Sunday Morning Coffee: Looking Ahead

On the eve of the New Year, I suppose it’s a good time to do some intro-and outro-spection.

Introspection can be dangerous for me. If I’m not careful, I’ll focus on every dumb, mean, ugly thing I’ve ever said or done. That’s neither healthy nor productive, unless it le That’s an ads to making something right with someone I’ve hurt. If I allow the Lord to shine His candle in the secret chambers of my heart, Proverbs 20:27 says, “The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.” The belly? Well, today we would say “the conscience,” or “the heart.” It is that part of a person that is guided by the Spirit of God when we walk with Him.

So what is “outro-spection”? I made it up! At least, it’s not a word I’ve ever seen or heard before. It’s simply taking an outward look at, first, the small world in which we each live. Our homes, immediate family. From there, the neighborhood, and so on to the greater world around us.

Home, for me, is Terry. 54.5 years we’ve shared together, and I still don’t know him as well as I sometimes think I do. That’s an ongoing challenge. I’m so thankful for him! His integrity, work ethic, determination, innate abilities; his love for the Lord, for me, for our children and grandchildren.

We also have a church family for which I am more grateful as each year passes.

We are on good terms with our neighbors. I wouldn’t say there is a particularly close relationship, but we would all be quick to lend a hand to one another in a time of need. We’ve never had any kind of dispute with any neighbor in the 30 years we’ve lived here. That’s something for which we are thankful!

Beyond the neighborhood, It is important to know what is taking place on the political scene, which is about as messed up as it’s been in the history of our country–maybe with the exception of the Civil War, which was a waking horror. As a student of history, I can’t help but see the fall of America much like the fall of ancient Rome. As a student of the Bible, however, I can–and do–have the ongoing promise and hope that God gives every believer.

What can we do? How can we stop the destruction of a once-great nation that still leads the world in many areas?

We can stay informed. We can share our faith. We can pray for our leaders. We can–and absolutely should–vote!

I don’t pretend to know what the future holds for my country. What I do know is that we need a real, ongoing, Holy-Spirit revival in the hears and minds of Christians; and we need to share our faith with those who have no idea where to turn in a turbulent, mixed-up world.

Saturday Soliloquy: What a Relief!

I don’t know where the time went yesterday. I was going to finish up my series on Psalm 106, but now it will have to wait until Monday.

Here we are at New Year’s Eve eve :) Only today and tomorrow before 2024 besets us.

I just deleted two paragraphs. Not going there.

If you have asthma, or know someone who does, you will understand what I’m about to say. And by asthma, I don’t mean you just have a stuffy nose and a tickly cough. Asthma is restricted breathing, a horrible, relentless cough, inability to breathe in and out normally, congestion, complete lack of energy, and fear that someday you’re just going to die because you can’t breathe.

My asthma is usually under good control, but this past month it got out of the corral and ran crazy all over the place. I’m happy to report that I did not cough at all during the night last night, nor have I coughed today. Unless you have a pulmonary condition, you don’t know what a relief it is to just not cough.

So, I’m thankful that it looks like I’ll be starting the new year in much better shape than I was in for most of December. There is much to celebrate.

For the first time in over 25 years, all of our kids will be living back in the States! They’ve been in Germany, England, South Dakota and Pennsylvania. Now, the Germany family is here in PA. Soon, the England couple will be in California. Still far away, but at least on the same continent.

One of our grandsons will marry in September. He is the first of our nine grands to become engaged. They’ve been smart about not rushing into marriage. She finished nursing school and will have been working for a few months before they tie the knot. We’re very happy for them.

There is more for which we are thankful, and one of my goals this year is to be purposeful about seeking the good and the positive, no matter what else may be going on in this tired old world. It’s way too easy to see only the negative.

One thing I know for sure: With every day that passes, we’re one day closer to heaven!

Molech

Psalm 106: 34-38 

They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them:

But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.

And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.

Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils,

And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.

Even after God brought His people, griping and complaining all the way, into the Promised Land, they quickly ceased to be thankful. They did not destroy the surrounding nations, as God had commanded. Instead, they intermarried with them; they adopted their various gods and systems of worship, even to the extreme of sacrificing their children to the fires of Molech.

If you have the time to go down this rabbit trail, you can easily learn all about the worship of the Canaanite god Molech. His body was that of a man; his head like that of a bull. He was built with his arms stretched out and his hands open to receive a living child, whose screams were covered with the beating of drums and blowing of trumpets. The child would roll down Molech’s arms and into the cavity of the body, where the child would rapidly be consumed in the flames.

Why? Why was such a horrendous thing practiced, especially among the people who had been present at the many miracles of God?

In today’s culture, we are often admonished to “follow our hearts.” Please don’t do that. It’s dangerous, because our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9). The Israelites got caught up in wanting to be like their neighbors; of pleasing their ungodly husbands or wives, of being respected by ungodly people. Child sacrifice was done for a variety of reasons: Drought/famine; onset of war; death of a king, widespread plague. The Israelite king most well-known for sacrificing his young son to Molech was Manasseh. His story is a terrible one, indeed, and he paid dearly for his sin. Here’s a video that tells his story (about 30 minutes):

Oh, but we don’t do things like that today, right? Well, maybe not that specific thing, but we have certainly been infected with misinterpretations of God’s Word by popular (and extremely wealthy) “Christian” leaders who teach us about how to gain wealth and prosperity, using themselves as examples of financial success. They preach all about feeling good about ourselves and “uncoupling” the Old Testament from the New, because the Old Testament is “irrelevant.”

No. It isn’t. It is the source of much of our understanding of Who God is, and what our response to Him ought to be.

Don’t let your heart lead you astray from the worship of God. You will regret it for so many reasons.

Meribah: The Waters of Strife

Psalm 106:32-33.

They angered Him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes:

Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.

 And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as God commanded him. 10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? 11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.

Numbers 20: 9-11

The people, as usual, were complaining. There wasn’t enough water. Had Moses driven them from the “comforts” of slavery in Egypt only to die of thirst in this horrible desert?

When Moses went to God for help, God told Moses to gather the people at a large rock. Moses was to speak to the rock, and God promised that water would come forth that would be more than enough for the people and their flocks.

Moses, however, was so distressed, so weary of their complaining, so angry, that instead of simply speaking to the rock as God had said, he raised his rod and struck the rock. Twice. It was his version of a temper tantrum. Water did pour forth from the rock, and the people drank their fill, and watered their flocks.

In Numbers 20:10-12, we read that Moses spoke in anger before he struck the rock, calling the people rebels. God had not told him he could do that, and because Aaron was with Moses, God punished them both for their sin of disobedience by declaring that they would NOT be the ones to lead the people into the Promised Land.

The rock and the well of water were called Meribah, because the people, including Moses, struggled with God there. In spite of yet another miracle of God in their behalf, t wasn’t long before the people were complaining again.

Hallelujah! Christ is Born!

For your listening pleasure.

Anthony Burger is playing a heavenly piano now, and I can’t wait to hear hm. The music in heaven is going to be glorious, beyond anything we can imagine here.

Wishing you all a wonderful day with family and friends as you celebrate the birth of our Savior!

Phinehas

Psalm 106:29-31.

Thus they provoked Him to anger with their inventions: and the plague brake in upon them.

Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed.

And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations for evermore.

God had changed His mind about destroying all of Israel, but they still would be punished, and many would die. Three thousand men died at the hands of the Levites, under Moses’ direction. But there was still sin in the camp.

And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 7 And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand; 8 And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. 9 And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.

Numbers 25:6-9

God sent a plague into the Israelite encampment, and 24,000 people died. Phinehas was the grandson of Aaron, the high priest. He knew that a Hebrew man was sinning with a Moabite woman. He took a javelin, rushed into the tent where this couple was probably trying to hide, and killed them both. The plague was stopped, and God honored Phinehas for his righteous act.

Does that mean any believer has the right to execute any sinner? No, of course not. What total chaos that would create, since we are all sinners! In this case, the Hebrew encampment needed to be cleansed of all sin before God would stop the plague. Remember, this was before the Law was fully established. Phinehas was moved by the Spirit of God, and God commended him for his obedience (Numbers 25:10-13).

Results of Disobedience

Psalm 106:26-28.

Therefore He lifted up His hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness:

To overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands.

They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.

You will need to read Exodus 32: 19-35 to get the whole story. What happened after Moses came down from Mt. Sinai after begging God to spare the people? Well, Moses was extremely–and justifiably–angry at what he saw. The “worship” of the golden calf had turned into lewd, ungodly behavior. God had promised Moses that He would not wipe out the whole nation, but in his anger it seems Moses knew that drastic action had to take place.

Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD’S side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.

And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.

And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.

Exodus 32:26-28.

The “sons of Levi” were not only warriors. They were of the priestly lineage, which meant they understood the great sin the people had committed against God.

What was Baal-Peor? There is some disagreement among scholars, but it would seem that this particular Baal was worshiped by the Moabites. It is likely that each of the pagan nations surrounding Canaan had its own version of Baal, including Molech, to whom children were offered horribly to the fires burning inside that “god.” The worship of Baal-Peor included sexual behavior with the Moabite women, and thus the nakedness of the people when Moses came down from the mount with the stone tablets upon which God had inscribed the Law. Aaron’s weak description of how, as they melted the gold, the calf just emerged, did not impress Moses. Three thousand men died that day at the hands of the Levites who stood with Moses.

As we will see in the next post, God was not finished yet in His dealings with His people who had so quickly and easily turned to worshiping an idol they had created with their own hands.

Moses Intercedes

Psalm 106:23-25.

Therefore He said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen stood before Him in the breach, to turn away His wrath, lest He should destroy them.

Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not His word:

But murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD.

God was so angry at the Israelites for changing their worship to the golden calf that He threatened to destroy them all, and to make of Moses a great nation. Moses interceded with God:

And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth Thy wrath wax hot against Thy people, which Thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?

Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did He bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from Thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against Thy people.

Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants, to whom Thou swarest by Thine own Self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.

And the LORD repented of the evil which He thought to do unto His people.

Exodus 32:11-14

The people did not escape punishment for their great sin, but Moses’ plea caused God to hold back from destroying the whole nation.

We need more of this kind of praying today! 

The Golden Calf

Psalm 106:19-22.

They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image.

Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.

They forgat God their Saviour, which had done great things in Egypt;

Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea.

In my opinion, this was one of the more egregious sins that the people committed against God. Moses was up on Mount Sinai, being given specific directions by God about how the Israelites were to conduct themselves. The complete account of this desecration is in Exodus 32. A note, by the way: These events are not listed in chronological order in this Psalm.

The people became restless and bored while Moses was having this incredible experience, so they asked Aaron to give them something to worship. He asked the people to bring their gold to him, which he then had melted down and, according to what he told Moses, “this calf just popped up out of the gold!” It was disingenuous of Aaron to try to fool Moses, but then Aaron already knew that he was in a lot of trouble for enabling the people in such an ungodly way.

Moses was so angry that he lost his temper and threw the stone tablets on the ground, breaking them into pieces. You can read how God dealt with this incident in Exodus 32. 

I believe we have idols in our Christian community today. We are always, it seems, seeking for someone or something to follow after, something we can see, touch, and hear. We probably don’t create golden calves, but we do worship leaders who have become well-known and popular. We seem to need human leaders that we idolize, attributing wisdom to them that, if they are truly godly, they will disavow. But sometimes the adulation goes to their heads, and they become cult-like leaders of movements that are not of God.

We need to be careful that our worship is directed only to God Himself, and no one else. To worship what we create with our own hands is surely the height of foolishness!

Sunday Morning Tea: Repairs Ongoing

Terry’s been working on fixing a problem under the kitchen sink. It’s a mess in there! It’s been three days now since he turned off the water to the sink, so I’m getting water from the tap in the bathroom.

It’s more complicated than this because we have a double sink, and the dishwasher also drain into the sink plumbing. It’s been a lot of work, some of which was not familiar to him. 

He asked me to help him with one bit of the repair. I tried, but simply was not strong enough to do what was needed. Our son came over to help, and by that time Terry had engineered a homemade tool that enabled the two of them to get the job done. I think he had great fun creating that tool! He used items from his vast supply of “might come in handy some day,” and of course he had to make sure I knew that 🙂

Things are coming along. It looks to me as if most the the pipes are back in place, although he hasn’t turned the water back on yet. Situations like this make me stop to consider how blessed we are by having hot and cold running water at the flick of a faucet handle. It’s a luxury, but we consider it a necessity because we’re so used to it.

We’d be in a terrible situation if, as some people believe will happen, an EMP were to be used against us to cut off our water and electricity supply. EMP–electromagnetic pulse–is a weapon that could be used to take America or any other country to its knees. I don’t understand how it works, but I’ve read enough about it to know it’s not a sci-fi weapon of the future.

I truly don’t know what I’d be thinking or feeling about such things if I didn’t know the Lord! God has it all under His control. What He chooses to allow will happen or not, according to His purpose. It’s all in His hands, and I trust in Him.

Psalm 23 comes to mind: ”Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me!”