May 5, 2005

Could it ever be that something good that God Himself gives can turn  into something bad?
 
The answer is yes, and an example is the manna that God gave the people  of Israel in their 40 years of wilderness wandering. From its  description that we read in Numbers 11, it was an appetizing and  nourishing food. Scholars variously describe the language as cakes  “fried in good oil.” “as food newly baked,” or like “wafers made with  honey.” Perhaps it was like delicious freshly baked bread; evidently it  could be prepared in a variety of ways as a well balanced diet, and for  a healthy appetite it was always appetizing. The Psalmist describes it  as “angel’s food” (78:25). Since God gave it to them, it was undeniably  “good.”
 
But the people had to eat it on the very day that it “fell” on the  daily dew each morning. Moses told them, “This is the bread which the  Lord has given you to eat. . . . Let no one leave any of it till morning. . . . But some of them left part of it until morning, and it  bred worms and stank” (Ex. 16:15, 20). Something very good became very  bad! It had to be eaten when God gave it. The reason: it was very  nutritious, like whole-grain flour attracts bugs.
 
The manna is a symbol of the spiritual nourishment the Holy Spirit  gives us day by day if we are willing to “eat” it. It’s Bible truth,  “fresh” each morning (Isa. 50:4, 5). The hungry soul finds things “new  and old” in God’s word that constantly invigorate him (Matt. 13:52). We  are told to “bless the Lord”--in other words, make Him happy (Psalm  103:1, for example). How do you make a chef happy? You tell him his  meal was super-delicious.
 
Now, ask the Lord for a second helping; tell Him you’re hungry. That  will make Him happy! There’s nothing He loves more than to feed hungry  people and watch them enjoy His cuisine. Eat His “manna” today. Learn  to love it. Don’t lay it aside until tomorrow!
 

May 4, 2005

What should people who believe in Jesus do if they are unjustly excommunicated from the fellowship of their church where they have served faithfully? Let’s assume they have upheld the authentic teachings of their particular denomination and that their “conversation” (1 Peter 3:16, KJV, behavior) has been exemplary; how
should they behave?

They have the inspiring example of Jesus: He was excommunicated by the legal body of the people who at that time constituted the true church of God in the world--His representatives.

(1) Through the Holy Spirit God inspired four eye-witnesses of this unjust and illegal proceedings to write four books that detail the story of His trial and condemnation. They are the Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These four books have been widely circulated around the world and they justify Jesus.
(2) At His trial, when “one of the officers” slapped Him in the face “with the palm of his hand,” Jesus surprises us: He protests this unfair act instead of turning His cheek to ask the cruel man to do it over again (John 18:22). But after He protests, He meekly endures the high priest refusing to defend His solemn rights under Moses’ law.
(3) The Son of God prays for those who murder Him (Luke 23:34)--the ultimate length of wrongful excommunication (the heartfelt intent of the act, 1 John 3:15).
(4) Up until the veil of the temple is rent in two when Jesus actually dies on His cross, the Jewish “church” remains the true church of that time (Matt. 23:38; 27:51); Jesus gives an example of submission to injustice within it. He inspires us today to endure.
(5) Paul considers it an honor to experience “the fellowship of [Christ’s] sufferings, being made conformable unto His death” (Phil. 3:10). Christ won’t forsake us!

(6) This confidence will keep people sweet and gentle under all kinds of provocation.
(7) Thus they will be privileged to bring honor to their Savior. He actually needs them!

May 3, 2005

Jesus taught us to visit people who are unjustly persecuted and imprisoned (Matt. 25:34-49). But there is no record that He visited His faithful but persecuted forerunner, John the Baptist, whom King Herod had unjustly imprisoned in a dungeon (Mark 6:17).

At this time Jesus was free to travel about Galilee and preach; in fact, he was enjoying halcyon days with crowds following Him. Poor John, whom Christ had designated as the greatest of the prophets (Matt. 11:11), at this time was languishing in his dungeon, alone, virtually living on the meager reports his disciples were able to bring him of the work Jesus was doing. John longed for Jesus to assert His Messiahship. When it should happen of course would also mean John’s release and he would join the Messiah in the grand work to be done. Don’t blame him if he day-dreamed a bit. He was quite human.

But the weary days dragged by without a visit from Jesus, not even a letter. Was the Messiah oblivious of the lonely suffering of His servant?

No, but John was still cooperating with Jesus, though he didn’t realize just how he shared that honor. Jesus thought of the unnumbered believers in Him who in centuries to come would suffer alone in prisons, tempted likewise to think themselves forsaken and hopeless. Surely He thought also of those who would lie on beds of illness tempted to think themselves forgotten by Heaven. The truth was that while Jesus was enjoying those bright days of ministry in Galilee before “the shadow of a cross arose upon that lonely hill,” He did think of John suffering in his dungeon; He appreciated his loyalty. The lonely prophet has been a comfort to all the apparently forsaken sufferers ever since--including the Mennonites enduring persecution now in Vietnam. Behold them--Jesus and John standing hand in hand together in ministry! Now may you and I accept gladly our fellowship with Him in ministry!

May 2, 2005

When you think about it, you marvel: whenever Jesus worked a miracle to give people food or drink, He always needed the willing cooperation of some human beings. At the wedding in Cana of Galilee, He needed the help of the servants to go get the wine jars and fill them with water. Then He chose not to wave His hand and suddenly fill all the guests’ glasses with supernatural wine. Instead, working behind the scenes with the servants, He gave the party wine.

In the two miracles of feeding the thousands, it’s interesting that in each instance He waited for the cooperation of the disciples before He could feed the multitudes. In the case of the “four thousand” (Matt. 15:32-39), when He expressed His compassion on the people being so hungry that they might collapse on their journeys home, He first asked the disciples, “How many loaves do you have?” Apparently they scurried off to inquire and came back, “Seven, and a few little fish.” Very well, now He can do something; “He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to the disciples  [He needs them to be the waiters!] and the disciples gave to the multitude.”

In feeding the five thousand (Mark 6:30-44; John 6:5-14), again He was dependent on the little boy’s gift of his “five barley loaves and two fishes” (obviously the lunch his mother had made for him. He was so enthralled listening to Jesus, He forgot to eat it). The lesson seems clear: although Jesus could “create” bread from nothing as He created the world in the beginning, now the rules in the great controversy require that He be dependent on willing human cooperation for something to begin with!

Astounding as the truth may be, the Savior actually needs you! Perk up, lift up your drooping head; you are important in His great plan for the world.

May 1, 2005

Someone says, “Yes, I know that Jesus died for the world; He tasted our second death; He redeemed us by His sacrifice; but I don’t feel worthy because I have sinned. How do I know that I am included in His sacrifice? I don’t FEEL like He accepts me!”

Let’s look at an example of a man who knew he was a sinner, for he was doubly one--an adulterer and a murderer at the same time: David. Yes, he came within a hair’s breadth of committing the unpardonable sin, for
he prays in Psalm 51:11, “Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.” He had gone a whole year in impenitence after committing the foul deeds. Could he ever find acceptance with God?

(1) He confessed his sin openly, fully, honestly (vs. 3).

(2) He realized that his sin was a re-crucifixion of the Lamb of God (vs. 4), thus delivering him from the whimpering, selfish fear of getting AIDS or Herpes, or losing his job, or embarrassment, etc. as the result of his sin. In the light of the cross, he learned to ABHOR his sin! (vs. 17).

(3) He saw that sin permeated every cell of his being and of his soul (vss. 5, 6). He pleaded no “but” to excuse it even 1%.

(4) He took the absolutely necessary step of believing that God forgave his heinous sin--at the cost of the shed blood of the Son of God (vss. 7-10). You can’t truly believe in the forgiveness of sins unless your soul is humbled in the dust by realizing the enormity of sin itself.

(5) David pleaded, begged, for cleansing of soul, not just legal “pardon” (vs. 10).

(6) He realized that the “bloodguiltiness” of his soul included guilt of the blood of the Son of God (vss. 14, 4; compare Acts 2:36; 4:14, 15).

(7) David consecrated the rest of his life to missionary, soul-saving work, a new career (Psalm 51:12, 13).

Did he know that God had “accepted” him? Yes; he realized that no Band-aid could help him; he had been saved from the deepest hell itself.