A Contest Already Won

He shall speak words against the Most High,
and shall wear out the saints of the Most High,
and shall think to change the times and the law;
and they shall be given into his hand
for a time, times, and half a time.  Daniel 7:25

Yes, the days of this life come when the saints are easily worn out, but we play a match that is already decided and we cannot lose in Christ our Lord. The powers of this present darkness may send one who will think to change the times, but this day and this hour, no matter how difficult, cannot return and each hour and day is one period of time closer to our meeting the Lord Jesus Christ. The laws may change until one cannot but fall afoul of them doing the necessary tasks of this life, and yet, the day the change is made does not return and the Lord's return is one day closer. And we have His assurance in John 16:33 that He has already overcome the world. We put on the armor and fight the battle in Christ, but the outcome is not in doubt. We do but wait for that blessed day and hour when our Lord shall snatch all of His own from the world.

Rejoice in Christ, His victory is certain!

Bucky

What About Those Deeds?

But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been done by God.  John 3:21 LSB

A new translation of the word of God changes a little word in this verse from in to by, and it makes for an interesting question. Surely the deeds we do that are righteous such as preaching a sermon, teaching a Bible class, and many others we want to be seen as having been done by God. We give Him the glory in all good works, but what about those deeds? Not sin of course, but those deeds where we from ignorance make a little mistake that has a huge consequence. By this new translation this verse seems like an opportunity to blame the mistake on God. What an easy out for us bumbling, fumbling, stumbling learners in life! As the life of each of us who believes in Jesus is a witness to all, is the change so great though? Then, for example, if I make the mistake while doing all things through Christ who strengthens me, or, I blow it while counting on no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, does that change my testimony from living in Christ to "The Lord done it!"?  Of course the debate would rage on over the question if practicing the truth includes making mistakes due to ignorance. 

Gettin' kinda heavy on a Monday morning over one little word change. Glad are we to know that we do deeds in Christ, by Christ and with Christ Jesus! No need for a big debate for us, we will rejoice in this day in, with, and by Christ our Lord!

Bucky

Who Is God? Part 12

The eternal God is your refuge,
And underneath are the everlasting arms;
He will thrust out the enemy from before you,
And will say, ‘Destroy!'   Deuteronomy 33:27

We might hold ourselves as having some small understanding in some aspects of our Lord God, but then come words such as, eternal, everlasting, and forever. How does one who might live a century understand one who has been from everlasting and lives to eternity? There are some illustrations using a bird and grains of sand, or an ocean of water molecules moved one at a time, but my mind runs quickly into a limitation when large numbers are involved running out to infinity. What we can gain from this is the assurance of stability. Rome wasn't built in a day, but its days were numbered, and it is no more. Not so with God, who will be forevermore and is with us now and loves us. The eternal God who loves you and me will never leave us nor forsake us.

Rejoicing in Christ for eternity, sounds like a long time!

Bucky

Clinging To The First Birth

My soul clings to the dust;
Revive me according to Your word. Psalm 119:25

The basis of revival is to revive and that is to cause to live again. We walk with our Lord Jesus here in the valley of death's shadow and we have this problem of clinging to the dust of our first birth. Some of it is necessity, eating and drinking and the other things of this life, while other things are a desire to break away from our Creator, in other words to sin. Is it any wonder that even those who believe in Jesus will need to be snatched away when the Lord returns? Against this carnal urge is the revival of our soul carried out constantly by the Spirit of God in us. How can we help with this? The psalmist asked for revival according to God's word. And there is the place we must go for the good news of Jesus and our revival. The word, the word! The word of God is to us a releasing of our clinging claws in the dust, a trusting in the Word Himself in place of what we think we know.

Come today to the Word and live again in Him!

Bucky

Why An Alarm?

Blow the trumpet in Zion,
And sound an alarm in My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble;
For the day of the LORD is coming,
For it is at hand.   Joel 2:1

If we think of the Lord's holy mountain as it is in Isaiah 11, the one with the wolf and the lamb and no hurting or destroying, then sounding an alarm would seem pointless, a crass interruption of the peace even. Here the alarm is sounded because the Lord is not there yet. The day of our Lord approaches because of the promise of His return to His holy mountain. Obviously placing the wolf with the lamb today will result in one less lamb in the world. That day has not yet come for the wolf and lamb to lie down together. So, yes, sound the alarm as the day of the Lord comes upon the land. Who would sound such an alarm? The Lord's enemies are the most likely candidates, and they have good reason to tremble as His day comes upon them! 

No conflict here in the word, it is the same mountain at different times in the Lord's story. 

Love and joy to you in Christ our Lord!

Bucky

To Die Is Gain?

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21

The pastor mentioned this verse yesterday, and so I thought what a great idea for a devotional on a Monday morning! This must be one of the strangest statements in the Bible to those who do not believe in Jesus, Heaven, or an afterlife. Understanding this statement from Paul takes faith as we learn to not cling to this life and yet to rejoice in it at the same time. At this point, I confess to not being entirely successful on either count. There is much pain in this life and rejoicing always, as Paul says in another verse from the same letter, is not always easy or even possible in my strength. With hope in Christ though, the latter part seems much the easier...er, until it comes to the actual dying part at least. I am, as are most of us, somewhat concerned over what form that transition to the gain will take. It would be an unusual person who wants to suffer long in making that final journey to be with our Lord Jesus. Like you, I hope for a quick, peaceful, and above all, painless transition that causes the least sorrow for those left behind. And then there is that Rapture hope of ours that means none who believe would leave each other behind!

To die is to gain Christ the Lord in His presence forever, Immanuel!

Bucky

Who Is God? Pt 11

Now see that I, even I, am He,
And there is no God besides Me;
I kill and I make alive;
I wound and I heal;
Nor is there any who can deliver from My hand.
   -- Deuteronomy 32:39

In the Oxford dictionary the first definition for nice is: pleasant, agreeable, or satisfactory. And this is often what many expect of God and they may become angry at Him when their expectation is not met, such as with the death of a loved one. In the song of Moses, we read about God in a way that I have not addressed just yet in this little series: the God who kills. The first thing we note in our verse for today about the killing is that in the same line there is a conjunction whose function is to combine - "...and I make alive." Which reminds us of what Jesus said to us in John 10:17-18, where He told us of His laying down of His life and taking it up again. The first application of the line seems to be upon Himself. The next is in His killing of someone else - enemies of Israel, flagrant lawbreakers, or even a person we may know personally. That is where the cries of unfairness, injustice and "how could a loving God do this?" come into play. I guess that God is just not nice according to our standards. However, one suggestion for us is to avoid the claims of unfairness or injustices against our Lord and ask something like, "I know You have taken my loved one from beside me, dear Lord, but what have You done with your beloved?" You see, we also believe that killing is the Lord opening a door for us to be with Him, and eternity is the biggest part of being made alive in Christ!

Yes, God kills... and we are eagerly awaiting our turn to be with Him!

Bucky

A Donkey And An Angel

And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!”  Numbers 22:29

Balaam apparently left on the anger train, because if a donkey you or I were riding suddenly turned and spoke to us, we likely would fall off the hind end in shock. Yet, the donkey speaks and Balaam responds in his anger as if donkey conversation was common in his day. This is one of my favorite Bible stories way back in the Book of Numbers, and likely at least part of the basis for the great Narnia books written by C.S. Lewis. Stepping into the story at the uh-oh point, as we are in this verse for today, we know that the donkey sees someone that Balaam cannot see. Take a moment to read the paragraph of the story just before the conversation begins, and one can see that the donkey is being entirely reasonable and faithful in the face of great danger. Many a donkey would likely have fled in terror! One can only imagine the look on Balaam's face when the angel of the Lord is revealed at last. 

Someone you know and depend on may appear to do you wrong. Perhaps he or she sees something, or even an angel of the Lord, that you cannot see right now. Give them the benefit of your love and faithfulness, as they have done for you these many years. 

May the love and lovingkindness of Jesus go with you today,

Bucky

The Disaster Of The Wall

But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; then a wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the men who were left. 1 Kings 20:30

These were the survivors of a losing battle with Israel. The city and its massive wall afforded protection from the enemy, or so they thought. That number of troops inside a fortification large enough to fall on them would provide a significant challenge to whatever Israelite commander had to fight them. But the story does not go that direction, instead the wall fell on those 27,000 soldiers of Syria. Had the nation not lost almost four times that number already in the battle, then there might be the story of the disaster of the wall told by itself and not as a following note. The larger number of dead in the battle overshadows what would be more than 20 times the population of our little town. And of course with those numbers of the dead, we might forget that the larger story is one of unbelief and disobedience to God our Father. Consequences of sin brought a large death bill to Israel and Syria in this story.

Okay, now I'm supposed to sign off with some bit about joy and peace? Yeah, well sin does not bring about those things, and sometimes we need to be reminded of that.

Remember the Christ who paid the price for our sin,

Bucky

By The Dark Of Night

This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”  John 3:2

Within our verse for today we can pretend that we do not know this man's name. A not uncommon occurrence in the Bible, people often come and go in the stories without leaving their name. The signs of this rabbi had caught the man's attention though, and in his opinion no one could do them without having God along. However, this man must have been busy or did not want to be seen as he came to meet Jesus undercover of darkness. Of course this verse brings out the questions as we want to know who the man was, what was his occupation, why the sneaky visit, and if there is belief in his heart or just a flattering way of opening the meeting. Then, we want to know what Jesus will say to the man! 

We know the name from the famous story, but more famous still among those who believe is the response our Lord Jesus gave to Nicodemus including the eternal beauty of John 3:16. 

Thank you, dear Lord, for bringing this man to ask of you in the dark of night!

Bucky

Who Is God? Pt10

​In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
​​Till you return to the ground,
​​For out of it you were taken;
​​For dust you are,
​​And to dust you shall return.”
  -- Genesis 3:19

A couple of weeks ago the focus was on God as lawgiver. When that law was broken God became the dispenser of justice to the lawbreakers. Dispenser of justice being a cumbersome way to write, 'judge'. We recall the chain of blame that came when God walked in the garden one evening and found, or rather didn't find, Adam at their usual meeting place. Adam blamed Eve, not his most heroic moment to be sure, and then Eve blamed the Serpent. God then judged them going back up that blame chain until He came to Adam, part of whose sentence we read in our verse for today. Death was promised in the law God gave for taking from that forbidden tree, and death was granted in the sentence.

Do you feel that urge to question God's right to judge? That rebellion is the inheritance we have from Adam and Eve, our ancient ancestors. That is the human nature our Lord Jesus works out of us by His dear Holy Spirit.

Love and joy to you this day,

Bucky

Where Are We Going?

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
As the waters cover the sea.  Isaiah 11:9

As we follow our Lord Jesus, it may occur to us to ask about our destination. It should interest us, since the Bible indicates that the eternity to come will be somewhat longer than the time we will spend here. Throughout the word of the Lord there are prophecies and clues about this eternal home our Lord has gone to prepare for us. One such foretelling is our verse for today. If we read the news this morning, each of us will see the hurting and destroying throughout the headlines. It is not hard to spot that for us! The first line of God's promise today states that it will be no more. This speaks to a rather large change in us and all those who will be there on the Lord's holy mountain. How will this happen? The next lines tell us how, and what a promise it is! Full of the knowledge of the Lord, maybe there won't be quite so many questions to ask in eternity as we had thought? 

Great are the Lord's promises of Heaven!

Bucky

Plundered Palaces

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
​
​​“An adversary shall be all around the land;
​​He shall sap your strength from you,
​​And your palaces shall be plundered.”
  -- Amos 3:11

No one likes to hear that their nation is going down, and indeed will soon suffer a plundering of the palaces. A prophet might use different terms for us in this age because palace is not how most of us would describe our homes. However, the children of Israel living in Samaria received the word of the Lord through Amos the prophet, and it was not a warm fuzzy. If this were a weak nation, the Lord likely would not have needed to send His prophet. This then speaks to a nation confident in its military strength to defend those precious palaces. Sounds to us like many nations of some wealth and stability, including this nation in which we live. Anytime a nation gives glory to God for its raising up, then becomes secure in its own strength and turns its back to the Lord God, there will come a reckoning. Not everyone here in this land has turned though, so pray for the neighbors and praise our Lord God. The prayers of Christ's faithful ones may be all that stand between our nation and the plundering suffered by Israel, Samaria, and Judea in times past.

It is a privilege to pray to the Lord our God!

Bucky

Did David Know?

As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the LORD is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
   -- 2 Samuel 22:31

David reigned in Israel a thousand years before a descendant of his would let us know that He was the way, the truth and the life. So, did David know he was singing prophetic words in his song? Sure, we can see the connection now, but could David have known in his songwriting that John would write of the Word as a person in his gospel, or that Paul would issue every believer the shield of faith? One thing David could and did know was that trust and faith went hand in hand. To those who believe in Jesus, of course the words of so long ago connect quite well to the words of Jesus, John, and Paul. For those of us who now hang on every word of Jesus, we learn daily that His way is perfect. David had seen the word of the Lord fulfilled in many things, and so the proof was before him. The real question is not how much David knew, but do we believe his testimony? We believe David's witness in the same way we do John's and Paul's, by faith.

The Word of the Lord is proven in you and me by faith!

Bucky

Who Is God? Part 9

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1

As I have been using the scriptures to discover who God is these past weeks, it will come as no surprise to you that God is intimately tied to His word. In our verse for today, John even states that the Word was God. Though we do not claim to be God, we have experienced a similar connection to our word in this life. If you don't think so, then simply say the wrong words at the wrong time, and watch the consequences. You may be connected firmly to those words for years to come! Not only does God not face that problem, but so perfect is His word that the challenge is to get us to believe His word. When in verse 14 the scripture reads that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, we and others might find that just a little unbelievable, incredible even. John bears witness and we have to decide to believe it or to reject it. And from this and other passages in the word of God, we who choose to believe find the point of separation from the world. You and I cannot prove that God spoke His Word and it became flesh, but we were invited and enabled to believe it.

Grateful are we that Jesus is the embodiment of the Word of God!

Bucky

Making My Best, Better

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.  John 14:12

In everything, my best could be better. But how can I do better than my best? It sounds a lot like that senseless giving 110% thing, as if the coach got a C- in his math class back in the day. Jesus is of course the answer to a lot of things in life, and this is no exception. My best in many things is pretty darn weak, either by a lack of knowledge or experience in the thing or both. My best in the things that I do have skills in is also weak from my Father's perfect perspective looking down from Heaven. However, He gave me (and you!) His Son...and some things to do in the way of missions and good works. 

It is from our Lord Jesus that I can do better than my best by way of His grace and strength. The missions may look utterly impossible for my means. That's a good thing, since if I could already accomplish the mission, then where would the glory be for God? The good works may seem a great burden at times. That too is a good thing as the strengthening of my Lord Jesus shines through in such moments. That is the work of my Lord Jesus in me, making my best, better!

It isn't a math conundrum, it's a good help solution! 

Bucky

Confusion's Day

Some therefore cried one thing and some another, for the assembly was confused, and most of them did not know why they had come together. Acts 19:32

For a brief moment in Ephesus, confusion reigned over the assembly. It is interesting to read that many in that crowd had no idea why this happened. In our day one could see the news helicopters moving over the crowd, estimating the size, and perhaps guessing at the purpose. However, for a couple of Paul's traveling companions, the mob danger was upon them and they were seized. This could have ended with martyrdom for those two had not a city official stood forth with reasoned authority and encouraged lawfulness. Confusion can be halted in its tracks by authority, and lawfulness restored to its proper place. A concept it seems we have lost in this nation for the past several years. Were those with authority afraid to stand forth? Were they corrupt or weak? We may never know, but lawlessness could be waiting in the wings for its day.

No confusion for us though, for our lawful authority is Jesus the Christ!

Bucky

More Than Usual

And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.” 2 Samuel 24:14

It is not a misprint from the Word, Gad was the prophet of God at that time in Israel. David the king was in great distress due to a sin on his conscience and the choice he had to make as a consequence. The story in 2 Samuel 24 is a marvel and something to study for us. That infamous census had numbered the Israelites against God's will, and as David asked forgiveness the prophet Gad came to him with a horrible choice. Now none of the choices say specifically that anyone will die, but a sentence in numbers was given and David had to choose. Hence the great distress until David tells Gad that he will take the three days of plague on the land. Three days may not seem like much. David may have thought that too. 70,000 men of Israel died in those three days until the Lord relented from His punishment. 

Was David's distress more than usual in making this choice? If so it certainly was ratcheted up a bit after the choice was made! After those three days of plague, David repented of his choice and asked that the penalty fall on himself and his father's house. And that, dear friends, is the choice of the man after God's own heart. You will see the similarity in what Jesus chose in giving Himself instead of letting the penalty fall upon all of us for our sin. 

Thank You, dear Lord God, for your mercy on us by the grace of Jesus Your Son. 

Bucky