chosen to stand in the gap

(by Norm the Elder)

The Word for today:
Matthew 3

mark this: Matthew 2:13 --
An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him."

Galilee to Bethlehem, Bethlehem to Egypt, Egypt to Nazareth. Joseph was a man with a purpose. That purpose was to protect and care for his family by listening to and obeying the voice of God, no matter the cost or inconvenience.

Satan also had a purpose. That purpose was to kill Joseph's child, Jesus. But between Satan and Jesus stood a Spirit-filled, Spirit-led father.

God is always looking for a man who will listen and obey, a man He can use to fulfill His purpose and plan for mankind. At that time, in that place, Joseph was that man.

Fathers, listen carefully. We are, like Joseph, called to be men of purpose. We are called to protect and care for our families by listening to and obeying the Word of God, no matter the cost or inconvenience.

Satan also has a purpose for our families. That purpose is to ruin our marriages and wreck the lives of our children. But between Satan and our families we stand, Spirit-filled and Spirit-led.

God has chosen us to stand in the gap and defend the families he has given us. We are the men He has chosen to fulfill His purpose and plan. At this time we are the men, our homes are the place.

Prayer:
Dear Lord,
Help me be the father and husband you have called me to be.
Oh Lord, be the Husband of those without a husband, the Father of those without a father.
Help us to hear your voice and be obedient to it as we attempt to live our lives for you.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.

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International Geographic

(by Pastor Joe)

the Word for Today: Matthew 2

Geography isn't everything- but it almost is. In other words, you are not defined by where you were born or live, but those places have a huge role in your life. Think, for example the difference of being born in Medina, NY versus Medina, Saudi Arabia. Or ponder the difference between growing up in Calexico, California versus its sister city, Mexicali, Mexico. (Just two miles and two worlds apart). Even within the same country or region, you can see tremendous diversity in locations and the impact that has on a life.

This Christmas I received a year subscription to National Geographic magazine. (Now I've got that theme song stuck in my head!) And since I love history and cultures and maps, it is a very much appreciated gift. Since we are not too far removed from Christmas, I thought I would focus instead on the actual geographical places in this passage. I've had enough of King Herod, and even the Wise Guys seem a bit out of season- so let's try looking at the map to teach us more about the Messiah.

Matthew chapter 2 mentions several countries/regions/cities/towns by name:
Bethlehem, Judea, Jerusalem, Egypt, Galilee, and Nazareth. These are all important places in the Bible for various reasons, but I wanted to focus in on three in particular that tell us so much about the person of Jesus Christ.

1. Bethlehem- (Christ's Birth & Infancy)
This sleep little town, about 6 miles southwest of Jerusalem, has some deep Biblical history.
It is where Jacob's wife, Rachel, was buried (Ge. 35:19).
It's where Naomi was originally from, and where she and her daughter-in-law Ruth settled.
It is the city of David- where he was born, where he was a shepherd, where he was anointed king (1 Sam. 17).

Neat info, but what does this tell us about Jesus?
First of all, in Micah 5:2, the prophet tells us exactly where Messiah must be born. Some 800 years later, this very prophecy is fulfilled in today's reading- thanks, in part, to a pagan emperor who had no idea of any such promise.
Second of all, the connection to David is essential. Jesus Christ is referred to as the "Son of David" ten times in Matthew's gospel alone. Israel's greatest king and the King of Kings are from the same town.
The third has to do with the very name of the city of Bethlehem. This town, and surrounding region, were among the most productive and fertile in all of Judea- it was the bread basket of the region. And so how cool is it that the Bread of Life was born in the city that translates to "House of Bread."

Bethlehem means we have been given a ruler and provider- found in Jesus Christ.

2. Egypt (Christ as a toddler)
Egypt is perhaps the definitive worldly, opposed to God, geography in the Bible. Sure there was Babylon, Assyria, Medo/Persia, Greece, and Rome. But Egypt is mentioned more than all of them combined. (It is referenced in 27 of 39 Old Testament books).
Egypt, in many ways, best represents the secular world- the good, bad & ugly:
It was a place where God's people went to when they ran out of food (see Abraham or Jacob & sons).
It was a place where God's people ended up as slaves (see Joseph or Exodus 1-2).
It was a place where God freed his people from bondage (Exodus 11-14).
Yet it was a place to which God's people wanted to return (Numbers 11, 14).
It was a place that, later on, provided false hope of security for God's people (Isaiah 30, 31 & 36).

Neat info, but what does this tell us about Jesus?
Matthew alone, of the Gospel writers, mentions this account of Joseph and Mary fleeing to Egypt to escape Herod's wrath. He does so, not only to tie the prophecy of verse 16, but to also show that God's own Son has also been a refugee. He identifies not only with His ancestors who experienced the Exodus, he identifies with everyone who has ever been a stranger, a foreigner, an outcast.

Egypt means that we have been liberated and redeemed by One who knows what it means to be in exile.

3. Nazareth (Christ's Boyhood Home)
The obscure hamlet is so small that for many years many secular historians doubted its existence. (They were consequently proven wrong.) After all, it has no mention in the Old Testament or in any ancient historical records. Even Christ's own disciple, Nathanael, laughs at the village, wondering if "anything good" could come from such an insignificant place. (John 1:46)
It was big enough to have a synagogue, (which required a minimum of 10 men), but that was about it (Luke 4:16). Nonetheless, this is the location where Joseph and Mary lived, and the place where Jesus spent the large majority of His earthly life.

Neat info, but what does this tell us about Jesus?
Nazareth reminds me of some of the tiny, obscure places around us, such as Burt or Barker. It's not the middle of nowhere, but you can see it from there. I am so thankful that Jesus Christ chose to come to and grow up not in some metropolis or religious capital, but in the least likely place. He was given no advantage in geography. No cushy life in Rome or Jerusalem.

Nazareth means that the Son of God came as a humble servant, a root out of dry ground. (Isaiah 53:2)

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Family Tree

(written by Vickie)

[Today, Stand in the Rain welcomes Vickie.  You'll be hearing from her now and again. We're so glad to add a new voice to the 'Choir'!]

The Word for today:
Matthew 1

mark this: Verse 17 --
"So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, from David until the captivity in Babylon are fourteen generations, and from the captivity in Babylon until the Christ are fourteen generations."

The page before the book of Matthew, in my Bible, has two words- New Testament. If you are reading along in God's Word with the rest of us, who are moist with His rain, you may have breathed a sigh of relief... an Old Testament break is before us- no genealogies! Then you turn to Matthew 1; good grief, here we go again.

What's God up to with all the "begats" anyway? It's been my experience that the only people who are really excited about their family trees have a lot of good apples hanging there. If I were descended from Swedish royalty, Viking valor or Noble Prize winning genes, believe me, you'd all hear about it over the next potluck dinner table! Unfortunately, no notable has come up in my father's sleuthing into our past generations. From Abraham to Christ we see humanity in all it's aspects; the good, the bad, and the indifferent. Not so different from my own or your own family tree. Except this is the most significant genealogy in the history of mankind. It's significant because God reveals Himself as the eternal lover of our souls through His patient connection with us through all the generations of Abraham's offspring.

Matthew's genealogy is God's summary of what He has done to bring salvation to a world of sinners. Before we go forward, we take a moment to look back. It's not because the men on this list are so extraordinary, that we take this pause, but because God wants us to see, with clarity, that it's all about Jesus Christ. God could have brought our salvation into the world on a cloud from heaven or in a magical puff of smoke, but He didn't. He connected with us sinners and delivered what he promised (Gen. 3:15) through human generations, in spite of His chosen people's rebellion and Satan's scheming to destroy the line from which the promised Seed would come. He loves us this much. It's about forever family--an eternal family tree.

So I hope when you read each name in this passage again, you will, with me, add in your heart these words: because God loved me so much.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sheep listen. Goats don't.

The Word for today:
Isaiah 66

mark this: Isaiah 66:5 --
Hear the word of the LORD, you who tremble at his word:
"Your brothers who hate you, and exclude you because of my name, have said,
'Let the LORD be glorified, that we may see your joy!'
Yet they will be put to shame."

Isaiah ends with a picture of heaven and hell. If you want to see heaven, it's there in 66:22-23. If you want to see hell, it's there in the final verse, 66:24.

Who's going where?

There are various poetic pictures of the division:
"the sheep and the goats" (1) will be separated;
the "wheat will be separated from the tares." (2)

Alright. But those pictures beg the question: Which is which? How can you tell the difference?

"My sheep hear my voice," we are told in John 10:27.

Why do they hear his voice? They hear because they listen. They listen out of respect and reverence and what the Bible calls the fear of the LORD. Isaiah puts it this way: "they tremble at his Word."

I go to a church--as real and valid a church as there is--but not everyone there opens his Bible every day. They don't all fear him enough to tear themselves away from the inducements and allurements of the world for the 15 minutes a day it takes us to "stand in the rain." They don't, so to speak, fear the boss enough to open his emails. They don't love the LORD enough to read his letters.

The great demarcation in Christianity today is not between the Protestants and Catholics. The great demarcation is between those who tremble at his word and those who do not. In any church on any corner, you'll find both sheep and goats: Sheep listen. Goats don't.

There are "brothers," according to Isaiah 66, who will hate you because you tremble at his word. They might be the biological brothers of your household. They might be so-called brothers in your church. You're the Bible banger, they'll say:
"My God, he takes all that stuff seriously!"
"It's worse than just seriously. He takes it literally."

I'm going to get sentimental for just a second, and then I'll go.

Ruth was an outsider, a foreigner from Moab. But she chose the God of Israel as her God, and God's people as her people.

Jesus was thrown out of his hometown (3). "Even his own brothers did not believe in him" (4).

Once, while he was teaching,
his mother and brothers came to Him, and they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd. And it was reported to Him, "Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see You." But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it." (5)

My natural family also severed over the issue of Jesus Christ. That's the way Jesus said it would be:
"From now on families will be split apart, three in favor of me, and two against – or the other way around. There will be a division between father and son, mother and daughter, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law." (6)

You--who tremble at his word--you're my family now. Thanks for taking me in. Where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. (7)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(1) Matthew 25:32; (2) Matthew 13:30; (3) Luke 4:29; (4) John 7:5; (5) Luke 8:20; (6) Luke 12:52; (7) Ruth 1:16

Pigs and Tombstones

(by Pastor Joe)

The Word for today:
Isaiah 65

mark this: Isaiah 65:4--

"....who sit among the graves
and spend their nights keeping secret vigil;
who eat the flesh of pigs,
and whose pots hold broth of unclean meat..."

On January 23, Franklyn posted the following paragraph:

"Somewhere along the way we get the notion that we are "seekers," left to look high and low for God, who is hiding from us. "Seekers." It sounds romantic, it puts us in a good light, with lush background music swelling the soundtrack. Cue up the violins. But that's not the picture the Bible paints for us."

I couldn't agree more. And more importantly, the Scriptures make this point clear.

In today's reading, in the first five verses, Isaiah portrays the true condition of mankind apart from God:
We aren't asking for God [v.1]
We aren't seeking God [v.1]
We are not called by His name [v.1]
We are rebellious [v.2]
We walk in ways that are not good [v.2]
We follow our own foolish devices [v.2]
We constantly and blatantly are provoking God [v.3]
We are idolaters [v.3]
We spend time around unclean things (e.g. tombs & pigs) [v.4]
We basically tell God to get lost and think that we are better than Him [v.5]

Not a very flattering picture, is it?
Sometimes the truth hurts. But it is essential that we understand who we are and where we stand before God. Millions, if not billions, of people are living under the false assumption that they are somehow basically good, and therefore okay before God.

Scripture says otherwise. In multiple ways, throughout the entire Bible, God reminds us of our true condition apart from Him- and it ain't pretty.
Perhaps one of the most striking examples of who we are, especially related to today's passage, is found in the Mark 5 (as well as in Matthew 8 and Luke 8).
In this passage, Jesus encounters one of the most pathetic situations found in the Gospels--the demon-possessed man in Geresa.

It's hard to get much lower than this man:
He's controlled by an unclean spirit [v.2]
He lives in a unclean cemetery [v.3]
He has no clothes [Lk. 8:2]
He was often shackled [v. 4]
He was in constant anguish [v. 5]
He hurt and cut and bruised himself [v.5]
He dwells among unclean swine [v.11]

This pitiful wretch has no comfort, no hope, and no chance to do anything about his situation. That is until he encounters the only One who can rescue him- Jesus Christ. In one fell swoop, Jesus drives out the unclean spirits and unclean swine, clothes him, restores his sanity, and sends the man from the tombs to friends. He even gives the man the task of sharing the message of Jesus in his region (Mk. 8:13-20). What a turn around. What a Savior!

But before we can be rescued, we need to realize our tremendous need for a rescuer. We may have our outward lives a bit more together than this fellow, but our spiritual condition, apart from Christ, is just as desperate as his. If you have been redeemed, don't ever forget where you've come from. If you haven't, don't flatter yourself with false hope in your own righteousness. Let Jesus Christ rescue you from the tombs and swine and everything else that separates you from God.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Was this Jesus' "mission statement?" (part 2 of 2)

The Word for today:
Isaiah 63:7 - 64:12

mark this: Isaiah 61:1-2 --
"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn."

[In the spirit of Bible adventure, in the realm of conjecture and well-studied speculation, "Stand in the Rain" takes up where it left off yesterday.

Today we will show the pivotal placement of Isaiah 61:1-2 in the Bible and in the life of Jesus. We will look into the New Testament to see how Jesus launched his public ministry with the proclamation of these verses.]

The young Jesus read of the glory of the coming Christ in passages like Isaiah 60; on the other hand, he read the suffering of Christ in passages like Isaiah 53.

Even the prophets couldn’t reconcile these things, as Peter would later explain:
Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. (1 Peter 1:10-11)

From a great distance, mountain peaks can appear close together, when in fact a great valley lies between them. The prophets could not always see the valley—the interval of time—between events. Isaiah 61:2 worked the first coming and the second coming of Jesus Christ into one verse, separated by just an ‘and:’
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God...

But there came a day when, right in front of Jesus' eyes, the foreground and the background became distinct from one another: there would be one Christ who would arrive twice. With that understanding, the Bible in Jesus' eyes became whole cloth, seamless and integrated. Everything fit together now, with no loose strands.

Soon after the beginning of his ministry, he found himself in Nazareth again. Wistfully, he revealed his identity to the people of his hometown with the same verse God had used to clarify his identity to himself:
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:16-21)

He'd stopped in mid-verse, just before 'and.'

A day of vengeance on the plains of Megiddo would wait in the background. In the foreground stood the awful grace of Mount Calvary.

First things first.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Was this Jesus' "mission statement?" (part 1 of 2)

The Word for today:
Isaiah 61:1 - 63:6

mark this: Isaiah 61:1-2 --
"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn."

[Shelley (next to Jesus the eternal love of my eternal life) is driving us all crazy (short trip!) because she is memorizing (out loud and incessantly) Isaiah 61:1-4. So with today's scriptures ringing in my ears as I write this, I offer some conjecture and some well-studied speculation. (Conjecture and speculation are what Bible teachers do for fun)...]

What's the most important verse or passage in scripture?

Off the top of my head, maybe Genesis 1:1-3? or Genesis 3? Genesis 15:6? Genesis 50:20? Exodus 3:14? Exodus chapter 12? Leviticus 17:11? Exodus 34:6? 2 Samuel 7? Psalm 22? Isaiah 53? Jeremiah 31:31 Daniel 9? Matthew 1:21? Matthew 13? Luke 24? John 1? John 3:16?--and/or its necessary counterpart, John 3:18? John 19:30? Acts 2? Romans 1:16-17? 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 2:8-9? Hebrews 1? Revelation 21-22?

It would be fun to sit down with some avid Bible students and list Scripture's most important verse. It would also become an exercise in the ridiculous, akin to Paul's rhetorical question (in 1 Corinthians 12) asking which part of the body is most important. An organic whole is not to be dismembered, because verses don't exist in isolation. I'll even bet that your "most important verse" isn't on my extemporaneous list up there.

But, for the sake of Bible fun, I am going to vote today that Isaiah 61:1-2 (along with it's interpretive application by Christ himself in Luke 4:16-21) is the most important passage in scripture.

Why this verse? Because, between the lines, I think the Bible hints that this verse, more than any other, clarified the Word of God for the Word of God, himself.

First, a premise: the baby in Bethlehem did not come pre-packaged with infinite insight into the bottomless depths of scripture. That baby was God himself, but he set aside glory when he put on swaddling clothes. He "emptied himself" (1) and--as we do now--grew into himself. He "increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man (2)." Hebrews 5:8 tells us that "although he was a son, he learned..."

I think we have a more complete picture of "the lost years" (between the swaddling clothes and his baptism at age 30) than we might think. All that we're given is one incident, when Jesus is attending a heavy duty Bible study in Jerusalem! But it may be that the one incident pretty much covers those years.

Psalm 69 is a picture, not altogether pretty, of Jesus' formative years in Nazareth. "Zeal for his Father's house consumed him" (3) during those years. So in between working with his earthly father, Joseph, and playing, as children do, I think that he was captivated by the Word of God and spent hour after hour "in" it. If that doesn't sound likely, then I refer you to kids today, who can spend 8, 10, 12 hours at video games. Kids can be absorbed in things, for better or for worse. Think Schroeder at the piano in "Charlie Brown."

I can see a young Jesus--14? 18? 20? 25?--reading this particular scripture when Scripture (the whole of it) "clicked" for him, when the fragments fell into place, the big picture came into focus and the clarion call was heard.

And so time kept turning and his public ministry was upon him. As he launched out, what's the verse that he turned to as a sort of mission statement? It was Isaiah 61:1-2. As he looked back, it was summative--a personal testimony of the years spent in training for his life's work. Looking ahead, it was his itinerary. I think it was what we might call his "life verse."

(To be continued tomorrow...)

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(1) Philippians 2:7; (2) Luke 2:52; Psalm 69:9

protest!

The Word for today:
Isaiah 60

mark this: Isaiah 60:1-2 --
Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
For behold, darkness shall cover the earth,
and thick darkness the peoples;
but the LORD will arise upon you,
and his glory will be seen upon you.

I was not blessed with what is referred to as a "godly heritage;" a love for the Bible was not handed down to me from my parents. They dutifully went each Sunday to a large church. Stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down.  Then out the door.  "See ya  next week, when we'll do this all again."  Glory.

And talk about comic obfuscation. My kids have a hard time believing this, but they didn't speak English in that church. They spoke--I kid you not--a language that no one on earth spoke in his daily life.

And talk about tragic darkness. No one was to individually open his Bible. The Light of the world was not to be directly encountered. It had to pass through the prism of the priestly caste.  At home we had a Bible -- on the mantel in the living room between two heavy bookends next to a chiming clock.  Although they respected it enough to purchase it and provide a prominent place for it (physically) in our home, I do not recall either of my parents ever looking inside it.

And I can't blame them, when their church seemed (from a teenager's point of view) to go out of its way to put a bushel over the Light (1).

So now I'm protesting.

I have many spiritual heroes, unsung people whose names you would not know.  But I have two heroes whose names are recognized. I spoke of one--J. Vernon McGee, the greatest Bible teacher that ever was--in this space on January 6.  (Just google "Thru the Bible" and you'll find him.)

My other hero is the man who, next to Jesus, was Christendom's greatest protester! He was a troubled, anguished monk who insisted that the Light of the world, the Word of God, be made directly accessible to every person--no intervening priests or prisms to "filter" the light. He even--gasp--had the brazen audacity to translate the Bible out of Gobbledygook and into German (his native language) so some poor 14-year-old in Wittenberg or Bavaria could read it.

When you go to your "Protestant" church today, remember that you're a Protestant because you've got something to protest!  If your version of a priest (you might call him parson, pastor, or vicar) isn't bringing the real Biblical Jesus--the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth-- then protest!  Take the bushel off the Lamp and whip it out the window.

And if you go to the Catholic side of the aisle, don't leave that place.  Stay there and protest!   They took Martin Luther's suggestion, eventually, and dumped Gobbledygook, but there are still encrusted traditions obfuscating the clear and complete Jesus.   Protest!  Throw the bushel through the stained glass window.

If you do, I will add you to my list of heroes!  You'll be right up there with J. Vernon and Martin.  And I will visit you in jail!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(1) see Matthew 5:14; cf. John 8:12

Is that the doorbell I hear?

The Word for today:
Isaiah 59

mark this: Isaiah 59:2 --
Your iniquities have separated
you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you.

and this: Isaiah 59:16 --
He saw that there was no one,
he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
so his own arm worked salvation for him.  

Somewhere along the way we get the notion that we are "seekers," left to look high and low for God, who is hiding from us.

"Seekers." It sounds romantic, it puts us in a good light, with lush background music swelling the soundtrack. Cue up the violins.

But that's not the picture the Bible paints for us.

The Bible pictures God on the outside, seeking to come in:
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:20)

The Bible says that Jesus came to seek and save. (Luke 19:10)

God made Eden, a paradise where man could walk with God every day.

But Adam and Eve didn't trust God's Word or his goodness. They focused on their one and only restriction instead of the limitless blessings God had given them.

So, one sin at a time, they built the walls of "hell," keeping God out. Isaiah explains it like this:
Your iniquities have separated
you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you. (Isaiah 59:2)

We "second" their motion, and side with sin.

The idea that God initiated the separation is one of the most subtle and effective lies that the principalities and powers of this present darkness (1) have spread. The truth is that God is unwilling that any should perish. (2)

It is God who looked high and low, but there was no one who could rescue us from the dungeon we'd built. So he had to go in himself:
He saw that there was no one,
he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
so his own arm worked salvation for him. (Isaiah 59:16)

His seeking put God on the cross. I hope this gives all of us "seekers" some perspective.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(1) Ephesians 6:12; (2) 2 Peter 3:9

starve sin today

The Word for today:
Isaiah 58

mark this: Isaiah 58:6-7 --

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter--
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

A couple days ago, we heard the LORD proclaim, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways (1)." But then the LORD tells us that it doesn't have to stay that way. If we "Stand in the Rain" day by day, if we let the Word of God saturate our souls, then we will put on the mind of Christ and begin to know Him better. (2)

Refer once again to Pastor Joe's article from January 20 on Isaiah 55. God isn't hiding his ways from us. He sent the Word from heaven--the Bible and then Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh--so we don't have to be clueless about God's ways.

Today's reading--if read without our cultural preconceptions and all the accumulated biases we have about God--will startle you. Because today we are going to learn what fasting means to God. It's a whole lot different than the way we generally think.

Did Jesus fast? If fasting means abstaining from food, Jesus fasted once (that we know of). (3)

But if you mean the fast described in Isaiah 58, Jesus fasted every day.

Isaiah 58 turns "abstaining" on its head!

Let's say that you've noticed a kid in the neighborhood who loves baseball but can't afford a proper glove. God's fast is when you go buy him a real leather Rawlings glove. You've just fasted from self-centeredness. You've set out to make today somebody else's day. You've made the kid glad and you've made God smile.

Or maybe someone's heart is aching over a death or an infidelity or a betrayal. You've been there. So you let him know that's happened to you, too. Perhaps you relate how God turned your loss into something positive. You've just fasted from apathy. You made a person smile and you made God smile.

Maybe the lady who teaches the 3rd grade Sunday School class is swamped with kids. So you ask how you might help. You've just fasted from Sabbaths that were a little too restful! God appreciates the irony of your fast.

Two weeks into your new assignment, you find out how challenging elementary Sunday School can be. Without even thinking about it, you find you have stopped criticizing the ministries of others in the church. You've just fasted from a critical spirit. One fast has led to another; God smiles twice!

Out in the parking lot on your way home, Sally sidles up next to you with her weekly morsel of gossip. You stop her in mid-sentence. "I'm not your audience for that crap any more, Sally. Go tell your tales to that bird over there!" You've just fasted from condoning gossip!

And you've authoritatively rebuked sin. You are learning God's ways! And right in the church parking lot, no less! You've shown sin the bird! And you've fasted from feeding gossip! Gossip starves without an audience.

God loves this. The fast of God is to starve sin. You remind God of Jesus now, which always puts him in a good mood.

Now the boy next door has a proper mitt. The discouraged have taken courage. A Sunday School teaching ministry has been born. The blunt eloquence of American English has been efficaciously applied, and Sally has shut up for once. You are fasting like Jesus now.

Go and starve sin today! Point out the bird he can fly away with.

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(1) Isaiah 55:8; (2) see Isaiah 55:10-11; 1 Corinthians 2:16; (3) Matthew 4:2

"person-alize" your Bible!

The Word for today:
Isaiah 56, 57

Yesterday, Pastor Joe contributed an article he called "Why Stand in the Rain?"

I loved it. For me, it brought a new dimension to Isaiah 55:8-11, which happens to be the theme passage for this 3-year Bible reading program we call "Stand in the Rain."

The blog you are reading accompanies the three year schedule. We publish every day, in many different venues. If you haven't yet, I hope you'll click here, which takes you to our original site. In a sidebar to the left you'll find an explanation of just why we call the program "Stand in the Rain."

But more important than anything--and I mean anything--is that you locate the words "reading schedule here." They are in bright blue, hoping to attract your eye.

Clicking them will transport you to the reading schedule.  Find "Year Two" of the schedule and wheel your way down to January 21. It will say "Isaiah 56, 57." Now take your eyes off the monitor and your hand off the mouse. Locate a Bible. Open to the middle and then flip 100 or so pages forward until you reach Isaiah 56.

I have found just one thing in this entire world that makes any real difference. And I just went through an elaborate scheme to connect you two.

"You two."  The way that's phrased makes it sound like I connected you with somebody instead of just something.

May it be so.

Some people have a personalized Bible. They have their name engraved on the cover. I propose that we all personalize our Bibles.  Using our "Stand in the Rain" theme passage, I'll show you how:

As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.  (Isaiah 55:10-11)

Now -- quick, like a bunny -- who came down from heaven, bringing living water? Go to John 4:7-14 and you'll find out!

And who sowed the seed? Go to Matthew 13:3.

And who was the Bread of life? Go to John 6:48.

Who was the Word God "spoke" to express his heart? See John 1:1, 14; John 3:16; Hebrews 1:1-2.

Who returned to his Father, having achieved God's purpose? Go to Acts 1:9.

If you answered "Jesus" to the questions above, you have just personal-ized your Bible! Now your Bible isn't conceptual, it's person-al!  Now it isn't poetry and figures of speech, it's a person.

May it be so.  May you two meet.  May you fall in love.  May you take his name.  May you stand forever together, in the rain.

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