Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it

After reading Psalm 81:10 this morning ("I am Jehovah your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it."), I asked God to fill my mouth in this way. Lord, I would like to see people saved on my Wednesday & Thursday night dinners. I would like to see people saved on the campus as I go out. Is this too much to ask? Or too little to ask? For me, this is good enough for now. I would like to open my mouth this much. Let's see if the Lord will answer my mouth. "Lord, fill my mouth. I am opening my mouth to You." (Oct. 27, 2006, 10:45am EST)

My glory is great

My glory is great? You gotta be kidding. This is what King David said of himself in the third person: "His glory is great in Your salvation; You have laid majesty and splendor upon him; For You have made him to be blessings forever; You have made him glad with rejoicing in Your presence" (Psalms 21:5-6). Perhaps you and I may feel this doesn't apply to me. I don't have majesty and splendor. So let's not kid about glory.

But recently as I am enjoying these verses, I echo David in his feelings: "[My] glory is great in Your salvation."

Before I knew the Lord, I did not have much hope; I was living day to day. My joys in life were few: hanging out with friends, shooting basketball on quiet Saturday mornings, etc. I did not have much desire to be rich or successful; I didn't see the point of it. I didn't have much desire to live long. For what? As long as I could die quietly and painlessly in my sleep, it didn't matter whether it was tomorrow or next day. Surely, I did not want to be found old in a nursing home.

But after I met Jesus in February of 1993, for the first time in my life, I felt as though I had a purpose in my life. At least I felt as though I had a reason to live. To me, this is my glory--I am no longer living a common life. Without the Lord, I may still be in Chicago, in a suburban home, a BMW (my dream car), and being cynical about life. What is a cynic living a suburban life? Total contradiction? It may be, but I could see myself living this kind of contradiction.

Now I have the living water. The purpose of my life is to be a little Jesus, gushing out the living water to people around me (John 4). People are dying of thirst in their emptiness, their sinfulness, and their religion prohibiting them to live a life that God meant all of us to live. But in His salvation, God has brought me and continually bringing me out of my emptiness, my sinfulness and my religion (stuff I do as a Christian without God) to live a life that is much more meaningful, the life of glory.

The earth is Jehovah's and its fullness

I am inspired by Psalm 24:1 "The earth is Jehovah's and its fullness...." Just closing my eyes and traversing the continents, I marvel how beautiful the earth is. Imagine scuba diving in the reefs of Hawaii, climbing Mount Everest, walking through thick jungles of Africa, seeing snowing in Colorodo mountains in July, etc. I cannot count them all, all the splendors of earth. I wonder what percentage of earth beauty I may enjoy in my life time.

How about the microscopic level?

My Jehovah, You are so vast, so beatiful, so fine, so creative. Who is like You?

I am afraid of dogs. But this weekend, I got to pat and rub a big black dog. He liked it and I enjoyed him. I wish I wrestled with him. I still get to kiss my five year old son. I wonder when he will be too cool for me to kiss him. I don't look forward to that day. Oh, Jesus, Jehovah, thank you for my family. My car seemingly needed a new starter. Didn't realize there was a problem with my jumper cables. My next door neighbor helped me to jump my car and looked at my brake sensor. Thanks Shane. Thank you Lord for giving me this opportunity to interact with him and even more for sending him my way.

Sometimes I forget that He owns the earth and the universe

and they are for man's enjoyment.

On my spare time, I would like to investigate the earth that Jehovah owns. I wonder how full it is. Oh Lord work it out for me.

A cool story in the Bible that doesn't need much explaining...

So Ahab [an evil king of Israel] sent word to all the children of Israel and gathered the prophets together unto Mount Carmel. Then Elijah came near to all the people and said, How long will you go hopping between two opinions? If Jehovah is God, follow Him; but if Baal is, follow him. And the people did not answer him a word.

And Elijah said to the people, I alone am left as a prophet of Jehovah, but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Let them therefore give us two bulls. And let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and put it on the wood, but let them apply no fire; and I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood, and I will apply no fire. Then call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Jehovah; and the God who answers by fire, He will be God. And all the people answered and said, The word seems good.

And Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose one bull for yourselves, and prepare it first, for there are many of you. And call on the name of your god, but apply no fire. So they took the bull which had been given them and prepared it; and they called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, answer us! But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they leaped around the altar that had been made. Then at noon Elijah mocked them and said, Cry out with a loud voice, for he is a god; for he is meditating or has wandered off or is on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and will awake. And they cried out with a loud voice and cut themselves, according to their custom, with swords and spears until blood gushed out all over them. And when noon had past, they prophesied until the time of the offering up of the meal offering; but there was no voice nor any that answered nor any attention paid.

Then Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me. And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of Jehovah which was broken down. And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob (to whom the word of Jehovah came, saying, Israel shall be your name); And with the stones he built an altar in the name of Jehovah, and he made a trench around the altar, with a capacity of two measures of seed. And he arranged the wood and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, Fill four jars with water, and pour the water on the burnt offering and on the wood. And he said, Do it a second time. And they did it a second time. And he said, Do it a third time. And they did it a third time. And the water went around the altar, and he filled the trench also with water.

Then at the time of the offering up of the meal offering, Elijah the prophet came near and said, O Jehovah, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and that I have done all these things by Your word. Answer me, O Jehovah; answer me, that this people may know that You, O Jehovah, are God and that You have turned their heart back again.

And the fire of Jehovah fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw this, they fell on their faces and said, Jehovah - He is God! Jehovah - He is God! And Elijah said to them, Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape! And they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there (1 Kings 18:20-40).

Some discussion questions for the cool story. You can comment on them:
1) How long will you go hopping between two opinions? If Jehovah is God, follow Him; but if Baal is, follow him.

2) Elijah mocked them and said, "Cry out with a loud voice, for he is a god; for he is meditating or has wandered off or is on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and will awake. " Are we as buyoant with our God?

3) Elijah repaired the altar of Jehovah which was broken down.

4) Elijah's prayer: "let it be known today that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and that I have done all these things by Your word "

5) Even though so many people witnessed such a wonderful miracle, not many people followed after Jehovah.

One of John's favorite Bible stories...

John Fitzgerald said...

One of my favorite Bible stories appears in Mark 1: 40-45. A leper begs Christ to heal him. Christ reaches out, touches the leper, and heals him. Although Christ instructs the leper not to reveal this miracle to anyone, the leper tells everyone he encounters about the miracle. As a result, Christ is constantly mobbed by people, to the extent that He "could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places."

To me, this episode reveals how Christ saves us from our sins: Before Christ healed the leper, the leper had to live alone in the desert. After Christ healed the leper, Christ had to live alone in the desert. When Christ touches and heals us, he takes upon himself the shame and agony that our sins had caused us. We are healed, and Christ assumes the pain and suffering that we had brought upon ourselves. This reveals, among other things, His great love for us.

Monday, March 13, 2006 3:49:06 PM

When I grow up...

I wonder if it is too late to think about "when I grow up, I want to be..." I am already close to forty and I am still thinking about growing up and becoming a somebody. One of my heroes in the Bible is Uriah the Hittite. You don't hear much about him other than when he was betrayed by his king, David (who is also my hero). However this story tells much about what kind of man he was.

After David slept with Bathsheba and got her pregnant, he tries to cover it up by bringing Uriah from the battle.

"And Uriah came to [David], and David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the battle was going. And David said to Uriah, Go down to your house, and wash your feet. And Uriah went forth from the king's house, and there followed him a present from the king. But Uriah lay down at the entrance to the king's house with all the servants of his lord and did not go down to his house.

And they told David, saying, Uriah did not go down to his house. Then David said to Uriah, Have you not just come from a journey? Why have you not gone down to your house? And Uriah said to David, The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in huts, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open field. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live and your soul lives, I shall by no means do this thing!

And David said to Uriah, Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back. So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the following. Then David invited him to eat and drink in his presence, and he made him drunk. Then in the evening he went forth to lie down on his bed with the servants of his lord, and he did not go down to his house." (2 Samuel 11:7-13)

When David realized that he could not cover up the situation, he wrote a letter to his general, Joab, and sent the letter by the hand of Uriah saying "Put Uriah in the forefront of the hardest battle, and withdraw from him that he may be struck down and die." (2 Sam. 11:14-15)

If we did not have God, we would merely despair with this story. If we knew that following God and his servant so absolutely results in this kind of betrayal, no one would dare to go this way. However, the betrayal did not mar Uriah's life and testimony. It only reminds us that men are man, regardless how spiritual they may be. But when we follow our commander Jesus, our God, there is no regret in pouring our lives in this way.

I believe Uriah is in God's hall of fame, shining like a bright star. I wonder if in my life I could also live with this attitude "The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in huts, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open field. Shall I then go to my house to eat and drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live and your soul lives, I shall by no means do this thing!"

Peter McNaughton says "My favorite story in the Bible..."

My favorite story in the Bible is in Acts, when Paul gives a really long message. A teenager got bored, fell out of the window and died.

To me, the moral is to keep sermons short.

Peter McNaughton, 3/7/06, 11:45 AM

What Shall I Give Unto the Lord?

The Lord went through so much for us. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. The Son came down from a high and all-powerful position just to save us. There’s a song that says “Born in a manger.” You know, actually the Lord wasn’t even born in a manger; He was born near a manger. What a low birth. We all know that when the Lord came to earth, when the creator of the universe and of each one of us came to the earth, there wasn’t even room in the inn; the world didn’t budge an inch for the Lord.

But the Lord came and lived a human life, with all the human limitations. He suffered in every respect like man. He was often tired, cold and hungry. And then He laid His life down as a sacrifice for us. He shed his blood, He gave up His life for us, the perfect for the imperfect. God so loved the world.

There’s a hymn that goes “the love of God is greater far then pen nor tongue could ever tell.” The Lord did all that because he loved mankind. There’s a verse says, “But God being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us.” God has great love and is rich in mercy.

I often think of the story of the Prodigal Son. The son was so sinful (that’s us), and he came back to the father (God), and he said, father, make me like one of your slaves, just take me back. What did the father do? He poured all his riches on the son. Everything the father had he gave to the son. He fed him, clothed him, and everything. You know, God’s salvation is so full. The Lord not only forgave us of our sins. But he also reconciled us to Him. He reconnected us to Him. The father didn’t make the son a slave and give him a bunch of chores to make him pay for his sins. He reconnected the relationship that had been lost on account of the son’s sinning. If we offend a friend he could say, I forgive you but don’t talk to me ever again. But the Lord not only forgave us of our sins, and forgot them, he reconciled us to Himself, now we can have a relationship with the Lord.

Well, there’s a question that’s useful to ask about all of this. It’s a question that’s found in the Bible. That is: What shall I give unto the Lord for all He’s done for me? He came down from the heavens, was born in such a low position, grew up on the earth, and was then spit on, beaten, humiliated, cursed, mocked, had a crown of thorns beaten on His head, and was then nailed to a cross, and he went through all that all for us! Well, what does the Bible say we should give unto the Lord for all He’s done for us? It says, take the cup of salvation, just take more salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. Now that we have been reconciled to the Lord He just wants to save us more. He wants us to call on Him, to praise him, to experience Him. The Lord just wants to continue to save us and to have a relationship with us. He wants to make home in our hearts. He wants to grow in our hearts. And when he does this we have life and peace. Oh what a blessing all of this is. Praise the Lord for all he’s done for us, I just want to take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord.

What shall we give? The Lord wants us to give Him our heart.

Daniel Robert, 3/5/06

Post some of your favorite stories in the Bible with comments.