tottering kingdoms

The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;

he utters his voice, the earth melts.

The Lord of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

Psalm 46:6-7

Let the world do its worst. Go ahead, ungodly system, and rage against God. Skeptics can scoff. Smug science can think that human ingenuity has all the answers. Aloof academics continue to whistle in the dark calling evil good and indoctrinating the educated against any sense of divinely created order and morality. Your kingdoms are tottering and you are so full of yourselves in your leaning castles that you don’t even know it!

God utters one word, and it all will fall. No system can stand against the one Who by His simple words and will framed the universe that holds us all! God can turn all that you see and know and trust upon against your rebel will whenever He so chooses. You only get to hold on in your lean to of philosophical straw because He graciously allows it to continue. God grunts though... and the earth melts! Nothing in a tottering human hovel will stand when God rules!

This God is for the people that He has called to Himself. He is the God of vast unseen angel armies, just one of whom could bring a nation to its knees. He is with us as surely as He was with Israel in the wilderness. He is our strength, our fortress, our Deliverer, so we need not fear when the doomed princes of tottering kingdoms mock His Son and issue vain threats. They’re on their way down. Jesus Himself shall show them He reigns! And God’s power shall stand. All of this happens by the power of His voice!

I, blind man

And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

Matthew 20:34

Two blind men sat begging by the road from Jericho. They heard from the crowd along the roadside that Jesus was headed their way. They passionately cried out to Jesus to hear them, even as the crowd cruelly tried to hush their loud cries for mercy. But they would not give up nor be kept from seeking their only hope.

And Jesus heard their cries. Jesus stopped, called out to them, and coming to Jesus they asked for God to give them what they always needed most: their sight. They trusted Jesus as Lord. They believed as Son of David that He was their Deliverer. They asked the one person Who could change their lives to do so. And Jesus did.

Their eyes were touched by their Maker, Master, and Lord. Their sight was given to them. They rejoiced and then followed Jesus. No more blind beggars, they became Jesus followers on that day when He gave them sight.

I too was once lost in blindness, not of physical sight, but of any hope in life. And Jesus, Who died to give me life, touched the eyes of my heart when I trusted Him and gave me sight and life. His vision came to my soul. Forever grateful for that gift of life, I will follow Jesus.

Because of You

...for not by their own sword did they win the land,

nor did their own arm save them,

but your right hand and your arm,

and the light of your face,

for you delighted in them.

Psalm 44:3

Because Your power

     came to bear

          against the enemy

               the battle was won

Because Your arm

     was lifted high

          the attacks on me

               were driven back

You are my God

You are my salvation

I will praise You

Because Your right hand

     was raised up

          in my defense

               I was saved

Because Your face

     shone the light

          of redeeming grace

               I am Yours

You are my God

You are my salvation

Jesus, I praise You

                

     

     

vindication and deliverance

Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause

against an ungodly people,

from the deceitful and unjust man

deliver me!

Psalm 43:1

There are times when we pray like this since we live in a world of human interaction tainted by the thoughts, attitudes, and actions of selfish sinners. We pray this when ungodly people despise the righteousness God brings. We pray this when evil attempts to squelch the light of the gospel. We pray this when we send new missionaries to a difficult place. We pray this when our lives feel threatened in some way.

But sadly, this is sometimes what Christians must pray in dealings with one another within the church. Because even in the church we can have less than holy moments. Actually, we can have a lot of them. I know. Sin creeps in because we are all fighting it still. Selfish motivations can mark interactions among believers (mine are the first to suspect), and ugly, ungodly attitudes and actions become publically visible at times. The result, a church fight, is one of the worst things the world can witness. O God, keep Your church holy, men and women guided by the gospel, sensitive to the Spirit, caring for each other, in order to spare us from the pain brought by deceitful and unjust men!

Jesus anticipated that this could occur. That is why He taught His disciples to guard against the self-righteous “leaven” of the Pharisees who used religion for personal gain. He taught His disciples to reconcile quickly over issues and not to be afraid to render judgment in His name when unrepentant hearts make reconciliation impossible. He prayed for the unity of His followers to prevail. And if we obey our Lord, we can see His church delivered from the deceitful, the unjust, or the selfish desires of those out for themselves.

five gospel changes

‘...delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Acts 26:17-18

Paul’s own recounting before Agrippa of the words Jesus spoke to him during his Damascus road conversion are full of rich depth. They help us understand the power and the glory of our own salvation. We can appreciate what we are given in Jesus. There are five changes described in these two verses.

The gospel message is first ENLIGHTENING. It opens our eyes. The truth that we are sinners in need of a Savior, and Jesus is the Lord and Savior we need, sheds light on everything around us. We then turn from darkness to light once the gospel shows us the way and we believe it. But it must always be remembered that the gospel is as different from our life outside of Christ as darkness is from light.

The gospel is also spiritually EMPOWERING, allowing us to be empowered by God as we turn from the control of Satan and the world system. We now live in a new realm, with Jesus as King over us, never to be dominated by Satan’s control over us again. We are delivered from the control of the enemy of all righteousness!

The gospel allows us to receive FORGIVENESS. Our problem is sin. Sin had us in darkness. Sin placed us in Satan’s dominion. Sin had complete power over us as its slaves. But once we trust Christ and receive His mercy, grace is applied to us and we are seen as forgiven by the Father through the sacrifice of His Son. This forgiveness is the most powerful change God works in us. 

This allows us to be received into a new place of FAMILY. We are heirs together with Jesus. We have gone from being Satan’s slaves to God’s sons. This is a glorious adoption that we did not deserve, but can fully enjoy.

Counted now as holy so that we are able to pursue a HOLY LIFE in obedience to Jesus, through the leading of the Holy Spirit, for the glory of the Father, by the direction of God’s Word, we can live by the glorious light of the gospel!

caring for the poor

Blessed is the one who considers the poor!

In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;

Psalm 41:1

Caring for the needy among us in the love of Christ, out of grateful respect for the mercy that God gives to us, is blessed by God. God sees the poor and needy. He cares for them. He wants whose who can share with them to do so in order for their needs to be met. When I have knowledge of a person in need, and I refuse to help as I am able, I am sinning against God in my selfishness!

If we are not careful, Christians can insulate themselves from helping the poor. Consider this: Psalm 41 was originally meant to a song of worship. Can you imagine going to church and the first verse of the hymn you sing instructs you to care for the poor? I doubt such a song would play well on Christian top 40. That’s sad. We can cloister ourselves away in our churches, giving money towards “projects” more than people. We can choose political expediency as “solutions” to poverty, or we can by cynical... “Jesus said that you will always have the poor with you, so I guess there isn’t much to do to fix the problem.” And all these result in a tragic loss of gospel ministry.

Jesus became poor for our sakes so that through His poverty we could be made eternally rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). This is grace, poured out for us in our spiritual poverty. Caring for the poor is a wonderful door to gospel ministry. Jesus gave Himself to help the helpless. And we can share that good news as we help with the needs of the poorest among us.

They are here. Even in our wealthiest communities there are poor and marginalized people. They may be homeless. They may need food. They may need counseling. They may need financial assistance. They may need medical care. They may need jobs. They ALL need the love of Christ, known through His disciples, and explained and believed in the gospel. God can deliver them... if only we would care!

Kingdom Focus: love for “little ones”

So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

Matthew 18:14

This is the tender love God has for those who in childlike faith trust in Jesus for salvation. To understand this we must see this verse in its context. Matthew 18 begins with the disciples arguing their own righteousness over which of them is the “greatest” in the kingdom. It’s ludicrous! Jesus is grieved by this, and gently bringing in a small child as a visible example of His sermon, He corrects them. He reminds them that the simple faith of a small child is necessary to even enter the kingdom. It isn’t about “great works”. Children aren’t capable of that. It is about humility, trust, repentance, and faith (Matthew 18:1-4).

Then Jesus warns them of the dangers of harming that faith. If someone else tempts one of His believers into sin, that person falls under God’s judgment (Matthew 18:5-6). And when a follower of Jesus fights sinful temptations, it is best for them to take radical measures because nothing less than the kingdom of heaven is at stake (Matthew 18:7-9).

And finally, Jesus reminds His disciples to never despise the “little ones” with childlike faith, for like a Good Shepherd, God would leave 99 safe in the fold in order to find one that strays away. It is His will to keep all that come to Him. And His followers should be as diligent to care for one another (Matthew 18:10-14). Kingdom focus is all about living for what God is doing, caring for the Church that He is saving, and loving others more than self.