The Sameness of the Moving Sunrise

“Praise the LORD! Praise, O servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD. Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and forever. From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the LORD is to be praised” Psalm 113:1-3).

Two days ago was the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. The sun rose – from my vantage point – far to the left, above the Black Range. Now the days are getting shorter, and the sun will slowly begin rising more and more to the right (south) every day, until it is rising over the foothills to the south of Cookes Peak on the shortest day of the year, the winter solstice (December 21 this year). While we have our minds on today’s schedule of events (gathering with the saints in Christ to glory in His grace and being built up as His Church), and the long list of things that need to be done in the near future, the days will continue getting shorter and shorter, and the sun will rise further and further south. The seasons continue coming and going as they have from the beginning.

There are two ways to live in this knowledge:

• We can ignore the reality of God’s perfect righteousness, His commands, and the inevitable judgment, treating the cycles of the seasons as our own personal blank slate on which we can do whatever we please: “This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles. Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation’” (2 Peter 3:1-4).
• We can be reminded by the changing days and seasons that the pressing things of this moment are of this moment, and are not ultimate. It is the state of the soul before the eternal God and under the authority of His Word that lasts past solstice after solstice: “...you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. For, ‘ALL FLESH IS LIKE GRASS, AND ALL ITS GLORY LIKE THE FLOWER OF GRASS. THE GRASS WITHERS, AND THE FLOWER FALLS OFF, BUT THE WORD OF THE LORD ENDURES FOREVER [a quote from Isaiah 40:7,8].’ And this is the word which was preached to you” (1 Peter 1:23-25).

Today’s Psalm issues this command: “From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the LORD is to be praised” (113:3). Every day of every season of every year while you are here, in growing obedience to His Word, by faith in the Son, in the power of the Spirit, to the glory of the Father – as long as it is still called “today.”

See you at the gathering.

June 2013 sunrise near the Black Range,
through the smoke of the Silver Fire.

Jesus the Shepherd

“The Lord is my shepherd” (Psalm 23:1, Geneva Bible).

“For thus saith the Lord God, ‘Behold, I will search My sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd searcheth out his flock, when he hath been among his sheep that are scattered, so will I seek out My sheep and will deliver them out of all places, where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day, and I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel, by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed My sheep, and bring them to their rest,’ saith the Lord God. ‘I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen the weak...and I will set up a shepherd over them, and He shall feed them, even My servant David [the Shepherd is both God, 34:11-15, and David, 14:23 – this can only be Christ, Son of God and Son of David], He shall feed them, and He shall be their shepherd. And I the Lord will be their God, and My servant David shall be the Prince among them, I the Lord have spoken it’” (Ezekiel 34:11-16,23,24). Jesus is that ruling Son of David (Matthew 1:1; 9:27; 15:22; 20:30,31; 21:9,15; 22:41-45; Mark 10:47,48; 12:35-37; Luke 1:32,69; 18:38,39; 20:41-44; Revelation 3:7; 5:5; 22:16).

“...I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be My people, and I will be their God. And David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd: they shall also walk in My judgments, and observe My statutes, and do them” (Ezekiel 37:23,24).

“But he that goeth in by the door [of the sheepfold], is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he hath sent forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice...I am that good shepherd: that good shepherd giveth his life for his sheep...I am that good shepherd, and know mine, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth Me, so know I the Father: and I lay down My life for My sheep. Other sheep I have also, which are not of this fold: them also must I bring, and they shall hear My voice: and there shall be one sheepfold, and one shepherd” (John 10:2-4,11,14-16, Geneva Bible).

“The God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting Covenant, make you perfect in all good works, to do His will, working in you that which is pleasant in His sight through Jesus Christ, to Whom be praise forever and ever, Amen” (Hebrews 13:20,21).

“For hereunto ye are called: for Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that ye should follow His steps, Who did no sin, neither was there guile found in His mouth. Who when He was reviled, reviled not again: when He suffered, He threatened not, but committed it to Him that judgeth righteously. Who His own self bare our sins in His body on the tree, that we being dead to sin, should live in righteousness: by Whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray: but are now returned unto the Shepherd...of your souls” (1 Peter 2:21-25).

Psalm 23 is not a song to a nameless Shepherd, but to Jesus, the only Shepherd to the sheep. Confess Him to be your Lord, Savior, and Shepherd this day.

The Last Debate, Foreign Policy, & the Word

I offer a little perspective for the Church following the final Presidential debate of the 2012 election season.

President Obama: “America remains the one indispensable nation.”

The Truth: “...ye have tasted that the Lord is bountiful. To Whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed of men, but chosen of God and precious, ye also as lively stones, be made a spiritual house, an holy Priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture, ‘Behold, I put in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect and precious, and he that believeth therein, shall not be ashamed.’ Unto you therefore which believe, it is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone to stumble at, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the Word, being disobedient, unto the which thing they were even ordained. But ye [the "spiritual house" and "Priesthood" of believers] are a chosen generation, a royal Priesthood, an holy nation, a people set at liberty, that ye should show forth the virtues of Him that hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light, which in time past were not a people, yet are now the people of God: which in time past were not under mercy, but now have obtained mercy” (1 Peter 2:3-10, Geneva Bible).

Governor Romney: “This nation is the hope of the earth.”

The Truth: “And if ye call Him Father, which without respect of person judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your dwelling here in fear. Knowing that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation, received by the traditions of the fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb undefiled, and without spot. Which was ordained before the foundation of the world, but was declared in the last times for your sakes, which by His means do believe in God that raised Him from the dead, and gave Him glory, that your [the "redeemed"] faith and hope might be in God. Having purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, to love brotherly without feigning, love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born anew, not of mortal seed, but of immortal, by the Word of God, Who liveth and endureth forever. ‘For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man is as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower falleth away.’ But the Word of the Lord endureth forever: and this is the Word which is preached among you” (1:17-25).

Preparing for Sunday’s message to the Church, my mind’s on foreign policy, too: “Peter an Apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers that dwell here and there...elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father unto sanctification of the Spirit, through obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you...dearly beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which fight against the soul” (1:1,2; 2:11).

Keep your perspective rooted in the Word, Church.