The Right View

But many of the priests and Levites and heads of the fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this temple was laid before their eyes. Yet many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard afar off. Ezra 3:12-13

One generation recalled the glory of Solomon's temple and mourned what they had lost. Another generation saw the new temple and shouted for joy at what the Lord had given them. Which of them had the right view?

We might easily criticize the old ones, for they mourned what was gone in light of the disappointing floor plan of the new temple. We might just as easily criticize the younger set for not respecting the old things as they should. We have plenty of criticism to go around it seems. We might also take a trip to Jerusalem and see that neither temple is there at the moment, and then criticize Ezekiel for writing about a temple that has never been built. What a dreamer he was!

John and Peter could recall Jesus as He was when first calling up the disciples to follow Him. And they could witness to the resurrected Lord and that they had seen Him disappear into the clouds above them. And like a certain temple, they promised that the Lord too would return in His glory. So, what is the right view: to mourn with the great old ones until God wipes away every tear, or to rejoice with the new believers until our Lord returns?

I think that we will experience both several times until that time our Lord Jesus comes and God the Father wipes away every tear from our eyes. Always ready are we in Christ to mourn with those who mourn and to rejoice in Him!

Have a great Labor Day weekend!

Bucky

The People You Love

Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them. Psalm 17:7

What do you and I have that could put God in our debt and make Him owe us some lovingkindness? Yes, what an absurd question. Born fallen and living on the cursed earth, do we have anything at all to offer to the holy and perfect God of our fathers? And, no, adding any of our imperfection and fallen sinfulness to perfect righteousness would only serve to diminish our Lord.

However, then God showed His lovingkindness in the person of Jesus the Christ, and mercy was given to our sinfulness. The blood of the Lamb covered the fallen with grace. We have only to believe Him and believe in Him.

The people God loved were given a gift not one or all of us could purchase, and certainly more than we deserved. We place our trust in the Lord for salvation because there is no other way to be saved. The Lord owes us nothing, but in His lovingkindness He gave us His Son.

Have a great day in the Lord!

Bucky

Let Us Give

“These men are at peace with us. Therefore let them dwell in the land and trade in it. For indeed the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us as wives, and let us give them our daughters. Genesis 34:21

In Christ we want to do what is right, and so we study the Old Testament looking for those concrete, letter-of-the-law stories that make every decision obvious to us. And we come to the Dinah Incident. Everything in this is crystal clear, good guys vs. bad guys, um, yeah. Let us give them our daughters?

It would later be set down by God that Israel was not to intermarry with the tribes and nations around them in the Promised Land. Before that though came the Dinah Incident. To make the long story short, at least until you read it in Genesis 34, it is enough to know that one sin begets another and another, and Jacob's sons are not without their own guilt in this incident. Fornication, deceit, murder, and perhaps what we call statutory rape in our time, all combine to make a rather sordid story; one that is unfortunately so very fallen human in its scope.

Giving your daughters or some other sacrifice of value after the sin has been done just doesn't make up for the unrighteousness committed (and what did the daughters do wrong to deserve this fate?). Deceit and murder does not wipe the slate clean either, even if it is in response to a sin. This and other stories show that we are just pretty lousy at trying to save ourselves. As fallen humans, we don't really know how to make up for sin. It is a good thing for us that God sent to us a Savior!

Rejoice in the Lord!

Bucky

End Times Lazy

The lazy man is wiser in his own eyes
Than seven men who can answer sensibly. Proverbs 26:16

Have I become end times lazy? It is a question that I must ask of myself because it would be so easy to become that way. The Rapture could happen at any moment now, so why bother to work on the house, weed the garden, fix that relationship, or work for a living? Well, for one thing, there is no one who knows the day or the hour of that snatching away, and so the day and hour might be just far enough into the future that a lazy person could starve to death waiting and looking up at the sky. It may be even so far out there in calendar terms that the house sheltering one from the rain and snow might fall down before that trumpet call sounds. I won't use the weeds one because as all who have ever gardened can tell you, the weeds can take over a garden in about the same quickness as the Rapture will happen; that is, in the twinkling of an eye.

We have a duty to perform, a calling, and even a commission from our Lord Jesus. As the end times started when He arose to Heaven so long ago, and could end at any moment, or not for another hundred years, we must watch out for that end times lazy. The desire to quit doing all things and stand there staring at the sky, heavenly minded but no earthly good, as a famous pastor used to say.

Of course, looking again at our verse for today, if I am end times lazy, will I even know what I'm writing about here? I may need to look for seven men who can answer sensibly.

Now, go to work for Christ!

Bucky

Worthless Shepherds

“Woe to the worthless shepherd,
Who leaves the flock!
A sword shall be against his arm
And against his right eye;
His arm shall completely wither,
And his right eye shall be totally blinded.” Zechariah 11:17

A rash of leaders falling away or rejecting Christianity? I'll bet this message from the Lord through Zechariah will come up in sermons across the land.

This is not about the false prophets, for those have their own curses and judgment to face. No, this is about the one who becomes of no value, worthless, dried up sticks to feed the fire, and a shriveled fig tree with the ax poised to cut off its roots. This is to those who want to serve in a position of trust and then quit. Who desire to just walk away from their flock and leave 'em to the wolves of the world.

That leader may want to check with the Lord first.

Does this verse mean that ministers are 'stuck' in that one church in the little town in that rural state for their lives? No, there may come a time when the Lord would move some ministers around and would make sure that a new shepherd comes to the flock. And retirement is certainly possible too. But it is for the one who feels the temptation to quit on the Lord and His flock, and gives in to it!

Prayer is needed in this, from the shepherd and the flock.

Love to you in Christ Jesus,

Bucky

Turning To God

When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits. 1 Samuel 13:6

It is easy to see the circumstance of Israel by this picture of terrified people hiding anywhere they could find a place. But how like the fallen Adam they are in this moment! God had brought them to the promised land and they were hiding in the bushes. We might see their military as disarmed and impotent, or their leaders as weak, but what about their faith in God? After all those miracles, did Israel really need a strong leader to turn them to God in this moment? Could they not turn themselves each to prayer in faithful God?

We can understand that too in this age as so many of our fellows will not turn to God, not even in fear or under threat of catastrophe. They need us to do our thing; that thing those who follow our Lord Jesus do so well: we comfort them with the good news of Jesus our Savior. Mercy, compassion, love, and the joy of knowing Christ Jesus are just what our neighbors need in this world where each trip to the fair might be their last. And we can turn to God for the right words in every time and place!

Have a great day in Christ Jesus!

Bucky

A Pure Language

“For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language,
That they all may call on the name of the LORD,
To serve Him with one accord. Zephaniah 3:9

Restoration in the form of a pure language, that is wonderful news! As a writer, I am often appalled at how poor our language is in this age. We want to love God, but then we say how much we love pizza. There is something quite wrong there. We yearn to speak how awesome God is, and hear someone going on about how awesome their new car is; where is the difference we can use to honor God? And then there is the myriad of different languages and dialects on the Earth. How do we serve God with one accord when we cannot even understand one another? However, it was God's doing that scattered the peoples by confusing the language in the first place.

It serves God's purpose now to give us this confusion of tongues. One day though, our Lord God promises a restoration to a pure language. All may call on the name of the Lord in the same pure language. No fears about making funny signs at each other, no worries over social embarrassment through ignorance of foreign words, only a rich communication as we come together to worship God with words that mean exactly what we say and say exactly what we mean.

Rejoice in Immanuel, our Lord and God,

Bucky

Great Darkness, Great Fear

And the sun is about to go in, and deep sleep hath fallen upon Abram, and lo, a terror of great darkness is falling upon him. Genesis 15:12 YLT

This is that time of the year when the sun seems to fall out of the sky in the evening and has trouble getting up in the morning. Actually, we know it is just that seasonal change as autumn approaches about a month out and the long days of summer are passing in anticipation of school beginning once more. As for me, this is that time when I am once again getting up and going to bed at or near the hours of darkness. I'm avoiding the issue. Yes, it's true. Me and Abraham are scared of the dark!

I chose the Young's Literal Translation because it states that Abraham had a terror OF great darkness falling on him, while the NKJV, the usual version I use, states that horror AND great darkness fell upon him. Perhaps the translators of the latter one could not believe that Abraham might be scared of the dark! Actually, Abraham had good reason to be afraid as a prophecy of four hundred (400!) years of affliction for his descendants came to him from the Lord that very night. 'Horror and' or 'terror of' are both right it would seem.

As for me, my fears are not so much fun anymore. The boogies and bogeys of my youthful darkness fears have given way to the more mundane, such as running into a partly closed door edge in my skivvies or maybe cracking a shin on something I would have cleared easily in the daylight. Middle-aged fears of the dark just aren't quite so much fun as dreaming an alligator will snap at you from under a dresser in the basement. It's too bad too, those youthful bogeys had a way of waking a person right up!

Have a great new week in Christ!

Bucky

Useless Help

Give us help from trouble,
For the help of man is useless. Psalm 60:11

We don't want to be known as useless. Okay, maybe when that family wants to move all of their heavy furniture (and six wagon loads of stuff) from the 2nd floor apartment across town to that house with the steep driveway and narrow steps, we might accept the title for a day or two then. Sounds like a job for professional movers to me! Most of the time though, we would rather not be known as the useless one; the one with no skills or knowledge that can help anyone. However, there are many situations in this world where the help of man is indeed useless.

Salvation would be the A-number one problem along those lines. No help from man is going to solve that one! As the scholars of the word like to remind us: if it were so, then the life of our Lord Jesus would not have been required at the cross. No religion, no ritual, no help from man can save one of us, for that is the Lord's work and His alone. There are further problems in which man cannot help too.

Separation from a loved one perhaps? Our brothers and sisters in Christ gather quickly together to offer comfort and support, but the only thing that helps is the promise from our Lord Jesus that there will be a reunion for all those who believe in Him. We appreciate the efforts of our Christian siblings, but bottom line as these separations strike their sudden and painful blows is that promise that it is not forever. Now when those brothers and sisters align themselves with God's great promise and repeat it to us. Yes, surely then they too are useful help in this.

In Christ alone,
Bucky

The Last Days

...knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 2 Peter 3:3

It is just a bit of a sentence, but how well the words of Peter speak to us in this age.

You may have noticed in the news this morning a disturbing report from Philadelphia wherein some persons in the crowd taunted and heckled the police officers in a stand off. It was, the reported noted, only a small fraction of the crowd gathered there. It is, however, a mode of behavior that appears more and more in our society and gains attention each time. The man surrendered eventually, but not before wounding six police officers. With the difference from wounding to death being so small in a gunshot, this disrespect is unloving and ugly.

One of the signs of the end times is the love of many turning cold as lawlessness is increased. (Matt 24:12) We can read of this daily, but sometimes it stands above the crowd a bit higher than before, and this report bothered me a lot. It is like the Holy Spirit nudging me to note this well. Be ready brothers and sisters in Christ, the end is near!

Love and grace to you in Jesus Immanuel, our Lord and Redeemer!

Bucky

Not One Is Missing

Lift up your eyes on high,
And see who has created these things,
Who brings out their host by number;
He calls them all by name,
By the greatness of His might
And the strength of His power;
Not one is missing.    Isaiah 40:26 

What in your life would you miss today if it were suddenly taken away from everyone? Smart phones? A little app like Netflix maybe? How about an operating system such as Windows 10? I can answer to that last one; if I did not have a backup PC at work, then no writing the devotional for today! Yes, an update tried to install last night and no PC for me this morning. Now who is going to fix my PC?

Something missing from everyone and everywhere would be a real attention-getter to those left behind, don't you think? That is of course a big part of the Rapture of the Church coming along any day now. However, for God, who will give the word for that moment in time when all those who believe are snatched away from this world, not one is missing of those He will reunite with His Son. He knows all things by name, and as it stands to reason that you and I are a part of that set of all things, then we too are known by name by the Lord God Almighty.

Rest in that knowledge today!

Bucky

P.S. I guess I know my project for this evening.

The Word of Ancient Times

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” Genesis 15:1

We must admit to a bit of jealousy in this one thing: the word of the Lord came to those people way back in ancient times, and in a vision too. Adam walked with God in the cool of the evening, Abraham received the word of God in a vision, but what do we get? Of course, neither Adam nor Abraham had a copy of God's Word in text form that any of us can get freely from the Gideons and other sources. We might even spend some money and purchase a spiffy leather-bound copy at a bookstore.

However, that Word of God in spirit form has also come unto us, for one of the missions of God's own Spirit is seen in John 14:26: "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you." Even without a copy of the word in book form, we have the Spirit of God reminding us of all things Jesus said. We have the Word right here in us; it doesn't get more immediate and intimate than that.

So, in place of griping about how the word has not come to us; let us give thanks to God for His Word in us! And watch faith and love grow as we are each guided by the Word as we read the Word of God, both of which we have by the grace of God.

Amen,
Bucky

Your Story, In The Hands Of The World

“We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and within three days I will build another made without hands.’ ” Mark 14:58

False witness is a part of the narrative of this world. Your story, in the hands of the world, is going to change in ways you never thought possible. I don't even have to cite an example, as I know already that you have experienced this in your life.

It doesn't take much: a confession of a phobia, a telling of an old story from back in the day, and suddenly a new story is spun! One in which you get to star, all the while chasing this new story on its quick little legs, and protesting, "It didn't happen that way!" A little exaggeration might begin the news cycle, a bit of hyperbole is thrown in to make it more interesting to the teller of the tale, and that little confession you made suddenly has Oscar potential. Too bad you didn't think to retain the movie rights!

Jesus faced the same problem. His story before the court had become something quite different; so different that the witnesses could not agree which false narrative was the correct one to tell! People lined up to call the Holy One of God names which were blasphemous. Others shouted at Him to do things while He was dying to save them from their sins! Just as our Lord was treated so badly in the public stories, we too will face tales that bear subtle and evil changes to the original.

The Savior we love is not viewed in the same light by all in this world, and we must be prepared to defend His good name by our testimony.

Rejoice in Christ the Lord!

Bucky

Two By Garrulous Two?

After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. Luke 10:1

The world takes it as a sign of strength that a person should go alone to a strange place and do business. Jesus did not send His messengers alone, but two by two. We are taught in business courses about efficiency, building wealth, multiplying ourselves by replication of effort, and other worldly ways. Jesus did not do it that way.

"Aha! Got you there," The unbeliever declares, "for that is exactly what this Jesus was doing." Sorry to disagree with you, Mr. Unbeliever, but the scripture says that Jesus was going to every one of those cities and places where He sent His disciples. They went to prepare the place ahead of our Lord, but not one pair of those disciples could be the Lord. We find in another place that even such illustrious disciples as John and James were not qualified to take places on either side of our Lord Jesus, for those two places were reserved for a certain pair of criminals. What? Criminals?

We know the story from the gospels, and it surprises us that two disciples could not be there with Him on those crosses. And yet, we are reminded that our Lord does not do things our way. One way that works out is in bearing witness. When you give testimony, you do not need to do it alone. Someone in the church going out to meet people? Don't make them do it alone; go with! Not good at speaking up for the Lord? He will provide a garrulous gospeler to go with you!

Have a great day in the Lord!

Bucky

Let Tough Stop Us, Never!

Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” John 11:43

I sat down to Bible study this morning with an idea for next week's lesson. However, the idea did not appear to have enough substance in the scriptures to carry it through to completion. Appearances can be deceiving, as the old saying goes. A tough lesson is a test we cannot let stop us. And indeed, what if Lazarus had tried to get up and found himself bound up in grave clothes? No 'what if?' about it, he did find himself in that circumstance!

As the power of the divine command showed how Death's hold could not stand against the authority of our Lord Jesus, Lazarus met a tough obstacle. How does one get up in obedience when the grave dressers of the world have one bound up hand and foot? And that cloth covering the face didn't help one get a good breath either! I can imagine Lazarus having one moment of decision there in that grave: get up in spite of the tough obstacles in the circumstance, or lay back down and accept the waiting arms of Death, yet again. We know how the story came out, Lazarus obeyed his friend and Lord, and did not let a tough situation stop him. Quickened to life by the Lord and energized by His command, Lazarus came forth from the grave.

Now what circumstance seems too tough for you and me today? Where is Jesus our Lord quickening us to go? Lazarus was dead and bound up tight in grave clothing; what circumstance is too tough for you and me to face, with our faces uncovered and our limbs free? No, bound up with something in this world as we are, what circumstance is too tough when our Lord speaks His command, "Come forth!" and energizes us to new life and freedom with a little help from our friends?

Have a great day in Christ Jesus!

Bucky

I'll Be Content, Just As Soon As I Get There

Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you." Hebrews 13:5

The actor became famous for one particular role, and rich too! Yet, she wants to be known for a great range of parts. The musician was acknowledged by all as the best at playing one instrument, but he soon wanted to be the singer of the song too. In Luke, Jesus told the soldiers to be content with their pay. Has any soldier in any army been content with their pay since that time? How about you? Are you content with your pay, your life, your body, anything at all? I would like to report my contentedness and how I got there so that you can follow me, but I would be a liar. I know that I should be content, but I'm not.

Content is a land just over the next horizon, and I'll be content just as soon as I get there. How is that any different from the rest of the world?

Too true! From some day back in my past, I lost the state of content and found a world where I am not good enough. The world advertises my shortcomings every moment of each day. I'll just bring you into it, because from the day we first took our eyes off our immediate surroundings, you and I have been told we are not good enough in so many ways that our little heads will spin until our dying day...if we continue to pay attention to the world's judgment of you and me.

Yes, that is what happened. That day back in the day was the day we first listened to what the world had to say about us. It wasn't the criticism of a friend that sharpens us, it was the impersonal advertising of the world that said we could be better if we just went out to buy this, do this, change this, or in some way earn a way into the groovy crowd. (My day was back there a little ways.) And all along that way, our Lord told us in the scriptures to come to Him and lay down that burden of never good enough, because we will never satisfy it and only He can make us holy. The answer is just like the song sings:

In Christ Alone,

Bucky

The Time To Obey

Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. Nehemiah 4:17

Young Jadon followed his father up the hillside to the base of the city wall, a short spear suited to his stature in one hand and a pair of squared-off stones cradled in the other. His father carried a full spear and several of the larger middle stones which left Jadon ashamed until his abba told him to be patient as strength would come with growth in a season or two. As his father began work on a section of wall that their family worked at Nehemiah's direction, the young men of Jadon's age began the trek back down the hill to gather more stones for the wall building, following the asses and wagons which brought the large main stones up.

As the portage train wound its way along the steep trails, Jadon gave some thought to how long this project would take, and how or when he could get back to his leather work, something he enjoyed doing after the day's stone work was finished. If all of them could carry more stones with each trip, Jadon pondered, then the building might go faster. Even the ass drivers carried a weapon in one hand, meaning each of them could only manage one ass per trip. What if he could put together some sort of sheath, then they all would only be a little slower to deploy their weapons should the Samarians attack as Nehemiah suspected they might before the wall was completed.

Taking up his cloak at their water break, Jadon tore some strips and fashioned a mock-up of what he would make with leather later. Not on the side or front of the body, that was for sure; he didn't want to interfere with the larger loads they could carry. Jadon arrived last in the stone line but with his spear slung diagonally across his back and both hands free to tote the load. The supervisor of the quarry looked at him with a strange glance, but loaded him with twice the usual stones for his trip up the hill.

As they had the energy of the young, Jaden's friends questioned him about this rig, but refused to change theirs at the next break for fear of disobeying their abbas. Jaden, pushed aside the fear that rose up in him too, and instead chose to dream of the accolades his elders would bestow for his creative thinking. Perhaps he would even be sent to Nehemiah for special words of praise! It was in this dreamy state as he neared the wall that the alarm was shouted, "Samarians!"

The other men, young and older, quickly set down their wall stones and stood ready, spears in hand. Jaden grabbed for his spear, dropping his stones in the process and breaking two of them he saw, and tried to draw the spear bound to his back. What had worked so well in the calm of the water break below, did not go quite so easily in anticipated combat. First the 'sheath' tended to want to follow the shaft up and over his shoulder, and then the straps did not stay but lifted the back of his shift so that a rather demeaning view of his breeches showed over the valley below.

Seeing the readiness of the Hebrews, the squad of Samarians backed off quickly, acting as though it was some sort of exercise on their part. Jaden's abba helped him remove his spear and straighten his clothing. Jaden tensed up for the expected punishment, but his abba only led him out of hearing and away from the laughter he could hear starting among his friends as they retrieved their unbroken stones.

"Son, it is a good thought, but our lives hang in the balance here and we do not have the luxury of time to experiment. When the wall is completed, you shall have time to work out the problems with your sheath. Now though, is the time to obey," his abba stated gently. "And I suspect you have ruined the cloak your mother and sisters worked so hard to make for you."

Face flushed in shame, Jaden decided to obey, and to weather the storm sure to spring up back at home.

A Friday story for you!

God is good,

Bucky

Putting People To Sleep

And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep; and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. Acts 20:9

Yup, even back in the day preachers could put people to sleep. Good enough for the world would be a cautionary tale: don't fall asleep on window ledges. However, this was not a good enough kind of tale for the Bible. Paul was there, and in the Spirit, Paul goes down and falls on the man, and then gives him a hug.

This is still used today as the initial steps in the paramedic's manual for falls from the third story of a building. You know it isn't! There's no fooling you on a Thursday morning. Falling on a fall victim and embracing them is not what modern medicine recommends to us when responding to an accident. However, the next morning, the young man was brought in alive.

The world declared the young man, Eutychus, lost and dead. The apostle of God declared otherwise, and the man lived. Kind of reminds us of something, I think. In the world, we are declared dead. In Christ, we live.

The time of the rapture of the twice born comes soon!

Bucky