"...Visit This Vine..."

The entire 80th Psalm is a heartcry; a welling up of a spirit; a burdened intercession by Asaph, a man chosen by King David to lead in tabernacle worship, prayer and singing.
revive us) O God of hosts, and cause Your face to shine"
He was not praying for himself, his wife and family, his neighborhood and/or friends, his business dealings, his personal needs, or even his ordained ministry of music!

HE WAS SEEKING GOD'S FACE for the singular purpose of his personal hunger to see God reveal Himself to His people once again. He yearned to witness God's Person and presence like He had been in times past when He visited His people. There is nothing on earth to compare with such an occurrence, that is, with God's personally coming down among His people with His precious presence.

Look at the predominate aspects of Asaph's intercessions. Verse 1: "O Shepherd of Israel...
Who dwells between the cherubims, shine forth!"
Verse 3: "Turn us again, (revive us) O God, and cause Your face to shine".
Verse 7: "Turn us again, (revive us) O God of hosts, and cause Your face to shine".
Verse 14: "Return, we beg of You, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, andvisit this vine"! (please!!!)
Verse 19: Turn us again (revive us again!) O Lord God of hosts, (please!!!) cause Your face to shine!" (Again!...As You have before!)

Any Christian with a heart for God, His glory, His smile, His approval, His power and His presence, will feel his heart within him or hear yearn and burn as he reads such an impassioned prayer!

I am personally encouraged and re-affirmed as I recognize that - at any stage of humankind's existence -there were those who loved God enough to plead and yearn for His personal touch!

Another encouragement is that there seems to be (1) an ongoing interest in His heart to personally meet with such intercessors, and (2) He comes to them, and meets with them, and causes His face to shine upon them, and revives them, as they seek His face to come with a general, overshadowing revival.

"If it would please You, Lord, please "visit this vine" today!" WLB

What Happens to Sin in the Saved?

The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that "God has made Jesus to be sin for us, Who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him".

One of the first important things that we need to pin down in the matter of the trasnfer of sin from individual human natures to Jesus Christ, is that it is literal and not figurative. If it is only symbolical, then it is not real...then it never occured...it never really happened within us at all.

As hard as it is for us to aceept, or even begin to understand why Jesus would do this for us...if it were just symbolic...or merely figurative...of if it were simply a legality in God's mind - that is - somewhat like a dismissal of charges against us while we are still guilty; or, if it were only a "covering" of an entity or propensity that was still existent, it would have no actual effect on us. If this transfer of sins from us to Jesus Christ did not truly and effectively deal with sin, and destroy it within our sinful natures, then we have nothing real. This is precisely what the sacrificual offerings of bulls and goats accomplished:
nothing permanent and effective!

The truth is that something actually happens to the sin within our natures when we appeal to the sacrifice of Jesus' shed blood. It has to be more than mere symbolism or it is meaningless. Sin within us
is AFFECTED, and my judgment is that the degree of effect is comparable to the depth of Jesus suffering and death on the cross for human sin. The death of God's Son on Calvary was real and not merely symbolic, and so is the effect within human nature real when we are forgiven.

John writes (SEE 1 John3:8) that: "The person who commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sins from the beginning. For this purpose (sin's destruction) the Son of God was revealed to the world, that He might destroy the works of the devil".

"Servants all... Jesus and His Followers"

These three verses in Mark 10:43-45 are among my most favorite in God's Word:

"...whosoever will be great among you (My disciples) shall be your minister (servant).
"And whosoever among you will be the chiefest , shall be servant of all.
"For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give...".

If and when we discover hearts and minds like the Lord Jesus, they will be serving and ministering ones. The closer we get to God; the more we know about Him, the more we find developing within ourselves a graciousness of spirit that places the happiness and wellbeing and enjoyment of others over that of ourselves. We will be more interested in how others look and appear than how we look. This is the way God is. God is a giver. God is gracious. God is selfless. God is humble. God does not strut. Only beings tainted by sin strut. The more we dig into the nature and character of God, the more we discover how important intrinsic humility is in Him...and in us.

A holy heart is always a serving one. It is always a giving one. Serving is demeaning and uncomfortable and embarrassing if it is only a discipline, or an effort, or an ideal. If serving others is not in our hearts, and functions all the time, in every situation, and to anybody and everybody...whoever they are...it will not work. A servant's heart must come from heavenly, cleansing fire that takes the desire for recognition out.

When we get a servant's heart, and a gracious heart, from the One Who came to earth as a servant, we will see ourselves as a servant. To serve others - in and out of the body of Christ - will not seem to us demeaning if we see that as our call from God...as God's purpose for us. It will end any desire for recognition and position and what other Christians think about us and our service for Christ and His church!

Having a servant's heart...seeing this as God's plan - seeing our purpose in Christ's body as a servant IS A FREEING THING! It frees the mind of comparisons and expectations and, worst of all, competitions.
When God began teaching me this truth many years ago, my mind was instantly impressed with the privilege I had to serve my Christian brothers and sisters in Christ! After all, they are heaven's coming royalty! Heaven's heirarchy! They will rule and reign with Jesus throughout eternity! Why wouldn't I want to serve them, and bless them, and assist them, and help them all I can through this old world of testing and trials?

"What Number Are You?"

On a scale of one to ten? Intellectually? Physically? Temperamentally? Academically? Financially?

What is your worth? In your opinion...in every way?

Self evaluation changes (and it should) as a person matures. How do we see ourselves as a mature adult? Someone may ask: why do we care? What difference does it make?

As a pastor - and therefore a religious/sociological/philosophical teacher - my answer directy comes from the Bible...God's Word to humankind, and our final authority.

OUR ANSWER TO ALL OF THE ABOVE SHOULD BE "ZERO", and this is predicated upon what God's Word says in 1 Corinthians 4:7: "What do you have that you did not receive?, and if you did receive it, why do you boast as thought you did not"?

This comes from one of the world's all-time, smartest, wisest, most gifted, most highly motivated men, the Apostle Paul. And ALL of humankind's really knowledgeable personalities - from Adam until now - humbly
join Paul's ilk.

We have NOTHING that we were not given - beginning, and including, that tiny, gynechological spark of human life. SO many people claim that "I've worked hard and long for what I have", rarely, if ever, pausing to consider that our bodies and minds and abilities are freely-given gifts.

I love to read the testimony of probably the greatest warrior of human history, King David, where he states in three places (2 Samuel 22:35; Psalm 18:34; and Psalm 144:1), "He (God) teaches my hand to war".
Thinbk of it! every task we accomplish with our hands can be done because God created them with such marvelous, incredible strength and dexterity!

Again King David credits directly to God our ability to earn, spend and give. In 1 Chronicles 29:14
David says, "Who are we to be able to earn and give? for ALL THINGS come of You, and of Your Own (wealth) we have given (back) to You".

This I often repeat: All we are, and all we have, or ever will be and have, is because Jesus came. All praise and glory be to Him, now and forever!

REAL Beauty

Christians who spend lots of time with God bear His unmistakable mark on their spirits and in their attitudes and on their countenances. Look at Romans 12: 10 and 16:

"Be kindly affectioned to one another, with brotherly love; in honor, preferring one another".


"Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to persons of low estate. Be not wise in your own estimation".

I know that there is not an overabundance of such selfless expressions among Christians, but there is some, and it is always beautiful to observe. It is so uplifting to witness a person surrender a right, or yield to an opinion in favor of another person. I repeat this often: If no sin is involved, if no biblical truth is ignored, if no moral principle is being surrendered, what difference does it make whose opinion prevails, or who gets his way?

One of my life's biggest disappointments in my relationship with the body of Christ is at this very point. We allow the devil to upset us too much. We are way to short on forebearance and understanding. You have noticed - as I have - that there are times when teasing and joking is not only tolerated, but really enjoyed...and something upsets someone, and then every, little things becomes an insult. Generally speaking, people who get peeved are peevable, and this may not be grammatically or theologically correct, but we all understand it.

This in no way suggests that godly, Christlike Christians do not get their feelings hurt, for they are probably more sensitive to a "hurt feelings atmosphere". BUT WHEN IT HAPPENS - and it will happen to everyone - Christlike, biblical persons do not hold it against the perpetrator, they do not stop working with them, they do not get peeved, and they do not start talking against them to anyone who will listen, and they do not leave the church and stop paying their tithe, and they do not backslide and blame everyone else for it.

OOOO! I like this kind of preaching!

"The Glory of the Church"

There is a specific, proper, unique, awesome and wonderful glory of the church assigned to them and them alone that is rarely experienced these days. Those few saints of past days who have experienced it will instantly affirm that this is so, and many, if not most, today's church people either deeply hunger for a repeat of it, or - as in most instances - consider it mere emotionalism, or even fanaticism.

I know that the glory of the church is a fact, and, if I did not know this, or chose not to believe this, I would teach and preach it anyway because Jesus promised it in John 17:22 as He prayed for His church just before leaving them and returning to His Father.


"And the glory which You (the Father) gave Me (Jesus, His Son) I HAVE GIVEN THEM: that they may be one, even as We are one".

The fact is that this glory is so appropriate and desirable that Jesus prayed that His Father would endow His followers with it. There is a strong sense in which we are not the church without it!, and that the church is completely unique on earth because of it. This glory will be experienced by no one else on earth, because He has reserved it for His church. It will be found in and of the church, and nowhere else.

Satan hates the church's glory! and the church has historically been a persecuted body in this world of evil and iniquity. Holy people have been abused, maligned, mistreated, insulted, ill-favored, discriminated against, assaulted, and even killed from the dawn of human history, but they have all had this treasured, peculiar aura of God's glorious presence with them as a unique mark of idenity.

A righteous Abel was killed, but his blood cried up from the ground. An upright Job was woefully abused, but God brought him out better and stronger on the other side of his afflictions. A righteous Joseph was framed, but God was with him in prison and vindicated his honor. A praying Daniel was thrown into the lion's den, but God graced that cavern with His control and glory. Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were mercilessly thrown into a blazing inferno, but Jesus walked with them there and delivered them. Jeremiah was dropped into a stinking, mouldy, miry, vermin infected pit, but God was there with him (think of it! God in that pit!) and brought him out.

Peter was placed in jail by the Romans, but God's angel was there to bring him out. Stephen was murdered in the cruelest fashion, but God's glory was on his soul, and the shine of His presence on his face. Paul and Silas sat on a cold, damp jail floor in stocks and chains, but God illuminated that dungeon with His presence and glory and gave them enough grace to sing hymns at midnight. And John was surrounded by the glory of God on a lonely Isle of Patmos.

The glory of the church is the presence of heaven's God. It when He draws near to us, and probably one of the most impressive properties of this peculiarly reserved glory is that we can experience it personally even if the various bodies of the church are too pre-occupied and too busy to wait on Him.

What I have experienced and noticed is that God's glory attends those who desire it, and hunger for it, and wait on Him for it.

"Let Them Lead Me"

Before we discover the identity of the "them", we need to establish a couple of cogent facts, and then three meanings of this clause.

This comment by David, nine hundred years before Christ, directly infers two significant facts. One is that each of us is "moving"...even if we bodily and physically stop and stand, we continue on our life's unstopable journey. Even if we are asleep in bed in unconscious slumber, we are still unknowingly but continually moving on to a destination. DAvid recognized this. Also inferred is that David wanted a leader. It is as though he was walking in the dark... at least, as it concerned what was a head, and that he could not see ahead.

Three meanings: One, it was a prayer. It parallels an aspect of the so-called Lord's Prayer where Jesus said we should pray, "Lead us not into temptation". Okay, so the opposite is also prayed, "Lead us away from temptation and into wherever You want to go, and whatever You have planned for me." Two, it was a request. This is a continually paramount truth that God forces no person. He leads who will follow. He leads who wants to be led. Three, it was a choice. Knowing David from his writings, I would classify this as a yearning choice; an earnest choice; a hungering choice; yes, a passionate choice.

NOW, what are the "them"? (let them lead me). The Bible being its own best commentary, there are two
identities: (SEE Psalm 43:3 "Oh send out Thy light and Thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me into Thy holy hill, and to Thy tabernacles".)

Both "light" and "truth" are elements of illumination, of revelation, of uncovering and opening, and David was passionate and direct in his insistance that his God would shine into his mind and heart and soul the ideas, the thinking, the logic and the meanings of HIS ways.

I have no question that God answered David's prayer...that day, and throughout his earthly journey with God...and He does the same today for those hearts who question and hunger and seek Him today!

"Thank You For the Pitch..."

...that is..."for the pitch that I never got on my fingers" as I brought in two pieces of firewood for the fireplace.

 

   This was as automatic as my breathing, and it occurs a number of times each day.  There are some of you who are reading who regularly have this happen to you as you go throughout your day, and walk and talk with Jesus.  And then, there are some who will consider it silly, or even sacreligious.

 

   I told Deloris that I was going out to the woodpile and get a couple of pieces of (preferably Red Fir)  firewood to put in the fireplace just before we went to Sunday school and church, and, as I started out the door, I thought to myself, "I will not pull on a pair of gloves, for I will be careful and look for pitch".  Then in an uncharacteristic manner (for I am always trying to save time...though "she who must be obeyed" calls it being in a hurry...and impatience), I paused to put on the gloves.  They were on the way out the door.

 

   After selecting the two large pieces, and bringing them into the house and placing them on the mantle of the fireplace, one finger of the glove wanted to stick.  R-i-g-h-t.  Pitch!  While taking the gloves back (see...it does save time not to use them!  Deloris!), and vainly trying to rub it off, it was then that I said, "Thank You, Lord". 

 

   It was such a small thing!!  Exactly!!  What ever others may think about this honest, grateful expression of thanks to my Lord, the reason I know it was OK is because I was grateful!  If there is a welling up of gratitude in my mind and heart for such small, seemingly, relatively unimportant things that occur to us many times on a daily basis, then I should thank Him.

 

   Probably what means more to me than what I have written in this blog, is that we can have such a close, warm and constant relationship with Him that it is natural and easy to commune with Him...and thank Him for the comparitively "little" things.

 

   And "Thank You, Lord, for being able to write these lines.  Maybe it will be a blessing to someone else".

It's OK For God To TALK To Us.

It is NOT OK for us to see Him. He refused to allow Moses (SEE Exodus 33:20) to look upon His face, but the reason was not that He did not want Moses to have a warm, close, personal relationship with Him, or that He was unwilling to share Who He was with him. God refused only because His heavenly glory could not be tolerated by a mortal. This is primarily why those of us who believe in Him and His Son, Jesus Christ, will have to have glorified bodies to exist in His heaven and His presence.

B-U-T- this does not refrain Him from communicating with us. Most of the 33rd chapter of Exodus describes a rather lengthy dialogue between God and Moses. I have long admired Moses...for a good, many reasons, but primarily because of this dialogue that tells us as much about God as it does Moses. God was willing to stand right there in the presence of a mere mortal, and both listen and reply to Moses' objections! Did you catch this? Moses strongly objected to God's propositions...and God not only listened to his logic, but granted what he...Moses...proposed! Unbelievable! Amazingly fascinating!

God said in essence, "Moses, I am going to do this". And Moses said, "NO, God, You cannot do this,
and here are my reasons why". Essentially, Moses' logic was that God's honor was at stake, and that if He went ahead and wiped Israel off from the face of the earth, the nations would not believe that He could do what He said He could do for and through Israel.

The Bible says (SEE Numbers 12:3) that Moses was the meekest man on the face of the earth, but this humility was in his self-esteem and low opinion of himself. He was courageous in his intercessions for other people...and he was a fighter in defense of God's honor...and he was eminently brave when he knew he was talking to His God!

WE cannot see God either, but He talks with us, and wants to talk to us, and is more than willing for us to trade ideas and thoughts with Him.

Intercessory Prayer Is Hard!

Anyone who is presently practicing, or has ever engaged in, intercessory prayer knows this is true. But Why?

1. Because of its nature. It is a selfless endeavor. It is nearly 100% in the behalf of other persons and their needs. For this to be a consistent, constant activity of a Christian, his or her heart must be emptied of self, and filled with the Holy Spirit.

2. Because it requires constant self-discipline. It requires a consistent time commitment. A regular time and place, but when schedules or activities are changed, it can be...and will be...engaged in at any time and in any circumstances. (The prophet Habakkuk demonstrates this self-discipline. [SEE Habakkuk 2:1]: "I will stand upon my watch; I will set me upon my prayer place; I will wait and see what He will say to me...".)

3. Because it gets us out of the arena of the flesh and into the realm of the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 10:3 & 4: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our (spiritual)
warfare are not carnal (fleshly), but mighty through God to the pulling down of (spiritual, satanic)
strongholds".

4. Because of numbers 2 and 3, it engages the forces of Satan in spiritual warfare. SATAN HATES
INTERCESSORS, AND CONSTANTLY TARGETS THEM. Because of this, intercession requires strong, courageous hearts and a total confidence in God.

5. Because it is a lonely, solitary battle. Few Christians stay with it. Many believe in it...and try it...most often when there is a crises in their lives...but other things crowd it out.

6. Because results are seldom seen. This is another reason why most Christians "try it", and then soon give up. We are a "results oriented" people. We want to "see".
True intercession is more an activity of the Holy Spirit within than of human effort...BUT there is much waiting on God at His throne of grace before an aligning of our spirits and wills occurs.

7. Because there are few examples, and little preaching, about it. Most Christians are honest enough to not recommend it if they are not practicing it.

8. Because there is no recognition or record keeping on intercessory prayer. It is NOT a practice heard or written about much. EXCEPT what comes from the Lord above, there is little encouragement.

Her Name is Naomi

You have noticed - as I often do - how certain words, phrases, idioms and practices always bring a specific person to mind.

I invariably think of the late Dr. Melvin Snyder when I correctly pronounce the short word "err" as UR, and not AIR. As a careful communicator - speaking or writing - correct usage is a constant pursuit, so when he pronounced this short word "err" as UR in his preaching, I went to a dictionary at the first opportunity to "check him out". He was accurate.

Accordingly, my everyday life is constantly reminding me of this person or another one - most of them, unwittingly - who have been my teachers. Indeed, all of us are hoeplessly indebted to our teachers, and we faithfully mirror them. A lifetime pet peeve of mine is the so-called "self made" person.

My good friend, Naomi Hall, gave me some excellent advise many years ago that has unquestionably enriched my pastoral ministry. As usually happens, she was unaware of her comments being "pastoral advise", but gave me an excellent insight into the continuing needs of hurting hearts.

She observed to Deloris and me at the event of her mother's funeral, "I don't know why family and friends surround us with so much compassion and sympathy at the time, and then just forget ever after". The Holy Spirit used her wise comment to alter and expand my expressions of support and caring.

It is a matter of recognizing that grief and loss does not leave the affected person like the activating of a switch. Probably the greatest lesson to be relearned here is the simple application of the golden rule. What if it were you or me?

From that point of losing a loved one or good friend, the Lord has greatly enlarged my vision of not only hurting people, but those also who have had huge disappointments, adjustments or changes in their lives.

And so, we go through our lives each day in debt to our teachers, and, when possible, tell them how much we appreciate them and their lessons. Teachers are my heroes!

"Awesome - Absolutely"

These two responses have wearied my mind by their overuse. They are not only passe' (worn out) responsive words, but very un-intellectual. It is a "monkey see - monkey do" mentality that thoughtlessly replaces meaning with repetition.

In their overuse, thoughtful minds avoid their appropriate and beneficial use because of it. They are highly expressive words avoided by careful speakers and writers simply because of thoughtless repeition by others. It is a shame when they are surrendered because of careless general overuse.

And "awesome"? A spellbinding sunset, or a fascinating electric storm, or the endless crashing of the surf, or the sparkling array of the stars, or the incomparable beauty of a rose, or the amazing twinkle of a baby's eyes, or the unsurpassed power of a smile, or the indiscriminate wagging of a dog's tail, or the incredible ability to think and speak and smell and taste and hear and see, or the precious gifts of balance, breathing, appetite, co-ordination and dexterity...THESE THINGS ARE AWESOME! Hamburgers and ballgames and stuff and such are not.

"Absolutely" is rarely correctly used, for it properly involves a finality, a supremacy and an uniquity that forbids casual usage. It is generally intended by casual speakers to imply a certainty that is unrightful. It implies a superiority that can rarely be supported in fact. I hear it regularly used when there is no basis in fact - possibly even "absolutely" no support in reality.

As with "awesome" the word "absolutely" probably would not be so offensive to thoughtful speakers if it had not devolved into such continuous mis-use.

If the right word is used, there is no need to enhance or embellish it. Words have power, and expression
is most comfortable in carefulness.

"Just Shut Up!"

We were - in my Oregon home - not allowed to say these words to other family members, and neither were they used by us or our three children. They just seem so crude...and depersonalizing.

But in this instance it was probably appropriate because Job's three acquaintances (I refuse to call them "friends") repeatedly spewed unjustified and mean-spirited criticisms against his character. In exasperation he told them in essence "to just shut up!".

I love Job - especially as he replies to these three deprecating men (SEE Job 16:4 & 5), "I also could speak as you do: if you were in my place, I could heap up accusing words against you. I also could scold you and shake my head at you. But I would not do this to a friend. I would strengthen and encourage you and do anything I could to relieve your grief".

And I love his logic! as he gives them a superb reason for telling them "to just shut up!". (SEE Job 13:5, and this is my paraphrasing) "Your refusing to continue talking would show how wise you are". This is really good advice for most of us!

I know the man was horribly suffering, but I cannot read this - ever - without grinning...even laughing...maybe even smirking...maybe even mentally applauding!

As usual, with this kind of arrogant person, Job may as well have saved his breath. It only fueled their brains with blather. They did not get it because they were too filled with their own importance and too blind to their own ignorance. They were not only short on wisdom but on compassion as well.

In this regard, one of my favorite disciplines is set down by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:29, and I quote:
"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying (building up; erecting), that it may minister grace unto the hearers".

Heman, the "he-man"

Heman was an unusual fellow, had an unusual job with an unusual family. He - with two other men, Asaph and Jeduthun - were three chosen leaders to head up King David's music department of 288 persons. They were the original teams of vocalists and musicians established by David to publicly praise and honor God in a practiced, ordered manner.

As mentioned already, Heman was one of the three men whose sole, full-time, paid job was to train and practice these 288 musicians. Oddly, there was no "selection process" as we would generally expect, for all of them were "born into" their special, musically gifted responsibilities.

If you were a son or a daughter of Asaph, Jeduthun or Heman, you were expected - and trained - from early childhood to sing and/or play a musical instrument, and eventually participate in public worship music.

Some might think: "How could this be? Some individuals cannot keep time or carry a tune in a bucket". This is easy for me to accept, having been born into the J. C. Wise family (my maternal grandfather). All seven children - five girls and two boys - could sing beautifully and play just about any musical instrument they wanted to or were asked to. But, more importantly, as the Scriptures often relates, God especially gifted these biblical musicians to perform their specialized tasks.

So, what made Heman a "he-man"? If you were to read 1 Chronicles 25:4-7, it would quickly become apparent. Heman had fourteen sons and three daughters, and I took the liberty to edit their long names a bit. Buck, Matt, Uzi, Sheb, Jerry, Hank, Hans, Eli, Giddi, Rom, Josh, Mel, Hoss, Mac, Shari, Judi and Hanah.

Just think of it! 17 children with Dad and Mom would compose either a small orchestra or very large combo within just one family! Heman was a real "he-man", and his wife, Carlene, not too shabby either!

(I gave the women names. They did have them, you know). WLB