Forsaking the true God for prodigious trifles

But although the Lord represents both himself and his everlasting Kingdom in the mirror of his works with very great clarity, such is our stupidity that we grow increasingly dull toward so manifest testimonies, and they flow away without profiting us. For with regard to the most beautiful structure and order of the universe, how many of us are there who, when we lift up our eyes to heaven or cast them about through the various regions of earth, recall our minds to a remembrance of the Creator, and do not rather, disregarding their Author, sit idly in contemplation of his works? In fact, with regard to those events which daily take place outside the ordinary course of nature, how many of us do not reckon that men are whirled and twisted about by blindly indiscriminate fortune, rather than governed by God's providence? Sometimes we are driven by the leading and direction of these things to contemplate God; this of necessity happens to all men. Yet after we rashly grasp a conception of some sort of divinity, straightway we fall back into the ravings or evil imaginings of our flesh, and corrupt by our vanity the pure truth of God. In one respect we are indeed unalike, because each one of us privately forges his own particular error; yet we are very much alike in that, one and all, we forsake the one true God for prodigious trifles. Not only the common folk and dull-witted men, but also the most excellent and those otherwise endowed with keen discernment, are infected with this disease.

Jesus never lets His sheep down

A former South Korean president just committed suicide pressed by allegations of corruption after rising to power building a reputation as an anti-corruption crusader. Many are shocked. Several others are disappointed and feeling let down by the man, like one of his supporters:

Though criticized as inexperienced and confrontational by some, Roh was praised by others as a humble, candid leader who pushed for political reform and fought against corruption.

"He shocked us twice: first, by betraying our trust in him as the keeper of justice when it was revealed that he'd received the illegitimate money; now, in showing that he was not even responsible enough to face the consequences of his action," said Kim Hye-jung, 35, of Seoul. "As a supporter of the values he stood for, I feel greatly let down."

As I read this, I feel peace in my heart that my Jesus will never let me down!

God, be merciful to me a sinner.

P.D. In case anyone related to Roh may read this, I wish to extend condolences to his family. I pray your eyes be open to meet a Savior who never lets His people down.

It's time

It's time for me to fly away
to leave this house, to soothe this pain
to seek a friend, to find a hope
to mull a thought and share my heart

It's time for me to shut my mouth
to read a text, to store a verse
to close my eyes to drop a tear
to wet my cheeks in want of love

It's time for me to bow my neck
to set my mind on things above
to think of friends long gone for good
to ask that I might stand the test

It's time for me to come with all,
with heart, with mind, with soul, with hope
to lay face down to worship Him
that I may taste His joy again

Saturday morning thoughts

You know my every thought before it leaves my mouth
You know how hard it is to keep up with things that seem so important
When it really is important to pay attention to what You say
I did not claim to know anything well at all because You know it all
Yet at times it seems so hard to get by as I run this course
But then You stepped up always to comfort me and to give me hope
For You love your very own, you know their weaknesses
And how easy it is for the jar to break

Behold my Savior is risen!
He is come to crush the serpent's head
And to crown with righteousness his brothers and sisters
Those whom He loved
before He spoke life into this world of His

That He might give us life

Jesus tells us that truth sets us free. This truth he is talking about can not be thought separated from love. All truth Jesus speaks to us is wrapped in love. The Gospel, the main thing, is meant to bring about love: love to God and love to each other.

But other people would like us to think otherwise. They would rather have us loving others but without telling them the truth they need to hear. But that kind of love is not the love Jesus talked about. That’s not love at all. It feels indeed as hatred of the worst kind.

Next, you have others who believe the Bible Jesus read and believed and proclaim its truths, even the main thing, but without going an inch into showing the truthless ‘love’ demanded by the enemies of the cross of Christ.

But what about those who proclaim the bare truth with less than pure intentions? Paul doesn’t seem to be bothered too much about their message although he grieves at their behavior and intentions.

15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. (Philippians 1:15-18)

Paul feels sad about the intentions held by those preachers but still rejoices that Christ is preached! Isn't this strange? Shouldn’t the message and the preacher be in accord? Right. Paul’s own life demonstrates God’s transforming power. Good fruit is evident in his life and so should be in any who is servant of God appointed as his messenger. But what about those whose heart intentions are “envy and rivalry” or the like? I think the text shown reveals to us that preachers with less than pure intentions are a fact we are to reckon with. But there is no suggestion as to whether their intentions disqualify what they proclaim. The message stands unstained and powerful to save sinners.

And as I write this, I'm reminded of something I shared with a few friends last weekend. I was lamenting before them how sadly handled was the discipline of members within a prominent national Christian denomination. I may not tell you details of what happened in a particular event I became aware of but if I do you might be tempted to deem this denomination on the fringes of Christianity. But what you would not expect me to tell you is that a friend who attended there regularly handed me out an evangelistic track a few months before my conversion after she saw me dropping my head and napping in the college library.

Indeed, God works in mysterious ways.

So, rejoice that Christ is proclaimed, as long as the real Christ is portrayed, wherever and whenever you find yourself serving the Savior. And as tomorrow Christians around the world gather to remember his suffering, we must keep the day in its proper perspective:

Christ’s suffering was redemptive, not because suffering itself is redemptive, but because Christ himself is the Redeemer. The suffering he endured was for others. He did not need the purging of affliction. He was scourged on the place of sinners that he might heal them; he died in the place of sinners that he might give them life – Edmund Clowney, Called to the Ministry, page 13.

Why should we care about hearing God?

Hearing God is a recurrent theme in Deuteronomy. Quickly in the book, we realize that when God speaks He does it purposefully. He expects us to act upon what He says, that we may do right and not wrong. Therefore, hearing God this way should be our aim. For those of us who might be tempted to neglect hearing God in this way, we may list a few reasons why we ought to hear and obey God's voice:

1. That we might be wise and understanding

Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ (Deuteronomy 4:6)

2. That we might learn to fear Him and to teach so to our children

"...the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ (Deuteronomy 4:10)

"Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.” (Deuteronomy 31:12-13)

3. That we might be disciplined by God

"Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire." (Deuteronomy 4:36)

4. That we might prosper according to the promises of God

Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. (Deuteronomy 6:3)

5. That we might know that He is God

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. (Deuteronomy 6:4)

6. That God may show us mercy and compassion

"17 None of the devoted things shall stick to your hand, that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy and have compassion on you and multiply you, as he swore to your fathers, 18 if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, keeping all his commandments that I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God." (Deuteronomy 13:17-18)

7. For God is our life and length of days. Our life is in His hands.

"19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” Deuteronomy 30:20

Fearing God and Finding mercy

Although I was impressed at the number of complaints uttered by God’s people recorded in Numbers -about not having water, food, meat, not being sure if they were going to make it, being bored at the manna God provided, etc- the opening chapters in Deuteronomy showed me very clearly the danger of forgetting God in the middle of prosperity. One of the passages that cuts me down to size is this:

11 “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, 12 lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, 13 and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, 15 who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. 17 Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 And if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. 20 Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God. (Deuteronomy 8:11-20)

This passage says clearly how forgetting God may happen: by not acknowledging our place before Him. Fearing God does not mean to live terrified at every corner that He may send a thunderbolt to punísh our every misdeed. Fearing God means to realize in our hearts that all our hope is found in God’s mercy and nothing else. This was what God’s people acknowledged when they saw the fire and heard His voice in Mount Sinai at the giving of the law:

24 And you said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live. 25 Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we shall die. 26 For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? 27 Go near and hear all that the Lord our God will say and speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’ (Deuteronomy 6:24-27)

The fact they were still standing on their feet was because God wished it to be so. Otherwise they would be dead. They acknowledged this and God commended their mind by speaking to Moses:

…And the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. 29 Oh that they had such a mind as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever! (Deuteronomy 6:28b-29)

And we are no different than Israel. We don't know any better. Indeed, we are like Israel at every point of our earthly lives even as we walk with Christ. We complain because we desire to rule our little worlds. We want our way rather than God’s way.

But God speaks in the middle of our foolishness, reminding us His great deeds, revealing His character and issuing warnings to steer us back on track in our every breath. Debtors to mercy we are.

---
A debtor to mercy alone
Of covenant mercy I sing
I come with Your righteousness on
My humble offering to bring
The judgments of Your holy law
With me can have nothing to do
My Savior’s obedience and blood
Hide all my transgressions
From view

The work which Your goodness began
The arm of Your strength will complete
Your promise is yes and amen
And never was forfeited yet
The future or things that are now
No power below or above
Can make You Your purpose forego
Or sever my soul from Your love

My name from the palms of Your hands
Eternity will not erase
Impressed on Your heart it remains
In marks of indelible grace
Yes I, to the end will endure
Until I bow down at Your throne
Forever and always secure
Forever and always secure
Forever and always secure
A debtor to mercy alone

1998 (c) Sovereign Grace Music.

P.D. You can find the song here.