Not waiting for God's counsel

 Psalm 106:13-48 

The story of the people of God in the time of Moses and Caleb and how the Jewish people are still experiencing the results of their rebellion against God’s promises and commands.  As we read yesterday in verse four, the Psalmist was asking God to remember him, and verse 13 tells us; “But they soon forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel.” 

How are we any different, we referring to the Church, are we doing the same thing?  How often have you made a decision and looked back on the results and it was a major mistake because you were in a hurry?  In the financial area, both Jan and I, refuse to let the urgent make us take an action, in fact, if a salesperson tells you that you must do it today, we walk.  We now want to pray before making a significant decision, so the deal that is too good to pass up is never that good.  If you don’t get it today, is a sure sign we are leaving without the item.  In so many other areas of life, we often move too fast and have not allowed God to show us what is best.  What about you, are you seeking counsel before making a big life decision, are you asking people who you trust to pray and seek God’s counsel with you, are you letting the urgent, your want’s, overcome God’s best?

We see that they kept exchanging the glory of God for all kinds of idols, in verse 20, 28, and 34-38.  Now I know the enemy of your soul is speaking loud and clear in a voice that sounds like your voice, and he is saying once more, old Bob is talking crazy.  You do not worship objects, but that’s not correct, many of you worship people who sing, perform, or play sports.  Others worship money, what it can buy and the ability to live in a neighborhood you can’t afford, and others the title they have, or hope to get.  It may be your pastor or the church you go to, the people you know or your children, and many today put their worship in government to be their protector, lots of things to worship, but only one that can change your heart, and that is Jesus Christ.  So, remember that this kind of rebellion against the authority of God over your life will get you a lot of pain and heartache.

I believe a prayer that the Psalmist prayed was answered in 1948 and is still happening to this day, it is the prayer in verse 47, “Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your Holy name and glory in your praise.”   We who are still alive that witnessed God answering that prayer in 1948, and He is again doing it, but it was His timetable, not the Psalmist.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

How is God's creation speaking to you?

Psalm 106:1-12

This Psalm is titled “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good,” and, yes He is always good!  The first three verses jump off the page; “Praise the Lord!  Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!  Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord, or declare all his praise?  Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times!”  As found in Psalm 19:1-4, God's creation, the sky, the sun and stars, the moon all give testimony to God’s goodness, His faithfulness, and the work of His hands.  If the created would only observe them, we would learn so much about what God is speaking to each of us.  Verse two shares that both night and day, they pour out speech.  As you read verses 3-4, it is not referring to human language, but that God is communicating His message to all who observe His creation. The apostle Paul in a letter to the Romans, chapter 1:18-20, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them because God has made it plain to them.  For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

In verse three of Psalm 106, the Psalmist is not referring to a perfect person but one like you and me who practice righteousness, they do not live trouble-free, but they do have peace and joy that others are missing.  They are the ones voicing verse six that both they and their fathers have sinned and have acted wickedly.  This is an impossible task for a natural man, for that person has allowed a culture that does not take responsibility for anything, to mold them.  That’s not nor should it be a culture that creeps into the Church, but I’m sure it has.

In verse seven we find that mankind has been ignoring God’s work for a long time, it is not a new thing, they did not see God's hands in the plagues in Egypt to set them apart from the others who lived there.  But when the Red Sea parted and they walked on dry land, those desiring to kill them the army of the Egyptians, who entered to destroy them before God allow the waters to come over them.   For a short time, they acknowledged and praised the Lord, but they soon, like us, we're asking, what have you done to make my life better today?  God in His great mercy and love for Israel, used this to make His name known among all the people of the earth.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The attributes of God

Psalm 105: 23-45

One thing, I’m coming to grips with is, the old brain has the information stored, but the “cookies” (using computer language) I’ve acquired over the 77 years have slowed down the processor.  It seems more often than not the word I’m looking for shows up long after it is needed in a conversation, and usually the person I’m talking to will help me and that sure does not restore my pride.  

As Jan and I have studied the attributes of God, it has become clear that He is unlike anything or anyone we can imagine and aren’t you glad that He is.  He is infinite meaning self-existing, without origin.  If you said God is wisdom, you would be correct, for He is not able to make a mistake (Romans 11:33) If you stated God is sovereign, once again you are 100% correct, over all that He has created.  If you were to say God is Holy, yes that’s what sets him apart from all created beings.  If you told me God is a trinity, “The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, once more you hit it on the head.  If you referred to God as faithful in that, He never forgets His promises, and they will all come to pass.

You might wonder why would Jan and Bob want to search for the attributes of God, it’s simple, if you love a person you want to know all about them, and we are in love with our Father.  You might find verse 42 encouraging as you study this Psalms; “For he remembered his holy promise given to his servant Abraham.”   Many a year had passed since God made this promise, yes, generations have come and gone, and yet the promise made to (Abram later to have his name changed by God to Abraham), found in Genesis 12:1-3.  “The Lord said to Abram: Go out from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.  I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you; I will curse those who treat you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.^”

I’m afraid many today have developed false teaching, it is a truth we will be heir and co-heirs with our Lord Jesus Christ, but we will not be all-knowing.  Our eternal life will be learning from our Father and Son and the Holy Spirit.  Now that is not to say we will not know a lot more than we do now, look at 1 Corinthians 13:12, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”

From the Back Porch, 

Bob Rice

His Ways and His Thoughts

Psalm 105:16-25

I often turn to Isaiah 55:8-9 to remind me that anytime I step out of the authority of the Scriptures, I’m on dangerous ground.  Many a person worships a god of their making, such as Thomas Jefferson, who put together the Jefferson Bible that left out the miracles that Jesus, did.

All would be wise to read Isaiah 55:8-9 often; “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”  You want to show me a fool, show me a person who believes they have a full understanding of the ways of God.

God always is many, and I do mean many steps ahead of what is needed for the people of God, and this is just one account Joseph the younger big mouth favorite son of his father, sold into slavery.  Now remember he is just a young boy at the time this happens, and if you were Joseph, would you want to give up on God?

This is the account; “He called down famine on the land and destroyed all their supplies of food, and he sent a man before them—Joseph sold as a slave. They bruised his feet with shackles; his neck was put in irons, till what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the Lord proved him true. The king sent and released him;
the ruler of peoples set him free.  He made him master of his household, ruler over all he possessed, to instruct his princes as he pleased and teach his elder's

wisdom.”  

If this boy had not believed God’s vision to him as just a boy in his father’s house, he would never have been picked by a Holy God who knows every thought before one enters your mind.  You may want to see that in Scripture, it is found in Psalm 139:4, “Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.”

We the people of the USA have been sold a myth that a college degree makes a person smart.  Once more parents would be wise to train up a child to have a fear of the Lord.  Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”  Then a young person would be capable of achieving success, out in this completive world.  Most would be better off spending that time learning a trade, and not taking courses from a God-hating professor whose goal is the same as his father the devil.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

His splendor and Majesty

Psalm 104:1-35

What a way to enter into prayer and praise to our LORD, verse one, “Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty.”  I’m guilty of often entering into prayer asking the Father to fix or help someone He loves, and not proclaiming His splendor or majesty, what about you?

The Psalmist goes on to share in verses 2-4, in verse five we see praise for making the earth, setting its foundations; but then the Psalmist under the leadership of the Holy Spirit states; it shall never be shaken or moved.  It requires one to wonder how dust, and that’s what God reminds us that we are but dust, could change God's design in any way.  That requires a lot more faith in mankind than my 77 years on planet earth has been witness to.  

In verses 6-8, it is a reminder of the floodwaters that covered the highest mountains, and you can find that account in Genesis 7:17-24.  Then in verse 9, we read about the covenant with all mankind to never flood the earth again or to destroy all of mankind.  He put what we refer to as a rainbow in the sky as a reminder to us of his faithfulness.  You may want to read Genesis 7:19-21 and Genesis 9:11-15 to get a better understanding.

We in the Texas hill country are beginning to understand the value of water, but many have not yet come around with the population growth, we need to do a better job of conserving and increasing our supply.  But not the Psalmist, no he is praising God for his blessing of water and all those it blesses.  (Psalm 104:10-18)

In his prayer and praise, the Psalmist goes on to acknowledge God’s hand in the moon and the Sun and how it even affects the forest animals.  Could it be that a person who lived before all of this technology is wiser than we are?  I am referring to verse 24, O Lord, how manifold are your works!  In wisdom, you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

The more we understand the DNA, the more we know it was not by chance but had an intelligent designer, the following is of interest.  Stephen Meyer describes in his book “Signature in the Cell,” how our DNA is made of “digitally encoded information.” All specified information like this, he writes, “always arises from an intelligent source, from a mind and not a strictly material process.”

As we close on Psalm 104, it is an excellent way to give praise to our Father, verses 33-35, I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.  May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord.  Let sinners be consumed from the earth and let the wicked be no more!
Bless the Lord, O my soul! Praise the Lord! 

From the Back Porch, 

Bob Rice

We all need a Mentor

Psalm 103:17-22

“But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.  

Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word!   Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will!  Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion.  Bless the Lord, O my soul!”

If you understand even a part of verse 17 your way ahead of many, who goes by the name Christian, now do not pat yourself on the back too quickly, what about the last part of the verse, those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.  When I was a young man God sent Ken Ryan into my life and Ken's background was being a navigator, not the pilot but the ministry began by Dawson Trotman.   After seeing the benefits of basic discipleship principles in his own life, Dawson wanted to teach them to others, echoing the call of 2 Timothy 2:2: “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.”

I am so glad that God sent Ken into my life, for he would not allow me to just read Scripture, he required me to put it to memory and to store it in my heart.  Matthew 15:18, But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.  What we store up in our minds and hearts will always come to the surface.  That is why Ken would tell me I did not believe the Scripture that I put to memory because I was not acting on what it said.  It is so easy to be a social Christian, but once you choose to follow Christ, then you have chosen to no longer do your will but to seek Christ and His will.  

I’m still on that journey; it seems that often I am not making any headway.  Then I look back to men who I had the blessing of mentoring, like Wendell Campbell, who is now married and has a wife who also has an active walk with the Lord, and four children and his oldest son Brandon is almost ready to leave the nest and has been mentored by his dad.  My thoughts go to Major Flash, and John Carrico and others whom I was able to pour my life into and see the men of God they have become.  Not that long-ago James Williams, and now for many years, Paul Wendell, who cons me into allowing him to mentor me by asking me to be his mentor. 

The problem is there are so many who need help to navigate the traps and schemes of the thief that’s come to steal and kill and destroy.  Unlike the angels who obey and do the will of God, the divine beings who dwell with God, you and I have a choice every day, to obey or look to someone or something other than God.  At best we are as His Church, an ungrateful and unfaithful, people, easily discouraged.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Does the Church have an Identity Problem?

Psalm 103:1-16

“My soul, praise Yahweh, and all that is within me, praise His holy name.  My soul praises the Lord, and do not forget all His benefits.  He forgives all your sins​; He heals all your diseases.   He redeems your life from the Pit; He crowns you with faithful love and compassion. He satisfies you with goodness; your youth is renewed like the eagle. The Lord executes acts of righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.   He revealed His ways to Moses, His deeds to the people of Israel.  The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and rich in faithful love.  He will not always accuse us or be angry forever.  He has not dealt with us, as our sins deserve or repaid us according to our offenses.

 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His faithful love toward those who fear Him.  As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.  As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.  For He knows what we are made of, remembering that we are dust.”

Could it be the Church has an identity problem, and I’m talking about the Holy Catholic Church, the universal Church, that is living on planet earth today?  It is not a denomination no it’s not Roman Catholic or the Southern Baptist, it is anyone that has by faith entered into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Do we know who God is, not who we want Him to be, but do we grasp even a small understanding of His attributes?  It seems to me most do not for if they did, there would be more praise, and less complaining and more acts of righteousness taking place.

Not only is the Church ignorant about who God is, but they also have little understanding of who they are in Christ.  What is your true identity in Christ?  Let me list a few that come from one of my mentors.

Romans 1:24   You are now justified and redeemed

Romans 6:7     Free from sin’s power

Romans 8:1     Indemnified (God does not reject you, just your sinful  

                        Performance)

Romans 15:7   Accepted in Him

1 Cor. 1:30      Have wisdom, righteousness sanctification, redemption

1 Cor. 2:16      Mind of Christ is in you

1 Cor. 6:11      Washed, sanctified, justified

1 Cor. 6:17      One with the Holy Spirit

1 Cor. 15:22    Alive (formerly dead)

2 Cor. 3:3        His laws are written on your heart

2 Cor. 3:14      Your hardened mind is removed (mind transplant)

2 Cor. 5:21      The righteousness of God (cannot get more righteous)

Gal. 4:7           A son and heir of God

Eph. 1:3           Blessed with every spiritual blessing

Eph. 1:7           Redeemed, forgiven

Eph. 1:10,11    Have an inheritance in heaven

Eph. 2:6           Seated in heaven (now)

Eph. 2:10         Created for good works (which He can do through you

Col. 3:3            Your life is hidden with Christ in God (see this by faith)

That’s not all that the Bible states about your identity in Christ, but I hope that you explore more about who you are in Christ and who God is.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

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