The Lamb in the Lions Mouth

When questioned by Saul on his ability to meet Goliath in warfare, David told him of two incidents that happened while he was watching his father’s flock. One of which was when a lion had come among the sheep, and had taken one of the lambs in his mouth, and David had caught him by the beard and slain him.

We hear and read much about this story, highlighting David, Saul, and Goliath. But to my knowledge, I find no place where anyone has given mention of the little lamb taken captive by the lion. How do you think he felt? Taken away from his secure place, his little heart beats like a drum, and then feels those sharp-edged teeth sinking through that wooly coat to his flesh. Ah, but then, all of a sudden, his shepherd shows up, there’s a sudden jerk, and he’s free. He stands there, defenseless, as he observes his defender kill his arch-enemy.

Thank God for that blessed One who is greater than David, our heavenly Shepherd, who delivers us poor, weak, defenseless lambs, from the greatest of all our enemies—Satan himself. Is not our testimony the same as that of Paul? “I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve [me] unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom [be] glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

Inept Interpreters

“And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? but now the LORD hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”.

(Jud. 6:13)

GIDEON’S PROBLEM IS OUR PROBLEM

Gideon interpreted the Word of God by his own personal experience. That is, he interpreted the Bible in light of present circumstances. To do this can cause a person to question or worse bring about a collapse to one's faith in the Holy Scriptures.

A TIME FOR EVERYTHING

You never want to interpret God’s dealings with you in the dark. You interpret them in the light. Interpretations require clarity of sight. The “MAN” Christ Jesus (and I emphasize, MAN), left us an example. When on the cross and darkness engulfed the earth He cried, “Why hast thou forsaken me?

HOW TO MISINTERPRET GOD’S DEALINGS

If you go by feelings, your situation, or carnal reasoning you’ll misinterpret what God is doing every time. When you are pressed out of measure, above strength, when you are maxed out, so to speak, do not, I say, do not, interpret it as God’s frown.

ALWAYS GO BY THE X-RAY OF GOD’S WORD-NOT EMOTIONS

Fact: all things are working for your good. Fact: nothing can separate you from God’s love. Fact: what He is doing now you’ll understand later. Fact, He does everything well. Fact, your latter end will be blessed more than the beginning. Fact: you will bear more of a Christ-like image than ever before!

Stored Up Manna

To say God’s people were not allowed to store up more than their daily portion of Manna, least it breed worms, is only partially true. They were permitted to gather a double amount on the sixth day to be kept in store for the seventh. The purpose being that God’s will and plan be carried out in their lives on that day.

I believe there is a great principle to be found in this story. The traditionalist and legalist have difficulty breaking a set pattern, even if God authorizes it. David eating the shewbread, which was not “lawful” for him to eat would be frowned upon by these carnivorous watch-dogs, no matter how great the need or scriptural proof.

Many of God’s dear children have hidden His Word, as David and Mary, in their hearts. This “stored up Manna” sometimes takes them through a day when God’s exception supersedes His rule. Running late for an early flight, caring all night for a sick loved one, evacuating your family in a sudden storm, and a host of other unforeseen circumstances.

O, dear saint of God, never fear those exceptional times, knowing more often than not, the Lord has ordained them. During these occasions, you will live off the stored up Manna. There will always be food in your pantry if you store some back in the Ark of your heart.

“I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad.”

(Psa. 119:96)

Tired of the Towel

We are told, “He [Jesus] took a towel, and girded Himself…and began to wash the disciples feet, and to wipe them with the towel.” Who would ever have believed the Deity that laid the foundation of the world would humble Himself to wash the feet of men such  as these. We’re told it was done that He might leave us an example. An example, I say, of not the lesser, but the greater and more spiritual offering Himself in menial service. “But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.”

To be sure, we are “puffed-up” when we despair of a humble ministry. And when this happens, we can be confident the glory has departed. Greatness leaves when haughtiness enters. Christlikeness is when we perform tasks that do not cry or lift up their voice in the streets, that need no trumpet to announce their achievements. Whenever we become tired of the towel we can know we have lost our Christ-like dignity.

I encourage each true servant of Christ who is becoming “weary in well doing,” to keep on keeping on. DON’T THROW IN THE TOWEL!

Living For Christ in Today's World

“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually…The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth…for the earth is filled with violence through them...the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth”

(Gen.6:5, 11-13;8:21

IS IT POSSIBLE?

As incredible as it may seem, it is possible to live for God in times of universal debauchery and depravity. The Bible records, for our learning and example, two men who lived during such an age, of whom it says, “Walked with God” The duet of Enoch and Noah.

LIVING FOR CHRIST IN A CHRISTLESS WORLD

The weak excuse of professing Christians of our day, “It is just too hard to live for God in times like these,” won’t hold up. Especially after you talk for a while to those three guys in the fire; and that one loner, surrounded by hungry lions; also, there is the likes of Joseph, Esther, and Jeremiah. And many more who lived “in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation.” We’re told, “That [they were] blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke,”  That they shone as lights in the dark world in which they lived. (Phil. 2:15)

LIVING AMONG THOSE WITH THE DEADLY PLAQUE

God gave me a thought some years ago. I now share it with you. “Separation is not isolation. It is insulation without contamination.” Therefore, we need to keep constant check on our garment of personal righteousness, lest there be a tear in it. No matter how small, we’re doomed if it is not mended immediately!

Playing God

It is not just the children who like to play-act; we adults enjoy performing also. One of the characters we take pleasure in imitating is...God. How we relish putting on God’s garb, then playing His part in other people’s lives. Oswald Chambers calls such a person a, “Amateur Providence.”

Peter is a good example of playing a “miniature God”. We all are familiar with the scene where Jesus told His disciples He was going to suffer and die, then raise again, this being God’s will for His life. And how did Peter respond to this truth? “Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.”

Here we learn a stark truth. Whenever we attempt to shield loved ones from the cross God has placed in their lives, Jesus says, “thou savourest not the things that are of God, but those that be of men.” To be blunt, our Lord tells us, doing so is to be satanically inspired. Let us not be spiritual thieves, robbing loved ones of “the fellowship of His sufferings.”

“You take from me a life I cannot keep, you bestow upon me a life you cannot  take.”

(an early Christian martyr)   

Thankless Duties

“But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.”

The apostle Paul, in his epistles, did not overly concern himself with, “What meaneth this,” but rather, “What saith the scriptures?” And so will we in this article. The greatest authority that ever graced this earth said you do not thank someone for doing their duty. Why? Because it’s their duty!

Don’t misunderstand me, gratitude is always in style. Showing appreciation for one's service is commendable, but still it is required and expected.

It is not the tithe, it is the freewill offerings. It is not the first mile that counts with God, but the second. And it is only when you feel the sting of pain on the opposite cheek that you know duty has ended and something of a different nature has begun.

It is not until duty has been fulfilled and a voluntary sacrifice has entered that Divine recognition looks your way. The Lord’s, “Well Done, thou good and faithful servant,”  goes to those who exceeded their expectations. Those who have gone over and beyond their call to duty.

“Behind all true loving sacrifice there was first a duty fulfilled.”

(rds)

In Defence of Common Sense

I came from Kentucky stock that traces its linage back to Ireland. One of the good things passed down to the common Kentuckian from their forefathers is common sense. One of the bad things is Irish whiskey. As one Irishman said, “God allowed whiskey to be invented to keep the Irish from ruling the world.”

Education  has nothing to do with common sense. There’s a lot of educated fools running around today. For the most part, the world’s elite intelligentsia look down on the those who possess common sense. Their practical approach to life is a threat to the other’s manufactured and complicated way of life. As my Mom used to say about such, “They don’t have sense enough to come in out of the rain.”

What is the book of Proverbs other than inspired common sense? A book, I might add, that was penned by a wise man. Common sense always makes sense, it is easily understood. From the human side, common sense is one of the key tools in understanding truth. Generally speaking, those who display practical everyday common sense think deeply about the things that matter in life.

One with common sense doesn’t know all things, but he or she knows the important things of life. Like the educated Professor passing through a country town who asked a farmer if he knew the direction to a nearby city. The latter answered, “Nope, I don’t know.” To which the former replied, “You don’t know much, do you? The farmer answered, “I know I ain’t lost.”

“The ‘common people heard Him gladly,’ because He approached life in a common sense way.” (rds)

  

The Problematic Lamb

“Behold the Lamb of God…”

SQUEAMISH SAINTS

I offer a warning to all those professing Christians who are shallow thinkers and light hearted in their knowledge of the scriptures. This article is not for you. It can be very upsetting and unnerving for such fickle followers of Christ.

THE LAMB THE WORLD AND RELIGION GENERALLY ACCEPT

The worldling and carnal Christian have no problem with Mary’s little Lamb in the manger. It is the Lamb on the Throne, with a heart of a Lion, who creates a complication for them. Not the child Jesus, but the Man Christ Jesus is the one who becomes problematic. This is why Satan attempted on every hand to destroy Him in His infancy. The devil knew, unlike the world, what He would grow into. A REAL PROBLEM!

THE HIGH COST OF DISOBEYING AND OBEYING GOD

It was a rejection of the lamb that brought about all the deaths of the firstborn in Egypt, including children. Hundreds of years later, it was God’s Lamb who caused Herod to kill all the male children, two and younger. But it the wise men, who obeyed God, that provoked the king to do this. Was Satan trying to get even for the Passover Lamb and the death of the pagans’ children in Exodus?

THE LAMB AND THE FAMILY

God’s Lamb told the people of His Day, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” Then He proceeds to tell them He will be the cause of division in their families (Matt. 10:34-38). It was a lamb that caused hatred and death in the first family. You know, Cain and Abel. IT WAS ALL ABOUT A LAMB! (1 Jn. 3:12)

A NOTE FOR ALL WHO WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH GOD’S LAMB

“And  [they]said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us (suffocation) , and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” (Rev. 6:16-17)

I Know God

“Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.”

(Jn. 8:55)

Jesus professed His knowledge of God before the religious crowd of His day with the greatest certainty. He was not afraid or ashamed to do so. Three times in this one little verse He attests to the fact of His intimate relationship with God. To do otherwise, says He, would make Him a liar. As Matthew Henry brings out, “He not only knew God by His name, but by His very nature.”

The Bible teaches we can know God personally. Job, David, and Paul all unashamedly declared their personal knowledge of God. John, in his first little epistle declares we too can know God. In chapter two, verse three, he writes, “Hereby we know that we know Him.” He tells us we can know we know. And how did both He and Jesus tell us we can know that we know God? Our Lord says the proof is in keeping God’s sayings, and John states the same, by keeping His commandments.

God’s moral law was not negated at the Cross; Paul mentions the keeping of the Ten Commandments (the Sabbath excluded) in his letters, not to be saved, but proof that one is saved. I personally am a little sick and tired of those who break their backs trying to convince themselves and others that their loved ones, who continually break God’s Commandments, are saved! Again quoting Matthew Henry who spells it out in a plain fashion, “There are many who claim-kindred to God who yet have no acquaintance with Him.” These types, I think, “worship an unknown God.”

"They profess that they know God; but in works they deny [him], being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate."

(Titus 1:16)

The Truth About the Truth

My dear mother often quoted the little quip, “Some people wouldn’t know the truth if it was staring them in the face.” Pilate was such a one. He asked Jesus, “What is truth?” and it was standing before him.

God’s truth can be found in one of two places: on paper, or in a Person. Jesus said, “I am the...truth.” And the Bible tells us, “Thy Word is truth.” And these two agree in one, the incarnate and the inscribed.

God’s truth is always raw, naked, and unvarnished. He doesn’t disguise it with cosmetic coating or in decorative dress. In the case of God’s truth, what you see is what you get. Spurgeon says, “Truth will only be desired by truthful men.”

The final authority in all matters pertaining to time and eternity is to be found only in the Christ of God and His Word! Truth tops everything! Even love. Nothing comes before it! It is the only means to test everything and everyone in life. Without it, as in the day of the Judges, “...every man did [that which was] right in his own eyes.”

“One road leads home and a thousand roads lead into the wilderness.”

(C.S. Lewis)

Before Entering the Church-House Doors

The wise man says, “When thou goest to the house of God..., " then proceeds to tell us how to act when we enter in. But I believe there are some things we should take care of before our entrance into His sanctuary. I think C.S. Lewis says it best when he writes, “If we cannot lay down our [temperamental] tastes along with other carnal baggage, at the church door, surely we should at least bring them in to be humbled and, if necessary, modified, not to be indulged.”

The old-timers would leave their horses tied-up outside the church; they didn’t bring them into God’s house with them. Well, I think if we left some things outside the church before entering in, such things as a bad attitude, pharisaical spirit, worldly thoughts, etc., we would ride a fresh mount home, instead of the tired, old nag we rode in on.

God only makes things new after the old things are passed away. If you really want to get clean, leave your soiled garments outside the wash house door. After you have bathed and dried off, you’ll find a fresh set of clothes awaiting you. Also thrown in will be a nice bottle of cologne or perfume that will give you an odour of a sweet smell before both God and man. Then it can be said of us also, “…he (or she) went on their way rejoicing.”

The End of the Lord

"Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy."

A little leaguer playing third base was cheering his team on, in spite of the fact the score was twenty-one to nothing. An observer from the sidelines asked how he could be so positive in light of the dismal score. The little urchin replied, "Shucks, mister, we ain't even been up to bat yet!"

It is important when going through the trials of life to keep your attention, not on the present, but the end results. That piece of pottery in the furnace alone can feel abandoned at times. But then comes the end, when the potter takes it from the fires a vessel unto honor.

Job, like Abraham, had a strong faith ("Though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him") but a weak flesh ("Why died I not from the womb?"). When going through a variety of miseries, it is not uncommon for God's people to teeter-totter between the flesh and faith. But you can be sure, faith will win out in the end.

The end will crown all! If we will but patiently wait, we'll see "that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy." As Matthew Henry says, "His bounty is manifested afterwards!"  

A God Like Me

David tells us of those who make idols with their own hands. He says they make them with mouths, eyes, ears, noses, hands, and feet. Then he finishes his account by adding this interesting statement, “They that make them are like unto them.” In other words, their God is not only made by them, but is like them.

It is important to realize, we too can fashion our own God, but without sculpting a physical statue. We carve out an image of deity in the imagination of our minds, the only difference being in material substance. God’s indictment against His people in the Psalms proves one can create his or her own mental God, “Thou ‘thoughtest’ I was altogether such a one as thyself.”

The reason our God is lacking in compassion, mercy, holiness, love, tenderness, and a host of other precious attributes, is that we have crafted a God like unto ourselves. I’m sure you’re familiar with this scripture, “In the image of man made he God.” OOPS!

"Is your God like you or are you like your God?" rds

A Pastor's Priorities

“But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.” The little quip says, “Jack of all trades; master of one.” But, in reality, I have found those who try to do everything end up being “masters of none.” The average pastor today dabbles in everything from being a PR man, janitor, administrator, construction consultant, and a host of other secondary things. But to leave the Word of God and prayer for the temporal needs of the church is to leave your people Spiritually deficient.

“Canned” sermons and delightful ditties cannot satisfy the hungry soul. The Bible knows nothing of sermons, as such. God’s men in the Holy Scriptures had a message they received from their Lord. When a pastor is a one-man show, being in every scene, and trying to play everyone else’s part, he is apt to forget the part he is to play on the stage of life. Don’t forget, there are other actors in the drama of life. They are called elders, deacons, and the elect of God. Don’t be guilty of trying to upstage them.

"Hireling ministers are not worth their hire." rds