Ham, Christmas, and Eggnog

There are specific “Thou shalt not[s]” in the Bible that all Christians are to conform to. None of us is to lie, steal, murder, commit adultery, etc. But there are other things that God does allow, and they are individual and particular. For example, in Romans chapter fourteen we see differences among God’s people concerning diet, days, and drink (vss 2, 5, 21).

Allow me to take this primitive setting and advance it to our modern, contemporary, Christian age. We have meat-eaters as opposed to vegetarians; those who recognize Christmas, and those who refuse to acknowledge it; and the “tee-teetotalers,” over against those who believe moderation is Biblically acceptable. You will find that time, geography, culture, temperament, tastes, and tradition have a lot to do with deciding the above.

I read a little tract once entitled, Others Can; You Can't. But there is a flip side, and that is, You Can; Others Can't. The truth is, God has accepted both. Neither side is the better or the worse for what they do, or abstain from. All the frustration that comes into our lives is because we want everyone else to do and see things as we do.

Never make a principle out of your experience; let God be as original with others as He is with you.

(Oswald Chambers)

Sacred Secrets

“...great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh…

(1Tim. 3:16)

“...this mystery...is Christ in you”

(Col. 1:27)

The word mystery as found in the scripture simply means a sacred secret. It does not mean a secret withheld, but truth previously hidden but now made known, for and to whom God intended it (cp. Col. 1:26). Also you can see this illustrated in the book of Daniel, chapter two. Elements of these supernatural secrets, even after it be once revealed, can still possess a sort of shadowy secrecy.

The Bible tells us the incarnation, God manifest in the flesh of the “Man Christ Jesus,” is a great mystery. The mystery not being great in its obscurity, but rather in its importance. But there is another mystery, among the eleven mentioned in the New Testament, not as great as the incarnation, but great in its own right. We are told, “God is in you of a truth.” (1Cor.14:25)

Once this startling truth is grasped and appropriated by faith, it will transform us in a way that all who beholds us will be amazed. Most of all, the Christian themself. Jesus, our example, said “I have glorified thee on earth.” Is it any wonder then that Paul tells us to, “Glorify God in our bodies?” If our dying words are the six that Jesus uttered, our lives will not have been spent in vain!

“To glorify God, simply put, is to make HIM look good.”

Hurry Up and Wait

“Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD...he that believeth shall not make haste.”

(Isa. 28:16)

Anyone the least bit familiar with the military knows firsthand the meaning of the title of our article. It all begins in Basic Training. You double-time to the mess hall, to mail call, and the list goes on. There is hardly a place you do not run to get to, then you wait.

My wife and I, after our separate morning devotions, use to discuss this very topic. What was the cause of this obsession to hurry, hurry, hurry? Was it temperament, the age we live in, or just getting old? Possibly a little of all three, but especially the middle reason.

An old preacher use to say, “I’m not going anywhere anymore, I’m just dodging.” Daniel speaking of “the time of the end” says, “...many shall run to and fro.” We hurry and scurry to get somewhere, get something done, or to catch up, but at the end of the day we wind up waiting.

All our frustration and anxiety comes from not accepting the fact that God is not in a hurry! To Him a day is no more than a thousand years and a thousand years as a day in His sight. Time means nothing to our Eternal God. God is not on a time clock! He has all the time in the world.

“Time is a Parenthesis in God’s Eternal Sentence.”

(rds)

The Afflictions of Godly David

“It is good for me that I have been afflicted...”

Psa.119:71

God’s darling, God's pet, the very one who wiggled himself into God’s own heart, was afflicted. The only one in the Bible of whom it is said, “He (God) liked me.” You can love someone without liking them, but God had both affections for this rare breed of a man.

In the 119th Psalm David speaks of his afflictions and their purpose on at least four occasions. Let us take a brief look at each individually.

“Before I was afflicted I went astray…”

Psa. 119:67

David himself could have penned the words to the song, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love.” They tell me a shepherd sometimes has to break the leg of one of his sheep that wanders habitually. Then it stays close to its shepherd. “...in their affliction they will seek me early.” (Ho 5:15)

“...I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.”

Psa. 119:71

It is not the scholar who has taught me most about God’s Word, but the lowly afflicted saint. I remember a dear preacher friend, who had cerebral palsy, who spoke for me annually when I pastored. He once asked me, “Why did God have Abraham offer up his beloved son Isaac?" To which I gave a standard, as well as a lame answer. His reply was, “Two loves cannot co-exist, one must die: his love for his son or his love for his God.”

“I know, O LORD...that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.”

Psa. 119:75

No father worth his salt enjoys taking severe measures in correcting his child. He does it in love. Thus emulating his Heavenly Father, “As many as I love, I...chasten…” It is not something He likes doing, but something He has to do for our benefit. “For he doth not afflict willingly…” (Lam 3:13)

“This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.”

Psa 119:50

This, no doubt, is what another afflicted saint in the New Testament refers to as, “The comfort of the scriptures.” It is within the sacred pages of God’s Book we find comfort in such texts as: “I have seen the affliction of my people," (Acts 7:34).  “In all their affliction He was afflicted," (Isa.63:9). “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment (some 20 years), worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;" (2Cor 4:17).

WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE ONE OF GOD'S CHOICE ONES?

"Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction."

(Isa.48:10)

Those Pseudo Love Advocates

I have been told on more than one occasion, I’m sorry to admit, that I needed more love in my life as a Christian. I was even told this once by a professed drunken believer. Since I take all rebukes seriously I took into consideration the inebriated one’s also. We can not always choose the one God uses to tell us the truth about ourselves: as in Baalam's case! (2Peter 2:16)

I’m sure many of those well-meaning but misguided saints would have shown a little more pity toward this wretched man had they walked in his skin from childhood. Don’t misunderstand me, it is not what they said, but the way they said it I have a problem with. I totally agree with what they said! I long to love as our blessed Lord Jesus loved!

My dilemma comes from the fact that the love advocates trying to straighten me out on my lack of love seem to show little toward me while attempting it. In these conversations many, if not all, show irritation, hostility, and yes, even anger in their rebukes in spite of what we’re told about love in 1Cor. 13. Love manifests itself in longsuffering, kindness, etc.

After all is said and done I think it wise to let God do the work of teaching each of His children to love. “But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another,” (1Thess. 4:9). “...because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us,” (Rom. 5:5).

Second in Line

After my dear wife’s death I was crushed with the guilt of regrets, things I should have done and didn’t, and things I didn’t do and should have. But after reading scholarly C.S. Lewis and the godly country preacher Vance Havner, concerning their wives death, I found It was a normal thing.  That is, something  all experience when losing a loved one.

But knowing this didn’t bring peace of soul and mind. The nagging continued. It was then I knew like all sins, faults, and failures, it must be put under the blood of Christ. And so late one night in the darkness of our front room I knelt by my prayer chair and did business with my God. I confessed it, with no intention of doing it again. Knowing, with our merciful God once is enough. Joseph wept when his brothers asked forgiveness a second time, when he had obviously did it earlier. (Gen. 50:17)

As I was about to rise, having settled the matter, I said to myself, “I wish Salle was here so I could ask her forgiveness.” And then the Lord spoke, to my heart, and said, “She is right behind me.” O, the thrill, to know after God she was second in line to forgive me, as she always was while here on earth. God help each of us, when loved ones truly repent, to be second in line to forgive.

“If you’re unforgiving to yourself, you’ll be that way toward others.”

(rds)

Way Back Then

I have never professed to be in the same major league with the theologians and scholars, but I do profess being in the minors with those who are students of the Word. I’ve always tried to follow David’s example when he said, “…neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me.” Nevertheless, many of us have our own personal views on problem texts. These views do not always satisfy others, but they do the individual who holds to them. That is, they are comfortable with their view point.

A text that has always seemed to generate more friction than light among the brethren has been Ephesians 1:4. “…he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.” If we believe the extreme position, that we were always “in Christ,” then we were never “in Adam”; therefore, we were not born sinners. This reasoning creates even a greater problem. On the other hand, for us to try to dismiss the fact of our text is to deny God’s foreknowledge of us (Rom.8:29).

The answer that I can live with is found in Hebrews 7:9-10. Levi was in the loins of Abraham before he was born. Positionally, he was always in his father’s loins; but, practically, he only became his son when he was birthed. And so it is with us and our spiritual birth. Paul, who penned Ephesians 1:4, also wrote Romans 16:7. Speaking of two believers, he says of them, “…who also were in Christ before me.” Not positionally, but experientially. We were not always saved; but, Hallelujah! We were always safe.

It's Not Mandatory

“If he offer…the sacrifice of thanksgiving…”

A number of the Levitical offerings were mandatory, but the thank offering was voluntary. It was not “when ye offer,” but “if ye offer.” As far as I can find, no one offered this voluntary sacrifice of thanksgiving until David—not Moses, not Aaron, or anyone else. For close to 500 years, God had not smelled a sweet savor of a thank offering. Is it any wonder this shepherd boy, who became a man of God, had wiggled his way into God’s heart? How pleased the Lord was with such sacrifices. God seems to have an affinity for those who are most appreciative.

The Scriptures abound with the subject of thanksgiving. “In everything give thanks”; “Always giving thanks..;” “Come before his presence with thanksgiving.” If the Bible did not teach the giving of thanks, common courtesy would demand it for all God’s goodness to us. “O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good.” In Jesus’ prayers, He said, “I thank thee, O Father…” That’s an excellent example to follow. Let me suggest the next time you have the hum-drums, to try thanksgiving.

God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you?"

Walkin and Talkin

“Jesus himself drew near, and went (walked) with them...And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk...”

(Lk.24:15,17)

Just as you can walk and chew gum at the same time, one can walk and talk to Jesus at the same time. We’re told in Scripture that both Enoch and Noah,“Walked with God.” I think if we had been close enough to them as they walked we would have heard them singing something like, “And He walks with me and talks with me.”

Our Lord desires fellowship with His elect. We see this fact brought out in the context, “And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us...And he went in to tarry with them. (vs 28-29). He wanted to be invited.

A year or so ago I was waiting in the car in our driveway for Salle.  As she was getting in she said, “What did you say?” To which I answered, “I wasn’t talking to you, but the Lord.” She jokingly responded, “I hate it when I interrupt you two.” My friend, that is how real He was and is in both our lives. HE LOVES COMMUNION WITH THE SAINTS!

He's My Everything!

“Christ is all, and in all”

(Col. 3:11)

Squeezed into these six small words is the Apostle Paul’s encyclopedic creed. Of the ninety-five verses found in this little letter, Christ is mentioned no fewer than eighty times. The whole of the Bible is Christocentric. That is, He is the nerve center, so to speak. God’s eternal design is found in Him, and Him alone! The entire universal creation was made by and for Him, and held in place by Him. The physical shows forth the Spiritual.

Jesus Christ is the summation of all things. It is not Christ and...IT IS CHRIST AND CHRIST ALONE. He is the first and the last, and all in between. There is no danger in overemphasizing Him. You can’t say too much about Him, you can’t love Him in excess. Paul breathed Christ every waking moment of the day and night. And if he dreamed, He was there too, I expect. If Christ be our “All,” then one cannot put too high an evaluation on Him.

If He is all, we need nothing more, for “Christ is all.” If we have nothing else, but Him alone, we have the greatest of all treasures within these coats of skin. The Tabernacle was covered with badgers' skins but underneath was pure gold. When Jacob heard Joseph was alive he said, “It is enough.” As a poem A.W. Tozer quotes about God’s questioning His children, “Am I not enough mine own, enough mine own for thee?”

“If Christ is all then we are nothing at all”

(Puritan saying).

Have You Considered Him?

“Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider...Christ Jesus.”

(Heb. 3:1)

“For consider him that endured...lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”

(Heb. 12:2)

The word consider in out texts can have a twofold meaning: a prolonged, concentrated gaze, like that of an astronomer, and also to compare or weigh. Taken together we’re told to fix our minds consciously on Christ, comparing and weighing happenings in His life with our own. It will act as a stimulant in keeping us from fainting.

To regard Him during the tough times in life will keep us in times of discouragement, suffering, temptation, self-pity, lethargy, misunderstanding, loss, and a host of other unbearable hurts and heartaches. Peter tells us, “Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.” (1 Pet. 2:21)

In the Old Testament there is a story how God’s people, thirsty and faint, came to a body of water only to find out  that they were bitter, in spite of the fact their path was in the way of God’s choosing. Moses prayed and God showed him a tree. After casting it into the waters they became sweet. Peter says He died on a tree!  (Acts 5:30)

“Sufferings are but as little chips of the cross.”

(Puritan Saying)

A Great Day Today!

60 years ago today I said YES! to Jesus Christ and His Will. Not for a second have I ever regretted it. Bless That Holy Name.  "May the Lamb that was slain" receive the reward of His suffering!" (Moravian saying)

An Old Disciple

HIMSELF
by A. B. Simpson
Once it was the blessing, Now it is the Lord;
Once it was the feeling, Now it is His Word.
Once His gifts I wanted, Now the Giver own;
Once I sought for healing, Now Himself alone.

Once 'twas painful trying, Now 'tis perfect trust;
Once a half salvation, Now the uttermost.
Once 'twas ceaseless holding, Now He holds me fast;
Once 'twas constant drifting, Now my anchor's cast.

Once 'twas busy planning, Now 'tis trustful prayer;
Once 'twas anxious caring, Now He has the care.
Once 'twas what I wanted, Now what Jesus says;
Once 'twas constant asking, Now 'tis ceaseless praise.

Once it was my working, His it hence shall be;
Once I tried to use Him, Now He uses me.
Once the power I wanted, Now the Mighty One;
Once for self I labored, Now for Him alone.

Once I hoped in Jesus, Now I know He's mine;
Once my lamps were dying, Now they brightly shine.
Once for death I waited, Now His coming hail;
And my hopes are anchored, Safe within the vail.

Loving God

“And one of the scribes came and...asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is...thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart (emotional), and with all thy soul (spiritual), and with all thy mind (intellectual), and with all thy strength (physical): this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” (Mk. 12:28-31)

I know absolutely nothing about “new math.” I came out of the old school, where two plus two is simply four. And you needed not, so to speak, go around Robin’s Barn to get the same answer. But no matter how advanced one may be in mathematics, I think, most all agree that two can never come before one.

Sometimes the numeral (2) means in order of importance, as in our text. The most important being (1). But at other times it can mean equal with the first mentioned, as in the Godhead. The former is true in speaking of the above text. But in spite of this many today put the second before the first. That is, (2) before (1).

There is much talk in our day among professing Christians how much a particular pastor or person loves people, but there is a deafening silence of how much either loves God! One can love people without loving God; a philanthropist can do this. But you cannot truly love God without loving people.

Today's Church is characterized by pleasing men, without taking God into consideration. They dare not offend the brethren, but give little thought if God is. Jesus did always what pleased God, not men. In some cases loving people and putting them first can be profitable to both pastor and church. I think the word is advantageous.

“IN THE BEGINNING...GOD!”

You Can't Choose Your Cross

All crosses are basically of the same shape but not the same substance. Some are made out of coarse materials, others from more delicate. The one thing they do have in common is that they crucify the occupant thereon. Often, the more rugged character gets the latter cross, while the more sensitive individual is fastened to the former.

We can choose to carry our cross, but we cannot pick the kind and type. Jesus had “His” cross. And speaking to the disciples, He told each to take up “his” cross. Each of us has his or her particular cross to bear in life. It is ready-made just for us; it will fit no one else. They compelled Simon of Cyrene to bear Jesus’ cross, yet when they arrived at the Place of the Skull, Jesus was carrying it (Matt. 27:32 cp. John 19:17). Evidently, Simon could not handle it. It was Jesus’ cross to bear, not his.

Those who seem to have the easier way are crucified by the very fact that it is so, craving a harsher manner. While at the same time those desirous of the good life are always feeling the sharp bark from the tree cutting into them. We need to learn, beloved, once for all, although we choose to bear the cross, the decision of what nature of cross it will be lies completely with Him!

“Jesus, I My cross have taken,

All to leave and follow thee.”

You Can't Lose What You Don't Have

“...of the king's goods...that which they have need of... for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven...That they may offer sacrifices of sweet savours unto the God of heaven.”

(Ezra 6:8-10)

Allow me to give a brief summary of  the context of the above quoted Scripture. The king is commanding that from his goods the elect of God be provided the means they need, so they can acquire those things to help them in their worship and service to God - in this particular instance sacrificial animals.

It is not my intent to take the text out of context, but we are told all the Scripture can be used for instruction in righteousness. I believe there is a deep underlying truth to be found in our story if we will dig for it. And that being, any and all things we buy from our King's provisions should be sacrificed to our God.

That is, it is to be laid on the altar of sacrifice to go up in flames so to speak. Few if any ever tried to foolishly hold on to ashes, other than in the case of cremation. Paul tells us all that does not go up in smoke here, will at the Judgement Seat of Christ (1Cor. 3:13,15). Only those who sit among the ashes (Job 2:8) are given in exchange beauty to replace them (Isa. 61:3).

“Throw everything you hold dear in this life into the fiery furnace and out will come gold.”

(rds)  

Another Generation

“One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh.” So says the wise man about life. This passing off the scene is not abrupt, but gradual. It is a transition period, you might say. The one co-exists with the other for a brief time. There are cases where some stuck around longer. We are told, “Joseph saw...the third generation.” In these latter times, there are dramatic changes from one generation to the other.

One area in which this occurs is seen most vividly among our youth. How often we hear the previous generation use the classic, but well worn line, “What are our young people coming to?” These ancients have forgotten the same was said of them by the elders of their day. Yet they seem to have turned out alright, for the most part. Youth is something we pass through; we do not remain in it. And the end product usually amazes us.

We need to be cautious with our criticism. The younger generation of today is, for all practical purposes, the result of our culture. A culture we helped to create or either sat by passively and did nothing to change it. Generally, the youth of today were virtually brought up knowing nothing of loving discipline, high standards, or healthy morals. “There arose another generation after them which knew not...”

Young people are more apt to ask advice from those who keep their opinions to themselves. You may not approve or enjoy what you see or hear, but criticism seldom improves relationships. The fledglings usually migrate to sympathetic and understanding people who are good listeners. I wish I could say I live what I preach, but confess I fail miserably in this area. My loving wife, bless her memory, did not!

I'm Not Going to That Party

“Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him?”

(Job 26:14)

In the context of the Scripture above Job tells a little of God’s great feats, but sadly adds, “...but how little a portion is heard of him.” Is this not true in our age also?

Sixteen years ago when moving to California, I remember a conversation I had with my wife, Salle. We were passing through the state of Wyoming when I mentioned what I believed would be the next big thing to happen on the world scene. And that was to utterly remove the name of Jesus from all society and yes, religion.

Not only is it forbidden for one to pray in His name at the United Nations but in all sorts of institutions it is taboo. I expect this from a Christless world but not from professing Christendom. This morning I noticed the following heading to an article by one of the news organizations. “DC’S huge new Museum of the Bible includes lots of tech--but not a lot of Jesus…”

I was told by an old Irish gentleman once how he had attended a three day prophetic Bible conference. He mentioned in all that time he never heard the name of Jesus. The anti-Christ, a tribulation period, a coming kingdom, etc., BUT NO JESUS!

How Evangelicals and Fundamentalists need to reevaluate their preaching, teaching, testimonies, singing, praying, and writings! Allow me to ask you a personal question, “How much of Jesus is in your life and ministry?

“If Jesus is not invited to your party then take me off your guest list also.”

(rds)