Thunder

“And from the throne proceed flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder.” Revelation 4: 5. One of the things I like best about Oklahoma is the thunder storms. I thrill to the hard rain, the low roll of thunder followed by the flash of lightning. Then the loud boom, which shakes the ground and the house. I feel the power of God and yet I realize that this is only an infinitesimal fraction of that power. In our own solar system Jupiter’s red spot is a storm that can swallow the earth whole. On a 12 inch scale, Earth would be one inch away from the Sun, Pluto 3 ½ feet. The nearest star other than the Sun would lie 4 ½ miles away! Our sun is only one lonely star among several hundred billion throughout the universe. Our galaxy is one amongst millions. Yet the Sovereign Almighty God who created all this became a man and lived among us! He was born not in a palace but a stable. He cried. His wonderful mother not much more than a girl herself cleaned him. He grew. He played. He worked. His muscles ached. He hungered. He ate. He was thirsty. He drank. He grew tired. He slept. He showed anger. He laughed with our children on his lap. He prayed. He fasted. He had compassion. He healed us. He fed us. He forgave us. He told stories. He taught. He taught us how to love. He showed us how to love. He told us to pray for those who persecute us, to love our enemies. He washes our feet and told us to do likewise. And then we killed him. I hear thunder.

“And I looked and behold in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.You are worthy to take the scroll,And to open its seals;For You were slain,And have redeemed us to God byYour bloodOut of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,”Revelation 4: 6, 7, 9.

Quote 3

What can't be cured can be endured.
Puritan Adage

Faithful

For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Psalm 108: 4. God is so faithful even when I am not. It is so amazing to me how He has taken care of me in the times when I have been in the process of going further and further away from Him. I was on staff at the church when I had been hurt by members whom I had loved in it. I did not leave immediately but stayed on even after they had gotten a new Pastor, about six months. When I resigned I had only a part-time job that I worked along with the church work. My wife works fulltime so she was supporting us. After about six weeks she told me we were behind for the month, about 280 dollars. I had to get a job.I went to a grocery store that I had been employed with while in collage. The store is family owned and one of three in the town. It was just before Thanksgiving and the day before I walked in asking for a job, they had lost an Assistant Manager. Rick a son in- law of the owner told me to go to one of the other stores the next day and speak with Larry, Manager, and son of the owner. The next day Larry hired me and then told me that his father Coy wanted to speak with me. In his office he said to me, “Gary, I knew I was going to hire you before you did.” He went on to tell me how two days previous he his son and sons in-law were discussing what they were going to do with Thanksgiving a week or two away and short one Assistant Manager. As Coy left the meeting he told them “Hire Gary Wood”. This was the same day my wife informed me that we were behind 280 dollars for the month. Just before I left his office he asked me as he reached for his wallet if I could use some help. I told him no that the job was enough and we would be fine. Then he said “Let me put it to you this way would you take a bonus for being hired?” He then laid 3 one hundred dollar bills on his desk! I went home put the money on the table with a short note and then went to my other part-time job and gave my two weeks notice. My wife came home and wept when she saw the way God had taken care of us. I wish I could say that this experience made me stronger with God but it did not. I continued to grow more bitter and cynical and further away from Him. Even when I am not faithful God is. Today the family that God used to help me at that time attends the church that my wife and I joined. When I see them I am always reminded that God is faithful and His love truly is great.

Introduction

God heals the wounded. He changes hearts. When you’re not expecting Him he rescues you. For fifteen years I lived with a cynical heart. I loved God and had been hurt by people whom I had loved in Church. I was verbally and viscously attacked. Others sat on their hands and did nothing from fear of the ones attacking. There had been a vote on a new pastor. I made a mistake. I tried to sooth the situation by saying that I believed that whatever happened, whichever way the vote went would be God’s will. The side that lost did not agree. Two weeks later after a Sunday night service the attack came.My response to the attack was wrong. My wife and I tried going to other churches but trust was gone. I would see people at the church that reminded me of the people who attacked me. All the smiles seemed fake and insincere. I became cynical. I stopped consistently attending and participating in a Church. Ultimately I am to blame for my condition. How many thousands upon thousands of people all across the country have had a similar experience? How many Christians have been wounded by those they most loved? How many have responded wrongly? I hated the way I was. I wanted the heart I used to have. This made me angrier at the Church. Is this the way you have felt? Is this the way you feel now? I have very good news. The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3: 17. Fifteen years later I told God that he could never change my heart back the way it was. That’s right; I told the Sovereign Lord of Creation that he could not heal me; my heart was too hard and cynical. Two weeks later the Holy Spirit came for a visit.I was looking for something to read besides the histories and baseball books I usually read. I picked up a book my wife had bought entitled The Lame Prince. It told about the relationship between David, Jonathan and Jonathan’s son Mephibosheth. I began to identify with Mephibosheth. I like Mephibosheth had been lamed. I too had been living in a dry place. When I read how David’s messenger went to Mephibosheth,telling him it was time to leave Lo Debar to live in the Kings palace, the Holy Spirit began to take me out of my dry place. I began to cry as God poured out His love and presence on me. Deep calls to deep in the roars of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. Psalm 42: 7. If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. John 7:37-38. The experience can best be described as a flood. Gods love is so big, bigger and deeper than the oceans. My wounds and cynical heart were washed away with the flood. He overwhelmed me with his love. Like Mephibosheth I was aware that I am living with the King totally undeserved!I don’t know the circumstances of your wounds. I don’t know who was or wasn’t at fault, but I do know that if you have stopped participating in a local church you like me have responded wrongly and sinned against God. I know now that God broke me for a reason. I am closer to Christ than I have ever been before. He remade my heart into one that was better. If you are scattered and lame and want healing for your wounds and from your own attitudes and actions ask Christ and he will answer. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a new heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. Psalm 51:7-13.

Quote 2

"If you can't feed 100 people then feed just one." ~ Mother Theresa

Command

Love one another. God’s people should love one another. John the Apostle repeats over and over, love one another. “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.” 1 John 4: 7. “ Dear friends since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4: 11. “ God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” 1 John 4: 16. “We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” 1 John 4: 19-21.The Apostle Peter instructs the Church to love one another. Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. 1 Peter 1: 22. Finally, all of you live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers. 1 Peter 3: 8. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4: 8.Where do I begin in quoting the Apostle Paul writing about the Church loving one another? He wrote so much on the subject. Read chapter 13 of 1st Corinthians. Paul writes in Philippians to “make my joy complete by being like minded, having the same love in spirit and purpose. Philippians 2:2”.Our Sovereign Lord Jesus commanded us directly to love one another. A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13: 34. Let me draw your attention to a couple of words, command and must.For a command to believers that is so repeated and stressed in scripture why are we doing such a poor job? We treat church quarrels as a natural occurrence. What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. James 4: 1-2. In the meantime many of our brothers and sisters in Christ are being wounded. They leave our churches never to return. Do we care about the damage we have done? Do we regret the pain the wounds we have caused? Do we really take our Lord’s command seriously? Love one another. Be last of all. Be servant of all. Sit in the last chair.

Prayer In Praise of Christ

Born as a son,led forth as a lamb,
sacrificed as a sheep,buried as a man,
he rose from the dead as a God,
for he was by nature God and man.

He is all things:
he judges, and so he is Law;
he teaches, and so he is Wisdom;
he saves, and so he is Grace;
he begets, and so he is Father;
he is begotten, and so he is Son;
he suffers, and so he is Sacrifice;
he is buried, and so he is man;
he rises again, and so he is God;

This is Jesus Christ,
to whom belongs glory for all ages.

Written by Saint Melito of Sardis

Voice

I know a little about everyone’s future. We are all going to die. A voice tells Isaiah to “cry out”. Isaiah asks “What shall I cry?” The voice answers “All men are like grass, and their glory is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass.” Isaiah 40: 6-8. Everything we take pride in ourselves about will end and be forgotten. Some are great writers; they and their writings will eventually be forgotten. Some are great artists, they and their drawings, paintings, sculptures, photographs, and music will end. Some are proud of their exploits but in the end they are nothing, for they all will perish. Some are intellectuals and have great pride in their intellect but that too will die. We are grass! We are grass! Our glory is like the flowers that fade and fall. We live and then die all too quickly. But there is a way for permanence. The voice continues, “The word of our God stands forever.” Isaiah 40: 8. If we stand with God’s word than we too will stand forever. The Apostle John writes, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God! The Word became flesh, and made his dwelling among us. We beheld his glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father full of grace and truth….grace and truth came from Jesus Christ. Yet to all who receive him, to those who believe in his name he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1: 1,14,17,12. We do not have to die. We can have permanence and live eternally with God. God tells Isaiah, “Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who live in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew (fruitfulness) is like the dew of the morning, the earth will give birth to her dead.” Isaiah 26: 19. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3: 16. Trust in Christ today, and live.

Table

“Love your enemies”. “Pray for those who curse you.” Turn the other cheek.” Forgive “seventy-seven times.” “Be last of all.” All things Jesus taught. Sometimes, we look at these teachings and think, they can’t be done. They can’t by us, but through Christ they can. Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. Jesus dwells in us and we in him. If we have close fellowship with him we can follow him in his teaching of non-resentment and non-retaliation. Part of the 23rd Psalm has always puzzled me. The phrase in verse 5, “Thou preparest a table for me in the presence of my enemies.” Why would God set a table for David so his enemies could look on? I believe that David is not to sit there and gloat. He is to invite them to dinner. They are to partake of the abundance that God has provided. The best way to destroy enemies is to make them friends. “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in Heaven.” Matthew 5: 44, 45. We say we want to be like Jesus, to be the person he wants us to be. I have read that scripture uses the term “son of” as an adjective. So if someone calls you a “son of contentment” this means that you are a contented person. In the verse above we are “sons of the Father if we love our enemies. We are most like the Father and look most like him if we love our enemies. Do we really want to be like Jesus? Share your table.

Sincerity

The closer you are to God, the more you’ll have a heart for others.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 1 John 4:7

Galilee

Within the story of King Solomon building the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, there are four verses that are somewhat different than all that is around them. In 1 Kings we are told of the wealth, skill and time that it took for Solomon’s building projects. We are told of the planning of the temple and the arrangements for labor. Thirty thousand men sent here, seventy thousand sent there, eighty thousand stonecutters. We are told about the building of the temple and the gold and all the nations that contribute. The scripture gives us details about the temple furnishings and all the wealth that was placed within, bronze pillars, the Sea of cast metal and twelve bulls on which it was placed. 1 Kings continues with the golden alter, the golden table, the pure gold lamp stands. The Ark of the Covenant is brought to the temple as a great festival takes place among the people. God appears to Solomon two times, the temple is dedicated and God moves in with a cloud. The whole world comes to visit including the Queen of Sheba. Within all this, four verses tell of King Solomon giving twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram king of Tyre, 1 Kings 9: 10-14. Can you imagine the thoughts of the citizenry when they were given a way? During a great move of God and a time of national celebration they are used as payment for construction. To add insult to injury King Hiram is not pleased, he tells Solomon “What kind of towns are these you have given me, my brother?” And he called them the Land of Cabul. Cabul means good for nothing. I believe that at times we all feel like we are good for nothing. I look around at the talented and accomplished people at my church and the wonderful work that God is doing through them and I feel insignificant. But these four verses give me hope, for out of the land that was “good for nothing” came beauty, glory, grace and truth. Out of Galilee came one who was greater than the temple, (Matthew 12: 6), and greater than King Solomon, (Matthew 12: 42). So we should not feel insignificant. Out of our lives can come great beauty. We are qualified to be last of all. We are qualified to be servant of all. We are qualified to sit in the last chair. We are qualified to wash others feet. We are qualified to weep with those who weep and to laugh with those who laugh. Rejoice! Be glad, for we are like our master. We are Galileans! “We are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him to serve you.” 2 Corinthians 13: 4. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5: 3. I pray the remaining years that I have left on earth that something beautiful will come of it.

Bread

Wherever the words of Jesus echo in the Old Testament scripture I always take a closer look. “Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord? Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.” Proverbs 30: 8-9. This reminds me of the Lords Prayer when Jesus instructing us how to pray say’s “Give us today our daily bread.” Matthew 6: 11. For me it is quit clear from scripture that we are not to pray for more than we need. Continuing in chapter 6 of Matthew, Jesus teaches that we are not to worry about tomorrow concerning what we are to eat or drink or what we are to wear. He ends his comparison to us with the lilies of the field: So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we drink?’ Or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things and your heavenly Father knows you need them. Matthew 6: 31-32. Please beware of wrong teaching. Jesus compares the pursuit of material possessions with paganism. It is of the world and not of God’s kingdom. King David also assures us, “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed.” Psalm 37: 25-26. My favorite scripture concerning wealth and poverty comes from the Apostle Paul and should be our attitude as well. “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want, I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:11-13. May the presence of Christ be with you. Be last of all, be servant of all and sit in the last chair.

Reality

“It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting.” Ecclesiastes 7: 2. Gary’s paraphrase; It is better to be at a funeral than to be at a party. I always take a longer glance at Old Testament scripture that reminds me of what Jesus taught. “Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.” Matthew 5: 4. What does scripture mean that mourning is better than revelry? Ecclesiastes continues: “for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the heart of pleasure.” There are so many things in this life that distract us from God. I know that when I have been out of God‘s will it is in the stillness and darkness of night that reality comes to my mind and spirit. I know that when I was without Christ and had no relationship with God that it was at night in the silence that the horror of my reality set in. I could not wait for daylight to come and the business to take me away from reality. To me this is what Jesus meant by “Blessed are those who mourn”, it is in the disastrous times and the worst of times that we are forced to face reality. I have found that the worst times of my life have turned out to be, eventually, the greatest blessings. God has, because of them brought me closer to him, and because I am closer to him I have more joy! There is nothing wrong with having fun, but for all of us, at times, we use it to ignore or forget about our condition or relationship with God. Gary’s paraphrase; the heart of the wise face reality, the heart of fools say “party on”.

Quote

"Our love for God will prove insincere,
Our love for the world will prove ineffective,
until our love for one another is proven to be indisputable.

Mike Fleicshmann

Shepherd

I have been reading about names and titles in scripture that Jesus took for himself. Jesus says “I am the Good Shepherd.” John 10: 11. I have found that shepherds in Jesus time were looked down upon. They were continually in the field with their sheep and could not keep the rules of the orthodox, hand washing, ceremonial cleansing and stated hours of prayer. I have heard them called the homeless of their day. They did the hardest most time consuming work for the smallest of pay. Society did not think much of them but yet scripture, Old and New, is full of their example. I find comfort that Jesus identifies himself with the most humble of people. The shepherds may not have been able to keep the rules of the orthodox, but they spent their time with a strong awareness of God. Whenever they slept under the stars and were caught in the elements of nature, they, more than others were aware of God’s presence. I am reminded of the story of Christ birth. When God announced the birth of his son he did not announce it to the wealthy or the powerful. He did not announce it to Caesar. He did not announce it to Herod. He did not announce it the orthodox, Scribes and Pharisees. He did not announce it to the wise. The Magi had to study, search, and seek, but God split the skies open with angels who said to the humble shepherds, He’s over there! Be last of all. Be servant of all. Sit in the last chair.

Definition 3

Grace- The experience of living in the love and the power of Jesus Christ.

"The power of Christ will become a permanent reality in your heart when the Christ of power becomes a permanent resident in your heart."

Truth

I was asked at work, in the hearing of others, if people of other religions were going to heaven. The person asking me was testing my faith in Christ. He was playing got ya. I do not like the feeling that I have when this moment comes, and if you share Christ it comes up often. I tell them the truth. It does not matter what I think. Jesus said about himself“I am the truth the way and the life no one comes to the Father but through me.” According to Jesus heaven is not the goal anyway but a relationship with God is. All other religions are guesses about God. Jesus is the truth, and he says about himself, that he is the truth. I didn’t say it, Jesus said it. It really does not matter what I think but now it does matter what you think. C. S. Lewis wrote that to say the things Jesus said your options are limited to the following:1. He really wasn’t who he said he was and knew it which makes him a liar.2. He really wasn’t who he said he was but believed it which makes him a lunatic.3. He was who he said he was and said so which makes him Lord.Lord, liar or lunatic, the decision is yours. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even those who believe in His name. John 1: 12.

Pictures

I enjoy the stories and examples that the Bible gives us to try and understand the enormous love that God has. Did you know that God keeps our names continually before Him? Isaiah 49:16 says that God engraves us on the palm of His hand. Sounds like God has that first love kind of love. I remember when my wife and I first fell in love, the intensity of it, the passion of it, the strength of it. Gods love is like that, now and always. In verse 15 God compares His love to a mother of a nursing child, again a picture of a strong emotional love. What love can be greater than mother and child. In Luke 15 Jesus compares Gods love to a father who is looking and yearning for the return of a prodigal son. When he sees the son in the distance he runs to him. God is excited to be with us and is overjoyed when we return to Him. Gods love is greater than the love of a mother, the love of a father and the love of first love. We are His treasured possession. Malachi 3:17 “They shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him.


If Gods house was burning and He could only bring out a few precious items He'd take you!

Definition 2

Love- Meeting needs without expecting anything in return.

Spear

I picked up my 9 year old son from school one day and as I always do I asked him how school went. On this day he said fine and told me that during recess he asked three boys if he could play with them and they said no. Needless to say I hurt for him. I like most parents worry about my child and this information soured my day. He told me the names of the three and I hurt more. They’re all generally good kids. Within my mind I said a quick prayer for my son and asked God to help him. Sometimes as parents it is very difficult to trust God and understand what he is doing with your child. But the lessons of this life must be taught and as all of us know the one on handling rejection is tough.When we got home he had his snack and I read to him. At this time I was reading A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards. It is the story of Saul, David and Absalom. On previous days we read about King Saul throwing spears at David and David not throwing them back. He would not throw Saul’s spear back or throw one of his own. I told my son this meant when others throw insult to harm you, you are not to throw insult back. This day, we read about when David finally fled King Saul and the kingdom, he left alone. I asked my son a question from the book, when you leave a kingdom why must you leave alone? I was not expecting the right answer, but that’s what I got. He told me if you leave with others you’re not leaving the kingdom you’re splitting the kingdom and taking part of it with you. The only way to leave is alone. I was amazed and in a split second I thought to myself that flesh and blood did not reveal this to him but the Holy Spirit did. There in front of me I saw God talk to my son. The Lord Jesus is with my boy and is shaping him and teaching him into the young man he wants him to be. The lessons of life are sometimes cruel and difficult but Jesus is with him and knowing that brings me joy and peace.