Thursday, December 31, 2009

"Come there gain or loss"

For Me?

Lord Jesus, Redeemer,
Didst Thou die for me?
For me, Lord a sinner -
How could such love be?
O fairest Lord Jesus,
Didst thou suffer scorn?
For me, Lord, a sinner,
Wear a crown of thorn?

And were Thy hands wounded,
Wounded, Lord, for me?
Thy holy feet pierced
On the bitter Tree?
And, Lord, wast Thou thirsty,
Thirsty, Lord, for me?
O fairest Lord Jesus,
How could such love be?

O make my heart tender;
Pardon, pardon me,
That ever forgetful,
I have grieved Thee.
I would be Thy lover,
Taking up my cross,
Thy lover forever,
Come there gain or loss.

- Amy Carmichael, Mountain Breezes

Monday, December 28, 2009

Though He Slay Me...

Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him
- Job 13:15

Who says things like that?  Who hopes in one who is killing him?  Job does.  Only when one hopes in another greater than he hopes in himself can one say such a thing.  In Job's case his hope in God sustained him, despite the bitter cup he had been given.

Though the category 5 hurricane was still in the midst of demolishing his life, Job had a death grip upon the ledge of the grace of his God.  His life wass utterly devastated and laid in shambles around him like the scattered remains of a trailer park after a tornado has just passed through.  Job's children were snatched away from him, his wife wagged her tongue at him and bid him to give up and to curse the God in whom he hoped, his friends too were fashioned into weapons to be wielded viciously against him, and as if all of that were not enough he was granted a cup overflowing with physical suffering as his entire body was covered with intensely painful sores.  Yet Job's fingers refused to let go, "Yet I will hope in Him."

Job clearly saw where his storm originated; "Though He slay me."  His point of view stands in sharp contrast to that so often heralded to those enduring various storms in our day.  I remember clearly during a funeral service years ago hearing a clergy member declare to the mother of her deceased son, an officer killed in the line of duty, "Don't let anyone tell you that God did this."  I bit my tongue as I sat in the room with hundreds gathered to mourn the loss of this heroic public servant.  My blood was near to be boiling as this man in priestly garb spoke as if he were delivering the words of God.  As if the medicine he had to offer would assuage any discomfort.  He may as well have given her a sugar pill and said that should help.  How can it be that those who would endeavor to speak on God's behalf would neglect that which He has already so effusively spoken.

The Scriptures which teach contrary to the fancily dressed man upon a stage are too numerous to list in their entirety yet I will highlight a few which quickly come to mind:

See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.
Deuteronomy 32:39

Does disaster come to a city unless the Lord has done it?
Amos 3:6

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.
Matthew 10:29

You have put me in the depths of the pit, in the regions dark and deep. Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves. Selah.  You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape;
Psalm 88:6-8

Your wrath has swept over me; your dreadful assaults destroy me. They surround me like a flood all day long; they close in on me together. You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me; my companions have become darkness.
Psalm 88:16-18

With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding. If he tears down, none can rebuild; if he shuts a man in, none can open. If he withholds the waters, they dry up; if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land. With him are strength and sound wisdom; the deceived and the deceiver are hisHe leads counselors away stripped, and judges he makes foolsHe looses the bonds of kings and binds a waistcloth on their hips. He leads priests away stripped and overthrows the mighty.   He deprives of speech those who are trusted and takes away the discernment of the elders.  He pours contempt on princes and loosens the belt of the strong.  He uncovers the deeps out of darkness and brings deep darkness to light.  He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away.  He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth and makes them wander in a pathless waste.  They grope in the dark without light, and he makes them stagger like a drunken man.
Job 12:13-25

I'm thinking Job may have said something like this if he could have been in attendance at that funeral service.

Not only was Job clearly able see from whom the storm originates, but he was also able to see through the pounding rain and fierce wind.  He could see beyond the massive storm surrounding him and into the goodness of his God.  This is faith.  Faith is seeing beyond the storm, it is seeing beyond all that the eyes of flesh can see in order to behold that which only the eyes of faith can see.

Job's faith caused him to be able to see through the blinding storm like radar enables a pilot see in order to safely land a plane in the midst of a dense fog.  His radar-like faith saw clearly through to the goodness of his God.  This is why Job could honestly say, "Though He slay me, yet I will hope in Him."

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Ransoming the Righteous

____________________

The wicked is a ransom
for the righteous,

and the traitor
for the upright

- Proverbs 21:18
____________________

A few commentaries point to the account of Mordecai and Haman as an illustration of the principle set forth in this proverb. In that case, the Sovereign Lord arranged that the wicked (Haman) was a means of delivering the righteous (Mordecai). The wicked plans of Haman fell not on Mordecai as he had planned but upon himself. Thereby his very life was a ransom for the life of his hated enemy (although not on Haman’s terms).

Yet there is more to this proverb as it appears as a foreshadowing of that tremendous verse in 2 Cor. 5:21:
For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

The righteous One gave Himself as our ransom. He took our wickedness upon Himself (made Him to be sin who knew no sin) in order to ransom those who would become right with His righteousness. This is the great exchange: The righteous given for the wicked.  The righteous One becomes wicked with our wickedness (that which did not originate in Him) in order to give us His righteousness (that which did not originate in us).

And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,
- Rev. 5:9

Unlike Haman this ransoming occurred on Jesus’ terms – It was not forced upon Him but He volunteered to accomplish the ransoming of the wicked (who would thereby become righteous) by the giving of Himself, the righteous (who would thereby become wicked with our wickedness and take our curse upon Himself).

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us--for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"
- Gal. 3:13

Saturday, December 26, 2009

"What Riot of Joy"


Greater Joy

It was a great full moon
That hung low in the west,
But the dear little birds sang everywhere,
And the unborn dayspring blest.

Not one singing bird could be seen,
But every bush and brier
Was astir with the sound of the music they made,
That sweet invisible choir.

The hills in the wonderful light
Sat listening, grave and mild,
And they folded the plains in their gentle arms
As a mother might her child

And high in the still, white air,
All in the soft moonshine,
They rose and rose to a pearly peak
Like a faraway holy shrine.

If this can be with the world
In the setting of the moon,
With what riot of joy will it welcome Thee back,
O Sun that art coming soon!

- Amy Carmichael, Mountain Breezes - The Collected Poems of Amy Carmichael


Friday, December 25, 2009

Good News of Great Joy



And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people


For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.


- Luke 2:10-11

Behold the Lamb of God

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Pressing into the Kingdom

My daughter and I are reading though Little Pilgrim's Progress, an edited version of The Pilgrim's Progress for children.  Here is a portion of what we read today from chapter 10:

Outside the palace Christian saw a great crowd of men who looked as if they wanted to go in but were afraid to do so. Then he saw that some other men in armor were standing around the doorway. They had fierce, cruel faces, and the men who were outside dared not try to pass by them. A little way from the door a man was sitting at a table, with a book before him, in which he wrote the name of anyone who tried to get into the palace. Little Christian felt very much interested in all of this, and he hoped that one of the men would be brave enough to go into the palace while he was there.

"Why does not the King drive away the wicked soldiers?" he said. "He could drive them away, and then all those people could go into the palace."

"He could do it quite easily," replied the Interpreter, "but He wishes to see how many of the people really care about entering the palace. Those who love the King with all their hearts are not afraid of the soldiers. We can wait for a little while, and you will see someone go in."

So they sat down upon the grass, and little Christian watched the people. Presently a man came out from the crowd and went toward the table near the doorway. His name was written in the book, and then he put on his helmet and drew his sword and rushed in among the soldiers. He fought with them for a long time, and Christian thought he would be killed; but although he received many wounds, he got into the palace at last, and then all the people upon the roof began to sing:

"Come in, come in,
Eternal glory thou shalt win."

Little Christian smiled. "Does that mean we are not to be frightened, because the King will help us and take us safely into His City?"

"Yes," said the Interpreter.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

The Results of Refusing Justice

____________________

The violence of the wicked
will sweep them away,
because they refuse to do what is just


- Proverbs 21:7
____________________

To refuse justice is to be eventually swept away by the ever increasing violence of the wicked. Without justice there is no border to hem in such swelling violence and thriving wickedness.

Ultimately the weapons of the wicked will be turned against themselves. We see examples of this illustrated in the gang violence that rages in the inner cities and in the wars between differing factions in organized crime. There is no end to their violence. In fact their violence only breeds more violence as those who are offended seek revenge, offend, and then are avenged upon by those whom they have offended. Yet there will finally be an end to this horrific cycle of violence, for on that great and final day the One who is perfectly Just will say “Enough.” It is then that this cycle will cease and all wrongs will at last be righted and avenged in His justice.

Monday, December 14, 2009

The Radical Disease & The Radical Remedy


"Universal education is highly desirable. So are just laws administered with justice. Both are pleasing to God who is the Creator and righteous Judge of all mankind. But neither education or legislation can rescue human beings from spiritual death, captivity or condemnation. A radical disease requires a radical remedy. We shall not on that account give up the quest either for better education or for a more just society. But we shall add to these things a new dimension to which non-Christians are strangers, namely that of evangelism. For God has entrusted to us a message of good news which offers life to the dead, release to the captives and forgiveness to the condemned."

- John Stott, The Message of Ephesians
(emphasis added)

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Robert Seal: Danger Danger

This is a song written by my dad many years ago. He recently had an opportunity to have his music recorded with a friend of his. The recording turned out great and is now able to be enjoyed by many friends and family. I put the first of his songs to this youtube video today:

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Doing what He does

____________________

To do righteousness and justice
is
more acceptable to the LORD
than sacrifice

- Proverbs 21:3
____________________

When the Scriptures teach that something is "more acceptable to the Lord" we should probably pay attention. The Lord delights more in doing rightness and in doing justice than He does in our sacrifices.

The Earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, therefore what can you give to the Lord that He does not already have? Therefore what He desires from us is not what we can give sacrificially, but rather our living out His righteousness and His justice. For as we live out His righteousness and His justice we appropriately reflect the glory of His character. We then become living illustrations of the goodness of our God. Imperfect though we are, we may yet bring His rightness into situations deeply in need of it and we may bring His justice into situations which might be otherwise completely unjust – thereby displaying a glimpse of His likeness to the world around us. For as is described throughout the pages of Scripture; displaying His glory is His preeminent motivation.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Hungry?

The great injustice of hunger in the midst an abundance of food in our world is shocking. This moving video depicts the striking degree of hunger which is prevalent in so many places in our world, even while food is often just right around the corner:

Friday, December 4, 2009