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One Day... I'm in the Band!

How cool will this day be? People like me -  with no real musical talent, given an instrument by God. Apparently I will be able to sing and play for His glory. Wow! Of course this may freak out my non-instrumental friends.

Revelation 15:1-4 (NIV)

I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God's wrath is completed. And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name. They held harps given them by God and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb:

   "Great and marvelous are your deeds,
      Lord God Almighty.
   Just and true are your ways,
      King of the ages.
  Who will not fear you, O Lord,
      and bring glory to your name?
   For you alone are holy.
   All nations will come
      and worship before you,
   for your righteous acts have been revealed."

The God Who Breaks Bones

King David's sin brought a crushing blow from God. God lit David up and then broke him down.

In Psalm 51, David asks God to let the bones you have broken rejoice.

Not sure that I have ever heard anyone describe God as one who breaks bones. It doesn't sound very loving or God-like. If a church is too full, preaching on this could probably free up a few chairs.

Nearly a year passed between the time that David committed adultery and him owning up to his sin. That seems like a long time to me - an entire year. Well, reading Psalm 51, you get the sense that it was not a "slide back into my routine" kind of year. David was able to take care of all the external "problems" of his sin - he had Uriah killed, etc...However, you get the sense that David could not put to death the weight on his heart and mind.

Now I have heard some say that David's heart grew hard during this time, but I believe that David experienced inner turmoil more than a hard heart. No doubt he tried to put the past in the past, but was unable to do so. The guilt was too much.

God could have left him in that place. God did not. God loved David too much. God sent Nathan.

God crushed David. He broke him down and humbled him. God breaks bones. He would not let David stay proud, hard, or troubled.

When we live in sin, or refuse to humbly take hold of God's grace, God will break our bones. We will experience the misery and pain that are embedded in such an act. The pain involved in a broken bone is hard to ignore. It makes you want to get it fixed... quick! Who better to fix it than the one who skillfully broke it?

The setting of a bone is usually more painful that the break. Confession is usually more painful than the guilt of the sin. Confession is agreeing with God that something is broken and acknowledging that God is the only one who can do anything about it. Through confession we can be renewed, cleaned, restored, and our bones that were broken will be set and rejoice. Just ask David.

Psalm 51:7-12 (ESV)

7Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
   and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
   and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
   and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
   and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Mine!

This week at Northern Hills we continued our journey through the book of Malachi. We spent time in Malachi 3:13-18. My Mother-in-Law Maxine, reminded me that it was a very special passage to her. So in honor of her, I will point you to:

Malachi 3:16-18

16 Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name.

17 "They will be mine," says the LORD Almighty, "in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. 18 And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.

Who is like the Lord our God?

This is what God put on my heart this morning as I was praying for a friend and his upcoming ministry opportunity.

Psalm 113 (The Message)

Hallelujah! You who serve God, praise God!
      Just to speak his name is praise!
   Just to remember God is a blessing—
      now and tomorrow and always.
   From east to west, from dawn to dusk,
      keep lifting all your praises to God!

  God is higher than anything and anyone,
      outshining everything you can see in the skies.
   Who can compare with God, our God,
      so majestically enthroned,
   Surveying his magnificent
      heavens and earth?
   He picks up the poor from out of the dirt,
      rescues the wretched who've been thrown out with the trash,
   Seats them among the honored guests,
      a place of honor among the brightest and best.
   He gives childless couples a family,
      gives them joy as the parents of children.
   Hallelujah!

Plant Yourself

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
   whose trust is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted by water,
   that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
   for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
   for it does not cease to bear fruit."

Jeremiah 17:7-8 (ESV)

Prayer for the Church

I was with a group of people who regularly pray for the Church and Northern Hills. The following passage "opened" before them. Amen!

Ephesians 3:14-21 (CEV)

I kneel in prayer to the Father. All beings in heaven and on earth receive their life from him. God is wonderful and glorious. I pray that his Spirit will make you become strong followers and that Christ will live in your hearts because of your faith. Stand firm and be deeply rooted in his love. I pray that you and all of God's people will understand what is called wide or long or high or deep. I want you to know all about Christ's love, although it is too wonderful to be measured. Then your lives will be filled with all that God is. I pray that Christ Jesus and the church will forever bring praise to God. His power at work in us can do far more than we dare ask or imagine. Amen.

Boast

This is what the LORD says:  "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 9:23-24 NIV)

Holy Boldness

So, friends, we can now-without hesitation-walk right up to God, into the "Holy Place." Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of his sacrifice, acting as our priest before God. The "curtain" into God's presence is his body.

So let's do it - full of belief, confident that we are presentable inside and out. Let's keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let's see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.

Hebrews 10:19-25 (The Message)

Use Your Strength Well

Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status.

Romans 15:1 (The Message)

Easier Read than Done

"Here's another old saying that deserves a second look: "Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.' Is that going to get us anywhere? Here's what I propose: "Don't hit back at all.' If someone strikes you, stand there and take it. If someone drags you into court and sues for the shirt off your back, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously.

"You're familiar with the old written law, "Love your friend,' and its unwritten companion, "Hate your enemy.' I'm challenging that. I'm telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best--the sun to warm and the rain to nourish--to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.

"In a word, what I'm saying is, Grow up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.

-Matthew 5:38-48 (The Message)

• Reading these words is easier than living out these words. Especially when it comes to things like this.

• How does living out these words align with justice and defending those who are unable to protect themselves? Forgiveness and a pursuit of justice - can they co-exist?

• Ultimately Jesus challenges us to go the extra mile in promoting peace. Go further in your faith by allowing God to deal with those who are against you instead of taking matters into your own hands. When the situation is ripe for us to be at our revengeful worst, we must be at our peaceful best.

• All of this can lead to bigger discussions about pacifism, war, and the role of redemptive love. However, before we get there, maybe a good place to start would be to love those who are hard to love. Love those who speak against you or work against you. Love and serve those who get under your skin.