Psalm 34:3 – “O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His Name together.”
Dear Father in Heaven,
.......Hallowed be Your Name. “O LORD our Lord, how excellent is Thy Name in all the earth!” (Ps. 8:1, 9) “Let them also that love Thy Name be joyful in Thee” (Ps. 5:11). May Your Name defend us (Ps. 21:1). As we “rejoice in Thy salvation and set up our banners in Your Name, fulfil all [our] petitions” (Ps. 20:5). While others trust in horses and chariots, may we always “remember the name of the LORD our God” (Ps. 20:7).
.......May we who have taken the name of Christ not take It in vain but live as faithful members of the respectful, submissive Bride of Christ. May we graciously “have love one to another” (Jn. 13:35), and may we “be made perfect in one” (Jn. 17:23); so “that the world may believe that You have sent” Jesus of Nazareth as our Lord and Savior and Christ (Jn. 17:21), so that all men shall know that we are Christ’s disciples (Jn. 13:35), and so “that all the earth may know that there is a God in” the Christian Church (I Sam. 17:46).
.......By these, may we even of this generation be privileged to see obvious and glorious manifestations of the coming, growth, and spreading of Your kingdom over all the earth and of Your will being “done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matt. 6:10). Then “all nations whom Thou hast made shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord; and shall glorify Thy Name,” as You have promised (Ps. 86:9).
.......So we pray with Your Son, in His Name, and with gratitude for Your subsequent promise to do just this: “Father, glorify Thy Name” (Jn. 12:28). Amen.
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Saturday, June 14, 2008
Spiritual or Physical?
They say that bad is already resident within. It is important to not take in anything upon which the bad will feed, grow, and further weaken us. Rather, we should adapt to a lifestyle of purging the bad by faithfully inputting the good. It is never acceptable to pay no attention to what we are putting into ourselves. Of course, a person can become so accustomed to junk that something wholesome seems almost foreign. Compared to the wholesome, the junk is preferred. At which point, a person must be taught, retrained, and disciplined – taught the truth about what is good and bad, retrained to appreciate the wholesome and despise the junk, and disciplined to faithfully follow and mature within this teaching and retraining process.
At this point, someone might ask, “Are you talking about the spiritual life? Or are you talking about the physical body?” To which I could answer, “Yes. I’m talking about them both.” In how many other areas of life may we make a comparison between the two? Of course, this is not an accident or a coincidence since the same God is Creator of both, of all. God created this world such that muzzled oxen teach us about compensating our ministry leaders, our bodies teach us about church relationships, and marriage teaches us about Christ and the Church. Or is it the other way around? Yes, it is. Actually we can and should often look at it from both ends.
So what does our theology teach us about taking care of our physical bodies? I think this is one area where the pulpit has been negligent in its instruction and exemplification. One can understand, to some degree, the preachers’ hesitation. Just look at them.
Another frustration likely stems from the discovery that what was killing us ten years ago is now good for us, and vice versa. So many sources, so much contradiction, – how can anyone say anything about health with any sense of assurance or self-confidence? But this is no excuse for not seeking knowledge and wisdom as for hid treasure. These same challenges exist in the philosophical and theological realm.
Sure, God’s grace allows us to enjoy what He “has created to be received with thanksgiving” (I Timothy 4:3); but that doesn’t mean that we should eat plastic, drink poison, and be blissful in our ignorance. When post-millennial, stake-claiming Christians are suffering and dying from the same diseases as everyone else in the world, where’s the dominion in that?
At this point, someone might ask, “Are you talking about the spiritual life? Or are you talking about the physical body?” To which I could answer, “Yes. I’m talking about them both.” In how many other areas of life may we make a comparison between the two? Of course, this is not an accident or a coincidence since the same God is Creator of both, of all. God created this world such that muzzled oxen teach us about compensating our ministry leaders, our bodies teach us about church relationships, and marriage teaches us about Christ and the Church. Or is it the other way around? Yes, it is. Actually we can and should often look at it from both ends.
So what does our theology teach us about taking care of our physical bodies? I think this is one area where the pulpit has been negligent in its instruction and exemplification. One can understand, to some degree, the preachers’ hesitation. Just look at them.
Another frustration likely stems from the discovery that what was killing us ten years ago is now good for us, and vice versa. So many sources, so much contradiction, – how can anyone say anything about health with any sense of assurance or self-confidence? But this is no excuse for not seeking knowledge and wisdom as for hid treasure. These same challenges exist in the philosophical and theological realm.
Sure, God’s grace allows us to enjoy what He “has created to be received with thanksgiving” (I Timothy 4:3); but that doesn’t mean that we should eat plastic, drink poison, and be blissful in our ignorance. When post-millennial, stake-claiming Christians are suffering and dying from the same diseases as everyone else in the world, where’s the dominion in that?
Lust Ain't No Lady
.......Darkness … and noise. What awful noise! Like howling and moaning, backgrounded by somewhat of a guttural growl. Where am I? How did I get here? What was I doing just befor- … – oh… yeah, now I remember.
.......She had called and said she had a plumbing emergency. She needed me as soon as possible. My family was away for a few days, so I had plenty of time …; and, of course, this wasn’t the first time.
.......Some time back, even before I was married, I had seen her – so full of wonders and pleasures. She seemed to know just how to arouse my curiosity. But when I told her what others had told me, that I had no right to see what she wanted to show me and that she was a deceiving enslaver, she assured me she would let me be the one in control and that I was only satisfying my curiosity about one of God’s great created wonders.
.......Nine months later, he was born, this child of mine and my Desire, my mistress. Somewhat surprised by it all, I hadn’t really thought of a name. Someone had the idea of naming him “Sin.” Not sure where that came from, but I guess it was appropriate enough. So that became his name; although we usually called him everything but ….
.......Well, from his earliest days, he was quite demanding. Of course, it was all harmless enough, so we met his demands. Besides I only met his demands because I wanted to, certainly not because of any fear of him. But as babies do, he grew … and grew … and grew. Isn’t it amazing how your offspring can become so much bigger than you! As much as I hate to admit it, some of the time when I gave in to his demands, it wasn’t only because I wanted to anymore. He simply made it difficult to say, “No.” Oh, I’m pretty sure that I could’ve said “No” to him whenever I wanted.
.......So anyway, my friend had this plumbing emergency, ya know. So I hurried to her house. She must’ve heard me pull up because, as soon as I reached her door, she told me to “come on in.” I saw no signs of an emergency – no water all over the floor, no septic smells – quite the opposite really. Perfume, riding a cool breeze through an open door leading to the basement, from where I heard her voice again. So maybe there was an emergency after all. But if there was, I forgot all about it when I saw her, lying on a beautifully-decorated canopy bed, rose petals and candles all around.
.......I didn’t think we’d been down there for very long when, suddenly, a pounding and smashing was heard through the house. We had hardly time to think about it all when they came tearing down the stairs. Her husband, with a baseball bat in hand, being pushed by … a giant – a giant who looked all too familiar.
.......Great pain! My bare back … he broke it. Excruciating pain! Throbbing heat, pounding through my head. A few seconds – an eternity – I must’ve passed out.
James 1:14-15 – “Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”
.......She had called and said she had a plumbing emergency. She needed me as soon as possible. My family was away for a few days, so I had plenty of time …; and, of course, this wasn’t the first time.
.......Some time back, even before I was married, I had seen her – so full of wonders and pleasures. She seemed to know just how to arouse my curiosity. But when I told her what others had told me, that I had no right to see what she wanted to show me and that she was a deceiving enslaver, she assured me she would let me be the one in control and that I was only satisfying my curiosity about one of God’s great created wonders.
.......Nine months later, he was born, this child of mine and my Desire, my mistress. Somewhat surprised by it all, I hadn’t really thought of a name. Someone had the idea of naming him “Sin.” Not sure where that came from, but I guess it was appropriate enough. So that became his name; although we usually called him everything but ….
.......Well, from his earliest days, he was quite demanding. Of course, it was all harmless enough, so we met his demands. Besides I only met his demands because I wanted to, certainly not because of any fear of him. But as babies do, he grew … and grew … and grew. Isn’t it amazing how your offspring can become so much bigger than you! As much as I hate to admit it, some of the time when I gave in to his demands, it wasn’t only because I wanted to anymore. He simply made it difficult to say, “No.” Oh, I’m pretty sure that I could’ve said “No” to him whenever I wanted.
.......So anyway, my friend had this plumbing emergency, ya know. So I hurried to her house. She must’ve heard me pull up because, as soon as I reached her door, she told me to “come on in.” I saw no signs of an emergency – no water all over the floor, no septic smells – quite the opposite really. Perfume, riding a cool breeze through an open door leading to the basement, from where I heard her voice again. So maybe there was an emergency after all. But if there was, I forgot all about it when I saw her, lying on a beautifully-decorated canopy bed, rose petals and candles all around.
.......I didn’t think we’d been down there for very long when, suddenly, a pounding and smashing was heard through the house. We had hardly time to think about it all when they came tearing down the stairs. Her husband, with a baseball bat in hand, being pushed by … a giant – a giant who looked all too familiar.
.......Great pain! My bare back … he broke it. Excruciating pain! Throbbing heat, pounding through my head. A few seconds – an eternity – I must’ve passed out.
James 1:14-15 – “Every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”
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