6 Reasons Your Nation Cannot Be Glad

5 09 2016

God’s desire is that every nation be glad. The Bible is clear about this. In one Psalm (#67) God reveals six signs of a glad nation. But your nation cannot experience these because they only happen when God is given opportunity to bring in His character. There are no glad nations today, and I do not think we can even imagine one.

I am an American, so let me focus on why America cannot be glad. You can adjust this to your own nation.

1. WE DO NOT LOOK TO GOD FOR MERCY AND BLESSING. “God be merciful to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us” (Ps. 67:1). When someone’s face shines on another, it means he has joy and pleasure on his face. He is pleased and happy with what he sees. A glad nation is one on which God looks with an intent to shower his favor. Most Americans have no interest in this.

2. WE DO NOT KNOW THE WAY OF SALVATION. “That Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations” (v.2). A glad nation is one in which common families know that we are in dire straits without God, and that He is our only hope. Most Americans think they know all they need to know. They don’t think God can save.

3. WE DO NOT SING TO GOD WITH JOY. “Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy!” (v.3,4a). This scripture actually tells of God’s wish that everyone would be happy with praise! Americans are too busy for this, and too focused on many things other than God. We are so intent on “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” that we created a sad nation.

4. WE DON’T WANT RIGHTEOUS GOVERNANCE. “For You shall judge the people righteously, and govern the nations on earth.” (v.4b). God would like to gladden nations by helping governments to reward good acts, punish evil, and protect the weak. We are too interested in our own rights to let God’s way enter in.

5. WE DO NOT VALUE A PRODUCTIVE EARTH. “Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You, then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us” (Ps.67:5-6). We don’t see the earth as God’s creation, so we make no connection between honoring God and having prosperity. We think the earth just happened, and we are trashing it. We don’t recognize our prosperity because we always want more.

6. WE HAVE NO REVERENCE FOR GOD. “God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear Him” (v.7). “Fear” means to honor and respect. Because my nation does not respect God, we have reason to be afraid of Him. God is angry because we have declined His goodness. This has seriously ticked Him off, and we are living with the results.

God is good and wants nations to be glad. You and I live in sad nations because God is willfully ignored. These are the sad facts.


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The greater of two hills

4 08 2016

So much happened when Christ died for our sins – not just on earth but in heaven. Could we stretch our minds to encompass some of that higher drama? To do so, return with me to Jerusalem, and imagine the story that two of that great city’s hills – Mount Moriah and Golgotha – could tell.

temple herodMount Moriah was a grand and regal hill, boasting a star-studded history. How many mountains could brag about Abraham’s raised knife and his son’s quiet faith? Now the mount proudly wore the magnificent temple that Herod built. The pearl of the City of David, the center of Israel’s faith, jutted toward the sky in gleaming splendor. Now its priests busily prepared for the Passover celebrations.

Probably just three thousand feet away stood Moriah’s diminutive half-brother, Golgotha. Golgotha didn’t even count as one of Jerusalem’s golgothaseven hills. By appearance, it was plain. By history, it was despicable. But by destiny, it was about to become glorious.

For you see, while the priests scurried about the temple on Moriah, preparing to enter the Holy Place, Golgotha was about to host the High Priest of heaven. With sandaled feet, the Rock of Ages was scheduled to walk onto the rock of shame and step into the eternal Holy of Holies, into the temple of the Living God.

In Herod’s temple, the priests had become quite adept at offering a day’s worth of sacrifices without soiling their garments with goat’s blood. In a moment, on the hill of ignominy, the eternal High Priest would come to perform His sole task: to spill His own blood shamelessly onto Himself and wherever else it would happen to fall.

The two hills could not have been more different. By all appearances, Mount Moriah for its temple was clearly glorious and admirable. But no one would want to visit the ugly hill of Golgotha.

Isaiah the prophet knew how unsightly a place Golgotha would be. He foretold how disfigured the High Priest would become on that hill. The ancient prophet knew that the Messiah would be mauled, displaying neither beauty nor majesty. Instead, He’d be despised and rejected by men. Man of sorrows. Familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces. Stricken. Smitten. Pierced. Crushed. Oppressed and afflicted. Let like a lamb to the slaughter.

But Isaiah also knew there was a purpose for all the ugliness. Jesus would take up our infirmities. Carry our sorrows. Be pierced for our transgressions. Crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him. By His woulds we are healed. The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

That’s why Moriah, the regal mount, deferred to Golgotha that day. Call it a passing of the baton. Think of it as a recognition of greatness.

The shadow bowed to the substance. The copy yielded to the original. The earthly acquiesced to the heavenly. The temple applauded the Sanctuary.

The worship on Moriah grew dim in the spiritual realm that day, lessened by the increasing brilliance that shone on the Redeemer. Perhaps, like John the Baptist, who said, “He must increase but I must decrease,” the Temple tipped its hat to the heavenly High Priest on the hill called Skull. And maybe the Sanctuary saluted back to the stone and bronze, acknowledging a job well done, releasing it from its duty and accepting the immense responsibility on Himself.

Though no mortal noticed it, heaven’s eyes could see that the golden lampstand beamed a smile over the wall to the Light of the World. The table of showbread turned over duties to the Bread of Life. The golden altar of incense giggled with delight at the fragrant offering ascending over Golgotha. The Ark of the Covenant sighed deeply with relief that the new covenant of the heart had finally come. And the cherubim who covered the mercy seat joyfully fluttered their golden wings at the deluge of grace raining down and washing away condemnation.

Caiaphas, the high priest on Mount Moriah, didn’t have eyes to see this phenomenal display. He had missed his true calling. What should have been the grand climax of glorious centuries of preparation turned out a dismal failure of perception. So thick were the blindfolds that the high priest didn’t know that his heavenly counterpart, the true High Priest, was even now within the Holy of heavenly Holies, offering once and for all the sacrifice for all of humankind’s sin.

But the High Priest of the new covenant didn’t require the acknowledgment of the old. The new Mediator bridged the gap single-handedly.

Job well done, O bulls and goats of the sacrifice! You pictured Him well. You pointed the way.

O you tender lambs of the ages, you who gave your lifeblood helplessly. Look, see Him there, the fulfillment of your prophecies. The Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world!

Excerpted from Safe in His Sanctuary, (Multnomah 1999), Robert Rasmussen

Photo credits: Herod’s temple: telegraph.co.uk.
Golgotha: elishavision.wordpress.com

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Categories : Safe In His Sanctuary book, Trail Guide - Meditations

Mary’s Song

16 11 2015

The oil lamp flickered well into the night. Martha and Lazarus were asleep, and the house was quiet as Mary took up her stylus and poured out her thoughts to the Lord. What flowed onto the page was a conversation that set her free…

O Lord, it greatly heartens me to think upon your words, for you told me you enjoyed my presence more than noble works. But I must tell you honestly, I find it very hard to know I’ve really chosen what you call “the better part.”
I envy the accomplishments, the good that others do; I don’t have much to offer to prove my love for you. The looks I get from others, my feeling of fatigue–could it be I’m not the person you think you see in me?

Child, I tell you now in stillness what I said among the din–the only thing I look for is a longing heart within. I’m not looking for performance. I don’t care if you’re the best. I desire your companionship. I want to give you rest.

That you could want my company, though I struggle so, is a greater gift of comfort than you could ever know. O Savior, take my sadness, my ever-wand’ring heart, and forever reassure me that it is the better part.

The turmoil of your inner life will rarely settle down; chaos and confusion will always come around. But you can learn to rest while striving, sit while standing tall. I promise I’ll be listening, no matter when you call. So come aside and learn of me; there’s room here at my feet. Your tender heart’s desire is the only thing I need. I tell you now in stillness what I said among the din–the only thing I look for is a longing heart within.

Luke 10:38-42

woman contemplationFOR REFLECTION: Do I give myself permission to receive Christ’s compliments even though I still struggle in my walk with Him?

[excerpt from Imagine Meeting Him, by Robert Rasmussen, 1998 Multnomah Publishers, p.57-58]


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Categories : Imagine Meeting Him book, Poetry, Prayer, To the heart

The gift of fragrance that lingers

15 10 2015

In my daily reading of the Bible, I came unsuspectingly upon the story of the woman and her perfume. I say unsuspectingly because I did not foresee the depth which her example would carve out in my soul.

anointing oilYou recall the incident. Jesus was in the village of Bethany staying in the home of a man named Simon who had contracted leprosy. That’s a significant side story in and of itself. Anyway, the woman (Mary, according to John 12:3) came to Jesus holding a flask made of alabaster stone, opened it up and respectfully anointed Jesus’ head and feet with very costly ointment (spikenard). At the time Jesus was sitting at the table, and He clearly understood what and why the woman was doing this.

She was already mourning His death.

But the disciples didn’t get it. They calculated the monetary value of the perfume, and were indignant at such a waste. Their idea was that poor people would have appreciated a donation of food and clothing — a much more useful purpose than perfuming a man, even their Master.

It is an understatement to say that Jesus had the gift of discernment. He knew what His disciples were reasoning, and gave them another perspective. Bear in mind, this incident happened on the eve of the crucifixion. So Jesus gave His guys a bit of a lecture, and you know the woman was standing right there wondering if she had done the wrong thing. Jesus said that helping the poor was noble, but that the poor would always be there to receive help. Different, though, was the opportunity to do something kind for Jesus the Christ. Then came the clincher,

“For in pouring this fragrant oil on My body, she did it for My burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her” (Matt. 26:12-13).

I was never able to buy really expensive perfume for my wife, but I do know that the fragrance of expensive perfume lasts much longer than cheaper varieties. With that in mind, consider that the rich fragrance on Jesus’ head and feet must have lingered throughout the night, into the next horrible day, even into the tomb. As He sat with His disciples in the upper room and celebrated His final meal with them, He filled the room with His fragrance. The Lord’s table carried the aroma of burial.

When Jesus led them in a melodic psalm and took them to Gethsemane, the sweat of blood intermingled on His skin with the woman’s ointment. The high priest who judged Him, Pilate who condemned Him, Peter who denied Him, Judas who betrayed Him, the soldiers who pierced Him — all caught the scent of one woman’s worship.

The fragrance of the oil lingered on Jesus through his trials and crucifixion and into the tomb.
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I do not know exactly how to bring the import of all of this over to you. It is a profound and chaotic picture. Jesus and His band of followers having their meal in the home of an untouchable man. The practical ministry need of poverty clashing with the impractical “waste” of a worshipper. And the contrast between Jesus’ awareness of His impending ordeal and the significance of the woman’s kindness — perhaps her sacrificial spirit reminding Him of the sacrifice required of Him — contrasted with the disciple’s ignorance (which we often share) of death, burial and resurrection happening in our very own experience.

My daughters and I received an unexpected package one day. Opening it we discovered an array of tiny bottles containing different essential oils, sent us by my niece, Alison. I had not known about these fragrant oils before, nor of their expense and usefulness. I was intrigued that one of them was frankincense. So we began exploring the world of essential oils.

This is very poignant to me because the reason Alison so kindly shared these oils with us is because my two daughters, my son, and I were providing hospice care for my wife who lay in the next room of our home with terminal cancer. It was an unexpected treat to be able to apply those healing fragrances on my wife’s wrist or back. We ministered comfort to her. She felt special. Pampered.

A few days later Lyn died in our home and went to be with Jesus. We washed her body and again applied fragrance to her skin, and dressed her in clean clothes. We said goodbye. We wept.

As you follow Jesus, you answer His call to deny yourself and take up His cross. You surrender to God’s will. You endure times of loss, grief, and waiting — all reminiscent of burial. I wonder, in going through these renditions of Jesus’ life and death, could we bring His fragrance with us? Could we become purveyors of the essence of Jesus — an aroma of life to life, or death to death (2 Cor. 2:14-16)?

There is a need for practical frugality. Bless the disciples for their compassion. But deeper still is that whisper of the Father, into our souls, to lavish what is costly on the Son He loves so dearly.

I must pause today and reflect on what I may offer Him. I must slow down, sit in silence for awhile, and let the Holy Spirit show me how extravagant worship must linger in the air no matter where Jesus leads me.

deeper still is that whisper of the Father, into our souls, to lavish what is costly on the Son
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Categories : Death Burial Resurrection, My wife with the Lord, Personal, The Passion

Frightening prospect of an understandable God

11 10 2015

The man said he could not understand why God allows suffering, war, and disease.

I agreed that the ways of God are often a mystery to us.

He declared that He could not put his faith in a God who did not make a greater effort to be understood.

bird in flightSo I asked the man how well he was doing at flying. “In an airplane?” he queried. “No, by flapping your arms,” I replied. He frowned, mocking my ridiculous question.

 

 

 

Again I asked, “How is your deep sea diving coming along?” He replied, “I’ve never learned how, nor do I have the equipment.” I explained that I wasn’t talking about scuba diving but about plying the deep waters like a shark or whale.whale

Disdaining my stupidity, the man made moves to leave the conversation. So I concluded: “Since you accept the fact that your body has neither the ability to fly like a bird nor dive like a whale, why can you not accept the fact that your brain cannot fathom the depths of God’s mind?”

He stared, unconvinced.

“We live on a planet that is a small speck in a universe of galaxies. Yet we cannot prevent countries from fighting each other. We cannot even keep our citizens from shooting each other. Do you really want to blame the God of the universe for our dysfunction? And more than that, would you really want to put your faith in a God who is no more intelligent than the human mind? For that is what you are requesting when you complain that God cannot be understood.”

He walked away, little realizing that he was at a crucial fork in the road that might not ever appear again.

The man said he could not understand why God allows suffering, war, and disease.
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would you really want to put your faith in a God who is no more intelligent than the human mind?
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