"I...Am Alone....But You, O Lord...."

"I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am like an owl of the desert.  I lie awake, and am like a sparrow alone on the housetop....My days are like a shadow that lengthens, and I wither away like grass....But You, O Lord, shall endure forever." (Psalm 102)

You may have been here, or are here.

I was with some of my high school graduating class last evening.  It was a party for us on our 75th birthdays.  I was amazed as to how many of the 720 are no longer with us.  One of my fellow football players lost his wife a few years ago.  He could tell me right away the years, the months, and the days.  I sensed continuing grief, "like a sparrow alone on the housetop."  I plan to try to get together with him. 

It is okay to feel as the psalmist.  It does not necessarily reflect a "lack of faith," or backslidden state.  It can just reflect the reality of our humanness.  I felt like our text that summer so long ago.  When I think of Stephen, which is daily, sometimes I have those, "pelican of the wilderness,..owl of the desert-- like a sparrow alone...," moments.

But notice later in the Psalm where the psalmist takes himself, "But You, O Lord, shall endure forever, and the remembrance of Your Name to all generations....Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.  They will perish, but You will continue."  This is the reality of who we are in Jesus Christ.  Jesus, in His Blood, His triumphal shout from His Cross, "It is finished," His Resurrection, has brought us into His Total Triumph, "Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in Himself."  You and I are a part of the, "Triumphing over them," People. 

Now, my dear friend, "having disarmed principalities..," Jesus is now in His Glorious, Resurrected life living in us.  Jesus has brought out of that despair of that, "wilderness," that, "desert," that, "alone on the housetop."  Indeed, "He brought me to His Banqueting Table, His Banner over us is love."

Father, in Jesus' Name, Thank You so much for bringing me into Your, "Everlasting Habitations."  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

Please Read Each Translation

"For we do not wrestle against (literally) blood and flesh, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:12, NKJV, my "default" version)

"For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places." (NLT)

"....against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness...." (NASB)

"....our fight is...against organizations and powers that are spiritual.  We are up against the unseen power that controls this dark world, and spiritual agents from the very headquarters of evil." (Phillips)

"....against the cosmic powers over this present darkness...." (ESV)

As I was praying for the current battle in the American Government this morning, Jesus spoke our text to my heart.  The Church of Jesus is not in a fight with people, no matter the nation, the religion, the ethnicity, the "political persuasion."  Our text tells us of the fight in which you and I are engaged.

Try to remember that the next time the Enemy gets you to be all combative with that family member, that fellow worker, neighbor, etc., who ridicules your faith in Jesus, your life style, or who just seems to be your nemesis in life.  They are not.  "We wrestle against...the world forces of this darkness," or, "spiritual agents from the very headquarters of evil."

Our Lord Jesus also reminded me today of the "Work" in His Cross, "And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together in Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the certificate of debt with its requirements that was against us....And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.  HAVING DISARMED PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS, HE MADE A PUBLIC SPECTACLE OF THEM, TRIUMPHING OVER THEM IN IT." (Colossians 2:13-14)  The old song says, "In the Cross of Christ I glory, Towering or'e the wrecks of time.  All the light of sacred glory, gathers round Its Head sublime."  I would add, "All the light of" history and eternity, "gathers around" His "Head sublime." 

I have been praying for many years that we get a clear 5 to 4 majority on the US Supreme Court who are committed to Jesus Christ, His Kingdom, His Church, Biblical Principles, and the US Constitution.  Whether that happens or not, I identify with the three Hebrews before a pagan King, "But if not, let it be known to you...that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up." 

I want to live this life with the attitude of the triumphal epitaph of one of my forebearers who passed from this life in 1697.  "Here lies William Sherwood, a great sinner awaiting for a joyful resurrection."  Let, "the world forces of this darkness," live with that.

Father, in Jesus' Name, I do so want to have William Sherwood's attitude.  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

From Pronoun To Proper Noun

"Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For by Jesus all things were created....All things were created through Jesus and for ('unto') Jesus.  And Jesus is before all things, and in Jesus all things consist (literally, 'hold together').  And Jesus is the head of the body, the Church, Jesus is the beginning, the firstborn out from the dead, that in all things Jesus may have the preeminence.  Because in Jesus was pleased all the Fullness to dwell, and by Jesus to reconcile all things to Father, by Jesus, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the Blood of Jesus' cross."  (Colossians 1:15-20, Interlinear)

If the modern Church does not grasp, cling to, fight the, "principalities and powers," to proclaim the Truth, the Theology, the Reality of our text, it is no longer the Church of Jesus Christ.  It is no longer, as 1 Timothy 3:15 declares, "the Church of the Living God."  I read a book 55 years ago by W. H. Griffith Thomas entitled, "Christianity is Christ."  Any other definition is superfluous.   

People talk of "legacy."  If I leave any legacy at all may it be our text.  The Church in Western Civilization is declining, declining in numbers, declining in giving.  Personally, I attribute at least one of the reasons, perhaps the preeminent reason, to the failure to proclaim Jesus Christ as revealed in our text. 

Christendom, not the Church, is amalgamating the ancient Doctrines of Scripture with various religions, some ancient, some more recent, along with Christ-rejecting theologies, philosophies.  "God will not allow this to happen."  No one can make anyone or anything other than Jesus preeminent and expect Our Father and Holy Spirit to "show favor," to give "success."  Make no mistake; what we may call "favor" and "success" is most likely defined differently by the Living Triune G0d. 

God told Joshua the only way to succeed, "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall mediate, ('be constantly in It') day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.  For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."  I don't call declining membership and declining giving as, "prosperous," and, "success."

So, how does this "help" you today to go about your day?  It does for you what reading today's text did for me this morning, a constant reminder of who you and I are in Jesus Christ, Jesus calling us to Himself, bringing us to Father, in the Holy Spirit.  If anyone is just looking to "get through the day," there is a higher calling in Jesus Christ.  It is found in the ancient cry, "Christus Victor," the reality of which declares that everything out to destroy you and me has been destroyed in the Blood, Death and Resurrection of Jesus----------- "....that in all things Jesus may have the Preeminence." 

Father, in Jesus' Name, You told the world to, "Hear Jesus."  I pray it does.  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