Fruit Loops on the Floor

Recently, one of my children decided to help my wife and I prepare breakfast without our knowledge. He took the cereal box out of the pantry and removed the milk from the refrigerator. But instead of emptying the contents into his bowl, they ended up on the floor in a soggy, sticky pile. 

Often, instead of trusting patiently in the LORD, we try to help Him out by doing things our way. Instead of helping, we mess things up because of our lack of wisdom concerning what we really need. God doesn't need our help! He is never later or early, and never wrong. May we learn to trust in His perfect timing and plan so that our fruit-loop actions don't end up on the floors of our lives in a big, sticky mess.

¹ I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me and heard my cry. ² He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. ³⁴ How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood. ⁵And Your thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You. If I would declare and speak of them, They would be too numerous to count. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear And will trust in the LORD. Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders which You have done, (Psalm 40:1-5)

A Short Commentary on Psalm 134: Greetings of Night Watchers

• There were people who served in the Temple day and night.This psalm is addressed to the ones who served in the Temple at night (v. 1). Now these are the singers, heads of fathers' households of the Levites, who lived in the chambers of the temple free from other service; for they were engaged in their work day and night (1 Chron. 9:33).

• The servants should praise the LORD in His sanctuary (v. 2). 1 Timothy 2:8 may be a reference to this verse: Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension.

• Verse 3 ends with a blessing for the servants: May the LORD bless you from Zion, He who made heaven and earth.

Incredible Hulk #458

In the Fall of 1997, I was certain that God's plan for my life was to marry my girlfriend Glenda. Because I was an avid comic book reader at the time, I got the bright idea of proposing to her in a comic book, and it worked! In the letters page of Incredible Hulk #458, you will find my marriage proposal to her. I am still overjoyed that she said yes 13 years later!

I was so excited that my letter was published that I showed everyone and their grandmother multiple times. Then it hit me . . . why wasn't this excited about sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others? Eternal life means deliverance from an eternity in the Hell that we deserve, so it is something to get excited about!

May we be more eager and excited about sharing Christ's incomparable Gospel with others!

Jim Cymbala

Today in a special chapel service at Mid-America, we had the privilege to hear Jim Cymbala preach. He is the pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle and has been an encouragement to numerous believers. 


One of the points in his message is that pastors should not only preach the Word and be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, but honestly, genuinely love the people. Love for the brethren is an essential part of any ministry, and people know if love is being faked. May we learn to truly love others with the love of Christ so that we may make a different for His glory and for His kingdom! 

⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸ The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. (1 John 4:7-8)

Lino

On Sunday at Nueva Vida (the Hispanic church where I pastor), one of the passages that we examined contains Jesus' words: And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me (Luke 9:23).

After the service, a relatively new attender named Lino shared with me that some years ago he had become a believer in Jesus. Lino had rejected his sins, received forgiveness, believed that Jesus died and rose again, and had trust in Him as the Boss of His life (Rom. 10:9). 

"But there is something that I have never done," said Lino. "I know that baptism does not save a person, but in Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus commanded believers to receive baptism  as a testimony to the world that we truly are believers. Jesus said, 'Follow Me,' and I want to follow His command to be baptized!"

Simply put, to follow Jesus means: 1) complete obedience and 2) immediate obedience. Anything other than immediate obedience is disobedience.

Perhaps you are like Lino - - you know the truth of Christ, but you have not yet acted upon it. What are you waiting for? Like Lino, say yes to Him today!

Car Inspection :(

Today was the dreaded day that I loathe more than almost any other in the year: car inspection day. When the letter comes in the mail instructing me that my renewal sticker must be purchased soon, I lay it on the kitchen counter and intend to have the vehicle examined the following day. When the following day arrives, I put the task off until tomorrow . . . and then the next tomorrow. I follow this pattern until I absolutely can wait no longer. 

Today's car inspection line was moderately long, and I was relieved when it finally was my turn. After several minutes of turning on the windshield wipers, pushing down on the emergency brake, and flipping on both turn signals, the inspector examined the computer system and the output of the exhaust. My relief when the test was over was short-lived because my vehicle failed - - the left brake light was not functioning! I grumbled all the way home, replaced the small bulb, and returned to the inspection place to receive my "pass" paper only to wait in a longer line. The whole ordeal took all of two hours. Although I loathe the car inspection process, I understand it's necessity. Vehicles that are not functioning properly could cause accidents that may injure or kill someone.

As believers, we must inspect our lives much more regularly than once a year. We must determine whether or not we are bearing spiritual fruit not because works save us, but because godly spiritual fruit is an evidence that we truly are believers and that we are walking closely with the Lord.

Some things to search for are: a true love for God, a love for others, a healthy prayer life, an eagerness to gather together with fellow believers in church services, and obedience to the Lord's commands in Scripture. This list contains only a few things that we should examine, but it is a good place to start. Is it time for a spiritual inspection? If so, don't put it off - - today is the day!

⁴³ For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. ⁴⁴ For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. ⁴⁵ The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart. (Luke 6:43-45)

Suffering

Yesterday in chapel at Mid-America, Adam Dooley preached. He is the pastor at Dauphin Way Baptist Church in Mobile, Alabama. For the foreseeable future, he will be living in Memphis because his son Carson is a patient at St. Jude. Caron has leukemia.

Adam preached a sermon entitled "The Uninvited Guest of Suffering" and explained how although unpleasant, God can use the suffering in our lives to bring Him glory and help us to become more like Him. Below are some of the major points of the sermon:

1. Suffering for Christ is a Privilege (Philippians 1:29)

2. Suffering Can Help Us to Know Christ Better (Phil. 3:10)

3. Knowing Christ is the Reward of Our Suffering (Phil. 3:11)

4. Sometimes God Brings Things into Our Lives That are the Opposite of What We Want to Help us to Let Go of Things that Hinder Us from Serving Him (Phil. 3:13)

5. Suffering Brings about Unexpected Partnerships (Phil. 1:3-4)

6. God's Strength is Perfected in Our Weakness (Phil. 1:12)

7. Suffering Causes Us to Put Our Priorities in Perspective (Phil. 1:12)

8. Suffering in a Godly Manner Causes Others to Learn to Imitate Us (Phil. 3:17)

9. Suffering for Christ Can Bring Unexplainable Peace (Phil. 4:6-7)

Thank you, Adam, for teaching us about this important subject that you presently are living!

Birthday

Once again my birthday has rolled around. I remember when it was an exciting thing to add another year to my age. Now it seems that the birthdays come quicker every year, and a few wrinkles have begun to appear as my hairline continues to move farther and farther away from my forehead.

Actually, I celebrate two birthdays each year. When I was 12 years old, I realized for the first time that I was a sinner who never could do enough good things to wipe away my guilt or please God. Even though I deserve His wrath, God the Father sent His perfect Son Jesus to be our sacrifice. Jesus lived a perfect life and died on a cross to forgive our sins. On the third day, He arose again! The moment that I trusted in Jesus marks my spiritual birthday because He gave me eternal life.

True peace and forgiveness is as simple as ABC:

A: Admit that you are a sinner and ask Jesus for forgiveness
B: Believe that Jesus died and rose again on the third day
C: Confess Jesus as your Lord (Master/Boss)

If you've never trusted in Jesus, you can do so right now. If you have questions about how to become an authentic follower of Jesus, posts your questions or thoughts on the comments section of this post.

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) 

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (Romans 6:23)  

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

 

The Servant/Arm of the LORD in Isaiah 53:1

           In order to capture the full significance of Isaiah 53:1, one must remember the message of Isaiah 49-52: “God has promised to deliver his people from their alienation from him so that they can indeed become his servants to the world. Now [in Isaiah 52:13-3:12] he tells the means by which he proposes to effect that deliverance.”[1]

           In Isaiah 52:13 God claims the Servant as His own, introducing a section that describes aspects of both the Servant’s ministry as well as the response of those who witness His work. The pronouns “He,” “His,” and “Him” appear regularly through 52:13-15,[2] directing the reader back to their antecedent, the Servant. The prophet declares in verse 15 that a mystery will be revealed to the nations. This theme appeared earlier in Isaiah in passages such as 49:2 and 50:6, in which “images of the servant are linked with the themes of hiddenness and seeing.”[3] The verse explains that the Arm of the LORD is the revelation to be disclosed. No masculine pronouns appear in 53:1 because the Arm of the LORD is substituted for Him,[4] but thereafter the pronouns occur with great frequency once more (vv. 2-12). This indicates afresh that the Arm of the LORD is God’s Servant, and His mission is the soteric redemption of Jew and Gentile alike.

            The Isaiah 53:1 attestation of the Arm of the LORD, because of its position in the fourth Servant Song of Isaiah, is one of the most important texts of the Arm motif. The verse is rhetorical in nature, marking the twenty-sixth passage in which Isaiah made use of rhetorical questions.[5] Interestingly enough, the questions begin directly after the usage of Arm of the LORD in Isaiah 40:11 and terminate with the employment of Arm of the LORD in 53:1, as if the unveiling of the Servant provides the answer to all inquiries in Isaiah 40-53.

 “The message of Isaiah 52:7-12 is put into effect” in Isaiah 53:1.[6] David J. A. Clines rightly noted that verse 1b, like verse 1a, contains “a rhetorical question expecting a negative answer.”[7] In other words, not only must the Arm of the LORD be revealed, He also would be disclosed in an unexpected way that would startle the observers.

       

     The surprise of the audience stems from two factors. The Israelites, first, were cognizant that the Arm of the LORD was the instrument by which God expressed His militaristic might. The working of God’s Arm against the Egyptians at the Red Sea (Ex. 15:16; Deut. 4:34; 5:15; etc.) had left a lasting impression on the people of God. Second, in chapters previous to Isaiah 51:4-8 the prophet employs the Arm as the Conqueror of the enemies of Israel.[8] To Israel’s astonishment, therefore, the Arm of the LORD “would [not] rend the heathen,”[9] but would seek to redeem them (cf. Isa. 52:10-53:15).

---

[1] Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah: Chapters 40-66, 382.

[2] According to the pericope: 1) “He will be high and lifted up”; 2) “His appearancewas marred more than any man”; 3) “His form [was marred] more than the sons of man”; 4) “He will sprinkle many nations”; and 5) “Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him.” The prophet Isaiah employed multiple masculine pronouns throughout this section so that his audience immediately would realize that he was continuing his discussion regarding the Servant. This deliberate device insured that there would be no question that Isaiah 53 refers to the kingly, yet suffering Messiah whom the LORD promised to send in order to provide atonement for the people’s sin.

[3] Robert P. Carroll, “Blindsight and the Vision Thing,” in Writing and Reading the Scroll of Isaiah: Studies of an Interpretive Tradition, vol. 1, ed. Craig C. Broyles, et al., Supplements to Vetus Testamentum, vol. 70, no. 1, ed. J. A. Emerton, et al. (Leiden: Brill, 1997), 88.

[4] זְרוֹעַ is a feminine noun, but this does not mean that the arm is feminine. In languages such as Hebrew, the gender of the noun is not always a case of masculinity or femininity: “It is important to understand that feminine nouns (grammatical gender) do notrefer only to feminine things (natural gender) or masculine nouns only to masculine things. . . . What the gender of a Hebrew noun indicates is the pattern of inflection it will usually follow.” Gary D. Pratico and Miles V. van Pelt, Basics of Biblical Hebrew Grammar (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), 29. זְרוֹע is a good example of this pattern, for although it is feminine in Hebrew, its Greek equivalent (bracivwn) is masculine. The Bible recognizes both זְרוֹע and bracivwn (cf. John 12:38) as messianic, demonstrating that זְרוֹע possesses a grammatical rather than a natural gender.

[5] Kenneth J. Kuntz, “Rhetorical Questions in Deutero-Isaiah,” in Writing and Reading the Scroll of Isaiah: Studies of an Interpretive Tradition, vol. 1, ed. Craig C. Broyles, et al., Supplements to Vetus Testamentum, vol. 70, no. 1, ed. J. A. Emerton, et al. ( Leiden: Brill, 1997), 126. Kuntz provided a beneficial list of all passage between Isa. 40:12 and 53:1 which employ interrogative texts: Isa. 40:12-14,18,21,25,28; 41:2,4,26; 42:19,24; 43:13; 44:7-8; 45:9,11,21; 46:5; 48:14; 49:15,24; 50:1-2,9; and 53:1.

[6] N. T. Wright, “The Servant and Jesus: The Relevance of the Colloquy for the Current Quest for Jesus,” in Jesus and the Suffering Servant, ed. William H. Bellinger Jr., and William R. Farmer (Harrisburg, PA: Trinity, 1998), 293. “The arm of [the LORD] . . . is revealed according to Isa. 53:1, in and through the work of [His] Servant.”

[7] David J. A. Clines, I, He, We, and They: A Literary Approach to Isaiah 53, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series, vol. 1, ed. David J. A. Clines, et al. (Sheffield: University of Sheffield, 1976), 15.

[8] In Isa. 30:30 the LORD strikes at Assyria with His Arm; the target at which God directs His Arm in Isa. 48:14 is the Chaldeans.

[9] George A. F. Knight, Servant Theology: A Commentary on the Book of Isaiah 40-55, in the International Theological Commentary, ed. George A. F. Knight and Fredrick Carlson Holmgren (Edinburgh: Handsel, 1984), 169.

Notes on Genesis 4:1-26

1) The Birth of Cain and Abel (4:1-2)

2) The Sacrifices of Cain and Abel (4:3-7)

    • Abel: Firstlings of the flock accepted by God

    • Cain: Produce of the ground rejected by God

       ▪ Because it was not an animal sacrifice

       ▪ Because it was the work of Cain's hands

       ▪ Because it was not the best Cain had to offer

3) Cain Murders of Abel (4:8)

    • Motivated by jealousy

4) Cain's Punishment (4:9-16)

    • Cain the cultivator would be cursed from the ground

    • Cain would be a vagrant in the earth

    • Because of his grace, God placed a mark upon him so that 

      no one would kill him.

    • Cain dwelled in Nod ("wandering").

5) Cain's Descendants (4:17-24)

• Enoch: Built city of Enoch, perhaps to neutralize God’s curse

• Lamech: Inauguration of polygamy                       

   ▪ The Song of the Lamech/The Song of the Sword: Lamech’s 

     taunt-song reveals the swift progress of sin. Where Cain had 

     succumbed to it, Lamech exults in it

• Tubal-cain: Industry of forging metal objects implies weaponry

• Summary: One must be careful what he or she does, because a 

  person's descendants will follow his or her path!

6) Seth and Enosh (4:25-26)

    • Seth born to Eve after Abel's death. The righteous lineage of the 

      Messiah passed through him.

    • Enosh, Seth's son, possesses a name that means "mortal." 

      Mankind's mortality was the reason why people began to call on 

      God. By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain 

      . . . (Heb. 11:4a).