Strength for Today

I'm sure you are familiar with old Irish blessings but in Psalm 20:1-5 (ESV) we find seven ancient biblical blessings for Israel.

"May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble!

 May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!

 May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support from Zion! 

May he remember all your offerings and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices!

 May he grant you your heart's desire and fulfill all your plans!

 May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! 

May the LORD fulfill all your petitions!"

Don't Believe Everything You Hear

 ^2-3Here's how you test for the genuine Spirit of God. Everyone who confesses openly his faith in Jesus Christ—the Son of God, who came as an actual flesh-and-blood person—comes from God and belongs to God. And everyone who refuses to confess faith in Jesus has nothing in common with God. This is the spirit of antichrist that you heard was coming. Well, here it is, sooner than we thought!

 ^4-6My dear children, you come from God and belong to God. You have already won a big victory over those false teachers, for the Spirit in you is far stronger than anything in the world. These people belong to the Christ-denying world. They talk the world's language and the world eats it up. But we come from God and belong to God. Anyone who knows God understands us and listens. The person who has nothing to do with God will, of course, not listen to us. This is another test for telling the Spirit of Truth from the spirit of deception.

(From THE MESSAGE, 1 John 4:1-6)

Why did Jesus fold the napkin? Peter entered the tomb of Jesus and saw that the burial cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus' head was folded up neatly, separate from the linen (John 20:7). Hebrew tradition of that day went something like this. When the servant set the dinner for the master, he made sure everything was just right. Then he left the room and waited until the master had finished eating. When the master was done eating, he would rise from the table, dab his mouth with the napkin, and toss it on the table. The servant would know by the wadded up napkin that his master was finished with his meal and he could clear off the table. It meant, "I'm finished." But, if the master got up from the table, folded his napkin and left it beside his plate, the servant would not clear off the table because the folded napkin meant, "I'm coming back!" So, perhaps that is why Jesus folded the napkin. He's coming back again some day!

Since today is Memorial Day and many people will visit a cemetery to lay flowers on the graves of loved ones, I thought I would share this story I included at the end of my book "Archie Word: Voice of Thunder, Heart of Tears." Word, who served in World War I, is buried in Willamette National Cemetery on the lower slope of Mount Scott, overlooking the city of Portland, Oregon. Here's what I wrote.

On April 21, 1990, on what would have been Archie's 89th birthday, I visited the grave of Archie Word along with Tom and Esther Burgess and Dr. Wayne Shaw of Lincoln Christian Seminary. As we stood beside the grave in the warmth of the sunlight, I noticed a woman sitting on the emerald green grass at a nearby grave, her legs drawn up and her face cupped in her hands. When I saw that she was biting her lip and crying, I walked over to her and knelt down beside her. I looked at the grave marker. It read, "JOHN HENRY ______. May 31-40 Aug 8-88." I asked, "Your husband?" She nodded. "Vietnam vet?" "Yes," she answered. "He just came home one day, went into the bedroom, and shot himself. I come up here often and just sit and cry. They say it's supposed to get easier, but it doesn't."

I learned that the woman, Joyce, had no family -- no friends, no church. "No one cares," she said in a dull voice. She continued to cry softly.

"I know I'm a stranger and you don't know me at all," I said. "But has it been a long time since anyone has held your hand?" Again she nodded. "May I?" I asked. She looked up with eyes brimming with tears, the hint of a wan smile on her face. Then I took her hand with both of mine and told her why I was at the cemetery that day. I told her briefly of Archie and the hope the ex-World War I man had found in Jesus Christ. I explained that at the very church where he once preached there were warm and loving people who would be her friend.

When we returned to the car to leave the cemetery, Dr. Shaw leaned over to me and said, "Victor, that was a beautiful thing you just did." As we drove away I looked back over my shoulder at the grave of Archie Word -- and the lonely lady still sitting on the hillside. I swallowed a big lump in my throat and managed to reply, "It's the kind of thing he would have done."

"Now when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place" Acts 2:1). Today is Pentecost Sunday. Pentecost came 50 days after Passover (Lev. 23:15ff) and 10 days after Jesus ascended into Heaven. Why is Pentecost important to Christians? First, because that is the day the Holy Spirit was poured out, fulfilling the prophecy of Joel (compare Acts 2:2-21 with Joel 2:28-32). Second, because the apostles were empowered to preach the gospel, "beginning in Jerusalem" (Acts 1:4-8; 2:22-40). Third, because Pentecost is the birthday of the church, the day about 3,000 souls were baptized (Acts 2:40-47). The Bible says, "And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved." Eventually the Gentiles would be added to the church. Some feel that the two loaves offered at Pentecost (Lev. 23:17) symbolize the joing of Jew and Gentile together in Christ. Today is an important celebration for all who are members of the church Jesus said he would build. Where would we be without the promise of the Holy Spirit, the preaching of the gospel of Christ, and the power of Christian unity in the church? Thank God that the day of Pentecost has fully come!

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge. Joseph Strauss, who headed up the modern marvel, insisted on the most rigorous safety precautions in the history of bridge building. The industry norm at that time was that one man would die for every million dollars spent. So, at a cost of $130,000 (Depression era dollars), Strauss constructed a huge safety net. that stretched from end to end of the bridge, and 15 feet beyond on both ends. The net was actually 10 feed wider than the bridge. The safety net gave the workers a tremendous sense of security and, as a result, they moved about more quickly and freely and became more productive workers. The safety net actually saved 19 lives, men who became known as the "Half-way to Hell" club. But on Feb. 17, 1936, a 5-ton section of scaffolding fell, tearing through the net. Ten men were killed while two survived.

We will never slip through the loving arms of God. "The eternal God is our refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut. 33:27). God has no tomorrows. He is eternally present and He wants us to live with no fear of the present or future because His strong arms are always beneath us. The Hebrew word for "underneath" means "beaten down, the bottom." Everyone reaches "rock bottom" at some point in his or her life. But the eternal God is our refuge. Even when we are beaten down, underneath are the everlasting arms of God. "What have I to dread, what have I to fear, leaning on the everlasting arms? I have blessed peace with my Lord so near, leaning on the everlasting arms. Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms; leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms." 

This morning I was reading Isaiah 26 and came across four things that God does for us. Do you want to know what they are? You do? Good! Read on! First, He keeps us in perfect peace. "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you" (v. 3). Second, He makes level the path we walk. "The path of the righteous is level; you make level the way of the righteous (v. 7). Third, God ordains peace for us. "O Lord, you will ordain peace for us, for you have indeed done for us all our works" (v. 12). "Fourth, He enlarges the borders of our habitation. "But you have increased the nation, O Lord, you have increased the nation; you are glorified; you have enlarged all the borders of the land" (v. 15). These are good things to remember as we start another day of life. The life of trust is the only way to live. Trust God that He will keep you in perfect peace today because you are trusting Him. Life does not have to be a jagged journey of abrupt ups and downs: God makes level the path of the righteous. Live on God's level. Be at peace: it is God's ordained way of living. Realize that God has expanded your life, so live expansively (not expensively). 

God's presence is powerful, reassuring, and comforting. Ovid said, "There is a God within us, and we glow when He stirs us." Do you sense His presence and moving in your life? Jesus said, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him" (John 14:23). Our heart is the special dwelling place of God. Isaiah declared, "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones" (Isa. 57:15). God dwells in heaven above and also in our hearts. Our bodies are the temple of God, a dwelling place for His Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16). George Macdonald said, "God's thoughts, His will, His love, His judgments are all man's home. To think His thoughts, to choose His will, to love His loves, to judge His judgments, and thus to know that He is in us, is to be at home." God wants to make His home with us. Do we want God to make His home with us? 

God want us to take daily supplements for our spiritual health. Look at this passage in 2 Peter 1:5-8 in the English Standard Version. "For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." There's a lot packed into this passage, isn't there? We must "make every effort" to supplement our Christian faith. Faith hardly stands alone in this passage. God mentions seven Christian qualities that we are to add to our faith. If these qualities are ours -- and are increasing -- they will prevent us from being "ineffective or unfruitful" in our knowledge of Christ. Perhaps you should write these seven spiritual supplements on your refrigerator door or bulletin board. Many of us take supplements for our physical health but all of us should be supplementing our spiritual life with these spiritual supplements. Make every effort to supplement your faith today!

During World War II a mother and her small son were walking down a street in the evening. The little boy noticed little flags in the windows with stars on them and asked what they were. His mother explained that the people in those homes had given a son in the war. He noticed that some flags in the windows had two and even three stars on them. Suddenly, the boy noticed the first evening star in the sky and said, "Mommy, God must have given a son, too!" My grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Knowles of Hubbard, Iowa, had one of those flags with two stars: my uncles Boyd and Troy were both in the service during WW II. Recently I became a charter member of The National World War II Museum to honor these two shining stars. But the little boy was right: God gave a son too. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16). As Memorial Day approaches, let us never forget that God gave a Son too!