Riddle Me This........

By John Stallings

I’m a part of you that is more you than any other part, but you’ve never seen me. In fact you’ll never see me, because I’m invisible. I am the repository or collector of all your experiences, & attitudes but I’m more than that. Much more.

I’m way stronger than you’d ever think yet I’m also very vulnerable & tender. I’m affected by your health, emotions & thinking patterns yet I can stabilize or sabotage all three.

Though I freely admit it was the union of your mother & father that brought you to this earth, they didn’t create me. God did. And because God created me I’ll outlast the Universe. Without me the others parts of you, the totality of you would make no sense at all.

If I’m not taken care of & properly nourished, everything else you do will end in hollowness & despair. If you become wealthy & famous but don’t use honorable methods to do it, or strive for unworthy goals, or in general leave me unnourished, sooner or later in your darkest hour, I’ll whisper in your ear; “So what?-- It’s all meaningless.”

I’m the part of you that integrates mind, will & emotions. I’m the part of you that can get restless, bored or blindsided by guilt at the height of pleasure or success, because, really, pleasure & success don’t satisfy me. Love, peace, true joy & significance do.

As a matter of fact, I’m the part of you that’s controlling your life as you read this piece & for that matter, anything else you do. Like your car engine, if I’m not running right, it doesn’t really matter how many accessories the car might have, or how big & shiny it is, nothing is going to work.

Of course the reason I’m talking to you like this about me, is, one day you’ll have to give account for me to the one who made me, God.

The only Manuel I know for my care & feeding is The Bible. I can also tell you that the information is extremely accurate because it was written by the one who made me. I know what it is to feel intense pain & the book that talks the most about my pain is Psalms.

David & the other Psalmists can provide lots of help in categorizing the different situations that can cause me elation or agony. The Psalms give great insight into my needs & experiences. In this book alone I’m mentioned 141 times.

Have you figured out yet who am I? - O.K I’ll tell you my identity. I’m your soul.

Now that you’re wise to my riddle,

LET’S TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT THE CARE & FEEDING OF THE SOUL.

Talking about the soul is as hard as any topic I can possibly think of. What is the soul? How do you care for the soul & what does it mean to-- love God with all your heart, soul, strength & mind…..Luke 10:27

Thinking about the soul brings to mind thoughts of the deepest dimensions of human experience. We don’t hear the soul talked about much in our society because of its invisibility. A surgeon doesn’t have to cut around it in doing major surgery. When a person dies we can’t see the soul leaving the body. We tend not to put much focus on things we can’t see & touch. Some think the soul might be real but not as real as the things they can see & touch.

SPIRIT AND SOUL ARE DIFFERENT

If you go to a rally on the 4th of July & wave a flag, that would be your spirit. Spirit is enthusiastic & exuberant. Spirit bubbles over with joy & excitement. Soul is different, deeper. Soul shows up on Memorial Day when the president lays a wreath on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. No one waves a flag on that day because its representative of struggle, hurt & loss. That’s soul, & so is Gettysburg, & 9/11/01.

Spirit is when you get the promotion you’ve worked so long & hard for. You got your picture in the paper because you represent the best in your line of endeavor & your life’s plan is finally coming together. Soul is when you look around & realize the money you’ve made & the name you’ve made for yourself have failed to make you happy. You’re surprisingly empty & miserable & you think there has to be more to life than this.

You shrug it off as a passing mood until a few months later it returns to knock on your door like a homeless waif & you ask, “What do you want?” That’s soul. Soul won’t be satisfied with a cliché’, it wants truth from you. Soul wants you to face the truth.

The soul is often shy & tentative but will show up when you least expect it. It will jerk you awake in the middle of the night to tell what’s not working in your life. The serious person may need to listen to a soul that wants to laugh & sing a bit & the jokester may hear his soul saying, “let’s get serious for a while.”

Though people don’t think & talk about much about the soul, in God’s economy it’s the most important subject. Jesus emphasized the importance of the eternal soul when He said,

“What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world & loses his own soul. Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?-Matt.16:26

I realize I write a lot about Joseph but to me he’s the perfect example of a man who truly grew a great soul. His story begins with spirit & joy. He’s a youngster reveling in his fathers love. He has dreams & visions & he’s the star in all of them.

But Joseph’s brothers grew jealous of him & went into a murderous rage. Joseph suffers in the pit. He suffers in Egypt & he suffers in jail. At the end of Genesis Joseph becomes a leader in Egypt & saves his family & much of the world from starvation. Through all of it he embraced the life God had given him. He blesses his family & forgives them because he turned all his suffering into wisdom. That’s soul.

The best comparison I can think of is the root system of a tree. The part we see may be impressive but it’s nothing without roots. Cut a tree off from its root-system & its dead. It may hang around for a while but it will eventually dry up, get hard, stop producing fruit & rot.

If a 100 foot tree has the root system of a sapling, when the strong winds come, POOF! It’s going down! In fact the tree’s stability & survivability in a storm are a testament to its root system.

When David had people determined to destroy him he said, My soul is full of trouble. Not many people talk about their soul do they? But Jesus also talked about His soul. He said,--My soul is exceedingly sorrowful even unto death. Matt.14:34.

Sometimes life has a way of crushing your soul. Sin is the soul’s number one enemy. Sin like cancer replaces healthy tissue with diseased tissue. Jealousy & envy are diseases of the soul. Moving from one sexual partner to another damages the soul. A piece of the soul is left with each promiscuous partner. That combined with guilt can do a lot of damage.

When we put money, success, pride, friends, pleasure, our appearance, or anything before God it ultimately affects the health of our soul.

At Calvary, Jesus made it possible for our souls to find what they need; forgiveness & soul-cleansing. If we neglect proper care of our souls we become cynical, critical, self-pitying, discouraged irritable & driven. When our souls are healthy we’re light-hearted, passionate, loving, forgiving, trusting, hopeful, peaceful, resilient, and transparent & have close friendships.

It’s important to remember that God loves & treasures your soul & He wants you to take care of it. He knows the joy, peace & security we all want so much for ourselves comes from having a healthy soul. A philosopher once said, “There’s a god-shaped vacuum in the heart of every person which can’t be filled by anything but the creator Himself.”

Jesus said, -- If anyone thirsts let him come unto me & drink.-John 7:38-9. Of course He was speaking of soul-thirst.

Have you ever gone to Jesus & invited Him to fill that vacuum in your life & really experienced the slaking of your soul-thirst He was talking about?

In the whole of Psalm 42, a wonderful vision of the processes of the soul is presented. The Psalmists says;

Vr.1--As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee O God….

Vr.5—Why art thou cast down O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance.

In Psalm 103:1, 2 --David actually talks to his soul & gives it instructions;

Bless the Lord O my soul; & all that is within me bless His holy name. Bless the Lord O my soul & forget not all His benefits….

In the New Testament we read of the surety of God’s promises---that they are unbreakable & never fail;-

Which hope we have as an anchor for our souls.—Hebrews 6:19

HOW DOES GOD CARE FOR OUR SOULS?

I love the 23rd Psalm because it gives us good a description of the way God satisfies our souls.

1. HE STARTS WITH OUR RESTLESSNESS & TENDENCY TO WANDER.

23:1—David says, The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing.

What are the I WANT issues of your life? If you’ll let God be the care-giver & doctor of your soul He’ll take care of all those issues.


2. GOD DEALS WITH THE SECOND NEED OF THE SOUL-PEACE

Psalm 23:2—He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside the still water.

Peace isn’t the lack of ambition it’s the sense that all is well. Do you know what its like to have peace at the core of your life?

Sheep experts tell us their very health is dependant on the rest they get. The basic needs of sheep are food, rest, the feeling of being safe, not being driven crazy by insects & being at peace with the other sheep. Isn’t that interesting?

HOW’S YOUR PEACE QUOTIENT THESE DAYS?

Being too busy is the greatest enemy of spiritual growth. We have to make time for God & sometimes it’s a sacrifice but one that pays dividends.

I’ve always being intrigued with the wording; -He makes me lie down…. If you’ve ever raised children you understand that they occasionally resist going to bed. We literally have to make them lie down & rest because sometimes they’re too tired to sleep. Have you ever been so tired you got silly & really didn’t feel like going to bed? That’s why God has to make us lie down.

3. SOMETIMES THE SHEEP NEED RESTORATION

A sheep can get into a situation where he gets down & can’t get up. If a sheep is too full or pregnant, & it happens to roll over on its back, & its wool gets wet or they’re just plain fat, the Shepherd will have to come “restore them.” If the Shepherd doesn’t find them in time & get them on their feet & restore them, they die.

That’s exactly what David is speaking of when he says,- HE RESTORES MY SOUL. - Ps.23:3

Have you ever had your soul restored? I’m not going to be a hypocrite here; I enjoy watching T.V & have always enjoyed movies if they’re decent, have a point & in short, are worth watching.

But in the last several years I’ve found that my soul is rarely satisfied with much of anything the entertainment world has to offer. This also goes, at least for me, for some of the religious programming available to watch. I certainly don’t mean that in a harsh judgmental way but rather I’m just sharing my thoughts with you.

It’s retreating to my place of prayer & study that I revel in more & more. On a daily basis I sit before the Lord & wait. Sometimes I have to wait for a while before anything happens but invariably way down deep inside I hear the voice of my Shepherd, leading me into green pastures & restoring my soul.

Its awful to have to say it but many of the people & things we’ve put confidence in & trusted in would never come looking for us if we were in need like our Shepherd will. If we lean on the arm of flesh we will almost surely be profoundly disappointed. Only Jesus the good Shepherd doesn’t kick us around. He helps us on our feet again, restores us & helps us find our way.

4. THE SHEPHERD LEADS US IN THE RIGHT PATHS

The wisest man who ever lived said these words twice in the same book, --There is a way that seems right to a man but in the end it leads to Death. Proverbs 14:12—16:25—NIV

That’s why our soul needs a Shepherd who knows the right way to guide us. Though I think I’m a pretty good judge of character & like to think I’m not easily fooled, I have been fooled by people in my life & I know the value of a good guide.

5. OUR SOULS NEED FREEDOM FROM FEAR

David said,--Though I walk through the valley of death I’ll fear no evil; your rod & your staff they comfort me. Ps.23:4

A good Shepherd carried two things besides his lunch; a big stick to clobber snakes & wolves, & a staff with a hook on it to pull sheep out of bad situations. Our soul’s Shepherd doesn’t carry sticks but He works the night shift so we can sleep.

Fear is destructive & that’s why the Bible says 365 times, fear not. Don’t be afraid.

6. OUR SOULS NEED PROTECTION FROM ENEMIES

David said,-You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

In the early spring the Shepherd would go into the table lands where the best grazing was & prepare them for the sheep. He made sure to trap predators, pull poisonous weeds—things like that. Wherever the sheep went the Shepherd had been there first.

7. ONE MORE THING OUR SOULS NEED IS HOPE.

David said, -Surely goodness & mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.—Ps.23:5-6

David is believing life will kiss him until he’s an old man. Hope is knowing all your kids will turn out fine & then, absent the rapture, you’ll die without much pain & be ushered into the presence of the good Shepherd.

8. ANOTHER THING OUR SOUL NEEDS—HOME.

David said, --And I will dwell in the house of the Lord….forever. Ps. 23:6

Let me close this with some comments that are extremely practical. The bottom line is, real soul food is TIME WITH THE LORD.

Have you ever considered the fact that a good meal shared with someone who you care about is truly one of life’s great pleasures? It’s true. Listen to Isaiah;

Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread? And your labor for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me & eat that which is good & let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear & come unto me; hear & your soul shall live……Ish.55:203

When we pause in God’s presence, the fog clears & our values sharpen. During these times we align ourselves with the commitments we’ve made to God & others. Important things come to the fore while secondary things recede into the background where they belong. The busier you are the more desperately your soul craves time alone with God.

In 2 Samuel 12, David receives word that his young son who was conceived in sin with Bathsheba was going to die. Some people read that story & marvel at how quickly David was able to get control of his emotions, get off the floor, wash, change his clothes, worship God, eat & comfort his wife. Even the people around David asked him, “Why are you acting this way?” While your child was alive you fasted & wept but now that the child is dead you get up & eat?”

The explanation for that was right under their noses but they couldn’t see it. David had lain on the floor in the presence of God for seven days. During that time in God’s presence he received God’s healing power. Not only that, he received forgiveness for his sin & gained eternal perspective regarding his son’s death. He was fortified in his soul so that he could trust God during this painful loss & could also offer solace to his grieving wife.

The Psalmist said;--Open my eyes that I might see the wonderful things in your law. Psalm 119:18. God delights in answering this prayer so when you ask, lean toward Him in anticipation. Read His Word in His presence & listen to what His Spirit might say to you.

Jesus said, -Ask & it shall be given to you; seek & you will find; knock & the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds, & to him who knocks the door will be opened.—Matt.7:7-8.

He also said,

Come unto me, all ye that labor & are heavy laden, & I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you & learn of me; for I am meek & lowly in heart:

& ye shall find rest unto your souls.—Matt.11; 28-29

Blessings,

John

The Surest Test Of Character

By John Stallings


Years ago when Elvis Presley first came to prominence, I heard Prince Philip the Duke of Edinburgh of the U.K say something that made an indelible impression on me. I was only sixteen years old at the time.

When Prince Philip was asked what he thought of Elvis, he said, “You know, I can’t really say, I’ve never met Mr. Presley.” Something about that statement spoke to me. It spoke of good breeding. I really don’t think this next thought came to mind when I was sixteen but in retrospect it does; in all probability, this is the kind of training Royalty receives because loftier ideals & studied opinions are expected of them.

We might discount the prince’s statement & say, “Come on, he could have given an opinion about Elvis. Certainly he’d seen him on TV or at least he knew what Elvis was all about.” The reason we might think that is we’ve become so comfortable making snap judgments about people & issues we really haven’t given much thought to.

OSWALD CHAMBERS SAID-“THE GREATEST TEST OF A MAN’S CHARACTER IS HIS TONGUE.”

He was right & he has the Bible to back him up. Does that cause a little shiver to go up your spine? It certainly does mine. How much stuff have we just slung out there with hardly a thought given to the impact it would make & what it said about us? Maybe the reason we don’t hold one another more accountable for our words is we live in a culture where freedom of speech is accepted & expected & we’ve all become used to saying what we think.

But here’s the truth. We really don’t say what we think as much as say before we think --& later wish to the high heavens we had thought.

WORDS--Ben Franklin said, “A slip of the foot you may soon recover but a slip of the tongue you may never get over.” Let’s take a look at words from a Biblical perspective & get some tips for living with fewer regrets.

1. CONSIDER THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR WORDS.

Over the years I’ve been privy to a lot of back-stage talk among men & women from many professions, even ministers [maybe I should say, especially ministers] & there’s one thing that stands out. Most all have said things in their lives that felt right at the time that they lived to bitterly regret. Here’s the real shocker; -- by their own admission, most of them have said things that in retrospect, they feel actually hurt them in their careers. I guess they should know.

A preacher friend of mine who died way too young asked me once, “Why do I always shoot myself in the foot with what I say on important occasions?”

Think about that. People we look on as successful are actually saying, though it pains them to do so, that with their tongues they’ve damaged their lives & sabotaged good things that would have come to them if they’d better chosen their words. Hasty words, words spoken without thinking, maybe even words spoken with full knowledge that they would cut like a razor; words that have put others in the “spiritual burn unit” to try to recover from.

They felt they would have had more happiness; more acceptance as human beings, & more finances if they had only more carefully guarded the powerful bullets that zinged from their lips.

Think I’m exaggerating? I’m not! A few months back, our President, George W. Bush was badgered until he finally admitted to the mistakes he felt he’d made during his presidency. He admitted that he wished he hadn’t said some of the strong things he’d said in the early days of the Iraq war. One time he said in response to our terrorists enemies, “Bring it on.”

I have to be honest. I don’t think that was so bad. As a matter of fact many of us would have probably said more than that if we were in the position the president was in. Also, the seriousness of what an individual says in our culture will be measured, in most cases, especially by the liberal media, by which side of the political fence he’s on. Non-the-less, Mr. Bush feels his words were hasty in some cases so I give him high marks for seeing his mistakes.

As I said, most honest folk will admit that the hardest organ of their body to control is their tongue. Always!!

Proverbs 15:4 says, The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life but a deceitful tongue curses the spirit.

Proverbs 18:20-21 says --From the fruit of his mouth a man’s stomach is filled; with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied. The tongue has the power of life & death & those who love it will eat its fruit.

Think about that. Fruit from your mouth & harvest from your lips refer to the consequences of your words. It’s truly wise to think of the consequences of your words. Words chosen wisely are, if nothing more, really good business.

2. CHOOSE WORDS THAT HELP HEAL

Proverbs 15:2-7 says, The tongue of the wise commands knowledge but the mouth of the fool gushes folly. The lips of the wise spread knowledge not so the hearts of fools.

Proverbs 16:21-23—The wise in heart are called discerning & pleasant words promote instruction. Pleasant words are a honeycomb sweet to the soul & healing to the bones.

Mark Twain once said, “I can go for two months on one good compliment.” Coach Vince Lombardi saw the new recruit Jerry Kramer in the locker room with his head down & patted him on the shoulder saying, “One day you’ll be the best guard in the NFL.” Jerry didn’t believe it until the coach told him but today he’s in the Hall of Fame.

If you hear something good about a person pass it on. The person might not have heard it. Compliment someone in public so others can hear it. Write notes of appreciation. Satan wants to make us think we’ll destroy someone by saying nice things to them. Nothing could further from the truth. Send congratulatory emails. You can be “ sweet to someone’s soul.” Gracious speech improves things for all of us.

3. CHOOSE RIGHT WORDS

We almost always have a choice of the words to use when we speak.

Proverbs 10:21 says, The lips of the righteous nourish many but fools die for lack of judgment.

Have you ever noticed how good it feels to listen to a wise person? But if you give a fool enough rope he’ll hang himself.

Proverbs 10:32 says –The lips of the righteous know what is fitting but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse.

Perverse means twisting good words around to mean something evil.

Going back to president Bush & his admission of saying the wrong thing when he blurted out to the enemy—“Bring it on,” if you are a careful observed of the media, you’ll remember that in reporting what Bush said, the media had him saying, “I regret some of the cowboy remarks I made.” The president never said that but of course in a day of “spinning” the news, this is kind of misrepresentation is common. This is perverseness.

Proverbs 15:28 says, --The heart of the righteous weighs its answers but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil.

Think carefully before you speak. Choose the right words.

4. USE APPROPRIATE WORDS.

In all the wisdom literature of the O.T giving a wise & timely reply is highly valued.

Proverbs 15:23 says, --A man finds joy in giving a wise & apt reply--& how good is a timely word.

Saying the right thing at the right time is a joyful thing. Have you ever known a person who could always say something that fit the occasion? Do you remember how relaxed & satisfied it made you feel? Some people can rise at a wedding dinner, a beach cook-out, a prayer meeting or a funeral & always say the appropriate & uplifting thing. Others are always shooting their toes off with their words & sticking their feet in their mouth. These are the folk who’re always in need of “peppermint shoes.” Every time they open their mouth they’re replacing one foot for the other one.

Talk about saying the right thing at the right time? - listen to this verse;

If a man loudly blesses his neighbor early in the morning it will be taken as a curse. Proverbs 27:14

Is that not funny? What this verse is pointing out is poor timing. You can say a right thing at a wrong time. Look how practical that is. I’m not exactly a morning person. I need a while to nurse my coffee. If I’m getting up to go on a trip, I’ll get up an hour early to have that wake-up time. To wake me up gently & slowly is greatly & eternally appreciated.

The verse is telling us that saying cheerful things is good & praising someone is good but if you wake someone up doing it--it still sounds like you’re cursing.

Proverbs 17:28 says, Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent & discerning if he holds his tongue.

Some of the biggest mistakes we make is --jumping on something like white on rice when we don’t have all the information. There are some people who are so arrogant & narrow-minded that they have no interest in taking the time to hear the facts or anything else that contradicts their position. They jump to an assumption & build from there. Consequently they’re always embroiled in controversy.

Proverbs 18:13 says, He who answers before listening—that is folly & his shame.

5. GIVE YOURSELF TO THE STUDY & PRACTICE OF WISE WORDS.

Make a daily commitment to saying the right things, to everyone, wherever you might go. If you do that it won’t be long until you’ll see people move around, sometimes subtly to listen to what you have to say. You’ll also hear folk ask, “what did she say?” They’ll do that because they’ve noticed that when you open your mouth you usually say something that will be interesting, uplifting & truthful.

You don’t get this kind of respect by –“off the top of your head-speaking,” or-always “shooting from the hip.” It takes time & hard work to be the kind of person that people are interested in what they have to say. The righteous heart thinks how best to answer in any given situation. Sometimes we have to take the time to pray about things so that we can speak in a way that people will hear & embrace.

In her book THE HIDING PLACE, Corrie Ten boon tells about traveling with her father on a train to Amsterdam. He was a watchmaker & traveled to the city to get watch-parts. He carried with him a large heavy suitcase with tools & spare parts.

Corrie, just a child, had heard the word sex but didn’t know what it meant, so on the train ride she asked her father. The father looked non-plussed for a second or two, and then he spoke. “Corrie, will you please carry my suitcase off the train when we stop?” Corrie answered, “Dad, it’s too heavy.”

Yes my dear” he said. “And it would be a poor father who’d ask a little girl like you to carry that heavy suitcase.” It’s the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you’re older & stronger you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you.”

Words can’t express how much I admire that kind of wisdom. Corrie’s dad was a man of prayer, faith & obedience. His wisdom & words were an outgrowth of his close walk with God.

Wise words are available to us all if we covet them & give ourselves to the study of God’s Words.

Blessings,

John

A Nation On The Brink

By John Stallings


When king Uzziah died I saw the lord. -- Isaiah 6:1


Do you remember when President Kennedy was shot in Dallas Texas in 1963?

I was conducting revival services in Newark New Jersey at the time.

Some of us can remember how terrible that week felt- from the time the president was murdered all the way through to his funeral & burial in Arlington National Cemetery. No matter what your politics were in those days, you had a hollow feeling in the pit of your stomach that wouldn’t go away.

Others of us might not remember Kennedy’s assassination but they well remember the infamous date, 9/11/01 when the World Trade Center was destroyed. Churches all over America were filled to overflowing as dismayed citizens flocked back to church, searching for comfort & assurance.

Events like these have a way of driving a whole nation to their knees. Sadly that move back to God was short-lived & many churches are at present half-filled again.

This kind of collective, national grief must have been what Isaiah & all of Judah felt when their beloved King Uzziah died after a 52 year reign, all those thousands of years ago.

When no less an authority than Isaiah the prophet is deeply moved by your death, there has to be some substance to your life. In Isaiah 6:1, he says;--In the year King Uzziah died I also saw the Lord.

In the panoply of Old Testament heroes, Isaiah stands out as a superstar. He’s a major prophet, along with Jeremiah & Ezekiel because of the sheer enormity of written material that bears his name.

I’ve enjoyed reading & studying the book of Isaiah for over 50 years, partly because of the prophet’s superb command of language; its rolling cadences & great literary passages. But what intrigues me most is, -- Isaiah has the best revelation of Christ to be found in the Old Testament, so much so that the book has been called, “the Gospel according to Isaiah.” The book has also been called a miniature Bible. The Bible has 66 books & Isaiah has 66 chapters. Both books are divided into two sections. There are 39 books in the Old Testament & there are 39 chapters in the last half of Isaiah. Since chapter 40 is Isaiah’s introduction of John the Baptist, we could rightly say that’s where his “new testament” starts.

Isaiah keeps building toward “the redeemer who is to come,” until in chapter 53 Jesus steps right off the page. I especially love 53:6 because it starts with All & ends with All. We’ve All gone astray, & through Christ we’re All potentially redeemed.

The New Testament ends with the book of Revelation with its vision of the new heaven & the new earth. The book of Isaiah closes with the remarkable chapter 66 that speaks also of the new heaven & new earth God is now creating.

Old Testament prophets couldn’t apply for the job, but rather were chosen by God. They predicted the future with 100% accuracy. If they were wrong once, they weren’t to be given any credibility. Most prophets were of humble origins but Isaiah was a recognized statesman, having access to the royal court. God used him to speak to several kings including Hezekiah, Jotham, Ahaz & Uzziah.

Uzziah had been one of Israel’s better Kings. He did what was right in the sight of the Lord-consequently God blessed him. He ascended to the throne at the age of 16, & ruled for 52 years. In 52 years the United States witnessed to administrations of Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, George H. Bush, Bill Clinton & George W. Bush.

Uzziah didn’t sit on his throne eating powdered donuts; he fought for Israel. He fought all the right people for the right reasons. Uzziah protected his people from attack by building towers into the walls of Jerusalem. He developed new weaponry & also had a standing army of 307,500 men led by 2,600 officers. In doing all of this the man became prosperous & internationally famous.

Uzziah came from good stock. He was a “chip off the old block,” following after God in the same way his father King Amaziah had done who reigned before him. He built on the solid foundation his father had laid.

The main enemy of Israel in those days was the Assyrians. They were a blood-thirsty lot, bred to destroy. They reduced towns to rubble, temples to char & kings to beggars. But during his reign Uzziah made sure this didn’t happen in Judah. He was canny & tough & possessed a tactical & political shrewdness that kept the Assyrians out & his people safe. A sense of security covered the land while Uzziah was on the throne.

The story tells us that –As long as Uzziah sought the Lord, God made him prosper. But that verse reads somewhat ominously, don’t you think? Like hearing the sound of a distant storm approaching.--AS LONG AS HE SOUGHT THE LORD…..This is the entrée verse, telling us that the time came when Uzziah no longer sought the Lord.

You see, the great king’s life didn’t end so well. Obviously lifted up with pride & a sense of importance born of the longevity of his career, one day Uzziah’s “bad side” appeared & he “blew his stack” & entered the temple, claiming the rights reserved for the priests. Azariah & 80 other temple priests tried to stop him but he became belligerent & started screaming at the priests. This was a fatal act for the old king. He was immediately stricken with leprosy, carted out & placed in, presumably a Hospice situation, where he eventually died.

With the great king dead, the balance of power in the realm seemed to tip away from hope & stability to despair & a sense of vulnerability. Everyone in the kingdom wondered what would happen now. I’d like to think they all were praying but I know one young man who did pray.

Isaiah was a young fellow with a wife & two sons just beginning his career as a prophet. He must have been confused & afraid. As a matter of fact, he’s so distraught he feels he must meet God to try to find some answers.

I can see young Isaiah early one morning as he hits the street with his collar turned up against the cold wind, heading down to the temple. He’s going to get a whole lot more than he bargained for today. As he walks into the temple he feels the whole place slightly trembling. He wonders what that’s about. Then he looks around & sees the doors are actually shaking. He probably rubbed his eyes, looked again & wondered, “Do we have a building problem to contend with?”

Then Isaiah sees that everything is different than it’s ever been before. He sees big wings everywhere, flapping about the room attached to fiery creatures. He smells smoke but it’s not the kind that sets off fire detectors. It’s a different smoke; ancient & spicy with a mysterious fragrance. He hears voices chanting the word “Holy, Holy, Holy”& it’s echoing all around him. He looks up & sees the shape of a throne & a long ephemeral cloth begins to unwind & fill the place.

The cloth is stitched like the hem of a garment but isn’t heavy. [Think Diana’s wedding gown in England; the train being so long it had to be carried behind her.] Isaiah feels more alive than he’s ever felt before. His head is spinning & he feels puny & overwhelmed with his own inadequacy. He shouted out, “Woe is me! I’m a man of unclean lips & so is everybody else around me. I’m lost & not worthy to be in God’s presence.”

Notice Isaiah didn’t say, “Woe is my spouse” or “woe is my neighbor,” he cried out, “woe is me.” It’s of interest that the angels declare God’s holiness three times. Nowhere in the bible is God called “love, love, love, or “mercy, mercy, mercy.” In Revelation 4, God’s holiness is also mentioned three times, telling us if we want to know God we must come to grips with His holiness.

By now the room is pulsating with electricity as the hem of God’s garment sweeps back & forth across the open space. Isaiah sees that the angel’s wings are getting closer, so close in fact one comes right toward him & presses a red-hot coal against his lips. He could feel the pain but pain that didn’t hurt. Rather it was a thrilling sensation.

Then Isaiah hears God’s voice just off to the side. The voice is saying, “Whom shall I send, & who will go for us?” Many bible scholars believe this voice addressing another shows us the triune nature of God. Here is God the Father addressing the Son & The Holy Spirit. The fact that holy is repeated three times by the angels would militate to that fact.

Isaiah opens his burning, stinging lips & blurts out, “Here am I, send me.” It’s strange that God would be asking the question, “whom shall I send & who will go for us,” don’t you think? Here is the God of the universe asking for volunteers. He wants willing, surrendered servants. It isn’t that God doesn’t know who the ready & available ones are but He is waiting for ready hearts to reveal themselves.

Notice also that Isaiah didn’t say, “Here I am, I will go,” but rather “here am I send me.” Isaiah wasn’t going at all unless he knew he was sent by the lord. Many will say, “here I am I’ll go” but never wait for God to send them.

So God begins to teach a man who will now become His prophet in a Nation on the brink. Perhaps the greatest lesson God taught Isaiah through this audiovisual was that no matter what happens on this earth, God is still on His throne, high & lifted up & He’ll have the last word in the affairs of man. King Uzziah is dead & his throne is vacant but God’s throne is never vacant.

Young Isaiah left the temple that day on a new mission. From that day forward he’d warn the people of the dangers of living self-absorbed lives & keep reminding them that God requires unconditional loyalty. He tells them their downfall wouldn’t come from without but within.

Ladies & gentlemen I know you can see the parallel between Isaiah’s day & ours. We are also A NATION ON THE BRINK. We face an election in a few short months that will set a new course for this nation for good or ill. Sadly many of our fellow countrymen don’t comprehend the dangers. So the question is; what do you do in times like these?

What should our response be when we have only one vote per person & after that vote is cast; it’s in God’s hands? I’m not going into a political rant in this blog because you’re as aware as I am about what’s at stake. You & I can & will vote the way we see fit in the next election. What I want to stress is what needs to happen in the spirit realm, because God is sovereign & puts leaders up & down as He wills. However that obviously doesn’t negate the awesome responsibility facing us as individuals.

I’d like to give three suggestions regarding what we should do, following the pattern Isaiah set for us in this story.

1. LOOK UP!

In the year king Uzziah died I saw the Lord seated on a throne high & exalted & the train of His robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet & with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:

Holy, holy, holy is the LORD almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.

At the sound of their voices the doorposts shook & the temple was filled with smoke.

When we’re going through times of stress & trial, we need to Look Up! I’ve always believed that America was placed by God safely between two oceans without enemies on our borders so we would be secure. However because of that we’ve placed too much confidence in our military & economic prowess. Now things have changed & in a real sense the world has become a “global village.” Missiles know no international boundaries & mankind now has in his hands the means to set whole cities to the torch in a matter of minutes.

However instead of looking around us or even within ourselves, we need to first Look Up to the one who sits upon that throne.

2. FESS- UP—Vr.5-7

Isaiah said, Woe to me, for I’m a man of unclean lips.

It’s refreshing to see Isaiah mention his own sins before he mentioned the sins of his neighbors. When we’re in time of danger & upheaval, we need to not only get an accurate view of God, we need to see ourselves as we really are.

Every one of us is flawed, sinful & blemished. When we get close enough to God to see how great & holy He is, we’ll also see how unworthy we are before Him. Isaiah probably had thought he was O.K but when he saw God he knew better.

I heard about a man who went to a psychiatrist’s office with a fried egg on top of his head & a strip of bacon draped over each ear & a sausage link in each nostril. “I need to talk to the doc,” he said. “It’s about my brother.” Obviously he didn’t see how messed-up he was.

Isaiah did the right thing. He became reflective in the time of tragedy. He didn’t say, “That stupid old king Uzziah. If he hadn’t tried to take over the priest’s job we wouldn’t be in this mess.” He didn’t say, “What can I expect? I live among rebellious people. I can’t blame God for bringing judgment against us.” Isaiah felt personally undone before the Almighty.

Let’s think about our present problems in America in the light of 2 Chronicles 7:14;

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves & pray & seek my face & turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven & will forgive their sin & will heal their land.

Who does God restore? The repentant. Who does God bless? The humble. Who does God oppose? The proud.

The next thing we need to do in times of trouble is;

3. STEP UP!-vr.8

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send. And who will go for us? And I said, here am I send me.

One of the most important things we can do especially in times of great need is have a mission in this world. Do you have a mission? We must get the focus off ourselves, once we’ve repented, & focus on what God can & is doing in the world. One of our greatest needs is to get the big picture & get on board with God’s eternal purposes.

I think you’ll agree with me that America is on the BRINK. Our economy as well as our standing in the world is at stake. Just this week Juda & I have written letters & sent emails to our Congressmen asking them to lend their efforts to allowing our people to drill for oil in Alaska, The Great Lakes & off our shores. There are some things that only the citizenry can do because in a country like ours at least for the present we wield awesome power.

We can all do something. Are you ready to STEP UP? It takes several hours a week to write these messages & I’ve wanted to stop many times but even if I encourage just a few, I feel I can do no less. I have the tools at my disposal so I do what I can.

We must step up! We must say with Isaiah, here am I send me.
Isaiah didn’t say, -“There he is send him.” God asks us to Look-up, Fess-up & Step-up.

Isaiah knew his nation was On The Brink of destruction. In response to God, he submitted himself entirely to God’s service for life.

No matter how difficult his task would be, he said, Lord, I’ll go!-- Will you?

Blessings,

John