Sept 14 - Psalm 94:12

Joyful are those

[who ________]

Psalm 94:12

Fill in the blank. What makes you joyful?

Hmm. 

Family makes me happy. (Most of the time. -- Hah! How many of you said that?!) 

Successes make me happy.

 

The smell of bacon in the morning is exquisite. Birthdays are fun. And Christmas is "the most wonderful time of the year," as Andy Williams used to sing.)

 

I'm not a huge back rub guy, but I actually dreamed last night of getting a good back rub. 

 

I'm a guy ... football season makes me happy. (As does the coinciding drop of humidity this time of the year.)

 

The taste of pizza, the smell of honeysuckle, the first glimpse of the mountain, the sound of birds, and the touch from my wife's hug. Those things make me happy. 

 

I actually have a book entitled something like "10001 things to make you happy." It's a long, long list. And while not every one of this author's make me happy, most make me smile. 

So fill in the blank. 

And remember, there's a difference between happiness and joy. 

Happiness is fleeting. Football season doesn't last. A birthday is just a day. The smell of bacon disappears about as soon as you eat it. 

 

Joy, however, is eternal. 

So fill in the blank. 

Indeed, would you believe this: Joyful are those you discipline, Lord.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! That's our verse for today?! Discipline doesn't make me happy! I want comfort and encouragement. I want blessings -- lots and lots of blessing. 

I want birthday cake and Christmas carols. Indeed, I want the third verse of "Away in Manger," right? "Bless all the dear children in your tender care ..."

But wait, what's the next part of that hymn? "And fit us for heaven, to live with thee there." 

That's discipline. 

Discipline is being fit for heaven ... daily. 

To "fit" us, God like a tailor (or master quilter) must cut off some rough edges and stitch us to things our sinful nature wouldn't attach to naturally. When we trust him, we become a masterpiece. When we don't, the threads of our lives unravel. 

Quilting requires needles and pin pricks and pain ... and growth. But it's worth it, because heaven is the eternal sight of sunrises, the smell of honeysuckle, and the sound of morning birds. Indeed, heaven is that good ... or infinitely better. 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who needs

to sing "discipline"

to the lullaby tune

of "Away in a Manger"

 

Sept 12-13 - Psalm 94:7,9

“The Lord isn’t looking,” they say ...
Is he deaf—the one who made your ears?

Is he blind—the one who formed your eyes?

Psalm 94:7,9

Have you ever felt that God isn't looking? Isn't caring? Isn't paying attention to the desperate situation in your life? 

 

Pastor Fran came to me recently with a book recommendation: Phillip Yancey's, "The Question that Never Goes Away: Why?"

 

Is that sometimes your question?

 

Yes, could say the first line of today's verses as a boast: "The Lord isn't looking [therefore, I can get away with whatever I want]." (That's really the context of this Psalm -- boastful enemies of Israel. Nevertheless ...)

 

We could also say these lines as a desperate plea -- Isn't the Lord looking? Doesn't he care? I am drowning! I am desperate! Help!

 

That's the heart. 

 

And the pains are real. Whelming. Over-whelming. 

 

Psalm 94 helps us balance our aching heart with the logic of heaven.

 

The next time that you are pondering whether God is watching, listening, caring, try to logic of verse 9: 

 

Is [the Lord] deaf—the one who made your ears?

Is he blind—the one who formed your eyes?

 

The Lord is bigger than you. He sees more. He hears all. He "knows people's thoughts" (verse 11). He hears your every cry. Indeed, the one who stitched together your caring heart has more love, compassion, generosity, righteous indignation, and tears than your caring heart. 

God is listening. Caring. When your heart aches, trust that he sees and cares. Trust that he will rescue -- maybe not on your preferred schedule, but in the end, and in ways that still bring life. 

 

That's head knowledge ... for when a heart is heavy. It helps a little. But that balance keeps us sane. 

 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who has a heart

because God has a heart

(a guy who is balding

because he wants to

keep me humble)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sept 11 - STRANGE PROPHECIES TODAY!!!

This week the stock market will suffer a devastating crash.

 

Furthermore, a major natural disaster is going to strike this month.

 

That's the prediction as several major (and minor) Biblical Prophecy threads intersect over the next few weeks.

 

What do you know about Biblical prophecy ... today?

 

·         First, God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

·         Second, God spoke to his people of old through the prophets.

·         Therefore, we should expect God to be continually active, consist, faithful, revealing, and fulfilling today.

·         And while we shouldn’t set dates (see Mt 24:36) …

·         We should be always be watchful, ready, and looking for what Jesus called the, “Signs of the Times” (Mt 16:3).

 

Therefore, let me present what current prophecy scholars are saying could take place this month. Not setting dates. Just saying, “Hmm” … and “Isn’t that curious?” … and sometimes … “Doesn’t that almost defy coincidence?”

 

Let me reveal something that seems to stunningly defy coincidence …

 

·         God’s calendar (the Jewish, lunar calendar) has 2555 days.

·         2555 days is actually six “normal years” … plus one “Sabbath (or shmita) year.” making a cohesive seven-year whole.

·         Well, did you know that the last two major stock market crashes worldwide occurred on this exact same 2555^th day of this Jewish cycle of years!  (Coincidence? What are the odds?)

·         And this 2555^th day is significant because it was the precise day – every seven years – that God told Israel to “release” debts and settle accounts. (Coincidence?)

·         If God’s people obeyed – voluntarily rested fields and released finances – God promised that this would be a year of blessing. But what if God’s people are not resting and releasing? Could this day – the Day of the Shmita – be a day of reckoning? a day that causes people to quit trusting in possessions and learn to trust in him?

·         And did you know that the next Shmita occurs this Sunday – September 13 on our solar based calendar, Elul 29 on the Jewish, lunar calendar.

·         What could happen?

 

Jonathan Cahn – a Messianic (Christ-believing) Jewish Rabbi in The Mystery of the Shemitah – has written a whole book analyzing the “beyond coincidence” events that are occurring every seventh/shmita year for the past hundred years.

 

·         Every major event in Israel’s “rebirth” as a nation is tied to this seven-year pattern.

·         World history and World Wars have been eerily tied to this seven-year pattern.

·         Every major event in America’s rise (and perhaps now decline) as a superpower is tied to this seven year pattern.

·         So has just about every major stock market shaking – seven year cycles, occurring mostly in the fall near this 2555^th day … and the last two precisely on this 2555^th day of reckoning (in 2001 in aftermath of 9/11, in 2008 right before the election of Obama as President).

 

Coincidence?

 

The Stock Market can’t collapse again on precisely this 2555^th day. (In America it’s a Sunday.) But what’s God some even more speculative than usual is looking at modern Israel’s history in combination of this 2555^th day. Every 49 years – seven cycles of seven – is to be a Jubilee year. The year of Jubilee start’s right after the 7^th 2555^th day.

 

Nobody knows when the Year of Jubilee is – because ancient Israel was never trusting-enough to actually celebrate it. Nevertheless, Jonathan Cahn speculates …

 

·         What if Modern Israel was formed in a Jubilee year? (That would mean maybe the Jubilee was 1917-18, coinciding with the end of WWI, the fall of the Middle-East-ruling Ottoman Empire, and the British Balfour Declaration which paved the way for the Jewish state.)

·         And what if Jerusalem, a conquered or divided city for over 2000 years, was reunified in a Jubilee year? (That would be forty night years later: 1966-67.)

·         And if those years were Jubilees, then when does the next great prophetic year begin? Next Monday! 1915-1916! Hmmm.

 

The shmita ends with, ideally, a voluntary releasing of debt (or maybe a forced reckoning of finances) on the last day of the Jewish year -- Elul 29.

 

Then the new year always begins with the blowing of the trumpet.

 

Jonathan Cahn asks, “Could this be the year of Jubilee?”

 

“Could it involve a monumental shaking – designed to shake us (including an increasingly apostate America) awake?”

 

Pastor John Hagee looks at a different set of signs, but with equal apprehension (or anticipation) depending on how you read these things.

 

Hagee looks at the Tetrad of Four Blood Moons culminating with a Lunar Eclipse this September 28^th. Only four times in modern history has a series of solar and lunar eclipses occurred in close series of appearance – and might I add, all on significant Jewish Holidays.

 

·         In 1491-1492, this Tetrad of Blood Moons corresponded with the Jews being evicted from Spain … leading fleeing Jews, along with Columbus, to discover “the New World.”

·         In 1947-1948, this Tetrad of Blood Moons corresponded with Israel becoming a state … after nearly 2000 years of Exile.

·         In 1966-1967, this Tetrad of Blood Moons corresponded with the reunification of Jerusalem … after more than 2000 years of occupation and division.

·         So what will happen on or around September 28 when this Tetrad falls on the major Jewish holiday of Sukkot?

 

Combining this scientific Blood Moon phenomenon … with major events in Jewish history … and a Joel 2:31 prophecy about the moons turning to blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord, has many saying, “Hmmm?!”

 

It’s caused others to go a step further.

 

This “Feast of Tabernacles” is a harvest festival, leading some people to wander if this Blood Moon harvesting could have anything to do with the End of Days Harvesting (often called the Rapture).

 

Jan Markell – another Messianic Jewish author – has noticed another almost-too-strange-to-be-true-coincidence. Though President Truman and America were major players in the forming of Israel in 1948, not all congresses and presidents have been equally favorable to Israel. And Markell has noticed that within days of every American rebuff of Israel, a significant natural disaster has occurred. For example …

 

·         Hurricanes Andrew and George coincide with land-for-peace talks in 1992 and 1998.

·         Massive flooding in Texas coincides with negotiations with the PLO in 1998.

·         President Clinton’s talks with Syria, attempting to strip Israel of the Golan Heights, coincide with the infamous Northridge Earthquake in 1994.

·         President Clinton’s negotiations with the PLO in 1999 coincide with the most powerful tornado ever recorded – 316mph winds tear apart sections of Oklahoma and Texas.

·         Other Clinton land-for-peace talks coincide with stock market falls, scandals breaking (Lewinsky), and the President’s impeachment.

·         Not to be outdone, the first President Bush started a land for peace conference in 1991, a freak east-to-west storm hit the American northeast with the largest waves ever – including 35-foot swells damaging the President’s Kennebunkport, Maine home.

·         And while the U.S. prompts the evicting of West Banks settlers in 1989 the Dow drops, a hurricane slams North Carolina, and 7.1 earthquake slams the Southwest (all on consecutive days).

 

Coincidence?

 

Well what happens this month when (and if) the Senate refuses (as expected) to override a promised veto of the President, essentially guaranteeing a nuclear pathway to a nation (Iran) who promises to destroy Israel?

 

Some are predicting a natural disaster.

 

So if the veto isn’t overridden and a disaster occurs is it judgment? or another coincidence? Hmm?!

 

Those are three strange coincidences set to converge in September. The question is: What do we do about such things?

 

1.    We always stay ready? Christ revealed that he could (and would) come at an expected time. And even if “this time” does not occur in any of our lifetimes, any of us could get hit by a bus tomorrow … and tomorrow could be our end times.

 

2.    We really should start watching for the signs of the times.

 

i.              Not fearfully. (After all, God did not give us a Spirit of Fear.)

ii.            Not hysterically. (Some set dates and get hysterical … leading others farther from God because we look like a bunch of crazies.) 

iii.           But with anticipation and expectation. (As Saint Paul essentially said in Romans 13:11, our salvation – including Christ’s coming again – is nearer now than when we first believed.)

 

3.    And this my urging – We start believing that God really is up to something in our world today.

 

As a nation we’re falling further and further from Biblical principles. And just like individuals can’t expect blessings in their lives when they turn away from God, we shouldn’t expect for God to bless America when we keep choosing to walk further and further away.

 

Our nation needs to repent. You and I do too. And that’s the beginning of revival. In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God said, “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked way, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sins and heal their land.” Yes, God was speaking specifically to Israel in this passage. Nevertheless, this is how God works.

 

If we humble ourselves.

 

And if we pray.

 

And if we seek his face.

 

And if we turn from our wicked ways.

 

I honestly believe something big is going on our world today. I’m not necessarily saying that it’s apocalyptic, but it’s big. And your future starts with you.

 

·         Jesus died to save you … and the whole world.

·         He wants to bless you … and the whole world.

·         He wants your heart back … and the whole world’s hearts back.

·         He loves you … and, John 3:16, he loves the whole world.

 

And nothing we do (or nothing that ever happens to us) will ever make sense until we let him more fully into our lives, trusting his provision and his forgiveness, and living his way.

 

Because Jesus is in my life, I am not afraid of whatever’s coming (including the 2.5-mile-wide comet that some soothsayers are prophesying will hit this month).

 

So … even if the economy crashes again, I know that my redeemer lives. Even if there’s a natural disaster, my God is the unshakable rock upon whom I stand. Even if America is toppled from its perch, no human is my king and no nation is my hope.

 

Our God reigns. And that’s the victorious hope we need to always proclaim.

 

And simultaneously, let’s be a little curious! Let’s keep looking for what God is doing and saying – prophetically, even apocalyptically – in our world today!

 

·         God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

·         God spoke to his people of old through the prophets.

·         Therefore, we should expect God to be continually active, consist, faithful, revealing, and fulfilling today.

·         And while we shouldn’t set dates (see Mt 24:36) …

·         We should be always be watchful, ready, and looking for what Jesus called the, “Signs of the Times” (Mt 16:3).

 

In Christ’s Love,

a watchman on the wall

who’s not sure

what he’s seeing

 

 

 

 

Sept 8 - Psalm 90:10

Seventy years are given to us!
Some even live to eighty.
But even the best years

are filled with pain and trouble;
soon they disappear,

and we fly away.

Psalm 90:10

Jesus got 33 years on earth.

Seventy is twice that.

But why do I think I deserve even half that?

I'm a pretty good guy ... by worldly standards, at least. But I'm still sinful and unclean. Why do I think I deserve anything but trouble and pain. 

In our world we act entitled. We may not say it allowed, but deep down we all think that we deserve health and comfort. We're entitled to it. (Americans especially feel comfortable and entitled ...) because if we don't get it, too many of us act like we have a right to be depressed ... even angry at God. 

This verse is a remedy to our entitlement ... a sad, unwelcome remedy. We deserve pain and punishment. There, I said it. But we surely don't like it. 

Without God to lift us above our brokenness, we're just animals. It's survival of the fittest. I fished a dead possum out of our rain barrel yesterday. It stunk. We may have sticky-sweet sentiments about our sticky-sweet grandma, but if there's nothing to lift her above this broken world, she and you and I are nothing more than dead possums, slowly drowning in stagnant rain barrels. Pain and punishment and death and decay is our lot. Quit acting entitled. There, I said it. But we surely don't like it. 

But ... here's the good news. We have a God who lifts us above our brokenness and pain. Who loves us, redeems us, and gives us worth. As it says in Jeremiah 29, we have a God who has a plan for us and wants to give us a hope and a future. He invites us into relationship and invites us to pray, as it says in verse 14, "Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love."

In Christ's Love,

a guy who is more

than a possum

Sept 5-6 - Psalm 22:1

“My God, my God,

why have you forsaken me.”

Matthew 27:46

(and Psalm 22:1)

The most painful cry in history was when the Son of God cried in anguish, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.”

Read Psalm 22 …

·       It begins with these words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

·       It continues with profound prophesies prefiguring the cross.

·       It’s closing begins with “I will praise you ... I will fulfill my vows ...”

What has been your greatest cry in life?

When you’re hurting, cry out like Jesus.

·       Acknowledge your pain (“My God, my God, I feel utterly forsaken.”)

·       Look for the ways God is acting. (Just as Psalm 22 is filled with God’s actions -- fulfilled prophesies – how is he acting in your circumstances?)

·       Recommit yourself in faith – don’t just say, “I will praise you ... I will fulfill my vows ...,” actually start praising and obeying.

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who needs someone

to remind him to look both ways

(because God is there … and acting)

Sept 7 - Psalm 89:26

And he will call out to me,

‘You are my Father, my God,

and the Rock of my salvation.’

Psalm 89:26

Who is the "he" who will call out to God?

Much of Psalm 89 is about the call of David, the faithfulness of David, and the godliness and success of his reign. 

God could use David. Why? Because -- with very few exceptions -- David really did submit himself to God. 

·       He called him Father ... which implied child-like obedience. 

·       He recognized that God was his rock and foundation ... therefore, he rooted himself continually in the Lord. 

·       He knew that God was his provider and his saving help. And a warrior surely needed a rock and a salvation. 

Yes, David occasionally and infamously stumbled. But when he did, he also famously recommitted and resubmitted himself to God. 

If you want more out of your faith journey, David provides a good model.

 

·       It's intellectual -- it is knowing that the Lord is my rock and foundation. 

·       It is trusting -- knowing that God provides, protects, and saves. 

·       And it is obeying -- because he is our Father and we submit to his authority. 

In Christ's Love,

an intellectual guy who

tries to trust and obey

Sept 4 - Psalm 89:15

Happy are those who hear

the joyful call to worship,

for they will walk in the

light of your presence, Lord.

Psalm 89:15

We have a spotlight in our church.

A natural one.

Two times a year, a couple of Sundays in the Spring and a couple of Sundays in the Fall, our 8:30 worshippers can hardly see when they walk in the Sanctuary doors. The reason? The sun is shining so bright through our stained glass window above the cross.

It's blinding!

What I hope is more blinding is the light of Christ. "Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship, for they will walk in the light of your presence, Lord."

As Americans, we generally have a consumer attitude toward worship. The worship leaders are the actors. We are the audience. Entertain us so that we'll feel good about God.

That's not worship.

In true worship, God is the audience, and we are the actors. We are the actors. Read that again. Worship leaders may serve as coaches/directors. But God is the audience. And if we want to experience the light of God's presence -- beyond the stained glass windows -- it's up to us. It's our heart. Our praise. Our sacrifice. Our hunger for the word. Our song.

In Christ's Love,

a guy who writes this

on a Sunday morning

and is happy to hear

the joyful call to worship

Sept 3 - Psalm 89:12a

You created the north

and the south

Psalm 89:12a

God created the universe. 

That is big. That is awesome. 

But … that is sometimes so big and awesome that it hurts my brain.

As I kid, I sometimes couldn’t go to sleep. Why? Because my brain hurt. Someone told me that the universe went on for infinity. I couldn't conceive of that. "There has to be an end! ... Maybe a brick wall. ... But then, what's on the other side of the bricks? ... Arrgh!"

I guess that's why I like the simplicity of this line: "[O Lord,] You created the north and the south." 

You created what's just above me and what's just below me. 

And that's awesome enough for my brain to handle. 

And that's still awesome enough to give you praise. 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who is awe at even

the little things of creation

Sept 2 - Psalm 88:10-11

Do you show your wonders to the dead?

Do their spirits rise up and praise you?

Is your love declared in the grave,

your faithfulness in Destruction?

Psalm 88:10-11

Have you ever read a good detective novel?

I used to like the old Ellery Queen's. Two hundred pages into the novel would be a mostly blank page. Just as the reader was allowed to see the flash of understanding in the detective's eyes, the author would insert a mostly blank page with something like these words, "Reader, you have now been given every clue you will need to figure out this mystery. Don't turn the page until you think you have the answer."

Mysteries! 

Heaven and hell is one of them. We have glimpses of the afterlife from scripture ... but isn't it still a little mysterious?

The people of Israel did not have a well-developed understanding of heaven and hell. In fact, by the time of Jesus, one minority sect -- the Sadducees -- didn't believe in the after-life at all. (That's why they were "sad, you see." There was no eternal hope.)

Bu not having yet a well-developed understanding of the after-life does not mean that humans were gradually "inventing" religion. (Though some scholars surely teach this.) What it means is that God was gradually revealing the truths of his kingdom. 

We know this to be true because Jesus was God's fullest revelation of himself. Israel had been a people for two thousand of years. And they'd been given glimpses of God and the Messiah every step along the way. But all these pieces of revelation didn't make sense until the Messiah came. 

It was like a good mystery novel. The night before Christmas -- the literal hours before Jesus was born -- the author of creation could have inserted a mostly blank page with something like these words, "People of God, you have now been given every clue you will need to figure out the wonder of the Messiah and my fullest revelation. Don't turn the page until you think you have the answer!"

In a mystery novel, the detective gathers every suspect in a room and explains the mystery, including all the rabbit trails that almost took him down the wrong road toward accusing an innocent bystander. 

Once Jesus was born, isn't powerful to look back over the whole Old Testament and see all the powerful ways that God pointed to the coming of his son? and all the rabbit-trails that still keep people from understanding?

The mystery of heaven and hell is like that too. God gave glimpses in the Old Testament (we'll examine one in just a moment). We got clearer glimpses through the testimony of Jesus. The book of Revelation refines this understanding more. But one day, when we stand face-to-face before the throne in faith, I suspect we'll be looking back at all the clues, and saying, "Why didn't I see?"

In Christ's Love,

a guy who sees a clue in this verse

... when linked to another clue in Jesus' story

about the rich man and Lazarus

Do you remember this story? A rich man had his reward on earth, and chose pride and callousness instead of God and grace. He wound up in hell -- a hot and thirsty place. Lazarus, a poor man, had seemingly no blessings on earth, and yet by placing his life in the hands of God he wound up in heaven. 

There's more to the story -- including the main point of humans needing to listen to the prophets, especially the prophet who will come back from the dead (Jesus). But for the moment, let's stick with the picture Jesus paints of heaven and hell.

The rich man was tormented ... and sorry. And he knew clearly his mistakes, he saw clearly the blessings of the faithful like Lazarus, and he wanted to warn his brothers on earth to not take his same selfish path. In other words, even in hell, he was aware. He was aware of heaven, he was aware of hell, he was aware of earth. 

Isn't that what today's verses ponder: [O Lord,] do you show your wonders to the dead? Do their spirits rise up and praise you? Is your love declared in the grave, your faithfulness in destruction?

Psalm 88 was not God's fullest revelation ... but it was a hint of a explanation. Heaven (and hell) will not be a place of impersonal energy. It will be a place of personal awareness. You will still be you. And you will be aware of heaven, you will be aware of earth, and you will see God face-to-face!

Sept 1 - Psalm 88:6-7

You have put me in the lowest pit,

in the darkest depths.

Your wrath lies heavily on me;

you have overwhelmed me

with all your waves.

Psalm 88:6-7

I must confess that my view of the universe is shaped by the word "dominion" in Genesis 1:27. 

God makes us lower-case kings of this planet. We are in charge of our day-to-day. 

To help us God gives us wisdom -- actually laws and wisdom. If we follow them, our days tend to be good. If we don't follow them, our days tend to be bad. And if unwise and unlawful people infringe on our lives -- like an unwise and unlawful drunken driver -- we suffer consequences that we did not create. 

Where is God in all of this? Working in our hearts ... as we let him. 

Have you heard the phrase, "Life is 10% what happens, and 90% how you respond to it?" Well, I think that's true spiritually too. Generally, God does not need to test us. Why? Because life tests us ... constantly. 

I'm tested with choices that I make moment to moment -- will I choose my way? the world's way? or God's way?

When the world steps on my toes and invades my life, will I love and forgive, or will I be petty and mean?

Generally, life is 90% how we respond to what is happening around us. And generally, this is where God works ... if we let him. The more I give the Holy Spirit room to work in my life, the more I respond to whatever befalls me with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 

Wait. That's generally how life works ... and notice how many times I've said, "generally." 

The danger of seeing life this way is that we don't see God's hand even when it's there. We chalk everything up to cause and effect. And we ignore God even when he's standing right in front of us. 

The Psalmists didn't ignore God presence. Their world wasn't flat. They sought to walk in the paths of wisdom. They tried to follow God's laws. They knew the earthly consequences of having murderous enemies. And yet they saw God's presence woven into every moment. Leading and guiding, yes. Rescuing and protecting, certainly. But also challenging and chastising ... which is what today's verse is all about. 

Why would a good God put us in the lowest pit? To challenge us and help us grow. To chastise us so we won't make the same mistakes again. Isn't that what good parents do? Good parents carefully calibrate love and discipline, comfort and challenge. It helps us grow. And while no human parent gets it perfectly right, we can trust that God does. 

Our Lord is in the midst of everything in life. He generally works in our hearts -- as we give him room ... or not -- and this means that he can generally let life unfold and let day-to-day events test and refine us. 

But ... this world is not flat. God is everywhere. He works in ways that we cannot physically see. And the most joyful people I know are the ones who've learned to spiritually see. They've learned to look for God in everything ... because he really is there. 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who often relies

more on wisdom than awe

(and needs to tip the balance

more toward looking

and wonder more often)

Aug 31 - Psalm 87:3

Glorious things

are said of you,

city of God

Psalm 87:3

Jerusalem -- Zion -- was (and is) God's holy city. It was the focal point of God's presence on earth. 

When Israel was in the wilderness, the Holy of Holies was in the tabernacle, and God would sit upon the mercy seat upon the ark of the covenant. Yes, God was (and is) everywhere, always, but he allowed this to be the focal point of his presence, the place where he allowed fragile humans to meet him. 

When Israel made it to the Promised Land, it was eventually David who carried the ark up to Jerusalem, dancing as he went. And it was Solomon who built the Temple, complete with the new Holy of Holies. Again, this was the focal point of his presence, the place God allowed fragile humans to meet him. 

This was good news. 

This was also bad news. 

How? God is holy. Having him close shine a very bright light on us. Like under an unflattering light in a doctor's office, every imperfection is exposed. 

Being God's Chosen People was as much of a responsibility and burden as it was a blessing. They were chosen to represent God. And God had (and has) high standards. 

Through the years, God blessed Israel tremendously. He watched over them, protected them, and showered them with blessings. The focal point of the universe was on this hilly little city. God was with them. 

But like a good parent, he didn't allow them to get away with selfishness, wantoness, and pride. He corrected them. Often letting them suffer the consequences of their own sin. He let them learn from their mistakes. But at the end of the day (and remember ... for God, a year can be up to a thousand years in length) ... at the end of the day, God would always welcome Israel home. He would rap them in his arms. He would tuck them in. Read Romans 9-10. They would (and will) always be his people. Read Revelation; the focal point of the universe will ultimately rest on Jerusalem again. 

Glorious things are said of you, city of God. Amen. 

In Christ's Love,

a guy who writes these

several weeks ahead, meaning ...

I don't know when this may come out.

But I may literally be in Jerusalem

on the day you read this.

Glorious things are said of you,

city of God." Amen.

God