Faithful and True. Forever.

I was laughing at myself yesterday when I told a friend about a little conversation I had with God the other morning.  I have been trying to remind myself of His presence a little more since He isn't necessarily doing it for me so much lately.  So I opened my eyes, and said, "Oh, yeah!  Good morning, Lord!  How are You?" Then, as I began to chuckle at myself for asking Him how He was, I actually got an answer:  "Faithful and true."  Of course, He is completely aware that those are two words that I frequently use when I am thanking Him for who He is in my life.

So my friend laughed with me, and then admitted that she had also said to Him once, "How are You?"  The answer she heard back was, "The same as always!"  So good to know that there is "no variation or shadow of turning" with our "Father of lights" from whom we receive "every good and perfect gift"  (James 1:17).

This never-changing, faithful and true God has given such an incredible array of blessings.  I remember going for a walk on a lovely spring day, when the trees were starting to bud, and blossoms were coming out, and the birds were singing, and the sky was blue, and the breeze was gentle, and the air was sweet, and the almost involuntary response was, "Oh, thank You, God.  You are so amazing, and so, so good."  I had such a joyful feeling of exaltation and exulting!   And I wondered, what do unbelievers or evolutionists do with those feelings that rise up when so much loveliness confronts them?  Where do they go to say "Thank you" for such beauty?

There are occasions when I hear my children or grandchildren laughing together, and there is such a joy in that too, that I have to say, "Oh, thank You, Father!"  Of course, the list of things to be thankful for could go on and on, and on and on.

When I started writing this post, I wasn't sure where it was going to go, but maybe I'll just harp on a theme I've brought up before, about thankfulness.  It is easy to grumble and gripe, but how much more uplifting to express gratitude and count our blessings!  There is research in the field of neuroscience that proves attitude affects our physical health, and specifically immunity.  So in the middle of this corona situation, practising thankfulness may be what our bodies need to keep us safe. Do you think God was onto something when He told us repeatedly to "Bless the Lord!" and "Praise the Lord!" and "Serve the Lord with gladness" and "Give thanks in all things" and "Rejoice in the Lord always"?  There's such a good chance that He knew that as we bless Him, we are blessed.

Did I mention before that 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 makes up a prayer sandwich?  Prayer ("pray without ceasing") is the filling sandwiched between "Rejoice always" and "In everything give thanks..."  What we call the Lord's prayer has a similar pattern; it starts with acknowledging "Our Father who is in heaven" and takes time to focus on the holiness of His name:  "Hallowed be Thy name."  It ends with "Thine be the kingdom and the power and the glory."  Requests are sandwiched between.

"Hallowed be Your name" leads me to another thought.  (I feel as though I'm rambling a bit here, but it's my blog, so it's my privilege, right?)  In Psalm 91, I noticed that the last three verses had God saying what He would do for us because we fulfilled three conditions.  One of those conditions was "he has known My name."  (The other two were "he has set his love upon Me" and "he shall call upon Me.")  Because the three conditions were met, He promised to (1) rescue him, (2) set him on high, (3) answer him, (4) be with him in trouble, (5) deliver him, (6) honour him, (7) satisfy him with long life, and (8) "show him My salvation".   What He does for us is so far above and beyond what is expected of us.
  To "set our love upon Him" when we consider all He has done for us isn't too difficult.  To "call upon Him" when we need help comes pretty naturally.  To "know His name" may take a little studying and it's a worthwhile subject to research.  I gave a list of names of God in my "Oh, magnify the Lord" blog but, of course, He has so many more.  

Like, for instance, forever "Faithful and True" (Revelation 19:11).

Crucifixion

Years ago, someone lent us a book describing the horrors of crucifixion during the reign of the Romans.  Today I looked at a number of sites on the same subject.  Apparently, it was inarguably the most hideous form of torture of that time.
The scourging was typically the initial part of the procedure.  The Roman soldier would wield a whip of several cords which had bits of metal or bone attached to the ends.  As the whip was pulled back, the skin and muscle were ripped off the back, buttocks, legs, and sometimes the shoulders, neck and head as well.  The scene in "The Passion of the Christ" couldn't come close to the actual agonizing hideousness of what Jesus endured.
The soldiers mocked Him, putting a scarlet robe on His bleeding back, bowing before Him and then tearing the robe off Him again when they had enough of  slapping Him and spitting in His face.  It was even customary to pull out the beard of the condemned men, and this was prophesied of Jesus in Isaiah 50:6.  Jesus endured the additional torture of having a crown of sharp, stinging thorns pressed into His head, and the soldiers kept striking His head with a reed, driving the thorns deeper and deeper into His scalp.
Then the rough heavy wooden beam of the cross was laid across that torn-up back, rubbing into the open wounds with every step, every movement.  The victim was already weak from loss of blood, but still this was required of him.
At the site of the crucifixion, the spikes were driven into the hands or wrists and into the crossbar.  It seems the upright post was often left in place for one victim after another.  If this was the case, that beam with the victim attached would be raised by ropes into position with the full weight of his body hanging from those spikes.  Or if the whole cross was being raised at that time, it would be dropped into a hole and the body hanging there would be jarred, again with all the weight supported from those spikes.  The shoulders would dislocate.  The nerves in the hands and wrists would be screaming.  The chest couldn't expand.  The criminal would be suffocating.
Until....the feet were nailed to the cross, allowing the victim to push himself up enough to draw in a breath.  But the agony of supporting the body's weight on the spikes in the feet would be too much and he would lower himself to hanging from his hands again.  The need to draw another breath would drive him to push up on his feet again.  All his muscles would begin to cramp and spasm.  This up-and-down motion was repeated over and over and over, sometimes over many days before death won out.  With each push up or slide down, the rough wood exacerbated the pain in the exposed nerves of the scourged back.
Agony upon agony upon agony.
Then there was the aspect of the indignity and the shame attached to this particular form of capital punishment.  It was understood in that society that if someone was crucified, he had to be the lowest of the low, worthless, despicable, to be derided and jeered at.
Why would our Lord have to endure such a death as this?  Why was He so beaten that Isaiah 52:14 described Him prophetically as having "His appearance marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of man"?  Why could He not have been pushed off a cliff as was attempted when the people in His hometown of Nazareth rejected His message?  Or anything less dramatic and horrendous than dying on the cross?
Jesus had said of Himself, "as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up."  He became what the serpent symbolized:  sin and evil.  We have this amazing verse in 2 Corinthians 5:21, "....(God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."  He took into Himself all sin, the embezzler's who bilked the life savings from hundreds of people, the cruelest dictator's, the worst mass murderer's, the pedophile's, and certainly all ours, however black and shameful they may be.  When we accept His substitutionary death as being for us, each one of us individually, then our sins are wiped away.  Just a little earlier in the same chapter, we read "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them".  Our slates are wiped clean.  No smudge or stain remaining.  Our trespasses have all been imputed to Jesus who bore them on the cross for us.  How entirely amazing!
Galatians 3:13 says "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree')."  He actually became a curse for us.  This was to free us from all the curse of the law.  If you wonder what God considers a curse, read Deuteronomy 28 starting at verse 15.  It includes everything you don't want to have in your life:  defeat before your enemies, poverty, sicknesses of every kind, broken families, bondage, children taken away into captivity, and on and on.  Jesus literally became a curse to set us free from all of that.
If you don't know Isaiah 53:5, please learn it and repeat it often:  "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed."
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."

No social distance with God

After Eric died, for several months, I would wake up every morning and the first thoughts I had were, "God, You are so good and so faithful!"  I can't take any credit for that.  It was just a gift from God to keep me reminded that He was right there with me.  I really didn't feel alone.

That isn't happening nearly as often anymore, but one morning last week I woke up from a great sleep, rolled over on my back, smiled up at the ceiling and said, "Thank You, Father!"  (although why I thought He was up at the ceiling, I don't know.)

My next thought was, "He isn't restricted with social distancing."  He is not obliged to stay 2 arm-lengths away from any of us.  He is right here, and has promised to stay.

It's interesting that in several instances in the Bible, God told people not to fear, and the reason was simply that He was with them.  There's that verse I really like, Isaiah 41:10:  Fear not.  (Why?)  Because I am with you.  Do not be dismayed.  (Why?)  Because I am your God.  I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

When Moses got his assignment to go free the children of Israel from Egypt, he said, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?"  And God said, "Certainly, I will be with you" indicating that should clearly be enough.
When Moses had experienced God's faithful presence over decades, and was giving his last address to the people of Israel before he died and before they crossed the Jordan River to start taking over the land there from the nations that occupied them, he told them, "Fear not, nor be afraid of them for the Lord your God, it is He who goes with you.  He will not fail you nor forsake you."

To Joshua, who was being installed as the leader in Moses' place, and was no doubt wondering how he would fill such big shoes after Moses died, the Lord spoke directly to Joshua, "As I was with Moses, I will be with you.  I will not abandon you; I will not leave you....Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid or dismayed for the Lord your God is with you, wherever you go."

In Judges 6, we have the story of Gideon.  He received orders from God to free Israel from its enemy, Midian.  He felt entirely inadequate; "O my Lord, how can I save Israel?  Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father's house."  God's answer?  "But I will be with you, and you will strike the Midianites as one man."

Jacob received a similar assurance:  "Remember, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land.  For I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you."

In Joseph's remarkable story, even though he was first a slave and then a prisoner, it is said he prospered.  As a slave in Potiphar's household, "the Lord was with Joseph so that he became a prosperous man....His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper."  And then, in prison, "the Lord was with Joseph and showed him mercy and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison....The Lord was with him, and whatever he did, the Lord made it to prosper."

God is so matter-of-fact about it.  "Hey, all of you, I am with you.  Why worry and get stressed out?  I am all you need."

So let's keep ourselves reminded that our heavenly Father is with us.  He is our protection, all around us.  His Spirit is even inside us.  Jesus promised He would be with us even to the end of the age.  We have the promise that He will never, never leave us or forsake us.  So be encouraged.  Take heart.  Expect the best.  Smile at Him and thank Him for His faithfulness in being the ever-present One, Jehovah Shammah.  

And fear not, and do not be dismayed!  God is not social-distancing from you!