Tuesday, July 31, 2012

GOD - OUR SHIELD, ENCOURAGER, SUSTAINER AND DELIVERER

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.”

But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.

I call out to the Lord, and He answers me from His holy mountain. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.

I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side. Arise, Lord! Deliver me, my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.

From the Lord comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people.

Psalm 3 

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever been violated by people you thought you could trust? Sometimes this may come at the hands of a co-worker at your job. Sometimes it comes at the hands of someone you thought was a friend. Or, in what may be considered a worst case scenario, you are betrayed by someone who is family, one of the people you should be able to trust above anyone else. At times, it seems the people closest to you are the ones who are most likely to do you wrong.

This isn’t something that has just happened in our present day and time. No, it happened as far back as in biblical times.

A point in case is God’s faithful servant king David, characterized as a man after God’s own heart. As you study David’s life, especially his family, you discover he had three sons. Trouble brewed between two of them, Amnon (the oldest) and Absalom, when Amnon lured Absalom’s sister Tamar to him while pretending to be sick and sexually assaulted her. This resulted in Absalom killing Amnon and then fleeing while David mourned the loss of his son (2 Samuel 13).

Absalom would remain away from for three years before David would be convinced to allow him to return, and then it would be another two years before David would even agree to see Absalom. Scripture tells us that at this encounter, Absalom bowed down before his father and David in turn kissed him (2 Samuel 14). All appeared to be fine but it wasn’t.

We know this because as we get to Chapter 15 of 2nd Samuel, Absalom conspires to take over David’s throne, and not when David died but rather while he was still alive. Absalom schemed and manipulated the people to side with him and once he had their favor, arranging so he would be declared king of Hebron, he made his move toward Jerusalem and the throne.

The Bible tells us that David, being forewarned of Absalom’s actions, had the foresight to know he was in trouble. And so he fled along with his household and went to the Mount of Olives where he prayed and asked the Lord to enter into his circumstances.

This is where we connect to the 3rd Psalm, written by David at the time he had fled Absalom. It’s important to know the background of the Psalm to properly understand its content. And as you can see, David was on the run from his own son who had allowed selfish ambition to rule him, so much so that he was willing to kill his own father to assume the power of the throne.

Imagine if you were David. How would you feel about being betrayed by your own son, so much so that you had to flee your own home to stay alive? What words would you say to the Lord in a time of trouble such as this?

As we look at our passage, we find David writing the following words:

Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.”

But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.

I call out to the Lord, and He answers me from His holy mountain. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.

I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side. Arise, Lord! Deliver me, my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.

From the Lord comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people.

These are amazing, inspired words for you and I to remember and this psalm should be one we keep in mind as we deal with situations where we might be violated. David’s words offer us four important points to always remember about the God we serve:

1. The Lord is a shield.

David knew that no matter how much his enemies would try and go against him, they would do so in vain because he was protected by God – shielded by His power, protected by His covering. Scriptures assure us that if God is for us, no one can come against us (Romans 8:31). There is no greater form of defense any of us can have.

2. The Lord lifts up our heads.

When things seem at their worst, the Lord is always there to encourage us and lift us up. Knowing that we have a God who is always with us, keeping our foes from coming against us, offers us an incredible sense of peace and hope. And when we have that peace and hope from God, who is our glory, we can’t help but lift our heads to Him in praise and worship.

3. The Lord sustains us.

David saw his cycle of life - living through a day, falling asleep, and rising again into a new day – as coming from the Lord and the Lord alone. In acknowledging this, David showed he knew who was in control of his life. The very breaths and heartbeats that kept David alive and serving came from the very One David served – the same One who sustains and keeps us in His care. We are to never take this for granted, always giving thanks to our Great Sustainer.

4. The Lord is our deliverer.

No matter how precarious the circumstances we come up against are, no matter how difficult the way forward may seem, no matter how impossible it might seem for us to escape dangerous situations, we simply must remember that God delivers. He has done it for the ages. The same God who divided the seas so Israel could escape Pharaoh, the same God who provided manna and quail from heaven to feed His chosen people during their exodus to the Holy Land, this same God is the same God who delivers you and me today. What an assurance we have in Him!

Yes, God is all this – our Shield, our Encourager, our Sustainer, and our Deliverer – and so much more. This is why we need to honor Him with the way we live, trust Him in faith no matter what our circumstances, and seek to glorify and magnify Him at every opportunity we have.

Our foes might think they are greater than we are but they will never be greater than our ally –the Lord God Almighty.

Thanks be to God for all He was, all He is, and all He is yet to be.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com

Monday, July 30, 2012

SEEKING REFUGE IN THE GOD WHO RULES

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.”

The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.”

I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:

He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”

Therefore, you kings, be wise;  be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear  and celebrate his rule with trembling. Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Psalm 2 

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

For as long as there has been kings and rulers in the world, there has been a problem of people falling prey to the seduction of power and pursuit of selfish ambition at the expense of the people they lead and in direct violation of God’s expectations. A big part of the problem is that these leaders don’t even factor God into their thought process. Their rule has nothing to do with His will and everything to do with theirs. This psalm was largely written for these rulers and for anyone for that matter who would choose to not acknowledge God’s rule over their lives, deciding to pursue their desires over the Lord’s.

The Psalmist starts with a simple question: Why? Why do nations and people act in ways that defy the Lord, with an end goal of breaking free from His restrictive expectations, when those actions are all in vain? Don’t the nations and peoples know who they are dealing with – namely, the Almighty God of all?

It’s little wonder that the Lord is portrayed as less than amused at the disobedience and disrespect shown Him. Scripture tells us He laughs, scoffs, and rebukes all who would rebel against Him, causing them to be terrified of His wrath. Indeed, none of us should want to find our nation or ourselves in the hands of an angry, Almighty God – the God who is the King of all Kings and Lord of all Lords.

This God of all authority was, is, and always will be in full control. Even those He placed in power, like the kings of Israel, were subordinate to God’s rule. He may have given them their position but they were to still ask Him before He would grant any nation as an inheritance or any part of the earth as a possession. It was all about God’s will being done. Leaders were expected to be submissive and seek the Lord as their refuge, a very present help in times of trouble. If the kings and peoples needed help, all they had to do is call on the name of the Lord. If the kings and the peoples needed guidance, wisdom, and direction, all they needed to do is call on the name of the Lord. All were to be totally reliant on God the Father and serve Him with fear and trembling out of respect and acknowledgment of His omnipotence and majesty. Choosing otherwise would result in wrath and judgment.

Friends, submission is not a weakness when it comes to living for and serving the Lord. Contrary, it is one of the greatest strengths we can display. Showing our steady reliance on His reign over everything we do shows Him our realization that we can’t rule ourselves. We need God and His Son Jesus in our lives more than anything and we’re expected to live reflecting that attitude.

When we do, something incredible happens.

God becomes our refuge.

We all need someone we can turn to in good times and in bad – someone who will always be there for us, no matter what – someone who is always ready to listen and provide counsel and comfort and, most of all, love.

Friends, Psalm 2 ends with an absolute truth: Blessed are all who take refuge in the Lord. You may try and find happiness in a lot of different places, chasing after the desires of your own heart, but you will never find a contentment that brings you complete peace until you choose to make the Lord your refuge.
Paul, in his letter to the Philippian church wrote that he had found the way to be content in any circumstance of life, whether in good times or bad, in plenty or in want. What was the way? It was through the Lord who provided him the strength to do all things.

Indeed, the Bible exhorts us to make the joy of the Lord our strength (Nehemiah 8:10). The only true strength we can find is in the refuge of the Lord who will grant us the strength to do all things in accordance with His perfect will.

Will you seek your refuge in the God who rules your life today?

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com

Sunday, July 29, 2012

WHAT IS YOUR DELIGHT?

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Blessed is the one  who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither — whatever they do prospers.

Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Psalm 1 

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Think about all the things that bring you joy in life. What is it that you delight in the most?

The world certainly offers us so many things to take pleasure in and so maybe the answer to the question is a difficult one. For with so much available, how can a person pick just one thing that makes them happy – one thing they delight in more than another?

Note that the question is more focused on what we think might bring us happiness and with that, we might find ourselves more centered on our desires instead of the Lord’s. This is an important point to remember as we look at God’s word for today. For while the things of the world provide temporary satisfaction, the matters of God are eternally rewarding, both now and forever.

Our scripture from the first Psalm offers us a clue from God’s word as to how to find happiness and it doesn’t involve our attention to any of the world’s trappings. Rather, it requires our obedience to the Lord’s law – to His commands and expectations for our lives found through the study of the Bible and committing ourselves in obedience to follow the path God places before us, a path illuminated by the light of His Holy Spirit, our personal guide. The person who reads from the Bible daily, meditating day and night over the wisdom and understanding God imparts from it, will be blessed or happy. And as we experience this happiness, a happiness that never wanes because it is a holy happiness, we’ll want to feel it over and over and over again. Spiritually, we begin to thrive and grow, just like the tree that is planted by streams of water. As our thirst for meaning in life gets quenched by the living water found in the scriptures, we start to produce fruit in season, using the gifts God has granted to make a difference in the lives of others. We live and think in a way that is self sacrificing and not self serving, the attitude that is at the center of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And when we serve others in the Spirit of Christ, know and trust that our work will prosper, for the fruits of our sacrificial labor will bring others to delight in the Lord we do and thus He, not we, will be glorified and magnified.

As we embark on this journey through the Psalms, what better way to start than a devotion that concentrates on the delight that is found in God’s word – a delight we should all be yearning for?

My prayer is that you will join me in finding this delight, meditating on the word of the Lord day and night and allowing Him to continue nurturing us and helping us grow fruit that will serve others and glorify His Holy and Precious Name.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com

Saturday, July 28, 2012

BETTER THAN BEFORE

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

After the Lord had said these things to Job , He said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about Me, as my servant Job has. So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly.
You have not spoken the truth about Me, as my servant Job has.”

So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the Lord told them; and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.

After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.

The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. And he also had seven sons and three daughters. The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so Job died, an old man and full of years.

Job 42:7-17 

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

We often go through a lot in life. Sometimes, our circumstances feel as if they will never change and our hardships never end. Sometimes we maybe even begin to wonder if God will ever make things different.
That’s why the Book of Job is such an important part of the Bible. For it offers a great deal of hope to those who feel hopeless – hope that one day God will deliver, restore, and make things better than before.

We know of this hope as we look at the end of Job’s story in Chapter 42. You’ll recall that God had delivered a lengthy discourse directed at Job, reaffirming and reinforcing His greatness and majesty – His mighty omnipotence. And you’ll recall that the Job, who for so long had demanded an audience with God so he could defend himself against what he perceived as unjust suffering, was left feeling unworthy to even be before God, despising himself for his attitude and repenting in the dust and ashes.

Because of this – because of Job’s repentance and restored sense of reverence toward His Maker – God was ready to restore Job but not before one more important thing happened.  

For after God speaks to Job, we find Him turning his attention to Job’s friends and see where God wanted Job to play a part in their restoration before he received his own.

As we look at the passage, we see where God is angry with the three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar. All had spoken to Job multiple times and all had spoken like they knew of the very nature of God even though they didn’t speak directly to God. Because of this, God accused the three men of not speaking the truth about Him and ordered them to “take seven bulls and seven rams”, got to Job, and “sacrifice a burnt offering” as a result of their sin. Job then was to pray for them which God would accept and then refrain from penalizing them.

And so Job’s three friends did what the Lord told them to do and the “the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.”

Note three things here.

First, We only speak truth when we communicate with God and ensure the words we are speaking are words He approves of. The easiest way to do this is to submit our words to God first.

In other words, we pray for God to speak through us and then allow Him to do just that. When we allow Him to speak, we never need worry about whether we are saying the right things or not for we will speak truth. That’s all God speaks.

God is truly a God of truth.

Second, God wants us to reconcile with others through prayer. The exchanges between Job and his friends were less than cordial. In fact, they were downright testy. What would repair the rift?

How about prayer?

For God could have just ordered the three men to offer their sacrifices to Him and leave it at that but He didn’t. Instead, He has them perform the sacrifices with Job who was to pray for them, a prayer that God would accept before he pardoned. In other words, it was Job’s prayer as much as it was the sacrifices that led to atonement – atonement between God and the three men but I believe also atonement between Job and his friends. Before God restored all of the material things that Job had lost, He chose to reconcile Job’s heart, first to Him and then to his friends.  

God is a God of reconciliation.

Finally, God is a God of forgiveness and mercy. He could have just levied punishment on Job’s three friends, afflicting them as He did Job. But He didn’t. He offered the three men a way to reconciliation through an offered sacrifice and a prayer from Job, the one they had mistreated by not speaking the truth of God.

As I considered this, I couldn’t help but see the parallel between God and us. We all deserve His wrath, punishment, and destruction because of our sins but, like in the case of Job’s friends, God wasn’t willing to allow us to perish. The path to reconciliation was just different.

For we weren’t required to sacrifice bulls and rams to cover our sins. No, God instead sacrificed His only Son, Jesus, for us – the unblemished Lamb of God slain to cover the sins of the world. God loved us that much and all we needed to do after that one sacrifice was to believe and trust in Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior (John 3:16).

And when we do that, something amazing happens. For we ask and receive Jesus into our hearts by way of the Holy Spirit and things change forever. We become new creations, transformed and changed, made better than before.

And the riches that come with our transformation far exceed any of the material riches Job ended up with as God brought all he had before his hardship and then some. For the inheritance we enter into is priceless, eternal and forever – all because of the mercy, love, grace, reconciliation, and forgiveness God shows us through Jesus Christ.

Thanks be to God for all He was, all He is, and all He is yet to be.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com

Friday, July 27, 2012

THE LAST WORD

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:

“Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.”

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone — while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?”

“Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’?”

“Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it? The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like those of a garment. The wicked are denied their light, and their upraised arm is broken.”

“Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness? Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.”

“What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside? Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings? Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years!”

“Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle? What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth? Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, to water a land where no one lives, an uninhabited desert, to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass? Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew? From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen?”

“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Can you loosen Orion’s belt? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth?”

“Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water? Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’? Who gives the ibis wisdom or gives the rooster understanding? Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together?”

“Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket? Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?”

“Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn? Do you count the months till they bear? Do you know the time they give birth? They crouch down and bring forth their young; their labor pains are ended. Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds; they leave and do not return.”

“Who let the wild donkey go free? Who untied its ropes? I gave it the wasteland as its home, the salt flats as its habitat. It laughs at the commotion in the town; it does not hear a driver’s shout. It ranges the hills for its pasture and searches for any green thing.”

“Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will it stay by your manger at night? Can you hold it to the furrow with a harness? Will it till the valleys behind you? Will you rely on it for its great strength? Will you leave your heavy work to it? Can you trust it to haul in your grain and bring it to your threshing floor?”

“The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, though they cannot compare with the wings and feathers of the stork. She lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand, unmindful that a foot may crush them, that some wild animal may trample them. She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers; she cares not that her labor was in vain, for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of good sense. Yet when she spreads her feathers to run, she laughs at horse and rider.”

“Do you give the horse its strength or clothe its neck with a flowing mane? Do you make it leap like a locust, striking terror with its proud snorting? It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength, and charges into the fray. It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing; it does not shy away from the sword. The quiver rattles against its side, along with the flashing spear and lance. In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground; it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds. At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’ It catches the scent of battle from afar, the shout of commanders and the battle cry.”

“Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread its wings toward the south? Does the eagle soar at your command and build its nest on high? It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night; a rocky crag is its stronghold. From there it looks for food; its eyes detect it from afar. Its young ones feast on blood, and where the slain are, there it is.”

The Lord said to Job:

“Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!”

Then Job answered the Lord:

“I am unworthy —how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer — twice, but I will say no more.”

Then Job answered the Lord:

“I am unworthy —how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer —    twice, but I will say no more.”

Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm:

“Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.”

“Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself? Do you have an arm like God’s, and can your voice thunder like his? Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor, and clothe yourself in honor and majesty. Unleash the fury of your wrath, look at all who are proud and bring them low, look at all who are proud and humble them, crush the wicked where they stand. Bury them all in the dust together; shroud their faces in the grave. Then I myself will admit to you that your own right hand can save you.”

“Look at Behemoth, which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox. What strength it has in its loins, what power in the muscles of its belly! Its tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of its thighs are close-knit. Its bones are tubes of bronze, its limbs like rods of iron. It ranks first among the works of God, yet its Maker can approach it with his sword. The hills bring it their produce, and all the wild animals play nearby. Under the lotus plants it lies, hidden among the reeds in the marsh. The lotuses conceal it in their shadow; the poplars by the stream surround it. A raging river does not alarm it; it is secure, though the Jordan should surge against its mouth. Can anyone capture it by the eyes, or trap it and pierce its nose?”

“Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down its tongue with a rope? Can you put a cord through its nose or pierce its jaw with a hook? Will it keep begging you for mercy? Will it speak to you with gentle words? Will it make an agreement with you for you to take it as your slave for life? Can you make a pet of it like a bird or put it on a leash for the young women in your house? Will traders barter for it? Will they divide it up among the merchants? Can you fill its hide with harpoons or its head with fishing spears? If you lay a hand on it, you will remember the struggle and never do it again! Any hope of subduing it is false; the mere sight of it is overpowering. No one is fierce enough to rouse it. Who then is able to stand against me? Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me.”

“I will not fail to speak of Leviathan’s limbs, its strength and its graceful form. Who can strip off its outer coat? Who can penetrate its double coat of armor? Who dares open the doors of its mouth, ringed about with fearsome teeth? Its back has rows of shields tightly sealed together; each is so close to the next that no air can pass between. They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted. Its snorting throws out flashes of light; its eyes are like the rays of dawn. Flames stream from its mouth; sparks of fire shoot out. Smoke pours from its nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds. Its breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from its mouth. Strength resides in its neck; dismay goes before it. The folds of its flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable. Its chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone. When it rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before its thrashing. The sword that reaches it has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin. Iron it treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood. Arrows do not make it flee; slingstones are like chaff to it. A club seems to it but a piece of straw; it laughs at the rattling of the lance. Its undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge. It makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment. It leaves a glistening wake behind it; one would think the deep had white hair. Nothing on earth is its equal — a creature without fear. It looks down on all that are haughty; it is king over all that are proud.”

Then Job replied to the Lord:

“I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.”

“You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

Job 38:1-41, 39:1-30, 40:1-24, 41:1-34, 42:1-6 

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Outside of the Creation account in Genesis, my favorite account of God’s creative power and majesty comes at the end of the Book of Job. This passage, from Chapter 38 through the beginning of Chapter 42 is one that all believers should read regularly so that we all might be reminded of the amazing nature of the God we serve – our Maker, Redeemer, and Friend.

Up to this point of this book, we have heard plenty of words spoken by Job, His three friends – Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, and a younger man named Elihu. All in some way or another, spoke as if they knew the very nature of God. Job went further to question God’s justice especially as it applied to his suffering and over and over wished to have an audience with God so he could state his case and defend himself.

Remember the old saying, “Be careful what you wish for?”

For as Chapter 38 begins, the Lord begins to speak and speak with the authority, wisdom, and knowledge that is exclusively His. God will have the last word.

Indeed, Job had questioned God an awful lot during his discourses. Now it was God telling Job, “Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.”

The Lord then goes into His flowing description of things He had created, things that could have been fashioned by no one else but Him. There are no words I can write that would be able to highlight the nature of God better than His own words. I pray that you’ll read them and then read them again, marking this passage in your Bibles and returning to it regularly – and telling others about it, especially those who are wanting to know about the awesome God we exalt, adore, and praise. Make sure you let them know that God is even greater than the words He spoke!

Yes, God had the last word with Job. He always will have the last word. For no matter what man might do, say, or think in life, God will reign supreme and one day send His one and only Son Jesus back to earth, not as the loving, healing, nurturing, teaching Savior that came the first time but rather as the Judge of all Creation – the Creation that God gave His Son rule over. Sent by His Father, Jesus will come and have the last word.

As we see in our passage, Job’s reply to God’s last word was simple. He saw himself as unworthy to even be in the company of God. He chose to be silent and to allow God to speak. He despised himself and repented in the dust and ashes, ashamed that he had been so out of line before His Creator.

Friends, we have a lot to learn from Job. Many of us can relate to hardship and suffering and grief and ridicule and isolation. This is why we can relate well to Job and his struggles through his difficulties. Maybe we even found ourselves siding with him as he questioned God – maybe because we have done it ourselves or are doing it right now in our current life circumstances. It happens to us in our humanity.

But we also need to see the Job who encounters God in a powerful way and realizes who is really in charge. Job immediately deferred to the reverence and respect he should have had before God all along.

We would be well served to not wait as long as he did.

For God knows we are going to sin. It’s an affliction we can’t do anything about. But He does expect that we submit to His will and way, repenting when He reveals and exposes any sinful act we have committed, whether by action, word, or thought. God is ever speaking to us, guiding us by way of the Holy Spirit. We need to ever be listening to Him, bowing before Him in silence with an eagerness to hear His voice.

If you listen, He will speak to you. If you don’t, He will bring you to a place where you will listen and He will speak loud and clear, just as He did to Job.

And if you choose to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then you will join Him in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17) to live with Him forever along with the rest of the saints when He returns. If you don’t, then death is the end for you - your name will not be listed in the book of life and hell and destruction awaits you when Christ returns (Revelation 20:11-15).

In either instance, God will have the last word. Trust in that.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com

Thursday, July 26, 2012

LOOK UP TO HEAVEN AND PRAISE THE EXALTED, ALMIGHTY GOD

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
“God is exalted in his power. Who is a teacher like him? Who has prescribed His ways for Him, or said to him, ‘You have done wrong’? Remember to extol His work, which people have praised in song. All humanity has seen it; mortals gaze on it from afar. How great is God—beyond our understanding! The number of His years is past finding out.”

“He draws up the drops of water, which distill as rain to the streams; the clouds pour down their moisture and abundant showers fall on mankind. Who can understand how He spreads out the clouds, how He thunders from his pavilion? See how He scatters His lightning about Him, bathing the depths of the sea. This is the way he governs the nations and provides food in abundance. He fills his hands with lightning and commands it to strike its mark. His thunder announces the coming storm; even the cattle make known its approach.”

“At this my heart pounds and leaps from its place. Listen! Listen to the roar of his voice, to the rumbling that comes from his mouth. He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth. After that comes the sound of His roar; He thunders with His majestic voice. When His voice resounds, He holds nothing back. God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; He does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’ So that everyone He has made may know His work, He stops all people from their labor. The animals take cover; they remain in their dens. The tempest comes out from its chamber, the cold from the driving winds. The breath of God produces ice, and the broad waters become frozen. He loads the clouds with moisture; He scatters his lightning through them. At his direction they swirl around over the face of the whole earth to do whatever He commands them. He brings the clouds to punish people, or to water his earth and show his love.”

“Listen to this, Job; stop and consider God’s wonders. Do you know how God controls the clouds and makes His lightning flash? Do you know how the clouds hang poised, those wonders of Him who has perfect knowledge? You who swelter in your clothes when the land lies hushed under the south wind, can you join Him in spreading out the skies, hard as a mirror of cast bronze?”

“Tell us what we should say to Him; we cannot draw up our case because of our darkness. Should He be told that I want to speak? Would anyone ask to be swallowed up? Now no one can look at the sun, bright as it is in the skies after the wind has swept them clean. Out of the north He comes in golden splendor; God comes in awesome majesty. The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power; in His justice and great righteousness, He does not oppress. Therefore, people revere him, for does He not have regard for all the wise in heart?”
Job 36:22-33, 37:1-24

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

It’s been quite a summer.

Mega-hot temperatures followed my mega-severe thunderstorms complete with lightning, thunder, and heavy rain.

Maybe you have experienced the same where you are.

When it is so hot, we typically ourselves looking for relief. And if you think about it, so do the plants and animals that are exposed to the sun’s intense rays. That would make most of God’s creation looking for a break from the heat, longing for the relieving coolness brought by falling rain.

Yes, when it gets so hot, we find ourselves fixated on the weather reports. Is there rain on the way and, if so, when? We get preoccupied by our need for a break from the scorching temperatures. And as we know rain is coming, what do we do? Don’t we look up toward heaven to the skies for a sign the rain is arriving?

You do it and so do I.

We long to see the sky get dark and hear a few thunder rolls or lightning flashes off in the distance. They all seem to give us a sense of comfort that soon the rain will be cooling things off as it falls on a waiting creation.

Question: Through all this, do you ever stop and consider how miraculous it all is? How God is the great Orchestrator of the weather we experience?

One thing is for sure, no man or woman can make the sky produce rain or thunder or lightning. It is a miracle produced by God as a loving gift to His Creation. And this is a reason to praise Him greatly.

Elihu, as he speaks in Chapter 36 of Job, attempts to remind us of this. Look at the passage as he speaks the following words about God:

 “He draws up the drops of water, which distill as rain to the streams; the clouds pour down their moisture and abundant showers fall on mankind. Who can understand how He spreads out the clouds, how He thunders from his pavilion? See how He scatters His lightning about Him, bathing the depths of the sea. This is the way he governs the nations and provides food in abundance. He fills his hands with lightning and commands it to strike its mark. His thunder announces the coming storm; even the cattle make known its approach.”

Indeed, only God could produce the majesty we experience in the falling rain showers, the booming thunder claps, and the bright, blinding lightning strikes. No one else has the power to do any of it except God.

This is why He, and He alone, is to be lifted up as God over all things in heaven and earth – and praised continually for His awesome wonder. Elihu put it like this:

“God is exalted in his power. Who is a teacher like him? Who has prescribed His ways for Him, or said to him, ‘You have done wrong’? Remember to extol His work, which people have praised in song. All humanity has seen it; mortals gaze on it from afar. How great is God—beyond our understanding! The number of His years is past finding out.”

Elihu said it and we need to understand it. God is exalted in His power and no one is above Him. No one. In fact, no one understands how amazingly powerful He is. We can’t fathom the extent of His strength and might but we don’t need to. We just need to believe and trust that this God who is exalted in power and majesty over all things - this God who brings the rain and thunder and lightning - this God who placed the sun in the sky that scorches us with its heat- this God, the Lord God Almighty, is the God who is for us and loves us so very much. The very God who creates the storms that rain down on His Creation is the same God who also calms the storms of life when they come on us. Job will soon discover this. We need to acknowledge it through the many amazing miraculous signs and wonders that God revealed Himself through in His Holy Word, and has continued to reveal Himself through ever since.

So what is to be our response?

Back to the scriptures. For we are to extol His work – to praise Him for all He has done, all He is doing, and all He is yet to do in our lives and in the lives of those around us. We have witnessed the awesome power of the Lord first hand. It’s time we gave Him the glory and honor that He and He alone deserves.   

It’s time we all look to Heaven and praise our exalted and almighty God.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

WHICH WAY WILL YOU CHOOSE?

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Elihu continued:

“Bear with me a little longer and I will show you that there is more to be said in God’s behalf. I get my knowledge from afar; I will ascribe justice to my Maker. Be assured that my words are not false; one who has perfect knowledge is with you.”

“God is mighty, but despises no one; He is mighty, and firm in His purpose. He does not keep the wicked alive but gives the afflicted their rights. He does not take His eyes off the righteous; He enthrones them with kings and exalts them forever. But if people are bound in chains, held fast by cords of affliction, He tells them what they have done—that they have sinned arrogantly. He makes them listen to correction and commands them to repent of their evil. If they obey and serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment. But if they do not listen, they will perish by the sword and die without knowledge.”

“The godless in heart harbor resentment; even when He fetters them, they do not cry for help. They die in their youth, among male prostitutes of the shrines. But those who suffer He delivers in their suffering; He speaks to them in their affliction.”

“He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food. But now you are laden with the judgment due the wicked; judgment and justice have taken hold of you. Be careful that no one entices you by riches; do not let a large bribe turn you aside. Would your wealth or even all your mighty efforts sustain you so you would not be in distress? Do not long for the night, to drag people away from their homes. Beware of turning to evil, which you seem to prefer to affliction.”

Job 36:1-21

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Our church has a new senior pastor and at a meeting recently, he introduced an effective tract we are going to start using titled, “Two Ways to Live: The Choice We All Face” (Matthias Media). It is very concise in explaining the gospel and, as you can see by the title, boils life down to show us that we really only have two critical choices to make before an Almighty God.

More on that later but as we look at the scripture passage in our devotion from Job, Chapter 36, we read Elihu, the young man addressing Job and his three friends, giving us a precursor of the two choices presented before mankind by God. Look at his words:

“God is mighty, but despises no one; He is mighty, and firm in His purpose. He does not keep the wicked alive but gives the afflicted their rights. He does not take His eyes off the righteous; He enthrones them with kings and exalts them forever. But if people are bound in chains, held fast by cords of affliction, He tells them what they have done—that they have sinned arrogantly. He makes them listen to correction and commands them to repent of their evil. If they obey and serve him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment. But if they do not listen, they will perish by the sword and die without knowledge.”

Did you pick out the two choices? If so, you really see it is a matter of spiritual wealth or destitution – spiritual happiness or anguish – spiritual life or death.

Indeed, our Almighty God is “firm in His purpose”. He “despises no one” but does command and expect obedience to His word, will, and way. Given this, we can choose to obey Him and see Him as our Ruler and King, receiving His correction with a heartfelt desire to repent and allowing Him to move us toward righteousness – or we can choose to submit our life to sin, arrogantly opting for our own desires and ignoring God’s correction and call to turn from our wickedness. It really comes down to one of these two decisions.

And we should carefully weigh which of the options we choose because both have specific outcomes - outcomes spelled out succinctly in a way that is easily understood in “Two Ways to Live”.

First, what’s the outcome of not choosing a life under God’s rule and electing to live in sin, running and ruling our life the way we want to?

Answer: Condemnation by God and thus facing His judgment and certain death.

There is little doubt that God hates sin. It was sin that led to Him offering His Son Jesus Christ to die as a living sacrifice, bearing the sins of the world on His body as He was nailed to Calvary’s cross so we could be pardoned. There was a deep cost paid for you, me, and all mankind so our sin debt would be covered. God expects us to respect and acknowledge His greatest act of love and deliverance granted to His people and will not take kindly to anyone who takes Him and His Son for granted, rejecting His offer for salvation from the sin affliction through the pardon made possible by His Son, our Savior Jesus. If we reject Him, then we can expect His judgment. The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Hebrews, reminded us of God’s promises from the Book of Deuteronomy:

 “For we know Him who said, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ and again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Hebrews 10:30-31

Indeed, it is a dreadful thing or, as other translations have described it, a fearful thing (KJV, NKJV), a formidable and terrible thing (Amplified), and a terrifying thing (Good News, HCSB).

I know this isn’t a place I would like to be, at a place where I am facing dread against a formidable God who brings me to a place of paralyzing, terrifying fear as I face judgment at His Almighty Hands and know eternal destruction in hell is my reward for rejecting Him and choosing to run my own life.

How about you? Would you EVER choose this outcome?

Maybe looking at the other possible outcome will make the decision a lot easier. For what will happen if we choose to surrender our lives to Jesus Christ, the sacrificed and resurrected Son of God who paid the price for our sins and has been appointed Ruler over us by the Father? What happens when we allow ourselves to adopt the Christian lifestyle, allowing Jesus to rule our lives?

We become forgiven by God and freed from His condemnation (Romans 8:1), entering into the promise of eternal life granted by a God who so loved mankind that He gave His only Son Jesus so we might never ever perish. The death and resurrection of Jesus opened the gates of heaven for you, me, and anyone else who would place in Christ to follow. With this, death is not the end and, instead of hell, we receive the riches of eternity, entering into God’s kingdom as heirs to a part of His great and holy inheritance.

Friends, who wouldn’t want this? And who in their right mind would ever reject eternal peace and joy and love experienced through living life eternally with God the Father and Jesus, His Son?

Yes, in the end translation, it really does come down to two choices.

God’s judgment and condemnation which leads to death and hell - or - God’s forgiveness and salvation through Jesus Christ which leads to life eternal.

Which way will you choose?

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com