God Will Fight (May 25)

(or, God Will Fight For His People)

Psalm 35
1 Plead my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me.
2 Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help.
3 Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.
4 Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.
5 Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the LORD chase them.
6 Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the LORD persecute them.
7 For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul.
8 Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall.
9 And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in his salvation.
10 All my bones shall say, LORD, who is like unto thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?
11 False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not.
12 They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul.
13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom.
14 I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother.
15 But in mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together: yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me, and I knew it not; they did tear me, and ceased not:
16 With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth.
17 Lord, how long wilt thou look on? rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions.
18 I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people.
19 Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause.
20 For they speak not peace: but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land.
21 Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, and said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it.
22 This thou hast seen, O LORD: keep not silence: O Lord, be not far from me.
23 Stir up thyself, and awake to my judgment, even unto my cause, my God and my Lord.
24 Judge me, O LORD my God, according to thy righteousness; and let them not rejoice over me.
25 Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up.
26 Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at mine hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnify themselves against me.
27 Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.
28 And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long.

Isaiah 31:4-5
4 For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof.
5 As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.

When we are attacked—when people hate us wrongly or seek our hurt—often we try to fight back or we end up being brought down. The broken and destroyed state in which we are left does not glorify God. Instead of trusting in ourselves, I believe that we need to trust in God. He will fight the battle and He will prevail.

Psalm 18:1-3
1 I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.
2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
3 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

Counting to Four Hundred Ninety (May 18)

How High Can You Count?
I remember as kids sometimes we'd try to count as high as we could. I don't know if we ever made it to 490, but after awhile we usually tired of it and did something else. But, I'm sure we're all capable of counting that high, and even way beyond, given the time. I guess it depends on what it is that we're counting and how well we keep track of where we left off if we get interrupted. Well, today, I'm not talking about counting money or people or telephone poles, or whatever it is you count, but I'm talking about counting offenses. That's right. We're going to talk about forgiveness.

You may remember that in the book of Matthew, it is recorded that Peter came to Jesus to ask how often we ought to forgive a person. "Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?" (Matthew 18:21)

We Should Forgive Many Times
Now, we all know that forgiveness is not usually easy. If you have a reason to have to forgive a person, then naturally you have equally as strong of a reason not to forgive them (or not to want to forgive them). Perhaps someone has said or done something that was hurtful to you. Maybe someone said or did something offensive. Maybe it was something in the open (ridicule, physical harm, false accusations) or maybe it was in secret (gossip, slander, cold attitude). At any rate, these things upset you and you now have something against this person. You need to forgive. You know you need to forgive because it is all through the Bible. But it's hard because you were really hurt or offended. Now let's say you forgive the person but they hurt or offend you again. You see, after a few times, you may think that the person should be out of second chances. How many times is too many? That's why Peter brought up the question to Jesus. Notice that he even suggested his own answer. Perhaps he thought that seven sounded like a lot of times to forgive someone. If you forgive someone seven times, you must really have a heart of gold and the other person must just be a lost cause at that point. You've done all you can—you're so spiritual you deserve a gold star—now you can cut down the offender.

But wait! Listen to Jesus' answer! "Jesus saith unto him, 'I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.'" (Matthew 18:22)

That's a lot of times to forgive! Seventy times seven is four hundred ninety! Let me take a moment to point out that the ONLY way you can truly forgive someone that has hurt or offended you (especially so many times) is if you have the Spirit of God in you, filling your heart with God's Love. True heart-felt forgiveness cannot come from man's heart. This can only come from the heart of God and through His Love. Let us come to God and be filled with His Love and go out and forgive those that have committed sins against us.

True Christians Can't Count to Four Hundred Ninety
Once upon a time, Sue said and did some hurtful things toward Lucy. For awhile, Lucy, although hurt, thought that it might be a passing problem and simply looked beyond the offense. Over time, though, Sue continued to act in an unchristian way, but Lucy forgave her. It was a struggle for Lucy because each offense brought pain to her heart, and while God gave her the love and strength to forgive and look beyond it, yet another divisive attack would ensue. Each round of forgivenesses introduced an attempt healing, yet each round of offenses yielded new wounds. Must Lucy forgive four hundred ninety times?

I have heard of stories like this that can go on for months or years. I'm sure you have heard of feuds that last into decades. Is this where we count to four hundred ninety? If Sue hurt Lucy every day and Lucy forgave her, she would reach four hundred ninety after one year, four months, and about four or five days. Now obviously, the forgiving is probably not on a daily basis, which would stretch it out longer, but if we find ourselves in an ongoing situation and keep track, are we really free to stop forgiving when we get this far?

I was thinking about this awhile back and I came to the conclusion that it doesn't really matter, because True Christians can't count to four hundred ninety. What in the world do I mean by that?!?

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love keeps no record of wrongs. Do you remember earlier when I said that true forgiveness comes from the heart of God and through His Love? Forgiveness in love keeps NO record of wrongs. So let me ask you this: If you forgive someone in Love and you're keeping no record of wrongs, when that someone hurts you again and you forgive, how are you going to count 2, 3, 4...? Brothers and sisters, if Love keeps no record, you can't count past one! If you can't count past one, as sure as God's Love, you're not going to count to four hundred ninety!!! So when Jesus said to forgive that many times, He must have meant to forgive, forget, and forgive again...forever!

Luke 17:3-4
3 ¶ Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
4 And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.

Mark 11:25-26
25 And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.
26 But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.

Ephesians 4:30-32
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Colossians 3:12-13
12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

Forgiveness comes from God. As He forgives you of your sins, forgive one another of their sin toward you. Forgive in Love. When a debt is forgiven, it is canceled. It is off the books, forgotten about, and no longer counted. Love always trusts and always hopes. You don't forgive thinking, "That does it until next time." No, you forgive with faith and hope, believing that wrongs are washed away and a new thing has begun. Love forgives, Love hopes, and Love heals.
Let the healing begin.

1 Peter 4:8 NIV
8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

Bloomin' (May 11)

Psalm 1:1-3
1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

As springtime progresses, we see more and more things around us in bloom. I notice this in our gardens, as we first get crocuses, etc., and then pretty soon there are tulips, daffodils, and a whole host of other springy flowers. It was most notable when I got home from my recent trip to Michigan. After I dropped off my sister and brother-in-law at their home, I got home and began to unpack my things. Tulips of every color were flooding the gardens. As I walked behind the house, I saw the lilac bushes just bursting with pastel purply happiness and their pretty aroma. Behind them, was a tree with deep pink blossoms, almost overflowing. I looked to the edge of the yard and the apple tree is just covered with pink blossoms and the pear with pure white blossoms. The trees out front are also in bloom. It's like all of creation is proclaiming something. I think it is proclaiming the glory of God and magnificence of one who created such a wonder.

As I was thinking about some things that were going on, I got to thinking about the state of life and testimony and our effect on others and each other.

Just as God designed so many trees and flowers with so much life in them that they burst with so much unmistakable evidence of the love and glory of their creator, I believe that He has designed us to burst with His glory. I want my entire life to be an example of God's handiwork and a testimony to His great mercy. I want to be so full of His love that it affects others. I want people to see the design of the great Creator (ReCreator?) and His New-Life-giving mercy and love bursting from within me in everything I say and do (and everything I don't say and don't do!)

I suppose I should mention that it may not be clear sailing. Yes, a blossoming tree seems to exclaim, "God is great! He began a good work and also finished it!" But what if someone comes along with some Agent Orange? Then it looks like a dead twig. It no longer seems to proclaim the glory of God. Sometimes people purposefully try to steal the glory and joy because they don't like it or don't want to be reminded of what God wants to do in their life. Other times it may just be a person with an abrasive personality that wears at you (perhaps not knowingly). Sometimes it is just something frustrating at work or school or a difficult thing in some other part of life. Life is not always easy, but I believe that with the Holy Spirit filling us, our lives will be bloomin' with God's love, proclaiming the wonderful truth of the Gospel of Grace. And just like spring blossoming all around us, nothing will be able to silence that testimony to God's greatness.

Let us pray that God will fill us with His Spirit so that Love will be flowing from our hearts to others and to one another. Let us also pray that we are not the ones that wear at one another, hindering God's work, and perhaps effectively consuming the joy and destroying the testimony that was once bursting forth.

Galatians 5:14-15
14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.