Random Thoughts on the Really Good News

Here is what the Bible says to me in a nutshell: The Bible concerning the LAW of God… “Then Hilkiah answered and said…I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD…Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Law, that he tore his clothes…and said great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD." (2 Chronicles 34:15-21) Hilkiah the priest gave Josiah the King the Law of the Lord he had found under a pew of the run down Temple. Josiah read it and said "Oh crap we’re toast…that contains 613 laws we have not obeyed for years. I am going to tear off my clothes and beg God for mercy", or words to that effect. "Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness." ... "all have sinned....the wages of sin is death..." (1 John 3:4; Romans 3:23; 6:23) The Bible concerning the GRACE of God… “The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men…now apart from

“Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive….those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) I rarely quote men, however this quote seems appropriate this morning for some reason. I am thinking about advice we receive from politicians, news editorials, philosophers, or just random advice from anyone we consider wise. They all have certain “talking points” and seem to be sincerely concerned for our welfare and often appear to know how to fix what is wrong with the world. For me, however, I listen closer to the words of a book I have determined to trust in all situations. Here is what I heard this morning. “Jesus wept…” (John 11:35) The Son of God through whom all creation was made wept over the death of his friend Lazarus because he LOVED him….and then raised him from the dead! So what you may ask? How does that relate to u

“In his distress he sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors. And when he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.” (2 Chronicles 33:12-13) The only way mankind will finally KNOW that the LORD is GOD is when the situation is such that they humble themselves before God and realize they are in trouble. Not many do so in this life. But there is coming an event when ALL mankind, collectively, will humble themselves before the LORD their GOD and wonder…are we in trouble? “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it…And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne…the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and the graves gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done.” (Revelation 20:11-13) Imagine if you can

“We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away….THIS SALVATION, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will. It is NOT to angels that he has subjected the WORLD TO COME, about which we are speaking. But there is a place where someone has testified: What is MANKIND that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him? You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honor and put everything under their feet. In putting everything under them (mankind) ,  God left nothing that is not subject to them. YET AT PRESENT we do not see everything subject to them (mankind) . But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, NOW crowned with glory and honor BECAUSE HE SUFFERED DEATH, so that by the grace

“I have also called you by your name; I have given you a title of honor though you have not known Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; that men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other. The One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating evil; I am the LORD who does all these. Drip down, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds pour down righteousness; Let the earth open up and salvation bear fruit, and righteousness spring up with it. I, the LORD, have created it.” (Isaiah 45:4-9) It appears to me that Christianity is in danger of becoming an enterprise whose activity, organized work, and people are called upon to grow and become like any other big successful company. Christians are trained in churches and seminaries to become a part of the enterprise. Its product is salvation, it price is the tithe

During my 67 years I have encountered two general types of individuals who are considered successful.  One I refer to as King Nebuchadnezzar types and the other I refer to as King David types. The King Nebuchadnezzar types are proud men who exalt what they perceive to be the magnificent works of men, and the potential of mankind apart from Divine intervention. “All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar… The king spoke, saying, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?" (Daniel 4:28-31) The King David types are those who simply and humbly exalt the LORD and give Him the glory for it all. "Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; in Your hand it i

“He raises the poor out of the dust, and lifts the needy out of the ash heap ." (Psalm 113:7) Well when does He do this? I think many people miss the importance of how short this life is in relation to the eternal life we are promised after the resurrection. Jesus told his followers that “ the poor you will always have with you ”. Some never rise above poverty in this life and remain in need all of their lives. I cringe at the poverty in Bangladesh and other places in the world and some people live all their lives trapped by it. Some deal with pain all their lives...our hearts break for those who bear these burdens. But God has promised to “ raise ” the poor and “ lift ” the needy so He will do it, if not in this life, then in the next.  HE MUST if He is God and can be trusted to do what He says. “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all

"He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation." (Isaiah 25:8-9) What or whom is your hope in? Mankind has generally depended on the wisdom of men and women. Solomon was the wisest man who had ever lived in his day...yet he found that the wisdom and reason of men cannot change the fact that both good and wicked men have the same fate...death. Utopian ideas of wise men have all been failures. Whether it has been based on democracy or autocracy...philosophy or theology...capitalism or statism. So what is the alternative to trusting in the reason and wisdom of mankind? FAITH in God it seems to me. Faith that there is a good God is a sure foundatio

"He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall... At the age of 68 I am beginning to relate to the weak and those who have no might.  In this life even young people eventually grow weak with age and eventually go the way of all men....death.  But according to God, that is not the end for we shall renew our strength and fly like eagles and never get old and tired again!   Amen, When? "But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:29-31) When? Obviously not in this life. Our "hope" is in the "mystery" of the next. "Listen, I am telling you a mystery. We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the the last trumpet.  For the trumpet will sound

"Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom." (Ecclesiastes 9:10) King Solomon, the most likely writer of Ecclesiastes, was the master of common sense. He set his mind and spent his life seeking common sense answers to all of life's experiences and every nation came to listen to his wisdom. "He composed some 3,000 proverbs and wrote 1,005 songs. He could speak with authority...And kings from every nation sent their ambassadors to listen to the wisdom of Solomon." (1 Kings 4:32-34) With all that wisdom, He had no knowledge that there was anything for mankind after death. So, common sense told him "everything is meaningless" .  "I observed everything going on under the sun, and really, it is all meaningless--like chasing the wind...There is nothing ahead but death anyway. There is hope only for the living...t he dead know nothing... Everything is meaningless, says the teacher

“…this one thing I do: forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead…” (Philippians 3:13) Get it? Forget those things in the past and the things that will be in the past after today is over, and set your mind on the things God has promised. Not the things of this world, but on those things to come in the next world. We live in this world and we should act as best we can to make it a better place, however, griping and complaining and bashing those with whom we disagree is a waste of time. Control what you can control….YOUR thoughts and actions today…and forget the rest as best you can knowing that we have a promise from God that the best is yet to come, not in this life, but in that world to come. “…keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God." (Colossians 3:2-3)

Jesus said:   “Here I am. I have come to give my life" and Paul explains that " …Under this new plan we have been forgiven and made clean by Christ’s dying for us once and for ALL…Christ gave himself to God for our sins as one SACRIFICE for all time and then sat down in the place of highest honor at God’s right hand…For by that one offering he made forever perfect in the sight of God all those whom he is making holy.” (Hebrews 10:9-14) The closest approximation of the Hebrew word translated “sacrifice” in English is “korban”. The word “korban” refers to something one does to draw near to God. In order to draw near to God, that which separates from God needs to be dealt with…sin. The word “sin” has no moral connotation, it simply means “missing the mark” or “falling short”. In other words it means failure…which happens to all men no matter what their station in this age – they fail to stay alive by DYING. “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are

“You have magnified your WORD above…your NAME. ” (Psalm 138:2) Like King David, it has been my observation over the years that sometimes we magnify God in name only. We are distressed when we hear someone take God's Name is vain…yet do not seem to care whether we know what God has actually said in His WORD. Is it possible that we often go to God’s house, pray to God, and worship God…in “Name” only? David tells us in the above Psalm that God magnifies His WORD over his NAME and that His “…WORD is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105) Take this clear statement in God’s WORD and ask whether you believe God on the subject…or men: ”It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. Prescribe and teach these things.” (1 Timothy 4:9-11)

“In a beginning God…” (Genesis 1:1) When we become sufficiently deficient and competently incompetent in our experiences in this life…THEN people acknowledge God our Creator. For many that moment will only come after death at the resurrection of the dead. I read where well known physicist Stephen Hawking announced “how grateful” he was to have discovered a scientific theory which explained in his mind the creation of the universe without the need for God. To whom is he grateful?  There is deeply seeded in all mankind an awareness of God it seems to me, even a man whose IQ is off the charts. “As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.” (Romans 14:11)

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:1-2) There is a great difference between “renewing” our minds based on the Mercy of God and having our minds “brainwashed” by the opinions of a religious system. Most all of what Christians and Muslims are taught is the opinion of their respective leaders. Paul above urges us to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice in view of God’s MERCY (as opposed to some religious idea of JUSTICE), and to not be "conformed" (brainwashed) to the pattern of the world which in his day was dominated by the views of Jewish religious leaders and Greek Philosophers. When we focus on God’s MERCY, we can clearly see and

“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost… All have sinned…the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord…For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us…was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. For all the promises of God in Him are YES, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God...” (Luke 19:10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23; 2 Corinthians 1:19-20) My understanding of the Scripture is that God will save sinners as a "free gift" through Christ Jesus from the penalty of sin, which is death. It is not a Yes I believe or No I don’t believe question as to salvation. God reserved for Himself the eventual eternal destiny of all mankind. He did not make it a matter of choice. God has chosen to freely give mankind “eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”.   The choice God has left for mankind during this age is to believe this, not in order to be saved, but in order to enjoy the peace a