Some Hold These Truths To Be Self-evident

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.     Psalm 33:12

America is not a theocracy. It is a nation whose founders, not all but many, knew that a nation that willingly and overtly embraced the Judeo-Christian values of the Bible would be a nation that embraced freedom, prosperity for all, and be a shining city upon a hill.

They also knew the contrary side of that equation, that a country which shuns the principles God has brought them through His revelation will be a nation that embraces sin, whether it is sexual immorality, improper behavior in all relationships, tearing down traditions of truth, and law breaking of all sorts.

The first of these two scenarios is better for any country. And, the percentage of the population who embrace God’s truth determines how good the life of that nation will be. For example: if 100% of the citizens follow the teaching of God’s word then the only dangers to the good life in that country will be those caused by nature: storms, tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes and drought, pestilence, etc. The fewer the percentage who follow God’s word the more man-made dangers infect that nation: theft, adultery, murder, maliciousness, drunk driving, drug addictions, muggings, terrorism, and on and on through the entire catalog of sins that so easily, and terribly beset human kind.

Nations like the USA, the United Kingdom, and other democracies once founded upon Christian values are seeing the break down and devolution of what were once great societies. Those societies once gave opportunity for all individuals, of all sorts and conditions, to have the freedom to make the best of their lives (This despite the fact that 100% of the population never embraced the truth totally at any one time, so that some people still suffered because of other’s sins.). The pursuit of happiness as set forth in the Declaration of Independence becomes available to all only as a nation genuinely takes the responsibilities put forward by the word of God seriously, and establishes them as foundational for national, unified, communal life.

A Devotional Thought From Numbers

And it shall be, if thou go with us, yea, it shall be, that what goodness  the LORD shall do unto us, the same will we do unto thee.     Numbers 10:32

Hobab, identified as the son of Raguel one of the names by which Moses’father-in-law Jethro was known, was at the time Israel was preparing to journey with God following the guidance of the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, visiting among the Israelites. His family home was in Midian and he was planning to return there. Moses gives him an invitation to remain with the chosen people; We are journeying unto the place of which the LORD said, I will give it you: come thou with us, and we will do thee good: for the LORD had spoken good concerning Israel (Numbers 10:29). There are good things ahead for God’s people, Moses was saying. “The future is as bright as the promises of God” (Wm. Carey). Come and participate in all good things with us.

Hobab hesitates stating his plan is to return to his ancestral land, but Moses continues to persuade: you can be a blessing to us, And it shall be, if thou go with us, yea, it shall be, that what goodness the LORD shall do unto us, the same will we do unto thee. Think about it. We are offering to share what God does for us with you. He has promised a land of milk and honey, indicating how fruitful it will be, and we will share it with you. He has promised to guide us. We will let you go with God along with us. Whatever other blessings fall our way you will get your share. And based on Scriptures later in the Old Testament writings, it appears Hobab accepted the offer and the blessings, and threw in his lot with Israel.

Moses’ invitation to Hobab and his posterity is a picture of the invitation the people of God’s church today offers the world. Come with us. What we have is good: a savior who forgives sins and makes our hearts new; a God who lives in us by the Holy Spirit; a God who is our loving Father in heaven; He blesses us with a life of deep faith and good conduct if we follow the teaching of His word. He cares for us and showed that care by sending His own Son, Jesus, our Savior from sin; He has given us the promise that even death cannot defeat us; that one day Jesus will call all believers, living and dead, up to heaven, and the dead shall rise from the grave just like Jesus did on Easter morning; and we will live with Him eternally.

What’s not to like? So I express that invitation to the world, come with us by faith. Believe in Jesus as your Savior. Join our people in God’s church, and we will do you good. Here is how you join up: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…(Acts 16:31).

A Devotional Thought From Leviticus

And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and you shall be my people.     Leviticus 26:12

          In the midst of detailed, specific, ancient Old Testament laws, we find this verse expressing the reward of obedience to God. Near the beginning of Leviticus 26 we see this statement, “If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; Then will I give you…” (Lev. 26:3,4). God goes on to express a host of blessings that will come to his people when they obey, culminating in this promise that He would be among them and that they would be His people. Obedience to God’s law brings a close relationship with Him that blesses you as an individual and the nation as a people.

          Following this promise God indicates that if the people do not obey Him that bad things, judgments, will come in response to disobedience to His law, though He will never completely forsake His people. Even with our finite minds we can see the logic: obedience to God’s way brings good things, disobedience brings bad things. 

          That principle is always working in the world. Take one modern example: if a nation turns from God’s ideal of faithfulness and purity in marriage and family, they reap broken hearts, broken children, broken society. There is no dispute, the evidence is overwhelming. That one issue has had a major destructive effect on modern Western societies. America and the Western democracies who have, despite their sins and abuses over the centuries, a godly Christian heritage, should be searching the pages of the New Testament for God’s picture of moral living, and having found it, the American people and all the nations of the world with Christian history, should repent of their disobedience and live that picture out in their individual and community lives. It just might save their countries.

My Year Verse For 2016

          Every year since I was 17 I’ve been selecting an annual Year Verse, a verse to guide my heart and my thinking, and my actions throughout the coming year; a kind of spiritual New Year’s resolution.  I picked up this habit from the New Year’s celebration in my home church, Arlington Presbyterian in Baltimore, Maryland. Let me share this year’s with you:

Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.    Psalm 68:19

          Throughout the year ahead I want to be able to remember and focus on the scriptural truth that every day God is filling my life with benefits; blessings, good things, pleasant substance and experiences. Like writing this simple blogpost, or a warm cup of apple cider in the morning on those days when I skip an early coffee, or a good sermon by the preacher in the church I attend, or a note from one of my children (texted or handwritten), or a bright winter‘s day sitting in my car by Great Bay, or watching a good football game or movie on t.v., or greeting my wonderful wife in the morning, or…, or…, or…, etc. Make your own list of benefits.

          I want to be alert to the fact that the God of my salvation has saved me from sin and made all of my life new and fresh and blessed if I have eyes to see, and ears to hear. And I want to think about all of that often throughout the year. The musical note Selah that ends the verse has been defined by some modern interpreters as performing the function of saying to the reader or singer of the psalms, “Stop here a bit and think about what you just read.” Stop and think about your daily load of blessings. Or “count your blessings name them one by one.” Doing that will certainly make my 2016 a good year, and yours too.

          Happy, Healthy, Holy, Hilarious, New Year, to you all.

A Devotional Thought From The Christmas Story In Luke 2

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.     Luke 2:10

Which shall be to all people!

Christmas is for all people. Many have heard little or nothing about it, and many are made uncomfortable just hearing the word, and many simply do not want it - any other religion’s holiday is okay, but if it’s about Jesus Christ they wish it suppressed, mocked, or so changed and trivialized that it becomes acceptable to an intolerant society.

Why do those who don’t believe react so strongly to a cheery “Merry Christmas,” or a carol being piped in over the intercom at the courthouse, or a nativity scene in the park? Why don’t they just say, “Oh, the Christmas season is a fun time for all of us, even those who don’t believe in it. It helps the economy wonderfully, in fact, without it the economy sometimes teeters on the brink of recession and would probably fall, but Christmas saves the day and makes things better. Christmas keeps the Christians busy, satisfied and politically docile and peaceful, after all they claim the baby is the Prince of Peace. So let’s just enjoy it, and forget about it after it’s over.”

Why don’t they say that? After all, if they don’t believe in or accept the meaning of Christmas what difference does it make to them? Ignore it, grin and bear it, increase business because of it, or pity it as you see fit, but why don’t they leave it alone for the rest of us. It seems logical that any freethinking person who believes in freedom of individuals to celebrate as they choose would express their belief in freedom for all by letting Christmas bless those who wish to enjoy it. So why do they target such an innocuous celebration that is generally helpful, and pleasing to everyone? Could the secret be that somehow in their heart they know that this religion’s story is true, and they want to suppress it? Perhaps they realize that if people learn that the baby of Christmas is a Savior who is Christ the Lord they will go to him in large numbers, and in faith.

Some of the best recognizers of God’s truth in the New Testament where those who refused to receive Jesus as Lord, in fact, His enemies. They recognized that Jesus was claiming to be God’s Son come into the world at Bethlehem, purposed to go to the cross at Jerusalem, but they refused to receive Him.  They, at one point in His ministry, wanted to stone him, and when He asked why they said, “…because that thou, being a man, maketh thyself God” (John 10:33). He was claiming to be God in the flesh, they refused to believe it, and certainly didn’t want society at large to acknowledge His claim by celebrating His birth. They didn’t want society acknowledging His birth, or baptism, or teaching, or miracles or death and resurrection. Neither does modern society.

Why? The great missionary, E. Stanley Jones, has written “The redemptive God is so desperately needed in our world that Jesus is inevitable. We cannot do without him. Can the lungs do without air, the eye without light, the heart without love, life without life? No more can we do without Christ.” (CHRIST AT THE ROUND TABLE, p.277, ©1928). Is the fight against Christmas the world’s acknowledgment of what Jones has written?

Merry Christmas!

A Christmas Devotional Thought From Luke

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David;)     Luke 2:4

Bethlehem.

     With all the swirling soap opera like situations going on in Israel at that moment in history: hopes of a great love; rumors of terrible betrayal; broken hearts; Roman legislation affecting the entire nation; this name stands out-Bethlehem.

     I wonder if Joseph made the connection. He was told the baby would save His people from their sins, so obviously this little one was special, surely anointed by God if He were to be the means of salvation for the Jewish people. Sounds like Messiah, right?

     As Joseph made preparations, as he walked with Mary, as he perspired under the burdens of the supplies they carried, as he became anxious for the trip to be at an end, did it finally dawn on him that the tax demanded by the Romans, with its excessive requirement to travel to one’s tribal/ancestral homeland no matter how inconvenient and difficult, was taking him and the pregnant Mary to the exact place where prophecy said Messiah would be born?

     Wow, this is a hard road, but it leads to God’s anointed one. The trip to Bethlehem, the trip to Christmas, the trip to find the one who is wrapped in swaddling clothes, is worth it for Joseph, for me, and for you, now and forever.

An excerpt from Joseph and Christmas a sermon by Rev. Lewis Kisenwether ©2004

The Christmas story is a salvation story

(Matthew 1: 21) “…he shall save his people from their sins.”

This is God’s breaking news story

For millennia sin had been wrecking lives;

            Murders were happening – sometimes Cain was killing his bro;

            Marriages were failing – committed spouses stopped loving one another, and were throwing over their commitments;

            People were fighting in large numbers about religion, or boundaries, or gold;

            Children were being, neglected, abused, or sold;

            Hearts were hardened against God;

And human life was being disrupted and endangered by these sins and many others.

And God has His angel shout through Joseph’s dream “God is making a way.

The way is the baby.

He will save His people from the sin that doth so easily beset and destroy them.”

When you look in the face of this baby… Joseph, you will see the person who can make people right with God.