The fall of nations, the rise of the Kingdom

[Proverbs 21:1]

People love money and things more than God.

One result of this sin is the current economic turmoil the world is experiencing.

It’s hard to imagine that our own passport country, the USA, will be recovering from the fruits of its own greed and materialism any time soon.

Don’t be discouraged. God is still in control.

Pray for the governments, for “the king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord, he turns it wherever he will” (Proverbs 21:1).

Nations will rise and fall, but God’s Church is always victorious because of Jesus’ cross and resurrection.

Be thankful that, even though God may choose to allow the fall of nations, His purpose will stand, and in days ahead His church will have more opportunity to help others and bring glory to Christ.

We stand corrected.

“Blows that wound cleanse away evil; strokes make clean the innermost parts.” Proverbs 20:30

Part of this process of remaining teachable is being willing to be corrected when you are falling short of God’s glory - when you are beginning to wander from Truth.

God sometimes does this by sending someone to confront you. Your response in moments like this will determine whether you will begin a downward spiral of self-righteousness, self-justification and self-pity, or whether you will thank God for the correction, turn back from your wandering and keep following Jesus.

By Jesus’ death on the cross we have been saved, we are being saved, and we will be saved. Humbly receiving correction means acknowledging, once again, that we are completely lost and hopeless apart from God’s grace and mercy given through the death of His Son.

Checking our Opinions

“A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion” (Proverbs 18:2).

What is it that you want to say?

First, hold your tongue! Is your thought based on the wisdom of God? Does it line up with the whole teaching of the Word of God? Has God used His Word and the experiences He’s allowed you to go through to give you His understanding about a particular matter?

If the answer is ‘yes’, then you have a belief and a conviction that God may use to encourage others, strengthen His church, build His kingdom.

If you are not sure, or if the answer is ‘no’, then it’s best to keep your thoughts to yourself and bring them back to God in prayer for examination. By definition, opinions are beliefs that are based not on what’s necessarily true, but on what seems to be right or probable.

More churches and ministry teams have gone astray, missed the mark, and wasted precious time because their course of action had been determined not by the leadership of God’s Spirit, but by the opinion of the majority.

Let’s bring glory to God today by taking pleasure in His wisdom and understanding.

What’s in the bucket?

While on stateside assignment one year, we visited one of the Great Wolf Lodge resorts. It’s a huge, EXTREME indoor water park, with ridiculously fast slides.

In the center of the park is a really fun water playground. Perched about 3 or 4 stories above this network of walkways, water cannons, bridges and smaller slides is a massive bucket, continually being filled with water. Imagine your bedroom being filled with water; that’s about how much water this bucket holds.

Every 10 minutes or so, the bucket begins to reach the tipping point as it overflows with water, and then the deluge falls, flooding the playground below. A loud bell is rung when it’s about to tip over, so kids -- yeah, adults, too -- from all over the park come running to stand under the bucket and feel the weight of the flood hitting them from that high above.

“The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out” (Proverbs 17:14).

Imagine for a minute that all that water represents sin, and the bucket is your heart. You know what’s going to happen if you keep letting your heart fill up with anger and hatred and bitterness toward others?

When you feel strife building up inside you, the best thing is to immediately go to the Lord with it, or even perhaps talk to a brother or sister in Christ who can help you go to the Lord with it. Nothing good comes from reaching the tipping point.

God, continually fill up our hearts to overflowing with Good stuff from You today, and let that be what pours out for those around us.

Don’t Kid Yourself!

“All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit.” Proverbs 16:2

How quick we are to justify our sin!

Listen to some of what we tell ourselves:

“It’s okay for me to tell details about that brother/sister’s life; how will people know how to pray for them specifically, otherwise?’

“It’s okay for me to watch this movie, I really need to keep myself informed of what’s out there in popular culture, you know?”

“It’s okay for me to argue with them, because THEY’RE WRONG!”

Lord, help us to wait on You, today, and listen. Help us know what is pure and right in Your eyes, and not do what we think is best in our own eyes.

The London Riots and the Will of God

Living overseas, our family has taken a special interest in keeping up with international news and sometimes using that as a basis for discussion about God’s workings in this world.

Often, when we read about and see reports of events such as the London riots, which took place August 6-10 of this year, we’re prone to think, “What’s this world coming to? Why is God allowing this to happen? The whole world is just going crazy!” I recall having some of the same thoughts during the L.A. riots in ’92, and while watching the twin towers fall on 9-11.

Psalm 76:11 reads, “Surely the wrath of man shall praise You.”

In his commentary on this verse, Charles Spurgeon (see http://www.spurgeon.org/mainpage.htm for more of his writings) gives a remarkable illustration that helps give us a proper perspective on such events. Spurgeon writes:

“Meanwhile, the Lord has a muzzle and a chain for bears. He restrains the more furious wrath of the enemy. He is like a miller who holds back the mass of the water in the stream, and what He does allow to flow He uses for the turning of His wheel. Let us not sigh, but sing. All is well, however hard the wind blows.”

Let’s not be afraid or discouraged, but pray for God to have mercy on us. Let us continue to reverently submit to His will daily, enjoying sweet fellowship with Him, and let even world events such as these remind us that God is ultimately in charge.

When God Seems Cruel

In Psalm 66, the singer is remembering the miraculous event at the Red Sea, when Yahweh turned the water into dry land, allowing His people, the Israelites, to cross over and escape the pursuing army of Egypt.

Have you ever met anyone who has never been around large bodies of water? Not only do they not know how to swim, but the thought of even wading out into water over their knees really makes them nervous. Big water can be frightening to folks who have never been exposed to it from the time they were young.

I imagine that many of the people of Israel were horrified during their crossing of the Red Sea. Their culture used water for drink, they caught fish from water, and used boats for transport. But, given their captivity in Egypt and subsequent years of wandering in the desert, I think that there were probably not many swimmers in this group of Israelites.

It took some time, getting all those people across with their animals and belongings, with that wall of water looming over them. They were walking by faith, not by sight.

But, this was Yahweh’s doing. Sometimes He seems cruel. Making us walk by faith through difficult, sometime even horrific trials, are still to be counted as part of His awesome deeds (66:5 – “…He is awesome in His deeds toward the children of man”). At times, He lays “a crushing burden on our backs” (66:11). Sometimes, we may “feel” that Yahweh is not even there at all.

The Psalmist tells us to shout for joy to Yahweh and sing the glory of His name (66:1-2). Even when His workings may, for a season, seem cruel to us, remember that He is working out His eternal purpose. We are walking through fire and water, but He is bringing us out to a place of abundance (66:12).