Category: Uncategorized

The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield
and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalm 18:2

I’m really into castles, though I’ve never really been to one. I’ve taken virtual tours online and checked out books from the library. Sometimes, as a kid, I’d lie in bed at night and fantasize about owning a thick-walled castle. I’d pretend the enemy surrounded the place. They’d be yelling, screaming and shooting arrows, but I saw myself reclining in a four-poster bed away in some high tower. Then, I’d fall asleep.

King David had a thing for fortresses too, and they also helped him sleep at night. Five times in the Old Testament, David calls God his fortress and then adds on several other terms that communicate defensive positions. David wasn’t just paranoid; bad guys really were out to get him, but the bottom line was that he felt safe when he was close to God.

Living in a dangerous world, tragedy can come into everyone’s life at any time. Many people are afraid to leave their homes or meet new people. Bound by fear, they are paralyzed to venture out past their comfort zone. They can’t be spontaneous; they’re too afraid of what might happen.

Believers who are “strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10) have Christ as their fortress and “fear no evil” (Psalm 23:4). There is a peace and attitude of security, because they know that God is in control. Nothing, absolutely nothing, can happen in the life of a child of God that isn’t His will. There’s great confidence in that. It enables us to live life to the fullest.

If, and when, bad things happen to good people, God is still in charge and allows this for a greater good. Scoffers mock God when this happens and say, “See, God can’t save you from harm!” The fact of the matter is that the Lord can and does protect His saints. The mockers will never understand the peace that surpasses understanding (Philippians 4:7), because they have never even spent one day in the security of Jesus the Fortress.

 March 5 

The Lord also will be a refuge for the
oppressed, A refuge in times of trouble.
Psalm 9:9

How do deer and ducks know where the wildlife refuge is? It’s probably trial and error, but also clearly, experience. Once an animal has been shot at, it soon learns to avoid people in those orange vests. It can also sense when it is safe and not in a constant life-or-death situation.

David, before He became King, would often go for days at a time without eating or sleeping. Like a hunted animal, he was on  the run from his enemies. David felt the safest when he felt close to the LORD. At times, even though physical circumstances didn’t change (King Saul, the Philistines, or the Amorites were still trying to track him down), David would be at peace and could calm his troubled soul because he felt at rest in God’s Refuge. He had that sense of well-being, knowing that the Almighty was in control and nothing could harm him there.

The Hebrew word “Misgab,” which is translated into English as “refuge,” actually conveys the idea of something lofty or inaccessible and projects the image of a hill fort. When there are bad guys out to get you, it means safety, hope, and asylum (i.e. refuge).

The word occurs only once in the New Testament and refers to Christ: “we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us” (Hebrews 6:18). In this context, the enemy is sin and the prospect of eternal judgment. Instead of fleeing to some high tower made of stone, the believer approaches the Lord Jesus in His capacity as High Priest so He can make intercession for him/her. The end result is the same feeling of well-being that David had. “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil” (Hebrews 6:19). It is the feeling of security which comes from being in a safe Refuge.

 March 6 

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, ”
That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness;
A King shall reign and prosper, And execute
judgment and righteousness in the earth.”
Jeremiah 23:5

Branches are supposed to produce fruit, but crabapples are a big disappointment for someone longing for a Red Delicious. However, horticulture has solved this problem with various grafting techniques. Hearty crabapple root stock is used to support various branches from commercial apple varieties that by themselves don’t flourish well in certain environments. The top and bottom of the tree have different DNA, but the quality of fruit is what people care about.

David was a man after God’s own heart who did His will (1 Samuel 13:14), so God promised that the Messiah would come through him. Yet, most of the descendants that came from the “root of David” missed the mark concerning holiness. Even David, who wrote beautiful psalms of praise to God, turned out to be a murderer, deceiver, and adulterer.

The anointed of the Lord had to be not only a descendant of David but also a Branch of Righteousness that would bring back holiness to the Davidic dynasty. Since Mary, the mother of Christ, was of David’s bloodline, connection with the root was established. Being conceived of the Holy Spirit without a human father, the Righteous branch was grafted into the character of the Savior. All the promises given both to the Jewish people and to the Christian church have certainly been fulfilled. The Lord Jesus is not only David’s kin; He is God’s Branch of Righteousness.

 February 19 

For the LORD Most High is awesome;
He is a great King over all the earth.
Psalm 47:2

Scary! That’s what it felt like to grow up in the early 1960s. The Cold War was at its height; the media focused on nuclear annihilation, and Communism seemed to be an unstoppable force. Cuba exported revolution to every country in South America, and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev vowed to take over the world.

That, of course, never happened. Sometime in the early 1990s, the Soviet Union quietly dried up and blew away. Today, there are whispers about the Illuminati clandestinely taking over the planet, and radical Islam would also like to take a stab at world domination. Just like emperors and despots of the past, there is no end of candidates who want to attain the status of king over all the Earth.

The book of Revelation does foresee that this New World Order is coming, but it won’t be the utopia that many people are hoping for. A terrible and cruel world leader that the Bible labels as “the Beast” will control the wealth and souls of the planet and witness the death of three-fourths of the human population in a seven-year period.

All opposition to the Beast will be crushed and world religions extinguished, because the Antichrist will become king over all the earth. The good news to this is that the downfall of this evil world leader is just as sure as his ascension to power. When all human resistance is gone, and hopelessness grows to record proportions, the Lord of Hosts will descend from heaven with a huge army of warrior angels to defeat forever the Beast.

The real New World Order will begin. King Jesus will reign in Jerusalem and all creation will acknowledge Him as King over All the Earth.

 February 20 

He saw that there was no man, And wondered that
there was no intercessor; Therefore His own arm brought
salvation for Him; And His own righteousness, it sustained Him.
Isaiah 59:16

Isaiah chapter 59 starts off sad and then ends with great promises for God’s people. The sins of the people had separated Judah from their God and no one was calling out for help. The Lord God saw that there was no justice and no one to act as an intercessor for them. That’s when God promised to do that Himself.

The prophesy began to fulfill itself during Christ’s earthly ministry, but His full role of Intercessor is happening now as the Savior pleads for His followers. “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25).

If the Lord didn’t hold back when He suffered and died to save the human race, He will certainly do other things for us that don’t hurt (Romans 8:32). The Apostle Paul asks the question, “Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us” (Romans 8:34).

What kinds of things does Jesus bring before the Father? Christ intercedes on an individual level for each believer, every time he/she falls short of the glory of God. God the Father talks with the Son about the believer’s secret sins, trust issues, lack of spiritual growth and the use or misuse of spiritual gifts. I’m not sure about everything they discuss, but consequences, discipline and how each saint can be better conformed to the Son must also be on the list.

If I were perfect, I wouldn’t need an Intercessor. But since I’m not, I’m grateful that the Lord Jesus is always there for me.

 February 21 

He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall
justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.
Isaiah 53:11

The Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 is perhaps the clearest description of the Messiah found in the Old Testament scripture. Here, the Man of Sorrows is clearly portrayed as Rejected by men and as the Lamb led to slaughter. The prophecy says He made His grave with the wicked (the thieves crucified with Jesus) and with the rich at His death (Christ was buried in a wealthy man’s tomb). Finally, it is noted that God was well-pleased with the job done by His Anointed.

The detail that appears in this verse, but is not found anywhere else in the Bible, is that Christ was God’s Righteous Servant. Typical adjectives that describe a servant might be loyal, trustworthy, faithful, or hardworking. The term “righteous” doesn’t seem to be appropriate for domestic help and might appear more fitting for someone higher up on the career food chain than a mere servant.

The important point to remember with this title is that the Savior was God’s servant, not man’s. Righteousness is a divine quality and part of this servant’s job description. God’s Righteous Servant came to this world to justify many and bear their iniquities. For this to happen, the Son of God had to be holy, sinless, and blameless. Without doubt, He was Righteous.

A servant’s job is to do the will of his master. In this case, it meant being cursed, rejected, tortured, and killed. The skills required for the task involved blessing the tormentors, rejoicing in suffering, loving the unlovable, and dying in triumph. Anyone less than a Righteous Servant would have failed at the task.

 February 23 

Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You,
glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?
Exodus 15:11

The scene of the parting of the Red Sea in Cecil B. DeMille’s epic film The Ten Commandments is one of the most famous and memorable special effects shots of classic cinematography. However, standing on the beach with the children of Israel 3,500 years ago would have been much more impressive.

The emotional swing from the terror of fleeing from a huge Egyptian army to the elation of seeing all one’s enemies totally destroyed would have been intense. Being eye witnesses of God’s awesome power invoked a sense of gratitude that was spontaneously released in song: “I will sing to the LORD, For He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!” (Exodus 15:1). There must have been great joy, but also a little timidity in their voices while singing to the One who is Fearful in Praises.

If God’s triumph over Egypt was awe inspiring, Christ’s victory over sin, death, and hell at the cross was even more so. Satan and his demon army were defeated forever, and they never saw it coming. The awesomeness of this victory makes Christians of all centuries want to sing:

When He rolls up His sleeves
He ain’t just putting on the Ritz
(Our God is an awesome God)
There’s thunder in His footsteps
And lightning in His fists
(Our God is an awesome God)
And the Lord wasn’t joking when He kicked ’em out of Eden
It wasn’t for no reason that He shed His blood
His return is very close and so you better be believing that
Our God is …“Fearful in Praises”
                                     adapted from Rich Mullins (1955-1997)

 February 24 

That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
John 1:9

If there is true light, there must also be false light. What is that like?

False light is light that is used to deceive. It is found in optical illusions and the tricks magicians do with smoke and mirrors. However, perhaps the greatest false light comes from the flash and sparkle of Hollywood.

Hundreds of thousands of young people have been attracted by the allure of their name in lights on a theater marquee. Being in the spotlight and having name recognition seem so desirable and important that they sacrifice everything to attain these goals. The sad thing is that few ever do get it, and even sadder is that most who acquire the fame are unsatisfied by it.

Recently I googled “actors that committed suicide” and found a list of 227 men and 145 women who ended their own lives in despair. The sheer numbers of “successful” entertainers that had nothing to live for speak volumes about the fatal attraction of false light.

Contrast all this with Jesus Christ, the True Light who gives light to everyone in this world. That light reveals truth – the good, the bad, and the ugly. That’s a problem, because people prefer delusion over inconvenient truths. Men and women love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil (John 3:19). They don’t want to hear about sin, righteousness, or judgment and would rather that the god of this age blind them to the “light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4).

If a candle and a 100-watt light bulb are both burning 10 feet from each other, the candle casts the shadow. Although the world seems to glitter and glow, people need to get out of the shadows and into the True Light.

 February 25 

      I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand;
I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles…
Isaiah 42:6*

God promised Israel that He would send His Anointed to them. Many details were given about the Messiah, so God’s people knew what to expect. Born of a virgin, He would be Immanuel, “God with us,” who would reign forever on the throne of David in Jerusalem. One additional fact was repeated a number of times: He would be a Light to the Gentiles. But when hundreds of years went by without the prophesies being fulfilled, many of the Jewish people gave up waiting and re-explained the scriptures to mean other things. Gentile nations occupied and controlled Jerusalem without allowing a descendant of David to reign there. The prophesy seemed impossible to fulfill.

However, one curious bit of ancient history was playing out that no one expected. Ptolemy I, a general under Alexander the Great, ruled North Africa and commanded a Great Library be built in Alexandria, Egypt. He wanted a Greek translation of every book that existed in the world. Seventy Hebrew scholars translated the Old Testament. It was called the “Septuagint,” which means “seventy.” After that, this translation made its way into every synagogue of the Ancient Greek-speaking world.

Curious Gentiles read the prophesies of the Jewish Messiah, but the word that was used in Greek was “Christos” or “the Christ.” Educated Greeks knew that this Christ was to come, and huge numbers responded when they heard the message of the gospel, recognizing that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised one of God.

Paul and Barnabas saw this supernatural response of the Gentiles and paraphrased Isaiah’s prophesy when they preached in Antioch of Psidia: “For so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’” (Acts 13:47).

The Jewish people had not recieved their Messiah as king, so He’ll come at a later time to reign. The part of the prophesy that has been clearly demonstrated already was that the Lord’s Anointed became a Light to the Gentiles.

*Isaiah 9:1-2; 49:6; Luke 2:32, Acts26:23.

 February 26 

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
John 8:12

On the first day of creation, God (Elohim) said “’Let there be light’; and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). Before God invented it, light didn’t exist. After He made it, God’s bright creation was obvious to anyone with eyes. Actually, He also had to create eyes and the brain software that converts light into images, so that others could enjoy what He made.

When Christ came into the world, God began a whole new act of creation. The Savior offered a wonderful, new upgrade for the human race to change people into sons and daughters of God. The best part of it was that it cost them nothing at all. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

The difference between the new and old person is as clear as night and day (or light and darkness). However, not everyone can see the difference, because eyes of faith are necessary to see it. To transformed people, Jesus became the Light of the World. Those who are unchanged are blind as bats. They actually see just enough to know they want to get away from His presence.

Most creatures of the night try to flee or hide from light. Cockroaches, mice, and sinners don’t want to be seen. The first two run away because they don’t want to be eaten by another animal. The last group are ashamed of their deeds.

Jesus not only reveals what people do at their darkest moments, but He also shows them who they are. The majority of sinners don’t want to see that they have fallen short of the glory of God, so they close their eyes to the light. But as many as receive Him become sons and daughters of light, because He is the Light of the World.

 February 27