“My Word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it.” Isaiah 55:11
For
28 years I had the honor of selling signs to churches all over America. When
LED signs became affordable, I was even more excited, because those signs had
the ability to provide more than 1 or 2 Bible messages to a community. My
greatest joy was teaching Pastors how to “PUT THE WORD OF GOD ON IT!” Well…
that was the idea anyway!
Being
a preacher’s kid afforded many opportunities to see for myself the Truth of
today’s verse. Simply reading and allowing it to work is the greatest power
available to mankind! So I hammered that ministry potential home to interested
Church representatives, and many got excited and bought one. But even after
providing them with thousands of free messages to use, after a short time, most
would revert to something like… “Worship 11:00am.”
My
dad founded the church I now pastor and bought one of our manual changeable
signs… which meant work, because I insisted he put up 2 different messages a
week. When he passed away, I got his job! Changing the sign manually took about
45 minutes. Finally, we were able to purchase an LED sign of our own. Now each
week, making up new messages takes me at least an hour!
Technology
doesn’t always make things easier, since adding pictures and color takes time.
But the effect is powerful! I love watching the Word develop, and then finally
see it on the sign. Last week, my newer computer wouldn’t send the messages to
the sign! Calling my friend, we discovered there is a reason the sign won’t
work! We have a connection problem! But we’re working on it!
If
you look up ‘church signs’ in your browser, you will see God’s disappointment
in real time. Due to work or inconvenience, VERY few church signs proclaim
God’s Word. Most tell of upcoming events that require one COME IN to receive.
But the Word of God has NO such requirement! To receive God’s blessing, one
simply needs to READ IT to be connected to The Master of the Universe!
Are
YOU reading and connecting with His Word daily? If not.. are you working
on it?
The LGBT+ movement has been added to the Roe v Wade Supreme Court battle looming upon the horizon. ALL which brings war against Children! These concepts and implementations have been invented and developed by adults… and are waged by adults… against Children. Children lacking the ability to even conceive of these ideas! Will YOU mourn and fight and wail and find God’s will for your part to stand up for His Children? Reading Jerimiah, Lamentations and Ezekial, the Israelites failed to stand up for theirs… and God brought judgement. How easy it would be for me to ignore what God has laid upon my heart to find ‘Happy Thoughts’ of joy and encouragement. How easy for you to not have to think about it and simply move on? I truly believe the ‘Time for Weeping’ is upon Christ’s Church. Will she weep, mourn, seek, stand up and fight for God’s plans for His Families and Children?
Her time
had come, unexpectedly. The morning through the lattice shone with a bright and
soft melancholy. In her arms, her second son. The fruit of the night’s long and
anguished labor. Gentle tears fall; the child has her eyes.
A former life pressed in upon her.
Leah, her sister, Leah. The feud between them over Jacob — for his love and for
his offspring — had availed neither. So much of her married life, she now realized,
glowed with envy — she wanted more than Jacob’s heart and eye. She wanted his
heirs (Genesis 30:1). She remembered her desperate cry to her
husband, a lifetime ago now, “Give me children, or I shall die!”
Even at the birth of her first son, Rachel already began to look
for another: “And she called his name Joseph [literally, “May he add”], saying
‘May the Lord add to me another son!’” And now, she held him — for the first
and last time. The midwife aimed to comfort her with the fulfillment, “Do not
fear, for you have another son” — consolation to a dying mother.
How many such golden mornings would
this son grow to know without her? How many grandchildren would her wilting
arms never hold? As her soul made ready for its unwilling exodus, tears
showered the plant just sprouted. She sighs a name, “Ben-oni, son of my
sorrow.”
Jacob sat beside his great love,
grief gripping him by the throat, yet managing to say, “He shall be called,
‘Benjamin, son of my right hand.’” Son of my right hand,
as though to say, “As you depart, my Rachel, my dove, this son — this life you
brought forth from death — shall be in favor at my side. He shall be closer to
me than a shadow; as close as your memory. This, the last token between us on
earth, I will cherish.”
And with that, Rachel departed from the world and was buried on the way to Bethlehem.
A Ghost, Crying
It moves the soul to imagine a mother saying hello and goodbye
to her child in the same moment. We can see her with our imagination, gazing
around longingly at loved ones, her eyes resting upon her son with a look to
bring water from the hardest heart. Ben-oni, Ben-oni.
And it moves us to hear the other two mentions of this mother’s
tears in Scripture. As the blood of Abel continues to speak, Rachel too
continues to cry.
In the first incident, Israel has fallen bloodily to Babylon.
Amid the stunning note of hope given in Jeremiah 31, we hear her:
Thus says the Lord,
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is weeping for her children;
she refuses to be comforted for her children,
because they are no more.” (Jeremiah 31:15)
Near the place of Rachel’s tomb, her voice cries out at the
devastation of Benjamin and the other Israelite tribes. The Lord speaks
poetically, resurrecting Rachel, as it were, to picture her as an Israelite
mother weeping without remedy for her slain and exiled children.
In response, Yahweh comforts her, “There is hope for your future, and your children shall come back to their own country.” He will relent of his judgment, and depicts himself as a Father to Israel, saying, “Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? . . . I will surely have mercy on him” (Jeremiah 31:16–20). In other words, he shall be called “Benjamin” — a son at my right hand.
She Refuses to Be Comforted
Hundreds
of years later, her consolation is again disturbed.
Herod has done the unthinkable.
Furious at the wise men for not divulging the location of baby Jesus, “he sent
and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were
two years old or under” (Matthew 2:16). The dragon devoured many to ravage the
one.
Matthew writes of the infanticide,
Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah,
As the brutes went door to door, Rachel again raised her anguished cry. These tears did not signal exile, but extermination. She does not die with her healthy child in her arms — bequeathing her son with a hope and a future — she watches, as baby boy after baby boy is ripped from his mother’s arms and done away with. She weeps, and refuses to be comforted, because they are no more. weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.” (Matthew 2:17–18)
Do We Weep with Her?
Because they are no more.
There is a discomforting calm in
these words: The deed is done; the violence spent. The water is again calm over
the sunken ship. The dreadful stillness; an unholy hush. Little giggles, gone.
Creaking floors cease playing the music of pattering footsteps. They are no more.
“Because they are no more.”
What a
word to echo through the empty corridors of the world today — and in the United
States alone, a child misplaced every minute. Though not ancient Israel, I hear
Rachel, from a forgotten corner of the world, weeping. If a pitiless society
will not mourn for the missing, she will. If we live too busy to mind the
brutality, she isn’t.
Day after day, she mourns as a mother bereft of more children.
As one after another is stolen from behind fortress walls, she begets tears
without number. Final punctuations fall; biographies end. Nothing left to read,
nothing more to say. Towns and cities and even nations full of people — gone —
“Ben-oni.”
She looks out from the lattice, daylight rests upon her with a bright and terrible melancholy. How many have never lived to see this dawn? Will we not weep with her — because they are no more?
Greg Morse is a staff writer for desiringGod.org and graduate of Bethlehem College & Seminary. He and his wife, Abigail, live in St. Paul with their son and daughter.
“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” 2 Peter 1:2
LOOK!!!!!
THERE IT IS! I SEE IT! Katie was so excited that I had to be happy for her. She
has had a love of space and rocket ships for years. It was Space Station
season, and for the last 3 nights I had to pause the TV show so she could ‘go
see it!’ Maybe! I say maybe because there were lots of factors involved, some of
which she had no control.
We
have seen the space station many times over the years. The most impressive was
a couple years ago at the top of a mountain in the clear night sky, With no
light pollution, and with cell phone in hand, we knew precisely where and when it was
going to appear, as well as the angle of flight. Her enthusiasm exited me as
well, and I will never forget it. But last night… eh!
There
is an App on her phone that allows her to look up into the skies and see what
is what. It provides every bit of information necessary to see the space
station pass by in the night. But it can’t do anything about obstacles… like trees,
buildings or clouds. All of which can block the sighting. But even if it can’t
be seen, she KNOWS that it is there.
Staring
into the night sky, not seeing a dog-gone thing, I was happy for her joy and
excitement. But had to admit… I was bored out of my mind! I just didn’t share
her enthusiasm. Unfortunately I DID share THAT information with her. And it
made her sad.
Have
you ever cared about something SO much that you wanted to share it with the
world? Only to find out that the attitude of many is… eh? And when you try to
explain, give details and point it out for a better view, it was dismissed with
a yawn for lack of interest? Yea… I have too. But then, So has God!
The
Knowledge of Jesus Christ, and the pursuit of Him, brings me Grace and Peace…
AND JOY! Pursuing Him through the Word is often the greatest treasure I can
find. But then, there are times when the clouds of life, or other obstacles,
seem to get in the way and I miss it entirely. I KNOW He’s there. But I just
can’t see Him. And it makes me sad. But according to The Word… He is set to
show up again… SOON… If I just keep my eyes open and on His Word!
“A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” Proverbs 11:25
It’s
GONE! After wrestling with what to do with it for months, I finally decided to
just set my old Campbell Hausfeld Compressor out by the road and let it go! It
didn’t last out there overnight before someone came along and took it away. May
God richly bless them. But I feel conflicted!
I
bought the thing from a neighbor over 40 years ago for $35. All it needed was a
new motor… and I knew where I could get a good one. After hooking it up, and
turning it on, it became almost priceless to me in the lessons it provided. How
was I to know It would be so hard to get rid of?
To
start off with, we didn’t have much money at the time. I was working in a
factory that made air conditioners and furnaces. Daddy in law was the assistant
plant manager and gave me a job. All units needed a motor to run, and there
were pallets full of them. So I did what many employees did and took one home
for my compressor!
The
compressor sat in a wood-shop where I earned money for my family by building
things. When daddy in law gave us a junk car, I used the compressor, along with
learned knowledge from a friend, to paint the car to sell to move to Florida.
Then it went into my garage for keeping tires filled, nail guns running and
blowing gunk off gunk from whatever! It finally died a few months ago!
All
the compressor needed was a pressure switch. I bought one and tried to adapt
it… but failed. So I bought a new compressor. But the old one had blessed me so
much, I hated to get rid of it. Besides.. the motor alone was worth about $50 used! PRICELESS when I
remember the lessons of hard work.. and theft (to name just 2)! I never looked
at that compressor without feeling guilty for stealing the motor in the first
place! But I never stole anything again!
I
ended up setting it out by the road for free, and prayed that someone would be
blessed by it. The final blessing was to NOT be such a miser! Now that it’s
gone, I’m left with memories and lessons… and someone else just got a
blessing for free! Now… I guess I’m just feeling kind of foolishly generous!
Ain’t life funny like that?
“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive.” (Genesis 50:20)
The story
of Joseph in Genesis 37–50 is a great lesson in why we should have faith
in the sovereign, future grace of God.
Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers, which must have
tested his patience tremendously. But he is given a good job in Potiphar’s
house in Egypt. Then, when he is acting uprightly in the unplanned place of
obedience, Potiphar’s wife lies about his integrity and has him thrown into
prison — another great trial to his patience.
But again things turn for the better, and the prison keeper
gives him responsibility and respect. But just when he thinks he is about to
get a reprieve from Pharaoh’s cupbearer, whose dream he interpreted, the
cupbearer forgets him for two more years. Another painful trial to his
patience.
Finally, the meaning of all these
detours and delays becomes clear. Joseph is raised up to be the leader of
Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. He ends up saving from starvation the very
brothers who sold him into slavery. Joseph says to his long-estranged brothers,
“God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep
alive for you many survivors. . . . As for you, you meant evil against me, but
God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive”
(Genesis 45:7; 50:20).
What would have been the key to patience for Joseph during all
those long years of exile and abuse? The answer is: faith in God’s sovereign,
future grace — the sovereign grace of God to turn the unplanned place and the
unplanned pace into the happiest ending imaginable.
That’s the key to our patience as well. Do we believe that God is working for us in the strangest and most painful turns of our lives?
“He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:2
Homeward bound, it was only 11 am. But I
was hungry. Strangely, the principle hit me that it wasn’t lunch time yet, so I
HAD to wait for another hour. But my stomach rebelled at that thought and
screamed out… WHY?? It had a good point! Then I remembered, in my hunger,
that Burger King OWED me… and BK was on the way home! So I pulled in and went
inside to speak to the manager.
Last week I had a worker here and
stopped off at BK to order some lunch. Getting home, the bag held THEIR lunch…
but not mine! I’d been charged for both, paid for both, but only received 1
burger. Grabbing a slice of cold pizza appeased my hunger, but also reminded me
to remember what I had paid for but didn’t get! Now that it was just a matter
of appeal, I figured it as good a time as any!
Explaining the issue, the manager asked
if I had the receipt, I didn’t… which wouldn’t have mattered anyway! If I was
lying without a receipt, I could just as easily lie WITH one! Pulling out my
business card I said, “I pastor a church and have no reason to lie. But I
understand if you can’t give me the burger I paid for.” As he made the burger I
paid for but didn’t get, I thought about the situation.
An old hymn came to mind, “He paid a debt He did not owe. I owed a
debt I could not pay.” The
price for sin (imperfection) is death. Literally a separation from perfect God…
forever! And because God is just, He HAS to enforce the rules. Breaking or
bending them would only make Him imperfect! The required debt MUST be paid, or
appeased. Which is what ‘propitiation’ means. Appeasement! Which is what the manager
of BK was doing on my behalf!
I thought about how silly this was. It
wasn’t like I couldn’t afford to pay for another burger. But it was the
PRINCIPLE of the thing that had me there. I paid a price for something I didn’t
get. I had a right to at least ask them to give it to me. They had the right to
decline my request. I appreciated the honor of the manager.
Jesus paid the debt I owed to His Father
FOR ME… once and for all! Because He did, my debt was canceled….
finished! With no debt outstanding, have the choice to receive His free
gift… or not! But bacause I ASKED and received His payment
on my behalf, I have also received His promise! Which makes me His
Son… forever! Burger King’s new slogan, though kind of icky to me, does
provide the principle for this message. I can either HAVE it HIS way… or BE my
OWN way! But I can’t have both!
Has YOUR debt to God been appeased? Or
are you still doing things your own way? God is asking!
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse.” Romans 1:20
Though
the Florida sunshine was beaming in all it’s glory, where I headed was not as
bright. Which is exactly WHY I was headed there. The mission, from the Maker of
everything, was very clear and simple… ‘Make the Son-Shine!” He whispered a
plan into my soul and spirit, and it was time to deliver.
When
I got there Ms. Caregiver said that my friend was having a down day. Which is
not unusual! I mean, realistically, when you’re old and under hospice care, how
much can one actually look forward to? But that’s the job! The mission! Which
was why I was there. To point to what is often missed or unnoticed. And make it
shine!
Though she is older than me, we shared a similar experience. As a little boy, my parents were given an old pump player piano with over 100 ‘rolls’ of sing along songs. I remember many nights where family or friends came over and that piano was the entertainment. My friend had shared a similar experience and love of a player piano. So I took a shot into the darkness and started singing a song…
And just like that!!!!
She was smiling and singing along!
But then it was time to do what I was sent to do!!! Make the Son-Shine!
‘That Lucky Ol Sun’ has been sung for decades. But being a
word guy who knows ‘The Word,’ the lyrics aren’t really a good reflection on
God’s Truth. The Bible says that the
Heavens were created to display the handiwork of God, to proving to man that
God is! In other words, the sun has a
JOB after all… to glorify and point out it’s Maker! It isn’t just there rolling around for no
reason. Neither am I!
I pointed out that I am here to do the same thing as the
sun. Except I’m created and called to
shine for the Son… Jesus Christ! It is
His life in me that gives me purpose, life and hope! And that I WILL be in Heaven eventually, but
I won’t be rolling around doin’ nothin!’
I’ll be doing what I’m doing right now!
Son-Shining!
“By them (God’s Words) your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.” Psalm 19:11
Driving
down the road, I was on the phone with one of my favorite Saints, who also
happens to be my mechanic. “Hey Frankie… this light just started flashing at
me. What’s it mean cuz… I’m running out of electrical tape to block out all
the warning lights!” (laugh laugh.. funny funny). Until he explained that I
might just die a horrible death!
My
truck and I are getting old. We’ve been together for 20 years and I love her
dearly. But as she ages, indicator lights become commonplace. Sensors designed
to warn of maintenance issues get old and THEY need to be replaced. Apparently
THIS one isn’t content to simply warn. Frankie said it actually DE-activates
the Air-Bag control. Suddenly a very bad picture popped into my head!
The
average time for an airbag to deploy in an auto accident is 55 milliseconds.
That’s about as fast as the blink of an eye! If that sensor is blinking, the
airbag is likely deactivated. If I hit something at a high speed, a windshield
exit is highly possible! Within a blink of an eye, I asked Frankie to order me
a new sensor! MOTIVATION BABY!
I
think life can be compared to a car. There’s a steering wheel, a dashboard that
provides information as to life’s condition, and a windshield to see where I’m
going. All along life’s way, information is in the process of being processed.
Engine status, location, directions, warnings and even music and cell phone
chiming get added into the mix. Decisions are made in milliseconds. Danger is
EVERYWHERE!
When
I think about it, the whole system is CRAZY! Anyone who is over 16, and can
pass a minimal test, is given access and control to a 2 ton vehicle! “Follow
the lines, rules, signs and lights” is pretty much the limitation of my
freedom! Which means I can go WHERE I WANT! But the Jesus Controlled life is
FILLED with warning sensors and has HIM in the driver’s seat with ME buckled
up!
Knowing
where I am going when I die is very comforting. But Jesus CONTINUALLY watches,
monitors and warns me about the direction my life is going NOW. Far too often I
find myself in the driver’s seat with Jesus tied up in the backseat! He’s there
because I PUT HIM THERE! Thankfully He loves me so much.. He KEEPS sending out
warnings for me to let HIM drive… to avoid a windshield exit!
“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.” Hebrews 10:35
Riding
4-wheelers with my grandson Cash, his dad and his other grandfather, we came upon
one of the few places that still had standing water… and MUD! Up until then it
had been hot and dry. We were having fun, but the option before us presented a
whole new opportunity. I smiled as I saw Cash begin to creep into the mud-hole
and thought… ‘very interesting!’
Cash
is smart. There are some boys with a God given personality to jump right into a
challenge. Others are more cautious and like to weigh the options before moving
ahead. I remembered my 2 sons when they were younger, and had one of each. As
Cash slowly moved into the mud, testing traction and weighing the odds of
success, I pulled up behind him and encouraged him to ‘go!’
The
words I used to try to give him the WILL to move forward were not commands.
They were words to inspire faith! “You’ve got this! No worries, son! I’ve got
your back! If you get stuck, I’ll help get you out… PROMISE!” He inched
forward, until he got stuck! THEN… I did what I had promised and got behind
him, pushed…and then ‘I’ got stuck!” At that moment… we just laughed!
When
I got off my 4 wheeler, I stepped and sunk into about 18” of mud. This caused
me to fall up to my neck in water and muck. Dad and other grampa, looking on in
their shiny new vehicles, just laughed at us! There’s just something about
sharing a muddy situation that cements people together. As a strap was thrown
to drag us out, I told Cash, “We’re makin’ a memory son!”
This
is a parable for life! Having learned this lesson long ago, I’ve striven to
pass it on to those coming after me. Some get it… some don’t. But the IT never
changes! Jesus taught me LONG ago to keep moving forward WITH HIM, no matter
how muddy the trial, and that He WILL have my back! Not only that, but if I
keep my eyes on the goal, He will build my confidence for the next trial! “PROMISE!”
Are
YOU moving forward in the Confidence of Jesus?
