It's a Heart Issue

Micah 2:8-13

“But lately my people have risen up as an enemy; you strip the rich robe from those who pass by trustingly with no thought of war.  The women of my people you drive out from their delightful houses; from their young children you take away my splendor forever.  Arise and go, for this is no place to rest, because of uncleanness that destroys with a grievous destruction.  If a man should go about and utter wind and lies, saying, “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink, ”he would be the preacher for this people.”

What happens to a family, a community, and a nation when people’s hearts turn to greed?  I wanted to share some thoughts on the subject of greed from people you may have heard or read about, Andy Stanley, “Greed is not a financial issue.  It’s a heart issue.”  Mahatma Gandhi, “There is a sufficiency in the world for man’s need but not for man’s greed.”  Greed and power had gotten to the point that even the people passing through the area were attacked and these same men were evicting woman from their homes and taking from them the provisions God had provided.  These were the chosen people of God acting in a way even strange to some of the pagan nations around them.  The prophet Jeremiah summed it up in these words even though he was talking at a later date to the chosen of God. “For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely.” (Jeremiah 6:13)

I’ve often stated, greed does not have an income level, a poor person can be just as full of greed as the most wealthy of men.  So as a follower of Christ have you looked in the mirror to see if greed has crept into your heart?  Maybe it would be wise to see what Scripture has to say about greed.  “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.” (1 Timothy 6:9)  One of the first lessons a follower of Christ should learn is to guard ones heart: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (Proverbs 4:23 NIV)  You may be wondering if Jesus had anything to say about the heart and we would be wise to learn from these words of Jesus.   ^“And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him.  For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, 

foolishness.  All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (Mark 7:20-23)

So Micah, with sarcasm dripping from his voice tells them they deserve the prophecy they are receiving from the false prophets.   The Church in America and the West better awake and return to hearing and obeying God and not men, or we will be destroyed.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A Hireling

Micah 2:6-7

“Do not preach”—thus they preach—“one should not preach of such things; disgrace will not overtake us.” Should this be said, O house of Jacob? Has the LORD grown impatient?           Are these his deeds? Do not my words do good to him who walks uprightly?”

Two terrible things can happen to a man that God has entrusted with being his messenger, His spokes person to the people.  The first I believe is more common in 2015 but both are alive and well in the Church today.  First, is the person who allows himself to become a hireling and let me give my definition of the word hireling: “It represents a shepherd neglecting his flock in favor of popularity, money, ease of life, and being part of the affluent in his church.  He has quit speaking for God and makes sure he does not upset the ones who could effect his income.”  And second is the man who is willing to compromise God’s message for the sake of wealth and popularity.  He also is a hireling!  He has sold out for gain of self, and has no impact on the kingdom of God.

This is not a new thing as you can read such were the priest and prophets in the time of Micah’s life, they rejected Micah’s message of God’s coming judgment.  They told him to quit preaching such a message because it was condescending to the wealthy men who had come up with plans to seize land and houses from the poor and the weak.  They, like many in our day, were silent on the evil of their day, and were telling Micah to only preach the love and patience of God; they had lost all understanding of God’s holiness and judgment.

You may have read 1Timothy where Paul addressed false teachers who were teaching a different doctrine than grace.  They were mixing in myths and endless genealogies.  Picking up the words of Paul in verses 4b-7, “which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.” 

As a follower of Christ we are to follow the example of the people of Berea, for when the gospel was brought to the Jewish people they did the following: “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (Acts 17:11)  If you do not ask the Holy Spirit to guide you into all truth, a hireling may guide you.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Plan "B"

Micah 2:1-5

Micah is addressing the rich and powerful landowners who had come up with plan (B).  I titled it plan (B) for it was built on greed, and taking advantage of ones brothers and neighbors.  So Micah is proclaiming a “Woe” against wealthy men who have come up with wicked schemes to seize land and houses from the poor and the weak.   But what they have taken, the Assyrians will take from them, for God will use a very wicked people to defeat and take from them all they have acquired.  They, much like many of our local, state, and federal government agencies are doing at this time in the USA, for greed and power are very present in our culture.   We will look at Micah who is addressing these wicked men and their thoughts and actions.  Then we will look at God’s plan, it was special for a chosen people, the people of God’s choosing. 

“Woe to the Oppressors, Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil on their beds!  When the morning dawns, they perform it, because it is in the power of their hand. They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them away; they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance. Therefore thus says the LORD: behold, against this family I am devising disaster, from which you cannot remove your necks, and you shall not walk haughtily, for it will be a time of disaster. In that day they shall take up a taunt song against you and moan bitterly, and say, “We are utterly ruined; he changes the portion of my people;   how he removes it from me! To an apostate he allots our fields.” Therefore you will have none to cast the line by lot in the assembly of the LORD.”  (Micah 2:1-5 ESV)

Remember plan (B) was man’s best efforts to get his needs met outside of God’s will, but it only brought pain and destruction.  We find God’s plan in Leviticus 25:23-28; “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me. 24 And in all the country you possess, you shall allow redemption of the land.
 “If your brother becomes poor and sells part of his property, then his nearest redeemer shall come and redeem what his brother has sold.  If a man has no one to redeem it and then himself becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it, let him calculate the years since he sold it and pay back the balance to the man to whom he sold it, and then return to his property.  But if he does not have sufficient means to recover it, then what he sold shall remain in the hand of the buyer until the year of jubilee. In the jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his property.” 

What was the year of Jubilee?  “The Bible describes a period of time most people have never heard of - the Jubilee year. It occurs after seven sets of seven yearly intervals (49 total) are finished. This proclamation of a fiftieth "liberty" year occurs on one of God's annual feast days known as the Day of Atonement. Because God owns everything, he set up a special, regularly occurring time period where His will is that a man's possessions are returned to him.” 

These questions came to mind: Do I act and live as if God is the owner or have I foolishly taken ownership of all that the Master has entrusted me with?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Callous to the ways of God

Micah 1:3-9

For behold, the LORD is coming out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains will melt under him, and the valleys will split open, like wax before the fire, like waters poured down a steep place.  All this is for the transgression of Jacob and for the sins of the house of Israel.  What is the transgression of Jacob?  Is it not Samaria? And what is the high place of Judah?  Is it not Jerusalem?  Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country, a place for planting vineyards, and I will pour down her stones into the valley and uncover her foundations.  All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces, all her wages shall be burned with fire, and all her idols I will lay waste, for from the fee of a prostitute she gathered them, and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return.  For this I will lament and wail; I will go stripped and naked; I will make lamentation like the jackals, and mourning like the ostriches. For her wound is incurable, and it has come to Judah; it has reached to the gate of my people, to Jerusalem.  (Micah 1:3-9 ESV)

One must wonder if the people Micah was addressing were as callous to the ways of God as those living in 2016?  Coffman had this insight in his Commentary on verse 8; “No one goes around wailing about history; it was an approaching disaster that broke the prophet's heart; and he vainly tried to warn the people.”  If we looked at the timeline of the prophets living at this time, Isaiah would be in that window.  Isaiah preceded Micah, in that his time line was 740 - 698 and Micah’s was around 735 – 710.   In Isaiah 20:2, we discover Isaiah walked without clothes for 3 years in obedience to God’s requirement of him. The Scriptures state it was a sign of what was going to happen to Egypt.  As a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush, so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt.  But in has been stated that few prophets saw the future more clearly than Micah.  In verses 1:5-9 we have a clear picture of the fall of Samaria.

Do you recall Jesus telling the Pharisees and Sadducees that came to test Him the following, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.” (Matthew 16:4)  I’m very fearful that we are a generation like them, do you recall the eye witness John the apostle recording these last words of Jesus; “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” (John 19:30b)  Folks we are not going to see a new prophet give us new insights, it has all been done, it was finished at the death burial and resurrection of our mighty Son of God, the Christ, the Messiah and He is coming back as King of Kings and LORD of Lords.

He coming back as your judge; “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Matthew 25:31-34)  If I did not warn you of verse 46, it would be irresponsible on my part, “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

God is keeping a record

Micah 1:2

“Hear, you peoples, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it, and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.”         (Micah 1:2 ESV)

As a citizen of the United States of America do I have any concerns that God is a witness against me?  Maybe it should have been required reading of the Proverbs for all citizens of the U.S.A.   Proverbs 5:21, “For a man's ways are before the eyes of the Lord, and he ponders^[a] all his paths.”  Maybe Proverbs 15:3, is easier for us to grasp; “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.”  For God has spoken and passed down His commandment: “You shall not murder” is one of the commandments found in (Exodus 20:13) and the United States marks 42 years of legalized abortion in all fifty states at any time for any reason throughout pregnancy on January 22nd, the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision. Since that time, there have been approximately 57,762,169 abortions that have destroyed the lives of unborn children.  When one takes a life any life that is murder, and when it is a life that has no defense it is even more evil in the sight of a Holy God.

What about “You shall not commit adultery.”  (Exodus 20:14)

If you need a definition this is a good one: “Voluntary sexual relations between                                                                                        an individual who is married and someone who is not the individual's spouse.”

“A handful of new studies suggest surprising changes in the marital landscape. Infidelity appears to be on the rise, particularly among older men and young couples. Notably, women appear to be closing the adultery gap: younger women appear to be cheating on their spouses nearly as often as men.”  One Internet site claims they have 38 million members who know how to cheat on their mate.  Has God stopped counting and if not, is He not keeping an account of our adultery.

“You shall not steal.” (Exodus 20:15) Our jails are full of people who steal, people who murder, but what about you, do you steal, do you take what is not yours from your employer, I know we do it and we justify it, but if it is not yours is it not stealing?  And if everyone in government office who is stealing was put in jail we could not build jails that would hold them.  Is God keeping a record of your theft, and the answer is all of them.

And I saved this for the end, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.”  (Exodus 20:12)  Is it honoring your father and mother to use their resources and dump them in a government holding tank till they leave this world?  Is it honoring them to never call or visit, and that is the state of many elderly people in this United States of America?  God is keeping a record and yet we live in a culture that has little fear of a holy God, but as we explore Micah you are going to find out God keeps His word 100% of the time.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A foolish man looking for light in the darkness

Micah 1:1

It was December 31, 2009, this became my first attempt at publishing a blog, but that was not my intent, it was to leave my grandsons a record of what I believed about God, and the few insights I have both learned and experienced most of them through bought lessons.  Lessons, I hope they will not have, and lessons that left deep scares on others and myself.  My first blog was on December 31, and then on January 1, I wrote about my understanding of Genesis the book of beginnings.  Below is an excerpt from December 31, 2009.  The justification for revisiting this is Micah 6:8, my life verse: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

“When I was just a child, Mother and Dad gave it to me, they said son, in this book is a lot of history. It also will guide your path and bring you victory, but you must not be foolish, but read it daily.  And often at my father’s knee he read the book to me, and when we went to church they opened it up you see.  The book was read and taught, its many stories astonished me and that book has a special place in my childhood memories.  But as a teenager that book was put on the shelf and out of my mind, only to be carried to church and back home.  I still remember its message, how the Christ had died for me, but it was not in keeping with what the world had to offer me.”  And a foolish man I was, seeking life and light, from a world that only offers darkness and death.

I know of few men who I would trust more than Chuck Swindoll to introduce the book of Micah to you and me.  “The prophet Micah identified himself by his hometown, called Moresheth Gath, which sat near the border of Philistia and Judah about twenty-five miles southwest of Jerusalem. Dwelling in a largely agricultural part of the country, Micah lived outside the governmental centers of power in his nation, leading to his strong concern for the lowly and less fortunate of society—the lame, the outcasts, and the afflicted (Micah 4:6). Therefore, Micah directed much of his prophecy toward the powerful leaders of Samaria and Jerusalem, the capital cities of Israel and Judah, respectively (1:1).” (Chuck Swindoll)

“The word of the LORD that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.” (Micah 1:1)

I once more in the introduction will share Chuck Swindoll insights; “Judah seemed on a roller-coaster ride—ascending to the heights of its destiny in one generation, only to fall into the doldrums in another. In Judah at this time, good kings and evil kings alternated with each other, a pattern seen in the reigns of Jotham (good, 2 Kings 15:32–34); Ahaz (evil, 2 Kings 16:1–4); and Hezekiah (good, 2 Kings 18:1–7)

From the Back Porch, with Jan and Zach in Hawaii,

Bob Rice

They follow Jesus to Bethany

Luke 24:45-53

“Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”          

Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.“ (Luke 24:45-53 ESV)

These disciples who were in that room had Jesus doing what the Holy Spirit will do, and does do, for any who will wait and listen.  And they had a choice as we do, to wait and stay still and watch and listen for the Helper to guide us to understand what God has for us today, not tomorrow, or next year, but today!   And both the Scriptures and history tell us they waited and were clothed with power from on high.

And they followed Jesus as far as Bethany, but later they followed Jesus to places all over the world as many of you are still doing, but on that day Jesus was going only to Bethany.  And Dr. Luke shares that Jesus blessed them, “and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.”  It was not a time of sadness but of joy, it was a time of worship for they had been with, not a crucified dead Jesus, but a risen Savior who had conquered sin, death, and the grave, and was returning to His place of being worshiped at the right hand of the Father.

With all we have been blessed with; great teachers, Bibles, Bible studies on line and at the local churches, but be careful to not exchange the Holy Bible for what only the Holy Spirit can do if we are willing to obey, listen, and do as we are lead?

T. W. Hunt was an amazing man who watch and waited for the leadership of the Holy Spirit, he was the most humble man I’ve ever known, and yet often he shared with me, “Bob I’m a wicked man.”   T.W. Hunt was a man of prayer and he modeled Jesus, in that he would get up early while most of us slept and spend time with the Father in the Scriptures and in prayer.  He was a man who enjoyed sharing about what a great and mighty God we serve and did this in many ways, one was by writing books, such as the “Mind of Christ.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Standing in His presence

Luke 24:36-49

You have come back from Emmaus, you did not spend the night for you had been in the presence of the Risen Christ, you had been with the Messiah and you had to share what you had seen and heard with the others.  These were your first words “The Lord has risen indeed and has appeared to Simon!”  As they were talking about all that had happened, the unexpected happen, Jesus was in the room, and these were the first words they heard; “Peace to you!”

If you are in the room, what is your emotional state?  Are you excited, are you expecting to see Jesus?  That did not happen according to Dr. Luke, they are startled and frightened fearing they have encountered a spirit.  So once more Jesus spoke and these were the words from His mouth, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?  See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.  Touch me, and see.  For a spirit does not have flesh and bone as you see that I have.”  Now if you had been in the room and had over-come the fear that had you under its control, what happen next would have been a game changer.  Jesus is showing all who are present his hands and feet and yet they were still in disbelief but also fill with joy and marveling Jesus said; “Have you anything here to eat?”  Dr. Luke reports they gave Jesus a piece of broiled fish and he took it and ate.

“Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”  “Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins, should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of these things.  And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you.  But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Have you wondered why there is not more power in the lives of those claiming to be followers of Christ?  Could it be that we have unbelief in our heart and mind, could it be we have not stayed in the city until we were clothed with power from on high?  Could it be we’ve been looking to a pastor, a church building, a denomination and not the Holy Spirit who has been sent by the Father to live the life of Christ through us?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

“0 foolish ones”

Luke 24:13-33

It is the day after Sabbath, the first day of the week and two of them are traveling to Emmaus, a village about seven miles from Jerusalem.  Dr. Luke gives this insight into the two men, one is named Cleopas and the other name is not given.  So what do we know about Cleopas, that his name is Greek, and that’s it, and that both of these men were disciples of Christ, and were part of the group that was present when Mary Magdalene and her group of women returned with the report the grave is empty and the angels have told us He has risen.

We do not have any understanding of the importance of this trip for these two men, it was dangerous times for a disciple of Jesus and yet they are going to Emmaus, and on that seven mile journey they encounter a stranger who inquired as to what they were talking about.  It would seem they were having the conversation where he could hear, in that we have this response to his question,

“And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.”  (Luke 24:17-24 ESV)

Have you had a road to Emmaus conversation with the living Christ?  Mine was in Victoria, Texas, at the age of 27 and it took place in my hotel room, that is the neat thing about Jesus He is willing to met you at the place of your need and will supply all the faith you need to trust Him with your very life.  I’m a witness for it happened to a wicked man like me, full of self, fear, and greed.  And Jesus addressed them correctly by calling them “0 foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!  Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”  It seem wise to state Jesus was talking to disciples, to followers, not to men who did not believe when He address them as, “0 foolish ones” and the same Jesus is addressing you and I in the same manner.

Dr. Luke tells us Jesus began with “Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”  Many a person has run to commentators, pastors and teachers to experience what was being given to these two men on the road to Emmaus, and Jesus is still saying “0 foolish ones", did I not promise to send the Holy Spirit to guide you into all truth.

As he drew near to the village Jesus acted as if He was going on but they urged him to stay and at the table Jesus took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.  “And their eyes were opened and they recognized him.  And he vanished from their sight.”  What happen to these men was too wonderful to not share with the other disciples, so in the same hour the plans had changed and they were returning to Jerusalem.  If you’ve encountered the risen Lord, are you sharing it with others?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

It all changed with Jesus

Luke 24:8-12

Since the time Jesus walked on planet earth things have changed, and women, especially Jewish and women who have lived where Christianity has been taught and lived out, have been freed from many of the customs still practiced in many parts of our world.  The following is a good account of what Jesus did for women: Women's status and freedoms were severely limited by Jewish law and custom in ancient Israel, as they were in essentially all other cultures at the time. Generally speaking:

	Most women were restricted to roles of little or no authority,
	They were largely confined to their father's or husband's home,
	They were considered to be inferior to men, and under the authority of men -- either their father before marriage, or their husband afterwards.

From the Second Temple period, women were not allowed to testify in court trials. They could not go out in public, or talk to strangers. When outside of their homes, they were to be doubly veiled. "They had become second-class Jews, excluded from the worship and teaching of God, with status scarcely above that of slaves." ₁ Their position in society was defined in the Hebrew Scriptures and in the interpretation of those scriptures.

Change in status: Jesus' radical treatment of women:

Christ overthrew many centuries of Jewish law and custom. He consistently treated women and men as equals. He violated numerous Old Testament regulations, which specified gender inequality. He refused to follow the behavioral rules established by the three main Jewish religious groups of the day: the Essenes, Pharisees and Sadducees. "The actions of Jesus of Nazareth towards women were therefore revolutionary." (Author: B.A. Robinson)

When these women who had been with the disciples and Jesus came back with what the angels had said and what they had seen, “it seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.”  And you and I say what is wrong with these guys?  It’s simple, they have been molded by the culture much like you and I have in this present darkness we live in.  Where the culture is more alarmed about a lion being killed in a place in Africa, than the harvest of parts from unborn children by Planned Parenthood.

Peter often gets a bad report, in that he is often quick to speak, but he is also quick to take action and Dr. Luke reports that Peter ran to the tomb and witnessed what the women had said on Friday.  Peter was a coward but it’s no longer Friday it’s Sunday and the debt is paid for sin, the grave and death are conquered, and Christ Jesus is alive.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice   

“I Marvel At The Wisdom Of My God.”

Luke 24:1-12

“But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead, He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” (Luke 24:1-7 ESV)

As one who has found the way out of the fog into the light, out of darkness into the brightness of the Son, what a joy it is reading Luke’s account of this very special Sunday morning.  It brings to mind a song we sang at Lay Renewal meetings many years ago; “I Marvel At The Wisdom Of My God.”

Chorus
I marvel at the wisdom of my God.
I marvel at the wisdom of my God.
When I see the little lilies pushing up the heavy sod,
I marvel at the wisdom of my God.

The Lord said, "Let the weak say they are strong."
But I wondered in my heart if He was wrong.
Then I saw the little lilies pushing up the heavy sod,
And I marveled at the wisdom of my God.
Chorus

O they crucified the Father's only Son.
When they laid Him in the tomb they thought they'd
won.
But just like the little lilies, He pushed up the heavy
sod.
I marvel at the wisdom of my God!

Are as the famous message states so well, “It’s only Friday, but Sunday is coming”.  If you are still living in the fog and darkness of this world, ask Jesus who is the Wisdom of God, and the power of God, the overcomer of Death and the Grave to push back the heavy sod of sin that holds you, and come out into the light of His forgiveness and love.  For Friday has come and gone but Sunday is an empty grave, death and sin have been conquered, and Jesus is the Victory.

From The Back Porch,

Bob Rice

A tough place for a righteous man

Luke 23:50-56

In a world of fear, hate, greed, and self-rule, it will be a tough place for a righteous man in the time of Jesus or today.  In the gospel according to Luke, we find a righteous man named Joseph from the town of Arimathea.  This is Dr. Luke’s account: “Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid.”  (Luke 23:50-53 ESV)  Often, as one who follows Jesus finds out, you are like a person who finds themself on a 12-lane highway all going one direction and you the opposite direction into a culture full fear, hate, greed, and self-rule.   It will require you, as it did for Joseph of Arimathea, to keep your eyes fixed on God’s word, and fear not for He is with you.

In the gospel according to Mark we are given more insights into that day; “And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.”  (Mark 15:42-46 ESV)  

 It takes courage to walk upright in a world that hates absolutes, but they hated Jesus and I am absolutely sure if you follow Him they will hate you also.  If you try to keep one foot in the world and be a friend of the world but say you are a Christian, they have total contempt for you, and you will have no authority and no power to live in victory in the middle of a people without hope.  Not sure what took place with Joseph, he may have been removed from His standing in the council, but that’s no big deal, in heaven he is being honored.  What a choice, standing for righteousness and being kicked out of the world’s favor; it is exchanging the temporary for the eternal, or as one has said; “Give what you cannot keep to gain what you can not lose.” (John Elliott)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice