God's in His heaven, All's right with the world

One of the greatest gifts God has given believers is peace. "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27). While the rest of the world worries about the future, we’re told, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things" (Matthew 6:34). While the world frets over all the evil it causes itself, God says, "Do not fret because of evildoers nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord..." (Psalm 37:1-3). But perhaps one of the most vivid pictures of peace comes from Psalm 2:1-4
Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
"Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us."
He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.

God laughs at man’s "vain" plans. He’s in control of everything! Don’t worry about tomorrow–why? Because God is sovereign. Nations raging and people plotting don’t take Him by surprise. He who sees when a sparrow falls knows the outcome of the battle before it happens. When we look around our world and shake our heads over the mess we’re in–the evil, ungodly, iniquitous mess–we can still have confidence that God is in control; yesterday, today, and forever. The world we’re in has a problem. It’s not taxes, government, or war. It’s sin. And it’s not going to leave until God re-creates the world and restores it to perfection. We don’t have to despair of sin (or its results), though, because God is still here, and He’s still in control. He still sits in the heavens and laughs. Man can’t plot anything against God–He had the first word, and He’ll have the last word, because He is the Word.

Psalm 2:10-12–Now therefore, be wise, O kings;
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest He be angry,
And you perish in the way,
When His wrath is kindled but a little.
Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.

Are you willing to trust the Lord even when the nations rage and everything seems hopeless from our perspective?

They all were looking for a King

They all were looking for a king
To slay their foes and lift them high;
Thou cam’st a little Baby thing
That made a woman cry.

O Son of Man, to right my lot
Naught but Thy presence can avail;
Yet on the road Thy wheels are not,
Nor on the sea Thy sail.

My fancied ways why should’st Thou heed?
Thou com’st down Thine own secret stair;
Com’st down to answer all my need,
Yes, every bygone prayer.

(by George MacDonald--can be sung to the tune Childhood)

Looking forward to His coming

Several days ago, I was reading a blog and found this quote:

“To wait is not merely to remain impassive. It is to expect—to look for with patience, and also with submission. It is to long for, but not impatiently; to look for, but not to fret at the delay; to watch for, but not restlessly; to feel that if He does not come we will acquiesce, and yet to refuse to let the mind acquiesce in the feeling that He will not come.”
-Andrew Davidson

Doesn't that summarize 2 Peter 3 beautifully? 

2 Peter 3:8-14--But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?  Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you.

Reading that quote made 2 Peter 3 come alive for me...that's what we're supposed to be doing!  Our time on earth isn't supposed to be passively waiting--we need to look forward to it, diligently prepare for it, hasten His coming.  Isn't that an exciting thought?  The King of the universe is going to come again, and we get to see Him! 

P.S.  I never read anything else by Andrew Davidson, so I'm not sure if I agree with everything he's written...but I really liked that quote!

Proud to be a Christian

Today is July 4–the day America became an independent country. Fifty-six men agreed to break away from England and become the United States of America–“one nation under God.”

Since the signing of the Declaration, America has fallen away from her Christian heritage. It saddens me to read the news and see how far away we are from God’s law.

Have you ever felt that you are an outside observer numbly watching the news and wondering how these things can be happening?

In some ways, we are. I live in America, but my citizenship is not in America. Philippians 3:20–For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. In our Bible Bee Sword Study, we were told to read the book of 1 Peter as if it was written to us. Who were the real recipients? The Dispersion...the pilgrims, aliens, wanderers...the “poor wayfaring stranger,” as the old gospel song goes. If you’re a wanderer, are you at home? Jesus said that His kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). My American citizenship is temporal and lasts only as long as I live in America, but my citizenship in Christ’s kingdom is eternal.

Today we celebrate the liberty of our country. Why not use today to celebrate our liberty in Christ? Galatians 5:13 says that we have been called to liberty. We are free from sin–isn’t that amazing? We have been freed from sin, and now we serve our King! Even in a “free” country, we still have to obey some form of government. No earthly government is perfect, but our King is perfect. It is a joy to serve Him!

Jesus taught us to pray to the Father “Your kingdom come” (Matthew 6:10). Revelation 12:10 says, Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down." We eagerly wait for the day when His kingdom will come...and we know it will!

God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Galatians 6:14). On Independence Day, we look back and celebrate the good our country has accomplished–I am proud to be an American! But my identity and true pride do not lie in being an American; rather, they are in Christ. The world is nothing to me, because I am not a citizen of it. We boast in the name of Christ.

I am proud to be called by His name. I am proud to be a Christian.

The royal wedding

Did any of you watch the royal wedding on Friday? I must confess–I woke up early to watch it (other than family movie nights, I think I’ve watched TV only one or two other times this year...). I really enjoyed it. Even though Prince William and Kate may not necessarily be strong Christians, the ceremony was full of some of the most beautiful, God-glorifying hymns they could have chosen, and they actually had Kate’s brother recite Romans 12! It was definitely worth waking up early to watch!

I imagined what it must have been like to receive an invitation to the wedding. That would be so exciting! To be able to meet real princes and princesses, to see Westminster Abbey, to hear those hymns live–I would never forget it. Wouldn’t it be fun to meet the queen? I have a friend who met her when he was younger (and I was just a bit jealous when I heard!). Then, I remembered what I had written just last week: Jesus is the King of kings, and we will get to meet Him! What is Queen Elizabeth compared to Him? As I was thinking about meeting the King of all kings, I remembered another exciting promise. We are invited to His wedding feast! Revelation 19:6-9 tells us about the wedding of the Lamb. And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.” Wow! We are not the "lucky" few invited to the British royal wedding, we are the blessed believers who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb! How infinitely more wonderful is that!

After watching Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding, it’s hard to imagine a bigger wedding. Perhaps we won’t see a bigger wedding on earth. But the wedding supper of the Lamb is guaranteed to be far more glorious than any earthly wedding; and, the best part about it for us is that we’ve been invited!