When King Uzziah died, Isaiah went into the temple and God gave Him a life-changing vision. He saw the seraphims, who declared the holiness of God. Then "the post of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke (God's glory)." Isaiah's moment of truth began at this point. It was a moment of realization and confession: "Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." Because of this vision of the holiness of God, Isaiah realized that he was not what he should be, and that others were in the same boat. He then confessed his sin of "unclean lips." People will never come to that moment of realization of their imperfections, or to confession, until they have an encounter with God. That encounter will probably not be as profound as Isaiah's, but it needs to happen. This is what we hope for in our church services. We pray that people will have an encounter with God as we pray, sing, give and preach. It is wonderful when that happens. We also pray for this when we visit people in their homes and witness to them, or wherever we encounter them.
The encounter next moved to forgiveness and cleansing. One of the seraphims flew to Isaiah with a live coal in his hand and laid it on his lips and said, "Lo, this has touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged." This is what such an encounter is all about. It needs to take place in people who are not believers and it also needs to take place with people who are believers. We always stand in need of forgiveness and cleansing. The encounter next moved to Isaiah's positive response: "Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me." The encounter turned into a challenge to serve God, as it always will. Maybe more people will go out and witness and minister when more people have a dynamic encounter with God. Let's pray for that to happen in our lives and in the lives of others. Bro. Joe
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"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter." (NIV)
If any ancient text describes the way things are today, this is it. We see it on every hand. For example, there was a time when it was a big plus if a candidate for political office was a Christian. Now, if a candidate even mentions the name of Jesus, he or she is referred to as a fanatic. One candidate in the last presidential election was a member of an Assembly of God Church. You would have thought that she was a Muslim. (Oh, wait that wouldn't be bad, speaking of calling evil good. This makes me an Islamophobe.) There was no doubt that a lot could have been said against her candidacy, but being a member of an Assembly of God Church was not one of them. I remember my sarcastic reaction was "Oooo that is real scary." I have known a lot of people who were part of the Assemblies of God and not a one of them ever scared me. In fact, I've found them to be fine Christian people. There are issues that are even more sinister than this. I will mention one while I still can without getting in trouble with the law. Who would have thought a man marrying a man, or woman marrying a woman, would have been even considered legal in this country? If you oppose what the Bible condemns every time it is mentioned, you are a "homophobe." If you were proven to be a "homophobe," you would be deemed a terrible person. I'm not afraid of homosexuality, nor do I hate homosexuals, but I can't call good what the Bible condemns. This country is split 50/50 on this issue. A lot of the 50% in favor of homosexual marriage have to be members of Christian churches. On this, and many other issues, we are in serious trouble spiritually. Our moral values are based on what the polls say. I guess that if the polls said that a majority of Americans believe that it is alright to murder your enemy, we could start murdering our enemies. That is extreme, but it makes as much sense as a lot of other issues we face today. Let's pray that this can be turned around. It won't be turned around by political parties. It will be turned around when Christians get serious about their Christian faith and stop giving in to public opinion. Bro. Joe I want to pick up on the subject that I wrote about yesterday based on Isaiah 42:8:
"I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images." I have heard people say things like, "If the universe wants me to have it, I will have it." I'm not sure what that means, but I have my ideas about it. I think that "The Universe" is a New Age term that is a substitute for God. What in the world can the universe do for anybody? The universe is part of God's creation. This is just another way of worshipping what has been created instead of the creator. Why would anyone want to refer to the universe as though it is God? First, the universe does not have a Bible with all of those silly rules and regulations that make us behave ourselves. The universe does not have something called "ten commandments." These commandments call for loyalty only to the God of the Bible. New Age people do not think that there is one God to whom we should be loyal. The ten commandments call for us to be careful about our lives and not to commit sexual sins. Those who worship the universe, or whatever it is they do, do not think that some God should interfere with their sexual preferences. If they can take out "thou shalt not commit adultery," they can do anything they want to. Second, the universe does not have a savior who died on the cross for our sins. In fact, the universe could care less about sin, let alone having someone who would have to die for it. Besides that, Jesus demands loyalty. He asks people to follow Him, to serve Him and to depend on Him alone. The "universe people" do not want a person to whom they must be loyal. They could never accept that Jesus is "the way, the truth and the life." The fact is, that from what I hear New Age type people saying, the universe has become their graven image. Third, the universe will not demand an account from people. The Bible says that we will die and then we will be judged. The universe could care less. Man, I'm glad that I'm not depending on the universe to save and sustain me. I'm glad that I believe in Jesus and not some New Age substitute. Bro. Joe "The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him."
When you are looking for something to read in the Bible, you probably do not think of going to Nahum. (That's why people need to read the Bible through from time to time.) I discovered this treasure of a verse in my foray through the Bible. It is just loaded with truth that the whole world needs to know. First, it tells us that "the Lord is good." The Bible tells us that not one of us is good. We say, "But I tithe, I pray, I attend church every Sunday and I vote in every election. Surely, that qualifies me as good." If you could be qualified as good, you could be qualified as God, for the Bible teaches us that only God is good. We can do good things, but we are never classified as good. We are either sinners, or sinners saved by grace. Second, it tells us that He is "a stronghold in the day of trouble." In a church service a few years ago a choir was singing a song about how the Lord is with us in our suffering. Mary, my late wife, kept punching me in the side, making sure I was listening. I was listening. After about a year of fighting two cancers I had personally learned that He is, indeed, "a stronghold in the day of trouble." Since that incident, I have learned about God's strength through a stroke, and the loss of Mary. This is a lesson that we all need to learn, but I'm afraid that we can't truly learn it until we have suffered for awhile. Good news! He will be your "stronghold in the day of trouble." Third, he tells us that the Lord "knows them that trust in Him." How do we personally come to know that God is good? By trusting in Him. How do we personally come to know that He is "a stronghold in the day of trouble." By trusting in Him. Trust and faith are the same thing. Hebrews ll:6 says that "without faith it is impossible to please (God.)" You can't know God personally without trusting in Him and you can't experience His great love and care without trusting in Him. I sincerely hope that you are trusting in Him today, because that will open up all kinds of new dimensions in your life. At least give it some thought. Bro. Joe Prior to writing the passage I am focusing on, Amos had warned Israel about God's chastening. Then he wrote: "Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. 13. For, lo, He that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The Lord, The God of hosts, is His name."
I have always focused on "prepare to meet thy God" when teaching or preaching on this text. As profound a reminder as that is for all generations, we don't need to ignore the fact the Amos wanted them to stop and consider the kind of God they should prepare to meet. He reminded Israel that He is the God that creates something from nothing. No one else can do that. Also, no one else is "The Lord, The Lord of hosts." What Amos is telling them is that they are fooling around with the eternal God who created the world and will call it to account. No one should have needed to remind them about who and what God is. After all, these were God's chosen people, the people whom God delivered from Egypt, saw them through forty years in the wilderness and gave them the Promised Land. These people to whom Amos wrote did not personally experience any of that, but it was an integral part of their history and they should have been taught that history from cradle to grave. They ignored God in order to worship wood and stone. They ignored God's moral order and did what they wanted to. We are not Israel, but we do know their history and we do know what God did for them. We know that He is the God who sent Jesus to save our sinful souls. It seems to me that with the spiritual climate in our country, and world, today we would do well to: "Prepare to meet (our) God." This needs to be taught and preached until the Lord comes. Bro. Joe For the last week I have been reading Hosea. As of today I started reading Joel. Man, that is some hard-nosed stuff. If God gave them something to tell the people, they told it in no uncertain terms. I find myself reading these prophecies with a critical view of the world. I mean those prophecies would apply today to our country and, for that matter, to many of our churches. However, the thought I had today was that I should not just look at our country and our churches when reading this; I should take a look at myself as well. This is not just a problem with me, it is a widespread problem.We say the problem is "them." No. The problem is "us." Thinking critically of our own choices and our own issues just does not seem to occur to us. For example, I wish that people who are involved in church squabbles would stop and ask themselves, "Could I possibly be Mistaken, or could there possibly be some kind of compromise that we could make to solve this issue?" It never seems to occur to us that we might be part of the problem, and that is why it is so difficult to find a solution. As long "we" are right and "they" are wrong, there is no solution.
One of the best things that I have done over my years in the ministry, was to change my sermon one Sunday and tell the church what I thought I was doing that was not helping the church. We were going through a tough time, there was lot of negativity. I just stood and confessed my faults to the whole congregation. This made a difference in our church and was the beginning of a new spirit. Please don't accuse me of bragging on what I did. It was not easy, but the Lord led me to take a look at myself. I know that I wasn't the only problem in the church, but I realized that I was part of the problem. We need to be honest with ourselves, and when we are,a lot personal, family, church, business, etc. problems will be solved. Bro. Joe Proverbs 9:8-9 ( KJV): "Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. 9.Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man and he will increase in learning."
NIV:" Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you, rebuke a wise man and he will love you. 9. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still, teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning." Can you take it? Take what? Can you take criticism? This is what Proverbs 9:8-9 is about. I am not going to lie to you and tell you that I love criticism. There is something about us that really hates it when someone doesn't see that we are doing a good job or maybe even that we are not perfect. But I have learned to take it in a good spirit. Why? Because as I look back over fifty-two years in the ministry, I have to admit that I have learned more through criticism than I have through casual praise. If any of my earlier church members reads this, they will probably say, "Well, he did learn after all." We don't garner wisdom in this life by protecting our fragile egos from criticism that is meant for our good. We have to learn the difference between malicious and loving criticism. Malicious criticism is usually not valuable - but it can be. Don't reject it out of hand. Even a malicious person can hit on the truth occasionally. Loving criticism can seem malicious when we first hear it, but when we think about it - if we will - the critic was trying to tell us something that we needed to hear. Critcism is a time for some good old-fashioned soul-searching. Proverbs 9:9a tells us: "Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser." We do not increase in wisdom by making ourselves immune to criticism. Not all criticism is justified, but if we will listen by faith, and hear what Jesus is telling us, we can learn the difference between wise and foolish criticism. No one in this world is above criticism - that includes you. Bro. Jo There are times that you find flaws in this blog. For example the other day, I had two commas where only one was needed. But this was remedied because I got my wife, Mary, to proofread. I have noticed that when she has the time to proofread, there are fewer errors. The point is that we can't proofread ourselves, because over and over and again, we see, not what is on the page, but what we thought we wrote. It is also difficult to correct our own mistakes. This brings us to the subject of accountability. As we cannot proofread ourselves, it is difficult for us to proofread our lives. We have a tendency to gloss over our own faults, or sins, and not see them as bad as another person would. In yesterday's blog, I mentioned that the fellowship of the saints is good for us, because we are with others who can hold us accountable. I know that our main accountability is to God, but we need to be accountable to each other too. In churches where there are accountability groups, there is greater spiritual growth than in the churches where people just "live and let live." If you want an accountablility partner, you will have to pray to approach the right person - someone whose word you would respect. They would also be accountable to you; therefore, you would need for them to respect you as well. I know that we try to be honest with ourselves, about ourselves and our sins, but we just can't see the flaws as others do. We all need someone to lovingly tell us the truth about ourselves, and who will hear the truth about themselves as well. One reason why Christ established His church was to bring His people together in order to help each other, and accountability is part of helping each other. I'm not telling you to never look critically at your life, but to realize that you might overlook what others might point out to you. Bro. Joe
I had always known that I had a spleen, but I had never given it a lot of thought. I probably knew its function back in the late fifties when I was a Navy Hospital Corpsman, but that was a long time ago. When I had my recent colon surgery the doctor told me that he couldn't get my spleen to stop bleeding, so he had to remove it along with the cancer. That's when I learned that I wish I had my spleen back. It is part of our immune system. I've got to be careful about being around people with communicable diseases. That means that I will no longer scoff at things like flu and pneumonia shots. I've even had a meningitis shot. Why am I taking your time to write about my spleen? It occurred to me yesterday that we do not have a spiritual spleen; therefore, we need to get immunized against spiritual diseases. God has provided some things to immunize us against the devil. First, there is the word of God - the Bible. (Here I go again telling you to read your Bible.) We can't help but be out in the world around all of its temptations and we need to read and know the word of God to help in our defense. Even Jesus used the word of God to combat Satan during his forty day temptation. Second, there is prayer. We need the protection of prayer every moment of every day. Prayer will prepare us to meet the temptations that we will inevitably face. Third, there is the fellowship of the saints. We need to be accountable to somebody and our fellow Christians can help us overcome temptation. If we know that we have to give account to someone, we will be more careful about what we do. Fourth, there is the armor of God that Paul writes about in Ephesians 6. Among other things, he writes about the belt of the gospel of truth, the breastplate of righteousness and the shield of faith. All of these help to keep us immune to Satan's great ploys. (Read Ephesians 6:10-20 to get the full picture.) God has given ways of escape. Like I now have to take flu and pneumonia, etc. shots seriously for my physical health, we need to take seriously the things that God has given us to maintain spiritual health. There are many more of these spiritual "shots" but these should suffice to help us stay well.
Bro. Joe "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast the profession of our faith. 15. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."
We have a Savior who understands what we are going through in this life. He came and lived the human experience for thirty-three years. He was "tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin." Think of it, there is no temptation that you have to go through that Jesus has not dealt with. The difference in Jesus and us is that He was "yet without sin." We cannot say that we have never sinned, and we can never say that we do not sin. Sin comes in several forms, e.g., sins of attitude, sins of omission and sins of commission. That is why we are promised in 1 John 1:9 that, "If we will confess our sins, He (Jesus) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Jesus does not condone our sins; but, thank God, He does forgive our sins. We call it mercy and grace. Because Jesus understands our plight in this life, He gives us an invitation to come "boldly to the throne of grace." For what reason? "That we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." To come "boldly" does not mean to come "brashly." He means that we have a free invitation to come to Him at any time, night or day, and He will bestow His great mercy and grace upon us. Because Jesus knows what you are going through, He invites you to come to Him in prayer on your own. You do not need anyone to take you to His throne. Because Jesus is your understanding high priest, you also are your own priest. (We call it "the priesthood of the believer.") Aren't you glad that our Savior is not remote from us, that He knows what we are going through and wants to minister to us through the presence of His Spirit and through the privilege of prayer? Bow your head now and thank Jesus for who and what He is in your life. If He is not your Savior, bow your head and ask Him, by faith, to come into your life. You will "obtain mercy and grace" then and there. Bro. Joe |
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