An International Invitation

“Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol Him, all peoples! For great is His steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!” –Psalm 117 (ESV)

I find it encouraging that the shortest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 117, with just two verses, is an invitation for all peoples everywhere to recognize God’s steadfast love and faithfulness and to praise Him.

The hope recurs in the Psalms as well as in the remaining 65 books of the Bible that the Gentiles will come to belief in the one true God. Paul the Apostle quoted Psalm 117:1 in Romans 15:11, and then launched into his reasons why he became a “minister to the Gentiles”—a missionary. At the heart of Christian missions is God’s love for and inclusion of all peoples in His plan of redemption. Paul again quoted from the Old Testament in Romans 15:21: “Those who have never been told of Him will see, and those who have never heard will understand” (quoting Isaiah 52:15).

Christian missions has as the aim spreading the gospel—the good news of salvation—to all people in the world. When Jesus was ready to ascend into heaven after his mission of redemption was complete, He gathered with His disciples and other believers on a hillside outside Jerusalem. Before He ascended to His Father in heaven, He had a final word for believers. In His powerful departing message, He repeated what was their major task: “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20, ESV).

Throughout my church and denomination during the month of December, we have a special missions emphasis. As we remember the Advent, Christ’s birth, and the reason He came to the world as a baby, we also remember that He gave us the Great Commission (as recorded in Matthew 28:18-20). Because God loved us enough to send us His son, then we too have an obligation to go throughout the world spreading the good news of salvation. This is the heart of missions. We pray for missionaries’ specific needs and give our offerings to help them go to places in spiritual darkness. We hear stories of spiritual progress in far places and are encouraged to pray more and give more.

We remember Miss Lottie Moon, who went to China in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century and made great inroads in telling people about the love of Christ. Our special missions offering is named to honor her faithfulness in service. Imagine if you were living in a land where the message of Christ had not been told. Would you not welcome those who came, as Paul did in early New Testament times, to tell you of salvation and faith in Christ that leads to a spiritual life on earth and a hope of eternity in heaven? That is what missions is all about. We give that the message of salvation can be proclaimed to those who have not heard. Won’t you pray for missionaries and give to support them? –Ethelene Dyer Jones 11.30.2014.

Thanksgiving

“I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify Him with thanksgiving.”

Thanksgiving is an act of worship. It is our gratitude directed toward God. Thanksgiving was central in Old Testament worship. It was also a vital element in Christian worship in the New Testament. Furthermore, we are advised in Scripture to be vigilant in giving thanks. Paul wrote this in 1 Thessalonians 5:18:

      “In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus

       concerning you.” (KJV)

Maybe we find it very difficult to follow the advice in this verse: “In everything give thanks?” we ask. What about our hardships? What about the times when we have losses in storms or some calamity? “In everything give thanks?”

Think of the hardships the Pilgrims endured on the journey to the New World and their first year here. Yet in 1621 Governor Bradford of Plymouth Colony and the Rev. William Brewster set a time for Thanksgiving. They invited Chief Massasoit, Squanto and the friendly Wampanoag Indians to help them celebrate. The day became so important that our government set a day for Thanksgiving. When we say ‘thanksgiving’ we think of a special day. Let us hope that, although it is a time of enjoying bounty, a feast of our favorite Thanksgiving menus, it is also a time when we count our blessings and truly give thanks for the reasons this Psalm declares:

      “The Lord is gracious and merciful,

      slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

      The Lord is good to all,

      and His mercy is over all that He has made

      All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,

      and all your saints shall bless you!” -Psalm 145:8-10 (ESV).

What is on your Thanksgiving list this year? Remember to have a heart of gratitude for blessings large and small. Make your own “Catalogue of Thanks.”

For rest and comfort of each night,

For morning sun at dawn’s first light;

For water at my tap to drink

For family love and friendship’s link/

For food upon the table spread,

The fragrances of fresh-baked bread.

For clothes, for shelter overhead,

For every kind word fitly said;

For seasons changing, one on one,

For sorrow’s grief, laughter and fun;

The sum of every day’s felt needs,

For work and harmony that feeds

Our purposes for having life;

For being one with joy and strife;

For life abundant, salvation free,

A gift from Christ who died for me;

For all the fabric of my days

I lift my voice in thanks and praise.

-Ethelene Dyer Jones 11.23.2014

The Word—Sweeter than Honey

“How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore, I hate every false way…Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.” –Psalm 119:103-104; 97 (NKJV).

Do you love God’s Word? Can you say with the writer of Psalm 119 that it is sweeter to your mouth than honey? Can you attest that God’s law is your meditation all the day? Do you cling to God’s testimonies? Do you delight in His commandments? Do you yearn for the Lord’s precepts? If you honestly say yes to all these questions, then you do have a desire to know God’s Word, to cling to it, to follow it, to keep it in your heart and mind. Such was the desire of the writer of the longest Psalm, 119, which is a 176 verse acclamation of the excellence of God’s Word and how the Psalmist wanted to hide it in his heart, live by it, and gain delight and life from it.

Isaiah 40:3 reads: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’ ” Apply this verse to the present dearth of the knowledge of and love for the Word of God—the spiritual wilderness or desert in which we, by our own lack of study and application of the Bible—allow ourselves to live. But there is a voice in this wilderness. God has given us His Word. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be complete, perfect, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NKJV).

Paul’s strong word about the inspiration of Scripture, and its value for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness are emphasized. We don’t have to wander in the wilderness of apathy and spiritual dearth. We can be well-equipped with the knowledge and guidance God’s Word provides us. Systematically reading and studying the Word of God can supply a wonderful highway through the desert of our spiritual dearth. Just like the shepherds of old came upon a bee tree in Israel, and had the sweet taste of honey to assuage their hunger, so the Word of God can satisfy our spiritual hunger. It can go beyond providing for our spiritual hunger. It can fill us to overflowing with the precepts, joy and guidance of the Lord.

I need to establish some necessary guidelines when I open God’s Word, the Bible. When I approach it, I am entering holy ground. I am not seeking an explanation for God. He is, and I am seeking His voice. We need to pray, “Maranatha, Our Lord, come!” (1 Corinthians 16:22). Maranatha is a word we associate with the second coming of Jesus Christ. But it can also mean, “Lord, come to me now; speak to me now.” Each time we take the Word to study it, read it for inspiration, seek out its truths for our edification, we are meeting the Lord. He is speaking to us! Wonder of wonders, His “Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105). We would see a difference in our churches, in our society, in families, in personal lives of Christians if only we would take seriously our love for the Word and be diligent in following its truths. As good as they are, a few devotional verses a day may help, but they are not enough. A deep-down, earnest, sincere study of the Word is what is needed. Can you answer yes to the questions posed at the beginning of this devotional? Would you like to? I hope you will say, “Maranatha, Lord, come! Talk to me through Your Word!” Then we will say with the Psalmist, How I love thy Law (Word)! It is my meditation day and night!” --Ethelene Dyer Jones 11.16.2014

That Which Is “Far Off and Exceedingly Deep”

“All this I have proved by wisdom. I said, ‘I will be wise’; But it was far from me. As for that which is far off and exceedingly deep, Who can find out? I applied my heart to know, To search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things.” –Ecclesiastes 7:23-25 (NKJV). “For I considered all this in my heart, so that I could declare it all: that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. People know neither love nor hatred by anything that is before them. Everything occurs alike to all.” –Ecclesiastes 9:1-2a (NKJV). Jesus said to him, ‘Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’” – John 20:29.

So much escapes our knowledge. As the writer of Ecclesiastes laments: “that which is far off and exceedingly deep, who can find out?” We may study the Bible sincerely, but its rich mine of knowledge and spiritual wisdom may escape our understanding. Are we to despair? In our efforts “to search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things” can we gain enough knowledge to give us assurance along life’s pathway? Sometimes we, like the “assembly man”—for that is the meaning of Ecclesiastes, the one who calls a religious assembly or who is its spokesman or preacher—think: “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2). But, fortunately for the wisdom-seeker, Ecclesiastes, the “assembly-man,” there is an optimistic conclusion to his searching: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, Whether it is good or whether it is evil” (-Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, NKJV).

I concluded the cited verses above with John 20:29 for a specific reason. Jesus had already appeared after His resurrection from the dead to some of the disciples. Thomas had not yet seen the resurrected Christ and had made the statement: “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe” (John 20:25). Eight days later, Thomas was with the disciples when Jesus appeared to them. He invited Thomas to reach and touch His nail-scarred hands and His pierced side. But seeing Jesus was enough. Thomas did not have to touch His Lord to believe. Then Jesus made an astounding statement that includes you and me and any believers: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29, NKJV). It is possible, through the eyes of faith, to see that which is “far off and exceedingly deep.” “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9, NKJV). The necessity for faith is clearly stated in Habakkuk 3:4b as the prophet forth-tells the vision that would come: “The just shall live by his faith.” This statement became the central thrust of Martin Luther’s “95 Theses” so boldly proclaimed in 1517 in Germany, the document that started the Reformation.

I am amazed and grateful that the findings of archaeologists are unraveling that which is “far off and exceedingly deep.” For those who would criticize and term many of the events and people of the Bible as myths and legends, archaeology is proving them true. Beneath the Gulf of Aquaba (the Red Sea) have been found Egyptian chariot wheels and other artifacts of that event in the history of God’s people and their protection and safety as God led and provided. Much will still remain “far off and exceedingly deep” for us. Part of it is the awesome mystery and wonder of God, the omnipotent, omniscient One. We have enough of His revelation and wisdom to link us in faith to Him. As the father of the sick child may we pray: “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24b).  Ethelene Dyer Jones 11.09.2014

Search Me, O God

“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” –Psalm 39:23-24 (KJV).

“Does He not see my ways, and count all my steps?” Job asked his accusing friends in Job 31:4. Both Job and David are implying their own integrity. David asks God to search his heart and to know his thoughts. The implication, by asking for this search-and-find from God Himself, is that David will be judged innocent of wicked ways. Job, too, in pleading his case before his friends, knows that they cannot find him guilty as imagined, even though hard times had fallen upon Job. In the thinking of that day (and oftentimes in our own day), adversity was sure evidence of guilt and punishment.

After David’s prayer in Psalm 139:19-22 concerning his enemies, inserted as it was in this marvelous Psalm of praise for God’s omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence and providence, it seems as if David is turning again to God in complete reliance and trust, knowing that their relationship is steadfast and immovable.

Recently a Christian group was talking about the value of keeping a prayer journal. We talked about how, upon reading the psalms, we gain very intimate glimpses, written down, of how persons sought God and found Him. All of Psalm 139 is a very good example of how a seeking person talks to God. This is a deep-seated, sincere invitation: “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts.” The assurance on which David ends, “Lead me in the way everlasting,” is reechoed and restated in Proverbs 12:28: “In the way of righteousness is life, And in its pathway there is no death.” There, centuries before Christ’s resurrection from the dead and His teachings about eternal life, the writer of this Psalm and the wise man who wrote Proverbs were thinking in terms of the everlasting way which leads to life, not death.

A poet named J. Edwin Orr (b. 1912-?) was reading and meditating on Psalm 139:23-24. He took his pen and wrote “Search Me, O God,” which was set to music already written by Edward J. Hopkins (1818-1901) to a tune that we call in our hymnals, “Ellers.” I invite you to make the words of Edwin Orr your sincere prayer today. If you know the tune, you might sing it as you pray it:

“Search me, O God, and know my heart today; Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray.

See if there be some wicked way in me; Cleanse me from ev-‘ry sin and set me free.

“I praise You, Lord, for cleansing me from sin; Fulfill Your Word and make me pure within.

Fill me with fire where once I burned with shame; Grant my desire to magnify Your name.

“Lord, take my life, for I would live for You; Fill my poor heart with Your great love so true.

Take all my will, my passion, self, and pride; I now surrender; Lord, in me abide.

“O Holy Spirit, revival comes from You; Send a revival, my own heart renew.

Your Word declares You will supply our need; For blessings now, O Lord, I humbly plead.”

When we ask God to search our hearts, we are actually opening ourselves to Him and at the same time becoming aware of our dross, sin and lack of commitment. If we faithfully keep a prayer journal or a journal of our spiritual “searches,” we would surely find ways to improve our followship and our faithfulness to the Lord. –Ethelene Dyer Jones 11.02.2014