A Gentle, Loving, and Wise Guide

Psalm 48:14, "For such is God, our God forever and ever; He will guide us until death."

Life is such a maze! The twists, turns and complicated paths quickly confuse and overwhelm us. But there is One who stands with the Christian always - the Lord God Himself! The precious Lord walks with us in the trails of trials. But He does more than this - He guides us also. He guides us with great wisdom and power; He leads us with a tender concern born of His sovereign grace and mercy. He can never abandon us, for we are His own. His heart is touched with our griefs and our despair; He feels the pain of our struggle. Yea, it is even by His own hand that we are led to and brought through the valleys of our deepest troubles. But all is done with wisdom and love. God never acts arbitrarily; He always leads with purpose and glory in mind. If not in time, surely in eternity, the wisdom and goodness of God's leadership will be validated.

Today, no matter what we face or endure, let us as God's people trust fully and confidently in the knowledge that our Lord will be our God forever, and He will guide us until death.

Vessels of Mercy

Romans 9:23, "He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy...".

One can hardly give a greater and more elaborate expression of what a Christian is than the one used in this verse - "vessels of mercy." The previous verse in this chapter from Romans says that sinners are vessels of wrath dwelling under the the dark shadow of the wrath of God because of sin. Ephesians 2:3 says of unregenerate sinners that we were "by nature children of wrath." How sad, but how true!

And yet Romans 9:22 speaks of the mercy of God giving birth to patience with sinners that we might, by Christ's atonement and God's saving grace, become vessels of mercy. Ephesians 1:8 speaks of the grace of God being "lavished" upon unsaved sinners.

God could judge sinners, and one day God will judge sinners. God could have judged us a long time ago. But wrath is not part of God's essential being; it is His right response against sin and sinners because of the justice of God. And yet, God, the merciful and compassionate God, longed to pour out His grace on us for His own glory. And that is what He did! He planned to be merciful, and in the redemptive work of Christ, applied by the Holy Spirit to the soul of man, God achieved mercy. Mercy elected sinners, mercy sent Christ in human flesh, mercy paid for sin on the cross, mercy conquered death at Christ's empty tomb, and mercy is preparing a home for God's people in heaven.

When I go to church tomorrow, I will try to preach on Romans 9:22-23. I pray that God will lift my heart to the stratosphere of gratitude and joy; may divine mercy buoy my heart that the name of God may be exalted above all. Because now and forever I remain - - - a vessel of mercy.

Eutychus and the Bored Church Member

Eutychus loved church! He loved the Lord's Day and worshiping with other brothers and sisters in Christ. One of the best parts of church was the time to hear God's Word preached. He loved to think about the reality of the true and living God, and he loved to hear the Bible faithfully and sincerely preached. Somehow that always comforted him no matter what he was going through in life.

One day the pastor preached a message on the joy of knowing eternal bliss through Christ. The pastor did a great job exegeting the biblical text, and it was obvious that the truth of the God's Word spoke to the pastor's own heart. Eutychus was excited!

On the way out of the worship center to the foyer he ran into a member of the church leaving worship, and the man was yawning. Eutychus thought the man must have had a late night Saturday night, but the man replied, "No, it is just these boring sermons we get from the pastor." "Boring!" Exclaimed Eutychus! "What could be boring about hearing the greatest and most glorious destiny ever?", Eutychus queried. The man said, "Are you kidding? All this talk about God and the Bible text and eternal bliss in heaven is not relevant to my life. What I need is something practical and applicable." "Like what?", asked Eutychus. The man stared disdainfully at Eutychus and retorted "Well...you know...how to get rid of negative feelings about yourself when you sin. Or, how wonderful I am and how God doesn't want me to have a bad day. At the very least pastor could tell us a few good jokes to make us laugh, or give an inspirational speech about human accomplishments." Eutychus almost laughed, because he thought the man was joking. A quick glance at the man's face told him that this bored church member was deadly serious.

Eutychus didn't really know what to say, so he just stood there dumbfounded. Finally the man left trying to avoid shaking the preacher's hand as the bored church member slinked towards the front door of the church. Eutychus wondered, "How can the most glorious God, His most glorious Revelation, the Bible, and the greatest news one could hear ever be boring? Some people are really strange."

Eutychus thought about the bored church member all week. He thought of some things that he wanted to tell this man. Eutychus was looking forward to the next Sunday, and he was hoping to see the bored church member again. When Sunday came Eutychus entered the worship center quickly making a broad glance around the sanctuary hoping to see the bored church member. But the man was no where to be seen. After church Eutychus asked a friend about the bored church member with whom he had talked the previous Sunday. Eutychus' friend replied, "Haven't you heard?" "No, what", asked Eutychus. The friend paused and said, "He died this week." Eutychus was stunned! And all he could think about as he left church that day was, "What is relevant now?"

Once Upon a Time

Once upon a time in a land call "Freedola" there lived a people called "Freedolians." Freedolians came in all sizes, shapes, and colors. They walked and talked differently; they even had different customs. There was no one way a Freedolian looked, but they all shared the same vision and dream of freedom. They understood what freedom was, and they worked together in unity to build and maintain the great freedom of Freedola.

The Freedolians were a hard working, happy lot. They considered work a blessing, and to build dreams and a community of free and happy people consumed their time and energy. They built homes, schools, churches, and a host of healthy and positive institutions to maintain and propagate their way of life. They had a government that was Freedolian in nature. Their laws encouraged freedom and respect for all Freedolians.

But other people started to come into Freedola. The "WeAreTheOnlyOneianS" (WATOOS) came to live in Freedola along with the "GiveAllToMeianS" (GATMS). The WATOOS and the GATMS did not appreciate Freedola, nor did they desire to perpetuate the goodness and joy of Freedola. The WATOOS wanted to change Freedola into a land of coerced conformity, and GATMS did not care as long as they had their desires and demands met. The Freedolians wanted to trust all people; they wanted to let all enjoy their freedoms and their happy land. But they forgot that only those who understood and supported the freedom of Freedola could perpetuate the joys and delights of their happy way of life. Only Freedolians could nourish Freedola.

Slowly but assuredly the Freedolians were outnumbered by the WATOOS and the GATMS. The government was eventually changed from the idyllic Freedolian vision. Soon freedoms eroded and anti-happy laws were passed. The important beliefs and laws that caused Freedola to live were thrown away and forgotten, replaced by restrictive laws and customs. Slowly the Freedolian way of life was lost. The sun now never shines in the land of Freedolia, and the colors of the flowers seemed to fade into indiscriminate gray. The smiles of the people were changed to looks of suspicion and doubt. And one day, before anyone knew it, Freedolia was gone never to return again.

Wisdom and our Coming Destiny

Psalm 90:12 "So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom."

God's people walk a trail that is a trail of ever-growing wisdom. The longer we live the less our hearts imagine our soul treasure to be here on earth, and the more we are convinced that the fair and happy eternal land beyond the distant sunset is where our joy lies. Our eyes yearn to see, and our souls strain to know, the bliss and beauty of that land. Wisdom indeed!

Eutychus Goes to College

Today we find our beloved hero, Eutychus, enrolling in college. This is quite a new experience for our friend, Eutychus. Higher education is different today that the first century. Eutychus had some major surprises ahead.

Eutychus met with an enrollment counselor. This was supposed to get Eutychus all "fixed up and ready to go."

Counselor: "So, Son, are you ready for school to start?" Eutychus: "You bet, ready to go." Counselor: "Great, let's get started. First, let's get some classes arranged, then we will go over the rules of college life here at Politically Correct University, or PCU. You will, of course, take the required class on Tolerance; this is required for all students at PCU. We must be tolerant of all people and all beliefs."

Eutychus: "Sounds good. We should be tolerant of each other in love. By the way, is there a Christian Bible study on campus." Counselor (grimacing like he was gut-shot): "O no, we can't be tolerant of that; that is most intolerable!"

Eutychus (his forehead wrinkled with confusion): "I thought you said...never mind." Counselor: "Now, let's get on to one of your classes. We need to enroll you in the 'All cultures are good except Western culture' class." Eutychus: "But isn't that contradictory to say all cultures are good except...?" Counselor (with a smirk): "You are new here, and it is obvious you need to be educated, so I will let this pass. But, son, you need to understand that the obvious reason for the degeneracy of the entire world is based on the American Christian culture, probably a hold over from the Puritanical ramblings of early Christians. You will soon learn that the reason for all the world's problems is conservative Christian American middle class culture. The answer to every problem is liberal compassion, kindness, and understanding which needs to be tyrannically forced on all people, for their own good."

Eutychus was really confused now. He stammered, "But isn't your viewpoint just a biased and baseless way to manipulate others and force your worldview upon them? Isn't that intolerant?" The Counselor was a bit miffed, and said, "I can see you are going to need remedial training before we can enroll you into the 'Make Everyone Like Us' curriculum." Counselor: "Let's just start you with a simple class - Learning to be Tolerant of the Intolerably Tolerant and Learning to be Intolerant of the Intolerably Tolerably Intolerant." Eutychus let out a sigh; it was going to be a long semester.

The Great Unseen Reality

1 Samuel 23:14 "David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand."

If we could interview David during the time when he had to flee from Saul's threat, we may not find a man full of faith and confidence. WE: "How are things going, David?" David: "OK, I guess." WE: "You don't sound very sure." David: "Well, to be honest, everything seems to be going to pot in my life. I have to run for my life every day, because Saul is determined to kill me. I can't let my guard down at all; every day I am on pins and needles watching carefully for an attack from Saul. I sometimes wonder if God is watching over me."

But Saul did not catch David, though he got a close a time or two (See 1 Samuel 23:26). Why? Why could Saul not catch David? The answer is found in our text: "God did not deliver him into his hands." God was orchestrating all the circumstances in David's life. God was protecting David. No matter how much appeared to be against David, God was planning David's life. There was so much unseen reality in support of David that David could not observe.

This is true in every Christian's life. This is the great iceberg of the Christian experience. Just like only a tip of the iceberg appears above water, and so much of the iceberg is below the water, so there is so much behind the scenes in a Christian's experience. God is watching over us, protecting us, strengthening and blessing us in ways we cannot fathom. God is achieving His plan and purpose through us. And so much of all this is beyond the scope of our vision.

This is where faith comes in. As God's children we must believe that God is working for us and on our behalf. We must believe that God is causing all things to work for our good and His glory. We must trust God when we cannot see His hand.

No matter what you face today, God is working for you. God is working to make His will happen, no matter what anyone else does or doesn't do. That is the Great Unseen Reality of God's will for your life.