The Lord’s Promises

Posted on by korgrocker

“The Lord’s promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over. Therefore, Lord, we know you will protect the oppressed, preserving them forever from this lying generation, even though the wicked strut about, and evil is praised throughout the land.”
Psalm 12:6-8 NLT

The refining process is a technology that has been around for thousands of years and in David’s day the silversmiths knew how to refine the semi-precious metal, silver, to increase its purity. A furnace was involved and the silver was melted, impurities skimmed off, a process repeated again and again, as the silver gained purity. We can just imagine David watching this process happen and immediately thinking of an analogy of the Lord’s promises. Of course, God’s promises are never in need of refining because they were, and are, totally pure and totally perfect. There are no imperfections included in any of God’s promises. 

A Google search will uncover a Bible absolutely full of the promises of God. In the context of Psalm 12, the verse about the purity of God’s promises precedes David’s assurance that the Lord “will protect the oppressed”. In Psalm 145:20 we read, “The Lord protects all those who love him, but he destroys the wicked“, a promise that will come to fruition sooner or later. In Psalm 1:4-5 we read, “But not the wicked! They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind. They will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly”. We have the separation of the Godly, those who love God, and the wicked, who reject anything to do with God. A stark dichotomy that will finally be resolved at the end of the age. There is a parable taught by Jesus in Matthew 13, and in it we find this verse, “That is the way it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the wicked people from the righteous” (Matthew 13:49). If Jesus said it, then it will happen, and that’s a promise!

It can be said that the very act of becoming a believer in Jesus is the start of a refining process. In Isaiah 48:10 we read, “I have refined you, but not as silver is refined. Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering”. The furnace that is life is hot and sometimes painful, including much suffering, but it is a necessary part of our journey to Heaven because there will be no impurities in Heaven. Peter wrote, “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honour on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world” (1 Peter 1:6-7). Nothing has changed, folks. 

The Lord has written down for us His true and perfect promises, all contained in His Word, the Bible. Bibles such as those distributed by the Gideons contain helpful pages that list God’s promises in response to common human conditions. But anyone can open God’s Book and find the answer to their questions and dilemmas. However, God’s answers to life’s questions cannot be found hanging in the air. We have to search the Scriptures and find Hid promises, and that can only be done if we read the Bible. And having read it, we need to read it again. And again. And we find that, amazingly, every time we read a passage of Scripture, the Holy Spirit will reveal to us something new. Something fresh. Something precious from God Himself.

Dear God. We thank You for Your Word, the Bible. Guide us in Your ways as we discover more and more about You, we pray. Amen.

Lips That Defend

Posted on by korgrocker

“those who say, ‘By our tongues we will prevail; our own lips will defend us – who is Lord over us?’ ‘Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,’ says the Lord. ‘I will protect them from those who malign them.’”
Psalm 12:4-5 NIVUK

Human beings are blessed with the ability to reason and communicate. Even from an early age, children can weigh up the pros and cons of a situation and make a decision. To supplement our mental powers, we have instincts such as “fight or flight” when faced with danger. So all in all, a human being is an impressive example of God’s creative powers, far above all other created beings on our planet. But why should we be surprised? We read in Genesis 1:26, “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground’”. Then in Hebrews 2:7-8a we read, “You made them a little lower than the angels; you crowned them with glory and honour and put everything under their feet …”. But due to sin, corruption of God’s creation followed, and David correctly recorded man’s propensity to lie, deceitfully adding an evil element into his reasoning powers. 

Those people who follow the way of evil, lying and cheating their way through life, justify their position by claiming that they are outside the rule of the Lord, not as a conscious thought, or in so many words, and instead they rely on their intellects to defend themselves in life’s situations. But they will of course get away with it, at least for a while. There are some very clever people in positions of authority in countries all over the world, there because of very quick and shrewd minds, able to talk their ways into places where they want to be. And with their mental and communicative skills they become arrogant and claim, “Who is Lord over us?”  With the passage of time they hone their skills and really believe that their “own lips will defend [them]”. 

But waiting in the wings is the Lord of all. He sees all that is going on and will arise to correct the situation. David visualised the time when God will protect the poor and needy  “from those who malign them”. The significant words in these verses are “I will”. We worship the God who will. The only thing that we are unsure of is when. But in God’s plan for this world “when” will happen one day.

There are people groups everywhere who come into the needy and poor categories. This is not always a financial scenario, and many live their lives deprived of the means to realise their full potentials. In some parts of the world, women and girls are deprived of education. In others, a person’s family and ancestry determine their status in life. Many are enslaved against their wills, forced to work long hours doing menial tasks for little of no money. But in all these cases their plights do not escape the Lord’s notice. Because the scales of justice will one day be balanced, God’s “I will” will indeed prevail. He will protect the helpless and defend the needy.

We pilgrims are aware of a different Kingdom, one where the Lord is King. One where there will, one day, be no more sickness or crying. But a Kingdom of which we are citizens now, and one that we encourage others to join. There is salvation for all available through Jesus, and the Apostle James wrote, “Listen to me, dear brothers and sisters. Hasn’t God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith? Aren’t they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom he promised to those who love him?” (James 2:3). We don’t know whose names will be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, but as Martin Luther wrote, “First, there will be people in heaven I did not expect to be there. Second, there will be people not present in heaven I was certain would be there. Third is the greatest surprise of all—that I will be there myself!” 

There will come a day when the intellect, and defensive lips of mankind, will be of no further use to Godless people. It may be because their lives will be cut short when God intervenes to protect the poor and needy. But eventually for those who escape judgement in their natural lives will one stand before Him. But for us pilgrims it is far better today to use our God-given ability to reason and communicate about the things of our wonderful Heavenly Father. Daily we offer Him the praises of our lips not the lies and deceit of sinners. And the worship of our hearts will ultimately prevail on that glorious day when we see Him face to face.

Dear Heavenly Father. We praise and worship You today, the Maker of Heaven and earth. Amen.

Lips and Hearts

Posted on by korgrocker

“Neighbours lie to each other, speaking with flattering lips and deceitful hearts. May the Lord cut off their flattering lips and silence their boastful tongues. They say, “We will lie to our hearts’ content. Our lips are our own—who can stop us?””
Psalm 12:2-4 NLT

‭‭Strong stuff here – “flattering lips” and “deceitful hearts”, “boastful tongues” and “lies”. According to David, it was a problem in his day, but, as we know, it is still a problem thousands of years later. David associated such behaviour with his neighbours. The politically disillusioned today will perhaps immediately think about the behaviour of one or more of our politicians. Some will know that our 21st Century lawyers spend a lot of time untangling lies from truth. Human nature hasn’t changed much at all, it seems. David was quite dramatic in requesting action from God to cut off the “flattering lips” and the “boastful tongues”, but did he really expect God to do such a thing? Imagine the scene if God had in fact performed the surgery that David had asked for – all the people wandering around, unable to communicate, lips and tongues no longer present, because, after all, who has never told a lie? 

David continued, expressing the attitude of heart that is a symptom of the people indulging in lying behaviour. And of course what people think will be expressed verbally – David referred to this as people having “deceitful hearts”. Today we know that in our hearts, our thoughts and imaginations, we brew all sorts of scenarios and outcomes. We process what we see, we consider an uncomfortable situation, we receive negative and accusing comments, and we even imagine situations that might happen to us but haven’t just yet. And in consequence our minds produce a response that more often than not has considered lying as an option. Our sinful nature sometimes considers a lack of truth as the best outcome, because, so we think, the truth instead might dig us into an even deeper hole. And so today, all the problems with hearts, tongues and lips prevail, just as David observed with his neighbours. 

The Apostle James wrote much about tongue problems. James 3:2, “Indeed, we all make many mistakes. For if we could control our tongues, we would be perfect and could also control ourselves in every other way”. He continues, “And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself” (James 3:6). And James really hit home with this thought about tongues, “Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it curses those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!” (James 3:9-10). I don’t think anyone would disagree with James because he expressed a sobering reality that impacts everyone, even us pilgrims. 

If we left things there, we would all be depressed. We would end up in the same place as the Apostle Paul, who wrote, “I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?” (Romans 7:22-24). But the next verse explodes with hope and a solution to our sinful lips. “Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin” (Romans 7:25). We turn the page and start reading Romans 8, and the warm glow of hearts now thankful and free from condemnation overflow us. Lips redeemed and free from deceit and lies. Praise be to God! Heavenly surgery takes place, not with a scalpel, but with the blood of Jesus redeeming us from our sins. Of course, we endeavour to clean up our lives, and pursue righteousness even if it causes us short term problems. But as we do, God’s peace and love will follow us all the days of our lives.

Dear Father God. Thank You for Your patience, Your grace and mercy. Instead of dispensing the punishment we all deserve, You sent Jesus, to free us from our sins. We are so grateful. Amen.

The Vanished Faithful

Posted on by korgrocker

“Help, O Lord, for the godly are fast disappearing! The faithful have vanished from the earth!”
Psalm 12:1 NLT

We move to the next Psalm, another written by David, and the title includes instructions about how it should be accompanied when sung. His perception was that “the Godly are fast disappearing” but was that real or imagined? As we read the Old Testament, however, we see that there is an ebb and flow in the number of God worshipers in Israel. For example, the book of Judges often laments those who have abandoned the Lord. Verses such as Judges 3:7 identify the problem, “The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They forgot about the Lord their God, and they served the images of Baal and the Asherah poles”. ‭‭We also read about Elijah’s sadness with the thought that he was the only God-fearing man left. Elijah had journeyed to Mount Sinai and we read, “There he came to a cave, where he spent the night. But the Lord said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”” (1 Kings 19:9). His response in the next verse was interesting, “Elijah replied, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”” God recommissioned Elijah there on the mountain, and reassured him, “Yet I will preserve 7,000 others in Israel who have never bowed down to Baal or kissed him!”” (1 Kings 19:18). ‭

Often the perception of the numbers of believers in our country is fuelled by a press hostile to believers, but there are problems within some denominations. For example, here in the West of Fife, where I live in Scotland, there is a decline in the numbers of Churches of Scotland, with congregations dwindling and buildings being sold. This is a theme often emphasised in the media, always willing to promote a secular narrative. But John Stevens (National Director of FIEC) is credited with saying, “The decline of denominations like the Church of Scotland, which have largely abandoned the gospel, is not the full story of UK Christianity. Evangelical churches that faithfully preach Christ are consistently seeing slow and steady growth overall – both conversions and transfer growth through migration”. John continued, “The UK is not turning from Christianity but rejecting empty folk religion that was never true Christianity in the first place. The major decline is in allegiance to the Church of Scotland – and this is inevitable given that it is a liberal denomination that affirms same-sex marriage. Liberalism in the church proclaims its own irrelevance to the culture because it has nothing unique to offer that can’t be better delivered elsewhere.” So there we have it. A Church of Scotland member would, most likely, pray the prayer over their church straight from David’s Psalm 12 prayerbook, mourning his perception that the church is in decline, but without taking a step back and consulting God Himself.

Of course, Jesus had some words to say about His church. In Matthew 16:18 we read, “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it”. So, any perception that the church is in decline is in denial of the words of Jesus. And we can look back over two thousand years and see that Christianity has not declined. There have been times when the church has lost its way but God has always raised up men and women to bring things back on track. Today there is an estimate that one third of the world’s population practise some form of Christianity. That’s over 2.3 billion people. 

So what did David mean when he said “the Godly are fast disappearing”? His snapshot of society in his day may have been skewed by his knowledge of his society and friends and family. But today, we pilgrims sense that there are exciting times ahead. One day the church of Jesus Christ will be joined with Him in marriage. Revelation 19:7, “Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honour to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself“. We don’t know how far away in time the wedding service will be. We don’t really know what it will look like. But we do know that it will come one day, probably sooner than we think. And Jesus will be there welcoming all those who make up His “bride”. Jesus’ bride won’t be an anaemic, powerless, lukewarm group of pew warmers in a dying denomination. It will be glorious and clothed in white. It will be populated by true Christians, sold out for God, filled with His Spirit and excited about the day yet to come. Are we counted in that number?

There is an old Gaither song to finish with today:
What a day that will be
When my Jesus I shall see
And I look upon his face
The one who saved me by his grace
When he takes me by the hand
And leads me through the Promised Land
What a day, glorious day, that will be.

Dear Lord Jesus. What a day that will be indeed. We echo the words that we find at the end of Your Book, Come Lord Jesus. Amen.

The Righteous Lord

Posted on by korgrocker

“But the Lord is in his holy Temple; the Lord still rules from heaven. He watches everyone closely, examining every person on earth. The Lord examines both the righteous and the wicked. He hates those who love violence. He will rain down blazing coals and burning sulphur on the wicked, punishing them with scorching winds. For the righteous Lord loves justice. The virtuous will see his face.”
Psalm 11:4-7 NLT

We hear much today about the love of God. And after all, this might be the reason why we believers first came to know the Lord. A loving and compassionate God, who sent His Son Jesus to die in our place as a punishment for our sins. What love! But some unbelieving people, with whom we share the Gospel, argue that if God is so loving then why does He allow so many bad things to happen. Such people read John 3:16 and think to themselves that surely a loving God would put a stop to the wars and strife that blights the world He loves. They read verses such as Matthew 13:42 and think surely a loving God would never send anyone to a place called hell, where unbelieving people will spend eternity in torment. And to explain away the scenes of judgement from Genesis, such as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, or the devastation of the Flood, such people declare that this was the Old Testament and everything changed after Jesus came. But here in Psalm 11 we read David’s words about a God who punishes people. Just Old Testament? Not if we believe Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

It is unfortunate that so often the presentation of the Gospel from the pulpit lacks the balance about God’s character. Preachers today are perhaps too afraid to upset anyone in case they take the huff and go to another church where God is presented in a way that fits with their own God-is-love ideology. Such “old school” preachers and teachers are often just indulged and ignored, even if they exist today. Quite what modern congregations would make of John Knox is an interesting thought but I know someone who was radically saved in the 1970’s through the ministry of a man, a retired miner, who presented hell in the Gospel context, and it had a lasting impression.

But as well as being a God of love, He is a God of righteousness and justice. David knew that, and he wrote, “[God] hates those who love violence” and “For the righteous Lord loves justice”. David visualised a scene where the wicked found themselves being rained upon by “blazing coals and burning sulphur”. Such a scene would be a nasty shock to those who never thought God would do such a thing. But David ends this Psalm with the thought that the “virtuous [upright] will see His face”. Jesus taught in Matthew 5 about righteousness. We read, “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!” (Matthew 5:20). There is only one way in which such righteousness can be achieved and that is through Jesus. By believing in Him and repenting of our sins, we will find that He has given us His perfect righteousness, and that is the only way anyone will ever be able to spend eternity in God’s presence. 

Loving Heavenly Father. We know that You are the beginning and the end and desire that everyone will be saved. We experience Your love and compassion in times of trouble and yet we understand that You hate sin and will judge everyone one day to balance the scales of justice. With that sober thought, we confess our sins before You today, grateful for Your grace and mercy, and forgiveness. Amen.

Trust in the Lord

Posted on by korgrocker

“I trust in the Lord for protection. So why do you say to me, “Fly like a bird to the mountains for safety! The wicked are stringing their bows and fitting their arrows on the bowstrings. They shoot from the shadows at those whose hearts are right. The foundations of law and order have collapsed. What can the righteous do?””
Psalm 11:1-3 NLT

What do people trust in? Their bank balances? Their wage checks? Their homes? Their families? Conversely, there are probably many things in our societies that they don’t trust in, like their governments or tax authorities. Some people are so disillusioned with society that they prefer to live off-grid in some remote part of the world. And as for personal safety, where can that be found, in absolute terms? David, the Psalmist for Psalm 11, was being advised to find safety in the mountains because once again he was being attacked by “the wicked”. But we read that David wasn’t the only target, and he included those “whose hearts are right”. He perceived that “the foundations of law and order have collapsed”, a serious state of affairs for any society. 

The Bible scholars are unsure about the context of this Psalm. It could have been written when David was running and hiding from King Saul, or it could have been at the time of the rebellion by his son, Absolom. But there seems to be a national crisis serious enough for David to consider fleeing to a place of safety. In his day, law and order was very much connected to God and His Law, but if David had doubts about social cohesion, then perhaps even God Himself was being rejected by the wicked people around him.

Here in the UK we have a legal system upheld by a police force largely respected by the population, and that seems to hold society together, at least for most of the time. Of course, our legal system is based on sound Christian and Biblical principles that have stood the test of time, and, although many reject God and Christianity in general, the laws remain, to the benefit of all. So we can enjoy the safety of our homes and we have the freedom to move around in our societies without fear of arrows being shot at us “from the shadows”. 

But back to the opening question – who or what do we pilgrims trust in for protection? David was emphatic that he trusted “in the Lord for protection”. That’s a real place of security because, as children of God, we pilgrims have a wonderful Heavenly Father who cares for us, and guides us in His ways. Of course, we will be familiar with Proverbs 3:3-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take”. Those verses were written a very long time ago, and are as true today as they were then. As we follow along God’s paths we will find safety and protection. These paths might not be the ones our sinful natures would like us to follow, but going against God’s way could, and often does, lead to a place of insecurity, a place that lacks the safety our souls yearn for. 

David knew His Lord. He knew that by keeping close to Him, he would be safe. We pilgrims, similarly close to God, will hold fast in a society that panics at the slightest attack. Those around us will lack the safety of a relationship with God, and won’t know which way to turn. While they flap around, “fly[ing] like a bird” to the metaphorical mountains, we stand firm as the Psalmist did when he wrote Psalm 91:2, “This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him”. We, quite simply, trust in the Lord. There is no other way.

Dear Father God. As David wrote, we trust in You for our protection. Thank You for Your salvation. Amen.

King Forever

Posted on by korgrocker

“Break the arms of these wicked, evil people! Go after them until the last one is destroyed. The Lord is king forever and ever! The godless nations will vanish from the land. Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless. Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them. You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so mere people can no longer terrify them.”
Psalm 10:15-18 NLT

In the middle of another rant about wicked people and what the Psalmist would like God to do to them, we read, “The Lord is king forever and ever”. It is important that in the middle of our frustrations about God’s apparent lack of action with the evil around us, that we don’t lose our perspective. In the end, it’s not about us, or the apparent injustice we see in our nations and societies. We need to look up and see the Lord. In the time of a national crisis, Isaiah looked up. King Uzziah had just died, bringing a fear of political instability to Judah after a long reign of 52 years. Uzziah was one of the good kings and Isaiah, fearful of what the days ahead would bring, went to the Temple and there we read, “It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple” (Isaiah 6:1). Isaiah looked up beyond the circumstances around him, and, if we read on in Isaiah 6, we find that his encounter with the Lord transformed his life and ministry. 

We pilgrims yearn for the King to return and bring peace and His Kingdom to this war-torn world. We know that the Lord is King. We know that He is coming back to this world again, although we don’t know when. We know that He is the forever King, present since before the world was created. But instead of looking around at the “wicked evil people” as the Psalmist did, we need to look up and see the Lord. Isaiah’s encounter with the Lord in the Temple changed him for the rest of his life. He wrote, “Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies”” (Isaiah 6:5). The Lord asked Isaiah, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” and his reply was, “Here I am. Send me”” (Isaiah 6:8). Instead of wallowing in fear and misery, paralysed through the potential instability of his nation, Isaiah became a messenger for the Lord to his people.

There is something significant about having a forever King. We often forget that, although we are living in this world, with all of its sin and evil, we are in all reality citizens of another world, the Kingdom of God. There the Lord is King forever. No evil. No wars and strife. And it is there we run to when we are in danger of being overwhelmed by the worldly events around us. It might be helpful if we stand up and say to ourselves something like “I choose today to step into the kingdom where the Lord is King” and then take a step forwards, looking up as we do. We never know, but we might, like Isaiah, see a vision of the Lord, “high and lifted up”. Where is our faith because with the Lord anything might happen?

When we look up, we find an opportunity to see what the wicked in this world look like to God. When we look up we also find ourselves looking forward to the time when God will bring justice to correct all the injustices that have ever gone unpunished. And when we look up, we see the King and our hearts melt in the warmth of His gaze, flowing with love and compassion. There is no better place to be than in the presence of our forever King.

Father God, please forgive us for our lack of vision and understanding. You are our forever King and we praise and worship You today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Defender of Orphans

Posted on by korgrocker

“Arise, O Lord! Punish the wicked, O God! Do not ignore the helpless! Why do the wicked get away with despising God? They think, “God will never call us to account.” But you see the trouble and grief they cause. You take note of it and punish them. The helpless put their trust in you. You defend the orphans.”
Psalm 10:12-14 NLT

The Psalmist wrote that wickedness, and wicked people cause “trouble and grief”, a statement that is indisputably true. We look around at the wars taking place in Ukraine and the Middle East and see the extent of misery in ordinary people’s lives reaching far beyond national borders. In our own societies we see the results of crime and violence, or drugs and addictions. Evil and wickedness is rampant. But there is one people group that is especially vulnerable and that is the orphans. There were many in David’s day, children left without parents, due to disease or some other form of premature death. And there are many in the world today. UNICEF estimates that there are over 150 million orphans, children who have lost at least one parent, in the world today but they concede that this is probably an underestimate. There are more children, trafficked, or forced to work in inhospitable places like mines, who swell the total numbers. Throughout history, there have been orphaned children, and societies have had a very poor reputation in how they deal with them. But there are four words of hope for our children in today’s verses – “You defend the orphans”. God is there for them.

But in our societies today, what does God defence of orphans look like? In James 1:27, the Apostle wrote, “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you”. God’s people have a responsibility to look after orphans, pure and simple. Of course, not every believer has either the capability or resources to do so, but there are many opportunities nevertheless. Organisations such as Compassion run schemes to help child-caring projects in various parts of the world, and need financial support. Here in the UK the state has assumed responsibility for providing foster and children’s homes, as have some Christian denominations. But God, in His Word, said He will defend the orphans, so those who abuse or mistreat orphans will one day have to account for their actions before God.

In Matthew 18, Jesus said some things about children. “Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. “And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me. But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea” (Matthew 18:3-6 NLT). 

We pilgrims honour and protect our children, parenting them as God desires. God is there helping us. But we also look for opportunities to help children who are not so fortunate, secure in the thought that God is there looking after them. In His heart, God has a special place for children, especially orphans.

Dear Heavenly Father, we were all children once and we can look back and see the ways that You defended us against evil and evil people. Thank You for Your care and love. Please help us too as we care for our little ones everywhere. Amen.

The Helpless

Posted on by korgrocker

“Their mouths are full of cursing, lies, and threats. Trouble and evil are on the tips of their tongues. They lurk in ambush in the villages, waiting to murder innocent people. They are always searching for helpless victims. Like lions crouched in hiding, they wait to pounce on the helpless. Like hunters they capture the helpless and drag them away in nets. Their helpless victims are crushed; they fall beneath the strength of the wicked. The wicked think, “God isn’t watching us! He has closed his eyes and won’t even see what we do!””
Psalm 10:7-11 NLT

Who are the “helpless” that the Psalmist was writing about? These were people who were at the mercy of the wicked among them. People who were presumably unable to defend themselves against the murderous intent of their attackers, who, we’re told, had “trouble and evil … on the tips of their tongues”. The wicked attackers looked around for those in their societies who were weaker than them, and they then proceeded to crush them, impervious to the thought that God was looking on.  Mankind has always had a propensity to try and get one over their fellow members of society. That was true in the days when the Psalms were written and it is still true today. 

As I wrote this I immediately thought of the scammers and fraudsters who contact vulnerable people and relieve them of their money. I regularly receive emails from my bank warning me of the tactics that fraudsters use to try and gain access to my bank account. And I think of the “helpless victims” who, nevertheless, are taken in by plausible tales and are soon parted from their savings. I recently heard of someone who had a text from one of their children (or so they thought) using a phone that wasn’t theirs, to say that they were in trouble and needed some funds. It was so convincing that the person concerned was well along the way of arranging a money transfer before something made them think that there was something not quite right here. Fortunately, the scam was stopped before any harm was done. 

The helpless in our societies today are those who are weaker, mentally and physically, because of age or upbringing. Children can be very trusting of the adults around them and can end up abused and manipulated. Older people can find themselves lacking the mental capacity they once had and inadvertently are talked into danger. And in between, there are always “innocent people” who find themselves defenceless in the face of a murderous attack of one kind or another.

In Biblical days, lawlessness made travel between cities fraught with danger, and Jesus even told a parable about a man robbed by bandits, beaten up and left for dead at the side of the road. A story that people in those days would immediately relate to. Travel by anyone of any importance was always accompanied by a contingent of soldiers for protection. But even those in cities were not immune from petty thieves and pickpockets. There was always someone out to prey on “helpless victims”. 

Of course, we pilgrims can look on and wonder where God is during these times of danger and anxiety. We pray, but evil people seem to prevail. Then we turn to Psalm 91 and read, “This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease” (Psalm 91:2-3). We will find a refuge from danger in God. There are no scammers in God’s Kingdom and the wonderful thing is that as we stay close to Him, He will keep us safe. There are many people with testimonies of how God has stopped something bad happening to them. I look back on my own life and see the times when God protected me in a time of danger. And for those who fall victim to an evil person, there is always a way back. He promised to look after us as we ” … live in the shelter of the Most High …” (Psalm 91:1a). 

Dear Father God. Your protection is assured and we are so grateful. Please lead us and guide us in Your ways, in the paths of righteousness. Amen. 

God is Dead?

Posted on by korgrocker

“The wicked are too proud to seek God. They seem to think that God is dead. Yet they succeed in everything they do. They do not see your punishment awaiting them. They sneer at all their enemies. They think, “Nothing bad will ever happen to us! We will be free of trouble forever!””
Psalm 10:4-6 NLT

‭‭The statement “God is dead” is claimed by many for often simplistic reasons, the result of what they call rational thinking, or quoting a lack of scientific evidence to prove His existence. The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche was famously quoted for making this statement in one of his books, written in the late nineteenth century. But it is the arrogance of man that is really behind statements such as this. Modern thinking is that religion was acceptable for more primitive people, but those who were, and are, more “enlightened” know better, and the arrogant “God is dead” brigade attribute the physical world around us to chance happenings that have taken place over a very long period of time. Such people even concoct their own physical laws to fit their flawed observations.

Of course, once the idea of God has been taken out of people’s lives, then the whole basis of moral behaviour loses its foundations. As David wrote, “The wicked are too proud to seek God. They seem to think that God is dead” (Psalm 10:4). It was pride in David’s day, but add arrogance into the mix in our 21st Century world. People then, and still do today, believed that because God doesn’t immediately zap them when they do wrong then He cannot exist, and so they carry on in their sinful and evil ways. David was perplexed because such people even seemed to be highly successful in spite of their wickedness. 

Such short term thinking is extremely sad, because once the God-deniers find out that God does exist, they have two problems. The first is that they suddenly realise that they have been living a lie all their earthly lives, giving them a nasty shock now they know differently. Secondly, they find that they won’t have long to mourn over their evil ways and thinking, because as the first shock is still reverberating in their minds, a book will be opened, and their whole lives will be displayed before everyone. A Heavenly video of their every moment will be played, showing wrong thinking, evil behaviour, every wicked occasion, and eventually it will come to end with them standing before God Himself, waiting, but not for long. The judgement will be announced and their eternal sentence in hell commenced. David wrote, “They do not see your punishment awaiting them“.

For those people today who think that there will be just blackness awaiting them when they die, perhaps they should read Philippians 2:10-11, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father“. ‭‭There will not be blackness but, instead, eternal life awaits those who believe God is dead in a place they don’t want to be.

It’s a grim topic, not heard much from the pulpits these days. In fact, when did we last hear a sermon preached about hell? The preachers of old used to dangle their congregants over the fires of hell, frightening them into believing in God. But today? Our churches contain people who believe that God is alive and well, but what then? If we have a God who is alive then this must be transformative for us. If we believe that God is not dead, then there is only one alternative, that He is alive. Can we not get our minds around the thought that the Creator of the Universe is not only alive but He knows you and me personally? Jesus, who died on a Roman cross at a place called Calvary, taking on Himself the punishment for our sins, is the very God that many people say is dead. Helloooo!! …. The fact that God is alive must make us turn our lives around, even if we are believers. We can’t just be pew warmers, thinking nice thoughts about a loving Saviour. He gave up so much for us, that we cannot do anything but respond to Him and say as Isaiah did, “Here I am. Send me” (Isaiah 6:8b). Our living God imparts life to His followers – we must never play dead.

Dear Father God. You are the living God, not an idol made of dead objects. We are willing, Lord, to do Your work in this world, as You guide us day by day. We worship You today. Amen.