022109 Musings: Jehoshaphat's Prayer by John.

Jehoshaphat's Prayer

When I was a young lad, we were forbidden to curse, but we soon learned other words from plays, movies and other church people. Those words could express the same depth of feeling without offending anyone. I'm not sure where I picked it up, but "Jumpin' Jehoshaphat" came into my vocabulary, and I used it when shocked or surprised. No one ever reprimanded me, so it got to be a much used term in my vocabulary. I attended church regularly and joined when I was twelve, but I didn't really devote my life to Jesus until I was in the Navy in 1945, maybe 46, I can't remember for sure. That's when I discovered the Bible was not a dry-as-dust book, but wonderfully interesting, a Book I began to know as "The Word of God." I put that in quotations because there are words, phrases and sentences in the Bible that God did not speak, but as a whole, it is God's Word, and it contains the Words of Life!

Reading the Old Testament, I came across Jehoshaphat's prayer in II Chronicles 20. It is without a doubt one of the greatest teaching prayers in the Bible.

Here was a king, but just a man. By reading the Biblical account, we know he made a great many bad decisions, decisions he would not have made under God's leadership, yet on this occasion when Jerusalem was threatened by the surrounding nations with an army much too big for Jehoshaphat's army to combat with success, he prayed this great prayer.

Come to think of it, most of us offer only perfunctory prayers on a regular basis. I'm sure God hears them, but it seems to me that He must be bored by them most of the time. We ask God to supply our food, shelter, etc, but our prayers are similar to the "I lay me down to sleep..." prayer. It becomes something we just do rather than really pray. Revelation 5:8 pictures the 24 elders holding bowls filled with prayers of the saints. All believers are saints. Revelation 8:3-5 completes the picture. An angel takes incense and those dedicated believers' prayers, offers them before God, and the smoke from that golden altar rises up before God! Can you imagine anything more beautiful? I can't, but I don't think any prayer that comes from the head instead of from the heart will be in that sweet smelling incense!

I think Jehoshaphat's prayer is right there in the midst of that sweet aroma before God. He and his people were in very real danger. They recognized the threat. They were aware of their inability to cope with it, and they gathered at the temple. That's where Jehoshaphat prayed with, and for the people. In the process, he revealed his trust in and reverence for God. He reminded God of His promises, and of His great deliverance of the people from Egypt, and of His gift of the land where they were. He reminded God that He would not allow the Israelites to destroy these nations who were now threatening them, and last of all, he acted believing God was with them.

They moved toward the enemy with specially appointed men leading the way singing, "Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever!" God heard and answered his prayer. The enemy's army rose up and fought among themselves so that the Israelites saw only dead bodies lying before them instead of warriors!

I believe we should not wait until we have a crisis to really pray. I believe our prayers will be in the golden bowls of incense whatever that picture may mean when they come from our hearts. I have no doubt that God will answer our heart-felt prayers. I am sure the best way and the best time to pray is every moment we think about God! I Thessalonians 5:17 says, "Pray continually," and I believe that is what Paul advocated. We don't have to be on our knees. We don't need to have closed eyes. We don't need a temple of church building. We don't need to speak aloud. We just need to turn our prayer to God with a heart-felt sentence, or two, or three, or maybe many, many more, and we do not need to be concerned about what people think about our prayer. It's a private conversation with God unless we choose to have others pray with us! Like Jehoshaphat, we may well find the prayer of the whole church together pleases our Father. We should not neglect that, but we should put our hearts into it.

2/12/09 Musings: Otherworldliness by John.

Intelligence, knowledge and wisdom are things that all people I've ever met believe they have. Oh, some recognize they aren't the smartest, the best educated, or the wisest, but almost everyone thinks they are on, or near, the top of the heap.

Ego is a Freudian term, but ego is a human problem that makes for poor relationships. We are too much like the Pharisee Jesus spoke of in Luke 18:10-12. He prayed thanking God that he was not like other men who were robbers, evildoers or adulterers. He looked about and saw the tax collector and added him to list. It's not that we shouldn't value ourselves, but we should see ourselves as we really are, and most of us are a long way from perfect.

We would do better to be like the tax collector who recognized that he was a real sinner. He knew in his heart that he did not please God, and he did not expect anything from God other than judgment, but because he believed, he approached God. He didn't go up to the altar because of his guilt. Maybe he didn't know the words and methods of the time used in prayer, so he just emptied his heart (Luke 18:13). He said, "God have mercy on me a sinner!"

Jesus' story about these two men raised a loaded question, and all of those who heard knew the right answer, but I'm sure they all knew that they could not honestly give it.

Most of the time this parable is used to tell lost people they need to repent and come to Jesus, but it applies equally well to all who trust Jesus for salvation, too. Paul writing in I Corinthians 15:31 said, "I die every day--I mean that, brothers--just as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord." Most of us need to recognize our self-centeredness, and like Paul put our fleshly nature to death every day! Paul asked the Colossians (and Laodiceans), "Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules:..." (Colossians 2:20) He follows that with some of the physical no, noes that people of that time labeled sin quite similar to some of those we label sin today. Then in 3:2,3 he said, "Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." He didn't mean that we should be so otherworldly that we are no earthly good! Far from it! He means a Christian with a healthy personality is one who can enjoy his life serving others in the name and stead of Jesus! We know we will live forever, and we need to help others gain that same gift from God!

When I was in kindergarten about a million years ago, our teachers taught us the little song that says, "Rueben, Rueben, I've been thinking what a queer world this would be if all the boys were transported far beyond the northern sea!" Hey! This is a wonderful world! And it will be ever more wonderful if, and when, our lives are tuned to God! With Him, the wonders never cease! They abound! And that is what heaven will be like! It's worth any price we can pay for it, but Jesus has already paid it all, and all we need do is accept His payment and commit ourselves to Him. That kind of other worldliness is eons away from science fiction.

Musings:2/11/09, About Revelation, by John.

Revelation is probably one of the most studied and most misunderstood Books of the Bible. We think of children's books as being "Picture books," but that's exactly what Revelation is. It is written in Apocryphal code. Unless otherwise stated everything is hidden. When God speaks in the Book, it is truly a revelation of truth, but almost all of the Book is in a code that the Jews and Christians of that day understood. The code was developed to hide the message and make it meaningless to those who did not know the code. We have a code that is almost out of date. Do you understand this? ... --- .... ... --- ... is Morse code for SOS. It was used in both wired and wireless communication in the past. SOS, you probably know, meant Save Our Ship and was used when ships were in trouble at sea.

Christians today do not know all of the Apocryphal language. We understand much of it, but as far as prophecy is concerned, we can only make educated guesses. I'm sure many will disagree with me on that, but I'll take the criticism and still maintain that when we pinpoint prophecy in Revelation, it is mostly guesswork.

The pictures are dramatic, stark, and moving, a woman riding on a beast with seven heads and ten horns, and the woman was drunk with the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus, a dragon with seven heads and ten horns appears is named fourteen times from 12:3 to 20:2, locusts with scorpion tails and men's faces, and there are so many more!

The pictorial scenes sweep across the mind as you read the words. One I think of as most graphic and moving is in 6:9-11. The living creature with wings and eyes all over it, opened the fifth seal, and suddenly John could see beneath the altar of God. There he saw the souls of all those killed because of the Word of God and the testimony they maintained. While he watched they asked, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" (v. 10). Each of them was given a white robe and told that they must wait until all the rest of the martyrs joined them.

All the Book drives home the point that it will not be too long! And that God is not only Supreme, but that He also keeps every promise He makes.

I don't concern myself with attempting to understand Revelation in minute detail, but I rather consider the vast sweeping message of hope for the future. I'm not concerned with whether Jesus went to prepare us mansions, apartments, rooms, or shacks. (John 14:1,2). I know in my heart that whatever God has in store for each of us who believe will be wonderful, glorious, and that it will far surpass our wildest imagination. I like to keep in mind that there will be no marriage or giving in marriage, but that we will be like the angels. (Mt. 22:30).

Revelation is all about Jesus, His Father, and our relationship, or lack of it, to God. They are One God, not two or three. That's beyond our understanding, but that shouldn't be a surprise to us. Before 1925, we had no idea of how to televise pictures. We had no idea that people would cross this continent in a matter of hours, or circle the earth in a space ship. Our minds are only able to move into new territory at a very slow pace. When we look back at the last hundred years, the inventions and the technology behind them is really unbelievable. I look forward to the day when we will all see God as He is, and all discussion of trinity and unity will be stilled.

The last invitation in Revelation is wonderful, and show the greatness of our God! It's found in 22:17, "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let him who hears say, 'Come!' Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life." Have you accepted this wonderful invitation from the living, wonderful, loving God Who wants you to be His child?
Musing

Saturday Evening Musing, 02/07/09, by JAH

I. When I stand in God's presence, these are the things I hope never to hear Him speak:
1. I did not send you.
2. You did not speak my words.
3. You are not my servant.
4. I do not know you.

II. I do hope to hear Him say, "Well, done good and faithful servant" In my own eyes I do not deserve that. If it happens, it will be to the glory of Jesus Who died for me.
1. Jeremiah constantly faced enmity from his own people.
2. He stood straight and spoke plainly the Words God gave him.
3. False prophets persecuted him, and considered him a liar.
4. His own people tried to put him to death.
5. In spite of all this, he did not flinch from delivering the truth.

III. Jeremiah knew he would one day stand before God. I believe he never worried about what would happen when he stood in God's presence. I believe that I will not either, even though I can count failure after failure in my life and my work. We are all failures as far as sinless perfection is concerned. Romans 3:23, 24 say, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." People in Old Testament days were saved just as we are, and we just as they are.

IV. I am certainly thankful that I do not have to depend on my own perfection for salvation and a heavenly home with God my Father. I would never even ask for justice in His presence. I want mercy rather than justice, but I need not even ask for that. God has already promised us mercy, and He is just in forgiving us because Jesus, His one and only Son, paid for all of our sins. He completed the transaction when He accepted death on a cross as the one innocent sacrifice His Father required. I feel like I can never stand in the presence of the Holy God, but I can, and will, kneel before my own Loving Father. The old slave preacher John Jasper said the first thing he wanted to do when he got to heaven was fall at Jesus' feet, kiss his feet, and thank Him for saving him. That old white-headed preacher was my spiritual brother, and I look forward to joining him at the feet of Jesus one day with the same intent!

V. Jeremiah quoted God when he said (Jeremiah 29:13), "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord...." Go back and read God's Words in Jeremiah and compare them with the New Testament. They agree if you look at the spiritual rather than the physical.