Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Genesis 3:10

"The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground."

Confronted by God's absolute awareness of all things, Cain was in shock. What he wanted to accomplish in solitude was in fact enacted coram Deo "before God." All things are! (Hebrews 4:13) As his parents, Adam and Eve, discovered as well, there is no successful hiding from the living God. Humanity has been attempting it down to the present day, to no avail. And the blood of victims has been crying to Him who hears, without ceasing.
In particular I am thinking of more than fifty million victims, since the early 1970's, deliberately-taken lives, whose blood continually cries out to God. What America has done in secret will be made known in judgment. God is not mocked (Galatians 6:7). Should the Freedom of Choice Act become law, nullifying all restrictions on abortion in America, this land will be storing up wrath for itself in terrible ways. The righteous Judge of all the earth will do right. He will act on behalf of the innocents.

"Father, it is only by Your great mercy and compassion, for the
sake of the remnant, that You have stayed Your hand thus far.
Our nation is so ripe for judgment, and Your church is so ripe
for Your woodshed. Forgive for Your children's dissatisfaction
with You, and what You provide. Forgive our greed. Call us
back to simplicity, to knowing You are enough.
Grieve our hearts over the killing, the ongoing killing... may we
never "get over" it.
In the Lord Jesus' Name,
Amen."



Saturday, December 27, 2008

Proverb 23:7a

"...as (a man) thinks within himself, so he is."

A.W. Tozer had it right when he said, “What comes to mind when you think of God is the most important thing about you.”

There is no more serious business in all this life than to think of God aright. For, to the extent that our concept of who He is varies from the truth, we are guilty of idolatry.

To think unworthy thoughts of God is to impugn His righteous character, besmirch His holy Name, and call into question His flawless faithfulness. It comes as no surprise when a lost and spiritually-blind world doubts the goodness of their Creator, but it is unutterably grievous to the LORD when His own blood-bought children do so. And how do unworthy thoughts manifest themselves?

Most often in our speech, since our mouth speaks from that which fills our heart (Luke 6:45). Unworthy thoughts produce unclean speech (Ephesians 4:29; 5:4). In the former we lose our joy of worship, in the latter our testimony among men.

Philippians 4:8 is vital, if we are to be restored in thought and speech. May the Holy Spirit increase our desire and determination to think on our God worthily.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Ephesians 5:16

"making the most of your time, because the days are evil."

It's eerie to feel days slipping away, to be keenly aware of time's passing... knowing all the while the seconds can't be slowed, the minutes called back, nor the hours retrieved.
What to do? Listen. "Incline your ear, and come to Me. Listen, that you may live."

Jeremiah 32:17

" 'Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You.' "

Interesting is the irony that, in this age when each one does what is right in his own eyes, the Lord providentially incorporates each one's most minute maneuverings into His sovereign design.
Without outward coercion, without violation of individual integrity, and without the slightest miscarriage of justice nor love, the living God fulfills His every purpose, proceeding precisely as He has declared in His Word to do, all in perfect consistency of character.
Only One who sees the end from the beginning, before Whom all things are open and laid bare, could there exist such supreme coordination of immeasurable complexities!