It Is Good

Posted on by May 19, 2014
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Genesis 1:31.– And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

How many times recently have you stopped, taken a deep breath, looked around and said “this is good”?
Myra and I have started to walk, regularly, around our neighborhood. Now I don’t say it’s such a special place — but there’s plenty of grass, some very satisfying trees, and some pretty ponds.
For much of the time that we have lived here we have, like many others I suspect, taken it for granted. But now we have stopped to look, it is full of wonders. There are squirrels who, always skittish, leap up the trees when we get too close … and then peek at us around the trunk or a branch. Then there’s the rabbits, just as watchful, who freeze when we are near and then, when they’ve checked us out, carry on nibbling.
All through the days of creation God looked at His work and found it good. At the end of the sixth day, having created man — His masterpiece — and all the work being finished, He found it not just good but very good. In fact it was perfect.
Even in it’s fallen state this world is still very good. When we turn our eyes from the ground to the air on our walks we see beautiful birds — northern cardinals, sweet singing mockingbirds, red winged blackbirds, magnificent eagles — The beauty and variety is breathtaking … “Oh Lord my God … Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.” (Psalm 8:6-8)
As we walked out tonight we were passed by a few people. There was the lady struggling with the dog that was a little too large for her. There were the boys, heads down, focused on their race. Several cars swept by. There was the solitary walker, marching vigorously by, eyes down listening to her iPod. Sadly not one was seeing the goodness around them.
Oh, and don’t let me forget … On the water, the little blue heron, the mother duck and her babies, the Muscovy ducks … little delights everywhere. And Myra’s special pleasure — the trees, each one with a different shade of green.
Have you had a walk like ours in the recent past? Have you stopped and taken a breath of air and basked in the golden early evening sun? Have you felt a surprising moment of deep, satisfying peace? It’s my belief — with no scriptural base — that you have felt a distant echo of the satisfaction of God. It is very good!

Remember!

Posted on by May 18, 2014
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Ezekiel 20:19-21 — I am the Lord your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God. Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; they polluted my sabbaths. Then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.

Before we get started, let’s be clear. I am a hypocrite. I’m not nearly as good at walking the walk as I am at talking the talk. Many of these pieces are addressed firmly to myself and describe what I’m stretching to. They’re definitely not meant to make anybody wriggle more than me!
Now, with that appetizer out of the way, let’s turn to the main course which is a return to the question rather formally referred to as “Sabbath Day Observance”. How are we to spend our Sundays? I know there is no topic on which I have written more often — but then there is hardly any issue which is more ignored in common practice, and this passage in Ezekiel and many others make it clear that it is dear to God’s heart too.
I’ve written before about the importance of the Sabbath as a sign, of the importance of laying down burdens on the Sabbath, and of right employment on the Sabbath. It is that last topic that I was prompted to return to today.
I’m not sure why this is top of mind today — other than the fact that today is Sunday. I do know that I’m saddened every Sunday when I hear of people skipping church because they’ve got a golf game, or leaving the worship service early because they “need” to get to the restaurant before the masses.
There’s a really bad argument freely advanced to justify all kinds of Sunday activity. It runs along the lines of “Well that’s the way the system works. If I don’t fit in, I’ll miss out.”
In December 1841, the Reverend Robert Murray McCheyne, outraged at the proposal by the Directors of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway to open it’s lines on Sunday, wrote:
Is it wise to take the interpretation of God’s will concerning the Lord’s day from “men of the world,” from infidels, scoffers, men of unholy lives, men who are sand-blind in all divine things, men who are the enemies of all righteousness, who quote Scripture freely, as Satan did, to deceive and betray?
The argument may be nearly 175 years old, but what was true then is true today. Now as I said above, I can’t get too self-righteous about all of this. I sometimes travel for business reasons on Sunday, I like to watch professional sports on Sunday, and once in a very rare while Myra and I will lunch out on a Sunday. All I can say is that we try pretty hard to set aside wordly matters on a Sunday, and take it as a day of rest. And from time to time we revisit the subject and see if there are any ways we can tweak the routine and get that bit closer. Perhaps one day we may be able to claim a small part of a great promise:
If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. (Isaiah 58:13-14)
Jesus reminds us that “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:27). I think that’s why I am driven back, time and again, to this issue. If I honor the sabbath, if I remember, the blessings will be great indeed.

Know Yourself

Posted on by May 17, 2014
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Acts 10:34-35 — Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

Today, as you will most probably know, is the anniversary of an important waypoint on the path to the eradication of racial discrimination in these United States.
The unanimous opinion of the Justices of the Supreme Court, expressed on May 17, 1954, contained the following key paragraph:
We come then to the question presented: Does segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race, even though the physical facilities and other “tangible” factors may be equal, deprive the children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities? We believe that it does.
So here we are, sixty years later. Is prejudice, then, a thing of the past? Of course it is not. It is hard to be comforted or comforting about the topic.
It’s only one part of the picture, but an Associated Press survey published in 2012 declared:
In all, 51 percent of Americans now express explicit anti-black attitudes, compared with 48 percent in a similar 2008 survey. When measured by an implicit racial attitudes test, the number of Americans with anti-black sentiments jumped to 56 percent, up from 49 percent during the last presidential election. In both tests, the share of Americans expressing pro-black attitudes fell.
It’s a hard pill to swallow. Many of us, of course will declare ourselves free of the taint — but we cannot deny that, in contrast to Paul’s clear statement of God’s will, there are two ugly tendencies still rife:
— Prejudice felt by people of one race against those of another
— A resentment of prejudice, even where none exists, arising from a long miserable history of oppression.
So what’s to be done? How is society to be corrected? It is not, until Jesus comes again. All we can do is look at ourselves and consider where we stand on this issue.
First, and I expect some to deny this fiercely, I say that all of us are prejudiced in one way or another and should recognize it. Not all of us hold unfair preconceptions against those of other colors — but sadly I find myself agreeing with politician George Aiken who said “If we were to wake up some morning and find that everyone was the same race, creed and color, we would find some other causes for prejudice by noon.” If you have ever drawn conclusions about someone because of how they dress, or how they speak, or even just where they come from, then you know what I mean.
Having accepted that in a fallen world prejudice is inevitable, and that each of us are marked by it, the only course open to us is to watch for it and work consciously to form our opinions and take our actions in a Christlike manner. As for me, I will pray often:
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24)

Marriage Is Honorable

Posted on by May 16, 2014
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Hebrews 13:4 — Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

I’m going to share a guilty secret. Sometimes Myra and I watch junk TV. Usually it’s something to do with detectives, or similar puzzle-solving with a human interest twist. So tonight we were watching one of our favorites, and one of the detectives was getting married. It set my mind running on a topic that has long been a concern of mine — modern marriage, both real and “as seen on TV”.
Marriage in America is in trouble. I know there are statistics that says the divorce rate has fallen a little in the last year of so, but I know enough social and economic history to know that things like divorce rates and the age of marriage vary according to economic conditions. There are other statistics that are far more compelling, and far more disturbing. Let me give you just one: Sixty-four percent of children ages 0–17 lived with two married parents in 2012, down from 77 percent in 1980. (If you want to know more about that topic, visit the childstats.gov web site.)
Now I believe that media portrayal of life has an influence on attitudes and behavior — and sadly marriage isn’t getting good coverage. Relevant Magazine describes the situation very well:

But during this Oscar season and the couple of years prior, it seems that “alternative families” are getting more positive coverage than ever, while heterosexual marriages and family life are shown almost exclusively in states of misery or mockery. Hollywood may be making just a small percentage of films and shows that have these attitudes, but perhaps the bigger issue here lies in the way the media culture has shone a highly biased spotlight upon them, furthering their agendas into discussions on the news and talk shows and ubiquitous advertising.
You can read more about this topic at http://www.relevantmagazine.com/culture/film/features/24055-hollywoods-confusing-portrayal-of-marriage#vpiPiGDTJO3rOL1J.99

So what are we to do about this? As Christians we can go on the offensive and the defensive.
The offensive side of our response ought first to be to present a positive image of godly marriage — to make sure that when people look at our marriages they see something so wonderful that they say “that’s what I want”. We should also be supportive of media portrayals of biblical marriage — in particular, go to Christian movies to encourage the filmmakers to make more.
The defensive side of our response should first be to refuse to countenance divorce or those “alternative family” lifestyles. We should also, at a personal level, take Psalm 101:3 to heart: “I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.” We need to refuse to watch TV shows and movies that consciously set out to undermine marriage. Let us hold marriage “honorable to all”!

The Scandal Of The Cross

Posted on by May 15, 2014
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1 Corinthians 1:23-24 — but we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.

You may have heard or read about the sad departure of a long serving Pastor from a church on the East coast of Florida. It’s a tragic, often-repeated, story of a man of God who somehow got tangled in a web of temptation. 
It’s not my purpose, today, to focus on the old sad story. I want to pick up on something Tullian Tchividjian, Senior Pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church said in an article he wrote in the “Good News”, a Christian newspaper that Myra and I receive.
Pastor Tchividjian pointed out that “no vertical condemnation does not equal no horizontal consequences, but horizontal consequences do not equal vertical condemnation”.
The symbolism of the horizontal and vertical is used often to connect us to Jesus on the cross. Vertically, He is reaching up to the Father. Horizontally He is reaching out to embrace all mankind.
This is part of what makes the cross so scandalous to the Jews and so foolish to the Greeks. The idea that the Messiah could be crucified, and connected God through the cross was revolting to the Jews. The idea that God could be crucified and still embrace all humanity was ridiculous to the Greeks.
And now here comes Pastor Tchividjian to add another dimension to the symbolism. Now the direction of the influence is somehow to, and through the cross. The Son reached up to the Father. But now the Father pours down grace vertically through the Son. Condemnation pours horizontally from the world and is blocked by the cross. The idea of grace is folly to the Greeks, and the negation of law a scandal to the Jews.
But the cross is all these things to us. It is the symbol of the Father’s grace and the Son’s love. It is the symbol of the end of condemnation. That is the only negation in the cross. That is Paul’s peal of joy:

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1)

By the free gift of Christ there is no judgment, no judicial condemnation, for those who have made the choice to take Jesus as Lord and Master.
None of this, as Pastor Tchividjian points out, will remove the horizontal, earthly, consequences of wrong-doing. The ripple effects of un-resisted temptation are terrible. The man of God who has gone astray has damaged his family and another’s, damaged his flock, damaged his witness, added fuel to the fire of those who would slander the church. And yet … There is grace.

Looking For The “Right” Answer

Posted on by May 14, 2014
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Numbers 23:13 — And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence.

You know why we have trouble knowing God’s will sometimes? It’s because we don’t really want it. In fact we probably even know it. The trouble is, we know God’s answer isn’t the answer we want — so we’re going to keep on looking until we find the “right” answer.
Balak and Balaam are the biblical poster children for this kind of “answer shopping”.
When Balak sent messengers to Balaam to come and curse the Israelites, God told him not to go. When Balak sent another set of messengers, Balaam didn’t just say “We talked about this …no”. He said, “Let me see if God has a better answer.”!
When Balaam blessed the Israelites instead of cursing them — because that’s what God told him to do, Balak didn’t say “OK, they’re blessed, how can I help?”. He said, “Let’s try over there, and see if God has my right answer”.
It’s easy to get all superior about the silliness of Balak and Balaam (and the story of Balaam’s ass is funny) but at one time or another we all make their mistake … Some of us more often than others!
So let’s suppose you have a decision to make. How do you know God’s will? You’re a good Christian, so you go to the Bible. You don’t find your exact case … Which is true 90% of the time. What do you do? You phone a friend, right?
You explain the situation, the decision you need to make to your friend. She doesn’t see it the way you want her to do. What do you do? If you’re like me, sometimes you go to another “trusted advisor” … and keep going until you get the “right” answer. Sometimes you even convince yourself that God wants you to be happy (I’m not sure the Bible really says that) so He’d expect you to decide things the way you would like them to be!
What’s wrong with this story?
We went wrong at the first step. When it comes to the will of God, and knowing what to do. The Bible has a lot more principles than prescriptions. Chances are, if you can’t find the applicable principle you already know the answer and you’re avoiding it (and the same goes for me too!). But maybe — just maybe — you really can’t find the guiding principle. Then by all means get the advice of that godly friend … and ask for the Biblical principle that supports the guidance. When you get the first Biblically supported answer, stop looking.
One last thing …this works backwards. When you find God’s will, it’s not always easy to follow — but when you follow God’s will, it’s gets easier to find!

A King’s Response

Posted on by May 13, 2014
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Psalm 12:1 — Help, Lord; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men.

I thought that today I’d offer you a homework assignment! Purely voluntary, of course, and I’ll get you started.
Here’s the assignment. Read through the Psalms — or at least browse (take as long as you like, I average one or two a day). See how often David is having a bad time. And see how he handles it.
First, he looks to The Lord for help, as in the verse at the head of this Devotion.
He trusts in The Lord, and thanks Him for His generosity:

But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me. (Psalm 13:5-6)

Even in his darkest moments, David’s response is praise:

I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. (Psalm 22:22-23)

But David’s response to adversity is not just to praise The Lord. It is also to commit (or recommit) himself to a Godly life:

Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing: I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. (Psalm 17:3)

Are you getting the picture yet? In the Psalms, David provides a wonderful book of instruction for dealing with the difficulties of life. He wasn’t afraid to remind God of the good He had done before, nor to ask for grace:

Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy loving-kindnesses; for they have been ever of old. Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O Lord. (Psalm 25:6-7)

That last extract is an example of the broader conversation that David has with God, and documents in his Psalms. Go ahead. Do that reading (or browsing) through the Psalms. We’re not even a quarter of a way through yet. As you work through You’ll find David singing and weeping, mourning and rejoicing, confessing, raging, testifying, praising, committing himself — whatever David felt, he felt free to say to God. It was that, I think, as much as anything else that made him a man after God’s own heart.
How about your conversations with God? Not all of us can have the poetic gifts of the sweet singer of Israel, or respond like the King, but each of us can open our hearts. I know it can feel risky sometimes — but you know He knows your heart already, knows it as only He can. Trust Him with it, especially when the pressure is on.

This Is The Day

Posted on by May 12, 2014
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Psalm 118:24 — This is the day which the  Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

For both Jews and Christians this much loved verse is explained as referring both to historic events, and to events in the prophetic future. To David it seems this verse might refer to his coronation or to the day the Ark of the Covenant was returned to Jerusalem. To the ancient Jews Psalm 118 it was likely a psalm sung during entrance to the temple, at the Passover. It celebrated God’s deliverance of the Jews from Egypt. It was also a psalm prophesying the future entrance of the Messiah into Jerusalem.
For Christians Psalm 118 has been related to Jesus’s triumphal entry on Palm Sunday, to the Resurrection, and to the Second Coming. Both Charles Spurgeon and Albert Barnes would have us apply the verse to every Sunday – and who can deny the appropriateness of the thought, as we should surely enter our churches with joy in our heart on every Sunday.
There are other more personal applications of the verse for me.
Firstly, I will always refer this verse to the day on which I got saved. Psalm 118 also says “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.” (Psalm 118:17), and I have known since that day that I shall not die but have everlasting life. I know, too, that it is laid upon me to declare the works of the Lord – and here I am doing it.
Secondly, I use the verse often, to remind myself of the goodness of God. As anyone who reads my daily devotion regularly will know there are times when I allow myself to become downcast. I have no right to let that happen.
Of every day it may be said, “This is the day which the Lord hath made”. There are no bad days – it is only a matter of my reaction. 
To me this is part of the business of being joyful. You can find the instruction to be joyful, in one way or another, in many scriptures. One of my favorites is Romans 12:12, part of a wonderfully brief prescription for the Christian life:

Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;  Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not.Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. (Romans 12:10-15).

Mostly, it’s about keeping a sense of proportion. For sure, there are things that are really unpleasant in life – but most of the things I fret about are not so important when considered as part of a whole life. Even the truly horrible parts of life have little or no eternal significance. But still, from time to time, I have to remind myself – “This is the day …”.     

Mother’s Day

Posted on by May 11, 2014
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Isaiah 66:13 — As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

Let me share something — I’ve been fighting this devotion all day. For various reasons, some of which I’ll share, I’m not a great fan of Mother’s Day — especially not the modern American form of it which is not the same as the “Mothering Sunday” that I was used to as a youngster.
More of my reservations later, but first let’s celebrate what so many hearts are rightly full of today. God plainly holds mothers in great esteem! When He compares the comfort He intends to lavish on Jerusalem to the loving care a mother lavishes on her son (and as Henry Cowles points out, an adult son at that), He makes it plain that there is no higher standard of care.
Many men in the Bible owe much to the influence of their mothers — both for the good and, sad to say, for the bad. Solomon is a good example. His mother Bathsheba fought fiercely to ensure His succession to his father David’s throne. Her influence is reflected throughout the Book of Proverbs, starting at 1:8 — “forsake not the law of your mother”.
So what have I got against Mother’s Day? I can’t completely explain it. Part of it, though, is that I cannot reconcile this annual one-day celebration of motherhood with an environment in which the family, especially the family as God intended it, is so thoroughly disrespected. Let me share a couple of depressing statistics.
— Between 1965 and 2009 the rate of marriage between the ages of 25 and 34 fell from 80% to 50%.
— Between 1950 and 2000 the divorce rate in the US doubled.
“Well hang on”, you might say, “those statistics, are more about marriage than motherhood.” Well here is the one that really breaks my heart. The best estimate is that, from 1973 through 2011, there were 53 million abortions in the USA. That’s 53 million instances of motherhood that won’t be celebrated this year or any other year. Another indication of the declining respect for motherhood is provided by the Pew Institute:
The number of single father households has increased about ninefold since 1960, from less than 300,000 to more than 2.6 million in 2011. In comparison, the number of single mother households increased more than fourfold during that time period, up to 8.6 million in 2011, from 1.9 million in 1960.
I’d like to see the one day celebration of mothers turned into a year-long crusade for motherhood — and for that to be part of a greater mission to fix the American family!

Defeating The Final Mystery

Posted on by May 10, 2014
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1 Corinthians 15:54-57 — So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Myra and I were reading Numbers 19 this morning. It is the mysterious account of the sacrifice of the red heifer and the burning of ashes to create the water of purification, to be used to remove the uncleanness caused by death.
I was wondering about why such a strange process was needed.I realized that most — if not all — societies have death rituals, usually organized by faith communities.
For example, according to Wikipedia:  The Benguet of Northwestern Philippines blindfold their dead and place them next to the main entrance of the house, while their Tinguian neighbors dress the body in their best clothes, sit them on a chair and place a lit cigarette in their lips. The Caviteño, who live near Manila, bury their dead in a hollowed-out tree trunk. When someone becomes ill, they select the tree where they will eventually be entombed. Meanwhile, the Apayo, who live in the north, bury their dead under the kitchen. 
Another example — Traditionally in the Russian Orthodox church the body lays uncovered in state for the three days until burial. Then there is a special memorial dinner. On the ninth day, when the soul is believed to leave the body, a special church service and dinner are held. On the fortieth day, the soul is said to depart for the other world, and a service and dinner party are again held. At each party, a glass of vodka covered by a piece of black bread is left for the deceased.
As I explored this, I found many fascinating traditions! But why — why do we need these rituals.  It’s because, although they are familiar, death and life are the ultimate mysteries. We do not really know how the divine spark of life comes, not why it really flickers out. We understand the immediate causes but the mechanisms of life and death themselves are mysterious. being mysterious they are frightening, and being frightening they need to be mysteriously defeated.
For Christians though, the matter is surely different. We know that we will die … but we need not fear death.
We know that death is the natural consequence of sin. Adam sinned, and death ensued as part of our fall from grace. We pursued that fall to it’s desperate end on Good Friday, exercising our free will choosing to kill Jesus … kill one of the persons of God. The Father chose not to interfere. And then, gloriously, on Easter Sunday He chose to exercise His free will and defeated death, reclaiming His Son from the grave. The sting of death is drawn, the grave is defeated. No Christian need fear the final mystery. It has been defeated.