March 3, 2018 Saturday

“You who fear the LORD, praise Him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel! For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has He hidden His face from Him; But when He cried to Him, He heard. My praise shall be of You in the great assembly; I will pay My vows before those who fear Him. The poor shall eat and be satisfied; Those who seek Him will praise the LORD. Let your heart live forever! All the ends of the world Shall remember and turn to the LORD, And all the families of the nations Shall worship before You. For the kingdom is the LORD’S, And He rules over the nations. All the prosperous of the earth Shall eat and worship; All those who go down to the dust Shall bow before Him, Even he who cannot keep himself alive. A posterity shall serve Him. It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation, They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born, That He has done this.” (Psalm 22:23-31 NKJV)

            Ever since the resurrection of Jesus people have “prophesied” the death of Christianity and some have even declared it dead but the Church continues to grow and expand in lives and throughout the world.  You may ask why?

            Christianity grows because unlike any belief system God dies for us rather demands us to do something for that god.  Jesus came, in His own words, not to condemn but to offer His life for us out of love for us.  For all the decorations and expense put into symbolic crosses the real cross is the most beautiful because the love and suffering of God are seen in it.

            In this passage we see the response to the cross and the sacrifice of Jesus!  Even as Psalm 22 delves the depth of God’s suffering we are also shown the celebration of humanity at being set free!

            As you read this passage do you feel this way?  Have you ever celebrated in this way all God has done for you?  Do you have a message of joy, love and hope to pass on to the next generation, to a people yet to be born?

            Get off your beds!  Ask God to cleanse the sleepiness out of your eyes!  Read Psalm 22 again – for the first time and be set free by the love of the Father to give “His only begotten Son, the love of Jesus to give up everything thus freeing the Holy Spirit to unite all those blessed by God in worship and in sharing with others!

            DO YOU NOT SEE?  HAVE YOU NOT HEARD? DOES YOUR HEART NOT CRY OUT FOR JOY?  The God of the universe heard your cries and when you could not reach sin stained hands to Him then God reached down to you.  Jesus entered into your shame and suffering and took it from you and bore it for you!

            If we are not careful we can decorate to sedate and we can liturgy the life out of the most amazing news since creation, maybe even more amazing than creation!  For God did not just create us but also re-created us!  God did not just win a future victory for us but that victory is alive now!  God did not win heaven for us after we die for we are new creations now and can come into God’s presence now!  God is our Father now, not just in the future!

            Join the generations of humanity who have rejoiced in the love of Jesus and in the love for Jesus!  In terrible pain, from prisons, from places of beheadings, from crosses, from seeing children stolen, from losing jobs and positions, from ridicule and shame shout your joy that the God of the universe loves you!  That the God of the universe came to save and re-create you!

            For all the gates of hell, the hatred of others, those who kill in the name of their demonic gods or the ridicule of the world can never stand against God’s love!

            RISE AND CELEBRATE FOR GOD CAME FOR US, GAVE HIMSELF FOR US AND WILL STAND WITH US!  And the hatred of hell will never overcome the love of Heaven!

            I woke early and got some cards to people who are sick ready and posted, read my Bible and had a great time of prayer.  The Lord led me to Nicaragua again, Uruguay, Venezuela, the Philippines and then a long time praying Muslims.  Muslims have long been on my heart and I used to pray for different nations but now I pray for all those who are Muslims.  In the West we often fear the terror of Islamic murderers but so do many Muslims in their own countries!  They often live with a tension of not being Muslim enough and if they convert to another belief, religion or just not believing in God they are considered worse than being an “infidel”.  Women are treated almost as household goods.  Very few Muslim countries are open and not oppressive.  May God open their hearts as He already has started with dreams and visions of His love!  Asbury is hosting a concert tonight with the Catholic Academy in Knoxville (CAK) singing with their choir and Mary McDonald.  Bonnie will be playing the piano and organ.  I will miss tonight hoping to be able to go to Worship tomorrow since she will be there and Asbury is having Communion.