idols still

The idols of the nations are silver and gold,

the work of human hands.

They have mouths, but do not speak;

they have eyes, but do not see;

they have ears, but do not hear,

nor is there any breath in their mouths.

Those who make them become like them,

so do all who trust in them.

Psalm 135:15-18

You will most resemble what your heart worships. That is the principle plainly presented in this praise song. Idols are all of human manufacture. They are carved with mouths, eyes, and ears. But they are mute, blind, deaf, unreasoning, and unbreathing. And those who worship them end up the same way: spiritually just dead wood, gilded on the outside, but functionless and empty spiritually on the inside. Idol worship is revealed as a big “dead end”… literally.

Israel had a history of falling for this idolatry… starting with the patriarchs and lasting all the way through the monarchies of Israel and Judah. It only ended when God sent pagan nations to take away His people into exile. Only then did they repent while living in a land of idols to worship and serve God. And when God sent them back home after seventy years, the new generations never tolerated overt idolatry again.

And I might be tempted to think that overt idolatry is not a problem I need to worry about. Until I realize that idolatry actually is rooted in an internal heart condition (Ezekiel 14:4-8). And what I worship there can equally turn my loyalties and make me like it. Idols always have this conforming effect on us. They make us like them. We are deceived to think otherwise. 

If comfort is my idol, I will be uncomfortable when challenged with anything that seems harder than I want it to be. If approval is my mini-god, I will be stressed by constant performance for people. If control is what I worship, I will be angry when things don’t go the way I tried to make them happen… and so on. I can usually trace my problems and unease back to a heart idol that is making me blind, deaf, and dumb to God’s grace and love toward me.

“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” 1 John 5:20-21

To know Jesus is to guard my heart against idols that want to be enshrined there!

1 God, 2 prophets, 3 kings

And the elders of the Jews built and prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. They finished their building by decree of the God of Israel and by decree of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes king of Persia; and this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

Ezra 6:14-15

Through the hard work of God’s people, the temple in Jerusalem was rebuilt. God orchestrated this task by using two prophets to keep the spiritual priorities of His people in line. God sovereignly decreed the temple to be rebuilt by moving the hearts of three pagan kings to resource the project. So after seventy years of brokenness and neglect, the temple of the Lord was restored. This was significant. This was the first real sign that the exile was ending. Jews would return home to worship God in His temple again.

I am reminded of how God works. It helps me understand how to pray for my times, in a generation of faith that seems now to be in a kind of antagonistic cultural exile. Christian voices are moving to the margin. But it is not the end. For the Jews to come out of Babylon by the decree of Persia in order to rebuild their live this order of events had to happen: One God spoke through two prophets and moved three kings to fulfill His sovereign plan. Obedience to God’s sovereignty + obedience to His revelation + obedience to divinely moved secular authority = achievement.

Jewish leaders like Ezra and later Nehemiah had to obey the call of God. Returning exiles had to make the first priority the rebuilding of the temple, then move on to prioritize the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls. God brought His prophets to them to encourage, motivate, and even rebuke them about this obedience to His sovereign decree. God moved even the most pagan Persian kings to resource and support this work so that His promise to Israel could still be fulfilled. Nothing will stand in the way of a sovereign God’s decree. And today that decree is to make disciples of Jesus among the nations of this world, teaching them to obey all His commands. Jesus is similarly sovereign so that His will prospers. We must similarly obey. I will trust that God does still work like this!

different

When you come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations.

Deuteronomy 18:9

God expected Israel to live differently from the way the Canaanites lived. Verses ten and eleven go on to list the occult activities of the Canaanites:

• child sacrifice
• divination
• fortune-telling
• sorcery
• spiritual medium activity
• necromancy
• seances to hear from the dead

All of these were evil spiritual activities that God warned His people to avoid. One reason He was driving out the Canaanites was punishment for giving themselves wholly over to these demonic practices. 

Instead, the Israelites were to be completely different. And God really always expects that sort of commitment from anybody He has delivered. This isn’t a “weird” different, but rather it is a “holy” different. It can be easy to do the first. I know I lived for a while in my youth in a Christian sub-culture that pushed the “weird” different: crew cut, suit-coat jacketed guys and long skirt, long-sleeved young ladies all looking quite different, decades behind in style, from the 1970s and 1980s culture of my teens and twenties. But all those “conformed to Christian sub-culture” kids still had our share of problems because the heart change of “holy” different got confused with the enforced legalism of the “weird” different. For instance, there were illegal drugs available in every Christian school I attended… I knew where to get them had I wanted to do so. There was plenty of other rebellion against the enforced “weird” culture.

It wasn’t until some mature Christians really helped me read scripture on my own and follow Jesus with a personal passion that 1) I grew to understand what true sanctification/growth in faith looked like. It had very little to do with suits, ties, and haircuts. 2) I made my own convictions to reject the evil around me to follow “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:7). And that joy, that surprising real change of heart, was greater than the evil culture and its disillusioning and unsatisfactory lifestyle. It still is.

Carried Along

For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

2 Peter 1:21

You spoke to us

through people like us

to bring the truth to us

revealing Yourself among us

as Your Spirit carried them along

And we heard Your Word

You called us to believe Your Word

although we often rejected Your Word

prophets kept right on proclaiming Your Word

as Your Spirit carried them along

Your Word should be precious

we did not let the truth change us

but fought against what You gave to us

so You sent the Living Word: Jesus

and a new gospel was carried along

Jesus spoke words of life

He lived so we could know true life

He died to give eternal life

apostles testified to this great life

with words Your Spirit carried along

So I will trust in the Living Word

I will open, read, and believe Your Word

I will seek to understand all of Your Word

I will let this gospel be my most treasured word

because Your Spirit carried it along

resolving religious tensions

So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.

Acts 15:30-31

The apostles quickly dealt with what was for them the biggest threat to the advance of the gospel. Acts 15 details how this controversy was settled. The rest of the New Testament however shows us the issue would smolder in pockets of the First Century church for years. This issue raised by Jewish believers who had come from the synagogue to trust in Jesus as Messiah: Gentiles who come to Christ must also submit to circumcision in order to truly be redeemed and brought into the Church.

Judaism had a history of welcoming Gentile proselytes into the synagogue community. Two types were allowed: 1) A “righteous proselyte” to Judaism chose to conform to the Law in every respect and adult males were to submit to circumcision. They could become synagogue leaders but were still only allowed access to the Gentile courtyard of the temple.. 2) A “gate proselyte” could be part of a synagogue, but could not enter the temple proper. They were committed to obey aspects of food and moral laws in order to enter the fellowship of the synagogue and circumcision was not required of them.

Some in the early Christian community were demanding that Gentiles who came to Jesus and believed the gospel should also accept the Law of God as a “righteous proselyte”. This was causing divisiveness among Gentile churches. Where the apostles landed in the Jerusalem Council was to acknowledge that Gentiles were saved by faith in the gospel alone, that full commitment to the Jewish Law was not a part of salvation, and that recognition of parts of the “gate proselyte” understanding on the Law would bring unity with their Jewish fellow Christians and unite the Church.

Praise God that the Church can by grace resolve her own disputes under the authority of scripture and leading of the Holy Spirit! May these principles guide us in our own contentious times.

When God does not answer, it’s probably because I have not listened.

“As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,” says the LORD of hosts…

Zechariah 7:13

God has great mercy, but it does have its limits when His people deliberately choose to disobey Him. That’s the message God reminds the exiles to consider. The reason they were still in exile (though at this point in their history it would change soon), was because the nation repeatedly rejected God’s call to repentance that came mercifully through a multitude of messages from a variety of His prophets.

God reminds them through the prophet Zechariah that when they willfully choose not to listen to Him, He is not willing to hear their cries to Him. A consequence of continued disobedience to God’s Word is unanswered prayer. God is not selfish towards us, and He will not allow us to only think of Him when we, in a last resort, offer a half-hearted prayer. We don’t get to pick and choose our faithfulness.

Lord,

There are too many times when this warning to the exiles applies to me. I give lip service to loving You while in my heart I plan and I do exactly what I want in defiance of You. When that ends up disastrous (and it always does), I cry out to You. Knowing what You did with Israel, it should not surprise me if You choose to be silent!

Until I take my repentance to Jesus, turn from my wrong to follow Him again, I am living out of sorts with You. Please Lord, may Your Holy Spirit keep my heart soft so that I quickly repent, trust, and obey You through Christ. Lord, may I be quick to obey what You say in Your Word through the enabling of Your Spirit as You transform every part of me into conformity to Your Son to the glory of God the Father!

Amen

funerals better than birthdays

A good name is better than precious ointment,

and the day of death than the day of birth.

It is better to go to the house of mourning

than to go to the house of feasting,

for this is the end of all mankind,

and the living will lay it to heart.

Ecclesiastes 7:1-2

The past 15 months had had us contemplating death like never before. It has been so hard to see so much of it, to have a worldwide death toll still a feature of our evening news. I have friends who have lost family to Covid-19. Joni and I experienced the loss of our last biological parent one year ago. And I have had to forego in-person funeral attendance (except for two exceptions) at the strong advice of my doctor because of my own health making me highly susceptible to the highest risks of Covid complications. I watched as many live-streamed funerals as I could, and grieved that I could not take the lessons of grieving in person to heart like I believe Ecclesiastes 7 asks us to do. I grieved as I could, and I grieved that I could not grieve as I wanted to. Now at least with vaccination, I can return to being there in this most important time of loss.

When I die, I hope to leave a “good name” — a memory that lingers to the generation left behind me like a sweet fragrance. In that sense, if mine has been a life well lived in Christ, it will be a happier day than my birthday. My birthday probably thrilled my parents and grandparents. My “death day” might impact a much bigger swath of humanity. It gives me perspective to think of what few years I may have left as lived for this purpose: that the gospel and the sweet fragrance of the life of Jesus Christ in me could be the biggest legacy that I can leave.

For now, one of the opportunities to have as this pandemic starts to fade (at least here in America) is to once again grieve and honor the loss of those we love in the comfort of a funeral service. I know it was hard for Joni and I to sit in tears in a near empty church for a private “family only” service for her mother at the height of health precautions. Cards, flowers, online sentiments, phone calls and texts all helped, but just are not quite the same. One year later from that loss, and it still is most comforting to know that her “good name” is pleasantly blowing though our memories at least, even if others did not get to know that. To all who have lost loved ones in Christ this year, take this to heart! Jesus has given us memories of a “good name” and eternal life for those we have lost. 

Son of David… and so much more

The LORD swore to David a sure oath

from which he will not turn back:

“One of the sons of your body

I will set on your throne.”

Psalm 132:11

Because of this covenant with David, a kingdom came to be in Jerusalem. God made, under David, an established nation. The people of Israel experienced the blessing of God as David led them together. They sought the Lord under the leadership of this unique shepherd boy turned mighty warrior turned king.

David had a heart bent on worshiping the Lord. Most of the songs that Israel sang for the entire monarchy, that extend to worship in both Judaism and Christianity today, that set our vocabulary for worship, were written by David. David took the initiative to plan to build God’s temple, buying its building site and saving up for its construction in the national treasury. He made sure his son Solomon, whom God chose to rule after him, would be able to build that temple fit for the glory of an incomparable God.

And David’s line did rule on Jerusalem’s throne for the duration of its existence. Yet there is truly only one Son of David Who is permanently the fulfiller of this covenant… set in that position by God the Father. Jesus, the Son of David, the Son of God, is the ultimate true inheritor of this promise made by the Lord to king David. And Jesus rules a kingdom of lives vastly larger and longer than David ever dared to dream… ruling now over David himself as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

So many promises of God are met in Jesus. He is my precious Savior as well. He Who has bruised the head of the serpent, Who has come as the Hope of Israel and the Desire of nations, the One Who is the merciful Son of David, the King of righteousness, the Lord of glory, death’s defeater, Father revealer, and Beloved Son… this Jesus is my Lord! To the Son of David, forever enthroned, Savior of the world, I lift up my songs of worship along with David in heartfelt wonder and praise!

Return from Exile

Now these were the people of the province who came up out of the captivity of those exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried captive to Babylonia. They returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to his own town.

Ezra 2:1

Once held captive

judged by God

fallen in sin

taken away

no longer home

Once in turmoil

controlled by that pain

looked down on

far away

longing for home

Once in Babylon

that enslaving city

no longer free

to have a say

about a home

But then released

by a king’s decree

free to return

to rebuild

back to a home

Grace set free

released by God

told to return

and to rebuild

for worship, a home

Back to real life

heard only in story

grateful to start over

and to renew

hearts as God’s home

generous… because God is generous

If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be.

Deuteronomy 15:7-8

Because I have a God Who supplies all my need, when I had ZERO means to save or improve my situation, I in turn should learn to be gracious and generous to those in need whenever I can. This is the principle at work in this reminder by Moses to Israel to care well for the needy among them. Why should they always lean into generosity? Because God gave them the land they would live in. God was generous to them. God takes care of His people. His people should take care of each other.

What I find very interesting here in Deuteronomy 15 is the way God carefully eliminates excuses the people of Israel (and us as well) were tempted to make to be less than caring and generous. The neighborhood we live in does not make us exempt. The command was to care for a poor brother “in any of your towns”. I can’t hide from this truth behind beautiful landscaped suburban fences. We should not resent grace in giving with thoughts of “unworthiness” of the gift toward the one in need. Every seventh year in Israel God decreed all debts unilaterally were to be forgiven. This was a powerful way to reset the culture from greed, level the playing field for the poorest, and celebrate the grace of God. But helping the poor should not be thwarted by a desire to hold debt over them to exact as much interest as possible. They could not skip out or restructure loans in year six because of any upcoming “sabbatical year” in order to leverage income generation from a loan. Helping the poor is not a “for-profit” venture. Our motivation cannot be in terms of capital gain in monetary terms. It is a much bigger thing than that from God’s point of view.

O Lord,

Help me to have Your generous heart. I admit that there are times it is much easier to look the other way… to harden my heart… to shut my hand. Because all that I have is a result of Your grace, help me to keep that grace readily available, at hand as a part of worshiping You with the income You give to me, to help those in need!

Amen

Don’t expect tolerance of Jesus.

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

1 Peter 4:12-14

What is a Christian’s proper response to rejection and even persecution as it comes from the world? Do we have a “right” to be tolerated, accepted, embraced by human cultures, and have our Christian values enshrined in our cultural institutions? Peter’s words here, inspired by the Holy Spirit as the Word of God, seem to prepare us instead for rejection as a routine expectation. 

First, we are told that when the Christian message is rejected and cultural fires burn against us, we should NOT be surprised. When something deviates from the expected normal outcome, we get surprised. But Peter instead prepares Christians for an expected cultural outcome of severe pushback on the gospel. It is hated. Expect it. Don’t get all outraged and surprised.

And though we aren’t surprised, we are twice told to have this deep, personal, response… we are to rejoice. That’s right… rejoice in our rejection. Two reasons for rejoicing while being rejected are given to us. THE FIRST REASON: Rejoice because you get to share in Christ’s sufferings. Our rejection is proof that it is Jesus in us Who is being rejected. We don’t have to take it personally. THE SECOND REASON: Rejoice in the hope of future glory. If all we believed in was just for the here and now, we’d have reason to be upset because it would mean we are losing something. But we aren’t. The suffering of persecution draws us in worship as we anticipate the day when Jesus returns to reveal His rule in the world. Then He will be the Judge and the King over it all, not to be rejected, but believed on in the world.

One other final insight is meant to turn the sting of rejection into the hope of reward. When we are insulted for the sake of Christ, we are actually being blessed as we realize that the Holy Spirit of God has changed us in a counter-culture kind of way that this sinful world pushes against. When it pushes against the gospel and us, it pushes against a holy, glorious God. 

Final question to drive it all home: Will I, as a Christian, (not as a citizen, or political activist), embrace rejection, ridicule, cultural pressure against Christ, and misunderstanding as proof that Jesus is at work in the world, rejoicing in his sufferings and hoping MOST for His kingdom that He alone will bring?

gospel momentum

As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God.

Acts 13:42-43

Paul and Barnabus began the very first missionary journey with a strategy that would define all of Paul’s missionary efforts. They first entered the local synagogue, in fellowship with their brother Jews, to teach from the Old Testament the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the synagogue of Pisidian Antioch we have an entire sermon of Paul’s preserved for us in this text. The Jews and the devout Gentile converts to Judaism that were present in the synagogue that meeting heard Paul worship the God Who is Redeemer of Israel. Paul walked them through reminders of their history: the choosing of Abram, the Exodus from Egypt, the wilderness wandering, the conquest of Canaan, the judges, the kings, and David who was promised to bring a Savior to Israel.

Then Paul moved to more recent events: John the Baptist preparing the way for Jesus, the reality of Jesus being rejected by the Jewish authorities and His execution by them under Pilate. But God raised Jesus from the dead. This is the good news Paul centers on, with the latter third of his sermon being a focus on the wonder of sins now totally forgiven because Jesus is alive, having broken the curse. Jesus lives to bring believers this new life!

The congregation loved this message! In fact, they asked Paul to preach the same sermon again to them on the next Sabbath! And the echoes of this message hit the streets of Pisidian Antioch all week long so that the synagogue became a public square the next week, with almost the entire city packed around it to hear what Paul had to say. That’s some kind of gospel momentum! That’s the message, and response, I pray all churches would want to preach and experience every gathering! Be true to the gospel. It has it’s own momentum and like a flywheel that keeps turning and generating new energy, it will advance if we will just faithfully bear witness to it and speak its truth!

housing boom?

You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the LORD of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house.

Haggai 1:9

God takes to task the returned exiles in Jerusalem who had begun building the temple again, only to pause and then put all their energy into luxurizing their own lifestyles in a home remodeling craze that became an idolatrous desertion from truly worshiping the Lord. The biggest trend in home interiors? …expensive custom-crafted wood panels (Haggai 1:4). If there had been an HGTV in that day, they all would have vied to be featured properties on the show “Jerusalem Gems”. Property values soared. Character values sank. And God had to frustrate their efforts with dissatisfaction and loss in order to get their attention back to repentance and worship.

There is nothing inherently wrong with home improvement. And enjoying a safe and secure dwelling with family is truly a gift from God. What God is taking issue with through this prophet’s message is the abandonment of worship in His house for the total commitment of only caring about my house. In today’s terms: Should I skip church every Sunday so I can finally get the kitchen of my dreams? When I define my life, my purpose, my happiness, my significance, and my status by the home I can afford, I may be succeeding in terms of the American Dream, but I am failing in terms of humbly worshiping my God. And playing the wrong game has eternal implications.

I have a home. I’m not interested in an earthly upgrade, even when a red hot real estate market tempts me to consider it. I’m happy to maintain what most people would call a “starter home” but that raised a family of four, and may just be the place I live in until Jesus takes me home. I feel blessed greatly by God to own it. But honestly, it is not where my heart is “at home”. My heart looks for the day when I forever dwell with Jesus, Who has gone to prepare a place for all who believe in Him, to receive us there, so where Jesus is, I may also be. My temporary abode until then should never be confused with the joy of living in Christ, now and for eternity.

Work is a good gift.

Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot.

Ecclesiastes 5:18

Work is a blessing from God, a good gift that provides for us, nourishes us, brings pleasure even in the continuous sameness of our labor, and can point us to the worship of God. After all, God asked Adam to labor in His garden BEFORE sin ever entered into the world. Work is part of the good creation of God. It is the pain and the difficulty in that labor that was the curse God put on our toil. Work itself is a very good thing.

It is part of American culture though to have a love/hate relationship with work and to think that the best life has no toil in it. The American Dream of that charming big brick colonial home in shady suburbia, with a perfectly landscaped retirement that has us living in leisure and personal fulfillment in THINGS is a dangerous myth. Even in retirement, humans were meant to enjoy some sort of activity that provides all the benefits that Solomon reminds us are healthy about work.

My hope is to serve God vocationally until I die. Not that I want to drop dead in the church office, but I never want to sit on the sidelines for more than a brief time to catch my breath. Even if I can transition to a mostly volunteer semi-retired ministry in the next couple of decades, I hope to still be active in the enjoyable toil of disciple-making and people-helping that has made up my life. One of my worst fears is that I become a grumpy old tired man in a Lazy Boy recliner flipping through TV channels, complaining about the world, and doing nothing but look on. I’d rather keep the fire of purposeful and rewarding labor burning under me… even if it means I check into eternity early. Why? Work is a good, sweet, and rewarding gift, and God needs all the laborers who can serve out working His harvest.

3 sustaining truths

O Israel, hope in the LORD!

For with the LORD there is steadfast love,

and with him is plentiful redemption.

And he will redeem Israel

from all his iniquities.

Psalm 130:7-8

There are three powerful, life-giving truths that sustain the soul that trusts the Lord. They are vividly described in these two verses. They sustained Israel as they lived as God’s covenant nation. They sustain Christians right now who trust God in Christ.

HOPE. This four-letter word gives perspective when we need it most as we place our hope in our Lord. Hope in scripture is not wishful thinking. It isn’t like walking out of the gas station with a fistful of lottery tickets thinking “I hope I win it big”. No… biblical hope is assured confidence. It is a guarantee. It is being persuaded that God always keeps His promises. He cares for us as He said He would. He will lead us when we cannot see a way. And He has our life in control right now, as well as our eternal future secure in Him.

STEADFAST LOVE. This is the Hebrew word “Hesed” - the Old Testament word for God’s amazing grace! We have great hope because God has great love. And we know that great love of God because by grace he provides the way for unholy sinners like ourselves to enter into His presence in relationship with Him. The Jews celebrated this when they journeyed to the temple for festivals and sacrifices (Psalm 130 is a song they would have sung on those journeys). We celebrate that grace in worship of Jesus in His church, most profoundly when baptism and the Lord’s Table draw us to the love forever shown us in His death and resurrection.

REDEMPTION. God loves to change sinners. When Israel sang Psalm 130 as they hiked to Zion to offer their sacrifices, they celebrated God redeeming Israel from all iniquity. And my heart that now trusts Christ alone for my salvation also sings of redemption as I remember that He carried His cross up a hill called Golgotha outside Jerusalem so that I too might be redeemed, by His gracious, steadfast love, to live in new hope.

no soul beyond saving

Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel.

The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention.

2 Chronicles 33:9-10

It is a sad time when God says a people are living worse then before He delivered them. In the case of Judah, king Manasseh was so committed to idolatry that idols dotted the landscape everywhere you would look. There was more idol worship in Judah under him than before the conquest of Canaan under pagan rule. That’s quite a downfall.

Even in that much disobedience and idolatry, God tried to get the king and the people to repent. He sent His Word to call them to repentance. They refused. They all clearly loved their embarrassing abundance of idols.

It took intervening judgment from God to change Manasseh’s idolatrous heart. Since Judah refused God’s Word, He brought His action to bear. The Assyrian army that had been a looming threat quickly swept in to Jerusalem in a swift strategic raid. They kidnapped Manasseh and led him off to Babylon in chains. There the idol king was stripped of his reliance on false gods. Manasseh returned to God in what the text calls “great humility”. His prayers were honest and God used that same Assyrian threat to then return Manasseh back to Jerusalem. And that was something the Assyrians did not normally do. Definitely God was using them. The text says Manasseh “knew that the LORD was God” (2 Chronicles 33:13).

The humbled, repentant king fortified the city against further attack. He more importantly fortified the worship of God by rooting up idolatry, personally destroying every idol he had set up (there were a lot of them). He restored the altar and the proper temple worship in His repentance back to God.

God can redeem the most faithless and rebellious heart. That brings us hope! Manasseh’s beginning was tragic. His judgment was frantic. His repentance was authentic. And his renewed passion for worship of God became magnetic, attracting the Jews back to God. Never think a soul is beyond God’s power to save! He is in the business of turning us all around!

The One Who is the highest cares for the lowest.

For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.

Deuteronomy 10:17-18

In the highest and to the lowest, God is great. That’s what Moses is reminding Israel in this passage. They should seek to worship God and keep His law because of these twin tensions. He is powerful over all creation with control over everything. He is concerned for everybody, caring for the people that many in society would overlook: widows, orphans, and foreign immigrants. Yep. God loves THOSE people. We should worship God because He is greater than us in power and He is more concerned about people than we are. He is perfect. We are not. We humbly admit that and worship and seek to align our hearts with His!

Yet it is so easy to only want our worship to celebrate one half of this truth. We can sing “How Great Thou Art” with enthusiasm and pride. But will we ignore social injustice, walk right past the needy, and despise those who are different than us, who we think have no right to be in our society? If we do, we aren’t really worshiping God. We are worshiping a false idol of our own design who does not challenge us to love like He does.

God gives food and clothing to outcast wandering immigrants looking for a home. God doesn’t let the sins against the impoverished, the needy, the fatherless, and the family-less go unpunished. He is concerned for people who hurt. He will lead them when they are abandoned. And He will hold accountable those who neglect and abuse people made in His image who hang on to the lowest rungs of the social ladder. …even when it is official government policy to deliberately make their lives hard.

Israel was taken out of sojourning in Egypt where they were abused and hated. God wanted Israel to love foreigners among them out of worship of the God Who delivered them from this oppressive life (Deuteronomy 10:19). And God is still rescuing lost wanderers. Jesus saves us, taking us from sin’s slavery to His home as the children of God. Shouldn’t we worship our rescuing Redeemer by loving others in the most desperate of circumstances who also need His rescue?

the closest thing I have to a “life verse”

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:13

I first came across this verse when I was a teenager and for over forty years now it has motivated me to follow Jesus. Here are some reasons, directly from this verse, for why I believe this verse compels me:

1) It anchors me in the big story of the gospel. The “therefore” at the beginning pulls us back to 1 Peter 1:10 — “concerning this salvation”. Peters goes on in the context to say that all the Old Testament story told the centuries long drama in order to get to Jesus and His sufferings and glories. The prophets themselves thus served all those who would believe in Jesus (see 1 Peter 1:12). This big story is the message sent by the Holy Spirit straight to my heart. I believed it in 1971. It is a story so precious, that a holy God would send His Son to die for sinners to make them sons, that even angels long to look into this wonderful big story.

2) It calls me to an active and thoughtful life in Jesus. Christianity is not privately passive. To “prepare your minds for action” is an athletic metaphor. It literally means to strip down to athletic wear for competition… the old King James Version had it as “gird up the loins of your mind” in a delightful mixed metaphor. Runners would do this in ancient times so that no garments would restrict them in their run. My mind is where I first serve Jesus, and I don’t need any loose distractions there tripping me up! I have to be ready to run! I need the Word of God and the Spirit of God to trim away the weight and focus my thinking!

3) It calls me to serious service. I am to be sober-minded. Being a follower of Jesus requires serious commitment. Yes, it is enjoyable…. greatly enjoyable and true peace and laughter comes in following Jesus. Yet it is a very serious commitment. Life and death, heaven and hell, judgment and peace… all these attend with gospel belief and proclamation. I can’t be flippant about that. It is joyful but it is still quite serious!

4) It calls me to the long run. I set my hope to the vision that scripture gives of that future day when Jesus returns. My hope will be complete only then. This isn’t a sprint, it is a marathon. And the big picture gospel story convinces me Jesus is winning by saving people right now, the church is where Jesus wins, and He will come to rule and judge this earth, winning over all on that day! The gospel puts me on the winning team. But in many ways the game is not over yet, and I must pace myself for the long run. And so I serve, waiting for the day when Jesus returns! Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

joining the grace of God

When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose…

Acts 11:23

Barnabus was a natural born encourager. When the apostles heard that Greek speaking Jews had come to Jesus in the city of Antioch, they sent Barnabus there to check out the situation. What he saw was the “grace of God”. I love that description! Looking at this new, young church, the grace of God stared back at Barnabus in their faces. This was a moment of gospel clarity. And the giftedness of Barnabus immediately kicked in.

What do we do when we see the grace of God in new believers? We respond with mutual ministry. Barnabus urged that fledgling church to stay strong. And then he booked passage to Tarsus to retrieve Saul because he knew that God would use him to help build this new congregation. And together Saul and Barnabus invested a year in building up, maturing, teaching, and making disciples in the church that was in Antioch.

My simple observation and application is this: I will invest my life in “the grace of God” when I live primarily to makes disciples. The most important work I can do is this. And I know it takes time. All said and done, Barnabus could have spent nearly two years on the Antioch disciple-making mission. He traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch. He spent some time there initially to get the most crucial discipleship commitments established. He probably spent as much as four to six months journeying to Tarsus to track down Saul, depending on the time of year and the weather conditions on the Mediterranean at that time. He then had to recruit Saul and bring him back to the new church. And then there was a year of intensive disciple-making and leadership development. Joining “the grace of God” takes serious commitment, but it is well worth the kingdom advancement!

a neglected corner of my Bible

The LORD will be awesome against them;

for he will famish all the gods of the earth,

and to him shall bow down,

each in its place,

all the lands of the nations.

Zephaniah 2:11

Here is truth from a page in my Bible that I admit is neglected: I haven’t opened this part of my Bible very much, if ever. In fact, when I saw my Bible reading plan pointed me to the prophet Zephaniah, I realized that I could not recall either the theme of the book or even one memorable phrase from it. This is biblical “terra incógnita” for me. And that is definitely to my shame.

This is a short, three chapter, quick message delivered to Judah. You can read the whole book in just a few minutes. It sort of has three movements to it, easily followed in the three chapters. Chapter one warns of impending judgment coming to Judah, focusing on God’s anger at the idolatry of the people and the wickedness of Judah’s leaders. This then broadens to include a future warning of “The Day of the Lord” in which all the people of the earth are subject to God’s judgment. It is a stylistic feature of this little book to go from a narrow view of Judah to zoom out to the world, and then zoom back in to Judah.

Chapter two then moves to announcing God’s judgment on all the historic enemies of Israel and Judah. It is an inclusive list. It makes clear that God will, in keeping with the Abrahamic Covenant, curse those who curse the Jews. It hints at a restored people once again under God’s protection and receiving all of the land they were promised by God as He eliminates their foes.

Chapter 3 continues the pattern, focusing first on God’s judgment coming to the city of Jerusalem, then broadening to include the judgment that will happen in all the earth. Then it moves to restoration. Powerfully and unexpectedly this theme starts with a change that God will bring to all the peoples of the earth in which Gentiles will at the future restoration worship God. We expect them to be wiped out. Instead they are brought in. That’s what Jesus has done, by the way!

Then we see God’s tender heart for Israel, where He promises a full restoration of relationship with them. He will make of a lame and broken nation a people who are “renowned” and “praised” in all the earth because of Him. It all centers on God as Judge, Savior, and Restorer. And in that sense there is a lot of gospel beauty in this forgotten corner of my Bible!

God will judge.

I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work.

Ecclesiastes 3:17

Solomon looked at the ways in which human beings attempted to judge themselves and provide justice and he was profoundly disappointed (Ecclesiastes 3:16). The place where justice was to be found was still run by wicked sinners. And even the most humanly righteous acts were tainted by sin. It is impossible for human beings to be holy and just in the way that God is holy and just. Our “righteousness” is unholy and our “justice” is flawed.

What was true in Solomon’s scene is still true in every human culture. We are a world of injustice and wrong every place we may look. We can enact laws and build courthouses and create enforcement, but once any sinful human being enters the system it gets flawed and broken immediately. We can have high principles of law but they will fail when we realize that we are, as humans, innately twisted to be lawbreakers. Human judges will occasionally live above the law and break it. Human lawmakers may exempt themselves from the laws they pass. Enforcement personnel may sometimes cross the line into criminality themselves. Sin warps justice.

But God knows where we warp it. He will be the Judge. Every action of pretentiousness on my part is exposed by a holy God. Every sinful “holier-than-thou” motive withers in my heart at the light of my perfect Savior. My every hurtful word is judged by the Living Word. My attempts to cheat my way through life will be shown for the fraud of self-deception that they are. Jesus brings it all out. Thank God that His Word shows me what I am. Praise Him that His Spirit convicts my heart. I know that Jesus is both my Savior and my Judge, and when by faith I trust in Him, I am viewed as perfect in Christ! “There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy…” James 4:12. Jesus… You are my perfect Savior, my Lawgiver, and my Judge!

strength in my Lord

Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,

which cannot be moved, but abides forever.

Psalm 125:1

I have trusted in the Lord. It has been the story of my life. And at the core of my being it is all that I know. This trust began when I was a child, when my parents were changed by faith in Jesus Christ. And in the nurture of the gospel in my own heart through church, school, and in a growth environment of Christian discipleship, I followed Jesus and grew to trust what God says and does. It directed me into adulthood with confidence, framed my worldview solidly, and set my life on a course always steered by God’s Word and God’s Spirit to trust in my Lord.

I am trusting in the Lord. This is my heart’s desire at break of day, every day. It is why I will not cease to worship Him, to open His Word, pray, seek His truth, confess to Him my sin, and endeavor even as I age to order my days around serving my Savior and my Master. This is the life I know. It is best. It is strong, and even though I am far from perfect, Jesus continues to be merciful to me, a sinner saved by His grace! I am standing firm on this Mount Zion as I trust my Lord.

I want to always trust Him. There is never a day when I don’t need Jesus. I always will. And I will need Him more and more. Physical strength will fade. My sight on earthly things grows dimmer. My hands will falter and my feet will shuffle. There is no denying it. But even then, the Lord will be my strength because my life is built upon the Rock of my salvation. This is my confidence. This is my hope. I cannot be moved.