There Are No Words

Worthy art thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou didst create all things and because of Thy will they existed, and were created. Revelation 4:11 (New American Standard Bible)


Consider what the scene in heaven must have looked like as the resurrected Christ moved from earth and entered the Celestial City where He took His seat of honor at the right hand of His Father. There are approximately 989,000 words in the English language and not one adequately describes fully the majesty and glory of Christ at this moment in His resurrected and glorified Being. The astounding beauty and holiness of Jesus Christ are beyond any kind of noun or adjective in any language.

There have been many attempts to satisfactorily express what the heavenly scene must look like. It is hardly people floating on clouds plucking on their harps. The book of Revelation gives us tantalizing foretastes of both what heaven and the majesty and glory of God are like. But these are mere words almost akin to explaining the color red to a blind person. How can such a thing be described? John tried to relate it in his eyewitness account but he could only describe the infinite in finite terms. The glory he was witness to was beyond explanation yet it was as real as the ground you are standing on.

We may not be able to define exactly what the Throne of God looks like but we do know that the Lamb of God is fully worthy to be seated there. He was the King of Glory from eternity past, then as the God/Man He walked among us as complete Deity being called the Son of Man and the King of the Jews. After His resurrection He returned to His unveiled fullness with a splendor that outshines the sun holding power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor and glory. He is ultimate holiness with ultimate rule and authority in His hand now and forevermore. While words do not fully describe Him now when we see Him as He is in that future day a picture will be worth a million words. Suffice it to say what we can imagine now falls dreadfully short of the reality He is. Jude in his epistle summed it up in words that also fall short of the full grandeur and splendor of Christ the King but still ring true; “to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”



Ken

Rocking the World

And when they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she had been, in the midst. John 8:9 (New American Standard Bible)

Most of us are familiar with the story of the woman taken in adultery who was brought before Jesus. The grace Christ offered to this woman is a model of understanding and compassion that is so lacking in the average human including the majority of Christians. Jesus, as the Ultimate Man of Wisdom, knew exactly what to say and do in this situation.

In reading this account again I was taken with the grace Christ showed to the woman’s accusers as well. As God Incarnate consider what the Lord could have said to these men and He would have been totally justified. But Jesus in His grace and mercy simply wrote on the ground and then stood and shined the light of His righteousness on their hearts. Nothing else was said and these men were allowed to depart as they considered their deeds and the motives of their hearts. No lightning bolts or fire from heaven but on that day only the still small voice of God was heard. He surely is a just God but He’s also the God of second chances.

I believe that as those men walked away from their attempt to entrap Jesus and destroy this woman that Jesus was very grieved because of their spiritual blindness and judgmental attitudes. Jesus did not die just for ‘nice’ sinners. His example in this situation is a great model for me. When I see the uglier side of people often my first thought is to despise them the grace that the Great God of Eternity offers. When we say Jesus Christ died for the entire human race it doesn’t mean just for unbelievers with a good moral attitude but also for the scarred, the angry, the bitter and the vicious. At times like this God wants me to drop the stone which I ought not to have picked up in the first place and extend my hands and my heart in the beauty of true grace. When it comes to other people and who they are God doesn’t want me to rock anyone’s world.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

T'aint Necessarily So

And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said “Write for these words are faithful and true.” Revelation 21:5 (New American Standard Bible)

In the movie “Groundhog Day” Bill Murray played Phil, a weatherman whose assignment was to cover the ground hog day celebrations in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Phil completed the first day only to find at midnight the day would begin all over again. Phil was stuck in Punxsutawney doomed to relive the same day over and over again for many years.

Sometimes I tend to feel like Phil the weatherman as it seems each day begins anew yet is filled with the same disorder and confusion as the day before. Will we ever escape this madness? I believe many of us can identify with the frustration of our times and how the Pearls of the Lord are trampled underfoot every day by unbelievers and we are turned on and attacked for our stand in Christ. As we put our faith and hope in the words of Jesus Christ we are encouraged that He will return to end this mess mankind has made of earth. We and the entire earth will be redeemed. As badly as things seem now this is as bad as it will get for us and for unbelievers this is the best it will ever be.

The signs of the time pointing to the end of this dispensation are changing like summer into fall. We see the signs of fall in nature and know harvest is upon us. These changes are easy to follow and understand but in the same way Jesus, in His words, gave us the signs to look for just before he returns (Matthew Chapter 24 & Luke Chapter 21). When we study this we aren’t looking for an exact day or time for that is in the mind of the Trinity alone. But we certainly can behold the season of signs and know that Christ’s return is closer than we can imagine.

If there is one thing God wants us to have its hope in the promises of His words. He knows the wait for us, in human years, is difficult and sometimes discouraging as we only see the world becoming more wicked and chaotic. Looking at the world and seeing God’s big picture tells us that this too shall pass. What a hope that we will not have to continue to see the world descend into deeper skepticism and horror and that Satan and his hoards will be vanquished once and for all through the power of Jesus Christ. What a glorious hope. What we see now t’aint necessarily what we’ll get and thank the Father of Lights for that. Be encouraged for Christ even now is reaching for the handle of the door and when He opens it no man will be able to shut Him out.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

The Chief Shepherd

                                            “Truly, truly I say to you, I am the door to the sheep. All who come before Me are thieves and robbers but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door, if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” John 10:7-9 (New American Standard Bible)

When Jesus gave this illustration to the Jews they understood the terminology of the sheep’s gate if not its spiritual lesson. When shepherds led their sheep to pasture they would gather enough stones to build a pen for the animals. It would be roughly the shape of a square with an opening at one end that was the “door” for the sheep. The shepherd would stay near the opening watching over his animals as they grazed during the day and at night when all the sheep were in the pen the shepherd would lie across the opening serving as its “gate.” Not only was it to keep his sheep in but also to be their protector ensuring nothing would get past him and hurt his flock. Good shepherds would go to great lengths to fight off attacking animals. David told King Saul he had killed both a lion and a bear that came after his flock (I Samuel 17:34, 35). Being a good shepherd wasn’t for the faint of heart.

Jesus, the ultimate good shepherd, provides for the needs of the flock and is its security against all enemies. False shepherds care not an iota about the safety of the sheep but are only concerned with feeding themselves. In contrast a good shepherd has an intimacy with his sheep with an interest that is personally attentive to those in his charge. The model of this intimacy is that of the personal and loving familiarity of the Father to the Son. What a comfort to know that as our own Good Shepherd lies at the gate we have perfect comfort and rest with His continual presence. With that also is the confidence that when the danger comes to kill, steal and destroy the flock we have a courageous and invincible Shepherd who will run toward the danger with zeal and meet the threat head-on to protect those in His hand. Surely it makes perfect sense that all that enters through the Gate will be saved. That is our reassurance that we always have One who is watching over us, protecting and meeting our need. The sheep are never in situations the Chief Shepherd is not aware of for He never leaves or forsakes His flock.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

It's not you, it's them

"The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it, that its deeds are evil. John 7:7 (New American Standard Bible)

Ever have someone get upset with you when you shared Jesus with them? I once had a woman tell me, “I would rather go to hell than have someone tell me I needed to turn to Jesus Christ as my savior!” What would create such ire in a person to say such a thing? I often marvel at how Jesus Christ, who did great good, is one of the most reviled men in history. Even 2000 years after He walked the earth His name can still provoke great agitation and loathing from the greater part of the human population. Talking about God is really too generic to pose any threat. After all, one can make any abstract idea into a concept of God. But why does the name of Jesus bring such antipathy? It’s because He calls us to accountability for our actions shining light upon the inmost portions of our thoughts and motives. One of the quickest defensive postures a person will make is when their belief system or lifestyle is challenged. Jesus goes further to say He is hated because He reveals and testifies of the evil deeds people practice. People can speak of God in a detached way but they can’t do that with Jesus. He was too specific in what He requires of us and that drives some people crazy. No one can tell me how I should live my life!

If you’ve ever limped away from that kind of angry attack concerning the Son of Man then I have a couple of good things to encourage you with. The first is you’re in good company; for even the prophets of old were treated this way when they met the scoffers of their time. Secondly, what you say is not of yourself. As you graciously share Christ it isn’t up to you to persuade anyone to come to Him. That job is the Holy Spirit’s. When people reject your testimony of Jesus they aren’t rejecting you but the One who sent you. Whether they have an awakening to Christ at that time is no one’s business but God’s. The Lord is a marvelous closer knowing exactly what to bring to any person so that they may immediately or perhaps at some future time come to a relationship with His Son. What God expects of us is to be obedient to that task. That takes a whole lot of pressure off if you ask me. In sharing with others do your best and God will handle the rest. When you are reviled for your testimony in Christ it isn’t you, it’s them.

Ken

I Saw That Coming

The Lord has established His throne in the heavens; and His sovereignty rules over all. Psalms 103:19 (New American Standard Bible)

I once knew a Christian lady who would become angry whenever the prophetic words of Jesus were spoken of. She believed the Bible was God’s word but balked for some reason at prophecy. Even after talking with her about the glorious message and hope in the prophetic side of the Bible I never had a clear understanding why she felt that way. The words of God’s prophecies bring hope. Almost 1/3 of the Bible deals with future events; some already fulfilled and some yet to be.

We’re heading into the New Year with a lot of grief traveling with us. There is a great moral lapse in America and in the world in which millions push God away and practice wickedness with no fear. Justice is perverted. Those in power take advantage of citizens while pushing destructive agendas. Add to this the organizations that threaten and murder innocent people by the score sowing the seeds of fear and dread. Nations rattle swords with impending rumors of hostilities. At the time of this writing North and South Korea are standing on the brink of reigniting a full scale war on the peninsula with possibility of nuclear intervention which could possibly drag the human race into World War III. We may be less than two years away from Iran developing a nuclear device which surely would become a major threat to Israel and world peace. And it goes on and on. But there is hope.

Jesus Christ was the ultimate prophet of history. He not only foretold future last day events but prophesied of His own life in His death and resurrection. Christ fulfilled 48 prophecies from the writings of the Old Testament prophets. Just to have fulfilled only 8 the odds would be 1 in 10 to the 17th power. To have fulfilled all 48 prophecies the odds are astronomical at an astounding 1 in 10 to the 157th power. It looks like this; the smallest object known to man is the electron. It is so small that it will take 2.5 times (10 to the 15th power) to make a single file line one inch long. Counting this one inch long line of electrons at 250 per minute, day and night, would take 19 million years to count just that one inch. Let’s suppose we mark only 1 electron and stir it back into the mass, blindfold a person and tell them to find the marked electron. Those are the same odds of any man fulfilling 48 prophecies as it is recorded Jesus Christ did in His lifetime (Evidence That Demands a Verdict, p 167).

I don’t know about you but believing in a God who can do that builds within me a lot of hope that the world will soon be redeemed and returned to its first estate. The Apostle Paul likened the travail of the present earth system to a woman laboring in birth pains (Romans 8:22, 23). We agonize in our spirits as we wait for God to return and set things right. As God is a loving heavenly Father He desires to show us His plans so we may be encouraged. God will fulfill all the things He promised through His Son. Be encouraged as we enter the New Year; the odds are in our favor things will turn out just fine.

Ken

O Come Let Us Show our Teeth

At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon. John 10:22, 23 (New American Standard Bible)

We seldom stop to think that Jesus enjoyed life and being in the company of festive people. The Gospels tell of Him attending a wedding, being invited into people’s homes for dinner and fellowship and even being in Jerusalem during Hanukah (Feast of Dedication). If we carefully study the life of Christ we do not find a humorless or dour Savior. Some people even believe it is blasphemous to imagine Jesus ever smiled or laughed when He was like us in every respect. Being 100% God He was also 100% human. Instead we find in Jesus a Man who loved to be social and was totally comfortable and happy in every group situation.

Somewhere along the line the view of Jesus’ humanity got skewed into pigeon holing Him into some kind of sourpuss who looked down on those who had something funny to add to a conversation; or who laughed out loud at a party. Can you imagine what a party with that kind of man would be? Dead silence with Jesus sitting in a corner frowning and glowering and an occasional dip of a chip. Don’t enjoy yourself and for heaven’s sake show no merriment in its proper context. God has a tremendous sense of humor. Just look at creation and the many hilarious animal clips on “The Planet’s Funniest Animal Videos.” Studying the Puritans carefully one finds even they enjoyed a good party with fiddles, food and dancing.

Jesus did come to give us life and that to the fullest. He was human in every sense and that would include enjoying event celebrations and entering into gaiety and laughter. I believe He is immeasurably pleased when we enter celebratory occasions with cheerfulness and joy. As we greet one another during this Christmas season let’s laugh and even toast one another with a cup of eggnog and give praise and thanks to the One we celebrate. That’s enough to make anyone smile. Merry Christmas to you all and blessing for a very happy new year.

Ken