"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God....No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known." (From Jn. 1-ESV)
Jesus was "in the beginning." Jesus "was with God." Jesus was God." And since He was God, I assume He still is. Why is man so reluctant to confess this truth? Simple. When I see Jesus, I see God, no speculation, no philosophy, no creation of my own god. The Bible says a number of times what John 1:18 says, "No one has ever seen God...." Until the revelation of Jesus Christ, very little was known of the Living Triune God. Jesus said that "no one comes to the Father, but by Me." We only know our Father and come to our Father in Jesus.
"The heavens [do] declare the glory of God." But "God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." The key is, "the knowledge...of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Observe God's ways in the Old Covenant and you see much of what He does. Observe God in Jesus Christ and you see Who He Is. Study the Gospels. Watch Jesus moving and living among men. That is the Blessed Trinity moving among men. He is "the same, yesterday, today, and forever," isn't He? So, as He is in the Gospels, He is today, right there with you, in your house, your office, Washington, Berlin, Jerusalem, to the ends of the earth. Jesus never had a "plan B."
Father, in Jesus' Name,------------------------ thank You. Amen
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Watchman
Sentinel
Friday, March 14, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
The Great Tent-Dweller
"Let me dwell in Thy tent forever...." (Ps. 61:4a-- NASB)----- Amen!
Some would call this "primitive faith." Many times I listen to passages as well as read them, and when I heard this earlier this morning, there arose a deep longing, "Oh, Blessed Trinity, 'Let me dwell in Thy tent forever.'" I can ask for nothing greater. I said, "Dear Jesus, Let this be, to dwell with You, to live in You--------------- "forever!" The strongest, "Amen," ever came from me. Simple stuff? I think not. The invitation of Jesus and this longing in me is far deeper than any intellect.
The beauty of the revelation of Jesus many centuries ago is that to "dwell in [His] tent forever" was opened, in His Blood and Cross, to any person on the planet who has the same longing. We don't have to beg for this. We enter into this. Here is what the Lord Jesus spoke to my heart this morning-- "You ask Me to let you dwell in My tent forever. It is done. Continue to dwell in Me as I have covenanted to dwell in you. And never forget My invitation to you, which you heard so long ago, the invitation which is still to every living soul on earth: 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me.'" He is not a "God afar off." He is right there at that computer with you and in you, Your Father, Your Jesus, Your Holy Spirit, the Great Tent-Dweller-- Who is still longingly looking for the, "anyones" today.
Father, in Jesus' Name, help me to "join" You in looking for the "anyone" today. Amen.
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Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Obey Before You Understand
"Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a straight and right way for us, our little ones, and all our possessions." (Ezra 8:21-- Amplified Bible)
To fast is to humble. Not to fast is to humble not. Fasting is a demonstration that I really believe Jesus' Word, "Without Me you can do nothing." Some time ago our pastor called for us to fast on Wednesdays of each week. I remember the first time I fasted. It was on a Monday 40 years ago. I drank only water from 18:00 Sunday evening to 18:00 Monday evening. A good friend and brother in our seminary and I agreed this is something we needed to do. Monday evening, at 17:55 we were parked outside of the local Arby's. Well, at least we got started.
Fasting should be always coupled with Scripture reading, prayer, worship. Otherwise it is just a "holy diet." There is great power in humbling oneself "with fasting." Fasting is an admission that really
only Jesus Christ can sustain me in life, and in the Bible fasting is concurrent with deep crises. "I humbled myself with fasting....I wept in my soul with fasting...." The Jews were facing genocide in the time of Mordecai and Esther. Esther sent out a desperate plea, "Fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day...; and if I perish, I perish!" Here's one in Isaiah 58:8 which has been affirmed by medical science-- "Then...your healing will quickly appear...."
I have an idea. Stop looking for more books, tapes, reasons, and "leadings" on fasting and--------------------------- "
Just do it."
Father, in Jesus' Name, help me to obey before I understand. Amen.
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To fast is to humble. Not to fast is to humble not. Fasting is a demonstration that I really believe Jesus' Word, "Without Me you can do nothing." Some time ago our pastor called for us to fast on Wednesdays of each week. I remember the first time I fasted. It was on a Monday 40 years ago. I drank only water from 18:00 Sunday evening to 18:00 Monday evening. A good friend and brother in our seminary and I agreed this is something we needed to do. Monday evening, at 17:55 we were parked outside of the local Arby's. Well, at least we got started.
Fasting should be always coupled with Scripture reading, prayer, worship. Otherwise it is just a "holy diet." There is great power in humbling oneself "with fasting." Fasting is an admission that really
only Jesus Christ can sustain me in life, and in the Bible fasting is concurrent with deep crises. "I humbled myself with fasting....I wept in my soul with fasting...." The Jews were facing genocide in the time of Mordecai and Esther. Esther sent out a desperate plea, "Fast for me; neither eat nor drink for three days, night or day...; and if I perish, I perish!" Here's one in Isaiah 58:8 which has been affirmed by medical science-- "Then...your healing will quickly appear...."
I have an idea. Stop looking for more books, tapes, reasons, and "leadings" on fasting and--------------------------- "
Father, in Jesus' Name, help me to obey before I understand. Amen.
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Tuesday, March 11, 2008
The Victims of Hatred
"I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me....For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry." (Hab. 2:1 & 3)
The Young Jews Murdered in Jerusalem Last Week
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These young men are children of Abraham. They were murdered because they are Jews, nothing more. The Bible warns that there will be more of this. Hatred is irrational. You do not reason with it, negotiate with it, or yield to it. If you do, you are dead. To many naive Believers these words sound harsh, maybe even unchristian. No. They are the reality of the world in which we live, and history is on my side! If the Godhead is so against war, why is the last book of the Canon filled with the description of the Final War? Don't ever let anyone tell you that the Book of Revelation is allegory. That false opinion will make you unprepared for what is to come on the earth.
Our text is the theme of most Biblical prophecy. "But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled." (NLT) So, in light of our text, in light of the murders last week in Jerusalem, in light of the reality that "all who desire to live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution," and in the light of Biblical prophecy in general, I pass on to you some encouragement from the Words of God-- "Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love....Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith....Become complete. Be of good comfort....The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen."
Father, in Jesus' Name, I pray, fulfill this exhortation in me. Amen.
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Monday, March 10, 2008
Though We May Kick And Scream--"Father Knows Best"
"....Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered." (Hebrews 5:8)
Jesus Christ is the "wisdom of God." Why then our text? The Greek word for, "learned," is, "manthano," which means "to increase one's knowledge," or, "to learn by inquiry." Jesus did not "learn" obedience as though He was unfamiliar with obedience. The meaning is similar to that found in Hebrews 2. Jesus "tasted (experienced) death for us," and "in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God...." Jesus "learned," experienced, "tasted" the same process to obedience which you and I must take. In His identity with us, Jesus demonstrated and cleared the pathway to obedience for us, a pathway which says that as gold is only refined in the fire, so people only learn obedience through the fire of suffering. Just go back over your life and find evidence to disprove this.
Most do not like this pathway to obedience. We would prefer it be, "We learn obedience through the blessings, the books, the even-though-I-messed-up approach. But alas, it is suffering. You will never hear this Bible truth from the new age spirit in Christendom today. But if you are a diligent disciple of Jesus Christ and His Word, you will come to recognize His ways more and more, though they be not "your ways" or the ways of anyone around you. Though the "old man," the "flesh" will argue the whole way through life, you and I know deep down that the Blessed Trinity does everything "for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day."
Father, in Jesus' Name, I have often fought Your ways to my own hurt. I pray today that You continue to have Your way in me. Amen.
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