The NEXT Time

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there.  Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war.  His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns.  A name was written on him that no one understood except himself.  He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God.  The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses.  From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations.  He will rule them with an iron rod.  He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress.  On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords.  Revelation 19:11-16

In the Christian calendar this past Sunday was the celebration of Christ the King.  It is a time to acknowledge with joy the Sovereignty of our Lord.

Jim Henry was the Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church in Orlando, Florida.  He was also a friend and mentor, who helped me get started in ministry.  He tells of an incident from his youth.  He was saved at Hopewell Baptist near Nashville, Tennessee.  Just as he entered his teens there was going to be a special service at Hopewell.  Jim lived nearly 30 miles from the church by then.  Wanting to attend, he convinced his mother to allow him and his cousin to hitch-hike out to the service.  As they were walking along, a big black Oldsmobile came down the road, going in the same direction.  Jim Henry stuck out a thumb.  As the car got near, it began to screech to a halt, and Henry noticed a State Trooper sitting behind the wheel.  He was afraid the Trooper would arrest him.  The window rolled down:  Wher'ya goin' boys? he asked.  Jim explained, and he and his cousin were invited to hop in.  When he got in the back seat there was another man in a suit.  The man stuck out his hand and said, Hello, Jimmy, I'm Frank G. Clement, governor of Tennessee.  I am going up to the Hopewell Church to speak, and I will be glad to give you and your friend a lift.  They took off and the patrolman got them there in a flash.  When they pulled up there was a welcoming crowd.  The whole county was there.  Who was the first one out?  Jimmy Henry!  He tipped his hand in the direction of Mr. Clement, and said, Thanks for the ride, Governor – and God bless you.  Ol' Jimmy Henry was somebody!^[1]   The fact is Jimmy Henry was next to somebody.  He was still little thirteen-year-old Jimmy; Governor Clement was the somebody. 

Who is somebody to you?  The last time Jesus came, He had a manger, and farm animals for admirers.  He told us plainly who he was, teacher and Lord. ^{(John 13:13)} But he was still a nobody to us all, he was despised and rejected.  ^{(Isaiah 1:14)} 

The Next Time He Comes

The next time Jesus comes, the only animal in sight will be the white horse underneath him – a stallion ridden by a victorious, conquering King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. 

The next time He will not be a gentle baby, with Mary singing lullabies in some feeding trough.  He will be a mighty warrior with an avenging righteousness.

The next time He will not wear a simple shepherd's robe.  He will have a garment dipped in blood, with which he will cover, cleanse and purge the entire earth. 

The next time He will not hold a shepherd's staff.  He will have a conquering sword that will smash the world systems into oblivion. 

The next time He will not pass out broken bread and grape juice.  He will be marching on the grapes of wrath, and squeezing every-last-drop of the fierceness of a holy God who has been scorned.

The next time no one will put Him on a cross.  The next time He will hold up the cross and every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father. ^{(Philippians 2:10-11)}  Amen!

For You Today 

Are you ready for the NEXT time?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO

There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Today’s title Image from Pixabay.com  

Images without citation are in public domain or cited via weblinks.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©  

---

[1]Jim Henry, Heartwarmers, (Nashville, Broadman Press, 1977), 15

Sovereign

Tuesday, August 22, 2023

“From eternity to eternity I am God.  No one can snatch anyone out of my hand.  No one can undo what I have done.”  Isaiah 43:13

Once one gets past the sophomoric notion of atheism, to admit there IS a divine Creator, one must grapple with a supremely-challenging dilemma of IF that divine One is truly in charge…and to what degree.  Is God sovereign, or are there some things he cannot (or chooses not) to touch?  And if He truly is “in charge” of everything, why is the world in such a mess?

If one has the temerity to affirm God is Sovereign (as Isaiah wrote), the final question surrounding humankind’s response to a sovereign God is two-fold:  What does that look like, and how should I live now that I know that?

In my limited experience as a human being, and a believer in the sovereignty of God, in nearly 50 years of theological thinking, writing, preaching, and pastoral ministry, I have never been able to fully articulate in a single sentence the answer to that question…until yesterday, when a Facebook friend re-posted a prayer from a friend’s page:

It took me just a moment to read it, and pass it off as simply another superficial stab at teaching a child to pray.  I continued scrolling through the endless and mostly inane trivia of social media, but the thought of that sentence would not fade to the background  Then the depth of faith contained in this one sentence scratched its’ way to the surface of my tired mind and shouted:  Listen, Russell; you’re never going to need more in life, or My Kingdom than this.  This is what living in My Kingdom is like; this is how you bow before Sovereign Lord.

I’m not one given to hearing God audibly, or seeing a message behind every bush or cute thing my dog does, but this one sentence about how to go about greeting God every morning of my life makes more sense than all the combined drivel you can find in self-help speeches and books; this is placing 100% of all the trust I can ever muster in God’s care for me. 

Fix me when I’m the problem – is taking the humble knee, admitting I’m broken enough to need fixing

Protect me when I’m not the problem – is admitting I’m going to move on in God’s strength, speaking up for loving justice, doing mercy, and walking humbly with God[1], because my strength isn’t enough for this messy life…I need Him to have my back.

·       This is taking my stand on the only hill I’ve ever truly needed to die on. 

·       This is how you take up the cross and follow the One who died for you. 

·       It is the bottom line of the call. 

For You Today 

Want to know how to walk in God’s presence?  Let your heart pray:

Sovereign Lord, fix me and protect me as I walk with You today!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO

There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library. 

Title Image:  via WikimediaCommons   Images without citation are in public domain.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©  

---

[1] No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.Micah 6:8

Howling At the Moon (and accomplishing what?)

Monday, May 15, 2023

The Lord is king! He is robed in majesty.  Indeed, the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength.  The world stands firm and cannot be shaken.  Your throne, O Lord, has stood from time immemorial.  You yourself are from the everlasting past.  The floods have risen up, O Lord.  The floods have roared like thunder; the floods have lifted their pounding waves.  But mightier than the violent raging of the seas, mightier than the breakers on the shore—the Lord above is mightier than these!  Your royal laws cannot be changed.  Your reign, O Lord, is holy forever and ever.  Psalm 93:1-5

God’s sovereignty is proclaimed throughout the Lord’s Holy Scripture.  In Heaven there is no doubt Who reigns in the universe.  Not so much on planet earth. 

King Nebuchadnezzar of ancient Babylon, an arch-enemy of Jerusalem, howled at the moon more than once in his life.  A poetic what-goes-around-comes-around is portrayed by the arrogant king’s pursuit of power, riches, and the ultimate humiliation that lust brought.  He fought, won, and destroyed Jerusalem, killing, capturing, and looting, the nation’s treasures and temple, devouring God’s people like a monster[1].  Nebuchadnezzar imagined himself invincible; he never lost.  He even set up a gold statue of himself, 90-feet high, and everyone had to worship the statue, because the king proclaimed himself god! 

But in the end, God removed Nebuchadnezzar from the throne of Babylon, and he roamed the countryside for seven years, like a madman, howling at the moon.[2]

Scripture tells us that the whole panorama of Nebuchadnezzar’s rule and life was orchestrated by God.  Jeremiah had prophesied it long before it began:

This message came to Jeremiah from the Lord early in the reign of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah.  This is what the Lord said to me:  “Make a yoke, and fasten it on your neck with leather straps.  Then send messages to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon through their ambassadors who have come to see King Zedekiah in Jerusalem.  Give them this message for their masters:  ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says:  With my great strength and powerful arm I made the earth and all its people and every animal.  I can give these things of mine to anyone I choose.  Now I will give your countries to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who is my servant.  I have put everything, even the wild animals, under his control.  Jeremiah 27:1-6

The great professional boxer, Muhammhed Ali, was known for his brash, self-promotion.  Without blushing he often proclaimed after winning a match against his opponents:  I am the greatest.  At one press interview a reporter asked him if he really meant what he said, or was it just bragging.  Ali looked at the reporter and sneered:  It’s not bragging if you can back it up.

Nebuchadnezzars and professional boxer’s trash-talking may have some teeth, and last for a news cycle, but their (so-called) reign is tied to a leash.  The One who holds the other end of that leash is God…the one (and only) true God.

For You Today 

When it comes to classical narcissism, otherwise known as bragging, aggrandizing, or self-promoting…choose the humility of keeping your mouth closed.  People may think you’re a fool, but opening your mouth often proves them right.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper explore some of these:   Game Over  and  The Trouble With Theological Heels  and God Sovereign Series:  Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4  Part 5

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©  

---

[1] See Jeremiah 51:34

[2] See Daniel 3-5

When God Lets the Arrow Fly

Monday, May 8, 2023

When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land.  God said, “If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”  So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea.  Thus the Israelites left Egypt like an army ready for battle.  Exodus 13:17-18

When God directed Moses to lead his children out of bondage in Egypt, it would have been so easy to march them directly to Canaanland, and let the party begin!  That would have been the way I would have planned the trip.  

It’s about 775 miles from Egypt to Israel, so they could have walked straight there in two months.  But they didn’t cross the Jordan river for 40 years.  Evidently there was a lot more to Israel becoming God’s people, than just 10 plagues and a visit by the death angel, before they would be ready for the prosperity of the Promised Land.

There is much I do not understand about how the sovereignty of God, intersects with the free-will of human beings.  However, the Israelite forty-year layover in the desert[1] is a great teacher of how we can navigate being free-will beings created by a sovereign God.  It all comes down to using the free-will we’ve been gifted, to cooperate with the sovereignty of God’s plans, rather than just do what pleases us.  After all, it is God’s sandbox, and we are visitors, whom God wants to adopt as family.  It pays to be on one’s best behavior!

When it comes to how that behavior shapes our relationship with God, I have this image of an archer with a bow, pointed at a target…the arrow flies, released by the archer.  God is the archer; we are the arrows.  The target to which God points each of us, is the place closest to God’s heart.  He wants us to hit the bullseye (so to speak), and lodge there.  The purpose is blessing.  God wants us close to the source of the universe’s wealth of wisdom and well-being.  He wants what’s best for us.  The problem for we arrows, having been released from the bow string, is we have freedom to be blown about by gusts of winds, or objects (all kinds of sins against hitting the target). 

While God’s eye is never off the arrows he releases, our free will is a type of sovereignty over the moments we are granted to live.  We are pointed at the right target; we have free will to choose how we respond to the direction we’re given. That direction is clearly stated in the prophecy of Micah 6:8:

No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. 

The arrow God releases into this vastness of free will invariably chooses to do what is wrong, love power, and walk arrogantly and selfishly, despising God.  And God allows that.  (Full Stop)

The full weight of sovereignty of humankind over their destination is a gift of God to His loved creation.  But the weight of that gift’s incredible value is the corresponding accountability of consequence for corrupting the gift against the holiness of God.  (Again – Full Stop)  We despise God’s sovereignty with our free will, and the result is spiritual Chernobyl.

For You Today 

You have freedom; choose wisely how to cooperate with God today.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper explore some of these:   An Uncertain Path  and  Cloud by Day - Fire by Night   

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©  

---

[1] Read all of the Exodus story, from Moses at the burning bush, to the miraculous rescue of God’s people at the Red Sea, and provision of God through 40 years of wandering in the desert.

Game Over (from before the beginning)

 

Monday, May 23, 2022

The Lord is king! He is robed in majesty.  Indeed, the Lord is robed in majesty and armed with strength.  The world stands firm and cannot be shaken.  Your throne, O Lord, has stood from time immemorial.  You yourself are from the everlasting past.  The floods have risen up, O Lord.  The floods have roared like thunder; the floods have lifted their pounding waves.  But mightier than the violent raging of the seas, mightier than the breakers on the shore—the Lord above is mightier than these!  Your royal laws cannot be changed.  Your reign, O Lord, is holy forever and ever.  Psalm 93:1-5

And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.”  And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End.  To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life.  All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.  Revelation 21:5-7

My brother, Thom, is a month shy of being four years older than I am.  That made a huge difference when we were kids.  With his size and maturity, every athletic contest was over before it began.  Because of my stubborn nature, it never kept me from trying to beat the odds.  In all the years of human existence it has been thus…we resist the irresistable, and fight against the unconquerable!

Ultimately there were some changes with my brother.  I may have won a time or two.  He’s still the better athlete, but with what’s left of two sets of knees (his and mine), neither of us has the inclination to return to the contests.  Old men have their memories, and that’s enough of a playground.

I see a parallel on a grander scale in the wrestling match featuring God and humans.  It’s also way over from before the beginning.  The Psalmist rehearses the power of the thundering seas, which was a foreshadow of mysterious dark, menacing forces in the ancient mind.  Then he turns the page to the heavens, declaring the mightier power of the Creator.  The seas may be violently raging, but it is still the lesser, contained in the greater, the one, true eternal God.

This is the “Alpha” of Revelation’s vision of “Omega”.  God began the beginning for humanity and the globe of dust we inhabit.  He is also the end point of God’s heart-plan for us; He is our omega, our ending, or, frankly, the whole point of our existence!  He is, as the Revelator’s pen declares, the one sitting on the throne.  And THAT throne, which is above every other throne, is what decides the outcome of whatever is in its view.  There is nothing which escapes its power.

Back to the playground metaphor with my brother playing the lead part.  There came a time when we were more evenly-matched, and the scores of the games became closer.  But that’s where the analogy ends; humans will never get closer to the power, majesty, and splendor of He who sits on Heaven’s throne…not with physical power, nor because we wish or will it to be so.  None of us can overwhelm, outsmart or out-maneuver the Almighty.  We are, as the raging, violent seas, still the lesser, contained in the Greater.

For You Today

If you struggle sometimes with that final surrender of your destiny, understand that is the chink in our human nature…to hold out some vestige of hope that, one day our way, our choices, or our terms may be in charge, not God’s rule over our existence.  But that is the dream of a fool. 

Knowing that God has good plans for us, and His might will bring them about for those who acknowledge His Kingdom, is the “win” of all wins.  Bow before the throne, acknowledging Jesus, the Lord of Lords, and King of Kings.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road with Jesus; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title image: Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

TRUST

 

Tuesday, February 8, 2022

All you who fear the Lord, trust the Lord!  He is your helper and your shield.  Psalm 115:11

The Psalmist speaks a truth that challenges every hidden corner of willfulness and timid self-doubt.  It is a foreign truth to today’s Western culture, namely that we should trust God rather than our own abilities.

Consider the language of today’s parents to children:

          ·       YOU can be whatever YOU want

          ·       It’s YOUR life – YOUR choice

By contrast, the Psalmist speaks conditionally – if you really fear (or, more accurately, worship) God, then put your trust in Him…he wants to be your help and shield.

Some would answer that challenge with a string of probing questions: 

          ·       What does that kind of ‘trust’ look like in real life?

          ·       Why is it necessary to trust God; isn’t He good all the time?

          ·       What do I get on the other side of taking that leap of faith?

Those questions do not seem out of place, or odd in today’s cultural climate.  Before we invest, we want proof that it will pay-off, or at least a little sound reasoning that it’s the best choice for me.  

Doesn’t all that have a self-center kind of ring to it, as if the worshipper is what’s important, not the Creator, Sustainer, and Source of all life?  And isn’t that the issue that forms the whole of purpose in life from the beginning?  Let’s put the answer to that series of questions in a single declarative sentence:

God is worthy.

If there is such a thing as “sovereignty,” being in complete control of all beings and things created, that Sovereign would therefore be the source of all power.  That One would be sovereign over all extant beings, and things, and therefore, the giver of life and will.  If there is a God like that, THAT GOD is worthy to be worshipped, worthy to be completely trusted!

For You Today

So, the whole matter of today’s devotional thought is not one of what trusting in God looks like, or what my life might look like on the other side of trusting God.  Or any other condition I might try to introduce in negotiating a better deal on earth or in Heaven.  Rather, it is me, making up my mind which god I will serve…

·       The little ME today’s culture whispers in my ear is sovereign

-  or  -

·       The one, true, living God who loved me enough to leave his divine glory in Heaven and embrace me from a cross?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title and Other Images:  Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©