Our Attitudes And Our Children

Isaiah 39:8
(also II Kings 20:19)

"The word of the Lord you have spoken is good," Hezekiah replied. For he thought, "There will be peace and security in my lifetime."

King Hezekiah had gotten sick, and almost died. But God saw his tears and healed him. Other nations had heard about it, and the king of Babylon sent envoys to him. He showed these envoys all the treasures and valuables in his palace, showing off. Then Isaiah told him that the king of Babylon would come and take away all these treasures, carrying them off to faraway Babylon, along with Hezekiah's own descendents. Hezekiah's response to this was, that's good, I'll have peace and safety, all this trouble won't come until after I'm dead and gone.

God gave Hezekiah fifteen more years to live. During this time he had a son. When he died, Manasseh was twelve years old. Hezekiah had been a good king who followed the Lord all his life. But Manasseh was a very wicked king. I wonder if the father's selfish attitude in not caring that his own grandchildren would be eunuch slaves in a foreign land, had an effect on his son that turned him away from the Lord.

Parents, we need to be aware that our children won't necessarily do what we say, if our own attitudes contradict what we're trying to teach them. They are smarter than we usually give them credit for, and will pick up our bad habits even when we try to hide them.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

To Serve God Without Fear

Luke 1:74-75

To grant us, that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.

When enemies rule over us, we are not free to worship God according to His Word. Our forefathers left England and came to America in order to worship God freely and not be compelled to join a nationalized church. So our Constitution specifically states that the government is not to establish a church or organized religion, nor is it to interfere with any church or religious people. When this foundation for our laws was followed, we had the freedom to preach the Gospel without fear; we could teach our children how to read using the Bible for our textbook; we could bless our neighbors and customers freely without fear. And we enjoyed the prosperity that flowed from this.

I have recently heard about florists and bakers and other businesspeople who have blessed their customers in the past but are now being sued in court for maintaining the right ways God has allowed to be established in this Nation. Enemies of God are now gaining power.

O Lord Almighty, please wake up Your church, show us what each one of us is to do, how to act, what to pursue, to deliver us from the hand of our enemies, in rooting out those who are leading us away from Your good Ways and raising up others in our government who do know Your ways to bring up this Nation back into Your righteousness, and receive Your blessings, the benefits of cooperating with how You designed this world to work.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Psalm 119, God's Law

Psalm 119

Overview: 

This song is an acrostic; that means that each verse of a stanza starts with the same letter of the alphabet, and each successive stanza goes to the next letter in the alphabet. So this is a very long song.

It's all about God's Law. We may think of having to follow rules and regulations as a negative, limiting our freedom. But this song refers to God's:
   Ways
   Deeds
   Word of Truth
   Name
   Word, Words
   Promises
   Statutes
   Decrees
   Precepts
   Law, Laws and
   Commands
182 times, in its 176 verses, and names only three negative things that I can find in this whole Psalm:

(1) Delusions come to nothing. Whenever we think wrongly or have a wrong idea of what God wants us to do or live, it doesn't work out.

(2) Enemies ignore God's Word and Laws. God's enemies and our enemies as God's people deliberately ignore and discount what God has said. Even when they know about His ways, they think they know better and try to do things their own way. When we think like this, we're acting like God's enemies.

(3) I shed tears because the Law is not obeyed. When I see how people are hurting and harming themselves and others by going against what our Maker has clearly told us how to act and live, I realize that if only they would listen to learn and understand, then they wouldn't be so miserable.

I have counted 58 positive things about God's rules in this song:

(1) They give me hope.
(2) They are wonderful.
(3) They give me comfort in my suffering.
(4) When I obey, no sin cannot rule over me.
(5) They are the theme of my song.
(6) They redeem me from human oppression.
(7) I will practice to obey them.
(8) God's Statutes will be in effect forever.
(9) They teach me how to be and do good.
(10) They give me great peace.
(11) They give me good judgment.
(12) His Laws sustain me.
(13) Affliction teaches me God's decrees.
(14) They keep me from being shamed.
(15) They are precious.
(16) I memorize them to keep me from sin.
(17) They are righteous.
(18) They make me rejoice.
(19) Their promise is comfort in love.
(20) They make me to consider God's ways.
(21) God's Law gives compassion which gives life.
(22) I don't want to neglect them.
(23) They are eternal in the Heavens.
(24) They rebuke the arrogant.
(25) They are trustworthy.
(26) They preserve my life.
(27) They established the Earth, and it stands.
(28) They strengthen me.
(29) All things, all Creation, obeys & serves God.
(30) I obey the Law.
(31) Those who obey will not perish.
(32) They grant salvation.
(33) God made me & I belong to Him, I'm His property.
(34) I pant in longing to understand His ways.
(35) Earthly perfection is limited, His commandments are boundless.
(36) His Promises are thoroughly tested.
(37) They make me wiser than my enemies.
(38) Understanding them gives life.
(39) They give me more insight than my teachers.
(40) God's laws are eternal.
(41) They give me more understanding than the elders.
(42) God's hand is always ready to help.
(43) They are sweeter than honey.
(44) They bless me.
(45) They are my refuge and shield.
(46) They help me stay pure.
(47) They sustain me.
(48) I say them (recite them) out loud.
(49) I love them more than pure gold.
(50) I meditate on them.
(51) They give the light of understanding.
(52) They are my delight.
(53) They help me see.
(54) They are my counsellors.
(55) They give me understanding.
(56) I keep the Law.
(57) I'll not be disgraced, and
(58) I can answer taunts.

So no matter what I face in life, God has the answer for me in His Word, the Bible. His rules and regulations (The Law) are universal principles that apply to everyone all the time, in every culture, in every time. Even when the World happens onto His principles, even when they do not acknowledge God, they still "work," because that's how He designed things to work. How much better to study the Manufacturer's Instructions directly to get all the answers, "straight from the horse's mouth." When I can get the wider view to see the whole picture, how much easier life is, how much smoother the road I walk, and how much clearer is the way to handle whatever comes my way.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

What Does God Require Of Me?

Micah 6:8

He has shown you, O man --

God has made clear to mankind.

what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? --

Here's what God considers good, and what He wants of us -- so we need to listen up, this is important, it's crucial.

(vs. 6-7) Is it burnt offerings? year-old calves? thousands of rams? ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Even my firstborn, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? NO!

This is what God wants of us:

To act justly --

To live our lives realizing that everyone, whether our friend or our enemy, has the right to justly have their grievances settled.

And to love mercy --

To view our fellow man with kindness, compassion, and making allowance for their weaknesses, granting mercy in forgiving their wrongs.

And to walk humbly with your God. --

Recognize that God is God, and I am not. I am merely flesh, and in my flesh, I am weak and I make foolish, selfish choices. Only in the power of His Spirit living in me am I able to act justly and love mercy, to become more and more like my God I worship, to do the good things He planned ahead of time for me to do, and that is why He will receive all the credit, all the glory.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Sennacherib Attacks Hezekiah & What God Did

II Kings 18:13-19:37
II Chronicles 32:1-23
Isaiah 37:1-38

These three books all tell the story of how, even after all the good that Hezekiah did in trying to lead his people back to worshiping the Lord instead of all the idols of the peoples who lived there before them, King Sennacherib of Assyria came to attack Judah and capture Jerusalem. He wanted to deport them to foreign lands to remove their identity as Jews and Israelites, as he and his forebears did to many other nations. Sennacherib's mistake was that he considered the Lord God to be no different from all the idols, the false gods of the other nations he conquered. He did not recognize that the Lord God is God, and all the other gods are nothing.

Hezekiah's response to this situation was to do what he could to cut off the water supply to the enemy and fortify his own defenses, and, most importantly, he turned to the Lord. He sent his emissaries to God's prophet Isaiah, as he spread out the letter from Sennacherib before the Lord. His prayer admitted the truth of how this king had in fact conquered all these other peoples, and burned their idols in the fire, because they were not gods, but merely the work of men's hands, and the Lord God is God over all because He is the maker of all the heavens and the earth.

Isaiah's reply to Hezekiah said how God had planned long ago that Sennacherib would destroy all those other nations, and has carried out His plans. But now that this king is attacking God's people, God would lead him back to his own country and destroy him there. 

Then God's Angelic Army destroyed Sennacherib's whole army that was laying siege against Jerusalem, and when the people woke up in the morning there were all the dead bodies. So they broke camp and left.

God told Isaiah that He would put His hook in his nose and His bit in his mouth and lead him back home. And while he was peacefully worshiping his god in his local temple, his own sons came in and murdered him.

So God took good care of His people, as He said He would, and punished the arrogant ruler who refused to admit that God was the One Who used him to carry out His own plans.

God always carries out His promises, no matter what the circumstances may look like. If we see only with our own eyes, at what is going on in this world, we may be discouraged and dismayed. But when we see with His eyes, in the power of His Spirit Who lives in us, then we will discern how God uses even the ungodly and arrogant and selfish and cruel to carry out His plans, then will also deal with these evil people, too. He always has and He always will.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Oil Of Gladness For Mourning

Isaiah 61:3

To grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

When my husband of 30 years died suddenly, I went into a tailspin, as I had depended on him for everything. All I could do was to be with my church family as often as I could, and turn to God in spending daily time with Him in His Word and my journal.

I learned to lean on my Lord instead of my husband, and I was complimented by one of my church ladies for my strength, when I still felt so weak and helpless. 

God was faithful to His promise to me in this verse, and through the years has grown me into an "oak," steadfast in His Word, and He still receives all the glory for His "planting" me and growing me strong, who was just a "glop of pudding" on the couch.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Getting Alone With The Father

Luke 5:16

But He Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.

Jesus regularly slipped away to a place where He could be by Himself with His father to pray (see also Luke 9:18 and 11:1). He would sneak out so early in the morning that it was "still dark" (Mark 1:35) and His disciples had to go looking for Him to start the day's work of ministry (v. 36). And sometimes He found such a secluded place that the multitudes had to search for Him (Luke 4:42). 

When the time came to choose His disciples, He really felt the need to bore down in prayer, so "He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God" (Luke 6:12).

And when He had fed the 5000 men, besides the women and children, He sent His disciples away in the boat and went up into the mountain by Himself to pray; to mourn the loss of His cousin John the Baptist, and to avoid the people forcing Him to be king; and He prayed from dusk until the fourth watch, between 3 and 6 am (Matthew 14:23-25, Mark 6:46-47, John 6:15)!

If Jesus needed to pray that much, how much more do I need to "get alone" with my Father: to seek His face, to learn His ways, to receive His grace and mercy, to gain His strength to overcome our enemy the devil and to flee from temptation, and to grow in the fruit of His Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!