A sailor in a shipwreck was thrown upon a rock where he clung in great danger until the tide went down. Later a friend asked him, “Jim, didn’t you shake with fear when you were hanging on that rock?”
“Yes, but the rock didn’t,” was the significant reply. Christ is the Rock of Ages.
~ Sabbath Reading
Usually when we seek someone’s goodwill, we emphasize our own winning traits or accomplishments. Our supervisor, significant other, or family members are barraged with a list of our actions in an attempt to get the other to respond in kind. Often this results in a tug-of-war mentality, basing all we deserve on what we give.
But our relationship with God doesn’t follow these rules. God’s mercy isn’t based on what we’ve done—it’s based entirely on His own goodness. The psalmist, realizing this, turns all of his attention to God’s mercy in Psalm 25: “Remember your compassion, O Yahweh, and your acts of loyal love, because they are from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions. According to your loyal love, remember me if you will, for the sake of your goodness, O Yahweh” (Psalm 25:6–7).
In this individual lament, the psalmist reaches out to Yahweh with a cry for forgiveness and guidance. Instead of justifying his actions to obtain Yahweh’s favor, the psalmist turns the focus to God’s works and His faithfulness in the past. What he deserves isn’t what he gets—something he is altogether thankful for.
God’s abundant graciousness extends far: from heaven down to earth, where Jesus paid the ultimate price for our sin. We can’t be thankful enough for that great act of mercy. It’s a reason for humility and thankfulness, as the psalmist expresses, and an act of faithfulness to us that we can never return. His mercy should completely transform our concept of what we deserve; it should alter us so much that we treat those around us not with expectations of who they should be for us, but with grace and love, as God treated us.
It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. – Philippians 1:20.
Someone I’m sure, is going to object and state that God did dwell in the Jewish temple, first in the wilderness and later in Jerusalem, and that this was dramatized by the presence of the cloud or Shekinah. But there are two things wrong with this objection. In the first place, the presence of God in the temple (symbolized by the cloud) was only a figurative way of teaching certain lessons. Hence, even Solomon in his great prayer of dedication of the magnificent first temple acknowledged that heaven and earth could not contain God, much less a building that he had constructed. The second error is this: Even granting that in a certain sense Jehovah was present in the temple, that is now past from the perspective of God’s ongoing revelation in history. When Jesus came to earth He claimed that His body was God’s temple (John 2:18–21). And when He departed into heaven He promised that God would come to dwell within those who believe in Him (John 14:16–17). It is on this basis that Paul later claims, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own.” – 1 Corinthians 6:19. Paul adds, “So glorify God in your body.” – verse 20.
The second truth arising out of Philippians 1:20 is that if Christ is to be magnified in our bodies, He must be magnified in each of its constituent parts.
This means, first of all, Jesus must be magnified in our eyes. I have been impressed in a study of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7) by the fact that the eyes are mentioned twice in this chapter, once in a passage warning against sexual sins and once in a passage warning against materialism. How closely each of these errors is connected with the eyes! In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of the eyes, saying, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.” – Matthew 5:29. It is quite evident that this is a warning against the snares of improper sexual desires; for the verses that come just before refer to adultery, and the verses that immediately follow deal with the problems of divorce. Similarly, in Matthew chapter 6 He deals with the role of the eyes in materialism. Jesus begins with a reference to human greed; He finishes with the truth that a person cannot serve both God and money. In the middle He says, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.” – Matthew 6:22-23. Jesus recognized that the eyes are the primary means by which one is tempted to sexual sins and greed.
This is particularly true in American culture. Radio, television, billboards, and newspapers bombard us with stimulants to covet the abundant life. Movies and magazines encourage adultery and invite our participation in sexual sins. America is preoccupied with sex and committed to materialism, but this is not to be the rule for Christians. Christians are to serve the Lord, and they must use their eyes for that purpose. They must look at all that is wholesome and must direct their desires accordingly. One young woman told me that one of her first great steps forward in the Christian life took place when she realized that the majority (if not all) advertising generally appeals to non-Christian elements in our character, and she determined to shift her life accordingly.
Lord, hear our prayer:
Lord, we praise you for your majesty, your power, your glory and your authority. There is no God like you and there is no God besides you, and we will worship no other God but you. We praise you for your mercy, your gracious care for all your creation; for your work in creation and that you have called us to see all our work as part of our working with you for the good of others and the care of your world.
Amen.
Thinking, praying, reading, studying the Bible – when we do these things, we are reflecting on the Word of God. To reflect is to contemplate and/or consider, and God wants us to deeply reflect on His Word so that we can better understand Him.
Tuesday Reflecting
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law. I . . . come . . . to fulfill.” – Matthew 5:17.
The ten stones of the arch on which our domestic happiness, the purity of society, the security of life and property, and the prosperity of nations stand, the Son of God came from heaven, our substitute, to obey; with His blood, not to abrogate, but to enforce; on His cross to exalt, not in His tomb to bury; and, cementing the arch with His precious blood, to lend to laws that had the highest authority of Sinai, the no less solemn and more affecting sanctions of Calvary.
~ GUTHRIE
Tuesday July 25, 2023
Hosea 12:10
“I have also spoken by the prophets, And have multiplied visions;
I have given symbols through the witness of the prophets.”
If you have an opportunity to journey into the country during the next three weeks, you will, if your heart is rightly attuned, find a marvelous mass of wisdom couched in a cornfield. Why, I could not attempt for a moment to open the mighty mines of golden treasure which are hidden there. Think, beloved, of the joy of the harvest. How does it tell us of the joy of the redeemed, if we, being saved, shall at last be carried like shocks of corn fully ripe into the granary. Look at the ear of corn when it is fully ripe, and see how it bends toward the earth! It held its head erect before, but in getting ripe how humble does it become! And how does God speak to the sinner, and tell him, that if he would be fit for the great harvest he must drop his head and cry, “Lord have mercy upon me a sinner.” And when we see the weeds spring up amongst wheat, have we not our Master’s parable over again of the tares among the wheat; and are we not reminded of the great day of division, when he shall say to the reaper, “Gather first the tares and bind them in bundles, to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” O yellow field of corn, thou preaches well to me, for thou sayest to me, the minister, “Behold, the fields are ripe already to the harvest. Work thou thyself, and pray thou the Lord of the harvest to send forth more labourers into the harvest.” And it preaches well to thee, thou man of years, it tells thee that the sickle of death is sharp, and that thou must soon fall, but it cheers and comforts thee, for it tells thee that the wheat shall be safely housed, and it bids thee hope that thou shalt be carried to thy Master’s home to be his joy and his delight for ever. Hark, then, to the rustling eloquence of the yellow harvest.
The Plains Indians were impressed by the 23rd Psalm. They wanted to share its beauty and power with neighboring tribes, but it seemed impossible to overcome their mutual language barriers. Finally, a thoughtful Indian suggested they translate it into their universal sign language, which was done. The sign language of Psalm 23, translated back into literal English by missionary Isabel Crawford, reads:
The great father above a shepherd chief is. I am His and with Him I want not. He throws out to me a rope and the name of the rope is love and He draws me to where the grass is green and the water not dangerous, and I eat and lie down and am satisfied. Sometimes my heart is very weak and falls down but he lifts me up again and draws me into a good road. His name is wonderful.
Sometime, it may be very soon, it may be a long, long time, He will draw me into a valley. It is dark there, but I’ll be afraid not, for it is in between those mountains that the shepherd chief will meet me and the hunger that I have in my heart all through this life will be satisfied.
Sometimes He makes the love rope into a whip, but afterwards He gives me a staff to lean upon. He spreads a table before me with all kinds of foods. He puts His hand upon my head and all the “tired” is gone. My cup He fills till it runs over. What I tell is true. I lie not. These roads that are “away ahead” will stay with me through this life and after; and afterwards I will go to live in the Big Teepee and sit down with the shepherd chief forever.
When we learn something new about life and faith, it’s tempting to use our knowledge and freedom to tear down religious constructs and artifices—exposing truth in a way that’s not helpful or edifying. If we’re honest, pushing boundaries and living edgy and unfettered gives us a rush.
Paul warns the Corinthian Christians against this attitude: “All things are permitted, but not all things are profitable. All things are permitted, but not all things build up” (1 Corinthians 10:23). Paul sets up a contrast, juxtaposing the clauses to set apart what should really be the focus of the Corinthians. Paul stresses that instead of flaunting freedom, we should be focused on what is helpful and constructive for the community.
Seeking the good of the other person should be our first reflex. And it’s not simply limited to the Christian community. Paul states: “Therefore, whether you eat or you drink or whatever you do, do all things for the glory of God. Give no offense both to Jews and to Greeks and to the church of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31–32). This is a tall order in the internet age; when we don’t see someone face to face, it’s much easier to tear them down.
This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t challenge ideas when the time is appropriate. However, it does mean we should carefully consider our audience and act in a way that will best communicate the message of the gospel. Whatever the case, we should “please all people in all things, not seeking [our] own benefit, but the benefit of man, in order that they may be saved” (1 Corinthians 10:33).
It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. – Philippians 1:20.
The first truth we must establish on the basis of this text is that in this life Christ must be magnified in the bodies of those who believe in Him. This is because God dwells only within His children, not in unbelievers, and if He is to be seen at all in this life, He must be seen in the lives of those who know Him.
Throughout the history of the Christian church this truth has been perverted over and over again. People have often made the mistake of identifying the hand of God with the development of the Reformation churches, the cause of democracy, the movement for prohibition, pacifism, or even civil rights. But God is not magnified by these. There is no doubt that many of these movements have been based on Christian principles, at least in part, and that God has often blessed them and blessed people through them. But God’s hand is never seen in the movement itself; it is seen in the lives of those who guided it. Where people honor God in their bodies God prospers their work. When they cease to honor Him the institution ceases to be a vehicle in which His glory is seen, even though its beneficent effects may last for generations.
Some people have sought to limit God to the Bible, but this is wrong also. The Bible is free of error and God has chosen to honor it as He will honor no human words. But God does not dwell in the Bible. God is only magnified as He enters into the life of believers through the Bible and forms their lives in accordance with its principles.
Some people have sought to glorify God by building great churches, but Christ is not magnified in buildings. I have a friend who is very sentimental in his nature who is certain that God is to be found in great churches more than in other places. It is a fine thought, but it is wrong. I have answered by telling him about the three greatest churches I have read about and heard of being visited by close Christian friends. The first is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. This church is built over the site that Constantine selected as the original location of the cross and tomb of Christ about A.D. 325. You would think that such a site would be holy. But I’ve been told that if you have ever been there, you know that the church is divided into areas in which the various church orders compete for prominence and seek to entice tourists to their particular attraction. Imagine God dwelling in a place like that!
The second church is Chartres Cathedral, the highest flowering of the genius of Gothic architecture in Europe. But one must remember that this church was constructed in the Middle Ages when the common people who built the cathedral were held in spiritual bondage through their fear of God. The famous east portal contains the stern terrors of Christ presiding over the final judgment, and the entire period of the construction of the cathedral was marked by fits of self-chastisement as people tried to ward off evils they believed God had sent upon them. Imagine God dwelling in a building constructed out of such distorted conceptions of God’s nature and of the Christian message!
The third church I want to mention is the great basilica of St. Peter’s in Rome. Here is the pinnacle of Renaissance architecture embellished with the highest achievement of Renaissance art. Michelangelo worked here, and so did Raphael. But these men were paid with the indulgence money squeezed from the peasants of Germany, and it was in protest against such injustices that Luther started on the path that gave birth to the Protestant Reformation. It’s no wonder that Paul stood on Mars Hill in Athens and reminded the Greeks of his day that “the God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man.” – Acts 17:24.
Lord, hear our prayer:
Father, we praise you for your miracle of love by which you used the death of Jesus on the cross to set us free. You have transformed the point of defeat into the place of victory. In the humiliation of one man we are confronted by your glory; where life was lost, we find eternal life. We praise you for the assurance that even in a violent world, love will triumph. We ask to be filled with your Spirit so that we may not be tempted to sacrifice love to ambition and goodness to success, but may share the humility of Jesus. For Christ’s sake and for your glory.
Amen.
Thinking, praying, reading, studying the Bible – when we do these things, we are reflecting on the Word of God. To reflect is to contemplate and/or consider, and God wants us to deeply reflect on His Word so that we can better understand Him.
Monday Reflecting
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” – Matthew 5:16.
They say the world has an eagle eye for anything inconsistent; and it has an eagle eye, sharp to discover the vagaries and inconsistencies in the defaulty and the unworthy. It has an eagle eye; but the eagle winks before the sun, and the burning iris of its eye shrinks abashed before the unsullied purity of noon. Let your light so shine before men, that others, awed and charmed by the consistency of your godly life, may come to inquire, and to say they have been with Jesus.
~ PUNSHON
Monday July 24, 2023
Philippians 3:8
Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things,
and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.
What I’m preaching to try to bring about in the Church of Jesus Christ is a rediscovery of the loveliness of the Savior that we might begin to love Him again with the intensity of love such as our fathers knew. . . . I have said before and I repeat it now that the power and greatness of A.B. Simpson was not in his theology, for he positively was not a great theologian compared, for instance, with John Calvin or some of the other theologians. The power and greatness of the man lay in his unquenchable love for the Person of Jesus Christ the Lord. . . .
There are certain things God let Paul have. He let him have a book or two, let him have a coat, and let him have his own hired house for two years in one instance . . . but Paul never allowed those things to touch his heart. Any external treasure that touches your heart is a curse. Paul said, “I give that up so that I might know Him. That I might go on to deeply enriched and increasing intimacy and vast expanses of knowledge of the One who is intimate and illimitable in His beauty. And that I might know Him, I give all this up.” He never allowed anything to touch his heart.
The Lord is my Shepherd, therefore I need not want, for He is my unlimited supply.
He lets me lie down in green pastures, where my soul is fully fed. When I am thirsty, and weary, He leads me beside the quiet waters.
When I am weak, He restores my soul. He goes before me and leads me in safety and right paths, that I may not get lost.
Though I should suffer and go through the valley of death, I will not fear, because the Great Shepherd is with me; He protects me from my adversaries with His rod and staff, and at the same time lets me know that He loves me, which is a great comfort to me.
He spreads a table before me with good things, right in the presence of mine enemies; He anoints me with the oil of joy and makes my face to shine; my heart bubbles over with blessings from Him.
Surely the delightfulness and the pardoning mercy of God shall follow me all the days of my life on this earth, then I shall go to dwell in the great house of the Lord forever.
~ Pauline Karns
Love and complete reliance on God are interrelated concepts. When we discover what love really means, we want to praise God for it. When we learn to rely on God for all our needs, we see just how loving He is as He takes care of all aspects of our lives. And this love makes us want to show love to others.
It’s those who don’t have who are most apt to come to Jesus. They’re most in need of love. For this reason, it’s hard for us who do have—a home, a car, enough food for a week—to fully understand reliance on Christ. It takes a different type of discipline.
This is why it’s still shocking to me how many people absolutely love Psalm 23. It’s comforting, I suppose, and that’s why: “Yahweh is my shepherd; I will not lack for anything. In grassy pastures he makes me lie down; by quiet waters he leads me” (Psalm 23:1–2). I think so many of us love it, though, because we’re aware of how frail and vulnerable we really are. It could all be gone in a moment. Disease catches up to us, and death will eventually get us all. We often forget just how important love is in all this, and we fail to recognize why Psalm chapter 23 has a special place in our hearts.
We are in the top percentile of wealth in the world. Many of our families own more than one car. Nonetheless, the death around us and the diseases we see show just how quickly it can be gone. And for this reason, we can recognize how crucial love is. Love carries people through hard times. It brings them to depend on God. Paul tells us we could have all sorts of incredible spiritual gifts, but if we don’t have love, there’s no point (1 Corinthians 13:1, 13).
And when Paul speaks about love, he’s not talking about something we say or even feel; he’s talking about something we do. Love requires us to give all things; or in Paul’s words, it “rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:6–7). So, those of us who understand relying on Psalm chapter 23, even in our wealth, must help those who rely on its promises but are yet to experience them. They are people all over the world, waiting for us to “bear” their burdens with them. They are the hurting, the voiceless—the people who need us to show real love.
It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. – Philippians 1:20.
Many Christians divide their lives into two compartments. One compartment they label “sacred,” and the other compartment they label “secular.” The sacred part of life consists of what they do on Sundays and when they are praying, witnessing, or reading their Bible during the other days of the week. The secular part of life involves nearly everything else; work, recreation, family life, sports, and so on. There is almost no connection between the two. Their lives are organized in the way Time magazine divides the news. Politics and business are in front; books come last. Along the way they fit in modern living, entertainment, and religion.
It is easy to understand how this happens. To a large extent Christians live in two worlds and divide their time accordingly. We labor in one world, and it is necessary to put much time into what is often mundane work just to make a living. At the same time we are citizens of heaven. We who were no people have become God’s people, and there is Christian work to do. Consequently, we begin to think that the Christian work is important and the other work is not. Many Christian people cherish the notion that God is honored only by their devotional life or by what they do on Sundays.
I do not believe this was true of any of the biblical writers. David was a deeply spiritual person and wrote beautiful psalms. But there is not a line of the Old Testament to suggest that he served God more as a poet than as the king of Israel, the one who fought the Lord’s battles. He honored God in what God gave him to do. Jesus Christ knew no division of his life, for everything he did pleased His heavenly Father. Jesus said, “I always do the things that are pleasing to him” (John 8:29).
So it was with Paul. Paul knew that the child of God is called to live all of life under the eye of his heavenly Father and to do all things to His glory. In 1 Corinthians Paul even says that Christians are to feed themselves to God’s glory: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” – 1 Corinthians 10:31. Because of these truths Paul knew that Christians are to “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” – Romans 12:1. In Philippians 1:20, Paul applies this thought to his own experience, noting that Christ will be exalted in his body whether by his life or his death.
We have seen in the other writings of the Apostle how this statement is an expression of Paul’s confidence in God. We must now go on to see what this means practically for the living of the normal Christian life.
William Bridge: Piercing Heaven – Puritan’s Prayers
Lord, you have made a covenant of grace with a poor person. This covenant of grace is founded on the priestly office of Jesus Christ.
The new covenant promises that we will all be taught by God. Lord, I am ignorant! Teach me by the work of Christ, that I may be made wise in salvation.
Lord, you have made a covenant of grace with a poor man, a covenant which says, “I will write my law in your inward parts.”
So now, Lord, seeing that Jesus Christ has founded this covenant in his blood, and I am one of those for whom he made satisfaction: write your law in my inward parts, that I may do all your will.
Amen.
NOW take notice of how God deals with the problem of the flesh in the life of Abram. Abram had trusted God and had gone out of Ur, but in disobedience to God’s clear instructions, he had taken his father and Lot along. “Get out . . . from your family And from your father’s house,” had been the word of the Almighty. Terah, Abram’s father, represents the old man of the flesh. “Terah” means delay. “Haran” means fruitless. Six years Abram lived with Terah in Haran, delayed in a fruitless land; six years of no progress, no growth, no joy or victory. Then we read:
“So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.” – Genesis 11:32.
Terah died in Haran. Thank God, the old man died. I know that sounds cold and heartless! However, Abram must sever the tender ties of the flesh before he can proceed to the place of victory and promise. There is to be a burial in Haran, a blessed funeral. Terah died, and was buried in Haran, the place of fruitlessness. It must have been hard for Abram, but it must be, before he can go on. How much easier it would have been for Abram to have left his father behind in Ur of the Chaldees than to bury him here in a strange land. How much better to obey God willingly and immediately, by separating one’s self from the world and the flesh, rather than to disobey and thus bring God’s judgment into our lives, a punishment more painful and lasting than the momentary soreness caused by separation from the world and the flesh.
Now, having been compelled to obey, Abram finally departs from Haran. He has renounced the flesh and is now ready to go forward. This time he and his family reach their goal and their destination. In Genesis we read this:
“Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.” – Genesis 12:5 (emphasis mine).
Once before they had started for Canaan, the land of fruitfulness and victory, but only made it as far as Haran, the land of wilderness and dryness. The old man must first be buried there, and then, significantly, they were able to come into the land of Canaan. Stephen also, in the book of Acts, when speaking of Abraham, said this about that experience:
“Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell.” – Acts 7:4 (emphasis mine).
After all those centuries had passed, and into the time of Stephen and the disciples, and now, once again, centuries later, the truth of the matter is that the flesh still has to die for us to move forward in the Lord.
Leaders Celebrate Often (Nehemiah 8:1-12).
EFFECTIVE leaders appreciate the value of celebrating the great things that God has done in and through their organizations. When the task is completed, when results have been achieved, when people have been served, then it is appropriate to take time to celebrate.
That is what Nehemiah did when the people completed the rebuilding of the wall (Nehemiah 8:1, 10). First he had Ezra read from the Law—the motivation for Nehemiah’s mission in the first place. The words kindled not only a godly sorrow (Nehemiah 9:1–3) but also genuine joy (Nehemiah 8:10–12). Thus with heartfelt praise, choice food, and even an “amen” chorus (Nehemiah 8:6), the community rejoiced in the Lord for the work it had accomplished.
One interesting sidelight to the celebration was Nehemiah’s instruction to “send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared” (Nehemiah 8:10). In other words, bring the poor to the party! Share the wealth. No one should be deprived of the joy.
For Saturday July 22, 2023
John 15:7
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire,
and it shall be done for you.
“If a little’s good, a lot’s got to be better.” You’ve probably applied that principle at times in your life and found it’s not always true. For example, a small amount of pie is good, but a lot is fattening. A small dose of fertilizer helps a plant to grow, but a big dose will kill it. A little ingredient in a recipe makes it perfect, but a lot makes it a disaster. But there are some areas of life where a lot is always better: prayer, for example.
Jesus once told His disciples something that no doubt amazed them: they would do greater works than He had done. He was leaving the earth and returning to heaven and was commissioning them to continue His words and works—but on a grander scale! While they were pondering that revelation, He told them how it would be possible: through prayer. The works (John 14:12) can be accomplished only through prayer (John 14:13). Imagine the kinds of works we could do if we prayed more than we do! Prayer is an area of the spiritual life where a lot is always better.
If you would like to accomplish greater works for Christ in your life, try starting with prayer. The greater the prayer to God, the greater the works for God.
The average church knows more about promotion than prayer.
LEONARD RAVENHILL
Show family affection to one
another with brotherly love. – Romans 12:10
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FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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