Giving God props!

"Daniel answered the king, 'No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or diviners can show to the king the mystery that the king is asking, but there is a God in heaven who has revealed mysteries...'"

(Daniel 2:27-28)

The king had a brilliantly insane idea.  To cut through all of the pretenders, sycophants, and wanna-bees he asked his 'top men' (magicians, enchanters, & sorcerers) to interpret his dream... AFTER they tell him what his dream was ('cuz, shoot... anyone can make up an interpretation if they're heard the dream first, right?!?).  The top men, of course, told the king it was humanly impossible.  Period.  So the king ordered their execution.  Daniel was given the role of chief executioner.  But before he carried out that duty, he prayed that God might reveal to him what the king dreamed.  Sure enough, by the grace of God, Daniel answered the king's request - and he gave God all the credit.

Which got me wondering... how often do I give God the credit for the numerous ways He's blessed me and enabled me to be who I am, with all my gifts & abilities?  Really, it's not about me.  It's God's strength, inspiration, and empowerment.  I don't think I let others know that enough.  Shame on me.  Full props to God!  AMEN.

For the sake of the children...

"Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches!  Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord!  Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint for hunger at the head of every street."

(Lamentations 2:19)

The book of Lamentations truly lives up to its name - it's a lament (and kinda depressing!).  Jerusalem has been destroyed by the Babylonians - the nation of Judah (Israel) is in turmoil... it appears that all is lost.  The writer reminds the people of their unfaithfulness as the reason why calamity has struck... and also calls the people to PRAY.  To pray for their children, who are literally starving.

"Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children."  Has there ever been more sage advice for us parents?  We don't have to have our city being overrun by foreign invaders, do we, to be reminded to intercede for our kids?  Our love, indeed, is great, isn't it?  Then why do we fail to lift them up to God on a regular, consistent & intentional basis?  We are called to "pour out our hearts" to God for our kids. 

PRAYER: Forgive me, O God, for the casual way I've prayed for my two children.  Help me to be more consistent & persistent, starting today.  I place them completely into your hands... AMEN.

No Remedy?!?

"The LORD, the God of their ancestors, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place; but they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD against his people became so great that there was no remedy."

(2 Chronicles 36:15-16)

The ends of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles recount the fall of Jerusalem by the Babylonian army and the subsequent exile/captivity for the Hebrews.  But this passage in 2 Chronicles 36 gives a very succint explanation of "WHY?!"  It was not an isolated incident.  It was the result of generation upon generation of people who refused to listen to, be led by, and follow the LORD.  And it's not like God was distant and aloof all those years either, telling the people, "You know where to find me if you want me."  No.  God sent messengers and prophets - but they ignored and mocked and despised and scoffed at them.  Until "there was no remedy."  They finally had to face the consequences of centuries of sin.

I wonder if we're guilty of the same today?  Oh, maybe not the same sins as our ancient Hebrew ancestors on the eve of the Babylonian invasion... but might we be guilty of "mocking the messengers of God" (especially if they're from another denomination or have a different "theological persuasion" than us?)... or "despising God's words" (which are available to us in abundance through the bible - if only we'd read/listen)... or "scoffing at his prophets" (our church leaders/visionaries who might be asking us to consider new opportunities God has placed before us)?  The risk we face by following this path is that, over time, we might spur God's wrath to such an extent that there would be NO REMEDY.

And yet... and yet... (here's the Good News, friends!)... there still is hope.  For as followers of Jesus, we believe that no matter how hopeless we may be - no matter how messed up we allow our lives to get - no matter how far away from God we stray... JESUS is our remedy.  He stands in the gap between God and our sinfulness... and brings reconciliation.  That's love.  that's grace.  That's Jesus.

PS>  The David Crowder Band has a song called "Remedy" that would serve as a great "soundtrack' for this reflection today.  Check it out on i-Tunes or Youtube today!

Harps & Bowls

"When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each holding a harp & golden bowl of incense, which are the prayers of the saints."

(Revelation 5:8)

Puffy white clouds... lots of harps... angels with wings... that's the "Hallmark version" of Heaven.  Sickening sweet & sterile.  And yet, when we get into the last book of the Bible - REVELATION - the picture actually changes a bit.  No clouds are mentioned.  There are 'celestial beings' with harps - but they're the "Twenty-Four Elders" (the number 24 probably coming from the 12 Tribes of Israel + the 12 Apostles of Jesus!).  Their job is to worship Jesus (the Lamb who was slain).  it's not their harps, but that they're holding in their OTHER hands that intrigued me, though.  Golden bowls of incense.  (Could this be a nod of solidarity to our Buddhist brothers and sisters?!?)  The bowls hold, we are told, "the prayers of the saints."  Wow!  How cool is that?!?

What an image - our prayers gathered in golden bowls... held by those closest to the King... standing before the throne of God... with our prayers wafting up to the Throne as incense smoke rises.  Awesome.

And yet, the question that strikes me hardest as I write this... have I been filling the golden bowls?  Sure I know we an pray anytime & anywhere... but do we?  Do I?  Especially as the senior pastor of a church, my responsibility is huge!  I definitely have work to do here.

How about you?

What sins?

"In those days and at that time, says the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and none shall be found; for I will pardon the remnant that I have spared."

(Jeremiah 50:20)

As we read through the Old Testament, we encounter indictment after indictment of the Hebrew people by God.  They were not living as a people "set apart" in righteousness.  God sent prophet after prophet to bring them back to Him.  This had little impact.  So God allowed 2 major exiles to take place.  The people were carried away from their homeland & forced to live for 2 generations in a foreign land (Assyria for the Northern tribes & Babylon for the Southern tribes).  So it's somewhat surprising to read Jeremiah 50:20... "the iniquity of Israel will be sought, and there shall be none; the sin of Judah and none shall be found."

The truth is that the Hebrew Scriptures contain a laundry list of the sins of Israel (Northern tribes) and Judah (Southern tribes).  But int he eyes of God, their sins are no more.  Gone. Vanished.  Wiped Clean.  Forgiven.  (What sins?!?)

Sometimes we get the picture that God is like a Divine Judge who calls us into court & listens to the evidence against us before choosing to give us leniency.  "Despite all I see against you," we hear God say, "I'm going to let you off with a warning.  BUT DON'T LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN, you hear!?!?"  According to Jeremiah 50, however, it's a bit different.  It's more like God is that friend who always stands up for us - even when we're in trouble.  'You ain't got nothing on him,' he says to others about us.  'Go look it up and see for yourself!'  And sure enough, our past sins are nowhere to be found. 

We've all got things in our past (and present!??!) that we're not proud of.  Things we know we've done that we're ashamed of.  Thing we know have let God (and others) down.  We know, however, if we confess our sins, God has forgiven us.  But there's also that nagging feeling in the back of our minds that God still has "the list" of all our bad deeds somewhere in "safekeeping" - in case He needs to use it against us somewhere down the road.

The truth, my friends, is that there is no list.  When asked about it, God replies with all sincerity, "What sins?"

Wow.  Just wow!

"I surrender!"

"Then Jeremiah said to (King) Zedekiah, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of hosts, the god of Israel, If you will only surrender ot the officials of the king of Babylon, then your life shall be spared, and this city shall not be burned with fire and you and your house shall live.'"

(Jeremiah 38:17)

Faced with an onslaught by the invading Babylonian army, King Zedekiah of Judah was in a precarious situation.  "God will save us," cried many of his trusted advisers.  Jeremiah knew otherwise.  Defeat was immanent.  So his message to the king was simple: surrender!  Surrender & live.  Surrender & save the city.

Human nature is a flawed animal.  Pride reigns supreme - especially in us leaders.  To submit is to admit defeat (and weakness).  Zedekiah refused.  But instead of "fighting to the end," he and his officials chose to flee in the middle of the night.  They were caught, punished (his eyes were gouged out), and the city was destroyed.  If only he would have listened to God...

We're taught to "tough it out." To "fight to the end."  To "never give up & never surrender!"  And yet, could this story be telling us that there MAY be times when God might want us to surrender?  And I'm not talking about "surrendering our lives to Jesus," either.  We at least know how that's going to turn out.  No, I'm talking about surrendering in situations where it looks like we're giving in to "the enemy."  Where it seems as though to do so is to admit failure.  And yet, could it be that God might be wanting us to, on occasion, do just that?!?

In the 'BIG PICTURE' of things, the people of Israel needed to have those 70+ years in Babylonian exile to get re-centered and re-focused on God.  They'd been on a downward spiral for multiple generations prior and nothing God did seemed to make a difference.  So God allowed "the enemy" to win.  For a season at least.  Zedekiah tried to fight it (and look how that turned out!).

Now I'm not suggesting every calamity that strikes us is from God... nor that we should "give in" all the time.  But if God sends word to us - "Don't fight this... surrender... accept the momentary pain & humiliation, for I have a bigger picture in mind for you!"  Could we trust God through this kind of situation?  Could it be that God has a greater good in store for us, if only we'll surrender?!?

How crazy is that?!?

No 'Take Backs'!

"The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after King Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people in Jerusalem to make a proclamation of liberty to them - that all should set free their Hebrew slaves, male & female, so that no one should hold another Judean in slavery."

(Jeremiah 23:8-9)

Jerusalem was under siege!  The Babylonians were attacking & things weren't looking good for the "home team."  In the midst of the entanglement, God sent a message to the people through the prophet Jeremiah: "Release all your Hebrew slaves.  Now!"

Scholars postulate why this command might have been given God... the food supply was running low (releasing slaves would be less mouths to feed!)... freed slaves might help defend the city (D-FENSE!)... or even in the midst of crisis, it would turn many hearts (back) to the LORD.  And King Zedekiah listened and obeyed.  All Hebrew slaves were freed.  Hallelujah!

But then the Egyptian army (with ties to Judah) approached from the south & the Babylonians retreated (momentarily) to meet that resistance.  Jerusalem was given a reprieve (if only for a moment)!  Praise God!  So what did they do to celebrate?  They took back their (former) slaves.  WHAT!?!?  How sad is that?!?

God noticed.  He sent word back with Jeremiah that since the people disobeyed His directions to release their slaves, he would "grant them a release" - a release of pestilence, famine & sword!  God wanted no take backs!!  When He gave a command it was to be followed.  Period.  Not "when it's convenient" or "under stressful situations only" or "when it seems to your advantage."

I think if we're honest, we're guilty of this all the time.  God has given us the words of life in the Bible... not a follow-this-instruction-sheet kind of a listing, but a take-this-in-and-allow-God's-spirit-to-direct-your steps kind of thing.  But we often have "selective hearing" (or is it "selective reading?")... choosing to follow/obey when it's convenient or practical or to our advantage.  Whether it's an issue of financial stewardship or caring for the environment or working for peace or loving our enemies or reaching out to help the poor (the list could go on and on!)... there are numerous times we "take back" a commitment we've made to God.

May we have the courage to follow through on our discipleship with the Lord.  May we trust that god knows what He's talking about when He calls us to obey.  And may we come to know the joy that is a life lived in obedience!  AMEN.