I'm Lost - Seek Me!

I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant,
For I do not forget Your commandments.
Psalms 119:176 (NASB95) 

I have a recurring nightmare about being lost. It might be about being lost on campus at college, being lost in a parking garage looking for my car, etc. In my last nightmare like this, I was trying to rescue my son who was hanging high up in a tree dying. As I desperately sought help for him, I got lost in a parking garage (dreams wander), and I never found my car or anyone to help. Then I woke up.

The feeling of being lost and helpless is profoundly disturbing and usually leaves me haunted for hours after I wake up. If you have similar dreams, you might understand what that feels like.

It’s intriguing and prophetically significant that the last verse of this very long Psalm is the servant's confession of straying from God. It brings to mind a verse in Isaiah, where the suffering Messiah bears the burden of our sin and shame.

All of us like sheep have gone astray,

Each of us has turned to his own way.

But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all

To fall on Him.

Isaiah 53:6

In the last verse of the Psalm, the servant pleads with his Shepherd-Lord to seek him, because even though he has committed himself to the commandments, he just can’t find his way. He is alone and helpless, and the Law alone can’t save him. As much as he tries to follow all the commandments, he only finds himself more and more lost. If this sounds familiar, you are not alone.

The Lord actually wants you to seek HIM, even if you find yourself stuck in a place where there seems to be no escape. This is the very place where the Lord will seek YOU! All you have to do is call on Him with your whole heart and He will come running...

‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 

‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.' 

Jeremiah 29:12-13

There is a man whose name is Salvation, who sits at the right hand of God, who is constantly interceding for you. If you hear his voice, you are a sheep in his flock. Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. Jesus knows the way out of whatever trouble you are in if you trust and follow Him! 

Lord Jesus, I pray for whoever is reading this - that You will come quickly to their aid, bringing healing, salvation and deliverance. I pray that You will give them strength, patience, and endurance in whatever situation they are in. It's because of Your holy name we pray - according to Your will let it be done.

Amen! 🙏

Maintaining Control

 I'm reading a book by a new friend at church named Dean Rush. He was an Air Force pilot as a young man, then an airline executive, entrepreneur, and finally the executive pastor at Community Bible Church in San Antonio.

The book is called Flying Free - Life After Crisis, and I just finished a chapter called "Maintain Control - Manage Chaos". This chapter recounts a great example of maintaining control in a crisis, in this case an engine failure while then 17-year-old Dean was flying to his first pilot certification appointment.

In Paul's letter to the church at Philippi, he wrote:

Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God.

Philippians 1:27-28

The word alarmed is translated from Greek ptyromenoi which means frightened, the root meaning - "becoming psychologically detached from reality" or "to fly off into unrealistic, irrational behavior".

Being frightened and alarmed is the exact opposite of psychologically maintaining control. Whether preparing for flight, preparing for battle, or just preparing to speak before a hostile audience, the key to maintaining control always begins with preparation. I recently heard some military men recounting their experiences in battle, and how their military training created instinctive reactions that got them through the fog of war.

Our preparation as Christians begins by relinquishing control of our lives to the Almighty Creator. That step of faith opens the door for the Holy Spirit to establish His presence in our hearts and minds.

Next we must hear the word of the Lord by reading and listening to godly instruction from the Bible. 

Finally we should begin each day preparing for spiritual battle by putting on the full armor of God. That means living in truth, dressing in the righteousness of Christ, training in the good news of peace, holding fast to faith, relying on our Savior Jesus who intercedes for us, and boldly speaking the word of God.

When we are prepared and able to maintain control in the midst of battle, our opponents will see that the battle is in the Lord's hand, and in any situation the outcome will be victory for the kingdom of God. Paul gave this admonition to the Philippians even as he was suffering and facing death in a Roman prison. Even in death there is victory when we stand firm in faith and fellowship. Indeed that is the ultimate victory, to demonstrate God's righteousness in the midst of tribulation.

I am enjoying reading this book and find great encouragement in its pages. Lessons learned in life are the best lessons to share with others. I hope you find encouragement here as well!

Faith #4: The Preposterous Gospel of Christ

Number 4 on my list of top 10 reasons for faith in Jesus is probably the most compelling reason, because this preposterous Gospel of Christ was born in a hostile culture and has succeeded in the most hostile nations, growing miraculously in the worst conditions.

The way of faith in Jesus is not designed to be imposed on its followers, nor is it designed to bring its leaders wealth or respect in this world. It was not intended to be sold or marketed - it is difficult and some would say impossible to spread this faith without the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit. Even after Jesus was resurrected and appeared to over 500 of his followers, the kingdom that he established in heaven only "went viral" after Christ had been seated on his throne and sent the Holy Spirit to those he called.

[Note: If you haven't noticed from my other posts on this "Reasons for Faith" topic, the kingdom of heaven has nothing to do with religions and governments.]

The gospel message itself is called "foolishness" to the nations of this world, and a "stumbling block" to the Jews whom Christ came to reach first. Of all the improbable ways to start, this kingdom began with the King himself being whipped and hung naked on a cross to suffer and die with criminals. To make it even more unlikely, he called his followers to take up their own cross and follow him - which almost all of them did - leading to lives of eternal impact that ended in persecution and death. These are not the ways of charlatans or philosophers, but rather simple men who were transformed by a revolutionary gospel piercing deep into their hearts by the Holy Spirit of God.

This is the Gospel of Christ:

1. God created this world and gave mankind authority over his creation.
2. Mankind sinned by rejecting God and choosing to live by their own knowledge.
3. Sin resulted in the mortality and depravity of mankind.
4. As he promised, God sent his only Son to redeem mankind from their slavery to sin and death.
5. The accumulated debt of the sin of mankind could only be paid by the precious blood of God's perfect sacrifice - the death of his only Son.
6. The resurrection and ascension of Jesus to the right hand of God makes him the Lord of all creation.
7. We are saved from sin and death when we believe in our heart and confess Jesus as Lord.
8. When we receive Christ we are blessed with joy, eternal life and the riches of heaven.

This preposterous gospel of an all-powerful but merciful, self-sacrificial God is the message of the eternal kingdom that rules the hearts and minds of believers. It is built on things only God can do and continues only by His grace and the power of his Holy Spirit. It is this grace that provides my faith and sustains my soul.

Depth Perception: Two Views of the Cross

This is the the time of year when Jews and Christians remember their deliverance from slavery, which for followers of Jesus means freedom from sin which enslaves all mankind.

I was studying the crucifixion accounts and noticed an apparent contradiction. The verses in Luke 23 give a moving account of two criminals who are crucified with Christ, one on his left and one on his right. One of them is insulting Jesus like the Jewish leaders and the Roman soldiers overseeing his execution. To them, and even to the disciples of Christ this appears to be the end of Jesus’ life and the end of a Messianic delusion.

The other criminal has a different attitude. He sees the righteous and unjust suffering of Christ and comes to his defense, even to the point of Spirit-inspired faith in Jesus. This man in the depth of his suffering understands something that has evaded Jewish scholars and even those who followed him for years, that his kingdom is not earthly but heavenly. Deep calls unto deep, and this man truly understands as no one else at the time, the deep deep love of Jesus. True repentance is never too late and never rejected by God, and Christ gives the promise of a home with him in his eternal kingdom.

Now here is where I gained my own depth perception. The crucixion accounts in Matthew and Mark simply say that both criminals were hurling insults at Christ, condemning him as a false Messiah. After prayerful consideration I realized that this was not a contradiction at all, but a powerful story of conviction and repentance. Two criminals went to Golgotha with Christ; two criminals saw him crucified even as they were hung on their own crosses. Both followed the crowd as they insulted the sacrificial Lamb of God. But as he hung there dying, one criminal saw the righteousness of God, his justice and mercy on public display for all time, even as it crossed the ultimate injustice of man. One criminal contemplated his own sinfulness and his fast approaching encounter with eternity, and allowed Christ into his heart.

Those are indeed the two roads we all must choose between when we encounter Christ. Accept or reject him - where those roads cross is the decision point that determines our eternal destiny. If you find someone at that crossroads remind them that it’s never too late to follow the One who bore our sin.

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭5:8‬ ‭NASB‬‬

The Divided Kingdoms of Satan

The final empire in Nebuchadnezzar's dream from Daniel chapter 2 is a kingdom characterized by the strength of iron, yet in its final form it is divided into "feet and toes" of iron and clay. I will relate this to a statement Jesus made regarding a kingdom divided against itself, and the meaning of the final conflict in the book of Revelation.

The statue in Nebuchadnezzar's dream is symbolic of coming empires that will rule the earth. Most bible scholars equate the final empire in Daniel 2 to Rome, with various explanations of the union of vassal states comprising the toes of the statue. Many western scholars claim that the toes of this statue still rule the earth today, being mostly European states and former colonies that maintain a weak hold on power in "old earth" west of Eden.

If you have studied European history you know that the Roman Empire was divided into two empires after Constantine established Byzantium as the new "Rome". The weak successors of Constantine were unable to maintain the vast military dominion of the old Roman Empire, and gradually allowed the empire to be divided into an Eastern and Western alliance. The Byzantine or Eastern Empire was able to maintain its iron grip on the Middle East for a few hundred more years until the rise of the Islamic Caliphates overthrew their seat of power and established the Ottoman Empire in what is now called Istanbul.

During the time that the Byzantines ruled the Eastern Empire, the Western Empire deteriorated into the clay of feudalism and internal conflict. Though there were several attempts to reconstruct a revived Holy Roman Empire, none would ever prove to be as strong and durable as the iron kingdom that came before. The last attempt to reconstitute the Roman Empire (the so-called Third Reich) ended in the destruction of both the western and eastern empires (Germany and the Ottoman Empire) during the world wars of the twentieth century.

What we have left today are still two kingdoms divided against each other. These are border-less kingdoms which I will call the Kingdom of Greed and the Kingdom of Fear. In the book of Revelation they are known as Mystery Babylon and the Beast respectively.

The Kingdom of Greed - Babylon the Great

Mystery Babylon is a harlot, a city that sits on many waters. She is the mother of harlots and the abominations of the earth.

Babylon is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth. The merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality. Babylon has become rich by shipments of every kind of luxurious and splendid cargo - horses and chariots (i.e. cars, trucks, military equipment) and human lives (slavery or human trafficking). Babylon is also the merchant of arts and entertainment, of fine foods and wines and all manner of music. It uses all these things to make a sorcerer's brew by which it intoxicates and deceives its denizens.

Babylon is the love of money, the root of all kinds of evil. It is the kingdom of Mamona (wealth) which draws people away from the kingdom of God. It is life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness used by sinful men to reject the Giver of life, liberty and happiness.

Babylon is the city in which most Jews were comfortable to stay and never return to the holy land of their fathers. It is the city that first intended to build a tower to heaven, from which Abram and his family left to find the land of promise.

In short, Babylon is the world, and all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life. The citizens of Babylon are motivated and dominated by these worldly passions.

Babylon trusts in its wealth and military might to guard its life of splendor and luxury. Babylon knows no earthly or temporal boundaries, but today is referred to as "the west" by those who live in the kingdom of fear.

What makes Babylon a harlot is that the citizens of Babylon once knew God, but did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but became futile in their speculations and darkened in their hearts. This is the apostate people that once invoked the blessing of God on their bountiful harvests, but now seek to reject the very mention of His name.

The Kingdom of Fear - The Beast

The beast of Revelation is a seven-headed monster which rises from the sea before the coming final conflict.

The heads of the beast are seven kingdoms that have ruled the holy land since the time of Abraham. They are Egypt, Assyria, ancient Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome and the Islamic caliphates. The beast is also the eighth kingdom which is one of the seven, which had a fatal wound that will be healed.

This beast rules a kingdom of fear. The kingdom of fear is the fear of man, the fear of death, the fear of fear itself. It is based on laws and brutal punishments that cannot bring life, but can only bring men into bondage to other men.

The kingdom of fear is the enemy of joy and peace; it loves only warfare and violence. The kingdom of fear has utter disdain for mercy and forgiveness; it lives for bloodshed and vengeance; it seeks power only to subjugate and terrorize its subjects.

The kingdom of fear appears to be at peace when all its subjects live under the dominion of fear.

The kingdom of fear knows no earthly or temporal boundaries, but today is most dominant in totalitarian countries outside the "western realm of influence". These regimes tend to support each other, as the Axis powers did in the world wars and as China and Russia today support despotic regimes in the Middle East and Africa.

Modern technology has allowed the kingdom of fear to spread rapidly around the world. The "Net" so to speak is being used like a great fishing net to dredge the remnants of Islamic radicalism from the depths of the Mediterranean Sea. While the citizens of Babylon attempt to use technology to spread the kingdom of greed, the kingdom of fear is stronger, like iron is stronger than clay. Only the mountain of the kingdom of God can crush these kingdoms of iron and clay.

It is apparent to me that the final head of the beast is likely to be an Islamic caliphate that will rule the world for the final hour. It could also be that its caliph will overcome the apostate church and take its seat in place of the pope in Rome. However this turns out, make no mistake, that final hour is near.

The Final Hour

Jesus said "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?" Indeed, in the final hour, the divided kingdoms of Satan will be arrayed against each other - the beast and his kingdom of fear against the kingdom of Babylon, and Babylon will fall. This is the meaning of this verse:

And he said to me, "The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God will be fulfilled. The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth."

But this hour will be quickly followed by the One called Faithful and True and His armies from heaven, who will cast the beast and his false prophet alive into the lake of fire and feed his followers to the birds who fly in mid-heaven. That's a scene that would make even Alfred Hitchcock cry for mercy.

The Kingdom of God

God's people are called to come out of Babylon to escape her sins and the judgments that are coming upon her. There is another kingdom that knows no earthly boundaries for the people of God, called the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, Mount Zion or the heavenly Jerusalem. The citizens of this kingdom are motivated by love and loyalty to their King, and follow Him day and night.

For those living in the kingdom of fear, God has provided a way out. He made a part of Himself to appear in human flesh, and through His own death has rendered the devil powerless over you. If you choose to become His disciple (just as you may now be following another so-called prophet), you can come out of the kingdom of darkness and into the glorious light. God calls this man His Son, and His son (whom we know as Jesus) calls us His brethren if we choose to follow Him and be called by His name. Yes, our God is One God, but he chose to reveal Himself to mankind in the body of Jesus, and promises to save those who call on His name. This man, whom some in the kingdom of fear know as Isa, is more than a prophet, and more than just a man. He is our Savior and our High Priest and our King, if you choose to be part of His kingdom. Just ask Him to deliver you from your sins, accept you into His kingdom and fill you with His Holy Spirit of life-giving power!

The Math of God

I got a link to this website the other day and browsed through some of their "De-motivation" posters (which I must confess are mostly hilarious).

 

This one caught my eye because it relates to a mathematical concept I've been meaning to write about.

Really, this picture saved me about a thousand words because it pretty much says it all.  Here's my mathematical version.

In English, it's "any number divided by infinity equals zero".  For example, take the numbers in that picture - seventy-four divided by maybe 200 million years.  That would be 0.00000037. That's a pretty small ratio. It simply illustrates how small our time on earth is relative to geologic time. If you want even smaller numbers compare your one little life to the number of people on earth. That makes you or me about 0.00000000166 percent of the world's population. It's pretty daunting to try to stand out in that crowd! The people at Despair.com would probably say "don't bother."

If you want to consider even more astronomical numbers, consider that God was around for eternity before the universe was created (maybe 13.7 billion years ago or so). Consider that the universe itself, which would take at least 13.7 billion years to cross at light speed, is a small thing to God in terms of both time and space.

You see, that equation I gave you means more than just how small our life is. It means that no matter how long and magnificent nor how short and small our physical life here on earth is, it's all the same in the end: ZERO.

Now before you give up in despair, let me point out something very important.

 



The God of the infinite has made an incredible offer to mortal man. He offers to come alongside us and to enter our hearts; to make us part of his infinite, timeless kingdom. His infinite presence in our heart makes us much greater than zero. (How much of him we allow in our heart really determines how great that number can be.)

There's just one thing preventing us from taking this fruit of eternal life - we have a massive debt to pay off. That debt is called "iniquity" in the Bible. It results from our selfish nature that causes each of us to pursue our own pleasure in defiance of God and at the expense of others. By allowing ourselves to be equal to God in determining the course of our lives (the original sin) we are accountable to an infinitely high standard (to be sinless), which no mortal man can satisfy.

When the original man and woman became sinful by nature, God removed our access to eternity, by withdrawing himself from our view and blocking the way to the tree of life. He did this for a simple but profound reason - a eternal sinner is infinitely evil and destructive. Satan and his dark angels are in this realm and must be bound and detained for eternity.

At the right time, God took a part of himself in the form of his son Jesus, and offered his life as the sufficient payment for our iniquity. His perfect sacrifice, being of infinite value, is greater than the sum total of all our debts before the high standard of the law.

Now if we receive this incredible gift from God, and allow Jesus to take his rightful place as our director in every aspect of our lives, we can enter into his eternal kingdom and eat the fruit of the tree of life. It is this infinite gift that gives us meaning in the vast eternity beyond space and time. Everything else that we see and treasure is - well - nothing really. As British missionary C. T. Studd once wrote:

Only one life, 'twill soon be past.

Only what's done for Christ will last.

Mercy and Atonement

Reading Psalm 136, you can't help but notice that every verse ends with "His steadfast love endures forever". (It would help if we also had the original tune to go along with this "praise chorus"!)

So being overly analytical I wanted to see what those words are in Hebrew.  Ki le'ovlam chasdow - Because of His eternal mercy.  The Hebrew word for "steadfast love" or "mercy" is chasdow or Chesed (start by snoring backwards, then add "hess-said").  Chesed is one of the core attributes of God.  It refers to how God treats those in need - to care for them and help them.  A Chesed organization in Israel would be called a charitable organization in America.

So I got curious if this word was used in the "mercy seat" of the Torah.  Not at all.  Actually I was surprised to see that the "mercy seat" is really mistranslated and would be more accurately translated "the covering" or "the atonement cover".  The Hebrew is "Hakkaporet" or simply "The Cover".  The root word "kopher" (KPR) in Hebrew has several meanings, most often translated "ransom" or the price one must pay to redeem a life from debtor's prison or slavery.  I think this must be where we get the usage of "covering a debt" in English.

OK, so step back for a moment and consider what the the Kopher is covering.  It's the lid on the ark of the covenant.  Inside the ark of the covenant is the Law of Moses, which is the law of sin and death.  We could go back one more step and note that "kopher" also means "pitch" or "bitumen" which was used to seal and protect another ark - Noah's ark.

So, why does the ark need a covering?  In Noah's case the ark needed to be sealed so it could float for a year without leaking or getting waterlogged.  The "kopher" kept the creatures inside the ark separate from the water outside the ark.  In that sense it stood between the redeemed and judgment.

In the case of the ark of the covenant, the cover was to stand between man and the law of sin and death. This is the concept of atonement.  Yom Kippur - the day of atonement - would ensure that the sins of the people were covered for another year.  Why is this translated "the mercy seat"?  "Seat" because the cover is seated on the top of the ark (an artifact of King James English I suppose).  "Mercy" because it is only by God's great mercy that we are not consumed by His wrath.  The law requires death as the penalty for sin, and all of us stand in need of His mercy to save us from the just sentence of death.


So now we come to what covers our sins as Christians.  It is the righteousness of Christ. Unlike the black tar used to cover the ark of Noah, the righteousness of Christ is a white linen garment, fine and clean.

Genesis 3:21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.

Isaiah 61:10 For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness.

Galatians 3:27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

Revelation 19:18 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

Yet there is something more than atonement available for followers of Christ.  Atonement is temporary, and our sins are covered by the blood of Christ while we are in the flesh, but we are also:

Redeemed (all our debts under the Law are paid by Christ's sacrifice),

Reconciled (brought back into the presence of God),

Saved (delivered from the power of sin and spared from the wrath of God),

Reborn (resurrected to a new life in Christ),

Justified (imputed with the righteousness of Christ),

Sanctified (purified from sin and re-formed into the image of Christ),

Anointed (filled with the Holy Spirit of God),

Appointed (sent into the world to make disciples of all men), and

Glorified (together with Christ) when our earthly bodies are exchanged for heavenly bodies in the world to come.

Now that I think about this list, I think I will memorize it for a time of thanksgiving and praise!