Freedom is Good News Part 30

In our previous article we were concerning ourselves with the topic of “names”.  Our God has a specific name and that name from the Hebrew is “Yehovah”.  We looked at what this Hebrew name might mean when translated into English.  Moses asked God what His name was and God told Moses, “I AM THAT I AM.  This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you’”.  This is not an easy concept to grasp.  God is who He is.  He exists because He alone has life.  We, His creation, exist only because it is His will.  We have life, only because He has given us life.

OK, so let’s move on.  Last week we mentioned that in both David’s Psalm and the book of Nehemiah we are admonished to praise the name of God.  Why should we praise His name?  Shouldn’t we praise His person and His works instead?

Well actually when we praise His name we are indeed praising who He is and what He does!  In the 1st chapter of Luke, after Mary finds out that she is to give birth to the Son of God, we have a prayer from her recorded in scripture.  Verse 46, “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior … for the Mighty One has done great things for me – holy is His name.”  Mary’s statement about the holiness of His name is synonymous with the great things He has done for her.  In other words, we cannot separate the name of God from His works.  His name describes who He is!

It is interesting that after Moses asks God to tell him what His name is in Exodus 3, we have Moses asking to see God’s glory in chapter 33:18.  At this point God tells Moses that no one can see His face (His full glory) and live.  But God does tell Moses that He will cover Moses face with His hand, that He will pass by Moses and that He will proclaim to him His name.  “And He passed in front of Moses, proclaiming “The LORD, The LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness rebellion and sin ….”  And so God proclaimed His name to Moses as a list of His personal attributes.

When the children of Israel were wandering in the wilderness, they were told to worship God “in the place where I have placed my name.”  In the book of Isaiah 25:1, Isaiah says, “I will exalt you (O God) and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things.”  So in conclusion, let me go back to the start of last week’s article and ask, “Do you oft times praise God?”  When you begin a prayer, do you start by giving thanks and praising God?  Psalm 100 verse 4 comes into play here, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.”  Much of the time we come before our Father with our own requests; perhaps we should come before Him and offer our thanks, praise, honor and respect to the one with such an amazing name.

Until next time…… 

Freedom is Good News Part 29

Do you oft times praise God?  I’ve been thinking about this subject quite a bit lately because it is found in the bible almost everywhere we look.  I touched on this topic several weeks ago when we were looking at Psalm 103.  It starts off with, “Praise the LORD O my soul … praise His holy name.”  That Psalm was from David. 

Let’s take a look at what it sounds like from the mouth of God’s servant Nehemiah.  In the book that bears his name, chapter 9:5, “Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessings and praise.  You alone are LORD.  You made the heavens, even the highest heaven and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them.  You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.”  This prayer of Nehemiah goes on for the rest of the chapter and is worth reading in its entirety, but for today, let us consider this opening verse.

It is interesting that in both of these examples we are encouraged to praise the name of God.  Have you ever considered that names are important?  My name is Bill.  Four letters that placed together make a certain sound that, when called out in my vicinity, will catch my attention.  It is a word that addresses me (and countless thousands of other people).  My given name at birth was “William” which, I am told, means “protector”.  But I’m not sure I have ever really protected anything.  The actual meaning of names today does not carry much weight.

However, names given in “biblical times” usually had great significance; so much so that God took the opportunity to change some of the names of His servants.  We all know the gentleman called Abraham, but his original name was Abram.  His wife Sarah was originally known as Sarai.  FYI, the name Abram meant “exalted father” and God changed it to Abraham meaning, “father of many”.  This may have confused Abram, because Sarai and he did not have any children up to this point.  At the time that God changed their names, He explained that they would have a son; Abram now was 99 years old and Sarai was 10 years younger!!!  This news brought laughter to Abram and so God told them that their son would be named Isaac, which means, “he laughs”.  And when he turned a teenager, Isaac said unto his father, “did you have to laugh at the news of my birth?  I would really like to have a name like William; protector”.  OK so I am joking here!!

But I digress.  What is God’s name?  And what is its meaning?  Why do His servants desire to have us praise this name?

The name of God, as He explained to Moses at the burning bush, is Yehovah.  Actually it is made up of the four Hebrew letters “Yodh He Vov He” (or in English YHVH).  In Exodus 3, Moses asks what God’s name is so he might tell the Israelites who was sending him.  “And God said to Moses, ‘I AM THAT I AM (or I AM WHO I AM).  This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you’”.

This is getting interesting, but we’re out of space.  Until next time …..

Freedom is Good News Part 28

“His kingdom rules over all.”(Psalm 103:19)  “Jesus came … preaching the good news of the kingdom.” (Matthew 4:23)

Is it good news to you that God’s kingdom rules over all?  It seems to me that somehow our human nature resents being ruled over.  Oh!  Maybe the word “resent” is too strong and we should insert the word “reject”.  Never the less, the question stands; do you reject (or resent) being ruled over?  In other words do you feel that God has no right to interfere in your life?  This really seems to be where Eve and then Adam started out.  And I think we pointed out, in a previous article, where that attitude led.  Suffice it to say, it hasn’t been good news!

There is an old saying in Latin, “Rex Lex or Lex Rex”.  “Lex” being the word for “law” and “Rex” being the word for “king”.  In other words, “is the king the law or is the law the king”?  In the United States we live by the rule of law.  To say it another way, the law is king, it applies to everyone – no one is above the law. (At least it’s supposed to work that way!!)  But in a monarchy it is just the opposite; the king is the law – what he says goes!  The bible tells us that God has set up a monarchy and so He rules over all.

Okay!  That’s where we started this article but we haven’t considered whether this is good news or not.  Several weeks ago we explored the idea that God was good and that He was good all the time.  May I suggest that if He is good all the time, then we have a wonderful King?  It has been said that the best form of government is a beneficent dictatorship.  In many ways, our God dictates to us and we have come to the understanding that He is beneficent. 

Our God is a loving Father!  He is more than just a loving Father; He is a perfect loving Father.  He wants us to succeed at what we do and to be with Him for eternity.  Do you believe that?  Then let me reiterate something I said earlier, “The laws that He has given to us are gifts from Him and are for our benefit.”  The book of Job addresses this comment; in Job 35:6, Elihu (the one friend of Job who is not chastised by God) says this, “If you sin, how does that affect Him?  If your sins are many, what does that do to Him?  If you are righteous, what do you give to Him or what does He receive from your hand?”  This says a mouthful toward the fact that God has given us laws for our benefit.  

The benefit is twofold; first, we learn how to act toward our neighbors (and they toward us) and secondly, but most importantly, we learn how our God would have us act toward Him.  This is summed up in the two great commandments, love the LORD your God with all your heart, strength and life and love your neighbor as yourself.

Well, I don’t know about you, but for me, the gift of His kingdom and its laws and commandments is really good news.

Until next time, think on the good things of God. 

Freedom is Good News Part 27

I was just reading over last week’s article and was struck by the words from Psalm 103:19, “His kingdom rules over all.”  These words caught my eye because I had been thinking about the title of these articles, “YES, THERE IS GOOD NEWS!”, and considering how the message that Jesus proclaimed to the people began with, “the good news of the kingdom”.  These two concepts crossed my mind at about the same time.  Let us, then, dive into these two statements and see where they take us.

Does God’s kingdom rule over you?  Please take this personally.  We, in this country, are very blessed to have the type of government that is in place, a constitutional republic.  But our familiarity with this type of government, one that is “of the people, by the people and for the people” actually might limit us when we consider just how the kingdom of God operates.  God’s kingdom is not a republic.  It is a monarchy!  In a true monarchy, when the king makes a decree it becomes a law and well, yes the subjects must obey.

How many rules and laws enacted through our secular government do you break?  We do not seem to do very well with speed limits!  That’s very obvious.  And do we really come to a stop at the many stop signs we encounter?  No, I’m not trying to point out the “speck in your own eye” while I have a beam in mine.  We have all broken a law or two in our time.  But what about God’s law?  Sometimes it doesn’t seem that we even care that God has given us His laws as a gift.  Yes, as a gift!!  Turn off the TV tonight and just sit and meditate quietly about how life in this society would improve if just one of the Ten Commandments were fully kept.  “Thou shall not steal”.  Not only would we not need locks of any kind but we would be safe traveling anywhere in any town.  Remember I said, “Fully kept.”  No one would try to steal another person’s life – “Thou shall not murder” comes into play.  It is an interesting exercise in meditation; try it some time.

So I repeat, “God’s laws are a gift” – all of them!!  And yet if asked, could you recite all of the Ten Commandments?  Do you even know where to find them in the Bible.

Let’s see what Moses had to say concerning these laws of God.  In the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 4, we read this:  “Hear now O Israel, the decrees and laws I’m about to teach you … Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God. … Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’…  What other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?  … Be careful and watch closely … do not forget … or let them slip from your heart … Teach them to your children and to their children after them.”  Typing that last line almost breaks my heart when I think of our youth today and how many of them have never been taught the ways of God.

And so I end on a sour note – but fear not, we will continue this next week.

Until then – yes there is good news!

Freedom is Good News Part 26

Do you sometimes feel as though the days of your life are as the grass of a meadow or the flower of the field?  We have been looking into King David’s praise of God in Psalm 103 and so we have come to verse 15, “As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field.”  At this point in the Psalm he compares our life with God’s love:  “the wind blows over it (our life as the grass) and it is gone and its place remembers it no more.”  However, in verse 17 he says, “But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear Him.”  God’s love never ceases.  Remember the previous article when we talked about how God’s love is as a father’s love?  At what point would your love for your children ever cease?  If we would learn to fear (i.e. revere / stand in awe of) God our Father we would experience the never ending love that He has for us.

I told you this Psalm is filled with good news!!  I hope you have gotten out your bible and read along with this study into Psalm 103.

In verse 18 we are told to keep His covenant and obey His precepts.  At this point my mind goes to something Jesus said when He was being tempted by Satan in the wilderness; “It is written, man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matt. 4:4)  When Jesus said this the only words that came from God and were written down were to be found from Genesis to Malachi (the Old Testament).  Do we wish to have life?  Then live by these words.  Paul said as much when instructing Timothy in his letter to him, “You have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:15-17).  The only scriptures Timothy had at this point were the same ones Jesus referred to in Matthew and if we would have it, the same ones King David is pointing us to in Psalm 103.

David then lets us know why this “fear of the LORD”, this “keeping His covenant and obeying His precepts” is to be our duty.  In verse 19 he writes, “The LORD has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all.”  Our God is over all.  He sits on a throne, not on this earth or of this earth, but in the heavenly realms!  He is a king who rules over all of His creation.  And so David finishes the Psalm by including: the angels, the mighty ones, the heavenly hosts, His servants, all His works and everything in His dominion in giving “Praise to the LORD.  Praise the LORD, O my soul.”  And I can only say at this point, “AMEN”!!

Yes, God is good and His word is good.

Until next time, think on the good things of God. 

Freedom is Good News Part 25

If you’ve been with me these past two weeks, you know that we have been looking into Psalm 103.  We have seen that God is loving, compassionate and gracious.  He is slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.  And I hope we have seen that these are not just things God has decided to do, but that they are inherently a part of His personality.

It would be a decidedly foolish thing for Him to do; create a beautiful environment for life, provide everything needed in abundance and create a life form to dwell there, all the while ruing the day that He did so.  No, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son….  God, our God loves us and wants us to come to love Him.

This is a beautiful Psalm!  God so loves us that (verse 10), “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.”  In other words it is we who have gone astray in our respect and love for Him and still, His love is bigger than we are!  His love is bigger than our foolishness.  His love is bigger than our sins.

Verse 11 says it all very well, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear Him.  As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” 

Jesus Christ while on this earth told us that we should call this great God of the entire universe, “Father”.  All of us have had a father and perhaps many of you reading this are fathers.  Some of us have had wonderful, loving fathers and other of us … well, not so much.  We do not live in a perfect world.  But God our Father loves us with an undying love; with a love that goes beyond our understanding.  And so in verse 13 we see King David using a metaphor that we can all grasp.  He informs us that, “As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him; for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.”

Oh, wait a minute here, didn’t we just read that there’s a condition to that love from God?  Doesn’t it say He has compassion on those that fear Him?  What’s up with this fear?  The word for fear in the original Hebrew has several nuances of meaning.  Vines Hebrew Dictionary has this to say about the word “yare” (fear):  “Used toward a person in an exalted position, “yare” (fear) connotes “standing in awe”.  This is not simple fear, but reverence, whereby one individual recognizes the power and position of the individual revered and renders him proper respect.  In this sense the word may imply submission to a proper ethical relationship to God.”  Yes, that’s a mouthful but I believe you see how this word is used in the Psalm. 

In this 21st century we sometimes lament the way children do not show respect for parents and elders.  Do you, as a child of God, show respect and fear for Him?

More good news to come, in this beautiful Psalm of David’s.

Freedom is Good News Part 24

Last week we began by considering that our God is good and that He is good all the time.  The vehicle we were using in exploring this topic was Psalm 103.  (Have you read the entire Psalm?)  This Psalm is quite beautiful in its entirety and really helps to explain so much of who God is and who we are in relation to Him.

I, for one, am amazed at how King David, in verse seven, has us read that God made known to Moses “His ways”!  It has been said that Moses is the author of the first five books of the bible.  (Actually God is the author and Moses the scribe.)  And as we consider what these five books contain, we see a beautiful preface to the entire bible.  God revealed to Moses first of all, the creation, then the flood, the calling of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Joseph’s rise to power in Egypt and finally, the Exodus from Egypt with Moses as leader and of course the wanderings in the wilderness.  As an overview, we get to see the perfect will of God in action.

But let’s get back to Psalms 103.  Verse eight begins, “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.”  A couple of comments here are in order.  First, this is a reiteration of God’s telling Moses, on Mount Sinai, what His name was:  Ex. 34:5, “The LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with Him (Moses) and proclaimed His name, the LORD (Yahoveh).  ‘The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.’”  David, of course, knew this scripture.  And secondly, David gives us a beautiful description of how he saw the awesome attributes of the wonderful God we serve!

Verse nine: “He will not always accuse, nor will He harbor His anger forever.”  Yes, God is patient with us and always willing to reinstate us into His good graces.  The Israelites certainly tested God’s patience over and over again.  His patience did seem to wear out when He allowed first Assyria and then Babylon to take His people into captivity.  But even then He says through the prophet Jeremiah, “Your wound is incurable, your injury beyond healing …. But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds…. I will restore the fortunes of Jacob…”  (Jer. 30:12-22) 

Our God is a loving Father!  He is more than just a loving Father; He is a perfectly loving Father.  He wants us to succeed and to be with Him in eternity.  Remember how we started the article last week, “He knows our frame; that we are but dust.”  We will see this phrase a little later on as we continue our look at the 103rd Psalm.

Until next time, remember “God is good, all the time”.

Freedom is Good News Part 23

Do you know that God is good?  There is a song that, for the most part, our grandchildren taught us to sing.  The first few words are, “God is good, all the time; He put a song of praise in this heart of mine.”  It is a delightful song and I find it rolling around in my head from time to time.  For me, it is a reminder that, not only is God good, but that He is good all the time.  He is good even when I don’t feel good.  He is good even when things around me seem quite troubling.  He is good even when the nightly news tells me that the world seems to be falling apart.  Yes, God is very good!!

The good news is that this God and Father of ours, has all things under control.  As the scripture says, “He knows us; that we are but dust”.  That quote is from Psalm 103:14.  And for this week’s article, I would like to look into Psalm 103 to see just how good God really is.  Get your bible out and read the Psalm. 

It begins by telling us to “Praise the LORD” and to do it with all of our “inmost being”.  It tells us to praise His holy name and to forget not all of His benefits.  David then goes on to list some of these benefits:  He forgives all of our sins, heals our diseases, redeems our lives from the pit, crowns us with love and compassion, satisfies us with good things and renews our youth like the eagle.  That’s quite a list!  And some of us who are of a hoary head might question David’s enthusiasm.

In the opening word’s we are told to “praise the LORD”.  The word “praise” here is most often translated “bless”.  Have you ever felt that you could bless God?  In Hebrew the word literally means to bow the knee or to kneel.  Have you ever bowed your knee when you approached God in prayer?  Have you ever humbled yourself, in such a manner, before the mighty hand of God?  When you approach the throne room of our Father to ask for forgiveness, healing, redemption, a crown of love and compassion, do you look to blessing Him, bowing before Him, kneeling in His presence?  He is the creator!

In verse 6 of this Psalm we read, “The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.”  Some might say that they have felt oppressed and yet God never worked these things for them.  But when we, who “are but dust”, kneel before the one who created all the hosts of heaven, do we do so in poorness of spirit, meekness and purity of heart (see Matthew 5:3-8)?

David goes on, in verse 7, to say that He made His ways known to Moses.  Can we pause here and ponder this?  God, the creator of all things, “the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity”, who’s ways are higher than ours “as the heavens are higher than the earth”, stooped down to make known His ways to Moses.  And then He allowed Moses to write them down so as to be passed on to us.  This is good stuff and I am out of space.  We need to visit this Psalm again.

Until next time, remember “God is good, all the time”.

Freedom is Good News Part 22

We live in an interesting age.  Perhaps every age that has gone by might be labeled as interesting, but for different reasons.  Today we have an abundance of technology that in some aspects assists us in our day to day tasks, and in others aspects frustrates us to no end.  I have heard some say that our age must be one of higher intelligence than any previous ones because we have so much technology.  But the reality is that intelligence and technology really have no correlation.

In the beginning when God created mankind, the strains of DNA that make up our genetics were perfect.  And now some 6,000 years later after copies upon copies of this DNA have been made (where-in genetic mutations have allowed for defects and diseases) our physical make up is somewhat less perfect than when first created (i.e. we are a little dumber than our ancestors!)  But, hey, we have technology.

Is that a good thing?  Well, there are arguments on both sides of this question.  I remember when calculators first came out and we all relied upon them so much that we forgot how to add and subtract in our heads.  Automatic cash registers rob the cashier of the ability to count back change to the customer etc.  Our technology tends to create a laziness that is “dumbing us down”.

So what does all of this have to do with the bible and the good news we find there?  Good question, I’m glad you asked!!  The amazing technology that we have before us has allowed us to take our eyes off of our Heavenly Father.  And that is not good news.  We have in our hands the ability (if we have such technology as a “smart” phone) to access any number of bible translations and commentaries.  We could while away our “unbusy” hours reading and studying God’s word, learning more about His grace and mercy toward us.  We might even come to grips with one of His greatest miracles, the miracle of love.  But what do we need miracles for when we have technology?

In a previous column I wrote about “the ‘hole’ in my life that needed to be filled.”  And how this “good news” of the gospel was the only thing that would fit the bill.  There are a lot of things in this world that will try to make us think we have found something good.  But there really is only one thing; and that one thing is the love of God and the peace of God that surpasses all our understanding.  It is the only thing that will allow us to look right through the smoke and fog of bad news that seems to pervade our world today.

May God’s love find its way straight into your life and bring the true comfort we all need in this “interesting age” in which we live.

And friends and brethren, that is good news. 

Freedom is Good News Part 21

Have you ever sat down and just pondered the passage of time?  It is something that is unstoppable for us humans.  It is just one of the many things that have been ordained by God Himself.  Speaking of God ordaining things, I must wonder just what there may be that God has not ordained.  Do you consider God to be in charge of the universe?  I do.  He is the creator and the sustainer of all things.  In the beginning of the bible, the book of Genesis, God tells us that at the end of each day of creation, He pronounced it as good.  And at the end of the sixth day we read, “God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.”

But soon after, in chapter 3 of Genesis we see that man (i.e. Adam and Eve) couldn’t even keep one commandment.  Yes, He has graciously given us 10 commandments, but to Adam and Eve He only brought forth one; “Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”.  They failed the test and that was not good!  I believe we know the rest of the story.  They chose to take upon themselves the knowledge of what was good and what was evil.  And so without God’s guidance in navigating, things went downhill from there.  At this point in scripture God puts the bible on “fast forward” and takes us about 1650 years in two chapters and so we come to Noah’s day.  Genesis 6:5, “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.  The LORD was grieved that He had made man on the earth and His heart was filled with pain.”  My friends, this was not good news.  God grieved and His heart was filled with pain!!  These are strong words that are used for God’s emotions.  Have you ever grieved?  It is not a pleasurable time.  Has your heart ever been filled with pain?  Same comment!

Some have wondered how a good God could allow bad things to happen.  Let me state right here that the bad things that happen on this earth grieve God and fill His heart with pain.  His hand is not here to stop the inebriated person’s car from starting and eventually killing an innocent bystander.  But I believe His heart grieves. 

I can answer this seeming dilemma in one word; freedom!  Adam and Eve chose a certain path and it was not a path of freedom but slavery.  And yet God (who “changes not”) still allows us the freedom to go out and get drunk and try to drive home. 

But God has now, once again, given us His true freedom through His Son Jesus Christ.  In Him we are free.  Free to not sin.  Free to love Him.  Free to walk before Him in true righteousness and holiness.  We all know that freedom is not free and Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice.  He paid the ultimate penalty for us so that we may once again be truly free.

And friends and brethren, that is good news. 

Freedom is Good News Part 20

Here is a word right out of the heading, “good”.  Just what is good?  Do you think of yourself as good?  Do you know anyone of your friends or acquaintances that you might label as good?  How do you define “good”?  What might be the qualities of someone who is good?

In the garden of Eden God told His “first children” that they must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  So, just because God labeled something as good, it didn’t mean that man should desire it.  What God was really saying is that He, the creator, was the one to define what is good and evil.  “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” (Proverbs 14:12)  In the account of the garden of

Eden, Eve sees that “the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom”.  I guess this means that everything man sees in this world that seems good, pleasing and desirable is not necessarily so!

One of the things about which we must be careful is labeling ourselves and others as good.  Mark 10:17 has this episode, “As Jesus started on His way, a man ran up to Him and fell on his knees before Him.  ‘Good teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’  ‘Why do you call me good?’ Jesus answered.  ‘no one is good except God alone.’”  Hmmmm!  The only human to live a perfectly righteous life took umbrage at being called good!  I guess it might be presumptuous on our part to call anyone here on earth good.

Let’s dig a little deeper.  In the book of Romans, Paul opens up a barrage of scriptures that should set us back on our heels just a little.  Chapter 3:10-18 he quotes from several places in Psalms and Isaiah to let us know that, “There is no one righteous, not even one… there is no one who is good, not even one ….etc.”

While Sally and I were visiting relatives over Thanksgiving, someone gave me a book to read entitled, “Good or God?” by John Bevere.  The premise of the book, as John states, “is one simple question, is good enough?”  He goes on to ask the question, “If good is so obvious, why does Hebrews 5:14 teach that we must have discernment to recognize it?” Hebrews 5:14 says, “But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”  I really think that this whole concept of what constitutes “good” must be handled correctly.  Eve thought that if it looked good, smelled good and tasted good; it must be good.  But God sees things differently!  And so, if we really want to understand what “good” is, we must consult the instruction manual of the author of all things “good”.  We know that manual as the bible!  And it tells us about the “good news of the kingdom!!

We’ll talk some more about this next time.

Freedom is Good News Part 19

Last time, I mentioned several scriptures that talked about seeking the face of God.  So I ask the question, what does it mean to seek the face of God?  There are three significant words in this phrase, “seek, face and God”.  The last of these words “God” is, I hope, familiar to all of us.  God is the creator, the sustainer and the one who gives life.  He is life itself.  He says His name is Yahovah, which means, “I am that I am” in other words, “the self-existent one”.  Okay, so far so good!

The next to last word “face” is a very important word.  We know in English (in our society) that located at the front of one’s head is one’s face.  When we meet someone, the first thing we normally look at is their face.  So if you were to ask me “where are you going?” and I answered, “I am going downtown to seek my wife’s face” you would look at me with great curiosity!!  But not so with the ancient Hebrews.  This statement would have been appropriate.

The word “face” or “paniym” (pronounced paw-neem in Hebrew), connotes much more than the front of one’s head.  In many contexts it means the visible portion of a thing; such as in Genesis 1:2, “the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters”.  But in the context of a person it most often signifies the person himself.  And this is how we may view the statement, “seek the face of God”.  It is the person of God that we must seek.

The first word in this phrase is very interesting, “seek”.  In the three scriptures I quoted in our last article (1Ch 16:11, 2Ch 7:14, and Ps 105:4), the word “seek” has a very peculiar meaning.  The Hebrew word is “darash” and it means, “to tread or tromp something”.  I’m sure that most of us have walked from here to there in tall grass.  If we travel that path once, we can look back and see where we have disturbed the grass and identify where we have trod.  The next day, however, the wind and sun will have erased our path.  But if we walk from here to there several times a day and do so every day for a month, we have trod down the grass and we will see a well defined path. 

And so it is with our seeking God!  We must travel the path to our God again and again.  We come to God, our provider, and thank Him for our food three times a day.  At the end of the day we thank Him for the provisions of shelter, warmth, clothing, friends etc.  At the start of the day we thank Him for His guidance, help, corrections, love etc.

I believe you get the point.   Ps 105:4, “Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore.”  The blessings we receive when in His presence are indeed “good news”.

Until next time….                                                                    

Freedom is Good News Part 18

The last thing I had to say in the previous article was, “Our Father delights to teach those of us who are interested in the things He has to say.”  The one thing I know, unequivocally, about that statement is that our Father really does want to teach us.  The thing I do not know is; are you interested in the things He has to say?

Let’s take a look at something.  In the book of Galatians, Paul seems to suggest that those who belong to Jesus Christ are to be considered as “the Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16).  And I would like to take the Apostle Paul at his word. So, I find it acceptable to learn about the nation of Israel, from the Old Testament, and utilize them as an historical lesson.  In other words, I have a template for my life as a Christian in the triumphs and tragedies that the ancient nation of Israel experienced.  I can take the admonitions, the corrections, the training and the blessings from God toward them and have applications for my life.

So far so good!!  Let’s turn back to the book of Deuteronomy 10:12 where we find this written, “And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?”  God says that doing these things are for my own good!!  So if I do these 5 things, fear God, walk in His ways, love Him, serve Him and observe His laws; good from God will come my way.

Let me ask the above question once again, “are you interested in the things He has to say”?  Are you interested enough to pursue the things He tells us to do?  Do you strive to seek God with all your heart?

In several scriptures in the Old Testament, God admonishes us to seek His face:

1Ch 16:11, Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.

2Ch 7:14, If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Ps 105:4, Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore.

In other scriptures He asks us to seek Him with all of our heart:

Ps 119:2, Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with their whole heart.

Ps 119:10, With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.

There are many more scriptures, but think on these for now and we’ll talk some more about them next time.

Freedom is Good News Part 17

Last time I mentioned that there are about 1600 pages in my bible.  I commented on how difficult it can be to comprehend all of the thoughts that God has given to us in His word; yes, nigh unto impossible to apprehend them all!  In one sense this is a very good thing and in another it can be quite frustrating.

Frustrating - because it can seem like an overwhelming task to even begin studying this huge body of work.  Have you ever gone into your garage with the mind set of cleaning up the mess and when you open the door and actually see the mess, your mind shuts down and you cannot even think of how to begin such a monumental endeavor?  If I cannot, in one lifetime, come to understand all the bible has to teach, why then should I even begin?

But on the other hand, I mentioned that this difficulty is a good thing.  Why?  There are two reasons.  First:  The joy that comes with this study is never ending.  The scriptures are like unto the ocean.  A small child of 2 or 3 can be filled with joy just sitting on the edge of the water and play in the four or five inches of water that come washing up at regular intervals; and the scientist who is writing his PHD thesis can take a mini-submarine into the murky depths several miles and study things never before seen by man.  In other words there is something for everyone!  Second:  This never ending study, gives us a clue as to the depth of understanding that our Heavenly Father possesses.  It causes us to bow before such an awesome creator and acknowledge how small we truly are.  There is no end to our enjoyment and study of God’s holy word! 

But where do we begin?  Well, when you walk into that garage that needs cleaning, you start with something easy.  The hammer that is lying on the floor?  Just pick it up and hang it on the hook.  When you get to that hook you’ll see that screwdriver on the bench.  Place it in the slot for screw drivers.  Under the screw drivers there are several dirty rags; place them in the trash.  I’m sure you get the point.  (And no I am not coming over to your house to clean the garage!!!)

Start with something simple.  The gospel of Mark is pretty straight forward, easy to read and is the shortest of the gospels.  Start with it.  Then go back and read it again.  This time have a notebook handy and jot down questions that come to your mind as you read.  These questions you might have can be a wonderful spring board to doing a short study of the scriptures.  OH!  One thing I neglected to mention, as you open up your bible, bow your head and ask God to guide you in your reading and your study.  These are His words and He knows all the answers.  Our Father delights to teach those of us who are interested in the things He has to say.

Until next time….

Freedom is Good News Part 16

There are so many ideas and thoughts written into the bible that it can be difficult to comprehend them all.  In my bible there are over 1600 pages filled with the words of our heavenly Father.  He caused His servants, by the power of His Holy Spirit, to record onto parchment all that we have in our bibles.  Moses, David, Isaiah, Samuel, Matthew, Paul, John, etc. were all instruments of God’s desire to give to you and to me His instruction.

I have had many people come up to me and ask how they might break the scriptures into 365 separate sections so as to read the bible in one year.  For your information, there are web sites that perform that task for you.  You can also buy a bible that is structured so that there are 365 portions for reading.  I do recommend that people read the bible in one year.  It is a task that calls for discipline and structure with in a person’s life.  And as I have pointed out in the past, the word discipline has the same root form as the word disciple.  If we are to become disciples of Jesus Christ (and we are called to do just that) we must recognize that discipline is part and parcel of our effort.

Over the past 30 something articles that have appeared in this web page under the title of “YES, THERE IS GOOD NEWS!” we have had a fair amount of interesting topics.  But the most important topic that could ever be covered would have to do with urging you to pick up your bible and read it.  Jesus Himself tells us that these are the “words of life”.  I have more people come up to me and tell me they have never read the bible and yet they claim to be Christian!!!  Really?  That would be like me saying I have a relationship with my wife but I never let her talk to me.  That would be ludicrous.  I have a relationship with my heavenly Father but I never let Him talk to me??? 

God speaks to us through His word.  We can pick up the books written by Moses, David, Isaiah, Samuel, Jeremiah etc. and read the words, “The word of the LORD came to me….” “Thus declares the Sovereign LORD” “Thus declares the LORD whose name is God Almighty”.  In the New Testament we find the authors quoting from the Old Testament saying, “this is what the LORD says through His prophet…” 

All the authors of the New Testament knew exactly what the Old Testament had to say.  How?  They were familiar with it.  They read it.  They desired a deep relationship with God.  They experienced the joy of His closeness. “The wall of the city (the New Jerusalem that will come down out of heaven from God) had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” (Revelation 21:14)  These are the gentlemen we are to emulate; the twelve apostles.  They knew the words of life as were written by the prophets of old and wrote words of life to expound and teach us about the good news of our Savior who has come and who will come again.  “Behold I am coming soon!  My reward is with me and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.” (Revelation 22:12)

Oh, my friends and brethren, there is so much more!

Freedom is Good News Part 15

The scripture says that God “causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:45)  I guess this is somewhat obvious considering there are many out there who do not believe in God and yet their fields produce crops in abundance.  They have food enough to eat.  Perhaps as humans who inhabit our planet, this might seem somewhat counter intuitive.  But God lets us know that He is not as we are!  “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” declares the LORD.  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9)  I believe that says it quite nicely!

Having said all that, let’s go back to the opening statement and see just what the context for that comment by Jesus is.  He is talking about love for one’s enemies; “You have heard it said ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’  But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven …. Be perfect therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matt. 5:43-48)

God is God.  He is perfect.  And so God says to us, “I have set a very high bar for you to attain to.”  It is not so easy to love our enemies and to pray for them.  Be perfect as God is perfect!  God knows what He is talking about.  There is another place where God talks about a person attaining to perfection; it is found in Matt. 19 where a rich young man wanted to know what he must do to attain eternal life.  Jesus, understanding the man and knowing where his heart was, told him to obey the commandments.  The man acknowledged that he had kept them and wished to know what he lacked.  Jesus told him very directly, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor.”  Basically, Jesus told the man to separate himself from all that was important to him.  And so the man went away sad because he had great wealth.

I believe we all know that there really isn’t anything we can do to get eternal life.  Eternal life is the free gift of God to those who believe.  So what was Jesus getting at by saying these things?  In the similar episode in Mark’s gospel, we read that, “Jesus looked at him and loved him.” (Mark 10:21) 

I think Jesus was telling the man that he believed in his wealth more than he believed in God.  This man had “good news” staring him in the face, literally; the good news of eternal life.  But all he could see was his fortune.

Is there something sitting before your eyes that keeps you from seeing your Savior?  Could it be a neighbor that you are having a hard time loving?  Or perhaps some wealth that you are having a hard time parting with? 

There is a song I enjoy singing where in the chorus says, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the thing of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.”  Try doing that and perfection may be just around the corner.  Jesus bids you to come to Him.

Until next time….

Freedom is Good News Part 14

YES, THERE IS GOOD NEWS!

There are some times in these articles that I write about God blessing us and how that is “good news”.  There are other times when I write about how we should bless God.  Just in our previous article I ended by asking the question, “Will you be a blessing to your heavenly Father?”

Can we bless our Heavenly Father?  Will He be blessed by us?  And if we can, will that blessing of ours turn out to be something we might call “good news”?

In Psalm 103 we read, “Bless the LORD O my soul, all that is within me bless His holy name.”  This is how the Psalm begins and it ends with the words, “Bless the LORD, O you, His holy angels …. Bless the LORD all His hosts …. Bless the LORD all His works …. Bless the LORD O my soul.”  So, in answer to my first question, we can bless God!

The word “bless” comes from the Hebrew word “barak” which literally means to “bend the knee, to kneel; and by implication to bless God”.  It is the very same word that is used back in Genesis 1:27-28, “So God created man in His own image … male and female He created them … and God blessed them …”

When God started to work with Abram (later called Abraham) in Genesis 12:2-3, He said, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you … and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you”.  God is the originator of life and so He is the originator of blessings.  But as we saw, these blessings may be reciprocal in that when we are blessed by God, we are to kneel before Him and bless Him with reverence and awe.

Have you ever been blessed by God the creator and sustainer of all life?  The question is really ludicrous.  The answer is an emphatic yes!!  The fact that you have life is the first blessing.  The fact that your life is sustained by oxygen, by water, by food in abundance is a blessing that some of us may take for granted.  But where should we stop in enumerating the many blessings we receive from our Heavenly Father?  We have our 5 senses that connect us with the world around us.  We have a super computer the size of a small melon within our skulls that processes all the information our senses feed it.  But perhaps most of all, we have “the breath of life” from our God within us which enables us to reason.  Yes, of all the creatures on this earth, we are the only ones who can come to truly know this God who created all things.  And in His love for us, He even allows us to try and reason Him away.  He does not crush the non-believer, God feeds all His creation.  He “so loves the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life”.

“Bless the LORD O my soul”  Amen.

Until next time….

Freedom is Good News Part 13

We finished the previous article by stating that the things in this life that are valuable and worthwhile are the things we must work for. My friends and brothers, the word of God is valuable, the word of God is worthwhile. There is nothing more beautiful than the things our creator wants to speak to us about. I can think of nothing more exciting than to be reading the scriptures and have my Father in heaven reveal a nugget of truth to me.

Sometimes that piece of truth is pure joy in my innermost being but sometimes I am hurt or cut to the heart by it. But just as a loving father must correct his children in ways that seem to hurt, so the Heavenly Father correct those that are His.

Our God is a faithful God. The scriptures tell us that all His ways are perfect. He alone knows that “big picture” and all His intentions for us are nothing but good. A beautiful description of this is found in the book of Hebrews 12:10, “Our (earthly) fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness.” Yes, God wants us to share in His holiness. Wow!! I believe we would all accept His discipline in order to have His holiness imparted to us.

But where does this “pure joy” or this “correction” come from? Well, as has been said, it comes from our Heavenly Father. And how does He speak to us about these things? Well, in His word. For us, His word is found in the bible. In Paul’s comments to his beloved friend Timothy, he states this, “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of … how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correction and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Paul wrote this letter (2 Timothy) around 65 A.D., sometime before he was martyred. At this point in time the only scriptures that Paul could have had in mind were what we call the Old Testament; for none of the New Testament had been written as of yet. But look at what Paul says about these scriptures, they are able to make you wise for salvation. They are useful for teaching, etc. You and I, today, have the amazing ability to purchase a bible with both of these testaments for a very small price. Perhaps you have a couple of copies in your home now. This access to the Word of God today is abundantly easy and inexpensive. This has not always been so. Several centuries ago, many people had to suffered torture and martyrdom so as to insure that future generations (like ours) might have access to the bible. And we don’t take the time to read it??? Shame on us!

There is so much more to be said.

Freedom is Good News Part 12

It was about 7 months ago that these articles got their start. This will be the 29th in this series of articles titled “Yes, There is Good News”. In that time I have had several people mention that they do read what I have written but I suspect that there are many more who are also readers. I consider this opportunity as a blessing for me and also a chance to be a blessing to those who may read. Writing these articles affords me the chance to sit down and think upon God’s word. And for me, that is good news!

Some time ago I made mention of the desire I have to encourage you the reader to pick up God’s word and read it for yourself. More than encourage, I have the desire to urge you to read God’s word. Personally, I find that there is no greater calling in this life than to develop a deeper relationship with my Heavenly Father and there are several things we can do to attain that goal. The top two things on that list are: spend some time in prayer and read what God has to say to you.

When you read the bible you will come to know God. And when you come into the presence of God and open up your heart to Him in prayer, God gets to know you.

What’s that you say? God already knows you. Let’s examine that thought. There are two separate times in scripture wherein God says He never knew someone. The first is found in Matthew 7:15, “Not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me you lawless ones!” In other words, if we think that we have something to offer God (prophesying and miracles) and yet we have no knowledge of the will of God and of His law, we have a problem and are going about knowing Him (or shall we say “being known by Him”) in the wrong way!

I can never come to know another person without that person revealing himself to me. I’m sure we have all known someone who is unreachable. They have built a great wall around themselves so as not to let anyone in. God of course can “look over any wall” we may create, but will He? God is a Father and He wants His children to open up to Him. He wants us to get on our knees and tell Him our inner wants and desires, our thoughts and the meditations of our hearts.

Perhaps the inner desire of our heart is to understand the things we read in His word. This is a wonderful place to begin that much needed relationship with Him. I think we all know that there are many places in the word of God that can be challenging to understand. I have heard it said that the things in this life that are valuable and that are worthwhile are the things we must work for.

We’ll visit more on this later.

Freedom is Good News Part 11

Previously I mentioned that there are certain “types” in the scriptures. Abraham’s son Isaac and David’s son Solomon were both types of Jesus Christ. How do we know that these “types” and others are used in the Old Testament? Very simply, the Apostle Paul tells us unequivocally in his letter to the Corinthians, that they are there. In talking about Moses and the Israelites crossing the Red Sea and then traveling in the wilderness for 40 years, Paul says this: “Now these things occurred as types to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were.” Paul admonishes us about idolatry by using the Israelites as an example.” (1 Cor. 10:6) A little later, in the same chapter, Paul says, “These things happened to them as types and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.” We are in the latter days. In fact the “latter days” were ushered in at the time of Jesus crucifixion, death and resurrection. These types in the Old Testament are for us to read and learn from.

A wise man once said, “Anyone can learn from his own mistakes, but it takes a wise man to learn from someone else’s mistakes.” I have tried never to forget that simple lesson. We can learn from the mistakes of those who have gone before us; namely the Israelites. They were God’s chosen people then and we who have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior are God’s people today. And speaking of accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, we have come to the heart and core of the Gospel, i.e. “the good news”.

I have heard some people say, “I’m a good person and try to do what God wants me to do”. But let me be quite emphatic here, God does not want a “good” person. God does not want a “better” person. God wants a new person!!! Paul says this in his book to the Romans, “Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Romans 6:3-4) Do you desire that new life?

We sometimes forget that it is God who is in charge and not we ourselves. We cannot tell God how things should be. Remember that God said it is we who are created in His image but we sometimes want to create God in our image. This will not work. If we think that we have some goodness aside from Jesus Christ we are mistaken. In Isaiah 64:6 it says, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” That’s not saying “some of us”. It is all of us!

So, have you repented of your sins and accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and then, understanding what Paul says is a symbol of death, undergone the immersion of baptism? Yes, the new life we receive at that point is truly good news.

We’ll visit more on this later.