Contrasts

Joel 3:16 "The Lord also will roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem. The heavens and earth will shake, but the Lord will be a shelter for His people, and the strength of the children of Israel."

Contrasts. I am glad that God gave us a world filled with contrasts. Black and white. Light and dark. Brilliant and dull. Sweet and sour. Cold and hot. It would be a really boring world if God had not come up with this idea to make things different. Even people. Just think what it would be like if we were all the same. The same size, shape, personality, voice…that would really be a weird world. But God used His creativity to make us all different and to allow us to see and experience His creative ability in making contrasts.

As I read this verse today it occurred to me that God is a God of contrasts. Look at this verse. The Lord will roar from Zion. This is a mighty roar. This is the roar of a conqueror. This isn't some mamby pamby yelp. This is an noise that comes from the God of the universe. I am sure that it is something that none of us could handle if we heard it. His voice is going to be uttered, this announcement is going to be delivered. And what is going to happen as a result of it? The heavens and the earth will shake. This shaking is a quaking from fear. God's voice is not something to ignore. Someday, at some time He is going to utter His voice from Jerusalem and the roar will go out and all of creation will respond with utter fear.

This just makes me wonder: How do I respond when I hear the voice of God? I mean, when I know that it is God speaking, when there is absolutely no question that it is the God of the universe who is talking to me…what do I do? Quake or yawn? Obey or go my own way? Kind of sad when you think about it. Way too many times we do not respond like we should. We don't respond the way creation responds to God's voice.

Here is the contrast. You have the mighty, powerful, awesome voice of God who is a shelter for His people. This shelter is a refuge. It is a place of safety. Frankly, there is no safer place than to be with the mighty, powerful, awesome God of Creation. On the flip side, there is no more dangerous place than to be without Him. He is not only a shelter, but He is the strength of the children of Israel. Now I know that when this was written, the children of Israel were those of Jewish descent. But look at this: "Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham." Gal 3:7 "And if you are Christ's then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Gal 3:29 He is not only the strength a shelter to Israel, He is my strength. He is my shelter. He is Dave and Linda Blankenship's strength and shelter right now as they go through this tough time. He is a strength and shelter to all who claim the Name of Christ, for we are His children, and He loves to protect His children.

When I think about it, it really isn't a contrast. It really is pretty consistent. The God whose voice roars, who is powerful and mighty is my strength and shelter…There is no better place to be.

Living in the “in between”

Joel 2:13 "So rend your heart and not your garments, return to the Lord your God. For He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and He relents from doing harm."

Repentance. It is a word that is not used a lot in our current culture. I can't think of a time when I have heard someone outside the church say anything about repentance. It is a foreign concept. The problem is, it is a necessary concept. Why don't we hear about it? Because we think that we are always right. We think that the way we think and the things we do and the attitudes we carry are OK. Nothing could be further from the truth. The fact is our thoughts, actions and attitudes are all wrong without repentance. They are self serving, self centered, self promoting and this is sin. This is falling short of God's glory. None of us can measure up to what He is like and the fact that we can't equal Him shows that we are imperfect, sinful humans.

The nation of Israel was having a tough time. Their nation was being destroyed. Why? It could be as simple as having a divided heart. Verse 12 says: "Turn to Me with all your heart." It could be that they were trying to live double lives. Sure, we love God, but we love this world too. We love God, but we love money too. We love God, but we love these other idols too. That is not going to cut it. It is all God or it is nothing. God wanted all of their hearts. "Love the Lord your God will all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength." There is really no in between here. Because Israel was living in the "in between" God brought some pretty severe judgment.

Kind of scary. I am afraid that I find myself in the "in between" a lot. Sure, I want to love God with all that I am, but then things seem to get in the way…and this is sin. Unfortunately, I think my experience is the experience of many…not just in the world because we know that the world is a self absorbed place with no thought of God, but also in the church. We live with one foot standing on the promises and another foot standing on sinking sand. That is not a safe place to stand. God wants all of us. He gave all that He had. There was no wavering with Him. Jesus said: "I'm all in." There was no in between with God and He asks the same of us.

So what should we do? Rend our hearts. Or hearts need to be torn in pieces. They need to break. We need to see that living in the "in between" for what it is…an affront to God. We need to turn around and return to the Lord, with all of our hearts. And look at what He is like: Gracious, merciful, slow to anger, kind and He actually kind of repents. The word for relent is also translated repent and it simply means that He changes His mind as well. Thank God for that. Thank God that He takes what we deserve and changes it to blessing. Our repentance brings God's repentance. Our change of mind and heart brings God change of mind and heart.

No more living in the "in between".

Count On It

Joel 2:11b "For strong is the One who executes His word."

Sometimes…most of the time, I don't think we know who we are dealing with when it comes to God. I mean we make mental assent that He is sovereign, and powerful, and righteous, and just, and faithful, and true, and holy, and all knowing, and all seeing, and loving, and kind, and merciful, and compassionate, and gracious, and creator, and… But even with this mental assent, I don't think that it is reality. It is not something that guides our lives. It is not something that causes us to stop and think. Instead, we go on living our lives every day in the way that we want to live.

God was telling the nation of Israel, don't do that. Look at what is going on around you and be desperate for Me. Depend on Me. Trust Me. Obey Me. Look at the power: "The earth quakes before them, the heavens tremble; The sun and moon grow dark, and the stars diminish their brightness. The Lord gives voice before His army, For His camp is very great…" v 10, 11 Like I said, I really don't think that we know who we are dealing with. If we did, our lives, our words, our actions, our decisions would be totally different.

We learned a new song this last week: The lyrics say: "Your voice it thunders; The oaks are twisting; The forest sounds with cedars breaking; The waters see you and start their writhing; From the depths a song is rising
Now it's rising from the ground; Your voice it thunders; The earth is shaking; The mighty mountains now are trembling; Creation sees you and starts composing; The fields and trees they start rejoicing; Holy, holy, holy, holy Lord; The earth is Yours and singing; Holy, holy, holy, holy Lord; The earth is Yours; The earth is Yours" (the earth is yours lyrics by Gungor)

The earth gets it. The earth understands who God is. The earth responds to His every command. Why don't we?

The thing is, it doesn't really matter what we do. I mean it does for us. It is important for us to understand who God is and to walk with Him every day, but whether we do or whether we don't does not impact what God is like and His purposes. He is the same yesterday, today and forever and the strong One executes His word. No matter what, what God says is going to happen is going to happen. Every word of God is true. Every word of God will come to pass. Everything that God has said will someday take place. For He is strong. He is mighty. He will execute His word. He will accomplish what He said that He will do. In the life of Israel, in the world, in the church, in my family and in my life.

Count on it.

Desperation

Joel 1:14 "Consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly; Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord."

I saw this verse as I read yesterday and I thought that I would be spending time in it today. The thing is, I didn't see this yesterday and in fact I have never seen it. What is similar between these two verses? "the elders and…all the inhabitants of the land". This applies to everyone. The responsibility to teach your children well applied to everyone; those in leadership and those who were just your ordinary Joe. And this: Consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly…into the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord."

Things were not getting bad in Israel, things were bad in Israel. There was natural destruction from locusts eating everything green. Not only that but there was outside destruction. A strong, huge nation rose against Israel, invaded it and wasted and ruined it. Economic security was gone. National security was gone. Joy was gone. This didn't just happen overnight. It was something that occurred over some time. There were warnings on the horizon that they ignored…and now they were paying the price.

Sound familiar? We could apply this to our nation. We could apply it to our churches. We could apply it to our families. There are usually warnings. There is usually a sense that something is coming and we need to get ready for it. The problem is, we ignore those warnings and keep doing the same thing that we have been doing. That has to stop. Something needs to be done. And what is it?

Consecrate a fast. Call a sacred assembly. Get everyone there. The elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of God. For once in your life, show your dependence and cry out to the Lord. These were desperate times for the nation of Israel and it is my sense that we are also coming upon desperate times in this country. It is my sense that there also are desperate churches and it is my sense that there also are desperate families. We need to do this. We need to get everyone together and fast and pray and cry out.

The problem? We really aren't there yet. People are not desperate. How do I know? Look at the times when we call for people to come together to pray. How many show up? Frankly, things are going to have to get a lot worse in our nation, churches and families. When they do, maybe then we will fast and pray. Until then, look out.

Teach Your Children Well

Joel 1:2,3 "Hear this, you elders, and give ear, all you inhabitants of the Land! Has anything like this happened in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? Tell your children about it, let your children tell their children, and their children another generation."

Here we go with some of the Minor Prophets.

Joel is an interesting book, because not a whole lot is known about this guy. He was the son of Pethuel. Who was he? He is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. The thing that we know is that God is using Joel to describe the "day of the Lord."

Kind of cool. A guy who is a no name. A guy that we really don't have a ton of information about. A guy whose writing is mentioned only one other time in the Bible…this guy God is using. He is using him to warn the nation of Israel, and probably all of us about what is going to take place. Just shows you, God wants to use all of us.

And he begins with "hear this you elders and give ear, all you inhabitants of the Land." In other words, you guys who are older and in charge…listen up. In fact, everyone needs to hear this because this is new, this is different, this has never happened before and you need to know about it. Not only that, but you need to tell your kids, and you kids have to tell their kids and their kids have to tell their kids. This is something that needs to be spoken about from the top down. This is something that needs to be spread throughout your families. This is something that has to be so ingrained in all of your hearts and minds that you are going to pass it on from one generation to another. Teach your children well. Make sure that they grasp it so they own it, so they give it to their kids and their kids grasp it and own it so they can give it to their kids.

At this point, I wonder if we do this? I wonder if we understand the gravity of this thing we call our faith and the importance of it? If we do, guess what? We will absolutely be passing it down to our children. We, as elders, as fathers have a responsibility to make absolutely sure that our children see our faith, understand our faith, hear about our faith, know our faith and grab onto our faith so that it is their own and they can do it with their kids. It is the 2 Tim 2:2 principle lived out in the family. "And the things that you have heard of me in the presence of many witnesses, the same commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." Or, if I can play with this verse a little: "And the things that God has taught you, the same commit to your children who will be able to teach their children also."

I love the verse in 3 John that says: "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." Even though John was talking about his spiritual children, frankly it needs to start with our physical children who become our spiritual children. When this happens, when your kids believe God, trust God, obey God and they are committed to giving it to their kids…there is no greater joy.

Elders, give ear…Dad's listen up. This is your deal. This is your responsibility. Do it.

Three Things

Luke 24:52,53 "And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen."

We know from Matthew 28 that Jesus' eleven guys, the disciples, went with Him to Galilee to a mountain. When He was there He blessed them, gave them the great commission and was lifted out of their sight. What an experience! To be with the risen Christ, to hear Him challenge you and then to watch Him leave this earth. The disciples' response is what I would expect. Worship, joy, praise, blessing.

Look at each of the responses: Worship. Guess what this reveals? That Jesus is God. I don't care how much people want to get around this fact, but the only individual who is worthy of our worship, or proskyneo, our falling on our faces in adoration is God. Jesus knew this, and Jesus accepted it. Why? Because Jesus was and is God. God in the flesh, who died, who rose, who ascended to heaven. The Disciples knew this and did the only natural thing that they could do was worship Him.

Even though we don't see the risen Christ and did not experience his ascension, we still experience the risen Christ. He works in our lives, He speaks to us, He reveals what He is like to us. Our response should be one thing: Total and complete worship.

Their second response: Joy. Not just a little joy but great joy. The Greek word for great is "mega". Mega joy. Mega gladness. Mega hope. And why not? Jesus was alive and these guys knew it.

I wonder about me…do I have mega joy? My joy should not be in the stuff I have, or the circumstances that surround me, or even in my family. My joy has to be based in a risen Savior. Why? Because a risen Savior proves victory over everything. I mean everything. Every temptation, every sin, every habit, every trial, every difficulty, even death. Mega joy should be a hallmark of the church and Jesus' believers…no matter what.

Their third response: Continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Go figure. These guys wanted to be together, so they did what they knew and got together in the temple and while there they praised and blessed God. They didn't just do this sporadically. They didn't just do this when the weather was good. They didn't just do this when they felt like waking up. They did it all the time. The word continually means constantly. They spent time together and their time together did not center on food or sports or the news. Their time together centered on praising and blessing God. Go figure. They just saw a Man who was crucified, dead and buried…alive, living, breathing, speaking, eating…ascended. I would think that this would energize anyone. And it should. It should still energize us today because we still have that alive, living, breathing, speaking Christ. And what should we do? Continually be together praising and blessing God.

They Got It

Luke 24:45 "And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures."

Up until this time, the disciples were unable to take the Law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms and match them up to the life of Christ. They were relying on the personal teaching of Jesus to direct what they did and to tell them who He was. Even that, however, did not cut it with them. They still didn't get it. Even though Jesus was standing in front of them in the flesh, even though He had eaten food in their presence, they still doubted (v38), they still did not believe what was happening (v41), so Jesus did an amazing thing. He took the scales off of their eyes. He opened their understanding. He opened their minds and their souls to understand the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms. The word for understand is pretty cool, because it actually means to set or join together in the mind. Before Jesus opened their minds, they had all these pieces parts. It was kind of like a connect the dots puzzle. They could see the dots, but they had no idea how they all connected and what they all meant. When Jesus opened their understanding, they saw it. They saw the whole picture. They saw how all of the scriptures fit together and they all pointed to Christ, the Messiah, the crucified living Savior who was standing in front of them talking to them. They got it. Not because they worked hard at trying to get it, but because Jesus opened their brains and their inner man to get it.

Jesus still does this today. There are times in my life when I am reading His word and all of a sudden something hits me. I had never seen or understood something before and God just says: "Glen, I am going to open your mind and heart to get this one." Those are amazing times. This isn't something that God wants to do periodically, however, it is something that He wants to do all the time. It is something that He wants me to experience daily. It is this living, breathing, walking, talking relationship. We don't have to have scales over our eyes any longer. God has given us His word and His Holy Spirit who "…will guide you into all truth." John 16:13. That isn't just some truth. That isn't just partial truth. That isn't just periodic truth. That is all truth.

The sad thing is our unwillingness to receive. Oh, we don't do this brazenly. We are sly about it. We say that we believe God's word and want to learn from God's word and we want God to direct us through His word and to teach us the truth, but then we fail to read it. We say we don't have time. We say that we are too tired. We say that we can't focus. We say that we don't like to read. Unbelievable. Here is Jesus. He died on the cross. He rose from the dead. He lives now. He is willing to open our understanding so that we can comprehend the Scriptures. He has left us with the ultimate Teacher in the Holy Spirit and we say that we don't have time. Unreal. No wonder we flounder in our lives. No wonder we are directionless. No wonder we struggle.

The point: He will open our understanding to comprehend the scriptures. We have to let Him.