"....With Him On The Holy Mountain"

"....We...were eyewitnesses of His majesty...when we were with Him on the holy mountain."  (From 2 Peter 1:16-18)

Every one of us needs an, "....eyewitnesses of His majesty," and, "we were with Him," testimony.  Now I am not writing of some "photo-static" image nor an aberrant "with Him," but an "encounter," a testimony as the men of Samaria said, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him."

We thank our Lord Jesus Christ for those who testified, preached, taught and lived the Good News of Jesus as witnesses to the Gospel.  But I gather from the rest of Scripture that the Living Triune God does not want us to have just other, "eyewitnesses," accounts, of people who, "....were with Him on the holy mountain."  He wants you and me to be, "eyewitnesses of His majesty.., with Him on the holy mountain."

Now don't get all "charismatic" on me.  Peter says, "Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not seen Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory."  This, my friend is what we have in the New Birth, in our conversion, our salvation.  Maybe our, "eyewitnesses," experience is not just as Peter's, nor our, "with Him on the holy mountain", as Peter's, but it is to be just as "real," just as personal, just as, "with Him."

Father, in Jesus' Name, thank You for including me in Your, "eyewitnesses," and, "with Him on the holy mountain."  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 Affliction of Loneliness

"Hear my prayer, Lord....Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress....For my days vanish like smoke....My heart is blighted and withered like grass....I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins.  I lie awake; I have become like a bird alone on a roof."  (From Psalm 102, NIV)

Loneliness is a horrible affliction.  Is there medication for this?  Can "counselors" help deal with this?  If you find yourself here today, don't feel as though your are "out of it."  King David, "the sweet psalmist of Israel," once cried out, "Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted."  

The psalmist in today's text speaks of this loneliness, the feeling of being alone in the world as, "....I am in distress."  The dictionary describes, "distress," as "extreme anxiety, sorrow or pain."  Only those who have "been there" can feel it.  The psalmist likens the sense of loneliness to, "alone on a roof."  He feels like, "....blighted and withered...grass."  There is no doubt the pain is deep, awaiting, longing for some "cure."  

If you are in such a state today, I encourage you to hear our Lord Jesus Christ breathing on you His glorious invitation and promise, "Come to Me, all you who are weary and weighed down, and I will give you rest....From Me...you will find rest for your souls."  This is my encouraging offer to you today as the "cure" for any distress-causing loneliness.  Feed on Jesus, His Words, our Glorious Comforter, and, "....what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God."  I pray this helps a little.

Father, in Jesus' Name, for all the lonely out there today, Have mercy.  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 King...Threw Them Into The Firepot"

"Whenever Jehudi had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe's knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire....The Word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 'Take another scroll and write on it all the words that were on the first scroll'....So Jeremiah took another scroll and...Baruch...wrote on it all the Words of the scroll that...had burned in the fire.  And many similar Words were added to them."  (Jeremiah 36)

This was the king's worst nightmare.  Not only did, "The Word of the Lord," come back, but horror of horrors to him, "And many similar Words were added to them."

Did the king really think that cutting up and burning those Words would really put an end to, "the Words of God," coming to humanity?-- perhaps.  Yet that is exactly what that school district in Pennsylvania attempted, and what the American Public approved in 1963, and that is what has happened throughout Church History, burning, banning, outlawing, and more and more in the last century, replacing, "The Word of the Lord," in churches with.................

King Jehoiakim is no longer with us, "But the Word of the Lord endures forever."  What is that "King Jehoiakim" in your life today which is attempting to do what the king did, "....cut them off...and thr[o]w them into the firepot"?  I pray that you and I will always fight this, "principality and power," and sing in our spirits continually, "Sing them over again to me, Wonderful Words of life."

Father, in Jesus' Name, thank You that so long ago you spoke to my heart of my desperate need of the Words which no "firepot" can ever destroy.  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

"Temporary Residents" II

"In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials."  (1 Peter 1:6)

For most of us in the "West," there are not the, "all kinds of trials", which most in the Church have suffered throughout history.  Yet, there are, "all kinds of trials."

What is yours today?  By my statement above I do not mean to minimize the, "all kinds of trials," which you experience in your life time.  I do believe, however, that the greeting of Peter to, "the temporary residents," is a reminder of Biblical teaching that this, "three score and ten," or, "four score," years which we have in, "the Dispersion," are such a "small" portion of our Eternal Life in Jesus Christ that we can say with Paul, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."

My Grandfather Barnette saw something in his last moments as one of the, "temporary residents," which I shall never forget, and the thought has occurred to me many times over the years that only a person who has the expectation of Eternity can see what he saw.  One of his, "trials," was that he lost 4 of his 5 sons.  The oldest of them was only 12 years old.  There were many other, "trials," which Grandpa and Grandma Barnette experienced in their life time, but they were living examples of Titus 2, "....looking for the Blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ...."

Yes, of course, we are to give ourselves to Jesus Christ, His Church, His Kingdom in serving humanity; waste no time being as Peter writes later in the Epistle, "as each one has received a gift, serve one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God."  And in the totality of our daily walk in Jesus Christ, obeying, serving, loving, we never cease, "....looking for the Blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ...."

Father, in Jesus' Name, I do.  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

"Temporary Residents"

"To the temporary residents of the Dispersion..., elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the Blood of Jesus Christ:...'All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.  The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.'"  (1 Peter 1)

Notice today our status in this present age, "temporary residents."  There is a peace which comes from knowing this, from not attempting to get more out of this, "present evil age," than Jesus intends for us, "For our citizenship is in Heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His Glorious Body...."  This is not what the cynics call, "escapism."  This is Reality and integral to, "the Blessed Hope," of the Scriptures.  This is not, "The grass [which] withers,..and falls away."  This is, "....the Word of the Lord [which] endures forever."

"....Temporary Residents":  Beware those who attempt to make you such a "now" person that your "now" leaves you disillusioned, defeated, "claiming" stuff you have no right to, and ultimately, "having no hope and without God in the world."  Nothing in the, "God-Breathed," Words is "escapism."  Psalm 19 tells us that Jesus' Words are, "perfect.., sure.., right.., pure.., clean.., true and righteous altogether.  More to be desired are they than...much fine gold."  I cannot say this of any other words.  The "now" people are self-centered children.  Those who accept/believe and obey the Words of Jesus are of those who are, "....warned, and in keeping them there is great reward"------- both now and forevermore.  "Temporary Residents of the Dispersion":...Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him."    

Father, in Jesus' Name, I consciously today choose Your Words over that of any other.  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