Happy in Church

A lot of people get really excited about the prophetic passages in the book of Revelation and a lot of people argue and break fellowship over those same passages.  There is a beautiful verse in Revelation chapter one that should unite the church and give us cause to both repent and rejoice.  That is verse 13 which says, “And in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.”  The churches are the lampstands (vs. 20) and Christ is in the midst of them.  That we would argue and fight in His presence is sad, but that He is in the midst of the church should cause us to rejoice.  Whenever we get together with other believers, He is there fellowshipping with us.  He is in the pew beside us.  He is holding the hand of the annoying person in the pew across from us.  He is in the pulpit with His arm around the pastor.  He is in the hands of those who distribute the sacraments.  Being in church with Him should make us very happy.

The psalmist thought so.  In Psalm 84:4 we find that little word blessed, meaning happy, saying, “Blessed are those who dwell in your house.”  Wow!  Happy is the man who spends his life in your house.  That’s what it says.  In Psalm 122:1 David said, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord.”  Psalm 84:10 says, “I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in tents of wickedness.”  The corporate worship of God’s people should fill us with an anticipation of happiness each week.  To think of putting it off for a golf game or some other activity is to diminish the very essence of who we meet there each week.  We should derive our greatest happiness in being a simple doorkeeper in the house of the Lord. 

The Presbyterian Psalter of 1912 rendered Psalm 122 like this: 

With joy I heard my friends exclaim, ‘Come, let us in God’s temple meet; within thy gates, O Zion blest, shall ever stand our willing feet.’

They come to learn the will of God, to pay their vows, His grace to own; for there is judgment’s royal seat, Messiah’s sure and lasting throne.

For sake of friends and kindred dear, my heart’s desire is Zion’s peace; and for the house of God, the Lord, my loving care shall never cease.

Oh, that we too would find such rapture in the attendance of church each week.  God promises us happiness there.  Set a goal this year to attend worship each week.  

  The Friday Benediction

Until Monday, my friends, may the good God envelop you with His grace; may you prove the common confession of faith, “I believe in the holy Christian church and in the fellowship of the saints”, and may you be enriched with joy and hope as you exercise that confession this weekend.  Amen

 

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The Happy Land

Authors, from visionary dreamers to theologians to psychiatrists, have written books of their vision of Utopia.  In these imaginary lands everyone is happy, usually as a result of following the wise leadership of a beneficently minded leader who knows best.  Those who step out of line, however, need a little extra guidance or re-education.  God has a different remedy for a happy land.  It is found in Psalm 33:12. “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, and the people He has chosen for His own inheritance.”  Of course, this was an ideal unrealized since the people of Israel were always hankering for someone other than God to be the god of their land.  But it is an ideal that can be realized by His people today.

In the New Testament God does not have a “land” as such.  He will in the future reclaim Israel for His sovereign territory for a thousand years, but right now He has no land.  What He does have is people.  His people, called by and through the Name of His Son Jesus, are His “territory”.  In their hearts and lives He has a worldwide territory.  He has enough “land” and people to make known to all the world that He can make a difference in the contentment level, the joy level, the peace level, or what we might call “the happiness quotient” level of humanity.  For those who are His territory, who will die to self and live to Him – making Him Lord, they will prove to all that “Happiness is the Lord.” 

Too often, however, we find that the Christian community is no different than the lost community.  Instead of trusting they live in worry.  Instead of praising they live in complaining.  Instead of acknowledging His authority they set out to run their own lives and give Jesus a lift along with them if He wants the ride.  The result is that they have as many idols as ancient Israel had and have no more happiness than they had as a result. 

But Jesus daily calls out to us to change that pattern. He calls out to us to repent and live this day for Him and in living it find all that He promised is true. Each of us needs to make that commitment of Paul, as expressed in Galatians 2:20, to die daily and then live in the joyful expectancy of Christ and His kingdom in us.

Great Christ the King to Thee we bring our willing hearts today

To be the land with Your command where You alone hold sway

Reveal through us Your graciousness and let our full hearts sing

That happiness is real in us when You are Christ the King.  

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More and More Happiness

One of the saddest persons in literature is Ebenezer Scrooge.  His idea of a good day was to say “Bah, humbug” to everyone he met.  When asked for a pittance for the poor, he was far more ready to give the fundraiser a piece of his mind than a piece of his coin.  It is hard to ever find a happy miser.

God has a different way to happiness.  In Psalm 41:1 David said, “Happy is the man who considers the poor.”  In 41:2 he added, “He shall be blessed (happy) upon the earth.”  Ebenezer Scrooge learned this lesson through a mysterious dream.  God gives us this lesson in a straight forward promise.

As I have said before, we live in a tough neighborhood.  There are people being evicted on a weekly basis.  One day we looked out the window and across the street was a family that we “casually” knew who had everything on the front sidewalk of their apartment.  We are not rich and I knew we couldn’t pay their rent, but my wife and I went over and asked them if there was anything we could do.  It was with some hesitation because we knew we couldn’t do much.  “Yes,” they said. “You can take our children and take care of them for us.”  My wife and I looked at each other and out of my mouth came the strangest response.  “OK.”

An hour later they delivered their eleven year old twins to our house with only the clothes on their backs.  Then they moved out of town.  I did insist that the mother give us a letter authorizing us to take necessary medical action and enroll them in school in the fall.  Suddenly we had two very semi-legal foster children.  I remember taking them to buy school clothes and I had the girl with me.  A lady stopped us in the aisle and asked if I were her foster dad. (The children were of a different race.)  The girl watched me closely.  “No,” I said.  “I am her grandpa.”  I made a real friend then and there.  We were both happy.

That is what God promised.  “Happy is the man who considers the poor.”  Spice up your life with a little happiness.  Care for those who can’t care for themselves.  Remember, “God loves a cheerful giver”.  He will add cheerfulness back to the giver.

There’s happiness round the corner for everyone who shares

God in heav’n will never forget the gifts of those who care.  

  The Friday Benediction

Until Monday, my friends, may the good God envelop you with His grace; may you prove the common confession of faith, “I believe in the holy Christian church and in the fellowship of the saints”, and may you be enriched with joy and hope as you exercise that confession this weekend.  Amen

 

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More Happiness

There is an old saying, “Seeing is believing”.  Missouri is known as the “Show Me State”.   A line from a famous movie says, “Show me the money.”  Can all that visualization really make us happy?  Is that what it takes to be sure of something?  God would disagree.  Paul wrote, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”  (II Cor. 5:7)

In Psalm 2:12 we find that little word “blessed” again, the one that means happy.  “Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him.”  Trust and “show me” are two different things.  Trust is a handshake and a promise.  Show me is a cashier’s check.  Show me implies doubt.  Trust me is the essence of faith.  Our walk with Christ is to be one of faith.  The Father called us by faith to believe in the Son.  Trust is faith in action.

The phrase “Blessed is the man who trusts in Thee” is oft repeated in the psalms with variations.  In Ps. 2 it applies to believing in the Son as God’s Messiah.  It compares those who believe with those who rejected Christ.  The believers are happy; the rejecters are crushed.  Therefore, it says, believe.  In Ps. 34:8 the phrase is repeated, but this time it is used with a different emphasis.  This time the trust is not for salvation but in circumstances that challenge and confront our lives.  In Ps. 40:4 the phrase is used again.  Again it is used with a different emphasis.  This time the psalmist is waiting on the Lord.  Will he abandon the wait and choose a “show me” mentality?  He says “Blessed is the man who trusts”.  Whether it is for salvation or for our daily walk, or for dire circumstances or for those times where we just find ourselves waiting on the Lord’s will, “Blessed is the man who trusts in Thee” is the repeated phase. 

Edgar Stites wrote “Trusting Jesus”.  It is an old hymn that will refresh us every day as we look to Jesus in simple trust for all He has promised to us.

 “Simply trusting every day, trusting through a stormy way; even when my faith is small, trusting Jesus, that is all.”

“Singing if my way is clear, praying if the path be drear; if in danger for Him call;
trusting Jesus, that is all.”

Refrain:  “Trusting as the moments fly, trusting as the days go by; trusting Him whate’er befall, trusting Jesus, that is all.”

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The Road to Happiness

I’ve never met a person who didn’t want to be happy.  I’ve met many who aren’t, but none who didn’t want to be.  Oh, they think many things will make them happy and they don’t think they can be happy without them.  That’s too bad, since few of us will have all the things we want.  When Solomon had all he wanted in Ecclesiastes chapter 2, he said that it failed to fulfill him.  So, is there a way to be happy?  Yes!

Psalm 1:1 says, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.”  That little word “blessed” at the start of this verse comes from a Hebrew word meaning “happy”.  Perhaps the idea is even broader, that there is a fullness of life and a deep satisfaction in living it.  We are not talking happy as in “it’s Saturday and I don’t have to go to work.”  That is what we really want.  God tells us how to get it.  It begins with His word, that perfect, inerrant word that He has given for our instruction and happiness.

But there is a second step to happiness.  We don’t just have to read it and walk away.  We have to read it and then do it.  That is what He means by not walking, or standing or sitting, progressively getting more stuck in the rut with the wicked.  He gives us light in His word and He wants us to walk in it.  Happiness then is a choice; we can take it or leave it.  God offers us the opportunity to take it.  He invites us to take it.  He did not create us to be bogged down with sorrow all our life.  He put man in the Garden of Eden.  Man chose to disobey and leave.  God in Christ invites him to come back. 

Come back to peace with God.  Come back to joy in the Lord.  Come back to looking forward to getting up each day and finding true happiness, blessing with Him.  Eliza Hewitt wrote a song to spring our lives into a pattern of happiness.  She invites us to walk in the light of Christ and His word.

    “Trying to walk in the steps of the Savior, trying to follow our Savior and king;
shaping our lives by His blessed example, happy, how happy, the songs that we bring.”

“Pressing more closely to Him who is leading, when we are tempted to turn from the way; trusting the arm that is strong to defend us, happy, how happy, our praises each day.”

“How beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior, stepping in the light, stepping in the light, how beautiful to walk in the steps of the Savior, led in paths of light.”

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Name Above All Names

Of all the names we have ascribed to Jesus, the greatest is the name we call Him most commonly.  His name is Jesus.  God gave Him this great name before His birth.  He said to Joseph, “And she (Mary) will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.”  (Matt. 1:21)  All the other names we have looked at are ones He used to describe Himself or that others used to describe Him.  Jesus is His name given by God.  That makes it a pretty special name.

In Hebrew it is Yeshua or Joshua.  The name literally means “Jehovah is salvation” or “The Lord’s salvation”.  That is why God said to Joseph, “For He shall save His people from their sins”.  He is the salvation of God.  Peter proclaimed this great truth to the Jewish council in Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.”  In all of the world, in every land and culture and religious system, there is only one name that will save.  That name is Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. 

His name is Savior.  Peter pointed out that “we must be saved”.  This is not an option.  We need it.  We are lost and perishing.  We will pass from death unto death without the name of Jesus.  That name does not just mean Jesus the man.  It does not just mean Jesus the servant.  It does not just mean Jesus the teacher.  It does not just mean Jesus the coming King.  That name means salvation and when we come to Jesus for salvation He will not turn us away.  What we need Him for is to save us from the earned punishment for our sins.  He has satisfied the justice God demands for payment for our sins by His own death and resurrection. 

This is a name worth sharing.  It is a name that has the power to transform people into the very children of God with all the rights thereof.  It is the only name that will give them eternal hope.  Let’s spread the joyful sound of that Name!  Priscilla Owens captured the joy of this name in her song “Jesus Saves!” “We have heard the joyful sound: Jesus saves! Jesus saves! Spread the tidings all around: Jesus saves! Jesus saves! Bear the news to every land, climb the mountains, cross the waves; onward! ’Tis our Lord’s command; Jesus saves! Jesus saves!     Give the winds a mighty voice: Jesus saves! Jesus saves! Let the nations now rejoice: Jesus saves! Jesus saves! Shout salvation full and free; highest hills and deepest caves; this our song of victory: Jesus saves! Jesus saves!”

  The Friday Benediction

Until Monday, my friends, may the good God envelop you with His grace; may you prove the common confession of faith, “I believe in the holy Christian church and in the fellowship of the saints”, and may you be enriched with joy and hope as you exercise that confession this weekend.  Amen

 

For quality inspirational, educational, and fictional Christian books visit www.davidccraig.net

What Was Jesus' Last Name

Many people have last names that convey something about their ancestor’s professions.  Miller might convey that somewhere along the line, when surnames were added to first names, the ancestor was in the milling business.  He was John the miller who became John Miller.  When Jesus grew up, what was His last name?  He was probably called Yeshua ben Yusef by the people of Nazareth.  Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew Joshua with (ben), meaning son of, Joseph. Nobody on the streets of Nazareth called Him Jesus Christ.  Christ is not His last name. 

Christ is His title.  It is a title that declares who He is.  Christ is the Greek form of the Hebrew word for “anointed one”.  The Jewish people had been looking forward to an anointed one for many centuries.  They had had their types of anointed ones in their culture.  The kings were anointed.  The priests were anointed.  Even some prophets were anointed.  These were people who had been specially called by God to lead His people.  Their anointing certified their authority to their position.  Some were anointed by oil and some were anointed by oil and blood, but to serve they had to be anointed. 

Jesus was anointed with power by God and with the Holy Spirit.  Mary’s womb was anointed by the Holy Spirit in His conception.  He was anointed by the Holy Spirit at His baptism.  Jesus was God’s Anointed One.  He was the Messiah, the promised anointed one, of the Old Testament.  He came to be the prophet, priest and king for Israel.  He came to be their redeemer.  Unlike their priests, however, who would offer something else as a sacrifice, He would offer Himself.  Unlike a king, however, He was first a servant.  All of these things were prophesied about Him in the Old Testament, but few were looking for a servant sacrifice and most were looking for a king and deliverer. 

He has delivered us from death in this present age and He can reign as King in the lives of His people in this present age.  Someday He will return and be the King of kings on earth.  His title of Christ, however, is present for us to know who He is and what He is doing.  It is a title deserving all praise and adoration, all worship and respect.  It is His eternal title. 

Christ hidden in a servant’s skin, Christ sacrificed our souls to win

Christ raised anoints us with His Name, Christ comes again o’er all to reign. 

Let all saints proclaim, “For me to live is Christ; to die is gain.”  

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