September Devo - Back To School

Summer is wonderful, but if we wanted it year-round we’d move to Mexico!  We here in BC welcome the cooler weather and the turning of the leaves, especially the leaves of our children’s or grandchildren’s textbooks!

September may be the time when the younger generation heads back to school literally, but we the older generation can and should do the same thing, at least figuratively. Henry Ford said: “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.” Amen to that!

When I retired after 27 years as president of a theological college, I figured I could relax. No more teaching for a while, so no more learning was needed. But the Good Book challenged me to keep studying. This verse came to mind: “Follow the whole instruction the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live, prosper, and have a long life” (Deut. 5:33).

I committed to reading at least three chapters of the Bible each day and posting a devotional blog based on that reading, which you are reading right now.

I do it because the Bible is God’s instruction manual for life on this earth and beyond. I like this acronym for the B.I.B.L.E. - Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth.

What do you want to learn this fall? Maybe add some extra knowledge for our trivia contests, keep current with current affairs, develop another life skill, learn how to do a new craft, or figure out a new way to help someone else?

May I recommend a great book to study that will not only change your life, but could also change the lives of those around you. It’s time to go back to School - Bible School that is! 

August 31 - Worthy is the Lamb

 Read today’s texts first: Ezekiel 12-14; Revelation 5

 MAXIMize YOUR DAY 

There is only one true God and He is awesome,
in the original and literal sense of the word! 

It is shocking to see how far God’s people had drifted from Him. In yesterday’s reading we saw the leaders of Judah audaciously worshipping their man-made idols in God’s holy Temple, thinking He wasn’t watching (8:12). They had become so used to blind, dumb, powerless idols formed by their own hands, they’d forgotten about the omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent God who formed them with His hands.

If only they could have seen what Ezekiel was seeing, or John, the Revelator, for that matter. God gave them both a glimpse into heaven, and what they saw was unimaginable and indescribable. What they were able to put into words is as hard for us to comprehend as it was for them. But we know two things for sure after reading through both Ezekiel and the Revelation - there is only one true God and He is awesome, in the original sense of the word!

John saw a scroll in God’s hand and heard an angel calling for someone worthy to receive the scroll and pronounce its judgments. When his search finally ended with the only One proven worthy, the Lamb of God, the reaction in heaven and earth speaks volumes:

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” (5:11-13).

Yesterday we talked about the transition of Jan’s mom to glory. In that moment every ache in her body was healed, any doubt she ever had faded away, every sacrifice she gave up for her Saviour became suddenly and completely worthit!  “Lord, help me remember to live every day on this earth with the anticipation of standing before your throne and joining my voice with hers and the millions of others who are singing, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!’”

August 30 - Heavenly Glory

 Read today’s texts first:  Ezekiel 8-11; Revelation 4

MAXIMize YOUR DAY
The Foursquare Gospel is based on a perfect Gospel: balanced, solid, steadfast and facing squarely
in every direction. 

On this day a few years ago we received news that Jan’s mom passed on to her reward in heaven. Helen McGaffin was saved and called to be a pastor, along with her husband, Bob, thanks to Bob’s sister, Ruby, who was influenced directly by Aimee Semple McPherson, the founder of the Foursquare Gospel Church. Many of their family members became ministers, pioneers in Foursquare, planting and pastoring churches in BC and Alberta.

 “Coincidentally,” both readings today feature similar visions by Ezekiel and John, who lived hundreds of years apart. They both beheld heaven’s glory, seeing “living creatures” with four distinct faces (10:14,15; 4:6-8). These images became the inspiration for the beginnings of the Foursquare movement. What follows is an excerpt from our history from the Foursquare website:

 The term “Foursquare Gospel” came about during an intense revival in the city of Oakland, Calif., in July 1922. To a crowd of thousands, Aimee Semple McPherson explained Ezekiel’s vision in the book of Ezekiel, chapter one. Ezekiel saw God revealed as a being with four different faces: a man, a lion, an ox and an eagle. To Sister Aimee, those four faces were like the four phases of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the face of the man, she saw Jesus our Saviour. In the face of the lion, she saw Jesus the mighty Baptizer with the Holy Spirit and fire. In the face of the ox, she saw Jesus the Great Burden-Bearer, who took our infirmities and carried our sicknesses. In the face of the eagle, she saw Jesus the Coming King, who will return in power and victory for the church.”

“It was a perfect, complete Gospel. It was a Gospel that faces squarely in every direction; it was the “Foursquare Gospel.” The four symbols perhaps most identified with Foursquare today are the cross, cup, dove and crown which stand for Jesus the Savior, Jesus the Healer, Jesus the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit, and Jesus the Soon-Coming King, respectively.”

 The complete work of Jesus affects each one of us, as illustrated by the incredible life of my beautiful mother-in-law. She was dramatically rescued and turned around by her Saviour. The Great Physician kept her healthy and strong physically and spiritually for almost a century. I can still picture her bustling around Courtyard Terrace taking care of her family as we gathered to celebrate her 98th birthday. Her baptism in the Spirit led to her call into ministry late in life. My wife Jan was conveniently born on Easter break so Helen didn’t have to miss a class at LIFE Bible College. Now after 6 decades of devoted pastoral ministry, Helen has been born on eagle’s wings to be reunited with her husband, together with their King for eternity. “Lord, the inspiration of seeing You in Your glory continues on down to all of Helen’s family, including my own. Her hope is ours - and we can’t wait to join her and finally see You face to face!”

August 29 - A Prophet’s Passion

 Read today’s texts first: Ezekiel 4-7; Revelation 3

 MAXIMize YOUR DAY

God’s passion for us calls for a passionate response! 

Ezekiel was one passionate prophet. I’ve been a Bible teacher for half a century, beginning as a teenager teaching children not much younger than myself at Hastings Foursquare Church. My dad was a Sunday School Superintendent so I learned how to make my lessons memorable by using visual aids. I would bring in simple props, draw pictures, or use a flannel graph (before computers, power point, and projectors). But the object lessons God asked Ezekiel to use required a whole other level of creativity and commitment!

From lying on his left side every night for more than a year, building a model city then destroying it, baking bread on a fire fueled by excrement, shaving his head and beard with a sharp sword and then burning the hair, to striking his hands and stamping his feet, Ezekiel took visual aids to an unprecedented extreme! To me, such devotion says a lot about Ezekiel, but even more about the God who inspired him.

This awe-inspiring God we’ve seen described in “glowing” terms these past few days, cares so passionately and personally about His people. The extremes He endured to redeem us show His unparalleled passion. The tender promises He offers to the seven churches of Revelation reveal His personal care. My favourite promise is one I memorized and taught the children at Hastings using the classroom door as my visual aid: Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me (3:20).

“Lord, I responded to that promise as a young boy. That door has always been open to You and always will be. Thank You for all the visual aids You’ve shown me as reminders of your passionate and personal love for me!”

August 28 - Falling Facedown

 Read today’s texts first:  Ezekiel 1-3; Revelation 2

MAXIMize YOUR DAY

When you fall facedown before God
get ready for a pick-me-up! 

The awe-inspiring revelations of God’s glory we read yesterday from David and John continue today. The writer this time is Ezekiel and when he encountered the living God his reaction was the same - he hit the dirt facedown. A pattern is emerging!

It seems whenever we have a revelation of God in heaven it is more than we can handle. When faced with a glorious, powerful, and holy God, we suddenly become aware of how small, helpless, and sinful we are. Ezekiel demonstrates that reaction twice in the first three chapters.

Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking. He said to me, “Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you'” (1:28-2:1).

The hand of the Lord was upon me there, and he said to me, “Get up and go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you.” So I got up and went out to the plain. And the glory of the Lord was standing there, like the glory I had seen by the Kebar River, and I fell facedown (3:22-23).

When we experience that kind of holy fear, we know longer fear anything else. Our priorities are suddenly in the right order:  And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house. You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen (2:6,7).

When that happens, this incredible awe-inspiring God always reaches down and lifts us up (2:2; 3:12,14,24). Each time Ezekiel hit the dirt, God’s Spirit literally and spiritually picked him up. He promised the same to us: humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up (James 4:10).

“Lord, sometimes I am either too fearful or too enamoured with the world and its distractions. But when I fall facedown before Your glory, my priorities are realigned. Like You did for Ezekiel and John in my readings today, give me the courage to get up and speak boldly for You!”

 

August 27 - What is God?

 Read today’s texts first: Jeremiah 52; Revelation 1; Psalms 143,144

 MAXIMize YOUR DAY 

The correct position when seeing God in His glory
is not standing, sitting or kneeling - it’s flat on your face! 

The verse that struck me this morning posed the question: “what is man?” The comparison between man and God might prompt that question - we seem so insignificant to warrant His attention, let alone His love. But the more I thought about that, another question came to my mind: “what is God?” (and no, we are not playing Jeopardy)!

Here’s the verse, with some context: O Lord, what is man that you care for him, the son of man that you think of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow. Part your heavens, O Lord, and come down; touch the mountains, so that they smoke. Send forth lightning and scatter [the enemies]; shoot your arrows and rout them. Reach down your hand from on high; deliver me and rescue me from the mighty waters (144:3-7).

Combine that fearsome image of God with John’s vision of the glorified Christ and we shrink some more: Among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead (1:13-17).

John had the right response to such a revelation of God’s glory - he fell flat on his face!  This did not look like the uncomely humble man he walked beside down the dusty roads of Galilee and Judea. This new dimension of glory was mind-blowing to a mere human. It should amaze us that this blazing, glowing, star-holding God loves us so personally and so intimately.

“Lord, when I read these descriptions of Your glory and power I can’t help but agree with David’s conclusion: Blessed are the people of whom this is true; blessed are the people whose God is the Lord” (144:15).

August 26 - Verdant Pastures

 Read today’s texts first: Jeremiah 50,51; 3 John

MAXIMize YOUR DAY

The world offers us astro-turf
but Jesus is our verdant pasture! 

I remember when my grand kids were visiting their GG (great grandmother) at Buchanan and we took them into the beautiful courtyard. The kids stretched out on the lush grass and noticed it wasn’t grass at all – it’s astro turf. Clean, neat, uniform, no maintenance, no mowing, no life! I pointed out that problem, the “no life” thing, when they started asking me to install it in their yard. We had just finished laying down thick, rich sod. I wished I had used the word “verdant” at that moment, but I just learned it today from reading Jeremiah. It’s my word for today, and it’s a good one!

The Bible often refers to us, humankind, as sheep, and in most cases we are wandering around looking a little lost. Sometimes we are led astray by following the wrong shepherds, which is what had happened in Jeremiah’s day. To solve that problem we are invited to follow the Good Shepherd, also known as the Great Shepherd, Jesus. The world offers us astro turf, a man-made grass facsimile that looks appealing but lacks the qualities of life. The pastures Jesus leads us to are verdant - lush, beautiful, nurturing, satisfying - full of life.

I always thought those pastures mentioned in Scripture were actual places, like a good home, a friendly church, a fulfilling workplace. But in the following passage note that these pastures are not a “what” or a “where,” but a “who.”  My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their own resting place. Whoever found them devoured them; their enemies said, “We are not guilty, for they sinned against the Lord , their verdant pasture, the Lord, the hope of their ancestors” (50:6,7).

Even our enemies know that the green pastures we need to really “live” on this planet and on into the next life, are found in a person - Jesus. It doesn’t matter where we live as long as we stay close to Him. I’ve been praying hymns lately so this is my prayer today:

Saviour, like a shepherd lead us

Much we need thy tender care

In thy pleasant pastures feed us

For our use thy folds prepare

Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus

Thou hast bought us, thine we are.