PROBLEMS!!

I suppose everyone has a few problems from time to time, so let us look in God's Word for a few moments.  The 55th Psalm seems to be a Psalm of "complaint" as David tries to deal with the great problems and burdens that are overwhelming him.  His first instinct seems to be to run away from them, for he says in verse 6:  "And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove!  for then would I fly away, and be at rest."  He continues his lament in verse 7 and 8 --
     "Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness.  I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest."  However, we know the prophet, Jonah, tried that same strategy of fleeing years later, and encountered worse problems.  We must remember that we do not solve problems by fleeing from them! 
The Psalmist continued to complain, saying in verse 9 --
     "Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues ..."  His burdens were no doubt heavier because those whom he had trusted as friends were now using deceit and guile against him (verses 11-14).

Finally, after all of David's fretful searching and complaining, near the end of the Psalm, the Lord gave him a beautiful answer in this wonderful promise -- "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved."  Praise the Lord!!

So we see that the way to deal with burdens and problems is not to flee from them -- not to fret about them -- but to turn them over to our wonderful Lord, for we read in I Peter 5:7 --- "Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you."
     "What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer"!

PERFECT LOVE

The 13th chapter of I Corinthians has been called the Love Chapter, and is such a beautiful picture of the blessed experience of perfect love or holiness of heart and life which is still for us all today!  I like this little summary of the chapter taken from Knight's Master Book of New Illustrations.

     Slow to suspect -- quick to trust,
     Slow to condemn -- quick to justify,
     Slow to offend -- quick to defend,
     Slow to expose -- quick to shield,
     Slow to reprimand -- quick to forbear,
     Slow to belittle -- quick to appreciate,
     Slow to demand -- quick to give,
     Slow to provoke -- quick to conciliate,
     Slow to hinder -- quick to help,
     Slow to resent -- quick to forgive.

Perhaps it would be good for us to post this little quote where we would see it often as we go about our duties from day to day:
      "Duty makes us do things well, but love makes us do them beautifully."

     "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever.  Amen."

Go Forward!

The 14th chapter of Exodus begins with the Lord talking to Moses and giving him instructions to speak unto the children of Israel concerning the Egyptians and Pharaoh, the king of Egypt!  You can read this "message" in the first 12 verses of the chapter.  Then we read on ---

     Verse 13:  "And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever."
     Verse 14:  "The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace."  I don't know what happened between verse 14 and verse 15, but verse 15 reads:  "And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto Me?  speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward."  Moses obeyed, and God gave them victory, until in verse 25, we read:  ". . .the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for the Lord fighteth for them against the Egyptians."

So it seems from these challenging verses that the Lord does not want us to be satisfied with where we are right now in our spiritual journey -- He wants us to be scaling the utmost heights where we can catch a gleam of glory bright!  There are new challenges to accept -- new difficulties to overcome -- new victories to be won -- new doors to be entered -- new knowledge to be gained -- new doors that need to be entered and new souls all around us who need Jesus!

Let us not be like many people are when getting into the water -- let us never be satisfied with just sticking our toes in gradually, but let us plunge in and wade out deeper into the challenges that face us in these perilous times!
     "Onward, Christian soldiers!  Marching as to war,
             With the Cross of Jesus going on before." 

Mid-week Musings!

It is a beautiful fall morning, and I trust that your day is off to a good start!  I thought perhaps it would be beneficial for us to spend a little time thinking about these seven quotes as we journey through the week.  Perhaps you might need to jot one down and put it where you can refer to it often.

     "Sign in a grocery store:  CLERK WANTED to work eight hours a day (to replace one that didn't.)"
     "Be careful with half-truths.  You may have been told the wrong half."

     "Every time you graduate from the school of experience, somebody thinks up a new course."

     "Human beings, like chickens, thrive best when they have to scratch for what they want."

     "Ambition never gets anywhere until it forms a partnership with work."

     "A reputation once broken may possibly be repaired, but, sad to say, the world will always keep its eye on the spot where the crack was."

     "Character is the sum total of what a man is after he has won all -- and it is the sole thing left after he has lost all."    

Blessings We Have . . .

On this Monday morning, the blessings we have in Christ are far too many to number, but I trust your heart will be blessed as we note just a few of those in God's Word indicated by the words "we have" or "ye have".

     "We have" redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace"  (Ephesians 1:7).  And as a result, "being justified by faith, "we have" peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:1).

      Then, through promises such as these, God's Holy Word assures us of salvation.  I love this beautiful verse in I John 5:13 -- "These things have I written unto that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that "ye have" eternal life".  And Romans 8:15 says -- "Ye have" received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father".

      Ephesians 1:11 tells us -- "we have" obtained an inheritance, for we are joint-heirs with Him.  Praise the Lord!  Hebrews 4:14 tells us that "we have" a great High Priest who intercedes for us at the throne of God!  And in the 6th chapter of Hebrews we read about God confirming His promises and the blessed hope that "we might have" a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: which hope "we have" as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast."

      Let us end with this wonderful promise in II Corinthians 5:1 -- "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, "we have" a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."  These are just a very few of the blessings we have in Christ!  Surely we can sing with the songwriter today --
     "I am blessed!  I am blessed!  Every day that I live, I am blessed!"   

The KING of GLORY!

The songwriter said:  "I belong to the King, I'm a child of His love, and He never forsaketh His own.  He will call me some day to His palace above.  I shall dwell by His glorified throne."

The Apostle Paul said in I Timothy:  "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and Glory for ever and ever.  Amen!"

The Psalmist, David, said in the 24th Psalm:  "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.  Who is this King of glory?  The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.  Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.  Who is this King of glory?  The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory."

We live in a very busy age, and our days are filled with the "cares of life", but if we really take time to "see" the King of Glory -- our lives should bear witness of the fact that we have been with Jesus!  May we walk carefully in the light of God's Holy Word, anticipating the day when King Immanuel shall reign for-ever-more as King of Kings and Lord of Lords!!

"The Creation"

You have probably read, or perhaps even memorized,  this wonderful poem by James Weldon Johnson, but I just ran across it again last evening and it always thrills my soul to read it!  I trust that it will be a blessing to your heart as you reflect again on "What a Mighty God We Serve"!

     "And God stepped out on space, and He looked around and said:
I'm lonely -- I'll make Me a world.
      And far as the eye of God could see darkness covered everything,
Blacker than a hundred midnights down in a cypress swamp.

      Then God smiled, and the light broke,
And the darkness rolled up on one side,
      And the light stood shining on the other,
And God said:  That's good!

      Then God reached out and took the light in His hands,
And God rolled the light around in His hands until He made the sun;
      And He set that sun a-blazing in the heavens.
And the light that was left from making the sun--
      God gathered it up in a shining ball and flung it against the darkness,
Spangling the night with the moon and stars.
      Then down between the darkness and the light
He hurled the world;  And God said:  That's good!

      Then God Himself stepped down --
And the sun was on His right hand, and the moon was on His left;
      The stars were clustered about His head, and the earth was under His feet.
And God walked, and where He trod --
      His footsteps hollowed the valleys out and bulged the mountains up.

      Then He stopped and looked and saw that the earth was hot and barren.
So God stepped over to the edge of the world and He spat out the seven seas --
      He batted His eyes, and the lightnings flashed --
He clapped His hands, and the thunders rolled --
      And the waters above the earth came down, the cooling waters came down.

      Then the green grass sprouted, and the little red flowers blossomed,
The pine tree pointed his finger to the sky, and the oak spread out his arms,
      The lakes cuddled down in the hollows of the ground --
And the rivers ran down to the sea; And God smiled again --
      And the rainbow appeared, and curled itself around His shoulder.

      Then God raised His arm and He waved His hand
Over the sea and over the land, and He said:  Bring Forth!  Bring Forth!
      And quicker than God could drop His hand,
Fishes and fowls and beasts and birds swam the rivers and the seas,
      Roamed the forests and the woods, and split the air with their wings.
And God said:  That's good!

      Then God walked around, and God looked around on all that He had made.
He looked at His sun, and He looked at His moon --
      And He looked at His little stars;
He looked on His world with all its living things --
      And God said:  I'm lonely still!

       Then God sat down --- on the side of a hill where He could think;
By a deep, wide river He sat down;
      With His head in His hands, God thought and thought,
Till He thought:  I'll make me a man!

      Up from the bed of the river God scooped the clay;
And by the bank of the river He kneeled Him down;
      And there the Great God Almighty who lit the sun and fixed it in the sky,
Who flung the stars to the most far corner of the night,
      Who rounded the earth in the middle of His hand --
This Great God, like a mammy bending over her baby,
      Kneeled down in the dust -- toiling over a lump of clay --
Till He shaped it in His own image!

      Then into it He blew the breath of life, and man became a living soul.
Amen!  Amen!"