God's holiness

This morning I read a familiar Bible story in my devotional time. It is in Numbers 19:10-13. Here's the situation: Israel is wandering in the desert, complaining that they have no water. Moses and Aaron then seek the Lord's direction. God tells Moses to speak to a rock and water will come out of the rock for all of Israel (hundreds of thousands if not millions, of people, plus animals). Instead of speaking to the rock, Moses hits it twice with his staff. In a gracious response, God still provides water in spite of Moses directly disobeying God's command. As a consequence, Moses and Aaron are not allowed to enter the Promised Land.

I have heard that story many times, usually in a lesson teaching the necessity of obedience and the consequences of disobedience. In other words, when this passage of Scripture is taught, it is often about Moses. The problem (which I realized this morning) is that it is not about Moses. It is about God.

The key sentence in the passage is this: "Because you did not believe in Me, to uphold Me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them."

Go back and read the first part of that quotation again. Clearly, God says that what matters most is Him. That's not to say that obedience does not matter, but what matters most is God and His holiness. It is God and His character (specifically, in this passage, His holiness) that is of utmost importance. What this passage teaches us is that our indifference and disobedience to God's Word not only hinders our relationship with Him, but it mars His character in the eyes of others.

Moses failure was not so much in hitting the rock instead of speaking to it, but in failing to uphold God as infinitely holy in the eyes of the people. That should be every Christian's goal: to make sure that when people see you--what you do and what you say--they should see God's holiness.

HT: http://cartoons.christianpost.com

O Death, Where Is Your Victory?

I am posting this quote from Charles Spurgeon upon hearing the news that Zola Levitt, a Jewish man who trusted in and proclaimed the Lord Jesus as Messiah and God, was promoted to glory:

"That through death He might destroy him that had the power of death."—Hebrews 2:14.

O child of God, death hath lost its sting, because the devil's power over it is destroyed. Then cease to fear dying. Ask grace from God the Holy Ghost, that by an intimate knowledge and a firm belief of thy Redeemer's death, thou mayst be strengthened for that dread hour. Living near the cross of Calvary thou mayst think of death with pleasure, and welcome it when it comes with intense delight. It is sweet to die in the Lord: it is a covenant-blessing to sleep in Jesus. Death is no longer banishment, it is a return from exile, a going home to the many mansions where the loved ones already dwell. The distance between glorified spirits in heaven and militant saints on earth seems great; but it is not so. We are not far from home—a moment will bring us there. The sail is spread; the soul is launched upon the deep. How long will be its voyage? How many wearying winds must beat upon the sail ere it shall be reefed in the port of peace? How long shall that soul be tossed upon the waves before it comes to that sea which knows no storm? Listen to the answer, "Absent from the body, present with the Lord." Yon ship has just departed, but it is already at its haven. It did but spread its sail and it was there. Like that ship of old, upon the Lake of Galilee, a storm had tossed it, but Jesus said, "Peace, be still," and immediately it came to land. Think not that a long period intervenes between the instant of death and the eternity of glory. When the eyes close on earth they open in heaven. The horses of fire are not an instant on the road. Then, O child of God, what is there for thee to fear in death, seeing that through the death of thy Lord its curse and sting are destroyed? and now it is but a Jacob's ladder whose foot is in the dark grave, but its top reaches to glory everlasting.

Mary's God

Mary J. Blige says she has found religion, but she makes no apologies for her earthly materialism. In fact, she says God has willed her to wear bling.

"My God is a God who wants me to have things," the singer tells May's Blender magazine. "He wants me to bling. He wants me to be the hottest thing on the block. I don't know what kind of God the rest of y'’all are serving, but the God I serve says, "Mary, you need to be the hottest thing this year, and I'’m gonna make sure you're doing that."”

I guess that means the God I serve is not the same as Mary's god. Would someone please tell me where in the Bible (also known as God's revealed will for humanity) I can find all this "bling" stuff? I seem to have missed it somewhere.

I think I also need help in understanding how this fits in with my devotions for today from Luke 6. "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God" (v. 20). "But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation" (v. 24). Oh, and one more thing... could someone tell me how this fits into Romans 12:1, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice..." Where is the sacrifice in Mary?

Okay, okay, you know I can't resist. What about 1 Timothy 2:9, "likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire..."

Facetiousness is so fun! But seriously, isn't it sad that she is serving a god of her own making?

Sad story

I was watching a television show last night that was fascinating and sad. It was called God or the Girl and is about some young men who are struggling to decide if God wants them to enter the Roman Catholic priesthood, or to choose a normal life. That in itself is sad, as several of the young men are trying to decide between celibacy and serving God. Why is that sad? Because it is following the traditions of men rather than the commands of God (Mark 7:8).

That is not the saddest point in the show, however. At one point, a particular priest comes to one of the young men whom he is mentoring, and says that perhaps God wants him to sacrifice--by carrying his own cross--literally. The young man goes to a home improvement store to purchase materials, and he and his friends build an 80-pound wooden cross for him to carry. But there is a catch: he must carry it 22 miles to a particular church. A portion of the program chronicles this individual's excrutiatingly painful journey, at the end of which he will apparently know what God wants him to do.

Terribly sad... . This fits in with other Roman Catholic programs that, for all practical purposes, seek to twist God's arm, to appease Him in some way to act on a persons behalf. That is something God has opposed all throughout biblical history--God is not at the mercy of human beings.

What stuck me as the saddest part of the situation was the misinterpretation of Scripture. Yes, Jesus declared that all who wanted to follow Him must take up their cross daily and follow Him. But is this what He meant, to make a spectacle of ourselves while literally carrying a cross?

A close look at Luke 14:25-33 shows that Jesus made that statement to demonstrate that one must count the cost of following Him. His purpose was to engage the would-be disciple in the process of thought that would bring the individual to the conclusion that being a disciple means surrendering to Him, even to the point of death, if necessary. The prospective disciple was to view Jesus' statement not in a literal way, but as figure of speech.

By 70 A.D., approximately 30,000 people were crucified in Israel by the Romans. That tells us that a cross would have been an easily understood picture--a picture of death. Thus, Jesus tells those who would follow Him, "Are you ready to give up yourself to be Mine?"

Let's be careful not to do insane, pointless things because of our misinterpretation of Scripture. Take up your cross daily...but do it in the way Jesus intended.

Resurrection Sunday

How does the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus encourage your faith?

Resurrection survey

A recent poll by Scripps Survey Research revealed that most people don't believe in the resurrection of the body.

Some 1,007 adults were interviewed by phone from Feb. 19 to Mar. 3 by the Scripps Survey Research Center at Ohio University and asked the question, "Do you believe that, after you die, your physical body will be resurrected someday?"” Results indicate that out of those interviewed only 36 percent replied "yes" to the question while 54 percent said they do not believe in the statement and 10 percent remained undecided.

According to the poll, 90 percent of Americans believe in God or a Supreme Being, with 65 percent indicating that they were "absolutely certain" that God exists. Seventy-two percent replied they believe in an afterlife with "“some sort of consciousness" with 47 percent of being absolutely certain of this.

The poll also found that half of those who attend church recently said they believe they will undergo a physical resurrection compared to a quarter of those who have not attended service recently.

The survey speaks volumes about biblical literacy and faith in the declarations of Scripture. Maybe it's time our churches get back to preaching and teaching the words of God rather than the musings of men:

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead,
how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ
has been raised.... And if Christ has not been raised,
your faith is futile and you are still in your sins....

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead....
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ
all shall be made alive.
1 Cor. 15:12-13, 17, 20, 22

Spring Rain

Today is one of those wonderful spring days. You know...the kind when you walk outside first thing in the morning and your olfactory senses (that's your sense of smell for those of you who speak English!) are hit with a strange but wonderful smell: fresh clean air that has been cleansed by rain. Few things in creation are as wonderful. Why is that? Bcause God designed it, of course!

Praise the Lord!
For it is good to sing praises to our God...
He covers the heavens with clouds;
He prepares rain for the earth...
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 147

A Great Debt

A Malaysian man said he nearly fainted when he received a $218 trillion phone bill and was ordered to pay up within 10 days or face prosecution, a newspaper reported Monday.

Yahaya Wahab said he disconnected his late father's phone line in January after he died and settled the $23 bill, the New Straits Times reported.

But Telekom Malaysia later sent him a $218 trillion bill for recent telephone calls along with orders to settle within 10 days or face legal proceedings, the newspaper reported.

Receiving a $218 trillion bill in our world would be laughable. Outside of fraud or something similar it is simply outrageous. For a moment, though, imagine that it was your bill... and that it was real. Imagine that you were actually faced with a bill that was humanly impossible to pay (even governments can't pay that kind of bill!), and if you didn't there would be prosecution for the unpaid debt.

The Scriptures tell us that we are born into this world with that kind of debt--a sin debt--and God's holiness demands that it must be paid or prosecution results. Romans 6:23 tells us that the prosecution is death. There is no mistake, no fraud, no going back to the company and demanding an investigation. No, we simply face the debt and, being unable to pay it, we face an eternal punishment for our inability to pay what was owed.

"But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

"In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." The word "propitiation" means to be satisfied. While we were unable to pay the debt, God satisfied the righteous demands of payment by dying for us. What you couldn't pay God did... it is His free gift to you.

Spurgeon Devotional

Charles Spurgeon, a great preacher of a by-gone era, wrote this devotional for today, April 8. Thanks to the Spurgeon Archive for the info.

Preserved to Work's End

The Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome. (Acts 23:11)

Are you a witness for the Lord, and are you just now in danger? Then remember that you are immortal till your work is done. If the Lord has more witness for you to bear, you will live to bear it. Who is he that can break the vessel which the Lord intends again to use?

If there is no more work for you to do for your Master, it cannot distress you that He is about to take you home and put you where you will be beyond the reach of adversaries. Your witness-bearing for Jesus is your chief concern, and you cannot be stopped in it till it is finished: therefore, be at peace. Cruel slander, wicked misrepresentation, desertion of friends, betrayal by the most trusted one, and whatever else may come cannot hinder the Lord's purpose concerning you. The Lord stands by you in the night of your sorrow, and He says, "Thou must yet bear witness for me." Be calm; be filled with joy in the Lord.

If you do not need this promise just now, you may very soon. Treasure it up. Remember also to pray for missionaries and all persecuted ones, that the Lord would preserve them even to the completion of their lifework.

Perfect ways

Have you ever wondered why things happen? Or, have you ever wondered why God allows certain events or situations in life? I am certain that most everyone has. How should we respond to these situations? What does God expect us to understand?

Psalm 18 is a song of praise by King David for the sparing of his life. The song contains parts that are similar to other psalms such as a declaration of praise for who God is, what God has done, and how the writer has benefited from God's actions. The song then ends in another declaration of praise. What interested me was a break in between the description of God's actions and the part concerning the benefits of that action. David writes:

This God--His way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true;
He is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him.
For who is God, but the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God?

The Psalms are full of questions -- questions as to the purpose of events in life, questions regarding the need for trials and difficulties, and questions as to when God would step in and do something. That in itself is a comfort--it is not wrong to ask questions of God! However, in the end we may not have the answers. It is at that time that faith must take over and we must declare with David, "This God--His way is perfect."

David was often on the run--even from his father-in-law (Saul), and his own son (Absalom)--and his life was often in danger. As God's anointed king, it makes sense that he would wonder what God was doing. But he always returned to this fact: "This God--His way is perfect."

When a person is able to consistently return to the truths of the Person of God--the perfection of His ways, the fact that His purpose and Word are true, that He is a place of refuge when His children are under attack, that He is our Rock--the difficulties of life (even life-and-death situations) pale in comparison to the greatness of our God. Who is a rock in the storms of life? Only our Lord: "This God--His way is perfect."

Life in Perspective

Probably every Christian has at one time or another failed to share the Good News of salvation when the opportunity was presented to them by the Lord. It is also very likely that most Christians fail to grasp how faith transforms life, and how pressing the need is for evangelism. The following post from India places these into the proper perspective:

I saw a man die today.

It happened like this. We were commuting to this campus. I had just finished writing some emails on my 8lackberry and was thinking about the sermon I was about to preach.

Then, we came upon the scene. It must have just happened, because everything was very fresh. Picture a road the width of most American residential streets, but this road is a highway with heavy traffic in both directions.

I don’t know who this man was, or exactly what had happened. What I do know is that somehow he had been knocked off the bicycle he had been riding, and somebody drove a truck over his head. And that is how he was when we saw him - lying there in the middle of the road, a body with half a head still attached and the contents of the other half spilled all over the road.

I’ve never seen anything like that before. I instantly felt very sick. It was good that we had not yet eaten. The lively chatter that had characterized the drive up to that point was replaced by an earie, stunned, silence.

The strange thing about the scene was people’s reaction. In the US, if an accident like that happens, the poliece and firemen will be there right away, they will close the road, they will interview the witnesses, determine fault. The truck driver would loose his job, and maybe later the victim’s family would sue the trucking company for wrongful death.

But here, there was no poliece. There was no witnesses coming forward. There will be no investigation. The truck driver that hit the man continued along his way. Nobody was stopped to check into the accident, remove the body, or clean up the mess. The body just say there in the road, and everybody just drove around and kept going - like we would when encountering a dead possum. Such is the value of human life in a polytheistic society.

Still trying to cope with the shock of what I saw, I wonder about what that man’s life. Had he ever heard the gospel? Here, most likely not. That is why we are here training church planters - because the only hope for any Indian is to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed by the church of Jesus Christ.

There is no longer anything we can do for that man, but perhaps we reach the next man.

It's not all bad

A recent article in the LA Times reported what appears to be a growing trend among high school students: they are standing up for the faith; or, at least demanding real answers for evolutionary questions. The article follows a teacher through a class, documenting how students raise challenging questions and statements regarding the veracity of evolution.

Two decades of political and legal maneuvering on evolution has spilled over into public schools, and biology teachers are struggling to respond. Loyal to the accounts they've learned in church, students are taking it upon themselves to wedge creationism into the classroom, sometimes with snide comments but also with sophisticated questions--and a fervent faith.

As sophomore Daniel Read put it: "I'm going to say as much about God as I can in school, even if the teachers can't."

Such challenges have become so disruptive that some teachers dread the annual unit on evolution--or skip it altogether.

In response, the American Assn. for the Advancement of Science is distributing a 24-page guide to teaching the scientific principles behind evolution, starting in kindergarten. The group also has issued talking points for teachers flustered by demands to present "both sides."

Don't you love it? Those pesky teenagers keep bringing up questions that evolution cannot answer. Must be frustrating. Glad I'm not a biology teacher.

"We're not going to roll over and take this," said Alan I. Leshner, the executive publisher of the journal Science. "These teachers are facing phenomenal pressure. They need help."

The teachers need help? The teachers need help to be able to answer the questions their students have? I thought the students were the ones in need of education! I really should be careful here. This borders on being a gleeful blog at the inadequacies of the evolutionists. There is great encouragement, though, that our teenagers are learning and standing firm on God's inspired Word. Take heart; all is not lost, our Lord is Alive!