Bible

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REDEMPTION NOT REVENGE

“I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.”  Jonah 4:2

This is what Jonah said when The Ninevites repented, and God decided to withhold bringing destruction on them.  Jonah knew God’s character.  I never quite caught that before.  I’ve always focused on the fact that Jonah was mad about God not destroying them.  He knew what God would do, and he wanted no part in saving the hated Ninevites.  I believe Jonah provides us with a clear distinction between the heart of God and the heart of man.

I hear people ask how can a loving God let this or that happen?  Yet, Jonah wanted his loving God to bring disaster.  These are obvious contrasting perspectives on God.  Both fail to understand the heart of God. Peter tells us, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.  He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)  God loves us all.  Judgement will come, but he gives us time because he loves us.

God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.  This is the heart of God; not the heart of man.  Man in his heart wants revenge.  God’s heart wants us to receive the salvation he provided through his son.  In my quest to understand God, understanding his heart brings completion.  Knowing his heart is knowing him.  Now I just have to become like him.

Father, help me to lay down my heart and take up your heart.  Build in me, O Lord, a heart of forgiveness that desires redemption not revenge. Amen!

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PSALM 8, A PSALM OF DAVID

When we look with wonder into the heavens at night, we connect with the billions of others who have lived on the earth through the centuries.  There is in us a great awe as we survey the vastness of the heavens.  We are inclined to speculate about where it all came from.  For King David there was no doubt that his God had created all that he saw.  And in creation, he saw the glory of his God.  In Psalm 8 he voiced, “How majestic is your name in all the earth.”

In my quest to understand God, King David, “a man after God’s own heart” (See 1 Samuel 13:14), sets a perspective of God that is foundational.  To understand God, I need to see how big he is.  You can’t get any bigger than the creator of heaven and earth.  Everything I know and understand, plus an infinite amount beyond, was created by God.  He’s big!  Yet he allows praise from the mouths of little children to silence his enemies.  God is big, and he is humble.

What draws the attention of this mighty creator?  Human beings are at the center of his creation.  In our original state we were created just a little less than God himself.  We are created in his image.  He made us rulers over all the creature of the earth.  David’s response to these thoughts; “How majestic is your name in all the earth!”

As I look into the night sky, the words of Psalm 8 always bring from deep in my soul a resounding praise.  How amazing are you my God that you can create these limitless expanses, yet I am important to you.  Thank you God for loving me, redeeming me, and giving me an eternal future with you.

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SALT

Sodium is a highly reactive element that can explode when it contacts water. Chlorine is poisonous to all living organisms.  Yet together in the compound sodium chloride (salt) they are essential for life.  Salt is another of the amazing items in this wondrous world that God created.  This simple compound has greatly affected life on earth and has been used by God to relate to us and to teach us.

In modern America salt is found in great abundance, but in ancient times salt was often worth its weight in gold.  Before refrigeration salt was used to preserve foods.  Many countries used salt to prepare the dead for burial.  It was therefore essential for survival and a part of cultural traditions.  Trade routes were established just for the selling of salt.  Countries went to war over it, and many countries levied taxes on salt.  Salt was highly valued.

For the ancient Hebrews, salt was a sign of their covenant with God.  Salt was added to their offerings to represent their covenant relationship. (See Leviticus 2:13) The salt covenant was also mentioned in relationship to King David’s promised eternal reign. (See 2 Chronicles 13:5)

Jesus used salt as an analogy when he taught, “You are the salt of the earth.  But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?  It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot” (Matthew 5:13).  We are the salt of the earth!  We are the ones who bring flavor to the earth.  This makes sense to us because salt is a part of our daily life.

Salt is a very useful item in God’s world both as a flavor enhancement and a preservative.  Its properties also provided Jesus with a useful analogy to teach us.  So for us who love and follow God, we can enjoy salt and be salt as we walk through God’s world.

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SIBLING RIVALRY

Have you ever felt like God’s favorite?  God has a unique way of making each one of his children feel special.  He knows us intimately and speaks to us individually in a personal specific manner.  No one else knows us this well.  He is never condemning even when correcting us.  Therefore we should rejoice in our close relationship with God, but we should also be aware that this intimate closeness is available to all who will receive him.

Being special to God does not in any way invoke superiority in comparison to others.  For us humans who carry a sinful nature, this is an important caution.  We want to be special, but in our fallen state, we feel it necessary to prove ourselves superior to others.  I’m better than so-n-so because _______.  It’s easy to fill in the blank because we’ve all been there.  However, Christ died for all of us.  We each get the full power of redemption through his shed blood.  Nobody gets or needs a greater portion.

As the principal of a Christian school, my position had a great deal of responsibility and prestige.  The young man who cleaned the building had a different position.  We were both called of God to fill our respective positions.  Was one job superior?  Not in God’s eyes.  We were both walking in what God had set before us.  With God there is no favoritism. (See Acts 10:34, Romans 2:11, Ephesians 6:9).  We were equally important in God’s kingdom.  Both of us were created and gifted to fulfil our purpose for Him.  We were also equally loved by God.  In God’s eyes we were and are his special children.

God is able to have an infinite number of favorites.  We are each one God’s favorite.  We are all special to him.  In the family of God there is no need for sibling rivalry.  We need only to love one another and trust our Father to provide what we need.  He created us with a special purpose in his kingdom.  As he directs you through your life be content.  You are unique and special in his eyes.

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THE OUTCOME IS IN HIS HANDS

Today I have the privilege of helping a young man pass his driving test.  I don’t really know him.  I spent two hours giving him a driving lesson yesterday, and today I will go with him to the DMV for his test.  After today I will most likely never cross paths with him again.  I have shown him patience, kindness, and a little humor during our brief encounter.  This is what I do.  This is what God has asked me to do.  It’s my ministry.

When I am in the car with students I often have an opportunity to share my faith with them, but not always.  A few times I have prayed with a student.  I usually pray for them, but I have no idea of the eternal impact of our interactions.  This is in God’s hands.  He knows.  I am his servant doing his will as best I can.  I am getting old and tired, and I frequently want to quit.  His word to me is “Stay the Course”.

So today I will venture forth in my little car and teach students to drive.  I will rely on God to strengthen me when I’m weary, give me patience when I’ve run out, and encourage me when I’m down.  (Isn’t this what life as a Christian is all about, relying on God?)  Many times I feel that I can’t continue, but He gets me through.  My awareness of my need for Him has greatly increased.  The outcome of doing this job is in His hands.

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NO CONDEMNATION

It happens so regularly that it’s predictable.  The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up.  I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight.  Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.  I’ve tried everything and nothing helps.  I’m at the end of my rope.  Is there no one who can do anything for me?  Isn’t that the real question?  The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does.  He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.  With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved.  Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud.  A new power is in operation.  The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death. (Romans 7:21-8:2 The Message)

What then is our responsibility in regard to sin?  This question reveals the trap that catches many believers.  We often feel that we should now more than ever focus on being sinless, missing the fact that we can’t make ourselves sinless.  We are still flawed by our inherited sinful nature.  Focusing on making ourselves sinless is self-indulgent and actually leads us away from God.  Our focus should be on God.  That is where we find freedom.  Paul calls it living in the Spirit not in the flesh.  All the power to overcome sin is in Christ Jesus.  We have no power in ourselves.  Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)  Our responsibility is to seek God.  He takes care of the rest.  Try sinning while you’re seeking God.

In closing, I’d like to remind you that we are justified through Christ’s blood shed on the cross.  That means we are acceptable in the sight of God.  We are welcome into the presence of God.  The work is finished.  There is no condemnation for us who have received Jesus.  When we are seeking God, he wants, and may I say is excited for, us to find him.  It is his delight for his children to know him.

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DOES GOD REALLY CARE?

A small group stands in the sanctuary near the platform engaged in prayer.  The leader is training the group to seek the Lord’s words for those they pray for.  Suddenly the leader turns to one of the men and says, “She will be with you for a long time.”  The man is immediately convulsed with deep sobs.  He seems thoroughly overwhelmed by these simple words.  No one else knows why these words impact him so deeply, but he does.

I am that man.  About ten years ago my wife was having some health issues, and I began to worry that I was going to lose her.  This worry occupied much of my thought life almost to the point of obsession.  One afternoon as I was driving back to my office, the Lord spoke these words to me, “She will be with you for a long time.”  The prayer training seminar happened several months after this.  When the leader spoke those words to me, I was overwhelmed by God’s personal care for me.  What she spoke to me was word for word what God had spoken that day.  The lady was from out of town, and I had never met her until that day.  I had not shared with anyone what God had spoken to me.  I had never been as deeply touched as I was that day when God confirmed his word to me.

I felt I was being unfaithful by not trusting the lord for my wife, but He didn’t condemn me.  He just comforted me.  God’s love and mercy are truly amazing.  He cares for us.  This is my story of his care.  What has happened in your relationship with God that shows he cares?  Listen for his voice.  He desires an intimate, personal relationship with each of us.  He cares for us.

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VALUABLE INSIGHTS

Situations come upon us from time to time in which prior information would be quite valuable.  Say you come upon a situation where two people are engaged in a quarrel.  What should you do?  If you don’t have much income, but you’re living comfortably, should you still give to the poor? Are you a person who has to have something to say about every subject?  A wealthy but stingy man invites you to dinner, should you go?  At work there’s a group of party animals that go out 3 or 4 times a week.  They spend the next day talking about the great time they had. When they invite you to join them, should you go?

These are just a few of the situation addressed in the Book of Proverbs.  Our God has provided us with a rich source of information for our daily lives.  Proverbs is not outdated wisdom, but it is full of wisdom for all times.  Provers contains 31 chapters.  By reading a chapter a day you can read the whole book in most months.  Try filling your day with rich practical information for your daily decisions.

You can find valuable insights into the situations I mentioned above by looking at these verses:

Proverbs:         26:17,  21:13,  21:23,  23:6-8,   23:20-21        {these are listed in order}

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A SOLID FOUNDATION

Throughout my diverse teaching career the subject I most commonly taught was U.S. History.  Having spent my early years on the east coast, much of what I taught was set in places that were familiar to me. The inscriptions that I often read in those places were filled with Christian words and ideals.  It was obvious to me that our country had a Christian foundation.  Aren’t those inscriptions still there?  Aren’t our founding documents full of Biblical references?

What would be the purpose of denying this foundational connection to the Christian Religion?  Perhaps there are those who would go another way, to change the foundation.  Can you change the foundation without destroying the building?  If the foundation is faulty, don’t you have to build a new building?  What will be the foundation for this new building?

I will close with this excerpt from George Washington’s Farewell Address 1796:

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

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LIFE’S DIFFICULTIES, BLESSINGS

I’m sitting here in my study looking at the weather station that shows it’s 105 degrees on the north side of my house in deep shade.  Yes, it’s hot!  In the back yard it’s 109.  My refrigerator died earlier this month, so I had to buy a new one.  My not very old washing machine quit working, but woo, I was able to fix it.  The espresso machine went on the fritz.  All this is happening when we’ve recently lost a fair portion of our monthly income.  Life has its difficulties.

In addition, I live in drought ridden California, so we’re trying to be very careful with our water usage.  A sprinkler valve stuck in my front yard sending a great wash of water down the street.  I replaced the valve, but not very well, so it broke loose and flooded the front yard.  Yes, and I forgot a hose I left running that flooded my back yard.  Really, I’m trying to be good!  The August water bill will reflect that I’m not being very successful.  Life has its difficulties.

As I reflect on these difficulties, I’m suddenly embarrassed.  A vision of the suffering across the earth passes through my mind.  I see the pictures of starvation, famine and war suffered by my fellow humans.  My difficulties pale in comparison.  I live a very comfortable and blessed life.

Even though it’s hot outside, my air conditioned house is a comfortable 80 degrees.  I love my new refrigerator, and it’ll be paid off in a few months.  I have the convenience of a washer and dryer right here in my house.  The espresso machine is working again!  And though we’ve had a financial set back, all our bills are paid.  Life has its blessings.

About now you’re wondering where the scriptures and the adaption of a spiritual message are.  Well here it is.  When living in God’s world, trust him with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. (See Proverbs 3:5)  Both difficulties and blessings are covered by this verse.  It is his world.  We can trust him with the outcome.  He worked out our salvation.  He can handle all the rest.  He loves us through the difficulties and the blessings.