It's all or nothing...

With a ring on my finger which would support a man and his family for a year I confront the poor man "at my door." I know what my duty ultimately is; my problem arises out of my unwillingness --- or my inability, if you like --- to do that duty.  God says: . . . "Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away"  (Matthew 5:42) . . . .  But I answer: "God, I cannot do that; thou seest that I cannot do that; and since I cannot, wilt thou not tell me what to do short of that?"  But God does not again reply.  He has nothing more to say.

  - John Knox

The speck in your brother's eye

"Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. Stop criticizing others, or it will all come back on you.  If you forgive others, you will be forgiven.  If you give, you will receive.  Your gift will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over.  Whatever measure you use in giving--large or small--it will be used to measure what is given back to you."

 

This was Jesus' teachings from Luke 6:37-38.

I'd been reading the book of Ezekiel from the Old Testament of the Bible, on and off, for the past couple of months. Ezekiel was called and commissioned by Yahweh during Judah and Israel's exile in Babylon. Prophet Ezekiel's commission was to be the watchman for Israel calling them out for their sins against their God. His commission was to say to them, whether the Israelites listened or not, what God told him to tell them.  We read, "Son of Man, let all my words sink deep into your own heart first.  Listen to them carefully for yourself.  Then go to your people in exile and say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says!' Do this whether they listen to you or not." Ezekiel 3:10-11.  "Son of Man, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel.  Whenever you receive a message from me, pass it on to the people immediately." Ezekiel 3:17.

Ezekiel prophesied against the Israelites as and when God spoke to him. From chapters 4 through 24 of the Book of Ezekiel, we read several prophesies against Israel, God's chosen people.  The prophecies, time and again warn them of God's coming judgment and punishment for their sins against God. But then from chapter 25 onwards, God told Ezekiel to prophesy against Israel's neighboring kingdoms about God's judgment that was to come upon them. The reasons for God's anger are worthwhile to consider...

A message for Ammon -"Give t he Ammonites this message from the Sovereign LORD! Because you scoffed when my Temple was desecrated, mocked Israel in her desolation, and laughed at Judah as she went away into exile, I will allow nomads from the eastern deserts to overrun your country..." Ezekiel 25:3-5.  "And the Sovereign LORD says: Because you clapped and stamped and cheered with glee at the destruction of my people, I will lift up my fist against you.  I will give you as plunder to many nations. I will cut you off from being a nation and destroy you completely.. Then you will know I am the LORD." Ezekiel 25:6-7.

A message for Moab - "And the Sovereign LORD says: Because the people of Moab have said that Judah is just like all the other nations..." Ezekiel 25:8-11.  Moab marginalized Israel when it was down.

A message for Edom - "And the Sovereign LORD says: The people of Edom have sinned greatly by avenging themselves against the people of Judah..." Ezekiel 25:12-14.  Edom avenged themselves when Israel was weak from God's punishment.

A message for Philistia - "And the Sovereign LORD says: The people of Philistia have acted against Judah out of revenge and long-standing contempt..."  Ezekiel 25:15-17.

A message for Tyre - "Son of man, Tyre has rejoiced over the fall of Jerusalem, saying, 'Ha! She who controlled the rich trade routes to the east has been broken, and I am the heir! Because she has been destroyed, I will become wealthy!" Ezekiel 26:1-2.  Chapters 26, 27 and 28 go into detail on God's coming judgment against the great trade cities of Tyre and Sidon who were once trade partners of Israel and Judah during the times of David and Solomon. Tyre and Sidon looked to expand their territory at Israel's misfortune, though well deserved.

A message for Egypt - "...for you collapsed like a reed when Israel looked to you for help.  Israel leaned on you, but like a cracked staff, you splintered and stabbed her in the armpit.  When she put her weight on you, you gave way, and her back was thrown out of joint..." Ezekiel 29:6-8.  Chapter 29, 30, 31 and 32 go into more details on reasons for the judgment against Egypt. It took advantage of Israel's misfortune and helped to speed up Israel's destruction.

When we break the law of the land that we live in, the law punishes us for it.  But when it comes to breaking God's commands, it is God who punishes people for their shortcomings, their sins against God. You and I should not presume, it is our God given right to pass judgment on others. Even to Ezekiel, God's appointed watchman over Israel, God warns him to first listen to His (God's) words for himself (Ezekiel), and then to go and point out to the Israelites what God had told Ezekiel. Let us not stand aside in self righteous contempt as our brother or sister  stumbles, for God himself says, "I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people.  I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live.  Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die?" Ezekiel 33:10-11. Believers in Christ are the new Israelites! As we correct our brothers and sisters, let us be careful to not let hypocrisy and self righteous contempt creep in to us. Let us examine ourselves to see what "logs" lie in our eyes before pointing to the speck in our brothers and sisters' eyes.  Be careful of what you do to and for others, it will return to you in full measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over.

Let us uphold each other in prayer!

Turn your eyes...
 



Awesome God !

When he (Jesus) had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Now go out where it is deeper and let down your nets, and you will Catch many fish."

"Master, Simon replied, "we worked hard all last night and didn't catch a thing, but if you say so, we'll try again." And this time their nets were so full they began to tear!  A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking. 

When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, " Oh, Lord, please leave me - I'm too much of a sinner to be around you."  For he was awestruck by the size of their catch, as were the others with him.  His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed.

Jesus replied to Simon, "Don't be afraid! From now on you'll be fishing for people! - Luke 5:10

The past one year work has been very challenging. Summer 2013 came and went. I didn't get to take vacation with my family.  I have been in the middle of closing out one complex project and executing others. The experiences during these times have been a first for me, and it has been an amazing journey.  As in the scriptures quoted earlier, the amazement of Peter and the others were from the size of the catch from the same place they had fished all previous night and had come up empty.

My team is overseeing an $18 million dollar project of which approximately $10 million was defined scope and contracts were executed with vendors. Remaining work was being put in place as the main project was ongoing. The proposals received from contractors and subcontractors for the additional work was 100-300% above our estimates and budget. Negotiations were stressful.  As we tried determining the reason for the price variation, we realized that the contractors were putting in the exorbitant cost figures probably knowing that we had our backs to the wall.

There were meetings that I walked out of without much expectations as we could not come to terms.  When I took my current job, it was on a promise from God that he was going to lead me, he was going to have his Spirit go ahead of me and make the impossible, possible. I started fasting and praying expecting God to move the mountains for me and scheduled a final series of meetings with the vendors. We scheduled additional site meetings to go over the scope of the remaining work. I was amazed at the meekness of our counterparts at the last series of cost negotiating meetings. We successfully negotiated all the change orders under our budget.  As each meeting with the separate vendors concluded, mostly within half hour of its starting, I knew in my mind and heart without an iota of doubt that God was present making their arguments moot and giving our arguments favor in their minds. All I can say is, my team and I, as Peter and his group, were awestruck at the results.  He makes the impossible, possible!

Thank you Lord!

Phil Wickham - Our God is an awesome God!

 



Visions of Yahweh...

I want to mention from the Bible visions of God's glory seen by three mighty prophets of Yahweh (Jehovah) and two apostles of Christ. These visions gave them a glimpse at the awesome glory of God and in his glorious presence the realization of their utter sinful nature. The vision of Christ enabled Stephen to not count his life worthwhile to save, for he could have asked God for protection and God would have saved him from the hands of his murderers, instead he prayed for forgiveness for his enemies as he was being stoned to death.  These visions enabled these men to count everything here at hand worthless in light of the coming glory that they would be part of.  Today, in death, Stephen's testimony glorifies Christ more than a lengthy lifetime of achievements could. I wonder what it would be like to experience such visions...

In the book of Isaiah, chapter 6, we read of Prophet Isaiah's vision of Jehovah, "In the year King Uzziah died, I (Isaiah) saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple.  Hovering around him were mighty seraphim, each with six wings. With two wings, they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with the remaining two they flew.  In a great chorus they sang, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty! The whole earth is filled with his glory!  The glorious singing shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire sanctuary was filled with smoke.  Then I said, "My destruction is sealed, for I am a sinful  man and a member of a sinful race.  Yet I have seen the King, the LORD Almighty!"

We read of the vision Prophet Ezekiel had of Jehovah. In chapter 1 of the book of Ezekiel, verse four onwards we read, "As I looked, I saw a great storm coming toward me from the north, driving before it a huge cloud that flashed with lightning and shone with brilliant light.  The fire inside the cloud glowed like gleaming amber.  From the center of the cloud came four living beings that looked human, except that each had four faces and two pairs of wings.  Their legs were straight like human legs, but their feet were split like calves' feet and shone like burnished bronze.  Beneath each of their wings I could see human hands.  The wings of each living being touched the wings of the two beings beside it. The living beings were able to fly in any direction without turning around.  Each had a human face in the front, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle at the back.  Each had two pairs of outstretched wings - one pair stretched out to touch the wings of the living beings on either side of it, and the other pair covered its body.  They went in whatever direction the spirit chose, and they moved straight forward in all directions without having to turn around.  The living beings looked like bright coals of fire or brilliant torches, and it looked as though lightning was flashing back and forth among them.  And the living beings darted to and fro like flashes of lightning.  As I looked at these beings, I saw four wheels on the ground beneath them, one wheel belonging to each.  The wheels sparkled as if made of chrysolite. All four wheels looked the same; each wheel had a second wheel turning crosswise within it.  The beings could move forward in any of the four directions they faced, without turning as they moved.  The rims of the four wheels were awesomely tall, and they were covered with eyes all around the edges.  When the four living beings moved, the wheels moved with them.  When they flew upward, the wheels went up, too.  The spirit of the four living beings was in the wheels.  So wherever the sprit went, the wheels and the living beings went, too.  When the living beings moved, the wheels moved. When the living beings stopped, the wheels stopped.  When the living beings flew into the air, the wheels rose up.  For the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.  There was a surface spread out above them like the sky.  It sparkled like crystal.  Beneath this surface the wings of each living being stretched out to touch the others' wings, and each had two wings covering its body.  As they flew their wings roared like waves crashing against the shore, or like the voice of the Almighty, or like the shouting of a mighty army.  When they stopped, they let down their wings.  As they stood with their wings lowered, a voice spoke from beyond the crystal surface above them.   Above the surface over their heads was what looked like a throne made of blue sapphire.  And high above this throne was a figure whose appearance was like that of a man.  From his waist up, he looked like gleaming amber, flickering like a fire.  And from his waist down, he looked like a burning flame, shining with splendor.  All around him was a glowing halo, like a rainbow shining through the clouds.  This was the way the glory of the LORD appeared to me.  When I saw it, I fell face down in the dust,  and I heard someone's voice speaking to me."

Prophet Daniel writes of his vision in chapter seven of the Book of Daniel, verses 9-10, "I watched as thrones were put in place and the Ancient One sat down to judge.  His clothing was as white as snow, his hair like whitest wool.  He sat on a fiery throne with wheels of blazing fire, and a river of fire flowed from his presence.  Millions of angels ministered to him, and a hundred million stood to attend him.  Then the court began its session, and the books were opened. Verses 13-14 write, "As my vision continued that night,  I saw someone who looked like a man coming with the clouds of heaven.   He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence.  He was given authority, honor, and royal power over all the nations of the world,  so that people of every race and nation and language would obey him.  His rule is eternal - it will never end.  His kingdom will never be destroyed."

Then there was the vision Stephen saw prior to him being stoned to death for preaching Christ. We read in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter seven, verses 55 onwards, "But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily upward into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God's right hand.  And he told them, " Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God's right hand!" Then they (the Jewish leaders) put their hands over their ears, and drowning out his voice with their shouts, they rushed at him.  They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him.  The official witnesses took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.   And as they stoned him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." And he fell to his knees, shouting, "Lord don't charge them with this sin!" And with that, he died.

In the Book of Revelations, Apostle John wrote of the vision he saw of Christ during his exile in the isle of Patmos for preaching Christ.  We read in chapter one, verses ten onwards, "It was the Lord's Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit.  Suddenly, I heard a loud voice behind me, a voice that sounded like a trumpet blast.  It said, "Write down what you see, and send it to the seven churches:  Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea." When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands.  And standing in the middle of the lampstands was the Son of Man.  He was wearing a long rode with a gold sash across his chest.  His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow.  And his feet were as bright as bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves.  He held seven stars in his right hand, and  sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was as bright as the sun in all its brilliance.  When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead.  But he laid his right hand on me and said,  "Don't be afraid! I am the First and the Last.  I am the living one who died.  Look, I am alive forever and ever! and I hold the keys of death and the grave.  Write down what you have seen--both the things that are now happening and the things that will happen later.  This is the meaning of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches."

The Bible talks of an awesomely glorious God, whose love for man was such that he stepped down from his glory to take the form of a commoner, so that everyone could identify with him, from the rich to the poor, the sick, the destitute, the prostitute and the neglected marginal lives. He is so very passionate to have a relationship with you and I that he took the punishment for our sins and paid a steep price for our atonement, gave his life on Calvary's cross. He is coming again to gather his people. Will you and I be counted among his people? Today we live in a time of God's mercy and grace. Today is the time to repent of our sins, for tomorrow is not ours. Today is the time to accept Christ into your life, no matter where your life has been, no matter what sin you have been wallowing in, Jesus Christ will accept you as you are. God bless you!

Phil Wickham - This is our God



God's Righteous

King David writes in Psalms 37:25, "I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous (godly) forsaken or his children begging for bread."

This was written by the shepherd boy who became a king, anointed by God, the king who united Judah and Israel. He was someone who had experienced sheer loneliness, great pain of losing his children, betrayal at the hands of his beloved son, humiliation, starvation, and grave dangers; yet when he looked back upon a lifetime of experiences, he saw the goodness of his God.

Who are the righteous? Prophet Moses writes in Deuteronomy 6:25 (NLT), "For we are righteous when we obey all the commands the LORD our God has given us." We cannot pick and chose what we deem appropriate to suite our desires, it's all or none!

Was David a perfect man, obedient to all God's commands? No, we read in the old testament that he had many shortcomings, some acts he committed were very egregious, yet when he was confronted with his sins, his remorse was sincere and he wanted to make whole to God and man for the wrongs he had committed. One outstanding character of David that we see in the Bible is his desire to please God more than anything else.

God loves us and wants to bless us. He is truthful and he is faithful, ever loyal to his people. There is only one requirement of his people - obey all his commands.

Can we overcome this seemingly harsh requirement? Absolutely Yes, with his grace. Please see a previous blog - "Is Salvation for every one?"

Other blogs on the topic of Salvation:

1.  An invitation to the Lord's Salvation.
2.  A master plan for the fallen man's salvation
3.  Can we lose salvation?

Chris Tomlin - Lord I need You

Oh Christian, throw caution to the wind at your peril

Recently one Sunday morning, before going to church with my family, I sat down to pray and meditate on the Word of God for some time. My prayer was for God to speak to me from his Word for my own benefit.

I opened up the Bible to Psalms 38, a Psalm written by King David. This Psalm reflects a dark period in David's life, a period filled with strife, fear, depression, loneliness, and we read David's pitiful pleas to God to not abandon him, to not stand away from him, to protect him from his enemies who seemed to have the upper hand over him. The Psalm starts out with his plea to God, "O LORD, don't rebuke me in your anger! Don't discipline me in your rage! Your arrows have struck me deep, and your blows are crushing me." (vs. 1-2). The Psalm ends with another plea, "Do not abandon me, LORD. Do not stand at a distance, my God. Come quickly to help me, O Lord my savior." (vs. 21-22)

As I sat thinking over the Psalm, I was sitting under our living room ceiling fan and it blew the pages over. Thinking I was reading Psalms 18, I thumbed through the pages to Psalms 18 and started reading it. It also is a Psalm written by David. But this Psalm was a Psalm of hope, boldness, courage, strength, and assurance of victory in God. The Psalm starts out, "I love you, LORD; you are my strength.  The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the strength of my salvation, and my stronghold."  It ends with a proclamation, "You give great victories to your king; you show unfailing love to your anointed, to David and all his descendants forever."  (vs. 1-2).  After I finished reading the Psalm, I sat there thinking, hmmm... This was not what I was reading before. Finally, I found the Psalm I had started out with, Psalms 38, and read again and noticed the stark contrast in the tone and statements of the two Psalms written by the same man, King David, whom God had proclaimed to be a man after God's own heart.

I saw the reason for the mood in Psalms 38 in verse 4 and 5, "My guilt overwhelms me -- it is a burden too heavy to bear.  My wounds fester and stink because of my foolish sins."  And in verse 18, we read David confess to the LORD, "But I confess my sins; I am deeply sorry for what I have done."

In Psalm 38, we see a fallen David, someone who had succumbed to life's temptations, while in Psalms 18, we see a David who loved his God and delighted in obeying his commands. We read, "He led me to a place of safety; he rescued me because he delights in me." Why does God delight in David? "The LORD rewarded me for doing right; he compensated me because of my innocence.  For I have kept the ways of the LORD; I have not turned from my God to follow evil.  For all his laws are constantly before me; I have never abandoned his principles.  I am blameless before God; I have kept myself from sin.  The LORD rewarded me for doing right, because of the innocence of my hands in his sight." (vs. 19-24)

Verses 25 and 26 of Psalms18 hits the nail on the head, so to speak, pointing out David's state of affairs as he wrote the two Psalms. "To the faithful you show yourself faithful; to those with integrity you show integrity.  To the pure you show yourself pure, but to the wicked you show yourself hostile."

This was a caution to me: to be careful with my daily choices in life. If I walk with integrity in God's sight, I will be able say with David, "In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall." (Psalms 18:29).

Apostle Peter warns, "Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour." (1 Peter 5:8)

Hey Christian, throw caution to the wind at your peril!

May God's grace sustain you and bless you!

Lord, make my time here on earth matter...

James, the brother of Christ, writes the following in the Book of James, "Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you.  Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags.  Your gold and silver have become worthless. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This treasure you have accumulated will stand as evidence against you on the day of judgment.  For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The wages you held back cry out against you. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every whim. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter.  You have condemned and killed good people who had no power to defend themselves against you. - (James 5:1-6, NLT)

PS: God is not against the wealthy, but he certainly wants you to examine what place does he have in your life.  Please see the following blog article... http://hesthelighthouse.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-eye-of-needle.html