Stretch Forth Thy Hand!

Jesus had many encounters with the Jews’ religious leaders, the Pharisees, over their interpretations and applications of the Mosaic law.  They had replaced the commandments of God with the traditions of men.  Consequently, they were far from the truth.  On one occasion the Lord came upon a man with a withered hand in one of their synagogues on the Sabbath.  The Pharisees, in an effort to trap Jesus as a violator of the law, asked “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath days?” (Matthew 12:10-13)

Jesus turned the tables on them and confounded them with a simple illustration.  He related that if a man had a sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath day he would lift the sheep out of the pit. He then made the point that a man is better than a sheep: therefore, it is “lawful to do well on the Sabbath days”. In other words, showing mercy is always in season!

At this point Jesus turns to the man with the withered hand and says “Stretch forth thy hand.”  The Scripture goes on to say that “he stretched it forth and it was restored whole, like as the other.” What a remarkable truth bound up in these four words!  First, we must understand that the man could not move his hand at all.  It simply hung limp at his side.  Christ speaks to the man and commands him to “stretch forth thy hand,” that is, to lift it up and reach out.  In response, he does so and is healed.

We are very much like the man with the withered hand.  We cannot serve God as we should for, as Paul said, “I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing.  For to will is present with me; but to perform that which is good I find not” (Romans 7:18).  But with every divine command that the Lord gives, He provides the divine enabling.  In the incident above, Christ commanded the man to stretch for his hand, i.e. something he could not do on his own.  But, as he responded to the command, the Lord provided the enabling to go with it.

So it is with us.  If Christ is our Savior, then He has called us to let our light shine before men.  What God calls for us to do, He provides the enabling to do it!  Child of God, what task lies before you that seems too great, too difficult, too overwhelming to do?  Stretch forth thy hand and glorify your Father, which is in heaven!

He Made the Stars, Also!

In the creation account of Genesis, the Scriptures declare “God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also” (Genesis 1:16, emphasis added).  Almost as an inspired afterthought, the author tells us, “Oh, yeah, he made the stars, too!”  The Psalmist actually relates “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth” (Psalm 33:6).  Not only did God merely speak the stars into existence, “He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names” (Psalm 147:4).  Wow!  Let that sink in for a moment.

Astronomers estimate that the observable universe has more than 100 billion galaxies and that our galaxy, the Milky Way, has about 300 billion stars!  That is quite a few.  Even if they are off a few billion here or there, it is still a lot of stars.  God knows the exact number.  He created each one of them by merely speaking them into existence AND he has given each one of them a name!

Yet in all the myriad of celestial bodies, God chose planet earth to be inhabited by his special creation, man.  David, overwhelmed by this consideration, declared “When I consider thy heavens…what is man that thou art mindful of him?” (Psalm 8:3-4)  He saw in this immense universe the handiwork of an infinite and all powerful Creator – and it took his breath away to think that God was mindful of him.

Yet this God, who inhabits eternity, is indeed pleased to dwell with those among men who humble themselves before him.  It is man alone that is made in God’s own image and it is this image, marred by sin, the Creator wants to restore.  He did this by sending his Son to redeem us from our sin through his death, burial, and resurrection.  You see, the glory of God revealed in his stellar creation is nothing compared to the glorious image of God revealed in his only begotten Son. 

It is the Son’s glory, who is the express image of the Father that becomes our prospect through the new birth.  Those who receive him by faith shall share in that glory when he returns for his own to this small yet singularly important creation among billions and billions of stars.  How big is your God?  My God is big enough to create billions of stars, yet small enough to dwell within my heart!  If this God is not your God, he can be.

The Sovereignty and Goodness of God

The reach of COVID-19 has been daunting – it has touched virtually every part of our lives.  Yet we are assured from its Author that it can and will only go so far as its intended purpose.  God reminds us, “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.” (Isaiah 45:7)  Both tranquility (“peace”) and calamity (“evil”) are of the LORD and they each serve Him Who “works all things after the counsel of His own will.” (Ephesians 1:11)

What can be said then about God’s purpose in the ebb and flow of this virus in our community?  We can say with scriptural authority the same of which we can say of all the threads that are woven into the tapestry of our lives, i.e. “…that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)  Here, again, we are reminded of God’s sovereign control working in perfect harmony with His goodness to accomplish His purpose and His purpose is always good.

We can add a further dimension to His purpose by reflecting on Paul’s remarks to the believers at Rome.  “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!  For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or, who hath been his counselor?  Or, who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed again?  For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things:  to whom be glory forever.  Amen.”  (Romans 11:33-36)

We conclude that God created all things, sustains all things, and works all things according to His will for His purpose.  This purpose in all things accrues unto His glory first and foremost.  And, this glory is uniquely and necessarily manifest in his goodness to those who love Him for it has pleased Him to make us like unto His dear Son.

For the child of God, the crisis of the moment is part of God’s eternal plan and we can be assured that He is too wise to make a mistake and too good to be unkind!  Therefore, we give thanks in all things for “this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”  (I Thessalonians 5:18) 

What We All Really Need

When Jesus stood before Pontius Pilate prior to his crucifixion, he made an amazing statement concerning his purpose for coming.  He asserted, “I have come into this world to bear witness to the truth.” (John 18:37)  It could be argued that truth is mankind’s greatest need, for truth gives light and light shows the way through darkness.  The very world in which we live and wherein we walk daily is engulfed by darkness.  Friend, we need truth and, by that, I mean the kind of truth on which we can rely and govern not only our days, but our lives.

There are many voices that claim to be the truth – our government, the news media, our educational institutions, churches, the ever ubiquitous internet, and even our own opinions.  We hear them daily and, yet, we are left wondering, “Can I rely upon this wholly?  Can I place my full weight upon this with undiminished confidence?”

The truth to which the Lord bears witness rises above the clamor of these voices and invites all who will hear his voice to come unto him and find the rest their souls desire.  Why is that?  Because he is both the truth and the light and when we have truth and light, the way is plain and the turmoil of uncertainty vanishes. 

These are very uncertain times for sure.  But, frankly, there have been no times that did not have their share of uncertainty.  Now, as always, one voice rises above the rest.  Jesus, after declaring to Pilate his purpose immediately added, “Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”  May we find ourselves listening to the truth that can satisfy our souls, even in the midst of turbulent times.

A Door of Hope

The first city to fall to Joshua and the Israelites when they crossed into Canaan was Jericho.  God gave very specific instructions for its overthrow.  The Israelites circled the city six days, but on the seventh day they were instructed to circle it seven times.  After the seventh time, the trumpet sounded, the people shouted and the wall of the city fell “down flat.” (Joshua 6:2-5)

God also gave instruction concerning the inhabitants of the city and their belongings.  The city was counted as “accursed…and all that are therein, to the LORD…But all the silver and gold…are consecrated unto the LORD: they shall come into the treasury of the LORD.” (Joshua 2:17-19)  God had instructed the people to keep themselves from the “accursed thing” lest they themselves would be accursed.  This brings us to Achan.

Achan took from among the spoils a “garment…silver and…gold” and hid them in his tent.  This disobedience led to the downfall of the Israelites in their attempt to take the city Ai. God exposed Achan’s sin to Joshua and Achan and his family and all of his belongings were stoned and burnt in the Valley of Achor and a pile of stones placed over them.  Achor means “trouble.”  Achan had “troubled” Israel by taking the accursed thing and promoting their initial defeat at Ai.

Fast forward about 665 years.  God’s earthly people, Israel, had departed from Him and He looked at them as an adulterous wife.  Even so, He spoke through His prophet Hosea, of His future restoration of her to Himself by His grace.  In His promise to the nation, He states “I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.  And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth.” (Hosea 2:14-15)

The valley of trouble in the day of Joshua has now become a door of hope!  Only God can do this.  God can take us through troubled and difficult times and lead us to a door of hope.  The COVID-19 virus hangs over our community, our nation, and our families as a shroud.  But God is in control.  He alone knows the path this will take us.  If we belong to Him, all the paths He leads us through come out at the right place.  He is our Door of Hope!