God Alone Means God Alone

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 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. He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you. Just open your eyes, and see how the wicked are punished. If you make the LORD your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home. For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. You will trample upon lions and cobras; you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet! The LORD says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.” [Psalm 91] 

Why would anyone who genuinely believes Psalm 91 need debt, insurance, medicine or technology?

Let the question above be answered here clearly: Because an important part of verse 2 is ignored:

This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. [Psalm 91.2]

Is verse 2 completely ignored? No, of course not! Otherwise we would not have or need religion and religious activities. However the most important part of verse 2 is indeed not only ignored, but blatantly violated. Here it is again with bold indicating where people go terribly wrong:

This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. [Psalm 91.2] 

In today's One Year Chronological Bible reading, we find more than one reference to God alone...

Let your unfailing love surround us, LORD, for our hope is in you alone. [Psalm 33.22]

O LORD, you alone are my hope. I’ve trusted you, O LORD, from childhood. [Psalm 71.5] 

I will praise your mighty deeds, O Sovereign LORD. I will tell everyone that you alone are just. [Psalm 71.16] 

What makes a person believe God alone does not mean God alone? The answer is also found in today's One Year Chronological Bible reading:

Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. [Psalm 1.1-3]

The counsel of the world contradicts the counsel of the Word of God. Where God says in His Word that He will take care of our every need (clearly stated in Psalm 91), the advice of the wicked world instead says, "You need debt, insurance, medicine and technology."

What is worse is that the counsel of religion contradicts the counsel of the Word of God! Where God says in His Word, "I will take care of your every need" (clearly stated in Psalm 91), religion, just like the wicked world, instead also says, "You also need debt, insurance, medicine and technology."

Then, when all hell breaks loose and religious people begin to feel sorry for themselves, religion, that agrees with the world saying they need the idols of debt, insurance, medicine and technology, tells them, "God knows your heart..." as if that makes pitiful dependence upon idols alright... while God's Word says:

The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? [Jeremiah 17.9]

The issue is not God knowing our heart, but instead that we do not know our heart! If we do not know God's Word, there is no way we can know our own heart! Instead, we will follow the advice of the wicked, stand around with sinners, and even join in with those who mock God and His Word. And, how do we do that? By embracing debt, insurance, medicine and technology instead of God because we have not meditated on God's Word day and night!

God and His Word are not wrong on this issue! God and His Word are not unclear on this issue! God wants our hope, our trust, and our justice to come from Him ALONE!

Then comes along Jesus. While many may be sighing in relief right now that Jesus makes it all okay, nothing could be further from the truth because Jesus actually went right straight to the heart of the matter of not trusting God alone:

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24 (also, Mark 8.34 & Luke 9.23)]

Debt, insurance, medicine and technology are our "...own way." And, the very destruction they claim we need them to remediate is the very destruction Jesus, to the contrary, instructed us to fearlessly embrace: "take up your cross..."!

This is a clear representation of what the Word of God teaches us. And, we can be absolutely certain that...

Every word of God proves true. He is a shield to all who come to him for protection. [Proverbs 30.5]

Father in heaven, we have for so long believed the lie that we need something in addition to You to be sustained in this earth. However, Your word is clear that You want and demand that we trust in You ALONE. Now, for us to get back to that kind of dependence only upon You, we find ourselves not only with a spiritual decision, but a cultural decision... one that will undoubtedly disrupt all that we know as "normal" in our lives. Raise up among us those who will courageously break counsel with the world and religion not following the advice of the wicked, not standing around with sinners, and not joining in with mockers. Raise up among us those who will give up their own way, take up their cross, and follow Jesus - God in the flesh - ALONE. So be it. 

Not Just Trusting God, But Trusting God ALONE

O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, what joy for those who trust in you. [Psalm 84.12] 

It is a powerful little verse. It basically sums up the Bible. And, it goes along perfectly with what Hebrews says about God:

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. [Hebrews 11.6]

God actually seeks out those who are committed to full one hundred percent trust in Him: 

The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. [2 Chronicles 16.9] 

When we compare God's pleasure with our faith in the verses above with His commandments, we find just how serious God is about our faith and trust in Him and Him ALONE:

“I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. “You must not have any other god but me. “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands. “You must not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The LORD will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name. [Exodus 20.2-7]

Not just trusting God, but trusting God ALONE is God's idea of relationship. This is God's choice and not man's. Partial trust in God is not even a thing in God's eyes, and goes unrecognized by Him. Contrary to popular belief, God does not give participation awards.

Jesus, as God in the flesh, was not at all being abstract when He laid our His demand upon His followers:

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24 (also, Mark 8.34 & Luke 9.23)]

Yes, God's love and mercy are there, but when it comes to faith, He makes no exceptions. "Giving up" and "taking up your cross" are all-in responses to God and not merely suggestions. They are essential. He does not compete for some of our trust - He demands all of it it.

Jesus will not rule our hearts alongside other leaders (idols) in our lives.

We should not be surprised at the statement above, because it is the theme of the entire Bible. To miss God on this point, is to miss God altogether: God is God ALONE.

Frankly, if God's people really believed what is said up to this point (myself included), our lives would look entirely different than they do. We cannot look like God and look like the world too. We cannot trust God and trust the world too. It is not possible... regardless what we deceive ourselves to think. 

Anything we trust (put our faith in) that the godless world trusts also, is an idol. Let that soak in.

Father, Your call to undivided faith is undeniable. Help us to see that until we actually believe this fact, we are just "playing church" in powerless religion. May Your Church rise up in faith that pleases You intentionally choosing faith in You ALONE over any and every worldly solution (idol). So be it.

Neither Death Nor Life...

Only by your power can we push back our enemies; only in your name can we trample our foes. I do not trust in my bow; I do not count on my sword to save me. [Psalm 44.5-6] 

Psalm 44 is a tough one. As much as we would like to make a poster for the wall with the passage above on it, we must first consider the entire context of Psalm 44 to get the full impact of it.

Ready?

What follows the passage above, starting in verse 9 and going through verse 16 sets an uncomfortable stage for what is coming afterwards:

But now you have tossed us aside in dishonor. You no longer lead our armies to battle. You make us retreat from our enemies and allow those who hate us to plunder our land. You have butchered us like sheep and scattered us among the nations. You sold your precious people for a pittance, making nothing on the sale. You let our neighbors mock us. We are an object of scorn and derision to those around us. You have made us the butt of their jokes; they shake their heads at us in scorn. We can’t escape the constant humiliation; shame is written across our faces. All we hear are the taunts of our mockers. All we see are our vengeful enemies. [Psalm 44.9-16]

 And what comes after Psalm 44.9-16?

All this has happened though we have not forgotten you. We have not violated your covenant. Our hearts have not deserted you. We have not strayed from your path. Yet you have crushed us in the jackal’s desert home. You have covered us with darkness and death. If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread our hands in prayer to foreign gods, God would surely have known it, for he knows the secrets of every heart. But for your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep. [Psalm 44.17-22]

How can this be reconciled? The Bible clearly teaches that blessings will chase those who obey God. It also teaches that curses will chase those who disobey God (see Deuteronomy 28). 

The last part of Psalm 44 gives little comfort...

Wake up, O Lord! Why do you sleep? Get up! Do not reject us forever. Why do you look the other way? Why do you ignore our suffering and oppression? We collapse in the dust, lying face down in the dirt. Rise up! Help us! Ransom us because of your unfailing love. [Psalm 44.23-26]

Psalm 44 should be seen as a momentous Psalm of true heart commitment. Think of Daniel at this point. Think of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego at this point. They were arrested and put in deadly situations even though they had done absolutely nothing wrong in God's eyes. And yet, there was the time between their righteous living and their undeserved punishment (persecution) where they could easily and appropriately cry out the words of Psalm 44.

The presence of mind necessary to quote Psalm 44 in the midst of undeserved trials is other-worldly. Nominal Christians will never understand it. Anyone who idolizes life will never understand it. Anyone who is not one hundred percent committed to God will never understand it. Anyone who has not given up everything, taken up their cross, and followed Jesus will never understand it. And yet... the apostle Paul, in his letter to the Roman Church actually quoted from Psalm 44:

Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. [Romans 8.35-39]

And this brings us back to the subject passage above from Psalm 44.5-6...

Only by your power can we push back our enemies; only in your name can we trample our foes. I do not trust in my bow; I do not count on my sword to save me. [Psalm 44.5-6] 

We all understand the "neither death..." part of Paul's words in Romans 8, but do we understand the "nor life..." part of it? Are we as willing to disallow life from separating us from God's love as much as we are willing to disallow death from it? Before answering this question, should we not consider the degree to which we strive to "live" in spite of God's promise to care for us only in His name without the aid of our own devices (our bow and sword)? We should.

It is here where we see our "bow and sword" idol industries of finance, insurance, medicine and technology manifest. We REALLY don't believe Psalm 44.5-6! When faced with lack, disaster, sickness or discomfort, we quickly (and whorishly, in God's eyes) turn to the idols mentioned herein negating any possibility of us quoting Psalm 44 with any integrity of commitment. And worse, we look just like the world having completely missed the opportunity to give witness to a Daniel-in-the-lion's-den moment. We miss a fiery-furnace opportunity like the three Hebrews to refuse to bow regardless the outcome.

Yes, the reason we don't see the miraculous today is because we don't "need" to (or, so we think). Who needs God when we have debt, insurance medicine and technology to keep us alive and thriving? These man-made solutions for "living" - staying alive - (our bow and sword) render us independent of God - whether we admit it or not.

Let's look at what Jesus demanded:

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24 (also, Mark 8.34 & Luke 9.23)]

If giving up "your own way" is not clear enough, taking up "your cross" makes it crystal clear that not even death (our cross) is a deterrent to following Jesus. Aaaaaaand that is where most people draw their line. After all, doesn't it say somewhere in the Bible that God helps those who help themselves??? In a word, "No."

Is our commitment to God only good as long as it does not hurt? It's a good thing Jesus did not have that attitude.

The Bible reveals God's desire to bless His people. This is indisputable.

The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. [2 Chronicles 16.9]

How far are we willing to go to fully commit to Him? 

Father, for as many times as I have struggled with Psalm 44, today, I feel like I get it (at least to some degree). May Your power manifest in me - whether it is the power to live or the power to die. May my life glorify You and ONLY You. So be it.

Speak Up

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice. [Proverbs 31.8-9] 

Aside from the 6th Commandment, no other scripture in the entire Bible justifies preserving the lives of unborn children more than this verse in Proverbs.

Father in heaven, may Your blessing be obvious upon those who speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. As the deadly war on unborn children continues across the world, strengthen the unyielding warriors who tirelessly and selflessly champion the cause for life. So be it.

Sparks Need To Fly

As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.. [Proverbs 27.17] 

Do our friends make us sharp? Or, do they make us dull?

Here's another way to view this...

Do we make our friends sharp? Or, do we make them dull?

The bottom line is this: sparks need to fly. Otherwise, no sharpening is going on.

Maybe this explains the value of some marriages that seem to create so many sparks!

And, maybe it explains why some "friendships" never create any sparks and are worthless.

Perhaps our true friends are those with whom we make sparks. It would make sense then, that we "follow the light" gravitating to those people where the sparks fly.

Just a thought...

Father, thank You for those in my life who make sparks fly. May we never shy away from the sparks. So be it.

May We Be Healed

And the LORD listened to Hezekiah’s prayer and healed the people. [2 Chronicles 30.20] 

When God answers prayers, powerful things happen.

Sadly, many today do not believe the statement above.

Too bad.

Father in heaven, forgive us for allowing our faith to become so abstract that we do not even expect Your power to manifest when we pray. Help us to see, from Hezekiah's story that abstract (powerless) faith comes from diluted or abandoned worship of You (idolatry). May we be found getting rid of our idols like they did in Hezekiah's day. May we be found pleading for, and receiving, Your pardon in Jesus Christ, and, as we give up our own way, take up our cross and follow Him, may we be healed. So be it.

Isaiah: Babylon, Industrialization, Satan, Pride, And Man

“How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. [Isaiah 14.12] 

All my Christian life I have believed this passage is directly referring to Satan. But today, I see it much deeper than that...

Yes, the passage above can be interpreted to address Satan, but the context is not about him. The context is about Babylon. If Isaiah 14.12 is kept in context, the more accurate broad "association" (besides Babylon) would be industrialized people in general.

Babylon was just another kingdom. Babylon became strong, formidable, and successful. God used Babylon to accomplish His will toward Israel. Babylon served a time and purpose. However, Babylon became proud.

As best we understand from the Bible, Satan indeed fits the description of Babylon above. However, we should not become distracted with Satan (who, by the way is a deceiver) and fail to see that Isaiah 13-14 just as accurately describes any advanced, industrialized nation (or entity) who forgets God - or worse, attempts to displace God. In fact, Isaiah 13-14 can just as easily address any individual raised up and used by God for a particular role who then becomes proud and falls.

When we think of "industrialization" we tend to think of factories and machines and such. But that thinking is shortsighted because industrialization includes much more than just factories and machines. Industrialization also includes finance, insurance, medicine and technology - all industries unto themselves. See where this is going?

Should we not raise an eyebrow at the following indictment upon "the world" (underlined below) in the midst of God's address specifically to Babylon?

“I, the LORD, will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their sin. I will crush the arrogance of the proud and humble the pride of the mighty. [Isaiah 13.11]

In the midst of God's judgment upon Babylon, we see that God's disdain for pride is universal. In fact, when God wrote His rules, He was quite clear Who was in charge in rule #1:

“I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. “You must not have any other god but me. [Exodus 20.2-3] 

It is pure pride and arrogance to even give consideration to another god, starting with the god of "self" (as the Bible attests in the Garden of Eden). It doesn't matter whether it's Adam and Eve, Babylon, Satan, the United States, or "me." The decreed reward for pride is devastation.

Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall. [Proverbs 16.18]

Babylon is simply the "poster-child" of Isaiah's day for God's opinion about pride. Pride abuses power and displaces God (or, so it thinks). Satan did it in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve did it in the Garden of Eden, and Babylon did it in Isaiah's day. What does it in our day? Dare we ask?

As industrialization represents power, we must understand the propensity for pride to enter the picture. The industrialization ("empowerment") of mankind today is best seen in the areas of finance, insurance, medicine and technology. Stay with me... We need only look at these industries' advertisements to see their pride... let me say that another way... to see their "Pride" displayed before the world in their advertisements depicting God-forbidden lifestyles. The so-called "Pride" movement, in self-prophecy, embraces an in-your-face attitude toward the world and toward God. The industries mentioned herein that show support for the "Pride" movement make themselves "Babylon" deserving every devastating loss described in Isaiah 13-14. And, any person associated with these industries will ultimately suffer the same loss.

To be certain, even if the industries mentioned above did not embrace alternative lifestyle "Pride" they have still become proud. They genuinely believe they are "God's gift" to society and that God will not work without them. And, that is where they are wrong. That is where they have become proud. That is where they, like Babylon, took it too far becoming an abusive burden upon the people - yes, God's people. That is where they have sealed both theirs and their followers' fate.

Nothing would please Satan more than for us to 'check out brains at the door' reading Isaiah 13-14 as a narrative about him while failing to realize that it is a warning to God's people about pride (including "Pride"). Satan does not care what we say about him as long as we are following him.

So, while Isaiah 14.12 can indeed be a reference to Satan, it can just as easily and appropriately be a reference to anyone anywhere as they are empowered by the Most High and then become proud.

Just like Satan and Babylon, the industries of finance, insurance, medicine and technology served a time-and-place purpose. However, in their eventual and overwhelming empowerment, pride entered in and, at that moment, they became God's enemies - idols unto themselves and costly idols to all who depend upon them.

I don't like where this is going any more than anyone else. But, without question, that's why Jesus' no-pride demand is so uncomfortable:

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24 (also, Mark 8.34 & Luke 9.23)]

Father, as You are so faithful to do, You have allowed my eyes to see, my ears to hear, and my heart to understand Your Word just a bit deeper today. And, it causes me great discomfort. Now, what will I do with it? May I see that every Old Testament writing points me to Jesus, and, may I be found giving up my own way, taking up my cross, and following Him. So be it.