His Yoke Is Easy

How Long Must Your Servant Wait? - Psalm 119k - Kaph

nospam@example.com (Tom Quinlan) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 08:59:00 -0400

81 My soul faints with longing for Your salvation,
- but I have put my hope in Your Word.
82 My eyes fail looking for Your promise;
- I say, “When will You comfort me?”
83 Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke,
- I do not forget Your decrees.
84 How long must Your servant wait?
- When will You punish those who persecute me?
85 The arrogant dig pitfalls for me,
- contrary to Your law.
86 All Your commands are worthy of trust;
- help me, for men persecute me without cause.
87 They almost wiped me from the earth,
- but I have not forsaken Your precepts.
88 Preserve my life according to Your love,
- and I will obey the statutes of Your mouth.

My soul faints with longing for Your salvation - There will be times when it seems that our soul seems to suffocate. These will occur even if (or perhaps especially if...) we are steadfastly looking for manifestations of the Lord's Kingdom on this earth. That kind of "looking" is good and was encouraged by the Lord Jesus when He taught us to pray saying, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." When we come up against the contradictions, whether within ourselves or without, that resistance sucks the "air" out of our present hopes, and our soul faints. At times like these we are dependent on the true resurrection life of our Lord coming into us to raise us up.

But I have put my hope in Your Word - On the day that Jesus was crucified, the adoring crowds and devoted disciples were gone. His own Father had turned Him over to the evil desires of sinful men who were thinking that they were doing God a service. No one and no thing from this realm below could deliver Him from the things He was suffering. His body and His soul were fainting, succumbing to death. Nevertheless, right before Jesus died, he cried out, "Into Thy hands I commend My Spirit." With no visible evidence (or otherwise sensory) of any kind to support it, Jesus was still entertaining hope in His Father's faithfulness to every Word He had ever spoken. My eyes fail, looking for Your promise.

I say, “When will You comfort me?” - When Jesus died, even His most dedicated disciples were despondent and crushed. They had invested everything they had in full persuasion that Jesus was the One whom God had promised to restore Israel. Despite the teachings of Jesus concerning his sufferings and death, they underestimated the nature and depth of the deliverance that Jesus came to bring about for Israel and the nations, and were blindsided by His arrest, trial and crucifixion. For two days and two nights they suffered the loss of all things. They were collapsing in despair. Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke... The two disciples on the road to Emmaus complained to Jesus (before they recognized Him) - "What is more, it is the third day since all this took place." In other words, they had remembered the words of Jesus that He would be raised again on the third day (I do not forget Your decrees); but now it was well into the third day and they had grown weary waiting for a manifestation of the promise. They had stopped hoping. If "He" had been the Messiah, surely He would have come by now. How long must Your servant wait?

When will You punish those who persecute me? Jesus paid the full penalty of our sin. He left no bill to our charge. He has conquered every foe. He has even poured out on us His very own Spirit. So what is up with His patience for the opposition that we still face? Psalm 59:11 says "Slay them not lest my people forget." The Lord desires to have a people that know Him in the heights... and in the depths (Eph 3:18). To accomplish this, He even puts hooks in the jaws of our enemies (Ezk 38:4) and brings them against us so that we might have need to discover those depths. The wicked think that these schemes are their own idea to undermine God's design. The arrogant dig pitfalls for me, contrary to Your law. However, as soon as His purpose in us is accomplished (though not a moment before) He will destroy them by the brightness of His coming (2Thes 2:8).

All Your commands are worthy of trust; help me, for men persecute me without cause. Job says, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." Abraham trusted God to keep His promises concerning Isaac even if it meant raising him from the dead. These things are written for our admonition, so that we (upon whom the ends of the world have come) would not be overthrown in the wilderness of our trials. He has commanded that we suffer, but His command is tempered with hope that we will lay hold of all that He is. May the Lord help us to trust Him until the end.

They almost wiped me from the earth, but I have not forsaken Your precepts. It may seem to our flesh and soul that God has forsaken us, but He is a master craftsman who is fashioning pure vessels of hope. In our hour of temptation, when all seems lost, may we say with this Psalmist, "but I have not forsaken Your precepts."

Preserve my life according to Your love, and I will obey the statutes of Your mouth. I love this line. The Psalmist is asking LARGE. Is there any greater attribute of God than His love that one could appeal to? I think not. Though seemingly cast off and left for dead, he has cast himself upon the "I will's" of God (see Ez 37 & 38) and has found those words of God coming forth out of his own mouth. Of course, Jesus is our great forerunner and anchor in all of this. He who tasted death for every man is with us at this very moment, bring these exceedingly great and precious promises close at hand.

Book Review: katz - A Biographical Commentary (book by Peter Brock)

nospam@example.com (Tom Quinlan) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 10:40:00 -0500

Book Review: katz - Ben Israel: The Early Years: From Flatbush to the Burning Bush by Peter Brock (reviewed by Tom Quinlan)

If you are reading this blog, there is a decent chance that you already know that over the years I have been deeply impacted by the late Art Katz (1929-2007). One of my more popular blog entries attempts to describe that impact. This probably exempts me from being able to write ANY review regarding Art that is not biased in favor of him.

This book was published what seemed like mere days after Art's death (but was in the works for a considerable time before that). While I was hungry for material by and about Art, I was not drawn to the book and resisted a purchase based very much by its cover and by what I felt when looking at the pictures and quotes from the book highlighted on author Peter Brock's own web site The Art Katz Story. The all black/blood-red color scheme of both the book's cover and it's promotional web site, coupled with using only photos that have an ominous, over-posterized look, communicated a nauseous feeling that I had never associated with Art.

A year or so after the book was published, I discovered and succumbed to reading the portions of the book that were posted on the Google Books site, and I was pleasantly surprised at how generously Brock was with including large portions of transcribed messages from Art's ministry over the decades. Reading those excerpts stirred me in the inner man, as has been so common an experience listening to Art's messages over the past two decades. But whenever the author allowed himself to interpret events, and Art's motives, there was an inevitably tangible distrust of Katz. The subjects of Art Katz and Ben Israel, (the Christian community Art helped start in the 70's) appeared to be something that had occupied and maybe even bothered the author for YEARS (33 years according to the book's introduction). Since large portions of the book were missing from the Google site I felt like a jury only allowed to hear small portions of the evidence and only by hostile witnesses.

In December 2008, a Christian brother made a comment to my Online Journal entry regarding Art and he asked if I had read this book. My response was very similar to what I just expressed in the preceding paragraph. A few months later, ostensibly because of those comments about the book, I was contacted via email by Peter Brock himself. He was very pleasant, and offered to send me the book at his own expense. (Peter, for that I offer here a public "thank you.") I interpreted that as an invitation from the Lord Himself to read the book and fully digest it's perspective, whether or not I found it desirable.

Brock's credentials to write the book (besides his profession as a journalist) are his own participation in "phase one" of the Ben Israel community in the late 70's and early 80's, that included some traveling with Art on his speaking tours. The 35 years that Art himself lived at Ben Israel were divided by a couple of years in the mid 1980's when the community was disbanded and dispersed in an uncertainty that it would ever come to life again. Brock obtains his knowledge of the 2nd phase from the community's newsletters and other research.

When I first received the book I was greatly relieved that it contained no pictures other than the cover photo, as I cannot overstate how much the photos on the book's website repulsed me. Before the book was sent to me, Peter insisted that I begin with the "Epilogue", that is, the last few pages of the book. I was happy to oblige, but it made me wonder why those pages were at the end of the book if they were so important.

The following is the last line of the book:

"I think of some words used by Dietrich Bonhoffer and Paul the apostle, and want to say about Art Katz: 'Look what a wonderful man was living with us on the earth.'"

In the Acknowledgements at the beginning of the book Brock says:

"Of course, much gratitude is due the man himself and the breakneck, driving insatiable race that he ran. Who is not breathless again reviewing and reflecting on the plenteous bounty of the Art Katz legacy that remains?"

These two statements are among the few sympathetic statements regarding Katz that you will find in the book. I speculate therefore that Peter was attempting to have me discover his positive assessments of Katz before delving into the decidedly less flattering material contained within.

The first hundred pages of the book chronicle Art's first 34 years as an unbeliever, drawing heavily upon Art's own book, Ben Israel, the journal of his mid-life crisis and search for meaning that ended with an encounter with the Lord in Jerusalem. Brock's book however starts much earlier in Art's life than the Ben Israel chronicle. I would have liked to know where Brock obtained these early details, whether from interactions with Art himself or some other source. Having re-read Ben Israel myself recently (over twenty years after my first reading), I was taken aback at the amount of "unseemly" material included in that book that had not bothered me when I read it as a young Christian. Brock openly laments the toning down of that material in subsequent printings of the Ben Israel book, and is therefore not surprisingly very liberal with his own additional "spicy" anecdotes.

Unlike the Bible, which reports the defects of it's "heroes" tersely (such as the account of King David's adultery) this account seems to relish somewhat in the recollection of it. I would expect Spirit-filled believer's to be uncomfortable enough reading such accounts to consider abandoning the book early on.

As the book progresses to the days of ministry, beginning a decade or so after Art's conversion, Brock quotes generously from the actual messages spoken by Katz and occasionally provides helpful summaries of the themes Art presented at various times. Those quotations are, in my view, the most redeeming portions of the book. There are some genuinely interesting nuggets scattered about, such as the account of Art weeping profusely after learning of the death of his brother Lenny.

In the second and third sections of the book, the accounts sometimes move back and forth from the 1990's-2000's "Ben Israel II" era back to the 1980's era that Brock experienced. I found the switch to be confusing, but that could be partly due to the fact that I did some skipping back and forth myself.

As Brock recounts the history of the early community life, which he tasted personally, the names of all the persons involved in that community have been changed to avoid "embarrassment and misunderstanding." In retrospect I think it is safe to say that neither of those stated goals were accomplished.

Throughout the book, when Brock inserts his own commentary and observations, it is almost always from a perspective of bitterness and condescension, perhaps returning what he felt from Art: "We endured the Katzophrenic twists and turns, the habitual suspicion and outbursts..." Additionally the reader should expect a frequent if not continual examination of observed discrepancies between the man and his message. As I write this the follow admonition comes to mind:

Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers,
because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. James 3:1

Anyone aspiring to a ministry such as Art's will think twice after reading this book as Brock brings an intense scrutiny. Those looking to learn more about a man they admire will no doubt have the wind knocked out them, as Peter uncorks his own disappointment after disappointment regarding Art. Most painfully, Brock saves a little bombshell of insinuation for the last page, offering no details but leaving the reader to imagine the worst.

Brock warns of all this early in his own introduction:

Anyone who knew him knows of his oft-declared passion for truth in it entirety - without reservations or qualms, and with the bark on. If what follows is disagreeable, then let those who would take the initiative and provide additional and more approvable volumes. Katz left everyone a lot to think and talk about.

In conclusion, read it only if you must. It is not an enjoyable book and was apparently not intended to be.

Interestingly, since publishing the book, Peter has moved back to Ben Israel, now in a post-Art era. Art's wife Inger has recently released a "more approvable" volume of anecdotes about Katz called A Treasure in an Earthen Vessel. In her introduction she credits Peter with "editing" assistance.

Prospective readers of Peter's book would do well to have Inger's booklet close at hand to provide some much needed relief.

I Have Prepared A Place For You

nospam@example.com (Tom Quinlan) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 23:01:00 -0500

2nd Kings Chapter 1 provides an account of an encounter with three different "battalions" of soldiers and Elijah the prophet. The soldiers had been sent by King Ahaziah to capture Elijah for prophesying that the King would not recover from his illness. Specifically, the reason given by Elijah was that the King refused to seek the LORD, but rather Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron. The captains of the first 2 battalions apparently did not believe that Elijah was a prophet of the Most High God as the approached him with this demand: "Man of God, the king says, 'Come down!' " The second captain added "Man of God, the king says, 'Come down at ONCE!'"

To both of these commanders Elijah replied: "If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!" Scripture records that "the fire of God fell from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men".

It would be reasonable to assume that the disciples of Jesus had this account in mind when they asked Jesus if He wanted them to call down fire from heaven ("as Elijah did") on the Samaritans that would not receive Jesus into their town because He was determined to go to Jerusalem. In apparent contradiction to the Old Testament account (when God responded to Elijah's request) Jesus replied to them: "You know not what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." From our vantage point, we know that those disciples did not yet know the depths to which God was required to go in order to redeem men.

Jesus, "knowing from whence He came, and where He was going" (Jn 13:3) absorbed within Himself the rejection of these Samaritans --- who had already professed a measure of faith in Jesus as the Christ during the incident with the woman at the well --- in a way that Elijah had not. How then did the fire of God (and of Jesus, who is God) fall from heaven at Elijah's word, if this later account seems to indicate that God is not like this? Could it be that the fire that Elijah called down was prophetic of an eternal fire that has been prepared solely for the devil and his angels and that comes to men only if they reject God's one means of escape in Christ?

Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Matt 25:41

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. John 14:2-3

Recently, I listened to some early sermons from the 1970's by the late Art Katz. Because of certain phrases and impressions, I am certain that I listened to a few of these during my first year as a Christian in the summer of 1985, when I was a volunteer at a liberal Christian Community and starving for the Word. A member of the community had gotten me hooked up with a Cassette Tape ministry and I stumbled upon these Art Katz messages that literally changed the course and direction of my life. One in particular, "The Fire of God" has captured my imagination once again (now 25 years later) as a key to bringing light and clarity to some ideas that have been wrestling each other in my mind.In this message Art pointed out that no person in all of scripture spoke of hell more than Jesus.

I am THE way, THE truth and THE life and NO man comes to the Father but by ME. John 14:6

He that believeth not shall be damned. Mark 16:16b

“You are from beneath. I am from above. You are from this world. I am not of this world. If you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” John 8:23-24

Jesus drained the cup of God's wrath against sin when He died on the cross. He "tasted death for every man." Some say that this means that God is no longer a God of judgment. This view is short-sighted as this much is certain: the devil and his demonic cohorts still hate God and want no part of God's self sacrificing way of doing things. If God is in heaven, Satan would rather be somewhere else. In response to this foolish rebellion, God has prepared and isolated a special place in Himself for the evildoers that the Scriptures call hell. (Psalm 139:8)

So, what this boils down to is that there is in fact a judgement-free zone. It is vast and spacious, with many mansions, but the entrance to it is straight and narrow and involves embracing a cross. What we do with this man Jesus, God's anointed, and with the mighty outpouring of His Spirit that His death and resurrection makes available to us is the question of our lives. "I set before you this day life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life!" (Deut 30:19) God has made a way for us to escape the coming judgment on the devil and his angels. He has prepared another place for us that is near His heart. The question is now whether we will enter into that place through Jesus, the only door ("I AM the gate" John 10:9) that will get us there.

Psalm 119 "LP" Content

nospam@example.com (Tom Quinlan) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:38:25 -0500

I have been working recently on digital notes for the Psalm 119 music that the Lord gave me last year. It was inspired by the new iTunes LP feature which attempts to replicate digitally what we used to get in the old days when we purchased Vinyl LP's. That would be things such as Lyric Booklets, Guitar Chords, pictures of the artists, etc. It turnes out that the iTunes "technology" is fairly standard web stuff, so it can be previewed here on this site (although somewhat slower). It can be downloaded directly for use on iTunes here (160mb including the 22 mp3's).

The Kingdom of God is at Hand: Healing

nospam@example.com (Tom Quinlan) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 16:27:00 -0400

Several months ago, when I sat down to write this entry, I felt that it was necessary to precede it with another on the topic of provision and wealth. The reason for that groundwork is the proliferation of the “Health and Wealth” gospel that has spread through America and beyond. It has degenerated into “another” gospel that sets its affections on things of earth and not on things above. So, not having to address the nature of prosperity again, let us now turn our attention to the other subject of this equation; namely, health. I will define health as: that condition in which all the parts of the body are vigorously performing the function for which they were designed.

A ministry of healing is therefore a restorative one. It brings a body back to the original intention of God, the Designer. This ministry of restoration was one of the signs and wonders that confirmed the message of Jesus as originating in God. As Nicodemus said:

“Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

My interest in healing is heightened because of our call to bring the Gospel of the Kingdom “to the Jew first”. I do not want to cheat God out of any aspect of His character that He has revealed to equip us for the extraordinary task at hand. Of course we know now that the miracles of Jesus were not enough to convince the majority of Priests, Scribes and Pharisees of His identity then (see Deut 14). But the fact that God the Father testified to the identity Jesus with the miraculous and was rejected by "the authorities" does not mean that it was unnecessary or ineffective. They weren't convinced by His preaching or the words of the prophets either, but that does mean we stop looking to God for clarity of speech and revelation to persuade men. In healing, Jesus began to reveal the heart of the Father to His own generation in a way that alters the lives of those affected by the fall. In the case of the Jews, He was answering more than the fall, but additionally their inability to keep their end of the Covenant because the Covenant contained provision for healing.

He said, “If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.” Ex 15:25-26

Was He aware that the people He was healing would later abandon or reject Him at the appointed hour? Certainly He was well aware of it ("for He knew what was in man" and more importantly Who wasn't in them), but their failure was not a factor in what demonstrations of grace He chose to display, just as it was not a factor in His willingness to suffer and die on the Cross (“While we were yet sinners...”). When He displayed God's Kingdom in His earthly ministry before His death, He was (by His own faith) drawing from the grace and power that was, from an earthly viewpoint, yet future. To put it another way, He was living by the power of an endless life. As He said to Mary and Martha, “I AM the Resurrection.”

He is calling us to that life and testimony. If we are identified with His death, then we are also identified with His life and seated with Him in heavenly places.

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Gal 2:20 KJV

Ministry that is proceeding from any lesser place than the throne of God is “wood, hay and stubble”.

Most Christians will agree (if asked) that God is still able to heal today. The problem arises with the question of whether or not He is always willing and what to do when prayers requesting His intervention are not immediately answered.

Objection: Sometimes the Father says “No.”

We must remind ourselves that the way we learn about the will of God is to look upon Jesus. When we look at Him we are looking at the Father. (Jn 14:10) So when we read the Gospels and see that Jesus Himself spent what looks to be inordinate amounts of His time to accommodate the multitudes who came to Him in their distress, we are getting a glimpse into the very heart of God.

And He healed them all. Luke 6:19

They came to Him with diverse afflictions and dispositions. These were the same multitudes that left Him as He drew nearer to the cross. So to say that He healed them says much about His heart of compassion and His generosity towards the undeserving. This verse alone has been enough to dispel the doubts of many who have come to the Lord for healing for their bodies.

He made healing and demonic deliverance as commonplace as bread, and even likened it to such when He spoke to the Syro-phoencian woman: “It is not right to take the children's bread and give it to the dogs.

No matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” and “Amen” in Christ unto the glory of God (2 Cor 1:20)

This woman seems to have laid hold of that eternal “Yes” because she would not take the Lord’s initial “No” as the final word. Her response, “yes but even the dogs eat crumbs that fall from the masters table” evoked this praise from Jesus: “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.”

If we currently lack the kind of faith that Gentile woman had, we should not allow ourselves to be condemned.

There is therefore now no condemnation for them that are in Christ Jesus...

I will not allow myself to be condemned by the devil if up to this very moment I have never once seen great creative miracles in response to my prayers. But we should not allow those "No's" to shape our doctrine on how often it is God's desire to heal. I believe that I will heal and be healed, because He has commanded, "Go and heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons and raise the dead." Let God be true and every man a liar. Perhaps I am still a child and have yet to be entrusted with the inheritance that is mine to walk in, with and through Christ because that kind of power would destroy me with pride. But even if the day never comes when by His mighty grace that works in me I speak forth His Word and see it fulfilled, let it be known that God made it possible when He raised Christ (and us in Him) from the dead.

I personally know precious saints bearing certain infirmities, who are more free in the Lord than most other "healthy" Christians I know. And I will agree that the affliction is often the tool that the Lord has used to bring about the freedom in Him that they enjoy. "It was good for me to be afflicted..." Ps 119 - Babylon's overthrow of Judah was right and just and wrought by the Lord. The same could be said of the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. But it does not follow that it is God's will for Israel to be excluded from the land until we all die and go to heaven. And so neither does it follow that a saint who has obtained a deeper walk with Jesus through his sickness will remain in that affliction until he or she dies.

"He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us,
He has injured us, but He will bind up our wounds." Hosea 6:1

If there is ever a sickness among those whom God has set apart (and even those He hasn't), it must of necessity be targeted towards a healing on a deeper level with an ultimate intent on restoring both the deeper and the lesser levels to wholeness.

Objection: "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes him dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?" - Ex. 4:11

It is true that God does take responsibility for such things (being Omnipotent as He is) but it is only with a greater purpose in mind that he considers allowing such strong measures. Again, with reference to Israel, Isaiah cried out in ch 6, "How long O Lord?" That is, how long shall they be hearing but not understanding, seeing but not perceiving, calloused but not understanding in their hearts? How long until they turn to be healed? The answer: Until every city is laid waste and nothing but the holy seed is left like a stump in the land. But THEN we see the glory of the LORD. We see a release from that strong medicine as they look upon Him whom they have pierced... and all of God's promises to Israel are fulfilled, never to be revoked again.

May our sicknesses drive us to Him who is that Holy Seed. To the extent that we have settled for anything less than Him, may God use every means (including sickness) at His disposal to get our attention and work a true repentance.

Jesus taught us to pray saying "...Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven..." If there is sickness in heaven then we should certainly accept it here. If there isn't, and of course there isn't, then it is appropriate to expect this prayer to find fulfillment here on earth now.

As I write this, I am suffering from a headache. I have headaches on a frequent basis and I take varying medications to mask the pain enough to continue to perform some basic demands of life. But I refuse to accept this as God's ultimate will for me and I believe He will derive pleasure from healing me.

God's ultimate goal is our spiritual oneness with Him. The LORD will use any and every tool at His disposal to accomplish His will. However, it is clear that He takes no delight in afflicting men. (Jer 3:31-33) The absence of sickness is not a reliable indicator of spiritual well-being, but neither is tolerance for an affliction after it has brought you to Jesus. Couldn't it be that some of the sorrow and grief that the Lord endures is because those He loves will not believe that it is His will to heal them? Faith in His great love will create hope for healing. We do know God does not respond to our needs, but He has obligated Himself to respond to the faith of His Son, and needs are met when He sees it. Some have faith to receive the lesser gifts but miss it when it comes to the greater desires of God. That does not demean the quality of the faith that obtained the lesser thing.

Jesus Himself lived for 30 years without performing a single miracle. There is no telling how many people he knew during those decades who suffered for years with this sickness or that oppression of the devil. Apparently, he watched His earthly father die as there is no mention of Joseph after Jesus' ministry began. And yet... there came a day when it pleased the Father that "all who came to Him were healed".

"What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world." Gal 4:1-3

Let every sickness provoke in us to the examination of our lives before God that brings us once again to the glorious ground zero of the Cross, with no hope of an affirmative answer based on our merit, but a blessed certainty that in Him there is not only the power but the will to restore. May it produce in us a tenacity so that there will come a day when one of His "No's" cause us to stand up before every demon in hell and say, "True Lord! But even the dogs eat crumbs from their master's table".

The kingdom of God suffereth violence and the violent take it by force.

Objection: If miracles occurred every moment, they no longer would qualify as miracles.

Jesus worked long hours with little or no compensation; with infrequent privacy; and with much persecution for preaching and performing miracles - those miracles that he made for us as common as bread (and which even He likened to the "bread of the children" as mentioned in a section above). Many of His miracles were performed in places that He later had to rebuke because they did not respond with the kind of deep change/repentance He was expecting. Healing is certainly not the not the glamorous ministry it has been portrayed to be by recent public figures. For the man of God, miracles are as the "drudgery" (to use an Oswald Chambers term) of regularly preparing a meal, cleaning the toilets or washing clothes. It will be the "ordinary" work of sons come unto maturity. Bringing miracles for the ungrateful and shallow is in itself a carrying of the Cross and a preparation for drinking of His cup.

Though miracles did not make the Pharisees believe, that did not stop Jesus from allowing God to testify in power to the truth of His Word. We must receive and defend every gift that He has given to us to accomplish the mighty work He has sent us to accomplish.

Objection: Isaiah 53 is about spiritual healing, not physical healing:

Surely he took up our infirmities
      and carried our sorrows,
       yet we considered him stricken by God,
       smitten by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
       he was crushed for our iniquities;
       the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
       and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
       each of us has turned to his own way;
       and the LORD has laid on him
       the iniquity of us all.

There are portions of this passage that deal clearly with our sin condition, leaving "by His stripes we were healed" plenty of room to mean exactly what it implies at face value. Matthew confirms this when he quotes Isaiah 53:4 “He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases” in direct reference to the healing ministry of Jesus. (Mt 8:16-17)

Objection: Elisha, a mighty prophet of God died on a sickbed.

True enough. But does it follow that the sickness itself was God's will? As I get older the natural tendency of the body seems to be that it is more subject to weakness than when I was young. When some attack or heaviness of soul comes, and my propensity to fight the fight of faith is worn down, my body occasionally gives in with sickness. Elisha endured decades of the contradiction of sinful Israel against himself. If his only peers were the same company of prophets that let him know "the facts" at the time Elijah was taken up to heaven then how much encouragement in the faith could he get in this later time of need. Another blow was that his servant Gehazi never seemed to carry the torch the way he himself did with Elijah. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Doubt comes by listening to the evidence of the body and to objections like this one.

Objection: Paul's "Thorn in the flesh" was sickness

Paul was the consummate man of the "Word". Hardly a paragraph in his writings goes by without some appeal and reference to Moses (the Law) and the Prophets. Paul's "thorn in the flesh" is no different.

But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live. Num 33:55

This passage from Numbers (the first mention of the word "thorn" after the Genesis 3 episode) clearly references trouble that people, not disease, will be if God's instructions are not followed.

Furthermore, when Paul recounts his great afflictions he could have, by the Spirit, added one word that would have ended this debate once and for all.

we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles,hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. 2 Cor 6:4-10

What anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? 2 Cor 11:21-29

With all of these afflictions that Paul mentions, sickness or disease is curiously not among them. Why would he omit mention of that "thorn in the flesh" that required the great grace of God working in his life?

Conclusion

The ministry of Jesus (the King of the kingdom) clearly points to a willingess in God to heal disease whenever faith is present. Delay (for the greater glory of God) and misplaced or immature faith are the only variables we see in Scripture. Doubting the character and goodness of God, who is the same yesterday, today and forever is not an option. The remedy for unanswered prayer is not to develop a Theology that accommodates for disease, but to continue to meditate on the words and deeds of the King and His soon coming (disease free) kingdom.

It Was Good For Me To Be Afflicted - Psalm 119i Teth

nospam@example.com (Tom Quinlan) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 15:30:00 -0400

⁶⁵ Do good to Your servant
- according to Your Word, O Lord.
⁶⁶ Teach me knowledge and good judgment,
- for I believe in Your commands.
⁶⁷ Before I was afflicted — I went astray,
- but now I obey Your Word.
⁶⁸ You are good, and what You do is good;
- teach me Your decrees.
⁶⁹ Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies,
- I keep Your precepts with all my heart.
⁷⁰ Their hearts are callous and unfeeling,
- but I delight in Your law.
⁷¹ It was good for me to be afflicted
- that I might learn Your decrees.
⁷² The law from Your mouth is more precious to me
- than thousands of pieces of silver and of gold.

Do good to Your servant, according to Your Word... THAT is a mouthful, especially if you believe as we Christians believe, that Jesus was and is "The Word". "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word WAS God... The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:1,14). I see similarities to Paul's prayer for believers in his epistle to the Ephesians:

I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Eph 3:14-19

So there it is. The first verse of this section of Psalm 119 is asking for nothing less than to be filled to the measure of ALL the fullness of God. It is building upon the theme of the previous section ("You are my portion") and it sets the tone for the verses that follow.

Teach me knowledge and good judgement for I believe in Your commands. The Psalmist has already heard and believes in the commands of the Lord. He has no controversy with them. But because he believes he is constrained to ask for instruction in them. A mental affirmation is not enough and could be likened to the Law being written on tablets of stone. The Word of the Lord is to become flesh in it's hearers.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit IN you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Ezekiel 36:26-27

When we have only a mental grasp of the Scriptures (even if it is doctrinally correct) we are dead.

You search the Scriptures for you think that in THEM you have eternal life. These are they that testify about Me and yet you refuse to come to Me for life. John 5:38-40

Before I was afflicted I went astray... As Psalm 14 says, "There is none that seeks God, no NOT EVEN one." So the great Shepherd of our souls came looking for us and found us in our devastated condition. He paid an awful price to not only draw near to you but to BE your life, in your current condition, no matter how dire and whether you can feel His presence or not. To those who are broken and in need this is good news. If we are rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing, we feel no need of Him and the Word is in danger of being choked out as Jesus said "by the deceitfulness of riches." James exhorts the rich man to take pride in his LOW position because the sun will rise with scorching heat and he will wither like a flower, even while he is going about his business.

But now I obey Your Word - If we are His sons we can expect His discipline to bring us into the place of receiving and dispensing His mercy. As Psalm 30 says, "But when You hid Your face from me, THEN I was dismayed. To You LORD I called; to the Lord I cried for mercy." He wants us to know, in our deeps, that any good thing that we have came from Him as a gift.

You are good and what You do is good... When the rich young ruler called Jesus "good teacher," Jesus asked, "Why do you call me good? None but God is good." There is no middle ground of a goodness independent of God's own life working in you. If we are identified with His death and His resurrection, we can say in truth, "It is no longer I that live but Christ that lives within me," and "the life that I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loves me and gave Himself for me."

Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies... Claiming the life of God in Christ would seem to be presumption, but it is actually the humility of agreement with God. The moment we venture out into these waters, the threats and lies of God's enemies become directed at us. Jesus was accused of healing and casting out demons by the power of the Satan. He was accused of blasphemy by calling Himself the Son of God, but He would have been lying to say that He wasn't. ... I keep Your precepts with all my heart. Will you hold fast to your testimony when it begins to draw the ire of the powers that be?

Their hearts are callous and unfeeling, but I delight in Your law. Persecution arises from our identification with the life of God, but then it actually causes us to discover His life in depths that otherwise we would not have known.

It was GOOD for me to be afflicted that I might learn Your decrees. Even as Christ was rejected by the chief priests and elders, and abandoned by His closest friends, He was demonstrating the fullness of the depths of the love of God that had previously been hidden (though hinted at in the types and shadows of the "Old" Testament).

The Law from Your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold. Jesus is the only One who has given God the reverence and honor that is His due. He reckoned His Father's will to be more valuable than anything, even His own precious life. This is the attitude that He gives us when we receive the gift of His Holy Spirit.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!

If this is not our attitude then it is not the life of Jesus working within us.

The Kingdom of God is at Hand: Daily Provision

nospam@example.com (Tom Quinlan) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 23:29:00 -0400

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:25-34

The summary of God's financial advice is right there: Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness. Do that and there is absolute certainty of daily provision, and no need for anxiety concerning tomorrow. There is not a single word about any day beyond today. These words are comfort for the afflicted, and a necessary affliction to the comfortable. Any "gospel" promising something other than this is going beyond what is written and will lead to poverty in the life to come.

Looking at His disciples, Jesus said:

Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of Heaven...
Woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Luke 6:20,24

This admonition was specifically addressed to His disciples. Jesus, the great Shepherd, led those disciples to experience the devastation of His cross. Any hopes that they had that were LESS than what God is hoping for, were crushed and put to death there. As Paul says, when He died we died with Him. But when God raised Him from the dead, we were raised up IN Him in newness of life. If YOU are following Jesus, He will allow you to experience His cross also. He is no respecter of persons. There you will get to know Him as you may not have wanted to know Him. "For a small moment I have forsaken thee... but with GREAT mercies I will gather thee."

He is trying to get us to shift our focus and affections to the heavenly realm, where (if we will see it) we are seated with Christ. This is the place of rest and lack of worry that Jesus was describing in Matthew 6. Interestingly, once we begin to enter into this reality we become the targets of a special kind of hatred once reserved for God alone. In actuality, it IS the life of God that is still drawing the hatred. "I tell you the truth, no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) Mark 10:29-30

Paul had this to say to the Corinthians about Apostles (those who have had a firsthand encounter with the risen Christ, and have been sent by Him to a people in the strength of that exchange):

Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have become kings—and that without us! How I wish that you really had become kings so that we might be kings with you! For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world. 1 Cor 4:8-13

It was the presence of the One who has conquered death that caused them to be utterly content living without the things that most men labor for their entire lives. If we are going to compare ourselves to anyone to gauge our Christian progress and our prosperity in God, it is to these "Apostolic" men, who were witnesses of His death and resurrection.

mysteryofisrael.org : New Site for Reggie Kelly Writings

nospam@example.com (Tom Quinlan) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:53:14 -0400

For the last couple of weeks I have been working on a new site for Reggie Kelly, the "Ben Israel 'Theologian-in-Residence'" as Art Katz once called him. My website host has made the WordPress "blog" system available to me in the last year, and rather than transfer my own online Journal to that space, I believe it will be put to much better use by putting Reggie's writings there. This has already proved to be significantly easier to post material than the way I had been doing on the old site.

The new site (called "Mystery of Israel") lends itself much more readily to comments (not that Reggie himself will be able to respond there), searches and categories. I will be leaving the "old" site up for the foreseeable future as it has the articles that were on the Ben Israel web site when Art was alive. It also has some newer articles that are not posted yet in the new format. Last but not least, the old site still ranks much better on Google when searching for Reggie's name. (He is not to be confused with the Reggie Kelly who once played football for the Cincinnati Bengals, although I think "our" Reggie just might be taller). So until all of the objections are overcome the old will stay.

But having said that, the new site already has significant content from 2007 not found on the old one. Until I started this project, I did not fully realize how much Reggie writes and how blessed those of us on his email list have been. Wow!

You Are My Portion O Lord - Psalm 119h - Heth

nospam@example.com (Tom Quinlan) — Sat, 23 May 2009 13:47:00 -0400

⁵⁷ You are my portion, O LORD;
— I have promised to obey Your words.⁵⁸ I have sought your face
— with all my heart;
— be gracious to me
— according to your promise.⁵⁹ I have considered my ways and
— I have turned my steps
— toward your statutes.⁶⁰ I will hasten and not delay to obey your commands.⁶¹ Though the wicked bind me with ropes, I will not forget your law.⁶² At midnight I will arise to give you thanks for your righteous laws.⁶³ I am a friend to all who fear you, to all who follow your precepts.⁶⁴ The earth is filled with your love, O LORD; teach me your decrees.

"I am His, and He is mine." Song of Solomon

You are my portion O LORD is perhaps the central and most important theme of Psalm 119. Without the indwelling Spirit of the living God, the declarations, sentiments and prayers of Psalm 119 are unutterable by any mortal man. I don't think it an accident that this same promise was given to Abraham, the father of faith, when God told him, "I am your exceeding great reward." Additionally, when Israel was moving into the promised land and it was being divided among the twelve tribes, the tribe of Levi was not given a specific portion. Rather, it was said,

That is why the Levites have no share or inheritance among their brothers; the LORD is their inheritance... Deut 10:9

I have promised to obey Your words... This promise is only worth its salt because of the statement that preceded it. Unless the Lord is our portion... unless the Lord Himself indwells us and makes that commitment to obey through us then the promise is empty and vain. Israel made this same promise after hearing the Law at Mount Sinai for the first time:

The people all responded together, "We will do everything the LORD has said." Exodus 19:8

Though that promise has not been kept by Israel, even up to this day, both Jeremiah and Ezekiel saw a fulfillment of the promise they made in the last days because of a new covenant that the LORD would be making with Israel:

"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Jeremiah 31
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit IN you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Ezekiel 36:26-27

Saul of Tarsus (Paul) is a kind of first fruits example of the fulfillment of this promise. Before he met the Lord, he was certain that he was pursuing God with all his heart, and he was full of his own brand of "law-keeping" zeal. He was working feverishly to stamp out some new strain of heresy that claimed that Jesus of Nazareth had risen from the dead. That is, until he had his own encounter with the risen Jesus: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?"

In the light of that confrontation, Saul was able to consider his ways and turn his steps toward the Lord's statutes. In an instant, his entire view of God and the world died a sudden and horrible death. As with Goliath, the Living Stone (Jesus), struck Saul right between the eyes, sunk into his skull, and laid him low in the dust. He was a dead man, and may not have even had time to consider that he was passing from the ranks of the persecutor to the persecuted. Everything he "knew" about God was transformed into dung.

Many of the themes of the great Epistles of the New Testament were written on Paul's heart that day:

"We know that our old self was crucified with Him... " Romans 6
"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galations 2:20
"But now a righteousness from God, apart from the Law, has been made known..." Romans 3:21

I will hasten and not delay, to obey Your commands - Mere days after Ananias prayed for Paul and the scales fell from his eyes, scripture says: "At once, he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God." Acts 9:20 You might think that being made guilty of the shedding the Lord's blood would paralyze one with guilt and shame, but in actuality it a necessary qualification for receiving the Gift of the Holy Spirit. It is the straight and narrow gate that leads to Eternal Life. Paul went through that narrow gate and came out a NEW kind of man. "Behold! Old things are passed away and all things are become new." By faith Paul was already living in that city where there is no need of the sun "because the Lamb is the light thereof..." Revelation 21:23

At midnight I will arise to give you thanks - Living by the light and life of the Lamb is why Paul and Silas were able to sing hymns at midnight after being severely flogged. That demonstration of the life of God (in the face of harsh persecution) shook the foundations of the earth then, and it will do the same now. Because of what Jesus did at the cross, His resurrection life, which is the gift of the Holy Spirit, is available to anyone who will receive it. "The Word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart".

The earth is FILLED with Your love O Lord! - Jesus did not leave a single sin unpaid for. He tasted death for every man. (Hebrews 2:9) Teach me your decrees. - What remains for us is to be instructed of these truths in every circumstance; to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and the power of His resurrection.

Thoughts on President Obama's "Audacity of Hope"

nospam@example.com (Tom Quinlan) — Wed, 20 May 2009 20:25:00 -0400

I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for... kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time. And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying... 1 Tim 2:1-7

"We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name," he said. "Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood." Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men! The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. Acts 5:28-30

Before I make any comments, let me begin with prayer:

Dear Savior (King of kings, Lord of lords, President of presidents),
As we usher in our new American president, we pray for Your protection over his life. Give the man wisdom from above, far beyond his own thoughts and the council of mortal men and women. Help our president to catch a glimpse of things from Your perspective. Save his soul from the curse of trusting in man and give him an ability to live above mere people-pleasing. I am asking in Your mercy and IN the precious name of Jesus. Amen.

I am asking for what seems to be impossible given the words that our new president has spoken up to now. He has been elected by a clear majority of Americans who are hoping for a fresh start. Obama has in fact written a book called "The Audacity of Hope." Hope is a word that is used often in the Bible and there is a natural desire to believe that when a person, especially the likable Obama, uses the word (hope) that he is referring to the same hope that the Bible is talking about.

However, hope is a meaningless word unless it is clearly tied to something or someone in particular. In his first letter, Peter wrote, "set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed." This implies that it is common (even for Believers) to have hopes set on something besides the grace (undeserved favor) that comes from God through Christ alone. In another place (Acts 4) Peter said, "There is none other name, given among men, whereby we must be saved." The prophet Jeremiah was so bold as to say "Cursed is the man that trusts in man..."

and

"Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. They keep saying to those who despise me, 'The LORD says: You will have peace.' And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts they say, 'No harm will come to you.' Jeremiah 23:16-17

With all the talk about hope and change that has come from our new President, I have seen a consistent unwillingness to focus that hope for change on the only place where it can bear any legitimate and lasting fruit, and that is squarely on God as revealed in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. That said, I find little reason to expect anything less than an increasing "tightening of the screws" that we have seen in recent years as our nation yields to hoping in an increasing diversity of worthless gods.

As this hope in worthless gods increases, I expect the tolerance for those who hope in the One and Only Living God to decrease. Nothing makes the little "gods" angry like exalting the name of Jesus. Therefore, in the hope of preserving peace, governments will increasingly be tempted to restrict speech that could incite the anger of those who serve these false idols. The problem with this approach is that it underestimates the love of the real God. The perfect love of God is not subject to the fear of a penalty and is more concerned with the well being of those who oppose themselves as they perish clinging to their worthless things and false gods.

For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right... Romans 13:1-3

We should be very careful to show respect to those whom God has set in authority over this nation. But if we are witnesses of His resurrection, then we must obey God and not man, and testify to what we have seen and heard. If we want to be like the first century Christians, we will pray for boldness to testify of the living hope that is in Christ and Christ alone.

Your Decrees Are The Theme of My Song - Psalm 119 - Zayin

nospam@example.com (Tom Quinlan) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 23:36:00 -0400

⁴⁹ Remember Your Word to Your servant,
- for You have given me hope.⁵⁰ My comfort in my suffering is this:
- Your promise has given me life.⁵¹ The arrogant mock me without restraint,
- but I do not turn from Your law.⁵² I remember Your ancient laws, O LORD,
- and I find comfort in them.⁵³ Indignation grips me because of the wicked,
- who have forsaken Your law.⁵⁴ Your decrees are the theme of my song
- wherever I lodge.⁵⁵ In the night I remember Your name, O LORD,
- and I will keep your law.⁵⁶ This has been my practice; - I obey your precepts.

Remember Your Word to Your servant. - Is it ever necessary to bring God into remembrance of something He has spoken? As another section of this Psalm starts out, "Your Word O Lord is eternal." The heavens and the earth might pass away but God's Word will never pass away. So how is it that this prayer is legitimate? Are there cases where it seems that God has forgotten His Word?

The most striking example of this must be Jesus when He entered into the last days of His earthly ministry: the garden of Gethsemane, the betrayal and desertion of His disciples, the mocking and the merciless beatings and scourgings, and of course the final hours hanging on a cross. Here was the man (the only man) who has truly meditated perfectly on the Word of God day and night and he is suffering as only a pure and innocent man can suffer in the presence of evil.

Your decrees are the theme of my song wherever I lodge. There is another Psalm that says, "though I make my bed in hell, Thou art there." We have taken the wrong road that leads to destruction, and God (in Christ Jesus) has run ahead to intercept us and turn us back toward Himself. Scripture says that He tasted death for every man. He has tasted the bitterness of where you and I might be at this very moment. He endured the shame of it for the hope and promise that were set before Him. His hope and prayer is that we might be one with Him, even as He is one (in every way) with His Father.

In the night I remember Your Name O LORD. In the darkest hour, when in anguish He cried, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?", God the Father was in Him reconciling the world unto Himself. There was absolutely no evidence of God's nearness to His flesh or His soul, and yet His purity still trusted in the goodness of His Father. "Into Thy hands I commit my Spirit."

This has been my practice. Jesus had prepared Himself for that moment His whole life. He understood that He was the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world. From being born in the dwelling place of animals, to His submission to Mary and Joseph, when He returned to Nazareth with them for 18 years of obscurity, He was practicing for this ultimate hour when, in order to win everything, he had to lose everything.

So, God has not forgotten His Word. He has actually fulfilled it in the midst of allowing the very worst to come to pass to Himself. The real question is what we will do with a God who has committed Himself so utterly and completely to us.

The Demands on a Chosen Nation

nospam@example.com (Tom Quinlan) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:47:13 -0500

Written partly in January 2009, when Israel invaded the Gaza strip in order to stop missiles directed at Israel, that were coming from that region.

With the recent military movements of Israel against Hamas in Gaza, Hamas has achieved a public relations victory beyond their wildest dreams. The little rockets that Hamas has been taunting Israel with from months/years have been like bait, luring Israel to do exactly what it has done in recent days: strike back hard. The fact that some Israeli's have been killed or wounded and that a measure of fear has been instilled in Israel's population is simply icing on the cake for Hamas. What they are really working towards is the turning of popular world opinion against Israel. By drawing Israel into striking populated areas it has made huge strides toward obtaining that goal.

It does not matter if Israel is justified in the actions it has taken. God is holding Israel accountable to a higher standard than He has any done for any of the other nations up to this time. They have obtained His unmerited favor and attention. Other nations may (for the time being) retaliate and defend themselves when attacked. Israel may not. God expects, and even demands, that they turn the other cheek. This is because that is what He would do. In fact this is what He has already done in the person of Jesus.

Israel is powerless to do what it must do because it has rejected the only source of the ability to do it: the Spirit and Life of God in Jesus the Messiah. Except for a remnant, Israel, like the rest of the world, is wholly given over to idolatry. Idolatry is simply serving anything less than God as He knows Himself to be. If we listen to and obey any directive other than the pure, unadulterated Word of the living God, it does not matter what we call it. It is idolatry or spiritual adultery. The angelic principalities and powers know when men cease to respond to their lies and when they are no longer bound by the fear of death. These same principalities also know that God has promised to free Israel from this bondage to idols and make them a nation of kings and priests unto Himself.

more to come

May Your Unfailing Love Come To Me - Psalm 119 - Vav

nospam@example.com (Tom Quinlan) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 02:21:22 -0500

⁴¹ May Your unfailing love
- come to me, O LORD,⁴² Your salvation
- according to Your promise;
- then I will answer
- the one who taunts me,
- for I trust in Your word.⁴³ Do not take the word of truth
- from my mouth,
- for I have put my hope in Your laws.⁴⁴ I will always obey Your Law, for ever and ever.⁴⁵I will walk about in Your freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.⁴⁶ I will talk about Your statutes before kings and I will not be put to shame,⁴⁷ for I delight in your commands because I love them.⁴⁸ I lift up my hands to your commands, which I love, and I meditate on Your decrees.

I find the first line of this section compelling. Why is it that we must ask for the unfailing love of God to come to us? Immediately the words of Jesus come to mind: "Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find..." There is the treasure of God's love that is always available to any of us, no matter what our circumstances, but we must still ask. "Give us this day our daily bread..." Like the manna of old, we may not gather up extra "unfailing love" for tomorrow lest it rot.

I think this is because we are so prone to forget about our Heavenly Father when we feel His favor and find success in anything. God has established a mechanism in each day that is a safeguard to us falling into the temptation of the devil (which is to exalt ourselves above the Most High). It is he (the devil) who taunts us with accusations that we are not worthy to receive the love and salvation of God. Of course this is true and we must quickly agree with our adversary, but our worthiness is not at all a factor in whether or not the unfailing love and salvation of our God come to us. HE has guaranteed its availability in the person and work of His Son Jesus (specifically His death on the Cross). As we become more convinced and more trusting in the surety of this kind of salvation that has nothing to do with our own merits and everything to do with the merits of God's Holy One Jesus, THEN we will answer the one who taunts us.

In verses 43 & 44 we find another interesting contrast. In v. 43 the Psalmist is asking the Lord to help him keep the Word of Truth in his own mouth. There seems to be a concern that he is vulnerable to losing that Word that he confesses. But he has invested everything he has in that Word and in the Laws of God. That Law includes the sacrificial Lamb. It includes the account of Abraham, (the father of believing and trusting) offering up his son of promise as a sacrifice only to be told that God will provide HIMSELF as the Lamb of sacrifice. It is the Law that condemns us to the death of our own abilities, but then gives us the life of God Himself in exchange. So in v. 44 the Psalmist makes this amazing vow to keep the Law of God forever. That kind of vow can only be made in the light of the unfailing love of God coming to him in his deepest uncertainties of his own Law-keeping ability and assuring him that God will move in and be the Keeper in him.

At that revelation the Psalmist bursts forth in praise and begins to exalt in the freedom of who God is. We tend to think of the Law as a constraint, but not him. He has suffered through "the straight and narrow path" and has now found the glorious liberty of the sons of God. He seems to know that he is seated in heavenly places with God, and that he will actually testify to the reality of those heavenly places and even instruct the kings of the earthly.

He has said with Job, "Though He slay me, YET will I trust Him." He now loves the Law that put him to death because it released him into the realm of the very resurrection life of God that will endure for ever and not disappoint.

Listen to the music of Psalm 119f - Vav - May Your Unfailing Love Come To Me

Thy Kingdom Come: The Clash of Two Kingdoms

nospam@example.com (Tom Quinlan) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:29:11 -0500

In this recent story on CBN, I was struck by an observation made by Robert Spencer, author of the book Stealth Jihad. Here is his quote, made (in the accompanying video) about Radical Islam's desire to replace American law with Islamic law:

"Whenever Islamic law and American law or custom collide, it is American law that has to give way and Islamic law that has to be accommodated by American authorities and institutions.

What struck me as the statement was made is that the overriding of American law by Divine Law IS something that WILL happen. Christianity basically says the same thing here:

"EVERY knee shall bow and EVERY tongue confess that Jesus Christ IS LORD."

World rule by God is in fact a Divine principle. However, the manner in which the god of Islam plans to accomplish it and the way the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is accomplishing it could not be any different. Islam uses violence, fear and intimidation. It will obtain obedience or it will eliminate those who do not submit. America is helpless against Islam because it has rejected the God that rules through love.

The God of Israel IS the King of kings and yet He is ALSO the Servant of servants. He is so certain of His absolute authority that He governs through humility, patience, long suffering, hope, faith and love. The citizens of His universe have all, without exception, broken His Laws and it has not gone unnoticed. Because of His impeccable integrity He cannot tolerate the injustices that He sees continually from His lofty perspective. On the other hand, His mercy and compassion for our bondage to the those things that destroy us makes demands within Himself to act on our behalf.

The Bible reveals that God took this paradox into account before time began. It calls Jesus "the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world." In the person of Jesus, God resolved the conflict of justice and mercy clashing in His being. Jesus took all the punishment that was due to us and bore it in His own body upon the Cross. In this way the Father became free to lavish His mercy on us by releasing His Spirit to dwell within those who call upon Him in Jesus name.

Since then, God has used those who received Him to be ambassadors of His Kingdom. Mostly, we are those who are foolish and weak. "Not many wise (after the flesh), not many mighty, not many noble" have been able to hear His call. And we are here at the end of the age, when the kingdoms of this world are raging against the ways of this King of kings. Not just Islam, but every way that denies that God has come to earth in the person of Jesus, is rallying it's strength to resist the God who claims victory out of His ultimate defeat at the Cross.

We who are called by His name, have no other weapons to advance His Kingdom than the ones He used when He graced the earth: truth, mercy, love for His enemies, and a willingness to lay down His life for them.

Widows and Slaves, Employees and Employers

nospam@example.com (Tom Quinlan) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:39:06 -0500

This audio message by Art Katz on widows and slaves inspired me to leave these comments at Sermon Index in early 2007 when I heard it for the first time. A year later, after Art had passed on, the transcript was published on the new Art Katz Ministries site and it had a similar effect. As the demands and pressures of my current job have increased in recent months, I have felt the need to listen to it again. I did that tonight and I am reminded of the power and radical nature of the thoughts he and the Apostle Paul have expressed.

In particular, I am struck by the possibility of a bond slave (someone who, in their outward circumstances, is not free to do that which they would prefer to do) being apostolic, or SENT, from heavenly places. This is where the "rubber meets the road," so to speak, or rather where it is openly revealed if we REALLY believe that in Christ we ARE seated in heavenly places, as we are serving our earthly masters/employers.

We see this at work in Christ Himself in the garden of Gethsemane, when He cried out for His Father to take His "cup" away if it were possible, and yet a breath later added, "Not My will, but THY will be done." Jesus was living on earth but was acting from the heavenly fellowship He had with His Father. Jesus was a willing bond slave to the will of His Father. And this is what WE are called to do. Paul says that we are seated in heavenly places in Christ. We may live in this world out of the relationship we have with God in Christ Jesus and this is not possible without truly being apprehended by the Lord. Human determination cannot fake this reality.

While in great physical pain, Jesus was able to be gracious to the thief on the cross next to Him, or to consider the future well-being of His mother, or even to utter a prayer for those responsible for His great suffering because GOD was in Him, reconciling the world unto Himself. Without His Father's initiative and power is was not possible for Jesus, and it certainly won't be possible for us ("by the grace of God Jesus tasted death for every man").

Reggie Kelly's recent article on Daniel (Daniel As A Type Of Godly Remnant) got me thinking about Daniel's long life as a servant to ungodly men. It seems that at about the time he actually began to see some evidence of his impact on one king (at great personal cost), he would be placed at ground zero with some new one. Day after day, decade after decade he served these men AS IF they were the King of kings, and only objected when they claimed that they WERE God. He had no "ministry" to point to as evidence of his devotion to God, and yet God has used him in ministry to generation after generation through the pages of scripture, and perhaps most of all to this LAST generation.

I am often grateful for the 18 years of obscurity that scripture totally overlooks in the life of Jesus himself. Between the ages of 12 and at least 30, we get not a peep about what Jesus was doing, except that He yielded up the religious discussions and debates with the doctors of the law and submitted Himself to Joseph and Mary and went DOWN with them to Nazareth. Not one act of "ministry" as we think of it in religious circles, and yet God said "This is my Son, in Whom I am well pleased," before he performed anything besides this great act of submission to his fallible earthly parents.

So, as I go to work day after day, and the demands on my time and attention to earthly matters seem to increase and not decrease, my only hope is that the God of Daniel is aware of where I am and what I am doing every hour of the day. I am comforted by the awareness that He is extravagant in the amount of discipline He is willing to inflict, or the amount of time is willing to allow to pass before He determines that the fullness of time has arrived for His visible purposes to unfold.