Daily Ditties from Delron's Desk

      June 2009

  • June 1st - 7th
  • June 8th - 14th
  • June 15th - 21st
  • June 22nd - 30th

  

June 1st  How Brilliant


Swimsuit” is to low tech a term to describe the item in the article.  It was a very high tech “artificial skin” that had been developed for competitive swimmers, especially for the young men and women who are represent our nation in the Olympics.  Designed with microfibers woven in a highly specific patter, the swimsuit almost totally eliminates the drag from the water as the swimmer tries to cut every possible nanosecond from his time.  The thing that really caught my attention was that this design was fashioned after shark skin.  A few days later, I saw a television special about the latest in surveillance technology--a camera which can crawl up a wall and hang from a ceiling to get otherwise impossible vantage points.  Again, the thing that really caught my attention was that this latest piece of technology was fashioned after the gecko, in fact, it even looked like a mechanical lizard.  Of course we are all probably already aware that Velco, one of the handiest innovations of recent years, was invented after a curious gentleman examined burs which had stuck to his trousers after a walk in the woods.  It’s also interesting to me that one of the big campaign slogans for saving the rainforests is that we want to prevent loss of possible a cure for cancer which may be found in some of the exotic plants there.  We’ve spent billions of dollars researching the possibility of a cure but can’t invent one however, we think that it may exist in nature.


Why don’t we just give up and admit that God is all wise and we are not.  The most brilliant things we can come up with are simply copies of what He has already done.



June 2nd - Only Five Percent of Adults Tithed Last Year

Only five percent of American adults donated ten percent or more of their income to churches and charitable groups last year.  Within the randomly selected group of over a thousand adults surveyed, Christians tended to give more than others.  Among the most generous segments were evangelicals (twenty-four percent of whom tithed); conservatives (twelve percent); people who had prayed, read the Bible and attended a church service during the past week (twelve percent); charismatic or Pentecostal Christians (eleven percent); and registered Republicans (ten percent).  The segments of society who were highly unlikely to tithe included people under the age of 25, atheists and agnostics, single adults who have never been married, liberals, and adults who make less than $20,000 per year.  And we would rather blame the oil companies, the real estate market, or the President.

“Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.  Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.  Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.   And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.  And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.” (Malachi 3:8-12)



June 3rd - Missionaries Struggle as Dollar's Value Declines

It was only two months between trips to Nepal, but I noticed a remarkable difference in the value of my US dollar between the trips.  On my first visit this year, I exchanged money at a seventy-to-one ration.  This time, I could only get sixty-five rupees for each dollar--a five- percent drop in two months or an annual drop of thirty-percent if the trend continues.  Imagine what this kind of deflation of the American currency can mean for American missionaries who receives their support as American money transferred or sent to their international bank accounts every month--every month, they see their actual available deposit shrink.  The money they have raised to support their work overseas simply does not go nearly as far as it once did.  Add to the deflation of the American dollar the fact that many developing Nations are experience inflation of prices in their local economies.  Although Zimbabwe is a radical example, the thousand-plus-percent inflation there makes it unimaginable how anyone can keep stretching his money to cover the ever-increasing prices.  And if the price at the pump is hurting your budget, just stop to think that the increase in fuel prices around the world has far outpaced what we are feeling.  The long and short of the issue is that we need to be genuinely sensitive to the Holy Spirit as we pray for our gospel workers around the world.  Pray that God will give them wisdom, that He will open new avenues for them, that more people will become active supporters for their work, and that we will be honest and responsive as the Holy Spirit prompts us in how generous we are to be in their support.     



June 4th - They Should Have Known Better

 

“A Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is a strategic possibility.” George Fielding Eliot. “The Impossible War with Japan.” published in the American Mercury, 1938

 

“As far as sinking a ship with a bomb is concerned, you just can’t do it.” Rear Admiral Clark Woodard, 1938

 

“While theoretically and technically television may be feasible, commercially and financially I consider it an impossibility, a development of which we need waste little time dreaming.” Lee Do Forest, father of the radio, 1926

 

“(Television) won’t be able to hold onto any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night.” Darryl F. Zanuck, head of 20th Century Fox, 1946

 

“Landing and moving around the moon offers so many serious problems for human beings that it may take science another two hundred years to lick them.” Science Digest, August 1948

 

“What axe the Bolshevicki?  They are represen­tatives of the most democratic government in Europe…Let us recognize the truest democ­racy in Europe (and) in the world today.” William Randolph Hearst, 1918

 

“The war in Vietnam is going well and will succeed.” Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense, 1963

 

Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God. (I Corinthians 4:5)


 

June 5th - God’s Timing

 

In Genesis 15:13, the Lord prophesied that Israel would be a stranger in a land that was not theirs and would serve them and would be afflicted for four hundred years.  We, of course, recognize this to be speaking of the Egyptian bondage.  However, when we read the story of the exodus, we find that they actually spent four hundred and thirty years in Egypt. (Exodus 12:40).  Why the extra thirty years?  Is it possible that Moses tried to save nation ten years prematurely, and his disobedience led to the prolonging of the captivity?  Acts chapter seven gives us a chronology of the timing in Moses’ life.  Verse 23 says that he was forty years old when it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.  Verse 30 explains that it was another forty years when he encountered the burning bush.  Verse 36 concludes the timetable by telling us that the desert wanderings took an additional forty years.

The question is, was Moses supposed to have acted as soon as he had the idea to visit his brethren in their captivity?  Perhaps he should have taken some time to analyze the situation and develop a strategy.  Who knows?  If he had waited, could he possibly have risen to power and set the people free with a royal command--after all, he was in line for the throne as the king’s grandson.  The point is that if this is actually what happened, the whole nation suffered an additional thirty years of slavery and the Egyptians had to undergo ten devastating plagues. 

We must not only know God’s plan but also His timing.  Blunders made in timing can be expensive to not only ourselves, but also to many others.



 

June 6th - End-Time Living

We are living in the last days, and it is vitally important for us to know how to focus our attention in these prophetic times.

We must reach up to keep our attention on the Lord.  “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” (Luke 21:28)

We must reach out to effect the lost world around us.  “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Matthew 24:14)

We must reach around our brothers and sisters to reassure them and be strengthened by them in these days. “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25)

We must reach inside ourselves to make sure that there is no evil lurking there. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” (I John 3:2-3)
We must reach down to constantly keep the devil in his place of defeat beneath our feet.

“And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.” (Romans 16:20)



June 7th - Pray with…


…praise and thanksgiving: Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. (Psalm 100:4)

 

…petition: Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. (Matthew 7:7)

 

…the Spirit: Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.  And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27)

 

…power over Satan: Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might…that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil…praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. (Ephesians 6:10-18)

 

…words: There is no mention of silent prayer in the Bible.

 

…the scripture: And take…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer… (Ephesians 6:17-18)

 

…fervency: Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:16)

 

…confidence: And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us. (I John 5:14)


 







June 8th - Leprosy

One of my dear friends in Nepal in Eileen Lodge, a British lady who has spent more than fifty years in the country as director of the Nepal Leprosy Trust.  Eileen has so given herself to the cause and the country that she has actually become a Nepali citizen.
One fascinating thing that I learned from Eileen is that effective ministry to lepers must come in two stages: cure and restore.  Because leprosy leaves such ugly scars on its victims, those who have been cured but not restored still cannot go back into society.  The horrible markings on their faces, hands, and feet make people shun them.  As a result, they still live as outcasts--without being able to return to their families or find employment--even though they are no longer contagious and a health threat.  Thus, the leprosy mission provides plastic surgery to the victims after they have successfully been cured of the disease.

The amazing parallel in the Kingdom of God is that the atonement also provides not just salvation, but also justification and restoration.  “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. (Romans 8:29-30)  It was part of God’s plan from the very beginning that we not only be saved but that we also have divine reconstructive surgery so that we look exactly like His son!  As the old saying goes, we are justified--make to look just as if I’d never sinned.  Because we are restored as well as cured, we can freely partake of all God’s blessings.



June 9th - Plan B


Did you ever stop to realize that our God is not a God with plan B?  He doesn’t have a backup strategy in case His original plan doesn’t work.  When He sent an angel to visit Cornelius and told him to send messengers to Joppa to find Peter who could share the gospel with them, He had not even checked with Peter.  In fact, it wasn’t until twenty-one hours later as the messengers were approaching the door of Simon the tanner’s house that God let Peter know that he had been commissioned to this task--one which was inherently repugnant to Peter since it involved going into a Gentile home. (Acts 10)  When God tapped Ananias to go pray for Saul of Tarsus to receive his sight, be filled with the Spirit, and be baptized in water, He had already given Saul a vision three days of earlier in which He revealed Ananias by name as the messenger to come to him. (Acts 9)   Even though the prophet balked at the idea of going to the house on Straight Street where this renowned church persecutor has taken refuge, there was no alternate plan.  When Jesus petitioned His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane for some other way to save the world other than the cross, the details of the coming crucifixion had already been recorded for centuries in Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22. 

 

“Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” (John 15:16)  God’s plan for reaching the world is us.  Even if we--like Peter, Ananias, and even our Savior--are reluctant to take the challenge, we must; He has no Plan B.



June 10th - Potter’s House

In Jeremiah 18:1-11, the prophet was sent to the pottery shop to learn a lesson.  As he observe red the artisan at work, he saw that the potter remade, rather than threw away, the deformed pot.  In like manner, God continues to remake us because He truly understands us like a potter understands clay and knows what is really inside us.  He knew that Gideon really was a mighty man of valor, that Moses really could speak, that Rahab was more than a harlot, and that you and I are destined to reveal His glory.
Romans chapter nine explains that  the work of potter is a work of mercy.  Jacob didn’t deserve mercy any more than Esau, and Moses didn’t deserve mercy any more than Pharaoh; but God gave them mercy.  It was the mercy of God that either the Jews or the Gentiles exist at all.  Israel was destined to be a vessel of mercy but resisted the will of God, and the Gentiles were to come to God through the mercy that was revealed through Israel.  Notice that it is God’s plan is to make vessels of honor, and that there is no discussion of dishonorable vessels in the pottery shop.  He has predestined His pottery to show forth His glory.  Even though Romans proves the lostness of Israel, at the same time it shows the predestination of Israel as the covenant people of God.  Through Israel, all other nations are to be led to God, and all Israel will eventually be saved.  In essence, the lostness of man is only for an occasion for the mercy of God.  It is because of His mercy that we can confidently put our lives on His potter’s wheel because it is only on the potter’s wheel that we can find the will of God for our lives.


 

June 11th - The Potter’s House Revisited


When God sent the prophet to the potter’s house, He told him, “I will cause you to hear.” (Jeremiah 18:2)  One interesting thought concerning this passage is that God can speak anywhere; it is our hearing that is the problem.  Not everything in the visit to the potter’s wheel is because of God’s purposeful intention to break and remold us, but a result of our own natural inclination not to willingly conform to His mold for our lives.  Isaiah 41:25 speaks of a potter treading his clay.  This process takes place when the clay becomes hardened into an undesirable form and has to broken down to the very basic particles in order to be rewet and remolded.  Notice that the context is in reference to the rebellious nation that had to be invaded by their enemies in order to bring them to their senses and to their knees.  Let’s look at a few of the processes that occur in the pottery shop and see how we can relate them to our spiritual lives. First comes the molding, the pressing--sometimes very forcefully--of the clay into a desired form, followed by turning, the spinning of the pot on the wheel as the whole structure is smoothed out.  God places in us--if not from our birth, at least from our new birth--a special direction to which we are spiritually inclined, even if our human nature may not accept it readily.  Take the Apostle Paul for example; he has a natural interest in religious work, but not for the Lord Jesus.  Once the pot is fashioned to the desired shape, it is glazed by applying an exterior coating and fired in the kiln at a high temperature to solidify the whole process.  The difficulties we encounter and successfully master certainly solidify our commitment to the man that God has determined us to be.


 

June 12th - Visualize Victory


Joel prophesied that young men would see visions (verse 2:28), a prophecy that was repeated in the first sermon in the new-born church (Acts 2:17).  It seems to me that this visionary nature of young men may be linked to their ability to overcome the obstacles and challenges of the enemy. (I John 2:14)  In other words, if we want to be victorious, we must visualize ourselves as victorious.

David did just that when he went out to fight Goliath.  Notice how he answered the giant when the big bully challenged him, “This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.” (I Samuel 17:46)  To get the full impact of this statement, we have to consider the fact that David didn’t even have a sword when he declared that he was going to off the giant’s head.  There was no way he was going to use what he had in his hand--a stick, five smooth stones, and his sling--to take off Goliath’s head; yet he was able to see beyond the natural to the supernatural.  Just as he had taken on the lion and the bear without a natural weapon, he could visualize God’s provision even during the struggle.  Just as Samson had found that when the jaw bone of a donkey was all he had, it was all he needed, David knew that when the name of the Lord was all he had, it would be all he needed.  We too must visualize ourselves victorious with God’s supernatural weapons which are mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds. (II Corinthians 10:3)


 

June 13th - The Power of Circumcision

When David discovered that the Philistine bully had been terrorizing the army of Israel for some forty days, he asked one simple--yet powerfully insightful--question, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”  The power in this question is that it revealed that David had a different perspective on the matter from anyone else.  Almost as if David had Superman’s x-ray vision, he was able to see through the giant’s  façade to find out that he was uncircumcised.  This meant that the oppressor was without a covenant and, therefore, without God.  However, David knew that he personally had a covenant and, therefore, the upper hand!  I imagine that the young shepherd must have rehearsed Genesis 12:3, “I will curse him that curseth thee,” and realized that Goliath had repeated called God’s personal curse upon himself each time he had lashed out against the people of God.  I especially believe that he must have recited Deuteronomy 28:7, “Thine enemies shall come out against thee one way and flee before thee seven ways,” thinking how appropriate that the Philistines had sent only one reprehensive rather that the whole army.  They had come out one way, but how would they flee seven ways?  Then he saw the plan: cut off the giant’s head (that make two ways) and feed his body to the birds; with the flesh of the slain enemy in their beaks some of the birds will fly to the north, some to the south, some to the east, some to the west, and some straight up (that makes the other five)! 

 

In every challenge in life, we must be equally as insightful to remember God’s covenant promises and know how to draw upon them.

 

June 14th - Synergism


Since the armament described in Ephesians chapter six is all frontal gear, we are actually left defenseless on the sides and from the back.  That is why it is absolutely necessary that we have brothers and sisters linked to us on our right and left; otherwise, we are in danger of the enemy’s blows.  As we link together, synergism (the whole is greater than the sum of the parts) occurs.  This is why we are told that one can chase a thousand while two can chase ten thousand.  As individuals warriors, we would each have to struggle against our opponent; however, as a united force, we are able to solidly stand our ground.  Notice that Paul addresses “my brethren” when he admonishes us to take up the armor of God.  He does not speak to us as individuals but as a corporate body with this plural noun.  Putting on the armor of God is a corporate function of the entire body of faith.  We must learn to live and work together within the Body of Christ without concern for the carnal differences which tend to divide us.  The movie, Wind Talkers, depicted how difficult it was for the soldiers to overcome their prejudices and accept the Navajo recruits.  But it was these very native American radio operators who saved their lives and played a significant role in winning the war.  What’s true in the natural army is especially true in the spiritual army: we must establish unity within Christ’s Body because our lives depend upon what the other members (very often the ones with whom we don’t want to befriend in our natural selves) can supply.  “As the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.” (I Corinthians 12:12)


 

 




 

     

June 15th - The Seasons of Our Lives

Genesis 8:22 tells us that God has designed the universe so that as long as the earth remains there will be summer and winter and day and night shall.  Psalms 30:5 adds that weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning.  It is true that God had a specific reason for tilting the Earth at its twenty-three-degree angle. By arranging it so that the planet would go through cycles each day as it rotates and each year as it revolves, the planet experiences repeated periods of darkness and light and seasons of heat and cold--uncomfortable times followed by times of relief.  There is a reason for nighttime  just as there is a reason for the day.  If there were no sorrows of the night, the joys of the morning would not be as sweet.  It is the tests of the night that produce the testimonies of the mornings.  On one of my early mission trips, to the topic island nation of Sri Lanka, a German missionary said something about the “beautiful winters” back in Europe and in America.  At first I was taken back by the thought that someone who was able to escape the harshness of the ice and cold for perpetual summer would seem to be complaining.  She then added that the cold season got rid of pests and disease germs which continued to proliferate unchecked in the tropics.  An anthropologist once presented a theory that it was because people in temperate zone nations had to learn to face the challenges of winter that they became more progressive and were able to dominate the rest of the world in almost every area. 

 

Spiritually, it is also true that the seasons of our lives and the victories that come out of them are determined by our relationship to sun (Son).

 

June 16th - What You See Is what You Get--Or Is It?

 

I had only been dean of the Bible school for a few years, and I admit that I was rather young in comparison to some other men who would have been in similar positions; but I was a seminary graduate, a married man with a child, and experienced in my job.  However, not of that mattered when the lady came for her acceptance interview at the college.  She took one look at me and exclaimed, “You’re just a kid!”  She then got up and left the office,  refusing to submit her application for admittance to the school. 
As a college student, I had dressed like a hippie as part of a skit to be presented in a youth rally.  I was to be planted in the audience and make a scene during the middle of the program.  In order to avoid drawing attention, before the proper time, I arrived early and took a seat before most of the people arrived.  As the people began to arrive and fill the room, I thought it very humorous that they left a circle of four empty seats in every direction around me. 

 

While traveling in the interior of India once, I ran out of Indian rupees and could not find a bank that would change American dollars, so I was functionally broke even though I had plenty of money in my pocket.  After using the last of my local currency to by a train ticket to the next station, I sat down on the railway platform to wait.  When a beggar asked for a handout, I showed him that I was totally penniless.  His response was to sit down right next to me and set out his alms cup.  My traveling companion took a photo which he entitled, “The Two Beggars.”

 

“Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh.” (II Corinthians 5:16)

 

June 17th - Secret Keys to Prosperity

 

Before coming to Christ, many of us felt that the way to financial security was hard work, ingenuity, and possibly a bit of cheating.  All too often, after we come to Christ, we begin to think that the only key we have to prosperity is giving and receiving.  However, the Bible gives us many principles--keys to opening the doors of prosperity and the windows of blessings.  One key that many of us already knew from investing in stock or even depositing money in a savings account is patience (Galatians 6:7-9).  A second principle should be self obvious: do the will of God (Hebrews 10:36).  The next key shouldn’t take a rocket scientist to understand: faithfulness (Matthew 24:45, 25:21, Luke 16:11-12).  Nor should we have to look for a brain surgeon to grasp the next key: love (I Corinthians 13:3).  When we come to praying in the Spirit (Romans 8:26-26) as a key to prosperity, we must be careful not to confuse this with petitioning God for money; it is actually allowing the Holy Spirit to pray for us rather than making up our own prayers.  When He prays, great things--including prosperity--are in store.  While we are praying, we must remember that intercession for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6)  is a special directive that insures prosperity.  Giving thanks (Philippines 4:6) comes next, followed by one command that many of us might wish to overlook and fail to follow: forgiveness (Mark 11:25, Matthew 5:24,   6:12-15)  Of course there is always confess and believing (Mark 11:23-24) and filling our hearts and minds with the Word of God (Joshua 1:8, Luke 6:45).


 


June 18th - Characteristics of the NEW  CREATURE

 

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (II Corinthians 5:17)

There is No condemnation. (Romans 8:1)

We have Eternal life. (John 3:16) 

We are Working out our salvation. (Philippians 2:12)

The new creature is Cleansed in his conscience. (Hebrews 9:13-14)

The new creature has a Relationship.  The old creature may have had religion and rules, but the new one has a relationship. (John 1:12)

The new creature has Expiation.  Although the King James Bible uses the word "propitiation" (meaning to cover up) a number of times, more modern translations exchange it for the word "expiation" (meaning to eliminate).  An old creature may have had his problems covered up, but a new creature has them totally removed, washed away.  (I John 2:2, Romans 3:25, I John 4:10)

The new creature has a spirit of Adoption. His spirit cries out, "Daddy God." (Romans 8:15-16)

The new creature is Transformed, not conformed.  Instead of living conformed to this world, we have been transformed into a new relationship. (Romans 12:2)

The new creature is Under a new law of the Spirit of life. (Romans 8:2)

The new creature has Revelation, not education. (Ephesians 1:17-23)

The new creature is Empowered by the Holy Ghost. (Acts 1:8, John 14:17)


 

June 19th - Going After Giants

The first key when taking a challenge bigger than yourself is to refuse to see yourself small in your own eyes  When the spies saw the giants in the Promised Land, they saw themselves like grasshoppers; and the scriptures record, “and so they were.” (Numbers 13:30)  On the other hand, David refused to be intimidated by any off the demeaning circumstances in his life--right up to facing a giant that had held the entire army a bay for over a month.

When the prophet came to his house to anoint a new king, David’s own father didn’t even call him for the lineup because he didn’t consider him worthy to even be considered.  This Cinderella-stepchild  discrimination and two-ugly-sister favoritism has destroyed many potentially great men and women--but not David because refused to see himself as the diminutive, ruddy, insignificant, kid brother.  When he showed up at the encampment, his oldest brother “let him have it with both barrels,” accusing of coming out to the battlefield to make trouble out of pride and naughtiness in his heart and attempting to demean is place in the family business by referring to his “few sheep in the wilderness.”  Yet, David didn’t even bother to answer his brother’s railings; instead, he went directly ahead to matter at hand--sizing up the giant task he was to challenge.  When he was brought to the king’s tent, this little shepherd boy refused to be intimidated by the monarch’s discouraging words, “Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.”

Finally, he met Goliath himself with total confidence that he was big enough for the challenge!

 

 

 

June 20th - Three Strikes and You’re Out

 I’m sure that we all thought that the three-strike policy was invented with the game of baseball, but the truth of the matter is that it is a biblical principle that dates back to the garden of Eden.  Remember Eve’s conversation with the serpent in which she was given three chances to get a base hit: she saw that the fruit was good for food (the physical temptation--strike one), and that it was pleasant to the eyes (the soulical temptation--strike two), and a tree to be desired to make one wise (the spiritual temptation--strike three). She was out!  Jesus was also at bat for three possible strikes: “Command that these stones be made bread” (the physical temptation--ball one), “Cast thyself down” (the soulical temptation--ball two), “Fall down and worship me” (the spiritual temptation--krack! a home run!)  Peter’s turn at bat the night of Jesus’ arrest was his first strike out: three times he was questioned about being a friend of Jesus and three times he took a strike and you’re out!).  Fortunately, he had a second turn at bat on the shores of the Galilee after the resurrection when Jesus asked him if he had agape (divine) love for him.  He struck twice by confessing only philios (human) love but made a hit on the third pitch when Jesus asked if it was only philios love that he had for the Master, and Peter recognized exactly what the Lord desired from him.

 

In our lives as well, our times at bat always come in sets of three before we have to concede defeat.  I John 2:16 warns us about the three pitches about to be thrown at us: the lust of eye, the lust of flesh, and the pride of life.  James 1:15 shows us how these three pitches can lead to a strikeout: lust, sin, death.


 

June 21st-Why was David Happy When They Said to Go to the House of the Lord

 

I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.  Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.  Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together:  Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.  For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David.  Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.  Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.  For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee.  Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good.” (Psalm 122)

 

One of David’s major accomplishments as king of Israel was to turn the Jebusite city of Jerusalem into the focal point of Jewish life.  Under his direction, the city became the center of the military, the politics, the culture, the education, the administration, the economy, and most of all the religion of the nation.  Although it was his son Solomon who would eventually build the great temple there and import so much wealth that the city would be coined “Jerusalem of gold,” David made the city to prosper in every physical dimension and established it as the focal point of the nation’s spiritual life.  When he said, ‘I was glad when they said unto me,”  He was celebrating the fact that his followers had become leaders because they had caught what their leader had taught.  His leadership had come to fruition as they had gotten hold of his spirit and his spirit had gotten hold of them!

 

True leaders rejoice when they no longer must lead!



 

 

       

 

June 22nd - Prophelied

 

May 9, 1999, between twenty and twenty-five thousand workers at Gujarat shipyard in India fled when a doomsday article appeared in a Delhi paper predicting that the coastal town would be submerged under water.  The company lost $35 million due to the labor stoppage.

 

It’s not only mystic gurus in exotic far-flung corners of the world who come up with such errant predictions.  In fact, the Bible--both New and Old Testaments--is filled with warnings against those who prophelie (a term someone coined from the words “prophesy” and “lie”).  Jeremiah 14:14 says, “The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them.”  Jesus personally warned us about such false prophets. Matthew 7:15, 24:11, 24:24, Mark 13:22)  The apostles furthered His admonitions saying that such lying prophets are already among us. (II Peter 2:1, I John 4:1)  The biblical mandate is not only to turn away from their untrue counsel, but to judge them with the most severe of all possible punishments--death. (Deuteronomy 13:5)  Even more astounding is that this punishment is to be inflicted by their closest of relatives--parents and siblings!  (Deuteronomy13:6, Zechariah 13:3).

 

As I meditate on these passages, I am challenged to re-examine all that I say to others.  Even though I may not point out people in church services and call them forward to receive a “Thus sayeth the Lord” word, all my words can have prophetic impact on people’s lives.  Do I discourage them from being who they really can be and doing what they really can do?  Do I falsely encourage them when I really should warn?  Do I prophelie?


 

June 23rd - Reaping What You’ve Sown

 

It’s an amazing story of incredible coincidence.  Peggy Brown saved Kevin Stephan’s life when she was able to use CPR after he was injured in a Little League baseball game.  Years later, he saved her life when he used the Heimlich maneuver when she choked on food in a restaurant where he worked.  Even though we don’t see this kind of good deed and repayment with the same individuals involved happen on a daily basis, the principle of sowing and reaping never ceases.  Jesus taught us to sow without expecting a harvest but to be aware that we would certainly receive one.  “But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.  Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.  Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” (Luke 6:35-38)  Paul taught us to generously sow good deeds. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.  For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.  And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.  As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. (Galatians 6:7-10)


 

June 24th - Temptation

I’m not sure whether it reflects the poor spelling abilities of our present crop of high school students or their moral inclinations, but I just have to share with you a sentence out of one high schooler’s report on prevention of sexually transmitted diseases: “The only way other than abstinence to be sure that you will not contact an STD is to remain in a monotonous relationship.” 

 

Yes, the grass often does look greener in the other guy’s pasture; but we have to remember that there is a really good reason for building fences--not only to keep the neighbor our of our yard, but also to protect us from going after that seemingly greener grass.  Someone once said that temptation usually comes through a door that has been deliberately left open.  In other words, build a fence and make sure to keep the grate securely closed.

 

The Word of God gives us five “R”s for dealing with those who are trapped through temptation: reproof, rebuke, repentance, reformation, and reinstatement.  In I Corinthians 5, we read the story of a man who had fallen prey to heinous sin through having a relationship with his father’s wife.  Paul instructed the church to call him on his sin and bring him under judgment for his error.  In his follow-up letter to the church, Paul tells them that enough is enough; it is now time to restore and reinstate the errant brother. (II Corinthians 2:5-11)  The passage that we all love so much describing how we have been totally pardoned is actually part of his instructions on dealing with the man.  “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (II Corinthians 5:17) 


 

June 25th - Fading

 

Have you ever moved a piece of furniture that has sat in the same spot for a long period of time only to discover that the carpet underneath it is a different color form the flooring all around it?  Even worse, did you notice that one side of the sofa was a different color from the other side?  This decoloration is a result of what we call “fading.”  With the exception of a few things such as Madras cloth which is deliberately designed to fade or “bleed” when washed, fading is a sign of deterioration.  Fading can be delayed even for thousands of years in some cases.  I’ve seen mosaics in Israel, pyramid paintings in Egypt, and frescos in Sri Lanka which have retained their color for centuries; but even so they were still subject to natural deterioration.  It is a reoccurring theme in both the Old and New Testaments that everything--even the very foundation of the earth--is doomed to fade and wax old. (Psalm 102:25-26, Isaiah 51:6, Hebrews 1:10-11, Ezekiel 47:12, James 1:11)  Even the glory on Moses’ countenance that caused the people to require him to wear a veil over his face and the Old Testament Law itself are subject to this self obsolescence. (II Corinthians 3:7, Hebrews 8:13)

 

The wonderful promise we have is that we are destined for another world which is not subject to destruction.  The apostle Peter promises us an inheritance  which is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us (I Peter 1:4) and a crown of glory that fadeth not away. (I Peter 5:4)


 

June 26th - The Steps of a Godly Man

        

A friend of mine once begged the Lord to reveal His total plan for his life to him.  The Lord’s answer was that He could reveal it like a road map with all the twists and turns; but if He did, my friend would wind up worshipping the road map rather than the God who drew up the map.

 

Psalm 37:23 tells us that the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and that he delights in his way.  It’s a bit difficult to tell who the “he” and “him” are in this verse.  Is it that the Lord delights in the way of a godly man or that the godly man delights in the way that the Lord directs.  Personally, it seems that both interpretations are just as appropriate.  If a man walks in the way that the Lord directs, both he and the Lord will be pleased.

 

One other thing to note about this verse is that it is the Lord’s intent to direct our very steps, not just our general direction.  Two interesting revelations can be drawn from this fact.  First, we must not be too eager to run with any general plan that we feel that we have received form the Lord.  Even when He has shown us the general direction for our lives, we must still be dependent upon Him for a day-to-day (even moment-to-moment) direction for each individual step.  We grow in His grace and direct as we follow Him step-by-step.  The second revelation we can gain is that even if we don’t see where the path is taking us, we can walk confidently in His step-by-step direction; He is not going to mislead us.  In fact, there is actually more adventure in following Him into the unknown and letting Him surprise us with each turn along the way until we finally come to our final destination! 


 

June 27th - Never Say “Never”

 

“I confess that my imagination refuses to see any sort of submarine doing anything but suffocating its crew and floundering at sea.” H. G. Wells, 1901

 

“May not our mechanisms be ultimately forced to admit that aerial flight is one of that great class of problems with which man can nev­er cope? The construction of an aerial vehi­cle which can carry even a single man from place to place at pleasure requires the dis­covery of some new metal or some new force.  Even with such a discovery, we could not ex­pect one to do more than carry its owner.” astronomer Simon Newcomb, 1903 (the same year that the Wright brothers flew their first plane)

 

“No rocket will reach the moon save by a miraculous discovery of an explosive far more energetic than any known. And even if the requisite fuel were produced, it would still have to be shown that the rocket machine would operate at 459 degrees below zero--the temperature of interplanetary space.” Nikola Tesla, US inventor, 1928

 

“I will never see the day when the 18th Amendment is out of the Constitution of the United States.” Senator William Berah, 1929 (The 18th Amendment--Prohibition--was repealed in 1933, and Berah did not die until 1940  “That is the biggest fool thing we have ever done…The (atomic) bomb will never go off, and I will speak as an expert in explosives.” Admiral William Leahy, speaking to President Truman, 1945


 

June 28th - The Message

 

When Jesus announced His intention of establishing His body on Planet Earth, He specifically called it the church--not the churches.  In reality, there is only one church even though there may be multiple locations where various manifestations of that universal church gather for worship and instruction.  In similar manner, there is only one message which He wishes to communicate to this one universal church.  Interestingly enough, if you search your Bible from cover to cover, you will not be able to even find the word “messages”--simply because there is only one message; but it embodies all the points found throughout the Bible.  The Apostle John describes this message in I John 1:5 and 3:11: “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all…For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.”  In other words, Jesus is calling for a love from us is that is as consistent as His very nature.  God is not erratic nor incomplete.  He is light--total light, without the slightest ting of darkness.  He has always been light and will always remain to be light.  There is never any possibility that even the slightest pinch of darkness can or will appear in Him.  In the same manner, He asks--no expects of us that we manifest unmitigated and unwavering love for one another.  The full impact of the Lord’s message is embodied in Haggai 1:13 where the scripture  emphasizes that the prophet is the Lord’s messenger and that his words are the Lord’s message to His people, “I am with you!”  If God is not with us there is now way we can experience and demonstrate this unfailing love.

 


June 29th - The Pastor in the Bed Sheet

 

No, this story is not about a Halloween costume, a preacher who joined the Klu Klux Klan, or whatever else you may have in mind.  Just read on.  I first met Pastor James when he had a very large, thriving church in the capitol city of one of the major nations in Africa.  But, his beginnings were humble--you might even say, humiliating.  He was trying to plant a church in a very resistant Muslim community.  No matter how many homes he visited or how much literature he distributed, or how many people he talked with, there didn’t seem to be even the slightest glimmer of promise that the people were receiving their witness.  Yet he labored on, trying to plant gospel seed in the sweltering heat of sub-Sahara Africa.  His tiny apartment not only was without air conditioning; it didn’t even boast of having an electric fan.  Because of this extreme heat, Pastor James usually slept with out pajamas.  One night, as he lay naked on his cot, he was aroused by a frantic knocking at his door.  Wrapping himself with the sheet off his bed, he rushed to see what was the matter.  At the door he found a neighbor who beckoned him to come quickly to their little apartment where a young woman had given birth and the baby and mother were both on the verge of death.  The family, neighbors, and Muslim cleric were all praying, but nothing was happening.  Now, they wanted him to solicit help from his God.  James did pray, and the baby was instantly revitalized.  He prayed again, and the mother miraculously recovered.  Then he preached, and the roomful of people--including the Muslim cleric--accepted the Lord.  All this while he wore only a bed sheet wrapped around his naked body!


 

June 30th - Did God Create Evil?

 

Did you realize that there is actually no such thing as cold?  You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called “cold.”  We can  subtract heat to the point of 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that.  If there were such a thing as cold, we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees.  Everybody or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy.  Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold.  Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy.  Cold is not the opposite of heat, just the absence of it.

 

Did you realize that there is actually no such thing as darkness?  Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something.  You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it's called darkness. “Darkness” is only a word we use to define the absence of light.  In reality, darkness isn't.  If darkness were an actual thing, we would be able to make darkness darker.

 

Likewise evil does not exist in and of itself.  Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God.  God did not create evil.  Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart.  It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.