A couple mini-posts today:

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1.  I just finished reading "House Church" by Steven Atkerson.   Very fascinating and controversial book.   Highly recommended for provoking thought.

I am wondering about various "church ministries" that exist today, and whether these would not be possible in a house church model, and which ministries would continue on unchanged, and whether if some ministries weren't possible if that would actually be a healthy thing somehow.

Ministry examples:

- Christian radio stations?  They'd probably be able to continue on unabated or with even better financial support

- Christian camps?  Likewise.

- Church choirs?  They would be replaced by other choirs, such as (Christian) school choirs, town choirs, etc.

- Music lessons in general?  Probably still continuing on unabated.

- Lengthy sermons that carefully and thoroughly expound a text?   Atkerson says that there is a separate place for "teaching meetings" for things like this, separate from the Lord's Supper fellowship/participation meetings that are the backbone and essence of "church."  But how would this work in practice?   On the plus side, "less teaching" might encourage the meditation and application of the smaller amount, just as in China they used to give out stones with a single Bible verse written on them to peasants, who would take the stone for a couple days or weeks and then swap.   On the negative side, Biblical illiteracy is already high in our churches... would reducing the external teaching exacerbate this?  But, it could be countered, the increase in shorter/participatory sermonettes might help to alleviate this...

- Christian colleges? and schools?  I suppose these could continue on...  with their related research/excellence thrusts...

- door to door evangelism groups?  These could continue...

- organ playing?  handbell choirs?  The development of beautiful music for God's glory that relies on big, expensive instruments of these types?   This would likely cease...  yes?

 

2. Thinking about Noah's flood and the decline in life spans from ~900 years down to ~120 years.  (cf. http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2008/06/04/did-people-live-over-900-years  and John Sanford's book http://www.amazon.com/Genetic-Entropy-Mystery-Genome-Sanford/dp/1599190028)

The current creationist theories explain this through genetic bottlenecks (huge loss of genetic information from the healthy gene pool when 99.9% of the earth's population died in the Flood), which makes sense to me.

Theologically, I find it interesting that humankind's evil tends to be magnified and amplified whenever many people are placed together in close proximity (e.g. the tower of Babel, and modern innercities), and that God specifically commanded that people spread out and fill the earth (i.e. go live in rural areas, instead of condensing into cities, at least until the earth was filled....) ... God sought to reduce the pain of the evil, until the end would come when He would remove it completely.

Likewise, I think the same applies to Noah's Flood.   Why would God wipe them all out, while "never again" doing so throughout history, even though we are obviously just as evil?  One reason might be the lifespan issue.... when people are left to 'harden' in their sin for 900 years of life (as well as all their peers), perhaps the outcome is extremely horrible.   So God brought the flood to deliberately shorten our lives, out of mercy because our society would not get into the depths of evil that would otherwise occur.

As Tim Keller points out, for redeemed perfect saints as we will someday be, the innercity will be the exact opposite... the close proximity of perfect saints to each other will form a 'critical mass' that will foment glory and beauty and white-hot pure love, and that's why the new Jerusalem will be a (cubical) city (rather than a Garden of Eden).
3. A good wife is not 'snagged', but is a gratuitous/undeserved gift from God.

Maybe other types of wife can be 'snagged', but not this type.
4. Do babies go to heaven when they die?

I'll delay this post because I don't have the time right now.  But I think it's a question worth pondering.

Some thoughts on Lamentations 3.    First, a brief intro.  Then the passage copied and pasted for you to read.   Then some thoughts.  Notice: this is a very long post.   I have kind of a backlog of xanga posts right now... I started this particular post more than a week ago, but haven't had time to finish it until now... and I have a few more things that I wanted to write about but haven't had time to write this week.

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Jeremiah was a young man who was called by God to give his nation a message.  He was scared and told God he didn't know how to speak and that he was only a youth.  God told him not to be afraid.

Jeremiah told the inhabitants of Jerusalem to repent, or else God would judge them.  They laughed at him.

Then the Babylonians came and besieged Jerusalem.  Jeremiah told the Jews that they should surrender, for their own good.  Now Jeremiah's neighbors didn't laugh at him anymore.  They called him a traitor.

The king put him in jail, and he was thrown into an empty water pit and almost died by sinking into the mud at the bottom.  He was pulled out just in time by one of his friends.

The Jews sent to the Pharaoh of Egypt for help against the Babylonans, despite Jeremiah's warning (from prison) not to do so.  Their attempt to enlist the Egyptians backfired.  Within a couple months, the Babylonians broke into Jerusalem and horrifically destroyed the city.

Jeremiah was taken with the other captives to Babylon, where he wrote the poetry now known as the book of "Lamentations".   In chapters 1 and 2, he laments specific aspects of the destruction.  In Chapter 3, he gets a little more 'philosophical', drawing some conclusions from what he has learned in his grief.
Lamentations 3, whole chapter

    1 I am the man who has seen affliction
Because of the rod of His wrath.
2He has driven me and made me walk
In darkness and not in light.
3Surely against me He has turned His hand
Repeatedly all the day.
4He has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away,
He has broken my bones.
5He has besieged and encompassed me with bitterness and hardship.
6In dark places He has made me dwell,
Like those who have long been dead.
7He has walled me in so that I cannot go out;
He has made my chain heavy.
8Even when I cry out and call for help,
He shuts out my prayer.
9He has blocked my ways with hewn stone;
He has made my paths crooked.
10He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in secret places.
11He has turned aside my ways and torn me to pieces;
He has made me desolate.
12He bent His bow
And set me as a target for the arrow.
13He made the arrows of His quiver
To enter into my inward parts.
14I have become a laughingstock to all my people,
Their mocking song all the day.
15He has filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drunk with wormwood.
16He has broken my teeth with gravel;
He has made me cower in the dust.
17My soul has been rejected from peace;
I have forgotten happiness.
18So I say, "My strength has perished,
And so has my hope from the LORD."
19Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness.
20Surely my soul remembers
And is bowed down within me.
21This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
22The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
23They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
"Therefore I have hope in Him."
25The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.
26It is good that he waits silently
For the salvation of the LORD.
27It is good for a man that he should bear
The yoke in his youth.
28Let him sit alone and be silent
Since He has laid it on him.
29Let him put his mouth in the dust,
Perhaps there is hope.
30Let him give his cheek to the smiter,
Let him be filled with reproach.
31For the Lord will not reject forever,
32For if He causes grief,
Then He will have compassion
According to His abundant lovingkindness.
33For He does not afflict willingly
Or grieve the sons of men.
34To crush under His feet
All the prisoners of the land,
35To deprive a man of justice
In the presence of the Most High,
36To defraud a man in his lawsuit--
Of these things the Lord does not approve.
37Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass,
Unless the Lord has commanded it?
38Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That both good and ill go forth?
39Why should any living mortal, or any man,
Offer complaint in view of his sins?
40Let us examine and probe our ways,
And let us return to the LORD.
41We lift up our heart and hands
Toward God in heaven;
42We have transgressed and rebelled,
You have not pardoned.
43You have covered Yourself with anger
And pursued us;
You have slain and have not spared.
44You have covered Yourself with a cloud
So that no prayer can pass through.
45You have made us mere offscouring and refuse
In the midst of the peoples.
46All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.
47Panic and pitfall have befallen us,
Devastation and destruction;
48My eyes run down with streams of water
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
49My eyes pour down unceasingly,
Without stopping,
50Until the LORD looks down
And sees from heaven.
51My eyes bring pain to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.
52My enemies without cause
Hunted me down like a bird;
53They have silenced me in the pit
And have placed a stone on me.
54Waters flowed over my head;
I said, "I am cut off!"
55I called on Your name, O LORD,
Out of the lowest pit.
56You have heard my voice,
"Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief,
From my cry for help."
57You drew near when I called on You;
You said, "Do not fear!"
58O Lord, You have pleaded my soul's cause;
You have redeemed my life.
59O LORD, You have seen my oppression;
Judge my case.
60You have seen all their vengeance,
All their schemes against me.
61You have heard their reproach, O LORD,
All their schemes against me.
62The lips of my assailants and their whispering
Are against me all day long.
63Look on their sitting and their rising;
I am their mocking song.
64You will recompense them, O LORD,
According to the work of their hands.
65You will give them hardness of heart,
Your curse will be on them.
66You will pursue them in anger and destroy them
From under the heavens of the LORD!

Lamentations 3 again, with interspersed comments

    1 I am the man who has seen affliction
Because of the rod of His wrath.
2He has driven me and made me walk
In darkness and not in light.
3Surely against me He has turned His hand
Repeatedly all the day.
4He has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away,
He has broken my bones.
5He has besieged and encompassed me with bitterness and hardship.
6In dark places He has made me dwell,
Like those who have long been dead.
7He has walled me in so that I cannot go out;
He has made my chain heavy.
8Even when I cry out and call for help,
He shuts out my prayer.
9He has blocked my ways with hewn stone;
He has made my paths crooked.
10He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in secret places.
11He has turned aside my ways and torn me to pieces;
He has made me desolate.
12He bent His bow
And set me as a target for the arrow.
13He made the arrows of His quiver
To enter into my inward parts.
14I have become a laughingstock to all my people,
Their mocking song all the day.
15He has filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drunk with wormwood.
16He has broken my teeth with gravel;
He has made me cower in the dust.
17My soul has been rejected from peace;
I have forgotten happiness.
18So I say, "My strength has perished,
And so has my hope from the LORD."

Jeremiah is here "brutally honest" with his feelings about God in his suffering.  Few places in the Bible are as explicit as this, and even fewer writings of modern American evangelicalism.

Jeremiah emphasizes that it is GOD who has deliberately brought this hardship into his life.  It is GOD who "set me as a target for the arrow".   It didn't just happen.

God, furthermore, "shuts out my prayer".  When Jeremiah asked God for national relief, none came.  Cf. vs 44, 55-56...?  When people asked God to relent on the national calamity, He shut out their prayer.  When Jeremiah asked God for physical deliverance when he was about to die, God answered him.  Yet God doesn't answer all such prayers.  Why the variability?  What principle can be drawn?  Maybe just that God answers some prayers and not others... ?

Why would God allow His own special prophet, the godly man, to suffer in this way?  ...to be mocked by the vulgar people, to experience no peace in his heart, etc?   Why do really bad things happen to God's own people, when they are walking closely with Him in righteousness?
    19Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness.
20Surely my soul remembers
And is bowed down within me.
21This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
22The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
23They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
"Therefore I have hope in Him."
25The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.
What was Jeremiah's consolation in the midst of his grief?  Apparently, the belief that EVENTUALLY, God would turn around and bring peace and honor and joy to his life.  The whole Bible echos this theme repeatedly.   However, for most people this reversal is not promised in this life.

On v. 25, cf. Isaiah 40:31/context.

    25The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.
26It is good that he waits silently
For the salvation of the LORD.
27It is good for a man that he should bear
The yoke in his youth.
28Let him sit alone and be silent
Since He has laid it on him.

"It is good that he waits silently....  what does this mean?  "Let him sit alone and be silent."  Is it better to sit alone, when suffering grief, rather than seek the company of friends?

Cf. Jeremiah 15 -

    15You who know, O LORD,
Remember me, take notice of me,
And take vengeance for me on my persecutors
Do not, in view of Your patience, take me away;
Know that for Your sake I endure reproach.
16Your words were found and I ate them,
And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart;
For I have been called by Your name,
O LORD God of hosts.
17I did not sit in the circle of merrymakers,
Nor did I exult
Because of Your hand upon me I sat alone,
For You filled me with indignation.
18Why has my pain been perpetual
And my wound incurable, refusing to be healed?
Will You indeed be to me like a deceptive stream
With water that is unreliable?

There may well be a place for silent isolated endurance of grief.  But perhaps Jeremiah is talking more about the loneliness that occurs when one is concerned about the things of God, and one's neighbors and acquaintances and even family and church friends don't care about God and His Kingdom purposes.  Why God, says Jeremiah, are you pouring out your fury upon me, when I was the one concerned about following You and about righteousness and about my nation while my acquaintances didn't care and just partied?   They all criticized and mocked me, even though "I was called by Your name" and I deeply loved Your Word.  Why me?
    29Let him put his mouth in the dust,
Perhaps there is hope.
30Let him give his cheek to the smiter,
Let him be filled with reproach.
This seems to be talking about "humbling oneself"... even extremely/excessively...  not clamoring for justice for himself, but 'waiting' for God's vindication...

Cf. Jesus -- "while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously..."  2 Peter 2:23

and Peter's conclusion: "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time..."  1 Peter 5:6

 

Another powerful example of this is David, when fleeing from Absalom.  Here's the story from 2 Samuel 16-

⁵When King David came to Bahurim, behold, there came out from there a man of the family of the house of Saul whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera; he came out cursing continually as he came.
⁶He threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David; and all the people and all the mighty men were at his right hand and at his left.
⁷Thus Shimei said when he cursed, "Get out, get out, you man of bloodshed, and worthless fellow!
⁸"The LORD has returned upon you all the bloodshed of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned; and the LORD has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. And behold, you are taken in your own evil, for you are a man of bloodshed!"
⁹Then Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, "Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over now and cut off his head."
¹⁰But the king said, "What have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah? If he curses, and if the LORD has told him, 'Curse David,' then who shall say, 'Why have you done so?'"
¹¹Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, "Behold, my son who came out from me seeks my life; how much more now this Benjamite? Let him alone and let him curse, for the LORD has told him.
¹²"Perhaps the LORD will look on my affliction and return good to me instead of his cursing this day."
¹³So David and his men went on the way; and Shimei went along on the hillside parallel with him and as he went he cursed and cast stones and threw dust at him.

 

False accusations.....   how extremely extremely painful they can be.   I have experienced them myself, and several of my friends have also.

Was David "a man of bloodshed" as Shimei said?  Was God punishing David because of his treatment of Saul's family, or because David was somehow 'in cahoots' with violent deeds of his predecessor Saul?  Was David a usurper of Saul's crown, and now God was booting him out because of his past?

There are so many ways David could have responded.  He could have spoken about his extreme respect for his father-in-law Saul, and how he refrained from killing him many times when all his friends were urging him to kill him, and when Saul's death would have made life a lot safer and more pleasant for David.  He could have quoted one of his own psalms about how he habitually walked in integrity and righteousness and honesty before God (confessing and forsaking sins as soon as possible).  He could have quoted the story of Job to illustrate that personal calamity does NOT necessarily mean that the person is being judged for some particular sin.  He could have reminded Shimei that Samuel had personally annointed David king in Saul's place, so that David was indeed God's approved/rightful king.

But David responded instead in complete humility.   "If he curses, and if the LORD has told him, 'Curse David,' then who shall say, 'Why have you done so?'" ...Let him alone and let him curse, for the LORD has told him."

What is going on here?  What is David cognizant of that Abishai was overlooking?

His own sin.    The sins he really DID commit.

That is to say ---  every time someone accuses you falsely of something, you have a choice:  You can either get defensive and upset and try to vindicate yourself, or you take the accusation quietly and use it as an opportunity to personally repent of OTHER sins in your life.  Every false accusation people make against you is an opportunity for you to walk more closely with God!   Wow.

Specifically, in David's case, although he was innocent in Saul's case, he was spectacularly guilty in the case of Bathsheba.  He really could legitimately be labeled "a man of bloodshed", after having slept with Bathsheba and then having killed Uriah by proxy so that he could marry Bathsheba.   After the debacle, Nathan had said the following to him from God:  'Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.'  This had indeed come true - his son Amnon had raped his half sister Tamar, then his other son Absalom had killed Amnon in revenge, and now Absalom had just staged a revolution and deposed him from being king.   David was mindful of his own sin, and so he responded in humility to the criticism.....    essentially, "Yes, I am indeed a very wicked person.  Probably far more wicked than you're even aware of.  Although the specific thing you're accusing me of is incorrect, I have so much other evil in my past and present that it's not worth trying to defend myself here.  The One I am putting all my hope in is God.  He is the One who has forgiven all of my sin through the coming Lamb-of-God-who-takes-away-the-sins-of-the-world (Psalm 32, 51), and He is the One who will vindicate me in this matter you're falsely accusing me of."

Wow.  What an example...  this is exactly what Jeremiah is talking about, albeit back and forth between 'personal' and 'national' senses, in Lamentations 3 --

    25The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.
26It is good that he waits silently
For the salvation of the LORD.
27It is good for a man that he should bear
The yoke in his youth.
28Let him sit alone and be silent
Since He has laid it on him.
29Let him put his mouth in the dust,
Perhaps there is hope.
30Let him give his cheek to the smiter,
Let him be filled with reproach.
...
39Why should any living mortal, or any man,
Offer complaint in view of his sins?
40Let us examine and probe our ways,
And let us return to the LORD.
41We lift up our heart and hands
Toward God in heaven;
42We have transgressed and rebelled...
If it ever happens to you that circumstances shatter your life, and then on top of everything some of your friends start to point fingers at you and say that it happened because of such and such a sin in your life (while you know that their remarks are not accurate), and when the gossip causes you to lose friendships and other things that you consider precious, use that as an opportunity to "examine and probe your ways, and return to the Lord."

Sure you may be innocent in that matter that they're falsely accusing you of, but you surely have other sins in your life that need to end!   Sure the Lord is not crushing you in punishment for those sins, but He is graciously crushing you in discipline... 

"He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness." Hebrews 12:10

"...when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world." 1 Corinthians 11:32
   31For the Lord will not reject forever,
32For if He causes grief,
Then He will have compassion
According to His abundant lovingkindness. 

Huge, awesome promise here!   Again, nowhere does it say that this reversal will happen in THIS life, on THIS side of death.    But EVENTUALLY, it will happen........

    33For He does not afflict willingly
Or grieve the sons of men.
34To crush under His feet
All the prisoners of the land,
35To deprive a man of justice
In the presence of the Most High,
36To defraud a man in his lawsuit--
Of these things the Lord does not approve. 

Well, why do these things happen then????

If God is good and kind so that He does not "approve" these things, and if God is big enough and powerful enough to put a stop to them right NOW, then why doesn't He?

...the fact that evil exists implies either that God doesn't exist (as the atheists argue), OR... that He has some bigger and better plan, such that although the short term brush strokes are heartbreaking (to Himself as well as to us and others), the complete painting will be so awesomely beautiful as to be worth every single stroke.... such that not a single item of earthly life will be desired to have occurred differently, when seen from the perspective of eternity.... such that we might, in fact, indeed be living in 'the best of all possible worlds'.

Lamentations 3:33 is an incredibly important verse.  Is this true?  The implications are huge.

What kind of a Father would send His Son on a mission, knowing that His Son would end up being crucified?

I highly recommend this article "Are there two wills in God?" by John Piper and the book "God's Greater Glory" by Bruce Ware to investigate this point more fully..... how God "unwillingly wills" evil to occur, in a sovereignly-permissive way (yet with 100% meticulous ordained sovereign control, cf. 2 Chronicles 18:19?!?!?!?!)  while in contrast "willingly wills" good to occur... "   Literally in Lam. 3:33 "from-His-heart", as "He does not afflict from-His-heart".... He reluctantly allows evil acts to be performed, ravaging sicknesses to kill, earthquakes, tornados, car crashes, etc (and perfectly using each 'bad' event for overall good, Genesis 50:20), while joyfully "from-His-heart" "willingly" pours out love upon His adopted children "according to His abundant lovingkindness"........

 

More: look at the "spectrum texts":

    37Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass,
Unless the Lord has commanded it?
38Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That both good and ill go forth? 

Contrary to the sunday-schoolish notion of God as a jolly old guy who chuckles when people have good harvests and get married but wrings His hands and disowns responsibility for wars and tsunamis,  the Biblical God is a robust, energetic, majestic Lion of a Personage who roars with laughter when the tiny squeaking voice of the wicked shrills self-exalting words.... the weeping-and-laughing King who BOASTS repeatedly to His dearly loved people of His sovereign omnipotence....

    "I am the LORD, and there is no other;
Besides Me there is no God
I will gird you, though you have not known Me;
That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun
That there is no one besides Me.
I am the LORD, and there is no other,
The One forming light and creating darkness,
Causing well-being and creating calamity;
I am the LORD who does all these."    (Isaiah 45:5-7)

One implication of Lam 3:37 is that any human authority that exists has been established by God... Romans 13:1...  As Jesus said to Pilate - "You would have no authority over me unless it had been given to you from above."   This can give us peace if/when the government (or other authorities) abuses its authority.... God sees... He doesn't miss anything...
    39Why should any living mortal, or any man,
Offer complaint in view of his sins?
40Let us examine and probe our ways,
And let us return to the LORD.
41We lift up our heart and hands
Toward God in heaven;
42We have transgressed and rebelled,
You have not pardoned.
43You have covered Yourself with anger
And pursued us;
You have slain and have not spared.
44You have covered Yourself with a cloud
So that no prayer can pass through.
45You have made us mere offscouring and refuse
In the midst of the peoples.
46All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.
47Panic and pitfall have befallen us,
Devastation and destruction;
48My eyes run down with streams of water
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
...
51My eyes bring pain to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city. 

Jeremiah repents for the sin of his people...  He admits that God's judgment against them was justified... but he still cries over the awfulness of it all...

 

    49My eyes pour down unceasingly,
Without stopping,
50Until the LORD looks down
And sees from heaven.

What is Jeremiah saying here?  I don't quite understand what he's praying for.   Any thoughts?

 
    52My enemies without cause
Hunted me down like a bird;
53They have silenced me in the pit
And have placed a stone on me.
54Waters flowed over my head;
I said, "I am cut off!"
55I called on Your name, O LORD,
Out of the lowest pit.
56You have heard my voice,
"Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief,
From my cry for help."
57You drew near when I called on You;
You said, "Do not fear!"
58O Lord, You have pleaded my soul's cause;
You have redeemed my life. 

His own story, in poetic form... read the prose here...

God sometimes gives these awesome direct deliverances.    But sometimes He doesn't, I think (Hebrews 11)..... am I right or wrong about this?    Anyway, either way He will be glorified... and in the END, He will certainly 'deliver' all His servants.... just not all of them here in this life.....

 
    59O LORD, You have seen my oppression;
Judge my case.
60You have seen all their vengeance,
All their schemes against me.

 

Again-- trusting in God for vindication, not in human justice...   God is the one who sees all and will reveal all secrets at the Judgment Day... including the thoughts and motives of every man's heart....

 
    61You have heard their reproach, O LORD,
All their schemes against me.
62The lips of my assailants and their whispering
Are against me all day long.
63Look on their sitting and their rising;
I am their mocking song.
64You will recompense them, O LORD,
According to the work of their hands.
65You will give them hardness of heart,
Your curse will be on them.
66You will pursue them in anger and destroy them
From under the heavens of the LORD!

 

"Give them hardness of heart"....    Wow.... what a terrible curse to ask for someone!!    To what extent is it right/good/proper/correct for us to pray imprecatory curses of this sort upon our enemies ( / "the enemies of the Lord") ?

 

 

In summary, the verse that could summarize the whole chapter, the whole book and in some sense (for those who have believed in Christ Jesus), the whole Bible:

"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
"Therefore I have hope in Him."

...ever have one of those days... when you ask God, "please give me daily bread", and He gives you succulent barbequed ribs, baked beans with onions and bacon bits, potatoes with walnuts and cinnamon, and frosty white grape juice?

...because that's just the type of God You are...

Thank You God!   Thank you Mr. and Mrs. ______ and kids!

I've been thinking about parenting some recently, having seen many good and bad examples, and having experienced God's parenting in my own life.  I have learned/realized some things recently, although it's a bit hard still to pin it down and put it into words.  I'll try to note a few things below.  Sorry it's so rambling.  Maybe these thoughts will coalesce into a more succinct form in the future.

1. First, consider these verses, from our friends Job and Paul  (consider also the story of Jonah, and the plant that God 'gave' and then 'took away')...

 He said,
"Naked I came from my mother's womb,
And naked I shall return there
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the LORD."     (Job 1:21)

Notice this about God - that He gives and He takes away.  He doesn't only give (like 'Santa Claus'), and He doesn't only take away (like we are sometimes tempted to believe, when grieving a great loss).  He does both.   Why?  Is God an "indian-giver"?   Is He capricious, feeling benevolent one day but feeling grumpy the next?

How is it possible to trust Someone who gives good gifts one moment, then painful heartaches the next moment?  How can one repose one's heart in Him, release one's future to Him, if you never know what painful thing He's going to throw at you next?  When the dentist says "this might hurt a bit, but just close your eyes and try to relax", how do you respond internally?  Is this what God tells us to do (Proverbs 3:5-6), or is the analogy incorrect?

The second passage:

"Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who 'made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.' In the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own ways; and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness."  (Acts 14:15-17)

What is it about receiving things like food and rain for one's crops that points one to God?  What is Paul saying here?

2. I think it's C.S. Lewis who talks about why God does this ---  God "gives AND takes away" in order to awaken in people the desire for Him..... the Object of desire which is the only truly satisfying one (see also this interesting related article on 'sehnsucht', a German word approximately meaning "longing"/"desire").  More on this below.

3. The concept of parenting seems to be related to this.  Parenting seems to be two main things: living an example to one's kids, and teaching/training specific principles to one's kids.  Training seems to be accomplished using rewards and punishments... rewards for good behavior, punishments for bad behavior.  The idea is that if you train children consistently using rewards and punishments, they will build character habits... at first they won't understand the rationale (they'll just know 'when I beat up my brother, I get spanked, which hurts, so I'd better not beat up my brother any more'), but as they mature, they'll understand the rationale ('it is better for many reasons to live in an amicable relationship with my brother').   Once the kids get to the teen age, spanking doesn't hold much terror for them any more, and once they hit their late teens and older, all punishments lose effect... so the training has to take place early.... but if it works, the kids won't need the rewards/punishments any more... they will WANT to act in these mature ways (for better/higher motivations)...

Anyway, the parent must both give, and take away.   Sometimes I see a parent trying to only take away, without giving... e.g. taking away their privileges, yelling at them (usually the ones who yell are the same ones who don't spank), threatening them, grounding them, etc.  Sometimes I see a parent trying to only give, without taking away...  e.g. sacrificially providing opportunities (educational, social, financial, etc) without being willing to take away those privileges if the kid is behaving badly... parents giving money to a kid who is married, jobless, homeless, etc and enabling his continued unruly lifestyle, etc.

But it is beautiful to see a parent both giving and taking away, toward the goal of seeing his/her child become an upright and mature adult.   The parent gives gifts of toys, social opportunities, educational opportunities, field trips, delicious foods, money, etc, constantly pondering what new gifts he/she might be able to give.... while being ready to take away, withold, punish, spank, scold, etc whenever the child needs it.  In engineering terms the parent is keeping open a wide dynamic range of parental reference signal to the child.

4.  As I currently understand it, this process looks different depending on whether the person is being drawn by God or not (or whether the person is seeking God or not through God's Spirit working in their heart, or whether the person is one of God's elect 'sheep' or not... different ways of saying the same thing).

If the person is being drawn by God, when God gives a good gift to them, he/she respond in delight and thanksgiving --- 'wow, thanks God!! I never knew life could be this good... my perspective on the upper end of the realm of possibility has just been expanded... if being-with-You-in-heaven is better than THIS, then it must be far better than thought previously...'  Then when God takes away that good thing, or brings some hardship into his/her life, they respond like Job - 'ok God, for some reason in your better/wiser plan You have taken this away for some good purpose... thank You that what I possess in having/knowing/being-connected-with You Yourself is far better than anything I have lost or could ever possibly lose here on earth... thank You for the reminder, in this loss, that my true Treasure is not this thing, but You... ' (Lamentations 3:24, 1 Cor 7:29-31, John 17:1-5, etc)

But the non-elect person responds differently... when God sends the good gift, it only dulls the spiritual sensibilities and cases the person to be more entrenched against God, if He comes to mind at all ("ok God, here's one thing I'm never going to let you take away from me"), and when God sends the pain or takes away the gift, it only causes rage and bitterness against God.  Again C.S.Lewis' story is powerful -- of the dwarves in "The Last Battle" who, although seated in a beautiful meadow and presented with a delicious banquet, are unable to see/enjoy it for what it is and end up less satisfied than before.   Cf. Revelation 9:20-21, 16:9,11...

5.  www.beerisproof.org says these things more coherently than I.   From their website: "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

Quoting Lewis again: "Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

6. Someone, probably Lewis again, has compared the "far-better"-ness of life-with-God to the scenario of trying to explain the pleasures of sex to a little child.  "Is it better than eating chocolate or playing with Legos?" the child asks incredulously.  How could something possibly be better than Legos? or chocolate??

Or consider a boy playing on his Xbox.  He is so engrossed by the game that he barely hears his mom say that she and his dad and the rest of his family are now waiting in the car to begin their family vacation at the beach.   "That's nice," he mumbles, eyes fixed on the screen.  His mom suddenly reaches over and abruptly switches off the power.  At first the boy is upset.  But as soon as he reaches the beach, he begins to become secretly grateful that he was forced to leave his game.   Why?

There are categories of joy that apparently we cannot even begin to grasp... and the same applies to what God is doing in His parenting of us...   He gives us delightful gifts, to shock us into realizing that there is a far greater joy awaiting us than we had imagined existed.  He then takes takes away those gifts and pours heartache into our lives, to shock us into remembering that this world is not our home and we ought not to pretend like it is.  He then repeats the cycle.

Blessing and heartache, blessing and heartache, "happiness and tears", bigger and bigger every month, wrenching our hearts out of joint, overflowing us with blessing beyond our capacity even to say 'thank you', grinding us under pains so great we can't even begin to explain them to our friends, every year upping the amplitude of life's circumstances and timing the phase just right to shatter our complacent little lives...       WHY?        As I asked above, "is God an "indian-giver"?   Is He capricious, feeling benevolent one day but feeling grumpy the next?"     Or, does He have an awesome purpose... is He parenting us with deliberate care to grow in us huge anticipation/delight/longing...     for the only 'thing' that can ultimately satisfy us... that is, Himself........

 

 However, as it is written:
"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love Him."     I Corinthians 2:9

 

 

I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Psalm 27:13

God has pointed me recently to meditate even more on His promises and to trust even more fully in them.  This is good...  God always keeps His word, and the more we exercise faith in Him through difficult times, the more glory accrues to Him and the more pleased He is...

However, we can't just pick promises randomly from the Bible and think that they apply to us individually.  For example, in Psalm 27:13 above, David says that he expected that God would rescue him here, in this life.  How could David know this?  Because God had specifically promised him that he would someday be king over Israel (1 Samuel 16).  If he died, God's promise would fail.  So he had this life-prophecy over him, that essentially no one could kill him, until God had brought him to the kingship.  Nice promise for a warrior to have, yes?  So we have David killing Goliath, fighting other Philistines, running around for years in the desert trying to keep away from Saul, etc.  He knew what God had promised to him, but when times were very bleak (such as 1 Samuel 30:6 after losing his wife, or 1 Samuel 23:26 being surrounded by a hostile army) the question would press in upon him - would he continue to hold on to God's promise?  David said the thing that kept him from despair was believing that God would show him the goodness of the Lord here in this life.

Does Psalm 27:13 apply to everyone?  Consider this passage from Hebrews 11:32-40 -

And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets,  who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions,  quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection;
and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection;  and others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment.  They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated  (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.
 And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised,  because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.

We see that many of God's adopted children do NOT receive rescue and vindication here in this life, "in the land of the living".   Instead, many of them die...  in poverty and pain.   God has not promised earthly happiness for His children.  Instead:

And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you.  5"For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many.  6"You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.  7"For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.  8"But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.
9"Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.  10"At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.  11"Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.  12"Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold.  13"But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. Matthew 24:4
and
Then He continued by saying to them, "Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, 11and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.
12"But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name's sake.  13"It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony.  14"So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves;  15for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.  16"But you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death,  17and you will be hated by all because of My name.
18"Yet not a hair of your head will perish. Luke 21:10

What does this mean, that "they will put some of you to death", but "not a hair of your head will perish"?   Were these two statements compiled by different redactors, one 'pessimistic' and one 'optimistic'?  Was Jesus absent-minded or loony?

On the contrary - Jesus simply viewed life from an eternal perspective... i.e., that this earthly life is only a short prelude to the real thing.  More statements by Jesus - "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." - Matt 10:28 ...   "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." - Matt 5:10-12 ...

I think these juxtaposed statements mean that ALL the promises of God to His children will be fulfilled, but not all of them will be fulfilled here in this life.  For example, He says "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4)   He does NOT promise that this will happen this week, or in the next fifty years, or at all during your earthly life.  But eventually it will happen.

Regarding whether God will fulfill the promises before we die or not, I think Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego's attitude is best...  from Daniel chapter 3 - "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. "But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up."

Why?  Because "even if He does not" answer our prayers for deliverance in this earthly life, He will eventually answer them, in the life to come.

When a situation comes up that makes it look like God's promise (e.g. Romans 8:28) is failing, we have two choices: either say "I don't see how God could possibly redeem this situation... Oh well, it looks like God messed up here...", or say "I don't see how God could possibly redeem this situation... so it will be very interesting to see what really big miracle He's going to pull to turn THIS out for good..."

So what are some of these promises which you and I (believers in Jesus Christ) can stake everything on? ...because of which, as Paul says, we can willingly "suffer the loss of all things"?  Here are some... first some specific promises, then some good and bad examples of faith or lack thereof...

• And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
  For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
  What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
  Romans 8:28-32
• Do not fret because of evildoers,
  Be not envious toward wrongdoers.
  For they will wither quickly like the grass
  And fade like the green herb.
  Trust in the LORD and do good;
  Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
  Delight yourself in the LORD;
  And He will give you the desires of your heart.
  Commit your way to the LORD,
  Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
  He will bring forth your righteousness as the light
  And your judgment as the noonday.
  Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him;
  Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
  Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
  Psalm 37:1-7
• Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness.
  Surely my soul remembers
  And is bowed down within me.
  This I recall to my mind,
  Therefore I have hope.
  The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
  For His compassions never fail.
  They are new every morning;
  Great is Your faithfulness.
  "The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
  "Therefore I have hope in Him."
  The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
  To the person who seeks Him.
  It is good that he waits silently
  For the salvation of the LORD.
  It is good for a man that he should bear
  The yoke in his youth.
  Let him sit alone and be silent
  Since He has laid it on him.
  Let him put his mouth in the dust,
  Perhaps there is hope.
  Let him give his cheek to the smiter,
  Let him be filled with reproach.
  For the Lord will not reject forever,
  For if He causes grief,
  Then He will have compassion
  According to His abundant lovingkindness.
  For He does not afflict willingly
  Or grieve the sons of men.
  Lamentations 3:19-33
• "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us." Romans 8:18

• "For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:17-18
• "Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Matthew 6:31-33
• "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,  and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away."  And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true.""  Revelation 21:1-5
• Trust in the LORD with all your heart
  And do not lean on your own understanding.
  In all your ways acknowledge Him,
  And He will make your paths straight.
  Proverbs 3:5-6
• "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
  In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls."
  1 Peter 1:3-9
• "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:14-16
• On that day, when evening came, He said to them, "Let us go over to the other side." Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?" And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Hush, be still." And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?" They became very much afraid and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?"  Mark 4:35-41
• Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:6-7
• Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you," so that we confidently say,"The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?"  Hebrews 13:5

 

I am not skilled to understand

What God has willed, what God has planned

I only know at God's right hand

Stands One who is my Savior.......
..................
Genesis 22:1-18

 ¹Now it came about after these things, that God tested [literally, "sniffed"] Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."

 ²He said, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you."

 ³So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

 ⁴On the third day Abraham raised his eyes and saw the place from a distance.

 ⁵Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you."

 ⁶Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together.

 ⁷Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father!" And he said, "Here I am, my son." And he said, "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"

 ⁸Abraham said, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." So the two of them walked on together.

 ⁹Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.

 ¹⁰Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

 ¹¹But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am."

 ¹²He said, "Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me."

 ¹³Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.

 ¹⁴Abraham called the name of that place The Lord Will Provide, as it is said to this day, "In the mount of the Lord it will be provided."

 ¹⁵Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven,

 ¹⁶and said, "By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son,

 ¹⁷indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.

 ¹⁸"In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."

 ...................

 

Why three days?   Why his "only son"?

That's a long time to be walking down the road, wondering why God would ask for his most precious possession... whether he had understood God correctly...  whether or not it would be worth it to obey...

 

.....................

 

Lamentations 3:25-33

   ²⁵The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.
²⁶It is good that he waits silently
For the salvation of the Lord.
²⁷It is good for a man that he should bear
The yoke in his youth.
²⁸Let him sit alone and be silent
Since He has laid it on him.
²⁹Let him put his mouth in the dust,
Perhaps there is hope.
³⁰Let him give his cheek to the smiter,
Let him be filled with reproach.
³¹For the Lord will not reject forever,
³²For if He causes grief,
Then He will have compassion
According to His abundant lovingkindness.
³³For He does not afflict willingly
Or grieve the sons of men.
Matthew 19:29

"And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name's sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life."

James 5:11

We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful....

 

    ¹I am the man who has seen affliction
Because of the rod of His wrath.
²He has driven me and made me walk
In darkness and not in light.
³Surely against me He has turned His hand
Repeatedly all the day.
⁴He has caused my flesh and my skin to waste away,
He has broken my bones.
⁵He has besieged and encompassed me with bitterness and hardship.
⁶In dark places He has made me dwell,
Like those who have long been dead.
⁷He has walled me in so that I cannot go out;
He has made my chain heavy.
⁸Even when I cry out and call for help,
He shuts out my prayer.
⁹He has blocked my ways with hewn stone;
He has made my paths crooked.
¹⁰He is to me like a bear lying in wait,
Like a lion in secret places.
¹¹He has turned aside my ways and torn me to pieces;
He has made me desolate.
¹²He bent His bow
And set me as a target for the arrow.
¹³He made the arrows of His quiver
To enter into my inward parts.
¹⁴I have become a laughingstock to all my people,
Their mocking song all the day.
¹⁵He has filled me with bitterness,
He has made me drunk with wormwood.
¹⁶He has broken my teeth with gravel;
He has made me cower in the dust.
¹⁷My soul has been rejected from peace;
I have forgotten happiness.
¹⁸So I say, "My strength has perished,
And so has my hope from the LORD."
¹⁹Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness.
²⁰Surely my soul remembers
And is bowed down within me.
²¹This I recall to my mind,
Therefore I have hope.
²²The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
²³They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
    ²⁴"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
"Therefore I have hope in Him."
²⁵The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.
²⁶It is good that he waits silently
For the salvation of the LORD.
²⁷It is good for a man that he should bear
The yoke in his youth.
²⁸Let him sit alone and be silent
Since He has laid it on him.
²⁹Let him put his mouth in the dust,
Perhaps there is hope.
³⁰Let him give his cheek to the smiter,
Let him be filled with reproach.
³¹For the Lord will not reject forever,
³²For if He causes grief,
Then He will have compassion
According to His abundant lovingkindness.
³³For He does not afflict willingly
Or grieve the sons of men.
³⁴To crush under His feet
All the prisoners of the land,
³⁵To deprive a man of justice
In the presence of the Most High,
³⁶To defraud a man in his lawsuit--
Of these things the Lord does not approve.
³⁷Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass,
Unless the Lord has commanded it?
³⁸Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
That both good and ill go forth?
³⁹Why should any living mortal, or any man,
Offer complaint in view of his sins?
⁴⁰Let us examine and probe our ways,
And let us return to the LORD.
⁴¹We lift up our heart and hands
Toward God in heaven;
⁴²We have transgressed and rebelled,
You have not pardoned.
⁴³You have covered Yourself with anger
And pursued us;
You have slain and have not spared.
⁴⁴You have covered Yourself with a cloud
So that no prayer can pass through.
⁴⁵You have made us mere offscouring and refuse
In the midst of the peoples.
⁴⁶All our enemies have opened their mouths against us.
⁴⁷Panic and pitfall have befallen us,
Devastation and destruction;
⁴⁸My eyes run down with streams of water
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.
⁴⁹My eyes pour down unceasingly,
Without stopping,
⁵⁰Until the LORD looks down
And sees from heaven.
⁵¹My eyes bring pain to my soul
Because of all the daughters of my city.
⁵²My enemies without cause
Hunted me down like a bird;
⁵³They have silenced me in the pit
And have placed a stone on me.
⁵⁴Waters flowed over my head;
I said, "I am cut off!"
⁵⁵I called on Your name, O LORD,
Out of the lowest pit.
⁵⁶You have heard my voice,
"Do not hide Your ear from my prayer for relief,
From my cry for help."
⁵⁷You drew near when I called on You;
You said, "Do not fear!"
⁵⁸O Lord, You have pleaded my soul's cause;
You have redeemed my life.
⁵⁹O LORD, You have seen my oppression;
Judge my case.
⁶⁰You have seen all their vengeance,
All their schemes against me.
⁶¹You have heard their reproach, O LORD,
All their schemes against me.
⁶²The lips of my assailants and their whispering
Are against me all day long.
⁶³Look on their sitting and their rising;
I am their mocking song.
⁶⁴You will recompense them, O LORD,
According to the work of their hands.
⁶⁵You will give them hardness of heart,
Your curse will be on them.
⁶⁶You will pursue them in anger and destroy them
From under the heavens of the LORD!

(Lamentations 3)

Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."
But when Jesus heard this, He said, "This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it."
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.
Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."
...
So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.
Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off;
and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother.
Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house.
Martha then said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
"Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You."
Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."
Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day."
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?"
She said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world."
When she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you."
And when she heard it, she got up quickly and was coming to Him.
Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met Him.
Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and consoling her, when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."
When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see."
Jesus wept.
So the Jews were saying, "See how He loved him!"
But some of them said, "Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?"
So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.
Jesus said, "Remove the stone." Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days."
Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?"
So they removed the stone Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. "I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me."
When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth."
The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."   (John 11)

... a day to gratefully remember those who have given their lives in service to our country and who are currently serving.  I am thankful.  Yet I can't help thinking that our country needs hardship more than it needs peace, to straighten out many of its problems (i.e. by pointing it back to God).  May God's will be done (in the coming election and beyond).

... a day also to remember one's own life.  God has been so good to me.  Loving and God-focused family, physical provision, many friends and especially a few very close friends, but most of all, The Gift of Jesus Christ coming to earth and dying for me / to pay for my sins, so that I could live with Him and the rest of the redeemed people in heaven forever.   Wow.

... one year ago today, life was extremely exciting, and also confusing and stressful.  Today, life is still confusing and stressful, but it is rather more 'bleak' than 'exciting'...  except for heaven, which is hopefully coming soon.  God lovingly removes the (relatively) cheap treasures of our lives so we can better see the value of the genuine treasure He has already given to us (those of us who are believers in Christ)....

"...God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19

Recall Paul and Barnabas, great friends and missionary partners, and their major disagreement which caused them to part ways rather than traveling together for the rest of their lives?

'How sad', might be the first reaction.  Yet God used their separate efforts for even greater good than if they had been joined together.  'How wonderfully God worked it out for good,' might be a better summary.

And so it may turn out for many of us as well.  Especially in these 'last days'.

 

--

 

Also, I heard this quote today from a visiting scientist:

"I'm from Scotland.  I believe that it's actually important to know what's going on.  If I was from England, the only important thing would be knowing who's in charge, and making sure I'm friends with him."

He he he.

There's something to be said for both approaches...   Especially and fundamentally, in our relationship with God the Creator, we can stop worrying and leave the 'outcomes' to Him, as our Father in heaven.  Ponder this statement that Jesus made in John 18:11-

Simon Peter then, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's slave, and cut off his right ear; and the slave's name was Malchus.  So Jesus said to Peter, "Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?"

One might think that if ever Jesus had a reason to balk and refuse to obey His Father, this would be the time...  He knew exactly what torment the Father was guiding Him toward, unlike his disciples who were in denial and refused to listen to His predictions.   But so deep was His trust, that Jesus figured whatever the Father was asking Him to do, even death and Hell, was ultimately the best and most desirable thing to do.   A "Though He slay me, still I will hope in Him" attitude...   Trust...  Hope...

"...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

...and love.