Skip to main content

Supermen?

I often think of Biblical characters as being on a much higher plane than I am. Men and women like Moses, Paul, Deborah, Mary were real people with real triumphs and tragedies. They weren't even always willing to be used by God. Though I'm not exactly sure what a "normal" person looks like, they were normal people that God prepared and used in an above normal way.

In my reading of the Psalms this morning I discovered a very dismal one. Psalm 88. It was written by, of all people, Heman. His first phrase is the solitary positive note in this very sad song. "O LORD God of my salvation...".

When in situations like Heman's, is God enough? It depends on your up-look. Saul, king of Israel, when in depression sought the advice of a witch. God had abandoned him. King Saul never thought of repentance. He looked to the underworld for hope. Saul of Tarsus (Paul), when he was being afflicted by his thorn in the flesh, sought God. His answer was not, I'm sure, what Paul wanted to hear. But he rested in God's choice.

I've heard that God gives grace when we really need it. Grace to face any situation. His grace is sufficient. My reaction to that Grace, my up-look will determine whether I come out looking like a Heman or a king Saul.

"...When the darkness is most severe, God's promises only shine the more brightly" (Daily Walk June 17,1980).

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What Are You Worth?

What are you Worth?  Have you ever thought about what you are worth? In investing circles there is a term used to gauge this exact question, it's called Net Worth. You take all of your assets, like property owned, funds in your bank account, clothes, jewelry, car, etc.. You total all of these things. You then take everything you owe, like mortgage, car loan, and credit card debt, and you subtract these items from the first total. This gives you your net worth. That number represents where you are financially. Most people never stop to think about this number because they don't understand anything about it. They never have two nickels to rub together. They live from hand to mouth and know (or at least believe) nothing will ever change so, they fall into the "daily grind" mentality. Psalm 49 should be a great encouragement to such as these. The sons of Korah write about them. These sons write about all of us. They call all people everywhere to listen to their wisdom. Bo...

The Circumcision Advantage

 What a title right? I'm thinking of Romans 3:1 where Paul asks, "What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision?"  This was always an avoided subject in Sunday school, especially in a mixed class. We didn't use the "C" word. Too wierd.  Paul is bringing up this topic for good reasons. He wants to show that the Jews definitely have had a great advantage during their history. In the next verse he tells one of them when he says, ... "First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God." The first jew talked to God in person. God chose Abram to be the father of many nations and to bring the blessing of the Messiah to the world. The Old Testament is the story of the Jewish nation. God dealt with the Jews throughout the ages of the time before Christ. They were the chosen. But in all that blessing they ended up crucifying the Messiah.  With all of their advantages the Jews came short of the ideal....

Are You Prejudiced?

For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us ; Ephesians 2:14 In 1967 Detroit exploded in what would be know ever after as, “ The 12th Street Riot ”. As a 14 year old white boy living about an hour from Detroit I was petrified. I didn’t know much about what was going on but I was afraid that my family was going to be murdered. Black people scared me. Why? Ignorance pure and simple. I had grown up in a white community and had never met any black people. There was a black kid in our school but I had never spoken to him. I lived in my own little white world and was happy to do so. My ignorance of the black culture had lead to prejudice and my prejudice had lead me to fear. Prejudice is that decisive determination of guilt or bias that comes before knowledge. One judges before hand. The mind is bent in a certain direction that is impossible to correct. Or seemingly so. God has interesting ways of helping us to face our ignora...