WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE WE? ASK ISAIAH.

And some people ignorantly say the Bible is irrelevant.  Check out this passage from Isaiah 3:1-15, which describes the condition Israel allowed themselves to get into through their reckless godlessness and the judgment that God brought upon them.

Chapter 3

Judgment against Judah

1 The Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, will take away from Jerusalem and Judah everything they depend on: every bit of bread and every drop of water,
2 all their heroes and soldiers, judges and prophets, fortune-tellers and elders,
3 army officers and high officials, advisers, skilled craftsmen, and astrologers.

4 I will make boys their leaders, and toddlers their rulers.
5 People will oppress each other— man against man, neighbor against neighbor. Young people will insult their elders, and vulgar people will sneer at the honorable.

6 In those days a man will say to his brother, “Since you have a coat, you be our leader! Take charge of this heap of ruins!”
7 But he will reply, “No! I can’t help. I don’t have any extra food or clothes. Don’t put me in charge!”

8 For Jerusalem will stumble, and Judah will fall, because they speak out against the Lord and refuse to obey him. They provoke him to his face.
9 The very look on their faces gives them away. They display their sin like the people of Sodom and don’t even try to hide it. They are doomed! They have brought destruction upon themselves.

10 Tell the godly that all will be well for them. They will enjoy the rich reward they have earned!
11 But the wicked are doomed, for they will get exactly what they deserve.

12 Childish leaders oppress my people, and women rule over them. O my people, your leaders mislead you; they send you down the wrong road.

13 The Lord takes his place in court and presents his case against his people!
14 The Lord comes forward to pronounce judgment on the elders and rulers of his people: “You have ruined Israel, my vineyard. Your houses are filled with things stolen from the poor.
15 How dare you crush my people, grinding the faces of the poor into the dust?” demands the Lord, theLord of Heaven’s Armies.

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Truth?

The word "truth" is substituted in the title for the common word "wolf" because truth that doesn't correspond to what a person wants to accept as truth is viewed as threatening---like a wolf.  In the past few decades America has largely moved from valuing freedom of expression and being a marketplace for diverse ideas to condemning and attempting to censure any ideas that challenge the opinions of the power-brokers of opinion in the media, education, and politics.  A recent example was the provision of free counseling to college students in Cleveland who may feel distressed about having the Republican Convention in their city.  The implication is that those conservatives can be scary. 

As we are now, July 21st, between the Republican and Democratic Conventions, it is tragic that rather than listening and considering what both parties have to say, many Americans will only listen to the advocates for the party with which they have historically identified, and believe the report and appraisal they give of what the other party represents.  And as is pointed out in Good Faith, social media and the ways people connect with those who share their views have further divided people of differing thought by enabling them to huddle with like-minded folk and reinforce their ideas unchallenged. 

Jesus stated a truth that explains this general pattern pf human nature as well as the specific thing He was speaking about.  

John 3:19-21 This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” 

Human nature is that we don't like to be corrected, or be told something we want isn't legitimate or do-able. 

As we pray for our country during these next few months leading to elections, it seems an appropriate petition would be to ask the Lord to reveal truth to those who fear and avoid it as well as to those who value and seek it out.  And part of that is that He would reveal how differences in leadership and values have affected and will affect the course of our lives and the future of the country.  Proverbs warns that there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. (14:12 and 16:25) However, sometimes when we come face to face with the outcomes of our decisions we change our minds about what we are willing to subscribe to.  

All the politicians say "God bless America."  May God bless America with revelation of truth and outcomes lest we continue plunging toward more darkness and destruction.  Amen.

FLOWERS FROM "FERTILIZER"
I frequently wheel through neighborhoods on my laid-back trike getting my exercise and some relaxed thinking time.  An interesting thought has occurred to me as I often have gotten wonderful quick whiffs of flowers or nasty smelling fertilizers--the stinky stuff that is animal waste, and yet fertile with possibilities for nurturing plants that produce fragrant blooms.  It often happens in moving along that the smell of one is suddenly replaced with the smell of the other.  
Our lives are sometimes like that. We can make bad choices, life can throw obstacles in our path, and our life can smell like fertilizer.  But if we will do what the Bible exhorts us in James chapter 1, and let God work in us through those times, we can eventually experience beauty and fragrance resulting from it.  Isaiah 61:3 is a prophecy about Jesus, and says that He will do just that sort of thing in us.  "To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified."

I'M BATMAN; YOU'RE SUPERMAN 

When I entered the house to supervise my 2 and 5 year-old grandsons, they were running around with caped pajamas that distinguished them as super-heroes, as they were flexing imagined muscles and shouting their alter-identities.  More about them in a minute. 

Philippians 2:9-11 as well as numerous other passages assure us that the time will come when everyone will understand and acknowledge who Jesus Christ really is.  "For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." 

As I was pondering this and thinking about the religious or non-religious people around the world who hold a plethora of widely varying opinions about God, gods, spirits, powers, life, death, good, evil, values, etc., several thoughts came to mind:   

• One, is that everyone has some level of belief that their perspective is accurate.  Some say they have no idea how it all fits together, but even that is usually based on a belief that truth is non-existent or unknowable. Everybody is trying to figure out life on planet Earth. 
• Two, is that it is natural for people to try to understand these things and resolve the ultimate issues of who we are, where we came from, why we're here, and what might come after.  Last weekend I sat next to a college student on an airplane, and when I asked him how in his own mind he deals with these ultimate issues he said, "I don't know. To be honest, it scares me to death." He admitted to having not read the Bible or knowing much about Christianity. 
• Three, recognizing and respecting the fact that everyone wrestles with these issues and we all come to them from different backgrounds and teachings is fundamental to honoring each other and having a platform for helpful discourse.  Whatever we believe or think we know, insisting that we are right and anyone who disagrees with us is either evil or stupid slams the door on their listening or dealing kindly with us.  Jesus dealt kindly with unbelievers, but harshly with those who knew the truth about God, yet were proud and rigid about it while not having the love of God in their hearts. 
• Four, I thought about some of the ways I've heard suggested that this eventual revelation that Jesus Christ is Lord will come about.  I remember hearing someone say that some burly ten-foot angels will command everyone to drop and bow, and from fear of retribution even the most rebellious will obey. I don't think that's what will produce the universal, humble confession.  

Back to my super-hero grandsons.  In their minds they are powerful when they don their costumes and strut around the living room. In their small, safe, uninitiated world they feel big and in charge. As they grow and learn they will realize they aren't nearly so powerful, and that for even the most powerful people on earth there are kryptonites of sickness, failure, ignorance, accidents, etc., and eventually death.  We are not super-heroes, much less gods or God!  Because these boys are being raised to know the Bible, to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior and be filled with the Holy Spirit, they will come to understand who God is and what can be known about ultimate issues. What a heritage! 

My main point here is that all people seek truth about life, but it comes by exposure to the Truth. There are many arrows in our world that claim direction to truth, and like in a maze of distorted mirrors people try to find their way along. We who know the Truth, Jesus, should be careful not to discredit or be impatient with those who are pursuing truth in other directions.  The Bible tells us that Satan himself appears as an angel of light in order to deceive people.  Is it any wonder people are confused, and didn't many of us who weren't raised in truly Christian families once wander in confusion and try in our own minds to either be super-heroes or at least to follow the examples of some we thought had special powers or insights?  The more confused and lost people are, the more they need to be shown the love of God and the persevering but not pretentious presence of Christians who are not put off and disgusted by their ignorant pursuit of things that appear to them for the present to be right and good. 

I believe that the fulfillment of Philippians 2 will come by God's revealing Himself. When people are overwhelmed by the undeniable revelation of Who Jesus really is, all super-hero pajamas will be shed, and all will humbly acknowledge Who is the real Way, Truth and Life. (John 14:6) Our assignment for the present is to represent Him well in all His character and lead people to experience for themselves His life-transforming power.  

(2 Corinthians 5:16-21 Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.) 

My response to a scathing ridicule and criticism of Christians and the Bible

Whatever your views may be, someone said, “No one is as intolerant as the one who insists on imposing his definition of tolerance on everyone else.” I happen to be a person who believes the claims of the Bible and history that Jesus Christ is God, and I am trusting and following Him as my Savior. I don’t expect those who don’t believe or choose to follow Him to live as I do, and it’s not my place to judge them. While there are some on both sides of the issue who rabidly accuse and judge those who disagree with them, it seems most sincere Christians as well as many who don’t claim to be Christians are willing to live peaceably with others. As a believer in Christ and the Bible, I wonder sometimes if those who are so offended by the very existence of people like me aren’t fighting against what they inwardly believe and fear to be true about God more than against anything I am doing that doesn’t even directly affect them. My simply being a believer in something they don’t want to be true feels threatening, and thus they see me as a messenger they want to shoot rather than consider the message I represent.

Who is GOD?

From Exodus 20:1-2 "Then God spoke all these words, saying,"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery."  

Before giving the Ten Commandments to Moses for the people, God identified Himself clearly so there would be no mistaking the authority of who was telling them what to do or not to do.  And the question "Who is God?" or "What is the governing authority in my life?" is one every person answers in some fashion, both in word and in action.

When God said, "I am the Lord," He was identifying Himself as the One in charge.  He wasn't their servant, even though He had served them wonderfully in delivering them from bondage and oppression.  They should be clear on that point.

When God said, "I am ...your God," He identified Himself with the Israelites as the God to whom they should be looking.  And when He said, "I am ...who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery," He was pinpointing the proof of His claims of being "the Lord your God."

This question, "Who is God?" is the most important question for every person to answer and be clear about in their own mind and heart.  We will serve as our lord whatever or whomever we consider to be the authority or benefactor of our lives.  For some it's money.  For others it's comfort.  For some it's power or fame.  For some it's just the security of having friends.  But ultimately, we all serve some one or some thing.  And what or whom our "god" is will ultimately determine the direction and destiny of our lives.  It is not a question to trivialize or ignore.

Feeling Sick? It could be humility.

Humility is so much the essence of the Holy Spirit, yet so foreign to human nature, that when humility clothes an individual after an exceptional divine encounter or in response to experiencing a failure or shortcoming, our typical reaction is to soon perceive humility as a temporary sickness from which we must quickly recover, rallying our prideful reasonings and minimizing of our weaknesses to assist us in healing from the experience which felt so painful to our self-esteem. We would be so much advantaged in our lives if we could acquire a virulent, incurable case of the stuff!  Philippians 2

TO WHOM ARE YOU LISTENING?

The first few chapters of Genesis certainly raise some interesting questions and make some emphatic points.

Chapter 3, verse 17 makes it clear that God holds each of us accountable for our own decisions.  And listening to anybody--even a spouse or family member--who is contradicting what God has clearly said is no excuse for disobedience.

Then to Adam He said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it'; cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

The apostle Paul seems to have given a similar warning in his inspired first letter to the Corinthians (15:32-34)

 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” Become sober-minded as you ought, and stop sinning; for some have no knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.

Following bad counsel has costly consequences.  The oft quoted Proverb in 3:5-8 deserves its frequent repetition and heeding.

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.

Do not be wise in your own eyes;

Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

It will be healing to your body

And refreshment to your bones.