Clothed with Majesty

I was reading Psalm 93 this morning. I love verse 1, which says, "The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty; The LORD has clothed and girded Himself with strength;"

I love the picture of Him being clothed with majesty. That is a done deal. He's already clothed...with majesty! Then, in the 'b' part of the verse, the picture is that of Him in the process of not only clothing Himself, but GIRDING Himself...with strength.

Hmmm...so, does He change clothes, as we do? Is He ever NOT clothed with majesty? I doubt it, yet the Word gives us this picture of Him in the act of clothing Himself with majesty.

Then, there's the act of 'girding.' What does that mean? My 'Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words' says it 'is used (a) literally, of girding oneself for service, for rapidity of movement, (b) figuratively, of the condition for service on the part of the followers of Christ and (c) emblematically, of Christ's Priesthood, indicative of majesty of attitude and action, the Middle Voice suggesting the particular interest taken by Christ in girding Himself thus.' Aha! Since the psalm overall pertains to the majesty of the LORD, it must be definition (c) that applies here!

Isn't that an interesting word? I love it! (But I happen to love words, maybe you don't). Yet, don't you also love the picture this verse gives us of the LORD girding Himself with strength? We may wonder, why would He need to? He is always strong, is He not? Well, I also read this morning from Revelation 19. Verse 2 says, 'He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants' and verse 11 says, 'He judges and wages war.' Verse 14 says, 'And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.' Verse 15 goes on to say, 'From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.' That activity isn't exactly His everyday activity, is it? Or is it?

My mind goes to the passage in which the woman with the issue of blood touched His garment. I've always loved His response: Someone did touch Me, for I was aware that power had gone out of Me. (Luke 8:46) WOW! That woman, weakened by YEARS of blood loss and financial loss, touched the fringe of His cloak, with which He had clothed Himself that morning, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped! She didn't even touch HIM, just His cloak. Did He, per Psalm 93:1, clothe and gird Himself with strength THAT morning? I'll bet He did, in prayer, then with a simple garment. The garment may have been simple, but not after He donned it. (not to glorify the cloak). That woman was able to touch His cloak with her weakness and receive His strength in exchange. Are we not able to do the same? Would this not (possibly) 'justify' Him girding Himself with strength daily, or at least more often than we might think, upon 'first glance?' I'm not being dogmatic, just musing...but I prayed He'd show me what to write, and I believe He did. I've never thought of this corollary before, but it makes me weep in worship.

May we touch the hem of His garment today, and throughout the new year of 2011. Per verse 4 of Psalm 93, The LORD on high is mighty!

For God

As I was reading Revelation 5 yesterday, verse 9 arrested me. Let me share the entire verse with you: And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation." I've read that verse many other times and and don't know that I've ever stopped to catch the phrase, "for God."

I think many of us ponder from time to time the fact that our dear Lord Jesus Christ purchased us with His blood, but how often do we stop to marvel that He purchased us FOR GOD? If I purchase an item for a friend (with my own money), is it not a gift? We are a gift from Jesus Christ to God His Father. That is a two-fold gift...one gift with many facets (the Body of Christ), yet each one of us individually is also a gift, all 'on its own.' What a cool gift, eh?

Yet, there are times when I feel like I'm a very poor gift. I'll bet you do, too. This reminds me of Ephesians 4:1, which says, "Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called." Whew! Should we not recall that verse more often than we do? Should we not memorize it and 'make it our own?' Should we not constantly remind ourselves that we are a gift for God, bought with the highest price ever paid for anything?

Well, that brings me to verse 10 of Revelation 5: You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth. Oh, my! This verse alone could take many blog posts! I'd love to know how many of God's gifts realize this! As blood-bought saints of The Most High God, we are kings and priests and we are to reign upon the earth! Now, frankly, most of us want that, but for all the wrong reasons. We wish to spend it on our earthly pleasures and desires rather than those things that will minister to the realm of eternity. Matthew 6:19 & 20 say, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth...but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven." So, if we've been designated as kings and priests and to reign upon the earth, how much time do we even spend thinking about storing up treasure(s) in heaven? Let us actively and intentionally minister to Him for Whom we were purchases and to Him Who purchased us.

And may I end with Revelation 5:12..."Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!"

Who is the King of glory?

Earlier today, I was reading Psalm 24. In verse 8, David pens, "Who is the King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle."

This time of the year, it seems most focus on 'the baby Jesus.' Yes, especially for those with a mother's heart, this is easy to do. Yes, I'm sure He was a sweet baby, in fact, the sweetest of all babies. But let's not forget to go beyond that. We all started out as babies (and certainly, some are sweeter than others). I have no doubt that God uses babies. They are a part of the sanctification of the mother. As they get older, they even moreso become part of the sanctification of the father and siblings as well. But, as with an oak tree, for the most part, the beginning is only the means to something far greater.

Who is the King of glory? It is the GROWN baby Jesus! The LORD strong and mighty, The LORD mighty in battle! Our Victor! The glorious Overcomer! Per Revelation 1:5, He is the firstborn of the dead...that's you and me before He reconciled us to Himself. Revelation 1:5 also declares Him as the faithful witness, the ruler of the kings of the earth (whether they know it or not), Him Who loves us and He Who released us from our sins by His blood! Oh, hallelujah!!!

David penned Psalm 24:8 because He KNEW Him as strong and mighty in battle, as a fellow warrior, yet the mighty warrior who delivered David so many times in battle, even just in Saul's pursuit of him. We may know OF Him as strong and mighty in battle as we read our old Testament, but do we know Him as strong and mighty in OUR battles? He wants us to. How many battles do we fight in our own strength, only calling on Him 'at the last minute,' when we are so exhausted we've nowhere else to turn? Ah...let us call upon Him at the BEGINNING of the battle and watch Him fight them for us. And as we ponder 'the baby Jesus' for the little that's left of this celebration, let us not forget the Lion that came forth from that precious little lamb.

MERRY CHRISTMAS to you...for all the RIGHT reasons He's given us!

Beauty from Ashes

Tonight I saw Sam Rotman perform and what a performance it was! One of the things he shared was that Rachmaninoff suffered from depression for a time, so his music had much pain in it. What struck me about this, as he was playing some pieces written by Rachmaninoff, was how Rachmaninoff poured his pain into his music, how he took his pain and made it into something beautiful. I don't know that that was his perspective, but he did it either knowingly or unknowingly. And I don't know that he was one who'd put his faith in Jesus Christ. Now, frankly, I've never been a fan of Rachmaninoff's. I always considered his music rather dark, but now I know why. It's still not my favorite classical music, but I loved hearing the story behind his music. I suppose more than that, I loved how the Lord showed me that personal pain can be turned into something beautiful. Rachmaninoff's music may not be beautiful to me, but it certainly has been/is to many others.

Isaiah 61:3 says, (NLT) "To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair." So, we give Him the ashes of our life and He gives us in return a crown of beauty. Hence, the way I've heard it put before, 'beauty for ashes.' Such a deal! He makes something beautiful out of the ashes we've made of our lives! He alone can turn our mourning into joyous blessing, even if not to us, to others. And we may never even realize it here in time. If we'll give Him our despair, He can turn it into festive praise! Yes! He can! And He will! If we'll let Him.

It makes me think of Horatio Spafford, who wrote "It Is Well with My Soul." If you are not familiar with his story, Google him. He lost most of what he'd owned in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, then lost all four of his daughters. He wrote this song as he sailed over to meet his wife after their deaths in 1873 or 1874. So this song has ministered to probably millions of hearts in the last 136 years or so. What an example of giving Him your pain and letting Him make beauty from ashes. Isn't He wonderful?

Overwhelmingly Conquer

In my quiet time this morning, I reread Romans 8:37. It arrested me. It says, "But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us." Y'know, that's not a very 'big' verse, but it is PACKED.

First of all, we need to look back at what the 'all these things' are. In verse 35, Paul says, "Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" These are things most American believers know little about. These are things that are so much more intense than the things we face on a daily or weekly basis. Yet, they were not just coming through those experiences by the skin of their teeth. They were, according to Paul, OVERWHELMINGLY CONQUERING. Can we truly grasp the depth of this? I don't think I can. I do know some of the horrific things some of our brethren suffer in other lands because of their faith in Jesus Christ. I know of some of the things Nero did to the believers in his day. They were things no human being should ever inflict upon another human being, just as other atrocities today that are being committed.

Yet, do I/we overwhelmingly conquer in all these things we go through? Do we even 'just conquer' in these things? Do we consult with Him BEFORE we fret and worry about these things? For, if we did, we could just skip the worrying and fretting part. Right? When we lose our jobs, do we overwhelmingly conquer? When we're rushing to get somewhere and run into new construction (which seems to be at least a weekly occurrence in Tulsa these days), do we overwhelmingly conquer? That's just part of my list. What's on your list? Are you conquering overwhelmingly? I long to, but I'm not there yet. I'm not bad, really, on the joblessness, but the traffic seems to strip me of my conqueror status every time.

But, again, what a verse. What a passage. As The Bible Knowledge Commentary says, "These things--stated in increasing intensity--do not separate Christians from Christ; instead they are part of the "all things" (Rom 8:28) God uses to bring them to conformity to His Son." So, my dear friends, if our brethren, past and present, can overwhelmingly conquer in such intense situations, may WE OVERWHELMINGLY CONQUER in the things that come our way, whether large or small, whether traffic or the death of a loved one. May we allow this verse to be branded upon our hearts and minds, also remembering the rest of the verse...through Him who loved us.

Hardening of the Arteries

As I was praying earlier today, one thing that came to my mind was an analogy. When we have a buildup of plaque in our physical arteries, it restricts the flow of blood. This is called atherosclerosis, but it is also called 'hardening of the arteries.' This condition causes dastardly results, such as restricted blood flow to the heart, the brain and arteries in other parts of the body.

Do we consider a hardening of our spiritual arteries any LESS dangerous? Since His love is already in us, what interferes with its outflow to others? It's not Him. If He lives in us, does He not also love in us? It occurred to me that I can ask Him to put His love in my heart, first & foremost for Him, then for others, but...it's already there. If it's not flowing out to others, it's not because He needs to supply me with more. It means I need to remove the blockage(s)...such as bitterness, unforgiveness, self-absorption. The list goes on and your list could be very different from mine.

So, why is this such a big deal? God has given us a most wonderful allegory between our human bodies and His Body...the body of Christ. His body, as ours, is made up of many members, which all serve in different ways, having (very) different functions. Some may be more important than others, some may be more visible than others, yet no less important. Some may be beautiful and some ugly...yet all are necessary. And they all need the supply of blood to fulfill their function(s). The blood supply brings needed nutrients, cleansing and LIFE! When the blood supply is cut off to any member of the body, it soon expires and ceases to be alive. So, as with our physical bodies, the members of His Body MUST HAVE that continual supply. He could do it all by Himself, but He's chosen to make the body an interdepent entity. We must all give and receive to and from the other members of the Body. If we do not, we experience a measure of death. If my foot is amputated due to a diabetic condition, I'm not dead, but part of me has died.

Another analogy is a pond. If a pond only receives inflow of water, it becomes stagnant due to the lack of outflowing. If a pond is a source of a stream, and only flows out, it eventually dries up. Neither situation is good. They both produce the death of the pond. There must be both...inflow and outflow.

So it is with us, as members of His Body. We must receive (with all humility) from other members of the Body AND we must give to other members of the Body...or death, in some form or measure, occurs. How are your arteries? Y'know, as with our physical arteries, they're not seen by others, or even ourselves, unless we have them checked out by an 'expert.' But, we rarely have them checked until we have some symptoms that indicate there might be a problem. Hmmm...any symptoms of artery blockage? Let's check in with the Expert to see if we have some unseen artery blockage for a diagnosis and proper treatment!