Pennies from heaven

I went to the grocery store yesterday to pick up some items on a list. We’re trying to pay cash for everything, so I headed to the ATM first to get some money. As you know, ATMs only give you $20 bills, which was fine with me.

When I parked my car at the store and got out, I decided to bring in some coins because I generally like to get as close as possible to giving exact change. Scrounging around the car, I found a few coins. I was just about to head in the store, when I looked down and saw a penny on the ground. I picked it up and then happened to notice two more rather scuffed up pennies under the car. Thinking to myself that I might need these, I shoved them into my pocket and entered the store. My youngest son was with me riding in the cart.

Now, you have to understand that I often have trouble making decisions. That day was no exception. Fruit was on my list, but I didn’t have any idea what type of fruit or how much to get. Granny Smith and Red Delicious apples, pears and kiwis passed the test and made it into the basket. I got some sweet potatoes for pies, but first had to make sure I had just the right weight. I picked up and put back a few of them until I was satisfied with my choices. A number of items made it into the shopping cart that weren’t on my list, but I felt like I should get anyway. For example, normally, I don’t buy things on a whim, but when my son asked for shells and cheese I got it for some reason. A little later he saw an apple slicer and reminded me that we needed one so I got it.

I know this may seem like a lot of boring detail–(I mean, how exciting can grocery shopping be?)–but that’s part of what makes the outcome so significant to me.

When I was finally ready to check out, I went through the self-checkout line, scanned and bagged all my stuff, and got the total: $60.73. At that point I remembered the change in my pocket and wondered how close I would be to having exact change. I reached into my pocket and found that I had exactly 73 cents, the three pennies I found on the ground having made all difference. Not only that, but since I had gotten all $20s from the ATM I had exactly what I needed down to the dollar and cent.

Another thing you have to understand is that I’m a math teacher and God often speaks to me through situations involving numbers. (BTW, the odds of the above happening are about 1/2000.) What I sensed God reminding me of through this whole thing is that He is in total control of my life. He is sovereign over all the choices I make. He is interested in even the most minute, unimportant details of my life, like buying kiwis and apple slicers.

Some people don’t like the idea of God being in control of everything, but this is a very comforting truth for someone like me who too often agonizes over “did I make the right decision?” He is with me; I don’t need to fear. Whether big things or mundane things, my Heavenly Father concerns Himself with the things that concern me. If you are His child, He has the same concern for and interest in you. You are not left alone in the tough decisions you face. He is with you and will in everything work it out for your good. He reminded me of that when He gave me His three cents.

Biblia.com is Here!!!

From the people that make Logos bible software for Mac and PC, the cloud computing version has arrived at Biblia.com. Well, is arriving at least. The feature set is apparently being completed, but if you already own a Logos base package, then a lot of your material is now available on the web. And Logos is promising that in future, people will be able to buy content for any of their platforms and use it on any other platform. This is a great model, and one that is only serving to further establish Logos as the premier electronic bible study tool. I’ll be using the website for most Bible reference links on this site, so go ahead and familiarize yourself with this excellent study aide.

90 Days with the ESV

Sometimes I have thoughts and share them before I have a chance to really consider the full ramifications. Thoughts like this one:

“I wonder what it would be like to read the Bible in 90 days?”

I thought that thought, and then shared that thought not only with my wife, but with our home church group too, a couple of whom decided that I had not lost my mind but wanted to join us on this endeavor. And in a fit of one-up-manship, my wife decided that to read the Bible in 90 days is one thing, but to read it chronologically? Well, that would surely elevate us to the level of SuperChristian*, the heady heights of which we could only previously imagine.

I saw Zondervan has a whole kit from which to work if you like the New International Version, but I’m an English Standard Version man. I recommend it to anyone who asks, and having been immersed in it intensely this summer, I stand by my conviction that this is the best single translation you can use. I always like having multiple translations available, but if there was only one open to me, I would want the ESV.

Armed with a chronological outline and a copy of Logos 4, I assembled our reading plan to begin on the first day of June and we have been reading every day until the culmination last Sunday night when we read the entire Revelation of John aloud to each other.

Books on Death

Since my Mom died, the subject of death interests me in more than an academic fashion. I have pulled out some books on death, grief and the afterlife that I plan to read or skim in order to solidify in my mind what is going on. One thing that is key to remember in this situation is that my Mom is now experiencing life after death but that it isn’t the goal or the end of the story. The final act is what N.T. Wright calls life after life after death – the resurrection of the dead. That can get lost in all our talk about heaven. Our future isn’t a disembodied state in the clouds. It’s in our body, perfected and raised, in a new heavens and new earth. Mom was buried (as I believe all bodies still are) with her feet facing east. Why? Because Jesus comes from the east and when we are raised, the presumption is that we will face his glorious appearance.

So, the books I am looking at so far are:

1. C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

2. N.T. Wright, The Resurrection of the Son of God

3. Philippe Aries, The Hour of Our Death

If I can, I’ll share some things I find interesting out of reading these texts. Hopefully they will help me deal with my Mom’s death. As great as the Christian hope is during the death of a loved one, the inability to communicate with that person over the gulf of death is (I think) one of the cruelest parts about death. I am thankful for the example of Jesus, who wept at the death of Lazarus, and for the fact that the Bible calls death an enemy, although a defeated one. We don’t have to be pie in the sky, happy at the time of death. I’m not in favor of trying to “celebrate” at death. I want a grim funeral with the 1928 Book of Common Prayer liturgy when I die. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Yes, we have hope. Yes, the future will be glorious. But yes, the pain is real and the loneliness in the midst of a world that keeps turning and doesn’t care that you are here today and gone tomorrow is real. It all has to be worked through somehow.

“Who Can Change the Leopard’s Spots?” – Phillip W. Mansfield

“Who Can Change the Leopard’s Spots?” – Phillip W. Mansfield.

I enjoyed this read. Thought you might too.

What a mighty God we serve…

The fool says in his heart there is no God. — Psalm 14:1

courtesy of heartlight.org

I liked this thought so much that I wanted to share it.  I hope you enjoy it and are blessed by it as I was.  May we all grow in His grace and knowledge and love, not to remain on milk, but mature with ‘solids’ each day (or week, or month, or year, as long as we’re continually pursuing growth).

THOUGHT:

At one time or another, most of us raised an angry fist to fate and cursed the darkness. Each of these actions is about as equally effective. But to deny there is a God is something else altogether.

To rob heaven of God is to rob ourselves of grace, hope, and future. How foolish indeed to forget that behind a Creation of wonder, order, variety, beauty, power, and pattern is the Creator.

He is far greater than his handiwork and we dare not ignore, deny, or dismiss him.

Home Group Sheet for Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted”

I know this is a bit choppy, but I made it for my personal use and it might not be reader-friendly. This is a condensed commentary on Matthew 5:4 for the homegroup I am leading right now. We are going through the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted”

-          This beatitude connects to the previous one in that “being poor in spirit” acknowledges one’s poverty and need for help. Important to note that the Sermon on the Mount doesn’t advocate “works righteousness”, nor is “law” for Jews only. It begins with our poverty and need of grace.

-          Being “poor in spirit” will manifest itself in mourning.

• Our faith is a “crying one”:
  • “We need, then, to observe that the Christian life, according to Jesus, is not all joy and laughter. Some Christians seem to imagine that, especially if they are filled with the Spirit, they must wear a perpetual grin on their face and be continuously boisterous and bubbly. How unbiblical can one become? No. In Luke’s version of the Sermon Jesus added to this beatitude a solemn woe: ‘Woe to you that laugh now.’¹ The truth is that there are such things as Christian tears, and too few of us ever weep them.”^[1]

-          “I fear that we evangelical Christians, by making much of grace, sometimes thereby make light of sin. There is not enough sorrow for sin among us. We should experience more ‘godly grief’ of Christian penitence, like that sensitive and Christ-like eighteenth-century missionary to the American Indians David Brainerd, who wrote in his journal on 18 October 1740: ‘In my morning devotions my soul was exceedingly melted, and bitterly mourned over my exceeding sinfulness and vileness.’ Tears like this are the holy water which God is said to store in his bottle. Such mourners, who bewail their own sinfulness, will be comforted by the only comfort which can relieve their distress, namely the free forgiveness of God” (Stott, John).

What is Godly grief?

A Christian’s life…

…is not guaranteed protection from hardships, trials, & pains in this life.  In fact, we are warned about it, that it WILL come, and when it does, to ENDURE.   1Pe 1:6  In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,
1Pe 1:7  so that the tested genuineness of your faith–more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire–may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

As my husband reminded me in his sermon this morning, if Jesus was not spared from trials yet persecuted even, then why should we be surprised that we should encounter sufferings?  If the apostles & those of faith of old were not spared suffering, then why should we expect differently?  Who are we?  If we are God’s chosen, we should embrace whatever trials may come our way, especially those choices in which we have chosen poorly or outright wrongly.

Jas 1:2  Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
Jas 1:3  for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
Jas 1:4  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Even in this command, there’s a difficult struggle.  But, endure.  Seek Him.  Lean on His understanding, His strength, His joy, His power.

As human nature, a mortal sinful state, and as followers of Christ, of Whom the darkness is contentious & at enmity towards, we WILL be persecuted, ridiculed, criticized, scrutinized.  So do we cowar and remain quiet?  May it never be!   (Romans 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,)

1Pe 1:6  In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,
1Pe 1:7  so that the tested genuineness of your faith–more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire–may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

I dare say that all have encountered trials in many ways than one, believer and non alike.   But to those who believe, oh the blessed assurance!   This life is tainted.  Seek God in it.  Deal with it.  and praise Him still!   This time is passing.  A new day is coming… HALLELUJAH!

2 Kings 11-13 “God Thwarts the Plans of the Wicked”

2 Kings 11-13 “God Thwarts the Plans of the Wicked”

Athaliah killed the entire royal family, or so she thought. There was a baby name Joash, who was taken and hidden in the house of the Lord. He later became king and Athaliah was eventually killed.

How can you not believe in providence? God chose Moses before time, spared him as a baby and providentially guided his life as a vessel for His glory. God also thwarts the plan here of Athaliah. Did she really think that she could overpower God and all His covenant promises? Apparently so…to her death.

Herod also thought he could thwart God’s plan by killing the baby Jesus. Again, no one, absolutely NO ONE can thwart the counsel of God.

So it is today. His plan will stand against all the fury hell will throw at Him. The gates of hell will not stand. They will crumble as His Church advances. Take heart believer!!!

Prayer-

Lord, thank You for Your Sovereign hand which accomplishes all the good things you have ordained. Forgive me for doubting Your hand or inquiring of Your secret counsel. Help me to simply trust in Your plans and submit myself to Your will, whatever it may be. Thanks you that your plans are to prosper those whom You love and that You will work ALL things for my good. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will NOT fear. I will trust in YOU.

Excerpt from St. Patrick’s Prayer:

I arise today
Through God’s strength to pilot me:
God’s might to uphold me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s host to save me
From snares of demons,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul.

Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation.

1 Peter 4:12 “Deal With It (Suffering)”

1 Pt. 4:12 Deal With It (Suffering)

1 Pet. 4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

Is it just me or does it seem like most believers are perplexed when trials befall them? Do we not try to find the root of the trial and get rid of it as soon as possible? Often times we think along the lines of Job’s ‘friends’ who concluded that his trials must have something to do with hidden sin.

While certain trials may in fact be a result of sin that needs to be dealt with, many are simply ordained by God for our sanctification. Doesn’t sound like fun, does it? Doesn’t sound like, “Your Best Life Now”, does it? Yet, listen to what Peter tells us to do in the midst of suffering:

13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

Rejoice? Really?

I think we all need a good dose of BIBLE and stop acting like it is the end of the world when God serves us up a bit of suffering. We are told not to be surprised and act like something strange is happening. This mindset is almost foreign in American Evangelicalism and we need to regain a Biblical theology of suffering or else we might whine ourselves out of God’s Kingdom. Think of how God felt about the whining wilderness generation…He could barely stand it. I know that it seems impossible to rejoice or be thankful for the testing God’s providence leads us through in this life, but your other alternatives are whining or anxiety, which are both condemned as responses unbefitting the believer. Let us not mind a little suffering.

Prayer –

Forgive me for the many times I have failed the tests set before me, either by whining or complaining or distrusting you with sinful anxiety. Help me to embrace the tests Your providence deal me and may they ever increase my joy for that day when Your glory is revealed in its fullness. Amen.

Psalm 137 “When Worship Music Becomes Entertainment”

No, I am not mocking contemporary worship or dealing with the regulative principle or any of that. Instead, I am responding to what Israel’s captors asked of them in Psalm 137:

3 For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

Babylon is making a mockery of Israel’s worship be requesting it be played for their mockery or entertainment. Well, how did Israel respond?

8 O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us!
9 Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!

I know that this beatitude pronounced upon Babylon’s avenger and the Psalmist’s desire that the Babylonians be destroyed may seem harsh…well, because…it is harsh. As harsh as it is, the point to be taken is that it is the proper restitution for belittling the worship of God. He won’t stand for it and will crush all who despise the worship of God.

Prayer-

Lord, may I never cease to worship You. May I be zealous for your glory and the hallowing of Your name. May Your name be worshipped forever and ever. Though captors seek to mock and belittle the song on our lips, may we worship you nonetheless and may sinners be converted. Amen.

2 Kings 1-2 “Fire From Heaven”

King Ahaziah sent two groups of 50 soldiers to apprehend the lone prophet Elijah and were destroyed by fire that Elijah called down on them. The third group of 50 begged for mercy and Elijah was permitted to go down with him where he subsequently prophesied the King’s death. In 2 Kings 2, the ascension of Elijah and double blessing upon Elisha dominate the chapter. It also ends with that interesting story where 42 youths were devoured by bears because they were mocking the prophet. Anyhow, I really want to focus on the fire from heaven.

There is a similar NT parallel in Luke’s Gospel:

Luke 9:51-56 (ESV)
51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.
52 And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him.
53 But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.
54 And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”
55 But he turned and rebuked them.
56 And they went on to another village.

I’m sure that James and John were craving a raw demonstration of power from their prophet, but they were rebuked rather than commended. Why? God had sent fire on His enemies before, why not now? One can’t also claim that God is just plain nicer in the NT, after all Acts does record cases of God striking people dead.

I think that God is showing that He will do what He so wishes and retains the freedom to do whatever His hand pleases to do, BUT He would rather we love and pray for our enemies than wish their harm and destruction. Our God doesn’t delight in the death of the wicked. May we never forget that. Though He will destroy the wicked, He doesn’t have a sadistic pleasure in such acts and warns us against developing such ill-will towards others. Well some might be wondering, “What about the imprecatory Psalms?”. “Can Christians pray for God’s harm on others?”. There are appropriate times to pray for the destruction of a leader, but it must be in conjunction with prayers for their repentance. I pray for Kim Jong Il to repent of his wickedness, but could also see the good of God taking him out of office. I wish God to send fire down on Him, I really do…just as I am sure Bonhoeffer wished the same for Hitler.

Anyhow, this post is developing into more areas than I had intended. Needless to say, there are times when we can pray for one’s repentance and God’s vindictive justice and revenge to be carried out in the here and now of things. We must NOT, however take pleasure in the death of the wicked. Our feelings ought to be conflicted. When we captured Saddam, I was joyous that he was brought to justice. When he was hanged, I wasn’t giving high fives with a grin on my face. I stood speechless at the news, silent and humbled before the God who can raise kings up and bring them down. If not for God’s grace, we would all be like the youth who were mocking Elijah. We were God’s enemies…children of wrath.

Prayer-

Lord, thank you for your longsuffering with me and not striking me dead in judgment when I rebelled against You and mocked Your Word. You won me over with Your love and I am no longer your enemy. Grant me with this same love for others. Rather than calling down fire from heaven, may I weep for the lost and all who wish me harm and do me harm. Amen.

Jesus on the Cross = Penal Substitution AND Sanctification

My evening readings were in 1 Pt. 1-2 and there is so much precious truth in it all, however 1 Pt 2:24 sticks out  for me today:

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”

I had the chance to visit with a dear brother this morning who is a missionary to the Ukraine and we ended up spending some time talking about the work of Jesus upon the cross. I informed him that the doctrine of penal substitution (Jesus satisfied our penalty for sin on the cross) is under attack today. He was shocked.

“How could they do that? Why did Jesus come to die then?” he asked.

I gave him the reasons and he was appalled that people have a problem with the idea that Jesus actually took our sin, its filth, the Father’s wrath against it, everything with Him into His body on that cross. You are left with an empty cross… a most unfortunate martyrdom that the Father had nothing to do with. How is this glorious?

Anyhow, Peter tells us plainly that Jesus bore our sins in His body. That is glorious in and of itself, however the good news doesn’t end there. Peter adds a purpose clause following that great statement, “…that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.”

Jesus not only satisfies the penalty and wrath for our sin, but purchases on the cross sanctifying power for the believer to die to sin and live for Him. This is great news!!! He not only forgives us, but empowers us to live a life pleasing to Him for His glory. 1 Peter has several important imperatives that help shape exactly how the ‘justified’ believer is to live out ‘sanctification’. Let us praise our Lord that He truly “healed” us on that cross through the wounds He endured.

Prayer-

Thank you for saving me and not appointing me to destruction, but rather unto newness of life. Thank you for choosing to come and carry out the mission that the Father gave you to purchase me. Thank you for enduring every stripe and wound for my sin. As I ponder your wounded body, may I see in it the death of my own flesh and the power to live for You. I live for you Lord…for Your glory. I am not ashamed of the cross…it is a stumbling block for many, but you have made it precious in my sight. I have tasted Your sweet goodness and I long for more. May Your goodness shape me as a vessel to be used for Your glory. Amen.

Psalm 136, “His Love Endures Forever”

My afternoon reading today was from Psalm 136. The refrain, “His love endures forever”, occurs in all 26 verses of this Psalm and was recited in responsive fashion before the congregation.

I know that some folks don’t like ’7-11′ choruses in Church (7 words sung 11 times), and I would be the first to say that there can be too much redundancy in our liturgy at times, however this Psalm is an apologetic for reiterating one magnificent truth over and over again. The redundancy ought never to invoke boredom, but rather an ever increasing joy in the truth proclaimed that is ever more true each time we declare it. We can declare forever that, “His love endures forever”, and would be inspired to eternally increasing adoration and appreciation for His love.

If God says something 26x in 26 verses, me thinks He is trying to get something in our hearts…do we get it?

Prayer-

Lord, I thank you for your covenant-keeping love towards me in spite of my sin and ingratitude. Thank you for loving me with a love that neither death, famine, or foe can quench. Thank you for your promise to love me for all of eternity and your promise to work all things out for my good. Your love brings me to my knees with ‘woe’ from my lips…Your love lifts my head and beckons me to go and do your will…your love abounds much more than my every sin…it is your love in Christ Jesus that has adopted me and saved me…it is your eternal love that will forever bind all your children in perfect fellowship now and in the age to come. Help me to declare of your love and to love with your love…all for your eternal glory. Amen

Ahab and 400 Apostate Prophets

I am reading through the following Bible plan. I read through the OT passage in the morning, the Psalms at midday, and the NT in the evening.  Anyhow, I thought I would offer some brief thoughts on each reading throughout the day.

In 1 Kings 22, we are introduced to the story of the evil king Ahab, who was a complete coward and threw a fit because he couldn’t have Naboth’s Vineyard, only to have his notorious wife, Jezebel put Naboth to death for it…anyhow, he was also a coward in that he surrounded himself with 400 prophets who would simply tickle his ears with good counsel.

BUT,

there was one prophet who spoke the Word of the Lord:

1 Kings 22:7-8 (ESV)
7 But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not here another prophet of the Lord of whom we may inquire?”
8 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, Micaiah the son of Imlah, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.” [1] The Holy Bible : English Standard Version. Wheaton : Standard Bible Society, 2001

PRAYER -

Lord, guard my mouth and my heart. May I never shrink back from declaring Your Word. If even I should stand before a king, may my words be faithful and true. Also, be with Your Church…grant them ears that delight in Your Word. Guard us from apostate pastors who peddle Your Word to please itching ears. Amen.