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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

King David was a man of war, so at times entire armies were out to get him. However, he felt safety and security in the LORD. The many titles above showcase the defensive nature of God to protect and comfort His people. The shepherd-king felt strong, even invincible, knowing the LORD was his stronghold. 

During the middle ages, strongholds actually became an offensive weapon with the development of castles. If a nation wished to invade another, they would often build a fortress deep into enemy territory at some strategic crossroad or elevated checkpoint. Since fewer soldiers were needed to defend a stronghold than to attack it, the invaders could build two or three new castles while the enemy was busy with men and material besieging the first. Little by little a nation would be overrun.

Satan builds strongholds of sin in the minds of men and women. Even Christians feel the effect of this evil influence that only becomes stronger the longer it is permitted to remain. The devil has many blueprints of internal fortresses of influence, just to mention a few: fear, anxiety, sexual impurity, addictions, bitterness, and deceit.

Only Christ has  power enough to demolish them. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4). Believers are given arms and armor to engage in spiritual warfare such as the word of God, faith, the gospel, truth, prayer, and assurance of Salvation. But more importantly than anything else, Christians must feel the comfort and security of their own Strong Tower.

The Lord Jesus Christ Himself is the believer’s fortress and rock in time of trouble. Church and Christian fellowship are certainly helpful but it’s only the Savior that will make the devil flee (James 4:7). “The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him” (Nahum 1:7).

November 12

The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
Psalm 118:22*

Builders are professionals who make their living putting houses and other structures together, so they are confident in their abilities and know-how. Once a contractor has built over one hundred homes, an architect’s blueprint can tend to be treated more like a guideline rather than a rigid plan of action. Some new innovation or out of the ordinary design might be overlooked or even rejected outright.

When Christ began His public ministry, the religious establishment of His day was well entrenched. They built the spiritual temple of God in the minds and lives of the Jewish people by using their own tradition and interpretations for mortar. The Lord Jesus challenged the status quo, and those in charge felt threatened. The rabbi from Nazareth was first ignored and then criticized; they debated and than threatened Him. When that didn’t make Him go away, they conspired to murder Him by falsely accusing Him of a capital crime. However, even after His death, He didn’t go away. Christ rose from the grave and became the Stone which the Builders Rejected.

This was certainly part of God’s plan all along to build a new spiritual temple made up of both Jews and Gentiles that are bonded together with the cement of grace and truth. Those religious master builders rejected and cast aside the most important piece of God’s design for the salvation of Adam’s race.

Among my collection of science toys is a set of 25 hardwood blocks that demonstrate the principle of the Roman arch. When properly assembled, it makes a bridge that can hold the weight of a 200 lb. man. There are six different shapes in the model but only one stands out as unique from the rest: the keystone, which is wider on top than the bottom. When the piece is put in its proper place, it becomes an architectural marvel. When taken away, everything falls apart, because it becomes the Stone which the Builders Rejected.

*see also Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11; 1 Peter 2:7

November 13

By so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.
Hebrews 7:22

“Better” is a key word in understanding the Epistle to the Hebrews. Although the words appear a total of 34 times in ten different New Testament books, it occurs 13 times in 12 verses in Hebrews. Here, Christ is presented as better than the angels and offers us a better hope, better promises, a better sacrifice, and a better resurrection. The Savior is also a Surety of a Better Covenant, whatever that means.

Let’s start with a better known word, covenant. The idea is an agreement or contract. The Old Testament was a pact between God and the descendants of Israel. In the arrangement, God would provide a land for their inheritance, protect them from their enemies, and bless them with prosperity. The Jewish people, for their part, promised to obey God’s law and worship Him at a designated place. However, in the end, they refused to do their part, so the whole agreement broke down.

That’s when Christ came offering a better covenant based on better promises. This new deal was for everyone, not just the Jewish people. It allowed God to unilaterally take care of the sin problem by transforming the sinner into a child of God with changed actions and attitudes. People had to simply believe that Christ conquered sin by dying on the cross. They needed to sign the contract by agreeing with God that what He said was true.

Now comes the part that few people understand. Jesus is the Surety of a Better Covenant. He’s the guarantee that the deal is going to go through. He’s the signing bonus, the proof that everything in the rest of the contract (i.e. eternal life, home in heaven, spiritual blessing, etc.) will be honored. The Savior already died on the cross for mankind’s sin; that was the hard part; all the rest is easy by comparison. “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). Christ is faithful and true, because He is the Surety of a Better Covenant.

November 14

You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image
on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.
Daniel 2:34

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon struck terror in the hearts of his subjects and all those in the neighboring countries around him. His word was law and his laws weren’t always rational. One night the king had a disturbing dream, but by morning he couldn’t remember a thing, so he called all his wise men and magicians. “You guys are supposed to be smart,” Nebu said, “Tell me what my dream was!”

When no one in the national think tank could do what the king commanded, he went into a rage and ordered the execution of all his advisers. A young, Jewish captive, named Daniel, had just started interning for the wise men when he found out that he was also scheduled to die. Concerned about his future, Daniel asked God to fill him in on the dream, so that night, the Lord gave him the same vision He had given to the king.

Daniel then related to Nebuchadnezzar what he saw in his dream. There was a huge statue made with parts of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and clay, but an even greater stone cut out without hands fell from heaven and ground down the awesome image into powder.

The king also heard the interpretation of the dream. Babylon was the golden head of the statue, which meant it was the richest and greatest. Lesser kingdoms would follow one after another and each would have less glory than the one it replaced. The young eunuch then explained the pulverizing stone: “Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold [—] the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this” (Daniel 2:45). All the great empires of the world will come to nothing by the power of God.

Egypt once ruled the world. now it’s a big sand box. Babylon the Great lies desolate and uninhabited in the desert. Greece is bankrupt, Rome is a tourist trap, and the Soviet Union has ceased to exist. Even the greatness and power of the United Sates is waning in the shadow of the Stone cut Out Without Hands, the Lord Jesus Christ.

November 15

And has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David.
Luke 1:69

The day John the Baptist was born, God gave his father, Zacharias the priest, a special prophesy that not only related to his son being chosen by God to be a “prophet of the highest” (Luke 1:76) but also of the coming Messiah. Filled with the Holy Spirit, the old man proclaimed that God had risen up the Horn of Salvation from the house of David.

The horn of a bull or ox was a well-established symbol of power in the Old Testament (see Deuteronomy 33:17; 1 Samuel 2:10; Psalm 75:10). The bronze altar had horns at its four corners representing God’s strength available in every direction. The false prophet Zedekiah made a set of iron horns to convince King Ahab to attack Ramoth Gilead saying, “Thus says the LORD: ‘With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed.'” (1 Kings 22:11). Truly the object lesson was impressive, but the message did not come from God, so Ahab was killed in battle just as the true prophet, Micaiah, predicted.

King David twice called the LORD the “Horn of his Salvation (2 Samuel 22:3; Psalm 18:2) because he realized that it was God who gave him his victories and delivered him from his enemies. The Horn of Salvation also refers to God’s mighty power to save a soul from sin and death and hell. Jesus, whose very name means Salvation, was God’s instrument for thrusting through and bringing down the strongholds of Satan.

Salvation seems so easy from the human viewpoint, even a little child can ask for and receive salvation. However, most people aren’t saved, because the enemies of God (the world, the flesh, and the devil) set up obstacles to faith to prevent them from ever being saved. The good news is that there is no force in the universe that can stand up to Jesus Christ when they are gored with the Horn of Salvation.

November 16

I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
Revelation 1:18

I’m not really into computer games, but I do know people who are addicted to them. One particularly dangerous game is Candy Crush. The idea is that as candy appears on the screen, the good stuff is collected with a flick of the thumb without touching poison; that will kill you. But not to worry, you’re given five lives.

Technically, the game is free. The iPad app is free, playing time is free, and additional lives are free. The loophole comes in the fact that, if someone loses his five lives, there is a waiting period of one half an hour before he can get another life. Since lives come five at a time, that means being offline two and one half hours. That seems like an awful long time when a player is almost to the next level, so for just 99 cents automatically billed to the credit card, the gaming addict can continue without the distraction of returning to reality.

One man was billed $236 in one month for all those extra lives, and another man literally ruptured a tendon in his thumb for playing “Crush” non-stop for days at a time. (He needed surgery to regain use of his hand). People will pay a lot to continue to live just a little longer in their own fantasy world, but they always die again and again.

People would pay millions to get another physical life, if that was for sale, but they would still just die again another day.

Jesus lives and was dead. But that’s not the amazing part. He conquered death, drained it of its power, and is Alive Forevermore.

If medical science could stop the aging process and find a cure for every disease that exists, everyone would still die someday. The good news is that true life is not found in our feeble bodies; it’s found in our souls and spirits. Christ came to this world to bring us life in abundance. Eternal life begins now, gets better every day, and lasts forever. Even when the body breaks down and is buried, we, through the Savior, can be alive forevermore.

November 17

For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
Romans 14:9

Not long ago, I saw a bumper sticker that read “Union Members Vote!” Soon after that, I saw another one declaring “Christians Vote!” One bumper sticker I’ve never seen is “Dead People Vote!” although that also seems to be true.

After every election there are stories and editorials that reveal how many deceased citizens cast ballots. Although their bodies are no longer around, it seems that their political voices are not defunct. Actually, what is happening is a form of voter fraud where a living person votes in the name of someone they met in the obituaries.

Legally, dead people can’t vote because the law says they have ceased to be; they no longer exist. Actually that’s not true. They’ve just become non-residents, which also makes them ineligible to vote.

The true essence of a person is his/her soul and spirit. They are real, but can’t be measured or weighed. They aren’t bound in a physical body which can be seen, because they don’t have mass and form. That body eventually wears out or breaks down, but that person’s everlasting soul remains even after the body is buried. That spiritual person moves on to “the place of the dead” (i.e. Hades, Sheol). State, local, and national governments don’t have jurisdiction there, but order and authority are still very evident.

Christ Jesus is the Lord of Both the Dead and the Living. He reigns over the dead, because He’s gone through death, established residency there, and conquered it. He is the undisputed Lord of all that have gone before.

It is safe to say that many more dead people acknowledge Jesus as Lord than the living. Living souls worship other gods or things more than the Master Creator, but one day that is all going to change. At the final Judgment day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of Both the Dead and the Living.

October 31

Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
James 5:4*

The names of Christ can be a little confusing if you don’t expend some effort  to figure it out. For instance, a lot of people think that the title above is just another spelling for “Lord of the Sabbath” which is found three times in the gospels. That is certainly not the case.

Lord of Sabaoth has its root in the Hebrew name for God, Yahweh Tsebaoth, which was transliterated into the Greek and then into English. An actual translation would be “LORD of Hosts” or “LORD Almighty.” This name emphasizes God’s absolute power over everything in both the physical and spiritual universe.

The verse above comes from a section where the apostle James addresses rich believers in the church in very unflattering terms. When he reaches the point where he brings up the fact that they are defrauding their workers of their wages, he presents the Lord Jesus as the Lord of Sabaoth. Instead of using a title of Christ that might invoke thoughts of love and mercy, the apostle tries to show how serious the offence was. The LORD of hosts, the LORD Almighty is hearing the cries of the workers; they should consider this and tremble.

The only other reference to Lord of Sabaoth is found in Romans 9: 29 where it is quoting Isaiah 1:9. That Old Testament verse reads “Unless the LORD of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, We would have become like Sodom, We would have been made like Gomorrah.”

Again the writer is trying to invoke the fear of God into the reader. Sometimes even blood-bought Christians forget who the Lord Jesus is. He is not only our Savior, Redeemer, and friend; He is the Lord of Sabaoth, the LORD Almighty.

*see also Romans 9:29

November 19

But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves.
Malachi 4:2

Here is an astronomical title on the order of morning star and dayspring. It makes us look to the heavens to see things we’ve seen many times before and then relate that to the character of Christ.

The sun not only radiates light and warmth, but is the source of life for everything on the green planet. Without the sun, plants would be unable to carry on photosynthesis which produces food for all living things and without global warming, all water would be ice and nothing could survive. Sunshine is so intense that it will sunburn the retinas of anyone who looks directly at it. Light also reveals the colors and patterns of everything in God’s creation.

Jesus Christ is hailed as the Sun of Righteousness. Just as Earth’s star is the source of all light, the Lord is the source of righteousness to a world of sinful men. The Bible declares, “As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one’” (Romans 3:10). Even the little goodness we have on our own is gross in the eyes of God: “But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6).

In the Old Testament, God told the city of Jerusalem, “For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace, And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, Until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, And her salvation as a lamp that burns” (Isaiah 62:1). In the New Testament we see the source of that righteousness; “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God — and righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30).

Natural sunlight has great therapeutic value. Depression, scabies, and even rickets greatly improve by going outside into bright light. Jesus rises as the Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings for a sin-sick world, because He is able to disinfect our human nature by irradiating it with His sinless perfection. That indeed is a glorious Son Rise. 

November 1

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation……
And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
Colossians 1:15,17

Big things, little things, fat things, skinny things, things that wiggle and squirm; the Lord Jesus made them all. Whether by chronological order or by importance, Christ is before them all.

How did God work up to creating a universe from nothing? Did He start with an atom or a star? Since neither existed before creation, the LORD might have started with the idea and then applied the physics. But gravity and laws of physics didn’t exist either, so maybe He invented those first. Did He make a rough draft of the solar systems or did he experiment with gravity to get the mass to distance ratio just right?

One thing for sure, He had plenty of time to work and get it right. Eternity before creation is just as long as “forevermore” will be after the earth melts with a fervent heat.

Before the universe began, God created the angels and heavenly host, as well as establishing His eternal throne. Lucifer and a band of renegade angels rebelled against the Almighty and they were cast out of heaven. Oh yes, there’s at least one other thing that happened before all things; my name was written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (Ephesians 1:4). Thank you Lord Jesus for saving me!

As firstborn over all creation, Christ was there before all things were made. “All things were created through Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:16). He assembled the atoms and in Him “all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17 NIV).

As the Blessed and only Potentate, King of kings and Lord of  Lords, Jesus outranks everyone else. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a president or pope, seraph or cherub, principality or archangel, God the Son is  Before All Things. It doesn’t matter what that something is. It can be life or death, angels or principalities or powers, things present or things to come, height or depth or any created thing (Romans 8:38-39): Everything pales  before Christ who is Before All Things. 

November 22