Freedom is Good News Part 35

Do you have a favorite season of the year?  There are only four to choose from so we haven’t many choices.  The answer to this question depends, of course, upon who is asked, what the weather is like when the question is asked and where the one who is asked lives.  OK, so we live in Iowa.  The weather this day (that I am writing) is beautiful.  And since you can’t answer, I’m going with spring!!

Have you noticed the green lawns?  Sally and I have dozens of beautiful yellow daffodils at our front step.  Oh, the rhubarb is up and will be ready for pies in about another week!  I could go on and on – I like spring.  But there is a better reason to like spring.  Yes, there is a more marvelous, more wonderful, and a more spectacular reason.  This time of year brings to us a reminder of the greatest event; yes, the greatest miracle in the history of mankind.  The death, burial and resurrection of the Son of God!

Do you believe that?  If you do, do you live your life in accordance with that belief?  Let us take a look at the time frame surrounding this event that took place approximately 1987 years ago (give or take a couple years)?  Let’s begin in the book of Luke, chapter 22.  In verse 8 we read, “And Jesus sent Peter and John saying, ‘Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.’”  The Passover was the most important time of year for the people living in Judea.  This was for them a celebration and a memorial of the time when God brought their forefathers out of bondage in Egypt.  Jesus was getting ready to bring people out of bondage to sin. 

In verse 15 Jesus says to His disciples, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”  Did your catch that?  Jesus was about to experience a most excruciating death with beatings, insults, floggings, mockings and the torture of having His hands and feet nailed to a cross and still He says He was “eagerly desiring” to eat this Passover. 

He sat in that upper room with the twelve; and in the book of John 13:1 we read, “He knew that the hour had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father.  Having loved His own who were in the world, He now showed them the full extent of His love.”  Picking it up in chapter 14:1 Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled”.  He was going to His own death and He was comforting His disciples; not just once but 3 separate times (see verse 27 and 16:7). 

Jesus knew what was coming and He knew what He was doing.  “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it and gave it to His disciples, saying, ‘take and eat; this is my body; do this in remembrance of Me’.  In the same way He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’”  (see Luke 22:19-20 and 1 Corinthians 11:24-25)

There is a lot more to come.

Freedom is Good News Part 34

Did you read 2 Peter 1:16-18?  You did?  Well good; then you know that Peter was talking about his experience with the two brothers, James and John, when Jesus was transfigured before them.  This episode is often called “The Mount of Transfiguration” and is found in Matthew 17:1-13.  To paraphrase the story, Jesus takes Peter, James and John up on a mountain and is transfigured, so that “His face shone like the sun and His clothes became white as the light” (notice the two similes).  Appearing with Jesus was Moses and Elijah and they were talking together.  There are other details but I’ll leave that for you to read.  Let’s see what Peter has to say about this!

Peter, in this letter, is striving to get across to the readers, the importance of growing in their faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness and love.  (This list is worth several articles for another time!)  If they would grow in these things, they would be effective and productive “in their knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Then Peter writes that if they would do these things, “they would never stumble and would receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord …” Oh yes, this is “good news”.

In verses 12-15, he tells them he wants to “remind them” (verse 12), “refresh their memories” (verse 13) and have them “remember these things” (verse 15).  I would say he felt this to be important!!  But he also wants them to know that he is not pulling these directives from thin air.  He wants to give to them his qualifications for this admonition. 

There were many things Peter could have drawn from in establishing his credentials; he saw the healings, the lepers cleansed, the blind receive sight and Lazarus raised from the dead.  He watched his Lord die on the cross and then saw Him resurrected.  He stood with the others upon the Mount of Olives and watched Jesus rise up into the clouds to be at the right hand of the Father in heaven.  But the event he used was the transfiguration.  “We were eyewitnesses of His majesty”, Peter wrote.  “We saw Him receive honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, Whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.’”

Peter’s template, the type he chose to use in this letter, was not one that illuminated the past, but one that clearly shows forth into the future.  His experience on the Mount was for him a guarantee of the return of Jesus in all His glory.  He experienced a vision of Jesus in the company of a resurrected Moses (representing the Law) and Elijah (representing the Prophets).  And he heard the voice of the heavenly Father say, “This is my Son … listen to Him”.  And so he gives us this “type” that perhaps changed his life and then tells us to, “Pay attention to it, as to a light shinning in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (verse 19).  Friends and Brethren, I told you some time ago that this episode would not be just good news but, great news.  I for one am humbled by Peter’s words.

Until next time…… 

Freedom is Good News Part 33

Continuing from the previous article, let’s begin with a few examples of figures of speech.  The simile: a comparison using the words “like or as”.  The book of Revelation can be called “the book of similes”; there are somewhere near 60 uses of the words “like or as”.  One example: “His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace and His voice was like the sound of rushing waters” (Rev. 1:15).  A metaphor is an implied comparison, such as “all the world’s a stage”.  In scripture we read, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35).

An analogy is the likening one thing to another, “I am the vine, you are the branches” (John 15:5).  The allegory is a story where people, things or happenings hold a hidden or symbolic meaning.  The entire book of Ruth is an example of allegory; where Ruth is a type of the church and Boaz is a type of Jesus Christ.  I believe we are all familiar with the use of parables in the bible (see Matthew 13).  Then we have “types”.  In the book of Genesis, Joseph becomes a type of Jesus in many great and wonderful ways.  His story is told in Genesis chapters 37 through 50.  One example is in chapter 45 where Joseph makes himself known to his brothers and he tells them not to be distressed for having sold him into slavery for God was actually sending Joseph ahead of the family in order to prepare a place for them.  This is what Jesus tells the disciples in John 14:1-2 where He tells them not to be troubled because He was “going to prepare a place for you”.  The Old Testament gives us many “types” that point us to our Savior.  We see in Genesis 22 where God tells Abraham to “take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah.  Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”  Isaac is a type of the Messiah who was God’s Son, His only Son whom He loved.  We learn later in the bible that this Mount Moriah is found to be at the spot where Jerusalem was to be and where Jesus was sacrifices as the “Lamb of God” (see 2 Chron. 3:1).

Last of all we have what I call “a template”.  The template is used for forming an accurate copy of an object that will appear in the future.  In one sense this figure of speech over laps with some of the others we have looked at but it also stands out in regard to something Peter saw and tells us about.

Sometime ago I was speaking to a group of believers and asked them what, in their opinion, was the greatest type or template in the bible.  We had some very good answers and after some discussion I mentioned that we have one of the disciples, Peter, tell us in his second letter, of his answer to this question.  Perhaps we would do well to pay attention to it!

It is found in 2 Peter 1:16-18.  God willing we will take a closer look at this “type” in our next article.  It holds for us some very good news.

Freedom is Good News Part 32

Figures of speech; we use them all the time, to emphasize a statement, to help explain a difficult idea and some times we use them to introduce a mystery into our conversation.  It is not always the best thing to blurt out the answer to every question but sometimes we should desire to get people to think about some conundrum we might have.

I have, in my bookcase, a 1000 page book by the 19th century biblical scholar E. W. Bullinger that deals with the use of “figures of speech” in the bible.  I have on another shelf a translation of the bible that is less than 1000 pages.  Wow!  Someone wrote a book explaining one aspect of the bible and it took him more pages that the bible itself!

Well, the bible is full of these figures of speech.  Bullinger tells us that there are 217 different types of figures of speech.  I’m not sure I understand them all.  But I do know a simile, metaphor, allegory or parable when I see one.  And I believe we all know that our Savior used many parables when He walked the face of the earth.  I have heard people say that He used them to make plain to His listeners some difficult idea.  But He was once asked why He used parables and He gave a very curious answer.  This is found in chapter 13 of the gospel of Matthew.  There are seven separate parables in this chapter and after He spoke the first one it says this in verse 10: “The disciples came to Him and asked, ‘Why do you speak to the people in parables?’  He replied, ‘The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.  Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance.  Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.  This is why I speak to them in parables.’”

Well that says a lot!  There were some people that were not supposed to understand what it was He was saying.  The Rabbis in Jesus day were known for not giving an answer but rather posing a difficult question and thereby forcing their disciples to think.  

I believe we have it too easy these days when we are handed answers to our own questions and are not taught to think.  Perhaps that is why we sometimes think the bible is hard to understand.  We just don’t want to think too hard.

I would like to take some time in future articles to consider some metaphors, analogies and parables and so come to what I call a living parable that the Apostle Peter used in his second letter.  This “living parable” is not just good news, it is great news!  Bear with me as we look at some “figures of speech”. 

Until next time…… 

Freedom is Good News Part 31

Not too long ago I was speaking to a group of believers and asked the question, “What is your ultimate goal in this life?”  There was silence in the room for a couple of minutes (I am sure they were striving to come up with the best answer possible.) and then a middle aged woman put her hand up.  And this is what she said, “My ultimate goal in this life is to have my Savior place His hand upon my shoulder and say to me, ‘Well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Master’”.

This woman, a true disciple of Jesus Christ, gave, from her heart, an answer that could not be improved upon.  This must have been the opinion of all the rest of the people in the room for there were no other answers but only nodding of heads in agreement.

This powerful answer was a quote from a parable that Jesus gave in Matthew 25:14-30.  Perhaps you are familiar with the parable.  It speaks of a man going on a journey and giving to his servants differing amounts of talents; one received 5, another 2 and one other 1 talent.  This parable never clearly tells the servants what they should do with the wealth but the one with 5 put his to work and gained 5 more.  The second, with 2, likewise put them to work and gained 2 more.  The third took his 1 talent and buried it so as not to lose it.  The ones that doubled it were commended with the very words, “Well done good and faithful servant!  You have been faithful in a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.  Enter into the joy of your Master!” 

Are you a “good and faithful servant?”  If you belong to Jesus Christ, if you have been purchased with His precious blood and if you call Him “Lord and Master”, then what are you doing with the talent He has entrusted to you?

“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit.  There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.  There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.  Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good …. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.”  1 Corinthians 11:4-11

I quote this scripture because it lets us know that if you have the Holy Spirit, serve the Lord Jesus Christ and obey the will of our God and Father, then you have received a certain gift from Him!  In this portion of scripture, Paul lists nine different gifts that are imparted to the brethren (see verses 8-10).  This is not a complete list, for Paul mentions other gifts in other passages.  But have you recognized your gift and put it to good use?

“My ultimate goal in this life is to have my Savior place His hand upon my shoulder and say to me, ‘Well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Master’”.

Wow!  Yes, that is good news and I’m not sure there could be any better.

Until next time……                                                  

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!