3/1/10- The Shepherd is our Healer Psalm 23

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Thoughts: This is the most healing psalm. It does not mention healing directly- but it speaks of God’s leading into quiet, restoring our soul, guiding us through the valley of the shadow of death, leading us through fearful evil, helping us to face our enemies, enriching us, and the hope of each day and eternity. It is impossible to believe this psalm and not be comforted and have more hope. For many today there is no shepherd, no one to guide them, protect them, comfort them. They are like lost sheep. If you know your shepherd, then find comfort in Him today.

Prayer: Lord, shepherd me through this dark valley. Restore my soul.

2/28/10 Grapes from Chile and How God speaks

10 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." 11 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

(Chilean road- post earthquake- Christian Science Monitor)
Yesterday I was eating wonderful red seedless grapes.  I looked at the package and they were from Chile.  I wonder how those vinedressers are doing today.  Why should we care about a Chilean earthquake thousands of miles away?  It is the ripple effect- like a very small tsunami that rolls around the world, it eventually effects us.
But that is not the main reason we should care.  We should care because we have the ability to care.  When the last terrible earthquake his Chile in 1960 it generated a tsunami that killed 61 in Hawaii.  Most Americans did not see footage or pictures of that quake.  We knew the Chilean earthquake caused the tsunami (whereas in the past we were blind to that), but we weren't able to have any kind of prediction or safety warnings or ways to see it from a thousand video cameras focused on the ocean.  We are able to know more.  We have a global economy and are able to see, relate, communicate (President Obama called President Bachelet), tons of inofrmation on the internet. 
God also cares for the people of Chile. He cares that they know Him, and can experience His strength, grace, and love at such a time as this (Mt. 28:20; Ps. 46:1,2).  If God cares, and we are His people, we should show concern too.
But there is one more reason- illustrated in this passage.  God speaks through events.  The old theologians called it "providence."  There's a great old hymn ("I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say")- that says, "Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire oh still small voice of God."  God speaks through the catastrophes of life to us- the storms, the bad news about our health, the death of a lvoed one.  In such times we thank God, curse God (we shouldn't do that), pray earnestly to God.  Frontier Missions says that 40% of the break throughs with new church plants in Muslim, Chinese, or Hindu countries occur in response to a disaster. When everything else is stripped away, we can hear God's still small voice speaking to us (as to Elijah above).

Prayer: Lord, on this Sabbath Day- your day, speak to my heart.  Help me to care for others as you do.  Give me a heart of compassion, and a listening heart this day.  Be with the people of Chile as they go to worship today, and as they rebuild. Move in their midst and also in mine.

85% of Chile professes Christianity.  The Presbyterian Church has been there since 1845- the Iglesia Presbiteriana de Chile is our partner church and is the third largest Christian denomination there.

Psalm 46:1,2 Handling Earthquakes spiritually

Psalm 46:1,2
1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. (NIV)

1-3 God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him. We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom, courageous in seastorm and earthquake, Before the rush and roar of oceans, the tremors that shift mountains. (The Message)

January 12 a major (7.0) earthquake hits Haiti.  230,000 people died. February 4 a 6.0 magnitude earthquake hit northern California. Last Friday (2/26) a 7.3 earthquake hit Okinawa.  Now an 8.8 earthquake hits Chile.  There is some clear shifting of the earth's plates going on.

How should Christians react to such things?
1) Do not fear.  The peace we have amidst the hurricanes, earthquakes, global warming, or whatever should show the world it is possible to have peace in God.  Psalm 46 reminds us that God is our refuge and strength- not the earth or science.
2) Pray.  Pray for the people of Haiti and Chile especially.  Pray not only for their physical needs, but for their spiritual needs, and that people will turn to God for peace, strength, and grace.
3) Seek to help.  Giving to those in need- primarily through our churches' disaster assistance, hygiene kits are some helpful things we can do.
4) Look for God- God is in the midst of the earthquake, the storm, the fire.  Sometimes the sign of His coming is the alarm clock of a disaster.  His ultimate second coming will also come with earthquakes.  Often people ask "Where is God?" in a disaster, but stories gradually come out of His help.  Look closer and you will see His hand at work helping too.

Jesus said: 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of birth pains. 9"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Christians always stand at the edge of history, recognizing that security in this life is fleeting.  You would think people would know that because everyone knows that their personal history will end one day.  But we make false security with a belief that our health care will keep us healthy forever; our makeup, contacts, botox will keep us young; our money and clothes will keep us happy.  Disasters remind us of the fleeting nature of life, and should remind us to turn back to God who made the earth and sea.

Prayer: Lord, this day, strengthen those who are trying to help others in your name in Chile and Haiti.  Give grace that the people of Haiti and Chile will find your sterngth and help.

2/25/20 Psalm 22:14-15 Poured Out Like Wax

2/26- Psalm 22:14-15


14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me. 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.

(Empty cistern in Meggiddo)


Thoughts: I am shriveling away into dust. My life is melting away. Dehydration often takes place in the midst of sickness, pain, and death. You can almost feel this person poured out, hot as liquid wax, and drying up. He is describing his human physical agony, but also his spiritual agony. We long for God as the deer longs for water; as someone in the desert longs for a drink; as someone who is dehydrated longs for energy and strength. I have had three heat strokes in my life, and all of them made me feel like what this writer describes- weak, dry, hot, sick. Sickness is, like pain, an alarm clock that something is not right. It helps us to cry out for help while we still can cry out. It is the foolish person who doesn’t call out to God for help when there is nowhere else to turn.



Prayer: In my sickness, hear my cry O Lord. Have mercy upon me.

2/25/10- Psalm 22:1,2; Feeling Forsaken by God

2/25- Psalm 22:1-2

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.

Thoughts: The darkest night is right before the dawn. The coldest part of the evening is usually right before the first rays of light. Jesus quoted these words on the cross (Mt 27:46), and they are words for those who are sick, in despair, without much hope. We can think of the people who have it easier than we do, and then we feel a bit guilty. Perhaps there is someone who has it worse than we do. Certainly Jesus felt forsaken. Here was someone innocent being treated as if they had killed someone. Here was someone who left their palace of heaven to come down to earth and we treated him not with indifference but with torture. This is the cry of someone being tortured with pain. There are times that it is our cry too. I will not forget the band “Guess Who” quoting this in a top 40 album in 1969. There is a part of us that relates to this forsakenness. But the Good Shepherd does not forsake his sheep.
     The scriptures are full of examples of our forsaking Him.  They also have examples of people feeling forsaken by God (this verse, Lam 5:20; Ezek 8:12).  But never does it say that God has forsaken them (though their are implications that when the wicked leave God He leaves them to their own devices).  In fact, there are promises that God will not forsake the needy or the righteous-ever.  Hebrews says, "Never will I leave you nor forsake you." (Deut 31:6,8; Josh 1:5; Ps 9:10; 27:10; 37:25; Isa 41:17, 42;16; Heb 13:5).  Some say Jesus felt forsaken because he was taking our sin upon himself- and our sin separated him from the Father.  This may be true, but it clearly illustrates he fully experienced our humanity- feeling forsaken by the Father- though Jesus knew the Father had not left him.  His quoting this verse on the cross reminds us he understands.  Yet, even on the cross the Father was present, working, and leading to the resurrection.  He will never leave us nor forsake us. 

Prayer: Lord, when I feel forsaken, hear my cry for mercy.

2/24/10- Psalm 6; Hope in the Midst of Weeping

2/24- Psalm 6:2-4, 6-9

2 Be merciful to me, LORD, for I am faint; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are in agony. 3 My soul is in anguish. How long, O LORD, how long? 4 Turn, O LORD, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love. 6 I am worn out from groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. 7 My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes. 8 Away from me, all you who do evil, for the LORD has heard my weeping. 9 The LORD has heard my cry for mercy; the LORD accepts my prayer.
"Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted."  (Mt. 5:4)

Thoughts: The question is, “How long must I wait until you turn things around, O Lord?” Here was someone who felt like his agony, his soul-felt anguish, his lack of sleep, a growing opposition, have all piled against him. He was in the dark valley. But even in the deepest valley he had hopes that God had heard his weeping and his cry for mercy. This is the hope of faith, and this is the hope of which we should never let go.
When we are in the midst of pain, sometimes it is painful to even be reminded of hope.  We think that those who have hope do not understand the pain.  It is a blessing to yourself and others to remember that the Lord hears our cry, and one day our mourning will end- not just with death (which is hopeless, but a worldly comfort) but with resurrection.  The Lord will wipe away every tear.  Ultimately pain and sickness will get our bodies, but pain and sickness cannot conquer your eternal soul unless we let it.

Prayer: It is tiring to wait, will you come to my rescue soon, O Lord?

ISAIAH 61:1-4 Out of the Ashes

2/23- Isaiah 61:1-4

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. 4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.

Thoughts: Jesus clearly saw these verses in Isaiah as fulfilled in him as he came to heal and to help. He comforted and healed the sick and hurting and convicted the self-righteous. God changes our ashes into the oil of gladness. The picture above is the Phoenix coming out of the ashes.  Christians adopted this story as the story of the resurrection.  It is not just Christ's resurrection, but our own that this symbolizes.  It is not just what happens to us after we die, but what God does with us- in conversion, in sanctification, in daily life.  He takes what is worthless and makes it a crown. When Yellowstone caught fire in 1988 and almost 800,000 acres burned (36% of the park), it looked hopeless to ever come back. But the ashes served as natural fertilizer and the park is now greener and healthier than ever.  Sickness can be the furnace that purifies us as gold (helping us to see what is important), but also provides fertilizer to our spiritual growth.


Prayer: Lord, you are our comfort and our help. Turn our mourning into dancing. Make a crown of beauty out of the ashes of sorrow.