Daniel 3:27 So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them. (NIV)

This is from the Book of Daniel.  The three young men of Israel would not bow down to the statue that the king had made.  Because of this, they were thrown into the fiery furnace.  However, the God they served rescued them.

I must say, I have been rescued from the fiery furnace myself.  The unfortunate thing is I seem to so often reek of smoke. What’s the difference?

Shadrach, Meshack, and Abendnego didn’t seem to hang around the fire once they were rescued, and the Bible doesn’t mention them playing with matches.

Ezekiel 37:3 He said, “Ezekiel, son of man, can these bones come back to life?” I replied, “LORD God, only you can answer that.” (CEV)

In a vision, God took the prophet Ezekiel to the Valley of Dry Bones.  There He told Ezekiel to prophesy to the dry bones to come alive.  God tells him that the people are like dead bones.  They are dried up with no hope for the future.

In Proverbs 17:22 it is written that a broken spirit dries the bones.  The Passion Translation reads the ‘dries the bones’ as ‘…heart crushed struggles with sickness and depression.’

It would seem that God says that individuals and the people as a nation can all suffer from such dry bones.  Perhaps institutions, governments, churches, the media, and political parties can be like dry bones, being more about things that hinder life than fostering it.  Without the breath of God, there is only a dried up semblance of life.

God told Ezekiel to tell the people that God will put His spirit in them and bring them out of their graves.  He reinforces what the prophet Jeremiah had said.  God has a plan for His people to prosper, plans for a hope and a future.  God wants to make His people great again.  That is really a matter of the heart and the spirit and not so much the ballot box or venomous rhetoric.

Ezekiel 22:30 I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, so that I would not destroy it; but I found none. (NASB)

Last week I was at Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas.  My son, Ezra, was having surgery.  While he was resting in his room after the surgery, I visited the hospital’s chapel.  At the time, there was some confusion on his prognosis and what to do about it.  I went to the chapel to pray for him in the quiet.

The chapel had a journal where people could write their feelings or prayers up to God.  I took a few moments and read what families had written.  It was heart-rending.  In our troubles we sometimes forget the sufferings of the world around us.

This is not to down play what Ezra is going through.  I don’t think I have it in me to face some of the trials he has faced on his road to complete wellness from what the doctors have labeled ‘muscular dystrophy.”

However, what I read in that journal was almost beyond words.  So many families were facing circumstances that left them near defeat.  They cried out in seemingly almost hopeless situations. Some were down to their last hope and that was in God alone.

I prayed fervently for Ezra that day.  I also wept and prayed for all the children and the families of those children and for all those that toiled in the medical profession battling disease, injury, despair, and hopelessness.

As I left, I knew in my heart that Ezra will eventually have a much improved life from this stay.  I also knew that there is a hope and a future for us all.  There is someone who can build up the wall and stand in the gap for all these who are hurting and down trodden.  That is the Hope of Glory.  That is the Great Physician.  He can do what no one else can.

And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.”  Luke 22:31 (KJV)

And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.”  Luke 22:31 (KJV)

Jesus had just explained to His disciples that the one, who is greater in the Kingdom of God, is the one that serves, just as He had been an example.  He said they had seen Him in all kinds of trials and temptations and how He had responded. Just as God had given Him authority over such things, He had given it to them.

Immediately, He turned to Peter and told him that they would be tested. (Satan is the tempter or tester of the brethren).

When we were in school and sat through a lesson or lecture, we would be tested on what we learned.  More often than not, that’s the case throughout our lives.  Once we have been given a new job, or a promotion, learned something important, or been given a new responsibility, a test comes our way.

That’s how it is in school, work, and life.  What’s more, it’s in the Bible. Now you know. There will be a test. Let’s pass it.

Lamentations 3:22-23
It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. (KJV)

It is a good thing that the mercy and grace of our Lord is without bounds. It is also a good thing that we are made in the image of God. When people extend that mercy and grace to us, a small part of heaven is brought to earth.

Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind. He said that the second greatest is to love our neighbor. He went on to say that all the other commandments are built on those two.

Isaiah said (referring to the Messiah), “He took the punishment we deserved, and this brought us peace.”

I think we can all understand that mercy and grace, whether from on high, or coming from someone in our life, brings us some peace. However, there is another facet to mercy.

There is a rather obscure and somewhat odd movie called, The Peaceful Warrior. In the movie, a character played by Nick Nolte calls himself a peaceful warrior. He is a peaceful warrior because the battle is within. One of the most difficult conflicts within is love. He says, “Those who are the hardest to love need it the most.” I believe this to be most certainly true.

When we receive mercy, we receive an amount of peace. When we can give mercy, our inner peace goes deeper.

I am incredibly grateful for the mercy God has shown me and for the mercy others have shown me, especially when I didn’t deserve it. It seems that I should also make an effort to show mercy.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

First, let me say that I believe that the Bible is filled with promises from God, probably TNTC (Too Numerous To Count). I also believe that there are times (too often) that people misshape, misapply, and misconstrue the Word of God. They “miss” it as they attempt to make it conform to their particular views. Apparently they use the BKV, the Burger King Version of the Bible. (You know: “Have It Your Way).

Today, I happened upon a heading that caught my attention. It was from a well-known web site on the Bible, Jesus, and the Godly life. (It had a couple of million likes so that must mean it was at least “like” true. That’s like truth, but not quite). The attention grabber read, “10 Bible Verses Everyone Gets Wrong.” It piqued my interest.

The above scripture was one that was referred to in this article. It is one of the most popularly quoted verses in the Bible. The site said that this scripture was used wrong because people quoted it as a promise to God’s people for encouragement and inspiration. However, it went on to say that the verse was taken out of context because it was only a promise to a specific people at a specific time for a specific reason. It was not meant for everyone.

It is true that in context, the verse was those things. If we leave that notion at that point alone, we will have strayed from the truth. If we say that the Bible is only a story relating particular events to particular situations, then we are denying its power and universal truths. We are dangerously close to denying the relevance and power of the Almighty God.

I firmly believe that every scenario and perhaps every verse of the Bible work on at least 3 levels.
(1) There is meaning and has context to the people and situation at that time.
(2) It is applicable to some universal truth.
(3) It holds some truth to any reader at any given moment in time. (Didn’t Einstein say something like that – I guess that’s relative).

How can this be? The Bible is the Living Word of God. That statement applies to both Jesus and scripture. The Bible says this or implies it often. Saint Paul wrote that all scripture is God breathed. Throughout the Bible, the Lord says His Word is eternal. David wrote in Psalms that the Lord spoke once and he heard twice.

These are among the reasons that a particular Bible verse can be read at one point in our lives and it applies, is pertinent, and gives us meaning to a particular situation in our life. Then at another time, that same verse can be read and it applies, is pertinent, and gives us meaning to a different situation at a different time in our life.

Jeremiah 29:11 is a promise to a specific people, place, and time. It also has a universal truth. God cares for each of us and has an expectant end for us. It also means something to the individual reader in a very personal way.

How does the reader figure that out? Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will teach us, help us understand, and remind us what the Word of God says. We simply must pray and ask God for wisdom. What father would give his son a scorpion when he asks for an egg? How much more would our heavenly Father give us when we ask of Him?

1. Matthew 24:9-14 “…they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.” (NASB)

Continue reading →

Isaiah 29:13 These people come to Me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. (NIV)

At some point in my life, I realized that there would be a time when I would stand before the Lord God Almighty and give an account for what kind of husband I was, what kind of father, what kind of son, what kind of brother, what kind of man I was.  I wanted to be able to say that I was the best that I could be. However, I knew, in my heart, that I could not honestly do that.

So I began to try to aspire to something better.  I studied God’s Word and I attempted to say and do the things that seemed honorable.  It was a struggle.  There are many reasons for this struggle, but ultimately and sadly the underlying reason was I did not set my heart to come close to God’s.  At least, I didn’t all the time.  At times, that made my goal little more than lip service.

There is an old story about two little boys that saw the one’s grandmother reading the Bible. The first boy said, “Why does your grandmother read the Bible all the time?” The second boy replied, “I think she’s studying for her final exam.”

As I have gotten older, I have become aware of my own mortality.  With that came the additional observation that each of us has a very limited time to get our mouths and actions, but mostly our heart in the right place.  As David wrote in the Psalms, “Create in me a clean heart, O God: and renew a right spirit within me.”

Isaaih 19:2,3  I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian – brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.  The Egyptians will lose heart and I will bring their plans to nothing. (NIV)

America is on the cusp of losing heart. We are teetering between life and death, light and dark, blessings and curses.  Americans are turning against Americans, brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, race against race, creed against creed, and religion against religion.  There is an ever increasing rip in the fabric of our society.

If we are to avoid catastrophic consequences than a mending must occur.  We as Christians should me on the front-lines of repairing and rebuilding.  After all, Christ said that everyone will know us by our love for one another.  Unfortunately, at this point in time, many of us Christians are the very purveyors of this internal strife.

When Jesus was born the angels announced, “Glory be to God in the highest, peace on earth and good will toward man.”

If this is what messengers of Heaven announced with the arrival of the Christ, should our goal be any less?