What is man?

“When I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which You have set in place,
what is man that You are mindful of him,
and the son of man that You care for him?” Psalm 8:3,4

Have you this week considered whose words we are reading? Have you spent time to contemplate the gravity of our situation? We do not merely read the words of an eloquent grandfather, but the words of the Lord of all the earth, the King of eternity who dwells in unapproachable light! That is the one with whom we have to do.

This verse from the psalms is the one that most affected me this week. Considering that the Lord thinks of us and cares for us. That is incredible. HE was not ashamed to bear my blame before the world and go naked and slashed and torn apart to a cross to die for me and for you. For our sin, the unkillable became killable, the unchangeable took on human nature, the infinite dwelt in finitude. And yet, how proud are we to wear the name of Jesus before our fellows? He is glad to have us (once again I must admit that my mind is not strong enough or big enough to understand); are we glad to have Him? Not just will we speak of Him if asked, but do we display our pride in knowing Him? The knowledge of Him is presented in the Bible as being the most valuable thing and the one thing that we can boast of. How can we not be glad possessing this? We have a need to be reminded of His greatness and the distance He comes down to know us. Prayer is an excellent place for us to bring this truth into our lives. To that end, John Bunyan’s dying words have been of much use to me. Enjoy them and be encouraged and sobered. Peace be to you.

OF PRAYER.

· Before you enter into prayer, ask thy soul these questions--1. To what end, O my soul, art thou retired into this place? Art thou not come to discourse the Lord in prayer? Is he present; will he hear thee? Is he merciful; will he help thee? Is thy business slight; is it not concerning the welfare of thy soul? What words wilt thou use to move him to compassion?

· To make thy preparation complete, consider that thou art but dust and ashes, and he the great God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that clothes himself with light as with a garment; that thou art a vile sinner, he a holy God; that thou art but a poor crawling worm, he the omnipotent Creator.

· In all your prayers forget not to thank the Lord for his mercies.

· When thou prayest, rather let thy heart be without words, than thy words without a heart.

· Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.

· The spirit of prayer is more precious than treasures of gold and silver.Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God. and a scourge for Satan.

Leah Sees God Through the Rejection of a Man

January 15, 2006

Again this week the Scripture was full to bursting. I hope your experience has been the same. As we are in the story of Joseph at present, can I draw your attention back to someone who might easily be overlooked? To Leah, the firstborn daughter of Laban, Rebekah’s brother. Of her it is said that “her eyes were weak.” I don’t really know what this means exactly, but the sentence goes on to contrast it to Rachel’s beauty in form and appearance. So it must mean that Leah was not the prettiest girl, but rather a homely one. So we begin with her lot in life not being the best of all. About seven years after we meet her she is forced to be married to a man who does not want her. How it must have hurt this young lady when she heard her husband exclaim to her father, “What is this you have done to me?” To be reminded so rudely of the fact that her husband (the one of whom it should have been accurate to say that they were “one flesh”) has no tender affection for her. She is, though married, for all emotional intents and purposes, alone. Her husband strives each day for the next seven years to procure another woman. Does seven years of hard work say loud enough that you are not wanted? Surely, any of you who are wives can imagine the sting she must have felt (the rest of us will just have to try).

Then the time comes when her younger sister, the beautiful Rachel, becomes a bride of Jacob. Rather, the bride of Jacob. He sees Rachel as his bride and focus; Leah is just there. He spent fourteen years for Rachel; Leah was an unfortunate addition in that process and certainly not one of the goals of his labor and desire. Leah is a wife; Rachel is the wife and the delight of his eyes.

The names of Leah’s children give us an intimate look into the thoughts and dreams of Leah. Her firstborn is Rueben, whose name means “See, a son,” as if to grab the attention of her husband. To say to him, “look at me, I have value because I can give you children. Love me please.” But it does not happen. We know from Joseph’s colorful coat that Jacob’s heart remains with Rachel all his days. Her second child Simeon’s name in Hebrew sounds like the word for heard, as in that “the LORD has heard that I am hated,” so He has given her another son as yet another attempt to win some part of Jacob’s heart. Her third is anther plea, Levi sounding like the word for attached. Notice the wording though. Attached is much weaker of a word than love. She is growing used to being unloved. But her fourth son tells us that she is not just growing used to being unloved by her husband, but she is growing into finding God as the One who will hear her and be her satisfaction. Judah’s name sounds like the Hebrew word for praise, and thus she said, “This time I will praise the Lord.”

A real story of real people and the perplexities of life. The Bible does not try to conceal the foolishnesses of its heroes. Here one of the men who are the foundation of the nation of Israel is bludgeoned with an accurate depiction of his lovelessness. His love life is recorded—not something I want done to me. How woeful it is to have your sins recorded. Not something you want to write on a banner of the Israel Forever convention. But in Jacob’s ignoring of Leah, God works on her heart (by the way, Jacob’s name means supplanter/cheater and we saw that he earns it, he is not being wrongfully repaid—at least not by God).

She begins her married life as many do, her focus for her happiness is set on her husband. If he will love her, then she can be happy. But this dream she has had since she was little proves not to ever be fulfilled. She must look elsewhere for fulfillment. And in the kindness of God, she finds it in Him who cannot be unfaithful. One whose love is never wanting nor waning. And she praises Him. Truly the old Puritan had it right when he wrote: “Lawful blessings are the secret idols, and do most hurt; the greatest injury is in the having, and the greatest good in the taking away.”* Foolish of us isn’t it? That we love the world so much that we need our Father to take away the things we love so we might love the right Things?

One word of application and I will be done, I know I have been long-winded. Have you felt what the Psalmist says “before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word”?** Have you accepted the trials in your life as opportunities to love God more and the world less? Can you say in your place in life that through pain and suffering—emotional or physical—that you have seen God? I pray you all have. Thank you for joining me in reading our Bibles and getting to know God. It is my privilege. May He continue to show His mercy toward us.

*from The Valley of Vision page 20 (author not specified)
**Psalm 119:67

Men Who Call on the Name of the Lord

January 8, 2006

How can you pick one thing to encourage people about when you have read 24 chapters in one week? It is hard; there is so much. But my eyes were set upon one phrase in Genesis 4:26 "At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord." This is particularly good because we are reading through the words of God. Though that does not mean that we are necessarily calling upon the name of the Lord, it is a good step. To call on Him would be to be seeking an answer, a response from the most High. Why would these men do this except that they were looking for something more than just this life? All the rest are drinking and eating and marrying and being given in marriage, but these men found time for something else. We ought not to think that they were less busy than other men, for those other men also would later build high temples and the tower of Babel even (and certainly drunkards if drink is available will avail themselves to it and stay busy). No, these men were as busy as other men, just as we. And from the sound of the verse, it was a task that was not a one day thing, but a beginning of a large task, one that would take the focus of their lives for the rest of their lives.

A passionate pursuit of God. To call upon Him, to wait for His response and to build a relationship with Him. That was an activity worth doing! And it is so today. God is the One who saw the first ray of light, the first wave, the first star twinkle. He saw the first blossom of the first flower and the first sunrise and first sunset. He is the One who wrote Life and a book for us to understand what life is for. Why should you or I be allowed to know Him?

As we have read through Genesis to chapter 20, have we noticed the things that God did to make Himself known? He flooded the whole earth and gave warning with a boat that took Noah one hundred years to build (end of chp 5 he is 500, vs 6 of chp 7 he is 600). If one hundred years of warning is not enough, what do we expect? We have read of Sodom and Gomorrah, when the town was so wicked that all the men of Sodom came to rape two angels in human form who just entered into the town. But sadly they do not repent or call upon the name of the Lord and are consumed in fire and brimstone (notice we don't really know where Sodom and Gomorrah are to this day). But I am sure they had known of the flood and knew why. Romans 1 tells us that men are not ignorant of God, but rather hate Him. That is also what Psalm 2 said, the kings of the earth want nothing to do with the Ownership of God. And in the climax of history, Purity and Virtue and Majesty came down in the flesh of men. And what did the men of this earth do to the Messiah? Murdered Him. We, as a human race--as sinners, murdered the Holy One.

Yet, despite that this is natural heart of men, there is a supernatural heart that is given to men. God calls men and they seek after Him. John 6:37 says that "All that the Father gives me will come to me". Let us be thankful that the Father has given men of old to Jesus, men who are obedient to Acts 2:21 "everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." They set for us an excellent example and God preserved a record so we could be encouraged. Faith in the one true God is not a new faith; it is the oldest. And if you or I call upon the name of the Lord, let us give thanks to God -for He alone changes hearts and causes men from old and new to call upon Him. How great is the God of Noah, Enoch ("walked with God and was not for God took him" Gen. 5:24), Seth, and Abel!

calling and waiting with you.

We Read by Grace

January 1, here we go...

You may think it is strange to be reading Psalm 1 today. Yet it does have a purpose. Short and chewable, solid and concise. In Titus we learn that it is the Grace of God that teaches us, and so it is that we must be motivated, not by guilt, but by grace. Guilt motivates us to a performance-oriented "Christianity" which is no Christianity at all. Paul calls the Galatians foolish for thinking that they were saved by grace and yet perfected by their works. So, Psalm 1 is to motivate us to live by grace. We come to a great task, to read the whole of God's book to His children. If you have read through the previous emails you will notice the emphasis that God puts on knowing Him and having a real and intimate relationship with Him. And this is heftily accomplished by reading His words. It is a book about Him. Prayer also will be needed to change head-knowledge to heart and life-knowledge. God alone does the work of the heart. We can fill our heads, He must change our hearts to love Him more and our brothers and sisters more.

But know this, the Bible has been left here so that we can know God. This is a high priority to God. So we must realize that it is a high priority to the devil to keep us from it. We will find throughout this year that many things will come up, many time-lobbyists and good activities. But let us not forsake the best for a lesser good. We were made to know Him. Press hard into grace, chew over the words that you read. As the psalmist says, let us meditate on it.

Lastly, the grace part. A more literal translation of the first part of Psalm 1:1 would be "O the blessednesses of the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked." This would describe what we are attempting to attain, to not walk by the words of the this world, but by the words of our all-knowing God! Count the blessednesses! He is not stingy with His children. He gives lavishly and with indescribable generosity. Does He not command all of heaven? Notice then that Ephesians 1 says that the children who are in Christ have received every blessing in the spiritual places! Look under every carpet, every chair, every bookcase, and you will find that those blessings are yours if you come to God through the Son. But the first psalm is talking about counsel. That is why we remember His omniscience, His all-knowingness. He designed us and ordered all our parts to work in fixed ways. He is the architect of humanity, would He not know how to direct it for the best? Darn straight! And He offers us His word. Let us read it and value it, for it holds the words that bring life and light to dark souls!

Praying that you will run well.

When Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, he said to them, "Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command your sons to observe carefully,even all the words of this law. "For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life. And by this word you will prolong your days in the land, which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess." Deuteronomy 32:45-47

Pressing To Know Him

This is a bit strange isn't it? Some of you have never received an email from me before. I will be to the point. This coming year some of us are planning to read through the whole Bible. In one year, that's right. That requires around 3 to 4 chapters per day. Some of you have read your Bibles through many times, others have never read it all the way through. Some of us, like me, are in the middle. In my experience nothing has fed my spirit more or more truly than reading through my Bible coupled with prayer. And that is the testimony of others as well. So I am welcoming you to join us (yes, a few have already said they would). It is not something that is for a particular local church; it is for personal growth and growth among us. Accountability will be greater if we do it together. And spiritual conversations will arise because we are reading common things in the Word of God. But I will give you an even greater reason, the best of reasons.

It is the knowledge of God. To know Him is what eternal life is all about. It is what we were made for!

"And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." John 17:3

Jeremiah 9:23-24 Thus says the Lord: "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord."

What have we to be most grateful for and encouraged to tell other people about?! It is that we, who were once not a people, have become the people of the Living God! Lovers of sin as we all were and desparately guilty, the Bible says this: Proverbs 17:15 "He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, are both alike an abomination to the Lord." Yet He has justified us. How can a holy God justify wicked men? That would be an abomination to Him. What does the God in Isaiah 6 have in common with sinners in Romans 3?

Yet it is true that: "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins" (Romans 3:23-25). He was vindicated in doing the abominable thing of justifying us, only by the sacrifice of His own Son! That is a God that I want to know! And what better, or rather what other, way to get to know God than the book that He wrote about Himself? He did give it to us for a reason, yes? Let us take advantage of it. I hope you all will.

your servant for Jesus sake,

Charlie Jackson

"Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord;
his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us as the showers,
as the spring rains that water the earth."
Hosea 6:3