments we deserved on Jesus, our willing sacrifice.  The prophecies of woe and wailing no longer apply to us.  The wrath of God was fully appeased by the propitiation of the perfect, sinless Lamb of God.  Hallelujah, hallelujah!  Praise to the matchless name of our God!  Thank You, thank You, Jesus!  Endless praise and blessing and thanksgiving and glory and honour are due to our wonderful Lord who made the way for us to be free in His presence and to know that He is our Jehovah Shammah, always with us, always welcoming us, with His face of mercy and grace turned beaming toward us.  Blessed be His name forever!

Songs in the morning

 Yesterday I woke up with a song singing itself in my head.  We first heard it when we went to a Gospel Truth conference in Colorado Springs a good number of years ago.  The worship and praise was led by Charlie and Jill Leblanc and this was one of their songs we learned: 

God is my refuge and my strength, a very present help in need.                                                                    

He is my fortress, my deliverer, my Father, my friend indeed.

God, You're my refuge and my strength, a very present help in need.                                                         

You are my fortress, my deliverer, my Father, my friend indeed.

Lord, You're my Shepherd, I shall not want;                                                                                                     

You make me to lie down in peace.                                                                                                                     

You lead me beside the still waters of life;                                                                                                                

My soul is restored at Your feet.

God, You're my refuge and my strength, a very present help in need.                                                             

You are my fortress, my deliverer, my Father, my friend indeed.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of death,                                                                                                            

I will not fear any harm.                                                                                                                                            

Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.                                                                                                              

You will not leave me alone.

God, You're my refuge and my strength, a very present help in need.                                                             

You are my fortress, my deliverer, my Father, my friend indeed.

It's based on Psalm 46:1 and Psalm 23.  They have made a lovely video of this song with nature scenes; you can find it on YouTube.

This morning, the song that I found in my head was "Here I Am to Worship."  These are its lyrics:

Light of the world, You stepped down into darkness,                                                                                       

Opened my eyes, let me see                                                                                                                                

Beauty that made this heart adore You,                                                                                                                  

Hope of a life spent with You. 

Here I am to worship; here I am to bow down;                                                                                                     

Here I am to say that You're my God.                                                                                                                  

You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy,                                                                                                       

Altogether wonderful to me.

King of all days, oh, so highly exalted,                                                                                                                

Glorious in heaven above,                                                                                                                              

Humbly You came to the earth You created,                                                                                                            

All for love's sake became poor.

     And I'll never know how much it cost                                                                                                                    

     To see my sin upon that cross.                                                                                                                                      

     I'll never know how much it cost                                                                                                                             

     To see my sin upon that cross.

Here I am to worship; here I am to bow down;                                                                                                         

Here I am to say that You're my God.                                                                                                                   

You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy,                                                                                                        

Altogether wonderful to me.

Both of these sort of tie in with the theme I've had going recently of who God is.  I'd like to add one more.  It's by our own Jaylene Johnson who uses less traditional words to describe who God is, and it's called "Lord of All":

Maker of the moon and stars, Stirrer of the seas,                                                                                                     

Tender of the earth that feeds me, Clother of the lily fields,                                                                             

You are Lord of all.

Giver of the air I breathe, Keeper of my soul,                                                                                                          

Author of the endless story, Love that never lets me go,                                                                                          

You are Lord of all.

You're Lord of all the hurricanes I'll never handle on my own,

You're Lord of all the suff'ring, all the pain and sorrow that I've known.                                                         

You're Lord of all, and I will lift my voice and praise Your holy name.                                                                         

Whatever may befall me, You are Lord of all.

Mighty God and Holy One, Father, Spirit, Son,                                                                                               

Wisdom of eternal ages, here before the worlds were spun,                                                                          You are Lord of all.