"The Earth Is The Lord's"-- And His People's

"At that time the work on God's house in Jerusalem stopped and was suspended until the second year of the rule of Persia's King Darius....So that was when the royal scribes were summoned....They wrote exactly what Mordecai ordered to the Jews, rulers, governors, and officials of the provinces from India to Cush-- one hundred twenty-seven in all.  They wrote in the alphabet of each province and in the language of each people.  They wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed the order with the king's royal ring."  (From Ezra 4:24, Esther 8:9, 10-- CEB) 

You and I are not the trespassers on Planet Earth.  Those who reject the reign of Jesus Christ are the ones on "foreign soil."

I've been reading ahead because of the family gathering here in Grand Rapids next week.  Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther are quite revealing books, that is if you take off the "Sunday School" glasses.  Each of these books reveal that as far as, "The Word of God," Jesus, is concerned, there is no "separation of church and state," no separation of anything/anyone from anything/anyone from, "the Lord God Almighty."  Never allow anyone to tell you, "You can't do/say that here."

The three Books mentioned above reveal Servants of the Most High in key government positions, and all by invitation of the governmental leaders.  And it was far more than Michael W. Smith playing in the White House.  These men were actually working with the approval and aid of the "super power" governments of their day; one was prime minister of the empire.  Furthermore, our Lord Jesus Christ revealed in His 33 year manifestation on earth that nothing is "off limits."  He went to a Pharisee's house, a politician's house, spent time with homeless people, and was heading to a Roman's soldier's house when the soldier said, "but say the word, and my servant will be healed."   I pray we come to more fully understand, "Jesus Christ is Lord."

The world system will attempt to tell us that we do not belong.  That is exactly what happened in the US in 1962 and '63 when the Federal Government took the Prayer of Jesus and the Words of Jesus out of the State School System.  But some years later, a Southern Baptist Pastor created "Moral Majority," and in so doing he proclaimed to the, "principalities and powers," what the hymn writer declared so long ago, "This Is My Father's World," and, I might add, yours and mine.  Hold your head high today, not in pride, but in the reality that we are Children of King Jesus.  The only ones who should apologize for their presence on this planet is those who reject the King.

Father, in Jesus' Name, help me to rightly represent You, Your Church and Kingdom.  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

The Human Cycle

"So King Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom....But King Solomon loved many foreign women...."  (1 Kings 11)

Good king followed by bad king followed by good king followed by bad king.  This is the history of not only Israel, but also the human race. 

There is also, if we would all be honest, something of our lives here.  Our Lord Jesus is "walking in a certain direction" and we have at times decided on a "better" way.  The hymn writer put it this way: "Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love."  The objective for us all is to learn from this, from Israel's history, from world history, for us to say what the hymn writer goes on to say, "Here's my heart, O, take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above."

The warning which again I received from my readings is that I not be like Solomon.  He started out great; he ended poorly.  If people think that the New Testament People of God are somehow special, can do what we please and life just goes on and keep saying, "Well, God has everything under control," then our end will be as so many of whom I have been reading.  Do not allow yourself or any religionist to deceive you into claiming "special New Testament" status.  The New Testament is as full of people who "blew it" as in the Old Testament, as in Church History.  You may know some.

I share with you as Paul said, "first of all that which I also received."  Warnings, contrary to popular theology, are as, "for our good always," as is, "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."  Those who believe that they have somehow moved passed warnings from our Lord Jesus, are perhaps in more need of such than others.  Remember that our Lord Jesus Christ, "....knows what we are made of; He is mindful that we are but dust."  This is a reason that Jesus took our sin, "in His Own Body on the Tree," to redeem us from destruction, to forgive our sin, and the end is, "I go to prepare a place for you."

Father, in Jesus' Name, teach me more and more, "the fear of the Lord."  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

Mini-Series?

"And the country was quiet for forty years in the days of Gideon....Eli...had judged Israel forty years....In this manner Absalom acted toward all Israel who came to the king for judgment.  So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.  Now it came to pass after forty years...."  (Judges 8:28; 1 Samuel 4:18; 2 Samuel 15:6, 7a)

Reading through the Bible as I am in these last two months of '18 is like watching a TV mini-series, i.e., getting thousands of years of history in a very short time.

Action, drama, romance (O no, not that!), intrigue, deception, betrayal, jealously, revenge, reconciliation, making of friendly alliances, the list could go on.  People who find the Bible boring should spend as much time daily reading the very, "Words of God," as they do listening to Limbaugh, Hannity, watching a two hour movie, attending "christian concerts, etc.  They would find most interesting reading and, dare I say, entertainment.

Reconciliation started with Adam.  Then the great "Faith Hall of Fame" begins with Abel, then Enoch, whom the Bible calls, "the seventh from Adam", Noah, Abraham, etc.  In Abraham the Living Triune God "built" a family, literally, a family.  Moreover, if you read correctly, you discover that the whole of the Bible is a "family" story.  From right after the Fall, the Living Triune God was building the faithful Followers of the Lord God in Jesus Christ, some of whom Joshua says were, "on the other side of the Flood," on through Gideon, David and the Prophets, right through the First "Appearing" of Jesus, though He did appear to Abraham, as in, "Abraham rejoice to see My day, and he saw it and was glad," and the Babyl0nia King, "and the fourth is like a son of the gods", then the Apostles, Paul, Polycarp, Wycliffe, Finney---------- you and me, "One big (and O, wouldn't it be nice if we could say, "Happy") Family.

You and I, my friend, are a part of this great Biblical Story from Creation to the moment you are reading this.  I close with the reminder today of that Great Pivotal Point in History, the Cross.  In the Blood and Cross of Jesus, the great "wedding" took place.  All of the Old Testament People of Faith joining with those who would be of the New Testament Era in what Paul describes in Ephesians 2:13, 14, "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the Blood of Christ.  For He himself is our peace, who has broken down the middle wall of separation...as to create in Himself one new man...."

Father, in Jesus' Name, what glorious History.  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 The Tabernacle To The Temple

"....As the Lord spoke to my father David, saying, 'Your son, whom I will set on your throne.., he shall build the house for My name.'" (1 Kings 5:5b)

As Israel traveled through the wilderness, then through the times of the Judges and David, the Tabernacle was "mobile."  Of course the "Wilderness times" we know were such, but also the time of the Judges, and in a very real sense, during the time of Saul and David.  It was during the reign of Solomon that the Temple was built, which indicated a "fixed" place of worship, I think one could even say, a "fixed" place of the manifest Presence of the Godhead.

In Jesus Christ, the People of God became "mobile" again, e.g., I am here; you are there.  There is no longer any "temple" or "tabernacle" location for us in this age.  There is the reference to Jesus, "a Minister of the sanctuary, and of the true Tabernacle, which the Lord erected and not man."  I am not going into all of the implications here, viz., types, foreshadows, and prophetic fulfillment, but there is definitely a Heaven reference here. 

I just want us to be encouraged today in our "mobility" in Jesus Christ, no fixed place of worship, no "hide-and-seek" Presence, no "getting to some place."  The Bible tells us, "In Him we live and move and have our being."  This reality should keep us ever mindful of, "Abide in Me, and I in you."  In a car, train, office, shopping center, no matter.  We are the "children of His Presence."

Father, in Jesus' Name, I pray that my "mobility" will only manifest in, "Follow Me."  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