Believe This: Fear NOTHING

"'Do not be afraid.  Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today'....And the Angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel's army, withdrew and went behind them.  The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel.  Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side....God loved the world this way: He gave His Only Son....God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that....Christ died for us."  (From the, "The Word of God," Himself, Jesus, and His, "God-Breathed," Words)

These Words were all fulfilled on this Day, a Day of days, six hours, bleeding, scorned, dying. 

Today a care giver is out front in her car preparing notes for her visit.  I'm sitting in a comfortable chair writing to you---- sunny here today, and quite pleasant. 

On That Day, however, so very long ago, "From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land."  Indeed, "Well might the sun in darkness hide, and shut its glories in, when God, the mighty maker, died for man the creature's sin.  Thus might I hide my blushing face while his dear cross appears; dissolve my heart in thankfulness, and melt mine eyes to tears." 

This demonstration of The Blessed Trinity's love for mankind, viz., "Christ died for us", is all accomplished, "while we were still sinners...."  He did not wait until we were "good enough."  What farcical nonsense; to think there is anything I could say, do, worry over, cry about, regret, pay some indulgence for, that could ever bring about the Salvation which I could never earn.

The love of the Living Triune God has no measure.  I know I have shared with you before of that great revelation on John 3:16 which I discovered while studying in the Interlinear Bible so many years ago, "For God loved the world thus," or, "this way."  No one can speak of the "amount" or "degree" of God's love.  We can only speak of, "God...demonstrates His...love...."  You cannot "rate" God's love on a scale of 1-10.  If I can even begin to comprehend the love of the Godhead, it must begin here, "looking" at the Cross today, hear and accept, "....God loves the world thus...."

Any attempt at mental comprehension today as, "....I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died,.." leaves me absolutely baffled.  I can only accept Jesus' Words of the Event of all events, embrace Jesus, follow Jesus, obey Jesus.  "What wondrous love is this, O, my soul?"

Father, in Jesus' Name, "When I survey the wondrous Cross on which the Prince of Glory died"............................

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

Hebrews 12:2

"Now You Shall See What I Will Do"

"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Now you shall see what I will do....'"  (Exodus 6:1)

Before the "now" in our lives, "Jesus Christ is Lord."  And after the "now" in our lives, "Jesus Christ is Lord."  When you seem stuck in the middle, remember: He is the God of the before and after.  "It shall come to pass."

Moses, quite frankly, was having a difficult time believing that God could "pull off" all that He was declaring to Moses.  In the previous chapter Moses had said to the Lord God that, "ever since," and I paraphrase here, Moses did what God told him to do, nothing had worked out the way God said it would, or perhaps more accurately, the way Moses expected it would."

It seems as though in chapter 6, Jesus had to now state His Ways clearly.  In essence, Jesus told Moses that He gave Abraham promises and the "agenda" of the Godhead for generations to come.  He then told Moses that He was up on everything and heard everything which was then going on in Egypt with the Government and His People.  He further declared that in spite of the way things seemed to be, "I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians....And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham....I am the Lord."  For the Living Triune God, all His Words, His promises are already fulfilled, accomplished, done.   

Before you and me were, there was Jesus Christ and His Kingdom.  Now, there is Jesus Christ and His Kingdom.  Tomorrow and after you and me, there is Jesus Christ and His Kingdom.  How many provisions Jesus had in store for me even before I knew of them and experienced them.  And here you and I are right now, some in very trying situations, others full of uncertainty, maybe some filled with great apprehension, even fear.  But now the test of faith/obedience comes.  Every Word of God which we have was spoken millennia ago, and, because, "The Word of God is alive and active," His Words are still speaking to us, very up-to-date.  Everything may now be saying to you, "Ever since...," nothing has worked out.  But His Word is sure.  The words of "the prophets" or the "word" you believe He spoke "to your heart" may have merit.  But I would suggest that we give far less credence to those words than to the Bible, "God-Breathed," Words.  "Now you will see what I will do...."  How many times when the future was uncertain, Jesus spoke and did these words.

Father, in Jesus' Name, thank You that You have me surrounded with Your finished work.  Amen.
*********************
Please pray with me about attending the Indian Affairs Committee Hearing at the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation, April 21, 2017.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

Hebrews 12:2

Passed "Through" For Some-Passed Over For Others

"For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt...; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment:  I am the Lord....And you shall take...the blood.., and strike the lintel and the two doorposts...."  (Exodus 12: 12 & 22)

Jesus, "pass[ed] through the land of Egypt on that night, that He might, "strike all the firstborn in the land...."  Yet, He passed over every house upon which He saw the blood of the lamb.  "And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood...."

Last night was the beginning of Passover, which commemorates that night in Egypt several millennia ago when Jesus fulfilled His Word, "For I will pass through the land...."  It was a, "pass through," of judgment.  Apparently, whether those who pass some moral judgment on the Living Triune God approve or not, something drastic needed to be done about sin, "I...will strike...."  The word for, "strike," is from a root word meaning, "attack, destroy."  And that He did.

Yet in the midst of that judgement on, "the land of Egypt on that night," the Lord God passed over every house upon which was the blood of the lamb.  In the midst of judgment and death was the offer of protection, deliverance, preservation; they just needed to be under the blood.  When Jesus shed His Most Precious Blood on that Roman Cross, He "attacked, destroyed" sin, "....once for all."  Indeed, "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil." 

It is a very sobering reality: The same night there was a, "pass over," there was a, "pass through."  Nothing has changed.  Jesus, "the Prince of life," is still passing through our lands.  Indeed, the Bible tells us that a time is coming, "....when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."  The only way of "escape" is in the Passover Lamb, Jesus.  In His Blood Jesus, "....destroyed the works of the devil."  There is just no other way to overcome sin and the devil than, "by the Blood of the Lamb," Jesus.  Let us keep the Blood of Jesus applied to the doorway, lintels and posts or our hearts.

Father, in Jesus' Name, I am so thankful that when you, "pass through," You also, "pass over."  Amen.
*****************************
October, 2017 Mission:  October 28- November 15

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

Hebrews 12:2

Our Lord's Repetitive Reminder

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  Therefore...." (Psalm 46, KJV)

You need to read the rest of the Psalm to see why the, "Therefore," is there for.  It may be your past; it may be your future, but both are "healed" and "under control" and panic free when you and I have The, "Very Present Help...." 

The Bible deals with Eternity, which envelopes past, present, future, and is, in fact, "outside" of time/space.  The Living Triune God, "The Eternal One," Who walked this Planet in the Person of Jesus, the One Who is, "from days of eternity," and is, "very present," now, here in this room with/in/ me and there with/in you is our Glorious, "....Present Help...," not just when I get to a good meeting.  I know, repeating myself again.  Yet every time you and I read that our Lord Jesus Christ is, "God...a very present help...," He is repeating a glorious comfort. 

Even before we surrendered our lives to Jesus, He was/is, "God...a very present help...."  Now we took no corresponding peace and comfort from this Reality, but nonetheless, He has always been, "from days of eternity," the Very God Who, "....is our refuge and fortress, a very present help in trouble."  The sad definition of the life outside Jesus is a life lived struggling to be its own "refuge and fortress and help."  That describes the proverbial "hell on earth." 

I encourage you to rest in the remainder of this day and the rest of our lives in Our continual, always, never ceasing, "....Refuge and Fortress,..Very Present Help...," Who is Jesus Christ.

Father, in Jesus' Name, every time I read and hear You say to me that You are my, "refuge and fortress, a very present help in trouble," I am strengthened.  Amen.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

Hebrews 12:2