Breaking Down the High Places

"And the LORD said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel. But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin." 2 Kings 10:30-31

Jehu started well. He set out to do the LORD's work and sought to exterminate Baal worship that pervaded Israel during Ahab's time. He was on such a spiritual roll that one might have thought, "At long last: a righteous king in the northern kingdom!" But it was not to be, for he sinned after the sins of Jeroboam. Jehu might have turned away from worshiping Baal but he did not turn to worshiping the One True God. Instead, he bowed his knee to worship the very golden calves that Jeroboam set on the high places of Bethel and Dan... What was he thinking? How could he have gone astray so quickly?... But then, what am I thinking? I should not be one to cast stones. I have my own high places that I turn to in moments that I now recognize, are born out of my own discontentment with God -- housing little idols that turn away my heart from seeking satisfaction in the God, Who alone can satisfy my every need. And every time I willfully turn away from Him, I offer a sacrifice on the altar of my own sinful desires. If it were not for the goodness of the Lord Jesus that leads me to repentance (Romans 2:4) and His unending love that covers a multitude of my sins (1 Peter 4:8), I neither know who nor where I would be.

LORD, as the song says, "Help me break down the high place once reserved for you. Help me rebuild my altar and worship You anew. Help me cast down all thoughts that exalt above Your own. Help me listen for Your sweet voice so Your Will is always known."

The Battle Is the LORD's

"Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hands." I Samuel 17:45-47

What a comfort it is to know that when we face our own spiritual Goliaths, we have the reassurance of having the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 15:57-58). As it is written, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31b). As David declared before all of Israel, "Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all." (I Chronicles 29:11). HE is Sovereign: He is in complete control -- the God of the Universe, the Almighty, the Creator of Heaven and Earth.

Yet in all HIS matchless awesomeness, power and majesty, HE is not like an earthly sovereign who is detached from his people. HE calls us by name (John 10:3). HE knows when we sit and when we rise (Psalm 139:2). HE has the very hairs on each of our heads numbered (Matthew 10:30). Most of all, HE loved -- loves -- us to the uttermost that HE spared not HIS own beloved Son -- the Apple of HIS Eye -- from the most gruesome death. So that believing in CHRIST, we can have everlasting life (John 3:16). How can HE not then with Christ freely give us all things (Romans 8:32)? Indeed, how will HE not when in Christ, HE bids us by the Spirit to call HIM, "Abba! Father!"

Whatever our struggle, it is HIS battle to win, HIS strength made perfect in our weakness (II Corinthians 12:9) that will see us through. For HE is the One who is Faithful and True (Revelation 19:11). HE is our HELP and our SHIELD (Psalm 33:20). The One who will never leave us nor forsake us (Genesis 28:15). What blessed peace it is to be able to utter with complete confidence like David's, "The battle is the LORD's!"

God Never Forgets

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." John 14:26

Going through my old journal, I happened upon an entry which I forgot I'd ever written. It just shows how I'm prone to forget and wander. But God never forgets. And He brought it to my remembrance just at a time when I needed to remember.

Journal Entry: 17 January 2007

"It awes me to think, Father in Heaven, that if it be Thy will that I marry, the man whom Thou hast chosen for me before the foundation of the world is somewhere beneath the same mantel of protection that Thou art covering me with. Is he praying for me too? O, I pray so, LORD God. I pray that he is a man who seeks after Thine own Heart. A man who loves and trusts Thee beyond compare. Only then will he, can he, does he love me, as Thou hast willed I be loved. Only then can he be the husband who loves his wife as CHRIST loves the Church."

Fixed Point

Hebrews 13:8
"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."

Malachi 3:6a
"For I am the LORD, I change not..."


Time flows, bringing change
To this bounded space;
But God is infinite, beyond
Geometry and chronology:
He's the sole fixed point
Of this fleeting universe.

To Be Still

Psalm 46:10a
"Be still, and know that I am God..."

The LORD is telling me to be still. If I believe that He loves me beyond all measure and knows well the plans that He has for me -- that He has a perfect will for me -- then, should I, without a rebel's sigh, without an iota of doubt rest in perfect peace in Him.

But letting go and submitting my will and my desires is a struggle that seems overwhelming at times! Because I am prone to forget -- how easy it is to forget! -- that the One who holds my whole world in His Almighty Hands is the Same One who loved, loves me so much that He gave His only begotten Son to die a gruesome death for me that I might have everlasting life in Him! "He that spared not 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)

But praise God, for He is unchanging and His promises are true. His Word says that His grace is sufficient for me. By myself, I can do nothing. But with Him, all things are possible! I can be still and wait upon Him -- moment by moment -- through Christ, who gives me strength!

Dear Heavenly Father, please order my footsteps, lest they stray from Thy perfect will into certain destruction. Keep my affections safe within this vessel, which is Thine alone to bestow or to withhold. Let me look unto Thy Son alone, and let mine eyes have their fill. For to gaze at Him gives me strength. In Him, I am strongest when I am weakest. I am fullest in my emptiness -- a yielded vessel for Thy ready use. This I pray with grateful thanksgiving in the mighty, precious name of my Lord and Saviour, Jesus the Christ, Amen.

Amazing Grace, Indeed!

Isaiah 6

O my Creator and by Whom all things were created, woe is me! How great my shame that even as my sins nailed Your precious hands and feet, You still sustained this fallen world that I now dwell in. How great Your Love for me that kept You hanging, cursed on the tree! Infinite Life willingly submitted to the shadow of Death -- tasted death -- that my sinful self, covered by Your Immeasurable Grace, will never know the torment of eternal hell.

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Fly me closer to the Flame, LORD!
'Til the heat of this worldly temper
Is consumed in the fire of Thy Holiness;
And my woeful shame shall humble this self
That seeks to usurp the throne
That rightfully is solely Thine
-- Only by Thy Grace alone!

Within the Hourglass

A grain of sand has fallen;
Another moment risen.
Still waiting, I stand
Inanimate,
Desperate,
For
I
Am
A prisoner:
Bound by the hour,
Counting for The Hand
To shatter this cage of glass
And let ... infinity... pass ...