Tag: Worship that matters to God

Asking Ourselves the Hard Questions, Preparing for Lent, How Is God’s Power Made Perfect in All of Our Weaknesses? 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

2 Corinthians 12:7-10Amplified Bible

A Thorn in the Flesh

7 Because of the surpassing greatness and extraordinary nature of the revelations [which I received from God], for this reason, to keep me from thinking of myself as important, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan, to torment and harass me—to keep me from exalting myself! 8 Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave me; 9 but He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you [My lovingkindness and My mercy are more than enough—always available—regardless of the situation]; for [My] power is being perfected [and is completed and shows itself most effectively] in [your] weakness.” Therefore, I will all the more gladly boast in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ [may completely enfold me and] may dwell in me. 10 So I am well pleased with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, and with difficulties, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak [in human strength], then I am strong [truly able, truly powerful, truly drawing from God’s strength].

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

A Thorn in the Flesh …

The apostle Paul was dedicated to God.

But Paul had a “thorn in the flesh”—possibly a persistently challenging and spiritually demanding circumstance or disease that bothered him quite a lot.

He called it “a messenger of Satan, to torment” him.

We don’t know exactly what it was, but somehow it made Paul physically or spiritually [or both] weaker than he wanted to be.

Thorns prick, scratch, and wound.

However, the point of Paul’s example is that because of his thorn in the flesh, God was able to work through him and his weaknesses ever more powerfully.

Although Paul had pleaded three times with the Lord to take his thorn away, the Lord only responded saying to Paul,

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Paul notes that he was given his thorn “in order to keep . . . from becoming conceited.”

This means Paul knew if he did not have this thorn, he could have become self-reliant and proud of his ability to “power through anything by his own will.”

So Paul is teaching us that his thorn in the flesh was actually a good thing.

It was a sign of God’s grace to keep him focused on God, dependent on God, reliant on God and away from his becoming a proud “iron willed” follower.

And we can surely thank God for that.

This does not mean we should ask God to give us a thorn in the flesh.

We can trust that God knows what is best for us.

But if God does allow us to have a particular kind of suffering, we can also trust that he can use it to do good.

As Paul writes in another place,

“We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

How Is God’s Power Made Perfect in Weakness?

Although being a Christian doesn’t grant us the power to endure every physical difficulty, it does grant us ready access to the Holy Spirit who abides within us.

His Holy Spirit may not be a superpower, but it’s a genuine supernatural power.

It may not enable us to look like the Hulk when it comes to both spiritual and physical challenges, but Holy Spirit provides us with an otherworldly strength to live into our oncoming circumstances and to conquer the challenges of life.

This is the kind of strength that can only be manifested in our weaknesses.

In 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul wrote, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” 

So what is this power, and how can we, as believers, come to access it during the up and coming Post-Pandemic Lenten season and strenuous challenges of life?

What Does ‘My Power Is Made Perfect in Weakness’ Mean?

We often try to come across as the I-can-do-it-all Christian—making perfect grades in school or raising well-behaved children while maintaining the ultra squeaky-clean Christian reputation in church.

If we come across a challenge that seems too much for us to handle, we often blame ourselves for not being “strong enough.”

As though we some how an in some way believe that God automatically expects us to do all the things with “ease” and never cave beneath the pressures of life.

But we were simply never created to bear this life through our own strength.

In fact, we don’t even have within ourselves the ability to bear its weight!

So why should we or do we, try so hard to look like Miss or Mr. Independent “Iron” Christian when, really, God frowns upon this type of approach to life?

It is impossible for us to conquer anything apart from God’s sufficient grace.

Writing this, I wonder if God purposely created our bodies to cave beneath pressure—so we could realize we can do nothing apart from Him (see John 15:5).

But rather than allowing this to make us frustrated, get all of our faults and all failures and failings all bunched up inside our heads, perhaps we should instead use these weaknesses to propel us closer to our Savior Jesus Christ, and drawing supernatural strength from the power of the Holy Spirit – to rely more on God?.

God intended us to rely on this Holy Spirit day-by-day, moment-by-moment.

This is why Jesus said this to His disciples before He was crucified:

“But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.” [John 16:7]

John 16:7Amplified Bible

7 But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the [a]Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him (the Holy Spirit) to you [to be in close fellowship with you].

It is for our benefit that Jesus left the “Advocate,” which is the Holy Spirit.

If we did not have the Spirit abiding within us, then we would not have access to this power.

We would struggle through life, relying only on our own mental an physical muscles to face life’s battles.

But we do have the Holy Spirit.

This means as we abide in Him, we can draw strength from Him rather than ourselves.

We can ask Him to give us what we need to overcome this life.

Confessing ourselves before Him: “No, me, myself, I, simply cannot do it all.”

That’s a good thing!

If we could, then we would never have the opportunity to allow God’s power—which is far stronger than any human strength—to be made apparent within us.

We would continue through life as Miss or Mrs. or Mr. Iron Clad Independent Christian, never having a need to depend on God alone and gain access to His grave-conquering power.

What Is the Context of 2 Corinthians 12:9?

In this chapter, Paul shares about a heavenly vision God gave him that gained him access to spiritual revelations.

He was not permitted to share these insights with anyone and did not want to receive the credit for them.

To keep him humble, he says that God intentionally allowed him to have a “thorn in the flesh” (see verse 7).

Paul goes on to discuss the pain of this suffering, as well as its eventual advantage, in verses 8-10:

“Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Obviously, the strength he refers to in the final verse is not human strength but a supernatural strength.

And it is only through experiencing the weakness that he was he able to receive this power.

In other words, Paul recognized that it was not through an independent attitude that he could boast, but rather a complete dependency, reliance upon God.

It was this dependency and reliance on God that kept him humble as well.

It is also interesting to take a look at the meaning of the Greek words used in this passage.

The phrase “is sufficient” is arkei, which means to assist, benefit, and to be satisfied.

Christ’s grace benefits us in our weaknesses by allowing us to grow stronger—not in our might, but in His.

Thus, we are more equipped to face the challenges and sufferings of life.

The word “power” here is dynamis, which implies a force and miraculous power.

It is pretty miraculous when His strength becomes manifested in our weaknesses!

“Is perfected” is teleitai, which implies bringing to completion, to accomplish and fulfill.

When we receive His miraculous power to strengthen us, we don’t just receive a portion of it.

We can receive it to the full—and all for the singular purpose of accomplishing His perfect will.

Finally, the phrase “may rest” is episkēnōsē.

This is translated to mean to pitch a tent upon or to dwell and abide within.

How interesting is that?

So, If you like camping out under the stars …

So, if you like staying dry against the rains …

In a strong, dependable, reliable, long lasting, enduring, well staked tent,

Psalm 19Amplified Bible

The Works and the Word of God.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.

19 The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And the expanse [of heaven] is declaring the work of His hands.
2 
Day after day pours forth speech,
And night after night reveals knowledge.
3 
There is no speech, nor are there [spoken] words [from the stars];
Their voice is not heard.
4 
Yet their voice [in quiet evidence] has gone out through all the earth,
Their words to the end of the world.
In them and in the heavens He has made a tent for the sun,
5 
Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;
It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.
6 
The sun’s rising is from one end of the heavens,
And its circuit to the other end of them;
And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

7 
The law of the Lord is perfect (flawless), restoring and refreshing the soul;
The statutes of the Lord are reliable and trustworthy, making wise the simple.
8 
The precepts of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true, they are righteous altogether.
10 
They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
11 
Moreover, by them Your servant is warned [reminded, illuminated, and instructed];
In keeping them there is great reward.
12 
Who can understand his errors or omissions? Acquit me of hidden (unconscious, unintended) faults.
13 
Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous (deliberate, willful) sins;
Let them not rule and have control over me.
Then I will be blameless (complete),
And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.
14 
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable and pleasing in Your sight,
O Lord, my [firm, immovable] rock and my Redeemer.

Let that love for camping become one more “JEHOVAH” sized reminder …

Christ’s power can literally descend upon us as we dwell and abide in Him.

This “tent” of Christ can remain our safe place of refuge.

It’s interesting to note, too, how the phrase “may rest” in this passage compares to the phrase “made His dwelling” in John 1:14:

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”

The passage “made His dwelling” is translated eskēnōsen, which means to dwell in a tent, to occupy or to reside.

So, Jesus came to earth so that He could dwell with us—and when He departed, He gave us the Holy Spirit so that He could continue to do the same.

He still dwells with us, and we can dwell in Him.

But we must crucify our desires to work and face this life apart from Christ.

After all, it is only as we abide and dwell in Him that we will display His full power within us, bearing “much fruit,” as mentioned in John 15.

What Does the Bible Have to Say about Weakness?

The word “weakness” in 2 Corinthians 12:9 implies suffering, insults, and persecution.

These aren’t exactly physical limitations but rather limitations we face in our everyday lives, such as the temptation to sin, heartache, and distress.

It is evident throughout the Bible that God does not intend to remove these weaknesses from our life.

If He did, then we would never have the pleasure of witnessing His power overcome.

We would never have the privilege of allowing our weaknesses to find their rest and completion in His strength.

Sadly, the idea of depending on someone may look like a weakness itself to our society.

We love to come across as strong, independent, and self-reliant, needing nothing and no one.

It is true humans are strong and intelligent—but this type of “Iron and Steel” independent mentality is frowned upon in God’s eyes.

And our strength is nothing to boast about, because according to 1 Corinthians 1:25, “God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.”

So if God’s weakness is even stronger than our greatest strength, then why shouldn’t we willingly want to receive His power?

One of the reasons why God allowed His Son to come to earth was so that He could understand our human condition.

Basically, He wanted to become familiar with our weaknesses. 

Hebrews 4:15-16 makes this clear:

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Jesus understands our sufferings.

Why, then, should we try to stubbornly fix our issues by ourselves when the One who has already conquered this world invites each and every single one of us to completely, utterly, and fully, rely on Him?

It is only when we relent in our own efforts and apply the above Scripture to our lives that we will then fully appreciate and abundantly receive the help we need.

God’s power being made evident in our weaknesses is also illustrated in stories throughout the Old Testament, such as David conquering Goliath, as well as in the following verses:

“He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength” Isaiah 40:29.

“So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty” Zechariah 4:6.

Apostle Paul also spoke of God’s strength being made known in his weakness in Philippians 4:11-13: 

“Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

When I read these passages of scripture, enormous joy arises within me because I realize just exactly how empowered I am.

Whatever trials or temptations God allows into my life, I can overcome.

Not in my own strength, of course, but in God’s power being made perfect in my weakness.

Another reference to our fragility finding completion in God’s strength is in 2 Corinthians 4:7, where Paul wrote: 

“We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.”

Perhaps this is why God often uses the weak of the world to demonstrate His greatest power and to “shame the wise” (see 1 Corinthians 1:27):

So that more of His glory can be on display.

When we overcome a weakness we would not be able to conquer on our own, then it is obvious, just like the above verse says, the great power came from God and not from ourselves.

And shouldn’t that remain our main goal as Christians?

To spread more of His glory rather than our own? 

But the only way we can gain this strength is to give up our independent tendencies and learn how to rely on the Holy Spirit within us. 

Ephesians 3:16 says, “I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being.”

I believe God is searching for Christians who can admit their weaknesses and shortcomings, because only in doing that will His purposes be accomplished.

This is why Jesus left behind the Holy Spirit, after all.

So as we dwell in Him, we could be empowered to embrace the uncomfortable, including sufferings and persecution.

All for the sake of extending His Kingdom.

This means that the weaker we are, the more His power can be displayed within us and through us.

Apostle Paul was right—we now have every right to boast in our weaknesses!

This Lenten Season, Let’s choose to Go ‘camping’ with God, Son, Holy Spirit.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, thank You that Your grace is sufficient for all my needs. Help me to recognise and rejoice in the knowledge that Your power is made perfect in my own weakness. Help me to boast all the more gladly in my inabilities so that Your great ability may be manifest in my life. By thy Holy Spirit, May everything I do be to Your praise and glory, my Lord and my God. Creating and eternal God, whose grace is sufficient for us and whose power is made perfect in weakness, in our weakness and insufficiency, we offer our lives and the gifts of our living for the work of your mustard seed kingdom; in our Lord, King and Savior Jesus’ name. AMEN.

https://translate.google.com/

Blessings From God’s Word: Bless Me and Revive Me, O’ God. Make Your Face to Shine Bright Upon Me, Your Servant. Psalm 119:129-136

Psalm 119:129-136 Amplified Bible

Pe.

129 
Your testimonies are wonderful;
Therefore my soul keeps them.
130 
The unfolding of Your [glorious] words give light;
Their unfolding gives understanding to the simple (childlike).
131 
I opened my mouth and panted [with anticipation],
Because I longed for Your commandments.
132 
Turn to me and be gracious to me and show me favor,
As is Your way to those who love Your name.
133 
Establish my footsteps in [the way of] Your word;
Do not let any human weakness have power over me [causing me to be separated from You].
134 
Redeem me from the oppression of man;
That I may keep Your precepts.
135 
Make Your face shine [with pleasure] upon Your servant,
And teach me Your statutes.
136 
My eyes weep streams of water
Because people do not keep Your law.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria, In Excelsis Deo, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

Blessings From God’s Word …

Make your face shine with pleasure on your servant and teach me your decrees.

—  Psalm 119:135

The words of the Psalmist from verse 135 “Make your face shine on your servant” echoes the great blessing found in the High Aaronic prayer Numbers 6:24-26.

There God explains how to give his people a blessing, saying:

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”

Here God conveys to his people that He has turned His face upon them, sees them and promises to be gracious to them, to love and vigilantly protect them.

In our reading from the Psalms for today, the psalmist sees the light of God’s Word, and his passion for God grows, leading to a greater thirst for God’s Word.

As he reads and meditates, ponders and absorbs, the writer’s understanding of God’s love, mercy, and compassion deepens and his longing for God increases.

The intensity of his passion for God leads him even to pant for God’s Word!

Another important thing to note here is that the psalmist calls himself God’s servant.

Connecting God’s blessing with service, the psalmist reminds us that blessings do not stop when they land on our doorstep.

God blesses us—his servants—so that we can serve and be a blessing to the people around us.

Go ahead and ask God for his blessing, because God wants to bless you.

He also wants us to be keenly attentive to his Word, to praise Him, to pray and to worship Him and to learn His statutes, to revive, actively serve in his world.

Teach Me Your Statutes, O God …

God’s word is a treasure filled with fine riches that teach us about the God who created us and how to live in a way that pleases Him.

Often, we can disconnect God’s word from our lives and make reading His word a mere intellectual pursuit or religious practice.

Psalm 119 is a beautiful prayer that asks God to deeply connect the psalmist’s life with the word of God.

One of the most oft repeated phrases the psalmist passionately prays is for God to teach him to live by his statutes, which appears Psalm 119 at least ten times:

“Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes!” Psalm 119:12

“Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” Psalm 119:18

“When I told of my ways, you answered me; teach me your statutes!” Psalm 119:26

“Teach me, O LORD, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end.” Psalm 119:33 

“The earth, O LORD, is full of your steadfast love; teach me your statutes!” Psalm 119:64

“You are good and do good; teach me your statutes.” Psalm 119:68

“Your hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.” Psalm 119:73

“Deal with your servant according to your steadfast love, and teach me your statutes.” Psalm 119:124

“I am your servant; give me understanding, that I may know your testimonies!” Psalm 119:25

“Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes.” Psalm 119:135

“Let my cry come before you, O LORD; give me understanding according to your word!“ Psalm 119:169

We could, would, should be all be the wiser to make these verses (and the whole psalm) an essential element of our daily prayer life, our heart cry to our Savior.

Ah, the Sweetest Mystery of Life …

Ecclesiastes 8:16-9:6Amplified Bible

16 When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to see the activities [of mankind] that take place upon the earth—how some men seem to sleep neither day nor night— 17 and I saw all the work of God, I concluded that man cannot discover the work that is done under the sun. Even though man may labor in seeking, he will not discover; and [more than that], though a wise man thinks and claims he knows, he will not be able to find it out.

Men Are in the Hand of God

9 For I have taken all this to heart, exploring and examining it all, how the righteous (those in right standing with God) and the wise and their deeds are in the hands of God. No man knows whether it will be love or hatred; anything awaits him.

2 It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers sacrifices and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as he who swears an oath is, so is he who is afraid to swear an oath. 3 This evil is in all that is done under the sun, that one fate comes to all. Also, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and afterwards they go to the dead. 4  [There is no exemption,] but whoever is joined with all the living, has hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion. 5 For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they no longer have a reward [here], for the memory of them is forgotten. 6 Indeed their love, their hatred and their zeal have already perished, and they will no longer have a share [in this age] in anything that is done under the sun.

The Searcher’s claim is quite clear: life is too complicated, too vast, too filled with conflicting elements for any one of us to figure out all the answers.

Though we stay up all night and day, trying to think through and understand the complicated events that bring to pass the circumstances of our lives, we will never fully understand.

The Bible attaches no stigma to trying to understand life.

Rather, the pursuit of knowledge is everywhere encouraged in Scripture.

We must never adopt the attitude of anti-intellectualism that characterizes some segments of Christianity today.

We are to reason and think about what God is doing and what life gives us.

But we must always remember that no matter how much we try to think about life, mysteries will still remain.

We do not have enough data, nor do we have enough ability to see life in its totality to answer all the questions.

We must be content with some degree of mystery.

Though the wisest man of the ancient world wrote these words, he admits that humans cannot know all the answers.

He even says that diligence in labor will not unravel life’s mysteries: Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its meaning. 

We will still be left collectively knitting our brows, collectively scratching our heads, and asking the eternally unanswerable question: “Why, Me, Lord”?

Even when people claim to know the answers behind what happens to us, they are really only deceiving themselves.

Many people are unwilling to accept the truth of the precepts of Scripture until they can “come to fully, completely, utterly,” understand everything in it.

But if you and I are waiting for that, you will never make it -“failure to thrive” .

Although this book Ecclesiastes was written almost 2,500 years ago, it is still true, even in our age of advanced knowledge, no one can find all the answers.

We must diligently search out the statutes of God – through prayer and study.

When you and I think about our own life, about how many of the things that have happened to us have been determined by events over which we had zero control—events that had to fall together in a certain pattern before they could ever come to pass [by God’s Plan]—you, I, can see how true these words are.

No one can find out all the answers.

The sweetest mystery to life is that the destiny of our lives may all hung upon a simple decision to go or not to go to a church on a particular Sunday because we had some sort of “issue, grievance, grudge etcetera,” against the church itself.

Learning something about God’s precepts for our “Christian living” may just be revealed on that day during the course of praise, worship, reading of scripture.

We have to continuously place ourselves directly in the path of the Word of God.

We have to continuously stay passionate about letting God work in us and also through us by means of the unmatched power of His transformative Word.

How can we understand that strange merging of simplicity and complexity?

The Searcher of Ecclesiastes continuously and constantly argues that life is too complicated without the Word of God, for us ever to answer all the questions.

We will inevitably run out of brain power when, all by ourselves, we keep trying to be “a Sermon in Shoes Christian” finding our answers to the mystery of life.

Is understanding everything in Scripture necessary before accepting it as truth?

A Puzzle and a Song …

Romans 11:30-12:3Amplified Bible

30 Just as you once were disobedient and failed to listen to God, but have now obtained mercy because of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now become disobedient so that they too may one day receive mercy because of the mercy shown to you. 32 For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that He may show mercy to all [Jew and Gentile alike].

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and decisions and how unfathomable and untraceable are His ways! 34 For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor? 35 Or who has first given to Him that it would be paid back to him? 36 For from Him [all things originate] and through Him [all things live and exist] and to Him are all things [directed]. To Him be glory and honor forever! Amen.

Dedicated Service

12 [a]Therefore I urge you, [b]brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be [c]transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].

3 For by the grace [of God] given to me I say to everyone of you not to think more highly of himself [and of his importance and ability] than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has apportioned to each a degree of faith [and a purpose designed for service].

I love puzzles but it bothers me and it frustrates me to no end the challenge of sitting still long enough and putting together any 1,000-piece jig­saw puzzle.

Like my wife, some people will go online, just to do the most complex Sudoku.

She has developed a system whereby she just systematically “breezes through.”

That is not me, either …

I like Sudoku … but I cannot just “breeze through” them like she does.

I watch her, admire her ability to “order and sort out” all of the numbers.

I just need take my time and pray I finish without too many mistakes.

Too many mistakes … I just shut the game down as quickly as possible.

Revealing that sometimes our puzzles can end up puzzling us.

That’s how it was for the apostle Paul.

Paul wrestled with a very personal problem.

By God’s grace he had come to know Jesus as his Savior.

As he went about doing his missionary work, many Gentiles came to faith in Jesus as Lord.

But many of his own Jewish people rejected Jesus.

It was mind boggling to him.

Were they not God’s special people chosen to share God’s love with the world?

Nevertheless, Paul was so confident of God’s great mercy he broke into song.

Paul confesses that we can never fully grasp God’s eternal plan.

Our efforts to understand God, define him, or reduce him to our level will ultimately fail.

God owes us no explanation; nor is he accountable to us—for he is God.

There is something we can do—in fact, two things.

First, Paul implies that we should keep praising God because all glory belongs to him forever.

Then Paul goes on to say that the only reasonable response to all this is to offer ourselves in complete service to God and to be completely available for his use.

Are we doing that?

By Praise and Worship, by Prayer and Meditation and Study of God’s Word,

Are we looking to God for answers to even the most uncomplicated of puzzles?

“Reviving” the “Lost Art” of “Knowing God better than we Know Ourselves?”

Do you desire to continually learn and be taught God’s word and statues?

Does your heart yearn to be taught the path of God and to fix the gaze of your heart and your soul upon Him?

How say Ye to this …?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray, ….

Lord, often we are as puzzled as the Psalmist, the Teacher and the Apostle Paul about the host of ways you deal with us. Even so, may we stand in awe of your amazing grace and respond to you with songs of praise and acts of service. Lord, cause us to continually grow in our understanding and learning of your statutes, making us wise and obedient to you. Cause us to fear your name and pursue an obedient and joyful life as Bible-saturated people who look to you for wisdom, grace, and life. Teach us your statutes and may our lives be characterized by joyful obedience to your word and by demonstrating constant dependence on you. And may you fill us ever more increasingly with your Holy Spirit, who alone, can truly teach us all your statutes.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

https://translate.google.com/

Are we Looking Through Heaven’s Open Door? 10 Reasons We Should Believe in Heaven. Revelation 4:1-4

Revelation 4:1-4Amplified Bible

Scene in Heaven

4 After this I looked, and behold, [a]a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a [war] trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.” 2 At once I was in [special communication with] the Spirit; and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with One seated on the throne. 3 And He who sat there appeared like [the crystalline sparkle of] [b]a jasper stone and [the fiery redness of] a sardius stone, and encircling the throne there was a rainbow that looked like [the color of an] emerald. 4 Twenty-four [other] thrones surrounded the throne; and seated on these thrones were [c]twenty-four elders dressed in white clothing, with crowns of gold on their heads.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

Once John was charged to write the book of Revelation, when he met with the resurrected, glorified Lord Jesus in chapter 1, and having received Christ’s 7 letters to the 7 churches in chapters 2-3, he is given a vision of the throne room of God and commanded to, “Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.”

Not only was John given important information for the Churches, but he was also commanded to ‘see’ and to ‘hear’ what was going to happen beyond the current Church age, “after these things.”

After acting as God’s heavenly, High Priest to the Church-age saints and interceding as heaven’s Mediator between God and man, John is shown how Christ will begin to take on His role of Judge, before returning to earth to claim His position as King of kings and Lord of lords.

“I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven,” John writes, “and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me.”

The angel who met John in the prologue was the same angel who accompanied him throughout the entire revelation of Jesus Christ – which the Father gave to His Son… to give to John through His angel.

The apostle John was about to receive a preview of the future, which began with a vision of heaven in chapter 4 and moved to the worship of the Lamb of God in chapter 5.

He saw One seated on the throne which had the appearance of crystal-clear jasper and a blood-red Sardis stone, and John recorded that there was a rainbow surrounding the throne that reminded him of a brilliant green emerald. 

Twice he was summoned to, “come up here.”

The same voice which sounded like that of a trumpet in chapter 1, commanded him to join the heavenly host of angelic beings that surrounded the throne of God, by means of a door which was standing open in heaven.

And being, “in the spirit on the Lord’s day,” John was given an amazing insight into the future.. and greater revelation of Jesus Christ the Lamb of God and Lion of the tribe of Judah.

After Christ’s revelation to the Churches ended, John’s vison changed, and he was ushered into heaven – in spirit and in truth.

He discovered that the heavenly scene into which he had been brought, was preparing to unseal a special scroll which had been securely sealed by God Himself with seven seals.

As the heavenly scene unfolded, John discovered that he was witnessing to the precursor of the prophesied judgement on earth – the Day of the Lord which he recorded in chapters 6-19 when the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. 

The sight that John saw during chapters 4-5, were the heavenly preparation for that future time of Great Tribulation, recorded in chapters 6-19, which is to fall on a Christ-rejecting sinful world and which will bring Israel to national repentance and punishment to the God-hating, Christ-rejecting, sinful world.

While John’s body remained on earth, his spirit was translated into heaven where he witnessed a vision of the angelic host that surround the throne of Almighty God – the Ancient of Days.

As he looked, John was introduced to four living creatures who worship God day and night and 24 elders who were clothed in white raiment with crowns of gold on their heads. 

The vison of the throne-room of God, the worship of the Lamb Who was slain, and the presentation of a seven-sealed scroll, which no-one but Lamb could break, are all part-and-parcel of the heavenly vision John saw in chapters 4 and 5.

It was after he had received Christ’s revelation to the Church (chapters 1-3) but before the revelation of Christ to the world in His role as Judge (chapters 6-19) when the wrath of God is poured out upon the children of disobedience, that the aged apostle John looked,

“and behold, a door was standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said to him, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.'”

In chapters 4 and 5 of Reve­la­tion, the focus shifts to a new and powerful story of God’s ongoing mission.

This new section begins with John seeing “a door standing open in heaven.”

This picture surprises us because we know that an open door often extends an invitation to come in.

This is an enticing opportunity to believe because heaven is often considered a place of mysteries that we do not have access to.

For the most part, it is God’s secret—at least from our day-to-day living in this life.

But here Jesus opens heaven’s door.

And in a voice like a trumpet, he welcomes us, saying, “Come up here.”

The invitation promises to reveal “what must take place after this.”

But as John tells the story of walking through heaven’s open door, the future is not the first thing that catches his attention.

Instead, he sees “a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.”

Heaven’s open door has us standing before the throne of all thrones, from which everything in heaven and on earth is loved and cared for.

Still today, the Holy Spirit opens heaven’s door wide so that we can visualize, believe, this scene and let its story encourage us to live by faith in Jesus today.

Considering Reasons to Believe in Heaven

Let us strive to remember that the one who reads, hears, and takes to heart this amazing revelation is blessed.

“Blessed is he that reads, and those that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein, for the time is at hand.”

Believing in Heaven …

“Heaven is a fairy tale for people afraid of the dark.” –Stephen Hawking

I’m afraid of the dark.

If we are talking about the endless kind of darkness which offers us no light anywhere, no hope ever, and nothing but nothingness, who among us would not panic at the thought of that?

I expect people like Mr. Hawking simply find the idea of Heaven too good to be true, and thus conclude that it must be a product of man’s delusional yearning for “pie in the sky by and by.”

And yet, there are solid reasons for reasonable people to believe in the concept of a Heavenly home after this earthly life.

Here are some that mean a lot to me.

By no means is this list exhaustive.

It’s simply my laymen’s thinking on the subject.

The God who made us created us with a longing for Himself and a satisfaction in nothing less. {Ecclesiastes 3:1-22}

When we get to Heaven, we will finally be satisfied, but not until then.

“I shall be satisfied with Thy likeness when I awake” (Psalm 17:15).

“I go to prepare a place for you,” said our Lord. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:3).

If it were not so, I would have told you.

Jesus said that.

I believe Him.

I choose to believe.

1. Jesus Believed in Heaven

In fact, He claimed to be a native.

The Lord said to Nicodemus, “No one has been to Heaven except the One who came from there, even the Son of Man.” (John 3:13). No one knows a place like a native.

Jesus told the dying thief, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43).

So, wherever we go when we die, it’s a paradise.

True, He left us a thousand unanswered questions on the subject, but what He told us is pure gold.

For instance, when He returns, the dead in Christ accompany Him (I Thessalonians 4:14).

It appears that our eventual destination is somewhere different from the initial, intermediate place called “Paradise,” but we should have no trouble leaving the details to Him – after all, we can trust the One who died for us.

2. Scripture consistently teaches the existence of Heaven.

We must not let people get by with saying the Old Testament knew nothing of Heaven. 

“I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever,” said David in everyone’s favorite psalm.

Or this one: “As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness; I will be satisfied with Thy likeness when I awake” (Psalm 17:15).

Job said, “My Redeemer liveth and at last shall stand upon the earth; yet even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God; whom I myself shall behold, and whom my eyes shall see and not another” (Job 19:25-27).

Neither must we cave to those who say the only way to understand such verses is to get inside the mind of the one who said those words originally, as if what they said is determinative and authoritative.

Peter said the prophets said more than they understood and even angels could not fathom some of these things. (I Peter 1:12).

3. I believe in Heaven because I believe in earth.

It’s so wonderful.

There is nothing else like it in the universe.

Suppose we lived in some distant world and all we knew was the planets we have seen–the barren, rocky planets that are molten in the day and frigid at night, those covered with acidic clouds or endless hurricanes–

and if someone told us about earth, with its steadiness, its atmosphere, its lovely scenery and its plant life and the richness of its minerals and a thousand other delights, we would find it hard to believe.

And yet here it is.

We are residents of this amazing planet.

We take the earth in stride because it’s all we know.

4. There has to be a heaven to even up the earthly hell God’s most faithful sometimes endure for Jesus’ sake.

Those of us who are “carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease,” to use Isaac Watts’ unforgettable image, have little idea of the price some have paid for their loyalty to Jesus Christ through the centuries.

Many live under oppressive regimes in our day, punished for doing nothing more than meeting in someone’s living room to worship or giving a friend a Bible.

I’m tempted to say “God owes them, big time,” but I don’t believe I want to be presumptuous or blasphemous.

“God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love that you have shown toward His name in having ministered to the saints, and in still ministering” is how Hebrews 6:10 puts it.

If God were not to reward the faithfulness of the most loyal, it would be sin on His part.

After all, “this momentary light affliction is working for us an exceeding weight of glory far beyond all comparison” says 2 Corinthians 4:17.

5. Every caterpillar/butterfly testifies to our heavenly future.

Suppose we could inform that caterpillar crawling across a leaf of the glorious future just ahead of him (it?).

Would that humble creature believe he (it) would someday have gorgeous wings and flit through the sky?

So, why do we have such difficulty believing in the destiny God has planned for and promised to His own?

6. I believe in Heaven because the alternative belief is in despair.

“I would have despaired had I not believed I would see the goodness of God in the land of the living” (Psalm 27:13).

This world, by the way, is not the land of the living, but is the land of the dying.

The “land of the living” is just over the next ridge, immediately following our final breath here.

Jesus said, “Because I live, you too shall live.”

Who among us has not grieved at the thought of never seeing a precious loved one again, as we have left the cemetery.  

The alternative to faith is despair.

7. I believe in Heaven because some of the best people who ever lived believed in Heaven.

Pick up a Bible and read it ….

A whole lot of formerly ordinary people from literally all walks of life had come to faith in God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit long before I was ever even told there was a God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. [Hebrews 11, Hebrews 12:1-2.]

8. I believe in Heaven because I believe in hell.

Luke 16:27-28Amplified Bible

27 So the rich man said, ‘Then, father [Abraham], I beg you to send Lazarus to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—in order that he may solemnly warn them and witness to them, so that they too will not come to this place of torment.’

There has to be a hell.

I don’t like to think much about hell.

But I have to because God’s Word teaches about it.

The plain truth is that hell is real, and real people go there forever.

Several times in the Gospels we read Jesus was grieved when people turned away from him–grieved because he knew they were walking down the road that eventually would lead to hell.

The message Jesus brought is simple: Unless you turn and put your trust in me, you will die in your sins and face an eternity without me.

In Jesus’ parable of the rich man and Lazarus, we see the rich man begging for a little relief from his suffering.

Father Abraham explains that this kind of relief is not possible.

The rich man then turns his attention toward his brothers who are still living.

“Then I beg you … send Lazarus… Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.”

Notice a short time in hell turned this unbeliever into a motivated evangelist.

In a sense the rich man is saying,

“Someone has got to warn people that hell is real and that real people go there.”

How tragic that the man in this story found out too late.

What’s it going to take for you to become motivated?

Pray God’s grace, not his wrath, will fill your heart with a passion to save the lost.

9. I believe in Heaven because it’s a great incentive to responsible living and compassionate everything.

Skeptics will point to the shallow sayings of some believers that for the Heaven-bound this world does not matter, and that improving life on Earth is just so much arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

Those who say such are wrong, their thinking unbiblical, their teachings are misleading.  

We have great responsibilities here in this life, and it’s not just to get people to (ahem) “pray the sinner’s prayer” so they can go to heaven.

We were commissioned to make disciples, a far bigger thing.

“The heavens are the heavens of the Lord,” says Psalm 115:16, “but the earth He has given to the sons of men.” 

We are stewards of this planet, and thus answerable to Him.

I’ll go so far as to say those who are working to give the planet clean air and pure water, safe streets, are also doing the work of the Lord in their own way.

10. I believe in Heaven because of reasons I’m yet to discover.

There is so much more.

As some have said, we are “hard-wired” to believe in God and likewise in Heaven.

I willingly accept that and see it as residue of the creation.

The God who made us created us with a longing for Himself and a satisfaction in nothing less.

When we get to Heaven, we will finally be satisfied, but not until then. “I shall be satisfied with Thy likeness when I awake” (Psalm 17:15).

“I go to prepare a place for you,” said our Lord. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” (John 14:3).

“If it were not so, I would have told you.”

Jesus said that. I believe Him.

I simply choose to believe.

God, the Father …

God, the Son …

God, the Holy Spirit …

The Revealed Word of God …

The Resurrection ….

In Heaven …

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, thank You for the book of Revelation and for the greater insight and understanding it gives us into the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus, of what is to take place after He comes to take the members of His mystic Body to be with Himself, and how we should live in this present age. I pray that You would bless me as I read and take to heart all that is written in this final book of Scripture. Thank You that You are the eternal and immutable God Whose plans and purposes can never fail. Thank You for the Cross of Christ and His glorious Resurrection, which secured for us an eternal inheritance, by faith. I pray that all I say and do would give glory to You and that one day I may cast my crown before His feet. Thank you for all Your goodness and grace to me and to all men. This I pray in Jesus’ wonderful name.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen

https://translate.google.com/

“Stones of Remembrance!” God’s Call to Remember Revival. Joshua 4:4-7, 19-24

Joshua 4:4-7 Amplified Bible

4 Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; 5 and Joshua said to them, “Cross over again to the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel, 6 so that this may be a sign among you; when your children ask later, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7 then you shall say to them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall become a memorial for Israel forever.”

Joshua 4:19-24 Amplified Bible

19 Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth [day] of the first month and encamped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. 20 And those twelve stones which they had taken from the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. 21 He said to the sons of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’ 23 For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you crossed over, just as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed; 24 so that all the peoples of the earth may know [without any doubt] and acknowledge that the hand of the Lord is mighty and extraordinarily powerful, so that you will fear the Lord your God [and obey and worship Him with profound awe and reverence] forever.”

The Word of God for the Children of God. 

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

The Christian life is, in a sense, one big call to remember.

Our Lord Jesus, speaking of the new-covenant meal of Communion, told us, “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19, emphasis added).

Every Lord’s Supper, then, offers us the opportunity to remember together all that is pictured in the bread and wine.

Deuteronomy similarly envisions a scenario in which a son asks his father;

“What is the meaning of the testimonies and statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?” (Deuteronomy 6:20).

The father responds by telling Israel’s story of redemption, highlighting that what God instructs is “for our good always” (v 24).

The book of Joshua, too, commends the same kind of commemoration when the Lord instructs the people to set up 12 memorial stones at the Jordan River, so the stones would become revival “to the people of Israel a memorial forever.”

God wanted His people then—and wants His people today—to ever remember His faithfulness and to tell, testify, confess, to teach others what He has done.

Such remembrances and memorials have always been a significant time to worship and praise for the miraculous works only Himself demonstrates.

But in a day [like now] with endless competing claims on our attention and affections, we need more reminders of God’s faithfulness than ever before.

It’s notable that the examples above are concrete and interpersonal.

We participate in the Lord’s Supper together, and it offers us a multisensory experience to help us remember.

The twelve stones at the Jordan River constituted a physical memorial.

The instruction of Deuteronomy encourages us to have conversations about God’s faithfulness and goodness in our homes.

Please note that the word “conversations” is PLURALIZED.

Meaning more than one –

But not just conversations … but full blown WORSHIP and PRAISE and PRAYER.

But not just one person conversing with the Lord, but a whole bunch of people, putting themselves in front of their “memorial stones” to remember the Lord.

For today’s Christians, every Sunday presents us with the opportunity to gather and remember with God’s people.

But we are going to need more than a weekly touchpoint to sustain ourselves.

Ask yourself: 

What habits can I cultivate to remember God’s goodness?

How can I catalog His faithfulness to me and share that with others?

What “memorials” can I set up so that I can remember how God delivered me?

Opportunities to continuously see, instantly recall God’s faithfulness abound.

All we need to do is constantly, continuously look and instantly remember.

Revival at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky – 2023

I do hope and pray that Christians have stable and established faith in Christ. 

I feel prayerful. Hopeful.

In fact, I’ve gotten choked up more than once over the last couple days at the thought that a genuine outpouring of the Holy Spirit could be happening among our Methodist brothers and sisters.

So I have mainly been praying two things:

1. Oh, God. Let it be. Let your mercy pour down in genuine revival, and let these reports be true. And let it not end in Wilmore.

2. Pass me not, O gentle Savior. Hear my humble cry. While on others Thou art calling, Do not pass me by. Savior, Savior, Hear my humble cry. While on others Thou art calling, Do not pass me by.

Maybe you will be moved mightily to pray, praise and worship this way as well.

It is of the nature of revival that we cannot know the true extent of it until days, months, and even years afterward.

Acts 5:33-39Amplified Bible

Gamaliel’s Counsel

33 Now when they heard this, they were infuriated and they intended to kill the apostles. 34 But a Pharisee named [a]Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law [of Moses], highly esteemed by all the people, stood up in the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) and ordered that the men be taken outside for a little while. 35 Then he said to the Council, “Men of Israel, be careful in regard to what you propose to do to these men. 36 For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody [of importance], and a group of about four hundred men allied themselves with him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were scattered and came to nothing. 37 After this man, Judas the Galilean rose up, [and led an uprising] during the time of the census, and drew people after him; he was also killed, and all his followers were scattered. 38 So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men [merely human in origin], it will fail and be destroyed; 39 but if it is of God [and it appears that it is], you will not be able to stop them; or else you may even be found fighting against God!”

The distinguishing marks of revival may begin with an outpouring of the Spirit of grace, but that is only the commencement if the work of the Holy Spirit is to prove real and to be authentic and unstoppable, and a major mover of people.

“How do you tell if it is really a work of God? It’s not how high you jump, it’s how straight and how far you will walk when you finally land.”

The last great spiritual awakening in America took place during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

It was a nation divided by war, and things were very dark.

But when things are really dark, God’s light can shine brightly.

Cover headlines from Time magazine went from “Is God Dead?” in 1968 to “Jesus Revolution” in 1971.

What a difference a few years can make, especially when God intervenes.

America needs a spiritual awakening, and the church needs a revival.

The World needs a spiritual awakening ….

An awakening takes place when God sovereignly pours out His Spirit and it impacts a culture.

That is what happened during the Jesus Revolution, and that is what happened during multiple spiritual awakenings in the long history of these United States, predating its establishment as a nation.

A revival, on the other hand, is what the church must experience.

A revival occurs when the church comes back to life, when it becomes what it was always meant to be.

It’s a returning to passion.

I think many times we overly mystify the idea of revival.

We don’t really need to.

Another word we could use for revival is restoration, and that is what the church needs.

Speaking at a conference in 1917, R. A. Torrey gave this prescription for revival:

Let a few of God’s people, they don’t need to be many, get thoroughly right with God themselves—the rest will count for nothing unless you start right there; then let them band themselves together to pray for a revival until God opens the heavens and comes down. Then let them put themselves at God’s disposal to use them as He sees fit. That will bring a revival to any church, any community.

We can’t organize a revival, but we can agonize for it in prayer.

We can call on God to send it.

We can call on the people to come, to consider and to receive God [Acts 2:37-47]

Draw near unto the Lord our God and the Lord will draw near to us.

Psalm 73:28 Amplified Bible

28 
But as for me, it is good for me to draw near to God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge and placed my trust in Him,
That I may tell of all Your works.

Ecclesiastes 5:1Amplified Bible

Your Attitude Toward God

5 Guard your steps and focus on what you are doing as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the [careless or irreverent] sacrifice of fools; for they are too ignorant to know they are doing evil.

Matthew 11:25-30Amplified Bible

Come to Me

25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth [I openly and joyfully acknowledge Your great wisdom], that You have hidden these things [these spiritual truths] from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to infants [to new believers, to those seeking God’s will and purpose]. 26  Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight. 27 All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one fully knows and accurately understands the Son except the Father; and no one fully knows and accurately understands the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son [deliberately] wills to reveal Him.

28 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened [by religious rituals that provide no peace], and I will give you rest [refreshing your souls with salvation]. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me [following Me as My disciple], for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (renewal, blessed quiet) for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy [to bear] and My burden is light.”

James 4:8Amplified Bible

8 Come close to God [with a contrite heart] and He will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; and purify your [unfaithful] hearts, you double-minded [people].

Where is our Hope for Revival and Remembrance?

Psalm 85 Amplified Bible

Prayer for God’s Mercy upon the Nation.

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

85 O Lord, You have [at last] shown favor to Your land [of Canaan];
You have restored [from Babylon] the captives of Jacob (Israel).
2 
You have forgiven the wickedness of Your people;
You have covered all their sin. Selah.
3 
You have withdrawn all Your wrath,
You have turned away from Your burning anger.

4 
Restore us, O God of our salvation,
And cause Your indignation toward us to cease.
5 
Will You be angry with us forever?
Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?
6 
Will You not revive us and bring us to life again,
That Your people may rejoice in You?
7 
Show us Your lovingkindness, O Lord,
And grant us Your salvation.

8 
I will hear [with expectant hope] what God the Lord will say,
For He will speak peace to His people, to His [a]godly ones—
But let them not turn again to folly.
9 
Surely His salvation is near to those who [reverently] fear Him [and obey Him with submissive wonder],
That glory [the manifest presence of God] may dwell in our land.
10 
Steadfast love and truth and faithfulness meet together;
Righteousness and peace kiss each other.
11 
Truth springs from the earth,
And righteousness looks down from heaven.
12 
Indeed, the Lord will give what is good,
And our land will yield its produce.
13 
Righteousness will go before Him
And will make His footsteps into a way [in which to walk].

In a worship song from the early 2000s, singer/songwriter Brian Doerksen sings,

“Jesus, hope of the nations/ Jesus, comfort for all who mourn/ You are the source of heaven’s hope on earth.”

As believers in Christ, we recognize and worship Jesus as the true hope of the world, and yet it’s astounding how often we pin our hopes on ­human beings.

In all of our history books, it is clear that people are far more inclined to find hope in leaders, politicians, and celebrities rather than in the one true God.

Why do we do this?

Proverbs 11:4-8 warns that placing hope in humans is futile because any human power will come to nothing.

As the apostle Paul tells us, “There is no authority except that which God has established” (Romans 13:1).

By saying this, Paul is assuring believers that in all situations, even in the midst of national turmoil’s and global crises, God is the one who holds all ­authority.

Any human who has “power” has it only because God allows it to be so.

2 Chronicles 7:1-3Amplified Bible

The Shekinah Glory

7 When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the [[a]Shekinah] glory and brilliance of the Lord filled the house. 2 The priests could not enter the house of the Lord because the glory and brilliance of the Lord had filled the Lord’s house. 3 When all the people of Israel saw how the fire came down and saw the glory and brilliance of the Lord upon the house, they bowed down on the stone pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and praised the Lord, saying, “For He is good, for His mercy and lovingkindness endure forever.”

In other words, through our continuous praise and worship, all our hopes and all our desires must lie with the Only One who is on the throne of the universe.

Our prayers and our worship must be oriented toward Christ, for he is truly the only hope—the only one who can change minds and transform hearts, disperse powers, and bring edification, and redemption and restoration, to bring revival.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray ….

Creator God, you made every living thing, and you hold all things together. Lord, we your Children now pray for you bring restoration to this world that desperately needs your leadership and authority. Please use Your church and their lives as catalysts for renewal, restoration and revival. We have heard of Your great works; please do them again, “stones of remembrance” in our day. And all for the glory, honor and praise of Jesus Christ, our only crucified, Resurrected and returning Lord, Savior and King.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

https://translate.google.com/

Church Worship which truly Counts: “I am the Church. You are the Church. We are the Church Together.” Isaiah 1:10-17

“A man’s got to take care of himself!” Yeah, we do have to be responsible folks. But part of being responsible, part of being blessed — at least as God sees it — is to care for others, to stick up for the disadvantaged, and to intervene when someone else is being exploited. After all, we are our “brother’s and sister’s keeper!”

Poverty in any form, in all forms, in all circumstances, is too often caused by injustice. While justice occurs where relationships are “just right,” injustice happens when by some human mechanism, those relationships are broken.

Injustice includes the misuse of power, exploitation of the weak, denial of basic human rights, valuing money more than people, and self-indulgence in the face of all human sufferings. It can take many forms. It can be personal or societal.

One thing we know for sure is that God hates such injustice because it harms his children, whom he loves. Through His prophet Isaiah, God shows that even our own best worship can be utterly distasteful to him if we do not practice justice.

Injustice makes our religious practices unacceptable to God. Prayers, songs, lavish worship services—they are all 100% meaningless if we do not do justice.

The role of prophets was to call people back to faithful living, to repent of their unjust practices, to embrace justice as a lifestyle.

Isaiah talks about seeking justice, advocating and defending the oppressed, and speaking up for the fatherless and the widow, and in Isaiah chapter 58 he adds that we should share of our abundance with the hungry, provide shelter to the poor wanderer, and more and far more. God’s prophet Micah adds we should all “act justly,” “all love mercy,” and “all walk humbly” with our God (Micah 6:8).

The good news is that God yet loves those who are unjust, summons them and accepts repentance and transforms us to do justice out of joyful service to him.

Isaiah 1:10-17Amplified Bible

God Has Had Enough

10 
Hear the word of the Lord [rulers of Jerusalem],
You rulers of [another] Sodom,
Listen to the law and instruction of our God,
You people of [another] Gomorrah.
11 
“What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me [without your repentance]?”
Says the Lord.
“I have had enough of [your] burnt offerings of rams
And the fat of well-fed cattle [without your obedience];
And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls or lambs or goats [offered without repentance].
12 
“When you come to appear before Me,
Who requires this of you, this trampling of My [temple] courts [by your sinful feet]?
13 
“Do not bring worthless offerings again,
[Your] incense is repulsive to Me;
[Your] New Moon and Sabbath [observances], the calling of assemblies—
I cannot endure wickedness [your sin, your injustice, your wrongdoing] and [the squalor of] the festive assembly.
14 
“I hate [the hypocrisy of] your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts.
They have become a burden to Me;
I am weary of bearing them.
15 
“So when you spread out your hands [in prayer, pleading for My help],
I will hide My eyes from you;
Yes, even though you offer many prayers,
I will not be listening.
Your hands are full of blood!

16 
“Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Get your evil deeds out of My sight.
Stop doing evil,
17 
Learn to do good.
Seek justice,
Rebuke the ruthless,
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the [rights of the] widow [in court].

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Justice.

What does your heart hear when it hears that word uttered in your company?

What does your soul hear when it hears that word uttered in your company?

What do your hands and feet want to do when your heart and soul summons them into some manner of action when that word is uttered in your presence?

“Justice” is one of those words that is loaded with meanings and different interpretations.

Definitions, Perceptions, Understandings, “Hands On, Hands Off” Applications of “justice” swiftly divide people, political parties, countries, even churches.

While “justice” is almost impossibly hard to define, and apply, many people of note have tried to describe it or illustrate it. Here are just a few examples:

  • “The more laws, the less justice” (Cicero).
  • “True peace is not merely the absence of war; it is the presence of justice” (Jane Addams).
  • “Justice that loves gives is a surrender, justice that law gives is a punishment” (Gandhi).
  • “The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice” (MLK).
  • “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (MLK).
  • “Never forget that justice is what love looks like in public” (Dr. Cornel West).

The best definition, illustration, and description of “justice” are the words of Jesus, “Do to others what you would have them do to you” (Matthew 7:12).

What does that look like in real life?

Jesus shows us in His parable of the Sheep and the Goats in Matthew 25:31-46.

In that parable Jesus says that true disciples feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, show hospitality to the immigrant (regardless of their legal standing), clothing the naked which includes taking care of the homeless, providing health care for the sick, and advocating and speaking out against mass incarceration.

All of these are “social justice” issues. Jesus makes them a heaven and hell issue. Thus, ought they better be a central part of our 2022 church’s mission?

Justice and the Kingdom of God

The Old Testament idea of “justice” became the New Testament concept of the “kingdom of God” or “kingdom of heaven.” 

During the four-hundred-year period between the close of the Old Testament and the birth of Jesus, the phrase, “Kingdom of God” became a rallying cry for the Jews, creating an anticipation of the coming of the Messiah.

At that time, what God wants done in heaven will be realized on earth.

By the time of Jesus’ birth, the anticipation that the Messiah would soon come was at a fever pitch. Before Jesus came, there were others who came, claiming to be the Messiah, and the Roman Empire killed them all!

After His baptism, Jesus proclaimed, “The time has come…the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news” (Mark 1:15).

God’s kingdom would be characterized by love of justice, love of mercy and walking humbly with God.

By stating God’s kingdom was “near,” 

Jesus was proclaiming that His kingdom had arrived (present reality), is arriving (continued presence), and will arrive in the future (future hope).

Thus, the kingdom of God is both “now and not yet.” 

You see the “now and not yet” of the kingdom in Jesus’ words, reading from the Prophet Isaiah, in Luke 4:18-19, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed… (this is the NOW of the kingdom of God) …to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” 

(a reference to the Year of Jubilee, the NOT YET of the kingdom). 

Justice, and a just society, are at the very heart of who God is and what He wants His people to be!

But justice is, by no one’s definition, easy work and neither is it glamorous.

Advocating and fighting for justice will make you infamous, not famous.

It is dirty work. It requires sacrifice.

It can ruin your reputation and your life.

It could lead to “crucifixion.”

But advocating and fighting for justice is what it means to follow Jesus.

Dr. Cornel West said, “Justice is what love looks like in public.” 

I would most definitely add, “Justice is what Jesus looks like in public.”

The Prophet Isaiah

Since the Old Testament idea of “justice” is the New Testament concept of the “kingdom of God,” and since Jesus quoted from Isaiah more than any other Old Testament book or person, I now draw your prayerful attention to Isaiah 1:17.

Isaiah prophesied during a time when both Israel and Judah had reached their zenith in prosperity and political power. (Sound familiar?)

But the people of God had turned their backs on God. (Sound Familiar?)

Not in obvious ways, but in subtle ways of saying they trusted in God but were relying on their own prosperity and political power. (Sound familiar?)

Their problem was not atheism, but syncretism, adding other philosophies and world views into your faith in God. (Sound Familiar?) In other words, the people were not denying God, but “adding” to their belief in God. (Sound familiar?)

Furthermore, there were two competing political ideologies vying for their attention, allegiance. (Sound familiar?) One was Egypt. The other was Syria.

With whom would God’s people align themselves and their “ideologies”?

Isaiah, whose name means, “the Lord is salvation,” comes on the scene and says, “You, God’s people, don’t pledge your allegiance to anything or anyone but God, Himself, who is the only source of true salvation.” 

Isaiah, more than any other prophet, prophesies that God is going to send the Messiah, who will set up a new government, a new nation, and a new way of life.

Our citizenship is in His kingdom, not in any kingdoms of this world. 

And that new kingdom, God’s kingdom, is characterized by the love of justice, love of mercy, and “their love” of their walking humbly with their loving God.

In chapter one, Isaiah condemns God’s people for being a rebellious nation. Listen to what God says through His prophet…

  • “…I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me…” (v. 2).
  • “…the ox knows his master, the donkey his owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand…” (v. 3). Could I re-word this verse? “The elephant knows his master, the donkey his owner’s manger, but my people neither know me nor understand me.”
  • “…they have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel…” (v. 4).
  • “…your country is desolate, your cities burned with fire…” (v. 7).
  • “…the multitude of your sacrifices—what are they to me?’ says the LORD…” (v. 11).
  • “…stop bringing meaningless offerings…” (v. 13).
  • “…when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen…” (v. 15).

After fifteen verses of strong condemnation, Isaiah’s tone and tenor starts to change.

He writes, “Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right!” (vv. 16-17).

Now, notice the very first thing Isaiah tells the people of God to do after telling them to “Stop doing wrong, learn to do right!”

It wasn’t to go out and build large churches.

It wasn’t to go out and create incredible youth programs so kids don’t get bored.

It wasn’t to coddle up to people in power so you can have a seat at the table.

It wasn’t even a list of personal sins you need to confess.

NO!

The very first thing God tells His people to do is to “Seek justice” (v. 17).

And if you are unclear on where to start, “…encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow” (v. 17).

Two things stand out for me about the biblical idea of justice in this verse.

First, justice is at the very core of who God is.

Second, justice is about standing with and speaking with the most vulnerable in our society.

The simplest meaning of the Hebrew word for justice, mishpat (pronounced mish-past) is to treat people equitably.

The idea is to grant people their rights, giving people what they are due.

Mishpat occurs over 400 times in the Old Testament.

Ultimately, the biblical idea of justice is about restoration and reconciliation more than it is about punishment.

Proverbs 31:8 reads, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.” 

In ancient days, the “destitute,” the extremely vulnerable, were categorized in four groups:

(1) The widows. The Hebrew word, almanah, denotes not just a woman whose husband had died but also a once married and now divorced or abandoned woman who is need of financial and legal support.  

(2) The orphans. The Hebrew word, yathom, means “fatherless.” Thus, a child of a single mom was also an “orphan.” 

(3) The immigrants.

(4) The poor. The Bible is full of verses about our care for these “destitute” and vulnerable people. Here is just a sampling:

  • Deuteronomy 10:17-18 – “For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow…”
  • Exodus 22:22-24 – “Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I. Will kill you with the sword.”
  • Deuteronomy 27:19 – “Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow.”
  • Psalm 35:10 – “Who is like you, O Lord? You rescue the poor from those too strong for them, the poor and needy from those who rob them.”
  • Psalm 72:4 – “He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; he will crush the oppressor.”
  • Proverbs 13:223 – “A poor man’s field may produce abundant food, but injustice sweeps it away.”

“Added to the quartet of widows, orphans, immigrants, and poor would be all those who suffer at the hands of injustice. It could be the prisoner, the leper, the prostitute, the drug addict, the sinner (including sexual sins of all orientation), the person with AIDS or some other communal disease, the mentally disabled—the list could go on. If the good news of God’s kingdom is not good news to the least and the last—the widow, the orphan, the immigrant, and the poor—then it is not good news for anyone” (Evangelism for the 21st Century, p. 84).

In addition to people, the Bible also talks about systemic injustices that the church is to be addressing.

Just like there were four categories of people, there are four categories of systems:

(1) Economics. (2) Equality. (3) The environment. (4) The sanctity of life.

Here is just a brief sampling of what the Bible says:

  • Proverbs 22:16 – “He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.”
  • Proverbs 20:23 – “The LORD detests differing weights, and dishonest scales do not please him.”
  • Acts 10:34-35 – “Then Peter began to speak: ‘I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.”
  • Galatians 3:28 – “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you all one in Christ Jesus.”
  • Jeremiah 2:7 – “I brought you into a fertile land to eat its fruit and rich produce. But you came and defiled my land and made my inheritance detestable.”

“Standing up for life most definitely means vigorously fighting for the rights of the unborn, but it could also mean speaking out against capital punishment…We need to expand sanctity of life to include fighting against human trafficking and for affordable housing, affordable, and available education. Furthermore, it should include speaking out against war…Finally, included in a comprehensive sanctity of life would be understanding the need for better and more affordable, healthcare for all” (Evangelism for the 21st Century, p. 94).

CONCLUSION

Look back with me at the beginnings of this 1st chapter of God’s Prophet Isaiah.

After a very strong condemnation in Isaiah 1:1-15, God tells us what we, as His people, are to be doing, and it’s all about, (gasp! gulp! gasp!) dare I even say it,

“Social Justice.”

Isaiah then concludes this section of his prophecy by stating something that if you have been in church for any amount of time have heard.

These are very familiar verses.

And I bet you have heard them, but every time you have heard them it has been in the context of confessing your personal sins so you can receive forgiveness.

But notice, in context, these verses are not about personal sins, rather, they are about the sin of God’s people not fighting for justice in their society!

Isaiah says, “‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the LORD. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.’ For the mouth of the LORD has spoken” (Isaiah 1:18-20 AMP).

May we understand that justice is at the very heart of God. Thus, fighting for justice should be at the very core of who we are, and what we do, as His people.

May the church understand justice is at the heart of God. Thus, our fighting for justice should be at the very core of who we are, and what we do, as His people.

I am the church! 
You are the church!
We are the church together!
All who follow Jesus,
all around the world!
Yes, we're the church together!

(Richard K. Avery and Donald S. Marsh 1972)

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Remove the hearts of stone, of division and of selfishness, O God, which keeps me and your church from caring for the downtrodden, abused, forgotten, and broken. Give us your eyes of concern and Jesus’ heart of compassion to see them and minister to them. In his name, the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray. Alleluia! Amen.

https://translate.google.com/