"C" who Jesus is.

For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulders.  And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.--Isaiah 9:6

Who is this Jesus whom we serve? Who is the focus of our worship?  He is God in the flesh, the very power of God who dwelt among us.  The scripture says that no man has ever seen God.  Yet those who beheld His Christ looked into the very eyes of God; those who heard Jesus speak drew near to the very heart of God. Those who were drawn to Him in spirit were in fact wooed by the Holy Spirit of God.

We speak of the triune nature of God as a Trinity, "God in Three Persons".  Yet when we look at one, we see them all; when we see them all, we see the one.  So how do you describe a God you cannot see, now that Christ has ascended into the heavens?

Isaiah did it in four ways.  The prophet spoke of Mighty God, made up of the Everlasting Father, the Peaceful Prince, and the Wonderful Counselor.  Note how each facet of God has a distinct descriptor, a word that underscores the nature of God in all His glory.  You could say that Isaiah made a perfect description of the Trinity: Mighty God, who can be seen as the Everlasting Father, the Peaceful Prince (Son), and the Wonderful Counselor (a term used in the New Testament to describe the Holy Spirit; see John 14:26: "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I (Jesus) have said to you.")

But wait, you say.  That is not the order in which Isaiah introduced them.  The Counselor, who is wonderful, is introduced first.  Perhaps this is because the Holy Spirit is the one who makes the way clear for people to know God.  "But God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.  The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God...The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him." (1 Corinthians 2:10, 14).  Again, "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children." (Romans 8:16).  So we see the purpose of the Holy Spirit is to reveal God to us.

The God, who is mighty, is the next revelation to us.  After the Spirit opens our eyes, we see the Big Picture. We see God, who created us in His image, who made all things to be useful to us.  We see God, the First Cause, powerful enough to make all things work together for our good (Romans 8:28).  We see God, who knows the name of every person on this earth--all seven billion of us--and all of our ancestors.  We see God, who is holy and pure and perfect, who cannot abide sin, make a way for us, an avenue to escape our sin and live forever in His holy presence.

The Father, who is everlasting, shows us that he wants relationship with us above all else.  We are not his playthings, or his minions, or his enemies--we are his children.  He loves us and wants to adopt us into his kingdom, if only we can believe in him.  To this end, he sent his Son.

The Prince, who is peaceful, walked as we walk.  He lived in sunshine and in rain, just like we do.  He knew the love of his friends and hatred from his enemies, and even betrayal of one of his closest circle of friends--just like we do.  Who better to show us the way to the Father?  And to complete the circle, if we accept Jesus as Savior through his sacrifice, we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, who is our Counselor.  How wonderful!

Counselor, Creator, Co-Parent, Co-Regent.
Comforter, Commander, Caregiver, Companion.
Conscience, Correcter, Covenant-giver, Carpenter.
Compassionate, Complete, Concerned, Christ.

Who is He...Who's the mightiest of all
Who is He...Creation trembles at His call
Who is He...The lowly sacrifice, who paid a victims price
His name is Jesus

Who is He...With the power none can tame

Who is He...That every foe would fear His name

Who is He...Who was humbly led away, to suffer that dark day

His name is Jesus 

Who is He...With the eyes that burn like fire
Who is He...Oh the wonder He inspires
Who is He...Who bore the guilt and shame
For those who've gone astray
His name is Jesus

Jesus...Son of God and son of man
Jesus...Who died and rose again
Jesus...He's the Lion and the Lamb

Fear and Loathing in America

I have discovered something about myself.  When I think about myself more often than I think about God, I get depressed.  The more I try to please myself, the more depressed I become.  I have just emerged from a period of self-loathing.  And looking back, guess what?  The whole time it was all about me, me, me.  You'd think I would have learned.  I know that when I am happiest, that is the time that I am serving God the most. That is the time that I am more concerned with His will than my own.

When I am consumed with love for Him, I am more likely to love others; I am more likely to be at peace with myself.  This is in contrast to the times when I am obsessed with self-love, which turns into self-pity when I lose all joy, which turns into self-abuse when I lose all perspective.  It is a downward spiral that makes me a defeated Christian.

Don't get me wrong.  We are all wounded warriors in Christ's army.  "There is none perfect, no not one." We are all subject to peaks and valleys in our Christian walk.  How we respond to the valleys makes all the difference.  In the fourth chapter of Genesis, Adam's sons brought offerings to God.  Cain brought the fruits and vegetables that he had grown from the ground, and laid them at the altar.  Abel brought the firstborn of the flock, a lamb without blemish.  God approved of Abel's offering, but not Cain's.  This made Cain very angry.  Instead of going to God and learning what true sacrifice means (he could have traded or sold his fruit for a lamb, and had a more acceptable sacrifice.  "Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins."), Cain became more and more depressed.  He ultimately wanted revenge against his brother rather than the favor of God.

God's advice to Cain is good advice to all of us when we start to get depressed, thinking we will never measure up to God's standards, or the world's, or even our own:

Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?  If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."  --Genesis 4:6-7

Fantasy writer Terry Brooks has said, "Hurt leads to bitterness; bitterness to anger.  Travel too far down that road and the way is lost."  Before we get consumed by our anger, we need to stop and take inventory. Before we do something we regret, and fall into the pit of despair and depression, we need to pause and review.  Is there a failure to communicate? Is that the root cause of my bitterness and anger?  Again, if Cain had only allowed God to show him what was required, he could have made amends with his brother.  Like Cain, we have direct access to God through prayer.  Unlike Cain, we have a record of God's words which we call the Bible.  "He has shown you, O Man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you: but to act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly before your God."

If you can go to this link http://skitguys.com/videos/item/psalm-139 I encourage you to do so.  If not, perhaps you can use a search engine to find the Skit Guys, and look up the video for Psalm 139.  Here is what Psalm 139:23-24 says: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."  Allow God to wash away the bitterness; let Him ease your anxiety.  If there is something standing between you and God, let it go; let God lead you back into His grace and peace.

I know from experience that it is impossible to love others when you hate yourself.  The Bible encourages us to "love your neighbor as yourself."  No wonder there is so much hatred in our land.  We are failures in our own eyes, and have succumbed to self-loathing.  How, then, can we love our neighbors?  We have condemned ourselves to a hell of our own making.  How, then, can we share in the love of Jesus, who said, "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." (John 3:17-18)

There comes a time in all of our lives when we are driven to our knees; when we approach Jesus as did the woman caught in adultery, shamed and exposed and ready to be stoned to death for our sins.  But Jesus, in His mercy, says, "Where are those who condemned you? Neither do I condemn you.  Go now and leave your life of sin." (John 8:10-11)

A little sin goes a long way in destroying our testimony.  That is why sin is compared to leaven or yeast in the Bible.  A little bit kneaded into the dough causes it to rise.  A little bit of sin causes us to be puffed up with pride.  I heard someone say once that the comparison that Jesus made about the splinter in your brother's eye and the log in your own eye really was only a matter of perspective.  When you focus solely on the little bit of sin in your own life, when it is viewed so closely, it appears much bigger than it is.  What others might see as a splinter, you have magnified into a log or a branch.  Jesus invites us to remove the log from our own eye, so that we can see clearly to help others get the splinter out of their eyes.  How sad that we become content to gaze at our own log so long and so hard that we lose our way.

                                                    "Doubting Thomas"

What will be left when I've drawn my last breath
Besides the folks I've met and the folks who've known me
Will I discover a soul-saving love
Or just the dirt above and below me

I'm a doubting Thomas
I took a promise
But I do not feel safe
Oh me of little faith

Sometimes I pray for a slap in the face
Then I beg to be spared cause I'm a coward
If there's a master of death
I bet he's holding his breath
As I show the blind and tell the deaf about his power

I'm a doubting Thomas
I can't keep my promises
Cause I don't know what's safe
Oh me of little faith

Can I be used to help others find truth
When I'm scared I'll find proof that it's a lie
Can I be led down a trail dropping bread crumbs
That prove I'm not ready to die

Please give me time to decipher the signs
Please forgive me for time that I've wasted

I'm a doubting Thomas
I'll take your promise
Though I know nothin's safe
Oh me of little faith

"The Devil Made Me Do It"

He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.  The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. --1John 3:8

One of the earliest and most popular African American comics was Flip Wilson.  In the 1970s he would do skits on variety shows (programs that featured a variety of entertainment, unlike today's reality shows and singing contests).  One of the characters he played was a woman named Geraldine Jones; in one of her earlier skits, she said, "The Devil made me buy this dress."  That line became so popular that she used it in several other situations--whatever dumb thing she did or said was followed by, "The Devil made me do it." This phrase was ingrained into the American pop culture for almost a decade.

The phrase became popular because there was a germ of truth in it.  The Devil does try to make us do dumb things.  But as pop culture evolved, the phrase ended up trivializing spiritual matters.  On Sundays the nation heard, "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but...against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:12).  On Saturday nights, the world turned this concept into a parody.  Why did I tell that little white lie? The Devil made me do it!  Why did you have that affair with your best friend's wife? The Devil made me do it!

So what makes Satan such a provocateur?  What makes him so effective in his mission?  Let's take him at his word, literally.

The Deceiver
"He said to the woman, 'Did God really say, "You must not eat from any tree in the garden?"...You will not surely die, for God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil'." (Genesis 3:1, 4-5)

Satan's first words in Scripture give us a clue to his character as a deceiver.  His approach was very clever, designed to make her question her memory, her belief, and God's motives.  See, he wanted Man to be separated from God, like he was.  But his approach was not, "Come on, break the rule.  It'll be fun!"  That would have made the humans dig in their heels, and take a stand.  So he started with a half-truth.  See, Satan already knew what God had said.  "And the Lord God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die'." (Genesis 2:16-17)

Satan blurred the lines that God had made specific.  He didn't ask why they couldn't eat anything they wanted; he asked whether God would allow them to eat any fruit growing from any tree.  Eve answered with the words of God, plus a little bit of her own: "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "  With that bit of legalism tucked in there, Satan had a handle.  He could say, "You can touch it--it won't kill you."  And it would be true.  They could touch it; they could throw it like a baseball, juggle it, paint pictures of it--they just couldn't eat it.  From there he could say, "God wouldn't kill you--he loves you."  How many times do we fall for this line even today?  "I don't think a loving God would _______ (you fill in the blank: cause so much suffering, send people to hell, or demand that I live up to His standard)."

I heard a very good description of parenting on the radio program "Focus On The Family" today.  The guest said, "Every child is born with two burning questions on their hearts and minds: Do you love me? and Can I get my way?"  As a parent, our job is to answer the first question Yes, Always; and the answer to the second question is Not Always.  Similarly, in our relationship with our Heavenly Father, the same questions arise.  "God, do you really love me?"  His answer is unequivocally YES!  But then we try to reason with God: "If you love me, why can't I have my own way?"  If we become secure in our love of God, Satan will come and put that second question in your mind, in order to lead you astray.

The Accuser
"Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything that he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.  But stretch out  your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face." (Job 1:9-11)

Satan knows human nature very well.  He had doubtless seen many people turn their backs on God after tragedies.  So he approached God and tried to drive a wedge between Him and His own.  God allowed Satan to test Job's faith.  Job's response wasn't perfect--if you have read the book of Job, you know that in the end, God gives Job a stern lecture.  But Job did not lose faith in God.  Neither should we, when all manner of tragedy befalls us.

Jesus is our example.  If He could endure leaving heaven and becoming a man; if He could endure the hatred and spite of men who lived with him, who saw his miracles and yet accused him of being a devil; if He could endure the shame and pain of death on a cross--if He could endure all that, then we can not lose heart. Hebrews 12:3 says, "Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

Jesus is our advocate.  When Satan comes to accuse us before the Father, Jesus covers us with His shed blood, so that our sin is hidden and we are seen as righteous before God.  "Even now, my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high.  My intercessor is my friend as my eyes pour out tears to God." (Job 16:19-20). With this in mind, Paul wrote in Romans 8:34, "Who is he that condemns?  Christ Jesus who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us."

The Tempter
"The tempter came to him and said, 'If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread...If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down (from the highest point of the temple).  For it is written, "He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone."....All this I will give you if you will bow down and worship me.' " (Matthew 4: 3, 6, 9)

Satan appealed to Jesus at the human level: He was hungry, so Satan urged Him to feed himself with whatever was handy.  Jesus could have turned the stones to bread--he later turned water into wine.  But Jesus didn't answer to Satan, and his fast was for a spiritual purpose.  So next, Satan appealed to Jesus on a spiritual level: Let's go to the Temple, where God lives; let's show all these humans your authority over the spiritual realm, and let's see if God your Father will save you from an untimely death.  But Jesus didn't ask that of God, and His response was not to put the Father to the test.  We know God had answered the judges and prophets of old--Gideon had asked for a sign, as had King David, and the prophet Elijah.  Malachi 3:10 urges us to test God in our giving: "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.  Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."  God asks us to test him, to strengthen our faith; but Jesus was not asked to test God for that purpose, so He declined.  Finally, Satan put all pretense aside, and showed his whole hand.  Satan controlled all the earth, and he said he would let Jesus rule over it all if He would acknowledge the devil as a god.

The closer we get to God, the more tempted we will be.  Jesus endured much more temptation than what is recorded in Scripture.  He fasted for forty days, and not a day went by when Satan did not sorely tempt him. We have but a few examples of Satan's words, but they are representative of his mission in our lives--to keep us from knowing God, or if we know Him, to make us ineffective as Believers.

Do not be deceived.  Do not be bowed down by accusations.  When you are tempted, do not succumb. We are over-comers, through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Perfection: A Paragon, A Paradigm, A Paradox

Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.  --Matthew 5:48

Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise--why destroy yourself? --Ecclesiastes 7:16

 If you read my previous four or five entries, you will have noticed a theme.  Psalm 139 is so rich, so deep; and it speaks to so many of our insecurities.  The last verses sum up how we feel once we know that God searches us and knows us, has known us from the beginning, and thinks about us in the here and now: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalm 139:23-24).  We are called to humility, to setting our goals and desires aside, and submitting to his perfect will.

Many of us, in our human mind-set, substitute a pursuit of perfection for following Jesus in faith.  We become Pharisaical, fanatics in following the letter of the Law.  We all know people like this--Holier Than Thou folks who can't see the log in their own eye, but have no qualms about pointing out the speck in yours.  These are the people Jesus was speaking to in Matthew 5 when he made the statement quoted above, "Be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect."  But do you see the word I just left out? Jesus used the word "therefore." As a preacher-friend of mine always says, whenever you see the word "therefore" in Scripture, you need to find out what it is there for.

In Matthew 5:43-47, Jesus started talking about love.  And he ends with verse 48 about perfection.

You have heard that it was said, "Love your neighbor and hate your enemy."  But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.  He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?  Are not even the tax collectors doing that?  And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others?  Do not even pagans do that?  Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

 God's love is so vast that it encompasses those who hate him.  The blessings of sunshine are there for all to share.  The challenges of the rainy season are there for all to bear.  The way that we--who recognize we are made in His image, and who bear the Name of His Son--the way that we treat nonbelievers during the boom times, and the way that we act toward one another in the bust times can reveal the love of the Father to nonbelievers.  We all pray for our friends and family members, right? But how fervently do we pray for those who despise us, who ridicule us for our faith? And not just prayer for their salvation, but also prayer for their success and well-being?  I think if we had more of that mind-set, nonbelievers would be more open to our message.

One of the hot topics of today is gay marriage.  More and more states are recognizing same-sex marriage, and the federal government has taken it up as a Civil Right.  Many Christians are dead-set against the glorification of what the Bible calls a sinful act.  Many of us have drawn a line in the sand, and have taken on a "them versus us" mentality.  In short, we have identified them as our enemy.  Last week the Court in New Mexico told a Christian photographer that he could not refuse his services to a homosexual couple celebrating a "commitment ceremony".  I guess that means that New Mexico has not legally accepted gay marriage in their state.  So many might stand with the photographer.  If I had been in that situation, I might have told the gay couple that I was booked that week.  But here is the situation in a different light: let's assume that the Christian photographer was not targeted specifically for the purpose of creating a "test case" in civil court. Let's assume that these customers saw the photographer's work, and were impressed with it.  If these "sinners" saw something about the Christian's talents, or work ethic, or artistic ability, then perhaps the Christian could have glorified God in doing the best job he could for them, and giving them a good impression of Christians in general. "In all that you do, do all for the glory of God."

There will come a time when Christians are discriminated against, when it will be uncool, unwise, or even unlawful to do business with us.  Only those with the "Mark of the Beast" will be able to buy and sell in the marketplace.  At that time we will pray for the hastening of Christ's return even more fervently than we do now.  At that time, it will not be the ones who followed the letter of the law who will survive, but those who are made perfect in Christ Jesus.  Paul said in Galatians 2:6, "We know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.  So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified."  It is faith, not works, that justifies us before God.  And what tests our faith more than persecution?

This, then, is a paradox:  we are made perfect, not by doing everything perfectly, but by placing our faith in the grace of God, who is our perfection.  People may point out our shortcomings, our failures, even our sins. They may think we have not been made perfect in Christ, therefore we are not saved.  To this, Paul said in Galatians 2:21, "I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"  It is only by identifying with Christ, and recognizing his sacrificial death for me that I realize the grace of God and internalize his forgiveness of my sin.  For it is sin that separates us from a holy God, and "without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." (Hebrews 9:22).

Once I have identified myself with Christ, the paragon of sinless perfection, I want to be more like him.  I want to be his disciple, to bask in his presence, to learn from him and apply his word to my life.  In my daily walk with him, I am going to stub my toe, or skin my knee.  I will fall short.  "All have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God." But in my pursuit of God's glory (not my own, for then I would be insufferable, as the quote from Solomon about being "overrighteous" or righteous in my own eyes), I aim for sinless perfection.  John said, "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.  But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ the righteous one." (1 John 2:1)

Here is an example from the life of Peter, the Apostle of Christ and leader in the Church.  Psalm 1:1 says, "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers."  Peter was no doubt well-versed in the Law, and he knew this passage well.  Peter was an ardent follower of Jesus.  Yet Jesus, who knew his heart, predicted that Peter would deny him. Later, when Jesus was being led away to be crucified, Peter followed, walking at a distance (Luke 22:54). Perhaps he heard many voices disparaging Jesus and encouraging His death.  When they reached the courtyard of the High Priest, someone built a fire, and Peter stood by, warming himself. One of the servant girls of the High Priest came by, "and when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him. 'You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus,' she said.  But he denied it." (Mark 14:67-68).  He was standing among nonbelievers, and did not have the courage to identify himself with Christ.  But still he wanted to be there, so he sat down next to the fire (Luke 22:55), where the scoffers sat.  Twice more he denied knowing Jesus. "The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter.  Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: 'Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.' And he went outside and wept bitterly." (Luke 22: 61-62).

This was clearly sin in Peter's life, and he felt remorse for it.  Perhaps this is why, after the Resurrection, Jesus found Peter alone near the Sea of Galilee.  The two men had that famous conversation.  Three times Jesus asked, "Peter do you love me more than these," (the word Jesus used for love meant self-sacrificing love, love above all others).  Three times Peter, chagrined, replied, "Lord, you know that I love you," using a word for love meaning more of a friendship or brotherly love. Perhaps Peter could not accept the love that Jesus was offering him.  But three times, Jesus told Peter, "Feed my sheep."  This was the commission that Jesus gave to Peter: you don't have to be perfect, for I am perfect; I only want you to tend to my flock, to minister to those who believe in Me.  In this way, there was Restoration in Peter's life and ministry.

Contrast that with Paul's dealing with Peter in Galatians 2.  Both Peter and Paul were preaching the Gospel, and had opened up their ministry to Gentiles as well as Jews.  Some of the Jews were murmuring, saying that the Gentiles had to be circumcised (thus fulfilling the Law) before they could come to Jesus.  Acts 11:2 says, "So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him and said, 'You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them'." Peter then explained how God had sent him a vision, and that the gospel was open to all, Jews and Gentiles alike.  "When they had heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, 'So, then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life'." (Acts 11:18).  But apparently, Peter was sensitive to the concerns of the Judaizers (those who believed that you had to become a Jew before you could become a Christian), because Paul called him out:

When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.  Before certain men came from James, he (Peter) used to eat with the Gentiles.  But when they (the Jews) arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.  The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.  When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile (i.e., you do not observe Jewish customs, especially the dietary restrictions.)  How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?"

Now, I don't know if Paul later followed up with Peter to restore him in grace, like Jesus did.  But I can see the same pattern Peter followed: he walked among the Judaizers, he stood with them, and sat with them at their table, following the exact pattern that was outlined in Psalm 1:1.  From this passage I can also see that Paul publicly pointed out Peter's shortcomings.  Again, whether Peter repented or whether Paul forgave, I do not know.  But when we look to people, even people in high positions in the church, we do not always get grace.  We get our sins exposed, to show our imperfections.  But when we go to Jesus, and confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  We then become perfection in him, because he alone is perfect.

For 13 years I worked for a company whose motto was, "We expect perfection, but we will tolerate excellence."  Needless to say, I no longer work there, as I could not live up to their expectations, and they were intolerant of my mistakes.  But the truism still exists: if I aim for perfection and miss, I will do better than if I only aim for mediocre. In the same way, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." (Hebrews 12:2-3).

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea. (Heb 4:15-16)
A great High Priest whose Name is Love (Heb 4:14)
Who ever lives and pleads for me. (Heb 7:25)
My name is graven on His hands, (Isa 49:16)
My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in Heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart. (Rom 8:34) 

When Satan tempts me to despair (Luke 22:31-32)
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there (Acts 7:55-56)
Who made an end of all my sin. (Col 2:13-14)
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me. (Rom 3:24-26) 

Behold Him there the risen Lamb, (Rev 5:6)
My perfect spotless righteousness, (1 Cor 1:30; 1 Peter 1:18-19)
The great unchangeable I AM, (Heb 13:8; John 8:58)
The King of glory and of grace,
One with Himself I cannot die.
My soul is purchased by His blood, (Acts 20:28)
My life is hid with Christ on high, (Col 3:3)
With Christ my Savior and my God! (Tit 2:13)

Onward, Christian Soldiers

If only you would slay the wicked, O God!  Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!  They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your Name. Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and abhor those who rise up against you?  I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.  Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. --Psalm 139:16-24

I love my wife and kids.  I would stand up and denounce anyone who spoke evil of them.  Most people would.  I love my extended family, my "clan".  Aside from a few "black sheep" in my family, I would quickly come to their aid if they had a need.  By and large, I'll bet you would, too.  On a larger scale, I love my country.  I hate to hear anyone disparage America, the greatest land on Earth.  Wherever you live, I'll bet you know someone who has joined the military, whose job it is to defend your country to the death.

Why, then, are we so timid about defending our faith?  The Christian world stands against those who would wipe us out, either politically (see Secular Humanism) to make us irrelevant, or physically (see Islamic Jihad). Is it because of some polite convention, as in "it is not proper to discuss politics or religion"?  Is it some misguided idea that since God is Love, we should not ever show anger or hatred?  Listen, Beloved, the opposite of Love is not Hate--the opposite of Love is Indifference.  There are people in the Middle East who would love to wipe you out because of your Christian beliefs.

Am I, then, advocating that Christians take up arms and start shooting Muslims? By no means!  That is not what the Scripture says at all.  Look at verse 16 again: "If only YOU would slay the wicked, O God."  The psalmist knew that those who have been wronged are not to avenge that wrong by their own hand, but to leave it to the Lord, who says "Vengeance is mine; I will repay." (Deuteronomy 32:35).  Proverbs 20:22 says, "Do not say, I'll pay you back for this wrong!  Wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you.  Paul said in Romans 12:19, "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: It is mine to avenge: I will repay."

What I am saying is that we should be more passionate and less passive.  When the culture casts aspersions at Christians, we should stand up and be counted.  Paul said to his protege (some youngsters say mentee, as in Paul was the Mentor, and Timothy the Mentee, but that construct sets my teeth on edge) in 2 Timothy 2: 15, "Do your best to present yourself to God as one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth."  We should not argue for the sake of argument, but rather pick our battles.  Perhaps that is why God has allowed the militant Muslim to live--so that he may have an opportunity to be won over by your good words.  But that presupposes that we would take the argument to them, and not shrink back in shame.

Do you think Jesus had no enemies?  There were always people during his lifetime that wanted to kill him.  It was out of grace that he didn't take up arms against them.  We all like to quote Matthew 5:44, "But I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."  But we shouldn't stop there; Jesus goes on to explain why we should pray for them in verses 45 trough 48:

So that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.  He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?  And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans to that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

It's a cop-out, then, so hide behind the line, "I'm not perfect; I'm only human."  Jesus told us to be perfect just like God.  That's why the passage ends with, "Search me, and know my heart; see if there is any offensive way in me."  Jesus said it another way: "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33)  If we are truly seeking His kingdom, then we may find opportunities to stand against His enemies.  We should do so with wisdom and preparation, having put on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:11).  Why would the Bible tell us to put on armor, and to take up offensive weapons (the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God) if God expected us to shy away from confrontation?

It takes wisdom to avoid being obnoxious about the gospel, thus turning people off to God's message.  It takes discipline and training, much like our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines.  A Marine is taught to be a killing machine, yet the Rules of Engagement may specify what to do in certain situations.  A Soldier who killed everyone in sight would not be hailed as a hero, but rather arrested as a war criminal.  Maybe that is why the psalmist expressed fear and trepidation when he said, "know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me..."  We are called to be a sweet aroma of salvation, not a stinking pile of garbage.

What did Jesus say to Simon Peter? "You are a rock (petros), and upon that Rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it."  Be bold.  Be strong.  Be wise, and prudent in your use of Scripture.  But use it to your advantage, so that all men may know, for "It is not God's will that any should perish."

1. Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, 
 with the cross of Jesus going on before. 
 Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe; 
 forward into battle see his banners go! 
Refrain: 
 Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war, 
 with the cross of Jesus going on before. 

2. At the sign of triumph Satan's host doth flee; 
 on then, Christian soldiers, on to victory! 
 Hell's foundations quiver at the shout of praise; 
 brothers, lift your voices, loud your anthems raise. 
 (Refrain) 

3. Like a mighty army moves the church of God; 
 brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod. 
 We are not divided, all one body we, 
 one in hope and doctrine, one in charity. 
 (Refrain) 

4. Crowns and thrones may perish, kingdoms rise and wane, 
 but the church of Jesus constant will remain.
 Gates of hell can never gainst that church prevail; 
 we have Christ's own promise, and that cannot fail. 
 (Refrain) 

5. Onward then, ye people, join our happy throng, 
 blend with ours your voices in the triumph song. 
 Glory, laud, and honor unto Christ the King, 
 this through countless ages men and angels sing. 

 (Refrain)  

God knew me, grew me, can see right through me

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.  All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.  How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!  How vast are the sum of them!  Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.  When I awake, I am still with you.  --Psalm 139:13-18

This is the first Universal, Immutable Truth: that God created us.  Without this principle as a foundation, then at best, God is a johnny-come-lately, like a carpet-bagger or a used car salesman.  Jesus did not say, "Now that you have life, I can show you how to live it abundantly." That is a cheap gospel.  What He said in John 10:10 was, "I have come that you might have life, AND that you might have it abundantly."  At worst, without the principle of a Creator God, the atheists are right, and there is no God.

God has always been interested in our individual lives.  He knew us before we were even born.  Before Dr. John Wild pioneered the use of medical sonogram in 1949, God could see us in utero.  All of the intricate, delicate chemical reactions taking place during the nine months of gestation were not only known by God, but orchestrated by him.  He knew us the very moment we were conceived:  how tall we would be, how athletic, what color our hair and eyes would be, whether we would lose our hair or wear glasses--all of it. Not only did he see us and make us in our mother's womb, not only did he know us at the moment of our conception--He knew us before the earth was formed.  What an awesome God we serve!

I have been reading The Language of God by Dr.  Francis S. Collins.  He was one of the lead scientists in the human genome project, where they succeeded in mapping human DNA.  Dr. Collins is a devout Christian, and he describes in his book how awe-inspiring the work of God in creation is.  As a scientist (he got a PhD in chemistry and physics, then went to medical school and got an MD), he has a unique perspective on the minute details of God's handiwork:

"My first published paper on human genetics was based on DNA sequencing.  I was studying the production of just one protein, found in the red blood cells of the human fetus in utero, that is supposed to gradually disappear after birth, when babies begin to breathe with their own lungs.  The protein is called fetal hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is the protein that allows red blood cells to deliver oxygen from our lungs to all the rest of the body.  Humans and some apes use a special version of hemoglobin before birth that helps extract oxygen from the mother's blood to nourish the growing fetus.  During the first year of life, this fetal hemoglobin gradually turns off, and the adult form is produced instead.  However, in a Jamaican family I was studying, substantial quantities of fetal hemoglobin continued to appear in adulthood.  The cause of this "hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin" was of intense interest, because if we could learn how to trigger it on purpose in anyone, it would greatly reduce the ravages of sickle-cell anemia."

When I read that, I could not help but think of Psalm 139: "I am fearfully and wonderfully made."  The fetus has fully functioning, mature lungs at 32 weeks, eight full weeks before full gestation.  This means that for two months prior to your birth, you were able to breathe air outside the womb.  Yet God was not finished making you yet, if you were carried to term.  Of the millions of processes taking place while you were being formed, this one protein called fetal hemoglobin allowed you to process the oxygen your mother was breathing.  And now, within the last ten years, scientists have found other uses for that protein, to help and perhaps heal hundreds of thousands of patients with a debilitating disease.

When I use the phrase, "God knows how many people this may help in the future," I am not expressing the futility of human limitations.  People have been using the phrase, "God only knows" for centuries to mean that this calculation or that idea is beyond human ability to comprehend.  But think about it.  God does know, and he cares.  He is able to think about all of the millions of changes that occur during pregnancy, the billions of changes that occur during our lifetime, the zillions of changes that have occurred throughout history--and yet he cares for us individually.  Not only does he care about us, he loves us.

My father was a Baptist preacher, and a Young Earth Creationist.  His view was that God made the world in six days, and within that one short week he set into motion all of the natural processes necessary to sustain human life.  You and I are the product of some 6000 to 10,000 years of human existence, and because the Earth was created fully grown (and thus had no need to evolve), the oldest creatures on earth only pre-dated Man by 2-3 calendar days.  Dr. Collins, whose book I quoted above, is a believer in Theistic Evolution.  His view, after careful study, is that God caused the Big Bang to occur about 14 million years ago.  When God said, "Let there be light," the light that came about was due to this massive stellar explosion.  Mathematically, this explosion that was the beginning of the Universe had to be so precise that it almost screams out in favor of intelligent design.  Famed physicist Stephen Hawking has written:

"Why did the universe start out with so nearly the critical rate of expansion that separates models that recollapse from those that go on expanding forever, that even now, 10 million years later, it is still expanding at nearly the critical rate?  If the rate of expansion one second after the Big Bang had been smaller by even one part in 100 thousand million million, the universe would have recollapsed before it ever reached its present size."

Again, this is only one of the billions of changes that evolutionists have said must take place for life to emerge on one planet in one solar system in one galaxy in a vastly expanding universe.  Viewing this information from a Christian worldview, as Collins does, presupposes that God has been thinking about you and me for over 14 million years.  He had our physical, emotional, psychological, and yes, spiritual well-being in mind from before the cosmic event called the Big Bang. That's why he made you with a conscience, a desire to adhere to what C.S. Lewis called the Moral Law.

St. Augustine of Hippo said, "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you."  God thinks about you all the time, and has thought about you from before the foundation of creation.  He wants you to think of him, too.  He wants you to know him intimately, as an adopted Father; that is why he sent his only Son to die a sacrificial death for you.  Believe in Him, and live the abundant life he has for you.

Hope in the night

Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.  If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.  If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for the darkness is as light to you. --Psalm 139:7-12

Charlotte Bronte said, "The trouble is not that I am single and likely to stay single, but that I am lonely and likely to stay lonely."  Mother Theresa said, "The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved."  Hank Williams, Sr. sang, "I'm so lonesome I could die."

We've all been there.  We've all been isolated, either physically, or perhaps psychologically.  We've all been so far out of touch that we think even God has left us.  But our Scripture today reminds us that wherever we are, God has been there all the time.  The psalm writer tries to think of the highest highs and the lowest lows. What can be higher than heaven?  We know that God is there.  If we try to imagine the lowest place possible--Death Valley; death and the grave; going through hell itself--even there you cannot go where God is not.

What if we find ourselves in a place where nobody knows us?  Say you have been transferred to another city, or maybe another country, and you feel like nobody there cares whether you live or die.  Maybe you feel imprisoned, either literally or figuratively.  Many times in the Old Testament the Children of Promise were taken into exile into foreign lands.  Can you imagine being sold into slavery, and ending up on another continent?  Maybe you can.  But the psalmist's words of hope ring true: if I go as far to the East as the sunrise, or as far to the West as the Pacific Ocean, God is already there.  He's like a Dad, always there to hold our hand when we need comfort or guidance.

I have two children, a boy and a girl.  My son has always been fearless.  There were times when I wished he was holding my hand, so he could stay out of harm's way.  My daughter, however, has always been afraid. She was afraid of the dinosaur exhibits at the Museum of Science and History.  She was deathly afraid of Chuck E. Cheese, the mouse mascot at the pizza chain.  And if we had taken her into a cavern and the guide had shut off the lights for a moment, not only would she have grabbed my hand and held it for dear life, she would have crawled up my leg!  God wants us to reach out to him, to know he is there for us, just like we are there for our children.

So many times we find ourselves in the pit of despair.  In our depression we see no light at all, only impending gloom.  It is then that we need Jesus the most.  And he is there, even if you do not see him.  1 John 1:5 says, "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all."  We all have heard that God is Light.  But in Genesis 1 we see that the first thing God created was light.  In the eternity that was before creation, was there no light?  Perhaps not as we perceive it. Scientists have shown that humans can perceive less than 1.5% of the total light spectrum.  When we get to heaven, we will be able to see things we have never seen.  We will be able to see God as we have never seen him before.  This is what the psalmist may have meant when he said, "even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for the darkness is as light to you."  God does not know darkness, because his very nature is light.

Think about that during your darkest hours.  My son spent last winter in Alaska.  Depending on how far north you go, the night can last 20 hours or more.  When clouds obscure the moon and stars, it gets pretty lonely.  You can lose hope very quickly.  Nearly every drugstore in Alaska stocks sun lamps, so that people can experience not just artificial light but full spectrum light in the dead of winter.

Maybe the darkness you see is storm clouds on the horizon.  Perhaps you are in the middle of one of life's darkest storms.  This morning God brought a hymn to my mind.  I haven't sung it in years--most current worship services stay away from hymns, especially ones first published in 1836.  But the words to "The Solid Rock" were brought to mind this morning.  Not the uplifting chorus, or the cheery first verse.  Rather, the second and third verses, that speak of storms and floods:

When darkness veils His lovely face,
I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, His covenant, His blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

When we know God's presence in those most difficult circumstances, then and only then can we truly know what the hymn writer meant when he said,

 On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand; 

All other ground is sinking sand,

All other ground is sinking sand.