Rejoicing in the Lord

 I took this picture when we visited my dad in Arizona

Yesterday I posted about John MacArthur  and listened to Jacob Prasch's teachings about all the things that we see wrong in the world, and how it is going to get much, much worse....and I know it is true and certainly we need to be in prayer about all these terrible things we see happening all around us, AND I can still be joyful in all that God does, has done, and has promised to do for all who are His.

Isaiah 61:10-11 

  

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, 

my soul shall be joyful in my God;

 for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation,

 he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, 

as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, 

and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.  

For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, 

and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; 

so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise 

to spring forth before all the nations. 

Very soon it will be spring. I've planted a few seeds, some of my seedlings are doing well, and others not so well (I have more seeds so I'm gonna keep trying!) I can hardly wait to put them outside and see it all blooming adorning our little home with God's gifts in nature They are reminders from Jesus that one day all of creation will rejoice in the wonderful things He does for us.

A Proper Response

 So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.  And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep.
For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law. 
Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry;
for the joy of the LORD is your strength.  
So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day is holy; neither be ye grieved.   And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them. 

Nehemiah 8:8-12 (KJV)

I've been thinking about the joy of the Lord being our strength in the light of people wanting to idolize a celebrity who takes his own life. Atheists want to claim him as a fellow atheist and Christians say he spoke openly of his Episcopalian association therefore that he was obviously a Christian. He made fun of his Episcopalian denomination calling it Catholic-lite. God only knows the real truth about this situation and we know that He is merciful and forgiving, however I don't think it is right to force God's hand in these situations by saying the things people do about it. Suicide is a very serious thing, and it is a sin. To make light of it and say people can definitely commit suicide and still go to heaven is saying something that God doesn't say in His word, the Bible. He also doesn't say that people who commit suicide definitely go to hell, but there are plenty of things said about perseverance and that the ability to persevere comes from God and not anything good in ourselves.

When the people of Nehemiah's day heard and understood the law they wept and grieved. Why? They were convicted by what it said. That is a proper response to reading and understanding the law, but it doesn't end there. Once they understood and were truly humbled and truly sorry, Nehemiah and Tirshatha and Ezra as well as the Levites taught the people not to focus this on themselves but to focus on the Lord and to find their joy in the Lord  which is their strength, not themselves.

I often see this portion of the passage taken out of it's proper context to condone behaving like lunatics as being "the joy of the Lord". No. They first recognized and mourned their sinfulness in light of the law, and then were taught by the Levites the proper way to have joy in the Lord and to rejoice and celebrate. There is nothing wrong in celebrating. There were many feasts mentioned in the O.T. (people often focus on the law and the battles being the only lessons found there). If we take these things in their proper context and their proper order we see that the proper response for truly understanding the law is sorrow for sin, and that we have a God who loves us enough to see our sins and forgive us of our sins and to strengthen us through the joy that comes from truly knowing and loving Him.

We Were All God's Enemies

 image link

Psalm Chapter 2

  Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?  

The kings of the earth set themselves,

 and the rulers take counsel together, 

against the LORD and against his Anointed,

 saying, 

  "Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us." 

He who sits in the heavens laughs; 

the Lord holds them in derision. 

  Then he will speak to them in his wrath,

 and terrify them in his fury,

 saying, 

  "As for me, 

I have set my King on Zion, 

my holy hill." 

 I will tell of the decree: 

The LORD said to me, 

"You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 

Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, 

and the ends of the earth your possession. 

  You shall break them with a rod of iron

 and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." 

 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;

 be warned, O rulers of the earth. 

  Serve the LORD with fear, 

and rejoice with trembling. 

  Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, 

and you perish in the way, 

for his wrath is quickly kindled. 

Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (KJV)

There are many in today's world who rage against God, and against His appointed rulers of this world and against all authority of any kind. The Lord's outright opponents, the haters, the blasphemers, seething with anger and hate, are not His only opponents. We find in the New Testament that we all (at one time or another) were His enemies, not just those who "put on a show" about it:

  .... while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.  Romans 5:10

 Something I have yet to grow into (Lord help me) is when a person, or persons, gets hostile, and thereby do the things which reveals to me they are my enemy(ies).  I would hazard to say that most people today are God's enemies and therefore because I abide in Him they are by extension also my enemies. However, many are not openly hostile and ugly. Many of them are seemingly model citizens, but their words reveal their rebellion against the Son, and therefore also against the Father, and are "inwardly seething" (Psalm 62:4; Matthew 7:15). Sure they can put up a good front (can't we all?) and seem like they are "nice people", however eventually the truth will come out about who is truly against us and who is for us and with us, with our God (1 John 2:19), they can't hide out forever. 

And yet, not all of them will remain His enemies. I was every bit His enemy (although mostly I thought I was a "good person") and even though I was only "nice" on the outside and thoroughly sinful and deceitful on the inside, the Lord chose to reveal that fact to me and rescue me out of that horrible condition. Should that make me proud??? Of course not. My flesh would like me to be, and at times I do slip into such a Pharisaical condition.....and then the Lord corrects me and reminds me that I was no better, and that any virtue that I have today is only possible because He is virtuous, and His life has been infused with mine. That is humbling, and when I dwell upon my fleshy condition too long, it is down right mortifying. 

And that is why we are to meditate on Him, on His holiness and goodness and purity. When I dwell upon the flesh, this world's evil condition and my own weaknesses and shortcomings, it brings me down, I get depressed, and then I am to bring it up to the Father in prayer, and rejoice in the fact that it is all working together for good for those who love the Lord (Romans 8:28).

The Saddest Words in the Bible

 John 6:66  From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. (KJV)

 To me those are the saddest words in the whole Bible. There are several methods to "walk no more with Him", they involve rejecting what He said, to follow some other teacher who has a "better message". They stopped following because they believed not.

 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.   And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.   Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?  Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?   He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve. John 6:64-71 (KJV)

Loaves and Fishes

image link

All our offerings, whether it be money, or thanks, or prayers, or good deeds, are meager especially when we consider the truth of the fact that God gave them to us first, and we only return a small fraction back to Him. That is NOT TO SAY to not offer them, but IT IS TO SAY that we shouldn't think highly of ourselves for it. If anything, our measly returns to God should humble us into realizing just how deficient we are. But Jesus showed us that in His hands, a little becomes a lot!!! All glory and praise go to Him for it, and thereby we receive a true joy that goes beyond our simple understanding, knowing that God can use even such a one as I, the chief of sinners. If that is depressing, or it seems that I am beating up on myself, that is what the flesh wants to believe. When I do feel depressed, I see that I want to be elevated, and that runs contrary to the truth. The truth is that our vileness, our fallen-ness being transformed by God is not to our elevating, but to our humbling that God was willing to stoop into our dirt. That is cause for rejoicing, and not depression. When I do feel depressed, I can look to other people (like "everyone else" does?) to lift me up...( and as Israel also mistakenly does when she goes to her neighbors like Egypt for help) or I can remember that God is with me even in my darkest hours, and that the darkness has no power over me thanks to Him...and I do thank Him, that my couple of little fish and loaves of bread (that He had given to me) are enough for Him to turn into something awesome, to help feed others who haven't yet received that fellowship with Him.

Memory

image link

As I get older, my memory seems to get worse and worse. Sometimes I'll be in cleaning in one room and realize that I need something that is in another room, but by the time I reach the other room the reason for going there completely escapes me.

Often I ponder how the memory works. Having taken anatomy and physiology courses, I know about the scientific explanations for these things; the firing of synapses, the storing of information in long-term and short-term memories, and how a song or a fragrance can suddenly bring to mind something that happened so long ago that you are surprised by it's sudden recollection...

But why do I suddenly recall a verse that Jesus spoke which has been lovingly recorded into our Bible, remembering the exact words at a time when I need them the most? Like when a temptation confronts me and suddenly the verse:

1Corinthians 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

enters quietly "out of nowhere"....really? Out of nowhere? Or is it MY wondrous ability? This incredible brain that I have in my head, capable of retrieving at any instant beyond my conscious control, vast stores of knowledge, and because my brain knows that I am a Christian, MY BRAIN chooses from it's memory banks the correct Bible verse to bring to mind at that moment I NEED it the most? Is that how it works? Is that what the Bible tells us? Or does God still speak to His own today...and do most of His own take the credit for it for being so self-righteous that such spiritual thinking comes so easily of our own ability to make it so?

The gospel of John tells us:

John 14:26  But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Oh, yeah, the Holy Spirit...I remember Him! He is God! And He still speaks to us, even today, when many say that God is silent and only speaks while we are reading what we read in His word, the Bible. True, the Holy Spirit does reveal His word to us while we are reading His word. But He also reminds us of the things He has said in His word. 

Does this make me arrogant? To think that I am so precious to God that He would speak to me, to remind me of His caring for me, His words of comfort, and caution, and love? No. It humbles me. It reminds me that I can do nothing of myself. It reminds me of how dependent I am of Him, and how much He cares for me. 

I am grateful that I am getting more and more absent minded, because it serves as a reminder of how much I need Jesus, need His Comforter, His Holy Spirit, Who reminds me of His love and protection over me.

But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.   

My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness and thy salvation all the day; for I know not the numbers thereof.   

I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD: I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only.   

O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. 

  

Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.   

Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high, who hast done great things: O God, who is like unto thee!   Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles,

 shalt quicken me again, 

and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth. 

Thou shalt increase my greatness, 

and comfort me on every side. 

Psalm 71:14-21

Joy

When I first wake up in the morning I usually look, and feel, my worst. If I were to see myself the way others would see me I'm sure I would scare myself to near death. And the thoughts that go through my head (!!!): grumble, grumble, grumble; this or that aches, I'm too cold, I'm too hot, I've gotta do __________ (before leaving for work)...and this morning was no different. It is so much a part of my morning "me" that I don't even notice it. This morning, I was made very aware of it.

When I got up this morning, it was the usual.

Thoughts that jumble in my brain:

1. about something that has been a thorn at my side at work

2. the thoughts meander to the fact that I don't have a joyful demeanor, and  I  think on that, that people should see me endure things better than I do, that I shouldn't be so grumpy. One day last week one of the girls (my daughter's age, well a little younger actually) told me "You shouldn't be so mean"....really? Me? Mean? I kinda blew it off because I really couldn't see it.

3. so my thoughts, still sorting through this stuff and trying to justify myself, thought "well when tshtf I will have been exercised and strengthened by all the B.S. enough so that when others are terrified I will be at peace, maybe even joyful"

and then this thought entered into my thoughts (believe me when I say that I know my thoughts in the morning and they do not reflect that which entered into them, to my sorrow and shame, and I pray that the Lord will continue to work with me on that):

"THE JOY OF THE LORD IS YOUR STRENGTH"

That appears only once in the Bible. It occurs when the book of the law is read to the people, and they cry because of their conviction of their errors and sins, and Nehemiah tells them not to cry:

 Neh 8:8  So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.

Neh 8:9  And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.

Neh 8:10  Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; 
 for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

I don't believe the Lord wants us to be fake "Pollyannas" who put on a happy face to pretend everything is wonderful, all-the-while pushing down our anger, despair, hopelessness, etc. I believe He wants us to have His joy that is in Him truly, a joy that is founded on Him and strengthened by Him.

I only get little glimpses of that joy. I think the main reason for this  is because of the fact that I often forget to count my blessings and to be grateful for what He has done and continues to do for me.

The last few days I've been reading a little book (which I got from Ebay when I purchased a whole box full of books for about $60 dollars a couple of years ago, what a treasure of books I received!!!) entitled: "Bar Mitzvah Treasury: The Jewish Heritage as Set Down in Story, Legend & Essay". Each short chapter is simply delightful. The chapter that is titled "Eleazar of Mayence Leaves a Will" is wonderful, full of excellent advice that I need to prayerfully ask the Lord to help me incorporate these valuable gems into my every day life.

I hope to later give some excerpts from this wonderful will...or if anyone has more information about the ethical will of Eleazar of Mayence, (a link to this would be wonderful!) please do share!