Raining Righteousness

God’s sovereignty is an attribute understood in two ways.  For the unbeliever, it is a stumbling block.  It makes them angry.  If God is in control, then “why does He not do things the way I think He should?  If that is His way, then no God for me!”  But for the believer, it is an attribute that blesses him with security.  The more it is understood by him (and that is a growing knowledge), the more secure and solid his foundation becomes. 

Isaiah 45 is just one chapter out of 1, 189 chapters of the Bible.  It is full of God’s sovereignty.  For me, a high maintenance child of God, this one chapter, read a couple of times daily over the past week, brings me to a right mindset: God IS in control.  I must trust Him.  Circumstances are His and I must respond rightly! 

Consider the following verses but first let me prelude by saying that chapter 45 was written about an unbelieving king before he was born and God’s planned use of him to bring the nation of Israel to Himself.  Though the chapter was written about God’s chosen, we grafted in Gentiles can learn about the personality of the great God in whom we have professed faith.  Verses 5-6 “I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God.  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.”  Verse 8 – “Drip down, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds pour down righteousness; let the earth open up and salvation bear fruit, and righteousness spring up with it.  I, the LORD, have created it.” 

The chapter goes on for 17 more verses.  God warns those who are created vessels for quarreling with Him.  He reminds the hearer that He made the earth and created man; He stretched out the heavens and ordained the host (stars).  He declares things that are upright.  “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth.”  He goes on to say that “every knee will bow”.  “Men will come to Him, and all who were angry at Him will be put to shame.”

As I sit here writing, the rain pounds on the roof.  I picture righteousness coming down instead of water.  I think about the passage and long for that time when all around us are “clouds pouring down righteousness…the earth opening up and salvation bearing fruit and righteousness springing up with it.”  What security of thought for the believer and the wonder of hope for the unbeliever.  Until then, my hope comes from the LORD, maker of heaven and earth.  He IS sovereign and I take great comfort in the power of His sovereignty.

Aliens

In 1 Peter, the apostle wrote to Christians that had to flee for their lives.  He addressed them as aliens scattered and then again as aliens and strangers.  I’ve been in a study of 1 Peter recently and encouraged as to how it played out in my prayer time this morning.  God sometimes seems so far away or not there at all.  That’s very frustrating for any believer but we must remember we live by “faith” and our call is to “trust and obey”.  As I called out to Him this morning and began my “whining”, I told Him I feel so “alienated”.  Immediately, He brought to mind that that is what I am here on earth: an alien.  The reason we are not comfortable in our skin is because we are not home yet.  Simple yet complex but still a great reminder!

Robot Piano

Listening to music one day with a few others, one commented on the piece playing, “robot piano”.  I hadn’t noticed until the listener made the comment and then, I too, noticed the sound being projected.  The notes were played and I might add, played accurately.  Melody resulted, also accurately.  The music being played was recognized and enjoyed adequately.  But there was something lacking!  The night before, I had watched a documentary about a musician and his rise to popularity.  He did not go the route of most musicians; he actually defied that route.  He wrote and played from the heart and his music was embraced in a way that few musicians enjoy.   He embraced his music and played out the result.  He played from the heart and his listeners knew it.

That is the lacking element to “robot piano”: heart!  Christians must take note of this because we could very well fall into a similar trap: “robot Christianity”.  We may be living it out to the letter but forgetting the true message.  In fact, we could run ahead to the point of leaving Jesus in the shadows or forgetting Him entirely.  He is the Heart of Christianity.  On Him, we must meditate day and night: His purpose, His passion, His priorities & pursuits.  And of course, His own communication with the Father was mandatory.  Like the popular musician, we must embrace Christ from the heart and live out the result. We must pour our hearts out to the Father for guidance, protection, & continued growth.  Unbelievers will know the difference and there is “music” they need to hear!

Blood Pressure

Many people take medication to regulate their blood pressure.   It’s mandatory that they are faithful in taking the pills in order to live normal, healthy lives.  The Christian has to deal with a blood pressure of a different kind:  the Blood of Christ applied to his life and the pressure to live that life with a consistency that reflects the beauty of that Work.  For the Christian to live a normal, healthy life, he also must be faithful to do what’s needed to regulate this “Blood Pressure”.  This must be done through the reading of the Word, regularly!  The person on blood pressure medication must take his pills daily or it could mean severe health problems or even death.   The Christian must be just as vigilant.

Francis Schaeffer says in, He is There and He Is Not Silent, “We should read the Bible for various reasons.  It should be read for facts, and it should be read devotionally.  But reading the Bible every day of one’s life does something else—it gives one a different mentality.”  That’s what we have to have:  “a different mentality”.  We were bought with a price: the Precious Blood of Christ… the Blood of God!!  (1 Peter 1:19)  How much pressure does the Blood have on us?  How better to reflect that pressure than with a different mentality, a different reaction to life's pressures, different entertainment, different desires.  This is what we are to show a watching world.  Only then will we begin to see change brought about through our example, consistent example through a different mentality given us through a faithful study of the Word.

Baby's Pure Milk

Instinctively, a baby latches on to the breast of its mother.  The infant cannot even focus yet!  He cannot see the face of the mother nor her breast but he knows by design that what he longs for is found there.  If he longs for it and cannot find it, he lets everyone that can hear in on the dilemma.  The newborn baby longs for the milk.  Man, too, has a longing!  And as Augustine wrote, “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Him.”  Like the newborn, we have a dilemma and we cry out in many ways.  As Christians, we should know where the milk is found yet many times we let circumstance or busyness hide the nourishment.  We must be vigilant because the Enemy of our souls would have us weak in order to hinder our bringing glory to God.  Once that baby tastes that milk for the first time, he has learned where to get it and how.  Have we “tasted the kindness of the Lord through salvation”?  “Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the Word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.”  1 Peter 2:1-3   God’s Word is invigorating!  Feed on it!  The more you taste, the more you want and the more you’ll grow.  As you grow, as Michael Card wrote, “I loose myself in finding Thee.  O LORD, You mean so much to me.”  Then we’ll be able to get to the business of Kingdom priorities.  There’s a world of unsaved people crying out in many ways because they have a dilemma.  They cannot find the milk.  They cannot see!  Let us be vigilant against the Enemy and fervent for Christ!

Good Medicine

It is overwhelming to me at the multitude of drugs on the market for the ailment of depression.  While I believe some may be needed, I fear most are not.  For the believer, there are avenues to seek before drugs:  prayer, the Word, and service.

We have the awesome privilege to have conversation with the Creator of the universe.  (Did you get that?  THE CREATOR of all things!!)  Whether we “feel” Him or not is not significant to prayer.  Do you believe in Him?  Have you trusted Jesus as your Savior?  Then God is there, even when feelings are out of whack.  PRAY!  Exalt Him!  Pour out your burden to Him!  Intercede for others!

The Word is to me like aloe to a burn.  It’s like a relaxing vacation from the oppression of problems.  There is so much there to encourage, discipline, and give hope.  God’s Word is truly a treasure that never ends.  It’s amazing that even the story of David and Goliath can continue to teach us something new after all the times we’ve heard it or read it ourselves.  And there are so many more amazing adventures, instructions, and biographies to be had in this one book.  Don’t give in to devotionettes as your daily spiritual diet.  That’s like living on whipped cream!  Dig deep this gold mine, to the spiritual richness of spiritual vigor! 

A pastor tells the story of a woman so grieved by her husband’s death that she brought  fresh flowers to his grave weekly.  She was bent, devoid of strength and could barely walk.   A man, who worked at the cemetery, had observed her for many months doing this.  One day he kindly suggested that she take the flowers to a nursing home or hospital instead of a place where no one was benefited.  She drove off in a huff.  However, months later, she returned to the man.  She got out of the car and was a picture of health and energy.  She thanked the man for his advice and once she got over the shock of this suggestion, she took the advice.  Service to others is health to the bones and gives benefit to both the server and the served.

Asa, the good king of Judah, led his people rightly before God.  He served God with all his heart.  However, in his older years, he began to stray.  He ceased putting God first.  Even when his feet became diseased, severely diseased, he did not seek the LORD, but the physicians.  He died within two years.  (2 Chronicles 16:12 & 13)  Right before this he was even warned by a prophet of God and in part of that warning he said this to Asa, “For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth, that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.”