Don't Miss Him

"Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, that things that make for your peace!  But now they are hidden from your eyes."
Luke 19:41,42

Jesus wept over Jerusalem because the day that Israel had longed for was upon them, and most of them missed it.  How could they have missed it?  The long awaited for Messiah had openly come to Jerusalem, as was prophesied in Zechariah 9:9, and He was not recognized.  The city was packed with pilgrims preparing for Passover, and THE LAMB of God was with them but they ignored Him.  Israel looked for another kind of king, so Jesus was rejected.

I was eating breakfast at a bagel shop, and a man sitting near me began reading headlines from the newspaper to his wife.  After reading about five headlines he set the paper down and said to his wife "what's going on?"  I'm sure most of us have echoed the same sentiment as we have witnessed world events.  The fact is, what's going on is that the world is going through birth pangs in preparation for the second coming of Jesus.  Sadly just as many in Jerusalem were clueless on Palm Sunday, many today are just as blind to God's moving in the world.

There was a small remnant on Palm Sunday who understood that Jesus was the promised Messiah, and they praised Him and blessed Him.  I want to be one of those today, who discerns the times and points to the coming of Jesus Messiah.  Lord open our eyes!

To Die Is Gain

"For I am hard-pressed between the two,
having a desire to depart and be with Christ,
which is far better." Phil. 1:23

Paul knew what he was talking about, for he had already seen that which was 'far better'.  The glory of heaven that he had seen was so far beyond his comprehension that he didn't even have the words to explain it.  In this verse, his only description of heaven still fills us with longing and wonder, for he says it is "far better".

To depart describes a ship being loosed from its anchor to set sail.  What a marvelous picture we are given of leaving this world. In these bodies we are anchored to earth, but one glorious day, we will be loosed from these anchors, and be set free to join our Lord!   To die is gain.
 

Do It Again

"When all that generation had been gathered to their Fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord, nor the work which He had done for Israel."
Judges 2:10

I had read an account of a pastor who was visiting a church in Scotland.  It was the church of William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army.  Booth had begun a dynamic work of God that had reached the poor of Scotland, England and eventually spread worldwide.

The pastor entered the church and was moved by a young man standing before a portrait of Booth.  The young man was weeping and quietly praying.  This pastor edged nearer to hear the prayer and he was taken as he heard the man just repeat over and again, 'do it again, Lord'.

Our faith cannot be based on what God accomplished through our parents or grandparents. Our faith cannot rest in what God has done in previous generations. We need God's hand to be mighty among us today.  Our faith needs to be alive and vibrant...energized by what God is doing today.

The world needs the church to be alive.  This generation needs to taste His mighty work today.  May we all pray as one...'do it again  Lord'!

Head Scratcher

"And she said, 'The Philistines are upon you, Samson!'  So he awoke from his sleep, and said, 'I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!'  But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him."  Judges 16:20

Back in my high school football playing days, I had a coach who would always use little sayings to get his point across.  He seemed to understand the point he was making but half the time I had no clue what he meant.  After a play he might grab me and say, 'good job, that'll work coming or going.'  I would look at him as if I understood, but to this day I don't know what he meant.

There was one saying he had whenever someone made a mental mistake, and we all understood exactly what he meant, he would say, 'now that was a head scratcher!'  I bring up this little high school football memory because when I study the life of Samson I find myself saying quite often 'now that was a head scratcher!'

Samson had come to the sorry spiritual state of not being able to recognize that the Spirit had departed from him.  He thought he would be just as strong as he had always been, not discerning that he was now moving out in his own strength.  Samson had accomplished many mighty feats by the Lord's hand, he had known the power of the Spirit upon him, but had now digressed to the place of walking in his own strength thinking it was the Lord's strength.... 'now that's a head scratcher!'

Samson's blunder ought to serve as a wake up call for all of us.  We can never be complacent or lazy in our dependence on the Lord.  "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.' (Ephesians 6:10)