The Promised Land

Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. For your name's sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great. Who is the man who fears the LORD? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose. His soul shall abide in well-being, and his offspring shall inherit the land. The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant. (Psalm 25:8-14 ESV). The history of Israel is the story of God’s faithfulness to His promises. A Hebrew kingdom was established in 1000 BC. It was later split into the kingdoms of Judah and Israel. Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Persians, Romans, and Alexander the Great of Macedonia subsequently invaded them. By AD 135, few Jews were left in Palestine; most lived in the scattered and tenacious communities of the Diaspora. Palestine became a center of Christian pilgrimage after the emperor Constantine converted to that faith. The Arabs took Palestine from the Byzantine Empire in AD 634–40. Interrupted only by Christian Crusaders, Muslims ruled Palestine until the 20th century with a Turkish rule from 1516. During World War I, British forces defeated the Turks in Palestine and governed the area under a League of Nations mandate from 1923. As part of the 19th-century Zionist movement, Jews had begun settling in Palestine as early as 1820. This effort to establish a Jewish homeland had received British approval in the Balfour Declaration of 1917. During the 1930s, Jews persecuted by the Hitler regime poured into Palestine. The postwar acknowledgment of the Holocaust, Hitler's genocide of 6 million Jews, increased international interest in and sympathy for the cause of Zionism. However, Arabs in Palestine and surrounding countries bitterly opposed prewar and postwar proposals to partition Palestine into Arab and Jewish sectors. The British mandate to govern Palestine ended after the war, and in 1947 the UN voted to partition Palestine. When the British officially withdrew on May 14, 1948, the Jewish National Council proclaimed the State of Israel. U.S. recognition came within hours. The next day, Arab forces from Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq invaded the new nation. By the cease-fire on Jan. 7, 1949, Israel had increased its original territory by 50%, taking western Galilee, a broad corridor through central Palestine to Jerusalem, and part of modern Jerusalem. Even though there is still controversy and conflict in the Middle East, it cannot be denied that God has been faithful to return the Jews to their Promised Land. He keeps His promises. Of course there are many different lessons we may find interesting from a study of the return of the Jews to Israel, however the main principle I’d like to show you today is in the faithfulness of God to His word. As Christians we have a “Promised Land” also. For every believer in Jesus Christ, we have a hope in heaven that will be fulfilled. It is that hope, that promise that encourages and motivates me to walk in the joy of victory. When the enemy comes, and come he will, that promise provides the strength to endure every trial. As you think about the fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel, remember there is coming a day of fulfillment for you as well! Trust in His word!

Secret Languages and Mstery Messages

I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory. (1 Timothy 3:14-16 ESV). Moparopyop hopadop a lopitoptoplope lopamopbop. Translated that means “Mary had a little lamb” in the secret language of Opish. Have you ever thought of using a language all your own? How about Na, or Skimono Jive? If you speak a secret language, no one will understand a word you say until you tell them how it's done. Perhaps you remember using “Pig Latin” when you were young. I've used “Mary had a little lamb” for each of the following examples.  Eggy-Peggy - This secret language is used mostly in England. Add “egg” before each vowel. Example: “Meggary heggad egga leggittle leggamb.”  Gree - Add “gree” to the end of every word. Example: Marygree hadgree agree littlegree lambgree.  Na - Add “na” to the end of every word. Example: Maryna hadna ana littlena lambna.  Pig Latin - This is the most popular and well-known secret language. Move the first letter to the end of the word and add “ay” to it. Example: Arymay adhay aay ittlelay amblay.  Skimono Jive - Add “sk” to the beginning of every word. Example: Skmary skhad ska sklittle sklamb. While it is true that understanding the Scripture is sometimes difficult, the truth of God has not been hidden from us in a secret language or mystery code. He has given us all the knowledge we need for our every need in life. The key is in becoming lifetime students of God’s truth. Howard Hendricks shares this insight about the value of learning. “When I was a college student -- I worked in the college dining hall, and on my way to work at 5:30 every morning I walked past the home of one of my professors. Through a window I could see the light on at his desk, morning after morning. At night I stayed late at the library to take advantage of evening study hours, and returning home at 10:30 or 11 o'clock I would again see his desk light on. He was always pouring over his books. One day he invited me home for lunch, and after the meal I said to him, "Would you mind if I asked you a question?" "Of course not." "What keeps you studying? You never seem to stop." His answer, "Son, I would rather have my students drink from a running stream than a stagnant pool." What is your life more like, a running stream or a stagnant pool? Having read this little devotional is certainly a step in the direction of being a student of the Scripture, but there is so much more. Commit yourself to a life of learning. It is not hidden from you!

Lessons From Garfield

The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD. All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit. Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established. The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble. Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD; be assured, he will not go unpunished. Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud. (Proverbs 16:1-5; 18-19 ESV). It was the middle of June in 1978 that Garfield, the fat, lasagna-eating cat created by Jim Davis, first appeared in a comic strip. Few people who read the comics have not been amused at Garfield’s antics, however we can learn some things from him. He epitomizes pride and arrogance. It is not a virtue to be emulated! Solomon was very clear about the destructive influence of pride in our text this morning. David Rhodes said it another way: “Pride is the dandelion of the soul. Its root goes deep; only a little left behind sprouts again. Its seeds lodge in the tiniest encouraging cracks. And it flourishes in good soil: The danger of pride is that it feeds on goodness.” It is a clear warning to us. Another man also known for his wisdom, Benjamin Franklin, settled on thirteen virtues, including the following: silence (“Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation”); frugality (“Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; that is, waste nothing”); industry (“Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions”); and, tranquillity (“Be not disturbed at trifles or at accidents common or unavoidable”). He set up a book with a page for each virtue, lining a column in which to record “defects.” Choosing a different virtue to work on each week, he daily noted every mistake, starting over every thirteen weeks in order to cycle through the list four times a year. For many decades Franklin carried his little book with him, striving for a clean thirteen-week cycle. As he made progress, he found himself struggling with yet another defect. “There is perhaps no one of natural passions so hard to subdue as pride. Disguise it. Struggle with it. Stifle it. Mortify it as much as one pleases. It is still alive, and will every now and then peep out and show itself…even if I could conceive that I had completely overcome it, I should probably be proud of my humility.” How true! A U.S. Air Force transport plane with its captain and 5 crewmembers was flying over Alaska in the mid-50s when they entered an unusually fierce snowstorm. The navigator contacted an air base only to be told that he had veered several hundred miles off course. Correct coordinates were given to the navigator, who continued to insist that his own calculations could not be that far off. Soon the plane ran low on fuel. The six men decided to abandon the plane and parachute to safety, but because of the -70 degree Fahrenheit temperature and winds that gusted to 50 mph, they were all frozen within minutes of hitting the ground. As a result of the navigator’s pride, 5 other people went to their deaths. “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise.” (Proverbs 12:15). Perhaps you need to pull some dandelions out of your “garden” today. Begin by focusing only on Christ as your comparison. Then thank God for all the gifts He has given you, physically, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. Admit that without Him your really are nothing at all.

Message in a Bottle

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if 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. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:1-11 ESV). It took about a year for Marissa Risman, age 9, to send a letter from Massachusetts to France. But don't blame the post office: the letter went 3,000 miles by sea! Last year Marissa and her third-grade classmates wrote letters that were put in bottles and thrown into the Atlantic Ocean. Marissa's bottle washed up on the French coast in February. A couple found it and gave it to the local school children. They wrote to Marissa, asking her to write back: "We are very excited to know you better." Says Marissa: "I forgot I even sent the letter!" God sent you such a message many centuries ago. The difference is that He hasn’t forgotten that it was sent. You’ve heard the saying “It's the thought that counts.” The Cross Company has turned that into their slogan: "It's Still the Thought That Counts. It's Just That Some Count More Than Others." In eternity past God thought of us. Indeed, He prepared for the temptation and fall of man. His only Son was marked out to be the Lamb of God. His sacrifice makes it possible for us to enjoy life instead of suffering death. Many people have difficulty with the concept of grace. After hearing the gospel explained, people often say, "you mean there's nothing I can do to deserve it? That's too easy." It seems natural for people to object to the idea that God's unmerited favor can be given so freely to unworthy sinners. Many find it difficult to trust a God who offers salvation as a free gift. Bible teacher G. Campbell Morgan told of a coal miner who came to him and said, "I would give anything to believe that God would forgive my sins, but I cannot believe that He will forgive them if I just ask Him. It is too cheap." Morgan said, "My dear friend, have you been working today?" "Yes, I was down in the mine." "How did you get out of the pit? Did you pay?" "Of course not. I just got into to cage and was pulled to the top." "Were you not afraid to entrust yourself to that cage? Was it not too cheap?" Morgan asked. "Oh no," said the miner, "it was cheap for me, but it cost the company a lot of money to sink the shaft." Suddenly the truth struck him. What had not cost him anything, salvation, had not come cheap to God. This miner had never thought of the great price that God paid to send His Son so He could rescue fallen humanity. Now he realized that all anyone had to do was to "get into the cage" by faith. That’s the message sent to you centuries ago. It is not “love in a bottle,” but love on a Cross! Read His message and believe it today!

The Fourth of July

In 1993 Henry Bennett compiled the “Index of Leading Cultural Indicators” for the Heritage Foundation. I saw it reprinted recently. While it is dated, the statistics have only grown worse, not better in the intervening years. Among the findings, he stated since 1960, while the gross domestic product has nearly tripled, violent crime has increased at least 560%. Divorces have more than doubled. The percentage of children in single-parent homes had tripled. And by the end of the decade 40% of all American births and 80% of minority births will occur out of wedlock. In 1940 teachers identified the top problems in America’s schools as: talking out of turn, chewing gum, making noise and running in the hall. In 1990, teachers listed drugs, alcohol, pregnancy, suicide, rape and assault. He went on to say, “There is a coarseness, a callousness and a cynicism to our era. The worst of it has to do with our children. Our culture seems almost dedicated to the corruption of the young. We have become inured to the cultural rot that is setting in. People are losing their capacity for shock, disgust and outrage.” Solomon warned against this kind of development. A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention. The way of a sluggard is like a hedge of thorns, but the path of the upright is a level highway. A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish man despises his mother. (Proverbs 15:15-18 ESV). The King James Version translates the word “sluggard” as “sloth.” Ancients called it acedia, an aversion to spiritual things and an undue concern for the external and the worldly. It does not mean mere laziness. The slothful heart is steeped in the worldly and carnal, hates the spiritual and wants to be free of its demands. When the novelist Walker Percy was asked what concerned him most about America’s future, he answered, “Probably the fear of seeing America, with all its great strength and beauty and freedom gradually subside into decay through default and be defeated, not from without, but from within, from weariness, boredom, cynicism, greed and in the end helplessness before its great problems.” I realize this is a tough indictment. If my diagnosis is wrong, then why, amid our economic prosperity and military security, do almost 70% of the public say we are off track? I submit that only when we turn to the right things will life get better. We must return to the Gospel. It is the Gospel that provides us with moral bearings, and the solution to our chief problem of spiritual impoverishment. Today, much of society ridicules and mocks those who are serious about their faith. America’s only respectable form of bigotry is bigotry against people of faith. And the only reason for this hatred is that it forces us to confront matters many would prefer to ignore. Today we must carry on a new struggle for the country we love. We must push hard against an age that is pushing hard against us. Bennett ended his essay by writing: “If we have full employment and greater economic growth, if we have cities of gold and alabaster, but our children have not learned how to walk in goodness, justice and mercy, then the American experiment, no matter how gilded, will have failed.” I believe he is correct! We must not surrender!

Apollo 14

For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. (Hebrews 10:36-39 ESV). Alan Shepard, Jr. was born in 1923 and died in 1998. He served on a destroyer during World War II and later had extensive experience as a test pilot. However, he is best known for his accomplishment on May 5, 1961. On that day, under the U.S. space program Project Mercury, he became the first American to be launched into space. His flight was a suborbital trip of 302 miles down the Atlantic missile range. He reached a height of 115 miles and performed several maneuvers of his capsule, Freedom 7, during the fifteen-minute flight. In 1971, he commanded the Apollo 14 lunar landing, becoming the fifth person to walk on the moon. In 1974, Shepard retired from both NASA and the U.S. navy as a rear admiral to enter private industry. With Deke Slayton, another original Mercury astronaut, he wrote Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Race to the Moon (1994). In his book he writes of his experiences as an astronaut, especially the moon landing. The Apollo 14 mission attracted widespread interest, in part because of its predecessor's near disaster, but also because its popular commander, Alan Shepard, was making a comeback after ten years. Following his Mercury flight in May 1961, Shepard had been grounded for a minor ear disorder. He had continued in the program, serving for a while as chief of the Astronaut Office at Houston. Flights had passed him by, however, until surgery corrected his ear problem in 1969. Shepard's first words as he stepped on to the moon were inspired by his 9 years, 10 months, and 10 days of waiting since Mercury-Redstone 3, when he had been the first American in space, to the day he stepped on the moon. "It's been a long way," he said, "but we're here." How like him we all are at times! As we face trials and difficulties we may encourage ourselves with the knowledge that even though the way may be long, someday we will arrive! A little boy was offered the opportunity to select a dog for his birthday present. At the pet store, he was shown a number of puppies. From them he picked one whose tail was wagging furiously. When he was asked why he selected that particular dog, the little boy said, "I wanted the one with the happy ending." We have a happy ending awaiting us in Christ! The following poem says it well: Light after darkness, gain after loss; Strength after weakness, crown after cross; Sweet after bitter, hope after fears; Home after wandering, praise after tears; Sheaves after sowing, sun after rain; Sight after mystery, peace after pain; Joy after sorrow, calm after blast; Rest after weariness, sweet rest at last; Near after distant, gleam after gloom; Love after loneliness, life after tomb; After long agony, rapture of bliss; Right was the pathway, leading to this.

All Things Created Good

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Genesis 1:31 ESV). Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright. Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings! Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts. For the word of the LORD is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD. By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. (Psalm 33:1-11 ESV). While I have had some question about the truth that everything God has created is good (like snakes – I hate ‘em), the Scripture clearly teaches that all of creation is a part of God’s good plan. And, the more we understand the complexity of nature, the more this truth is proven. As an example, look at the monarch butterfly. Like migratory birds, monarch butterflies have the ability to fly long distances, escaping winter cold and the absence of food. Decreasing day length and cooler temperatures tell monarchs that emerge in the early fall not to breed. Instead they begin the immense journey across North America, over unfamiliar terrain, funneling through Texas, to nine high mountain sites in fir forests of central Mexico. They arrive at the overwintering areas in November, remaining there until March of the following spring. Then they return to Texas and the southern United States to lay eggs on freshly sprouted milkweeds. By late spring, most have left the Gulf coastal states and are breeding further north. By the beginning of June they have reached the northern U.S. and Canada where they continue to breed all summer. Most interesting is the fact that they choose only the milkweed plant to lay their eggs on. The larvae when hatching will eat the plants and kill them, thus reducing the spread of this plant which is poisonous to cattle. It is all a part of God’s natural plan for His creation. Just as David reminded us in the psalm today, all of God’s creation is intended to be good and has order within it. God created a plan for everything. I have found great comfort in that truth in my life. When I begin to think that life is unraveling and panic begins to creep into my psyche I only need to recall the truth of God’s plan for me. I only need to trust Him. A tiny girl was taking a long journey and in the course of the day her train was obliged to cross a number of rivers. The water seen in advance always awakened doubts and fears in the child. She did not understand how it could safely be crossed. As they drew near the river, however, a bridge appeared, and furnished the way over. Several times the same thing happened, and finally the child leaned back with a long breath of relief and confidence: "Somebody has put bridges for us all the way!" she said in trusting content. That is how we find it in life, God has built bridges for us all the way. When you see the butterflies, remember the goodness of God’s plan and trust in Him. He will not disappoint you.