THY THRONE IS FOREVER!

Bobservations Column
by Pastor Bob Lawrenz

    Though we are well beyond spring time today, its effects are seen everywhere as another group of flowers and  flowering trees comes into their season. Daisies are here, as the peonies die off. The fruit trees are well into their fruit-growing season while the Catalpa trees are in full bloom this week. Each flower and blossom has a unique time to give its show. Our excitement grows towards the end of winter in anticipation of the new growth coming to our yards and gardens.

    The Psalmist today is also looking forward to the next season beyond the straining and groaning of Earth’s renewal. The Throne, the King, and the future Kingdom are in full view. The expectation is clearly prophetic and longingly hoped for. In time, our faith will be these sights and descriptions fulfilled before our faces. But the  Psalmist is not ignorant of the on-going battle between the flesh and the spirit. Can you feel the battle today? Believers live their lives in occupied territory. Satan is the Prince and power of the air, but not forever. As the enemy of God, his days are numbered. That is the hope in faith for every Believer, that no matter how hard the battle gets, our Victor will always be Jesus Christ. Our commission is not to fight Jesus’ battles, but to stand on the ground which He has already won! The fighting and battle will cease upon His appearing.

    As we consider the likes of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they lived in the heat of the same battle, and did not see the fulfillment of these things. Our faith should be at least as strong as theirs, knowing Who made these precious promises to those who will trust and believe God’s Word.

    The Fourth of July is this week. We celebrate our national freedoms, won with the shedding of the blood of multiple generations. But the freedom from sin which we truly seek has already been won by the shedding of Jesus’ blood. The seasons are moving forward; will it be this next one, or the one after that? Can we hold on to the promises until He comes and fulfills all? Maybe we are suffering now, but soon….   Soon we shall stand with Him. At that time, we will be in His presence. His goodness extends to saints in the earth, and to the excellent, which are His delight.

Psalm 16:1-5   -   BE HIS DELIGHT!

WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS!

Bobservations Column
by Pastor Bob Lawrenz

   True betrayal can only come from someone that is a trusted friend, or confidant. The disappointment can be devastating when we learn of a betrayal, and we have all been there….  We have placed our trust in someone, who for whatever reason has compromised the friendship.

    Friendships involve mutual trust, and that means that the walls of defense are down, and we are open, and we are vulnerable. That can be a scary issue to those who have been hurt in the past. The old adage, “You only hurt the ones you love” is perhaps more true than we’d like to admit. So, we choose carefully those that we love and we are rarely hurt by people with whom we do not have a relationship.

    “A man who has friends must show himself friendly.” Is what Solomon wrote in Proverbs. And to have friends, there must be a point of vulnerability that we are willing to place on the line between “acquaintance” and “friend,” and it is reciprocal in respect and in love. The heart of another is a cherished possession.

    Jesus’ command is to love one another; to love and respect our spouses; to love our neighbors, and to even love our enemies. It’s a challenge to love the unlovable. It’s a challenge to love our enemies. Those who hurt others have most certainly been hurt themselves. Healing needs to take place on both sides.

    Among the twelve Apostles, you just know there had to be issues among them: preferences, disagreements, suspicions, etc. Yet look what happened when the relationships were built around the singular identity of Jesus Christ.

    It is then no wonder that Jesus tells us to “know no man after the flesh.” Nothing good will ever come of it. But when we focus our attention on Jesus, we will find ourselves in good company, with shared goals, motives, and desires. We will be among like-minded friends. And conveniently, Jesus has already prayed for us along those lines:

“That they may be one; as thou,
Father,  art in me, and I in thee,
that they also may be one in us:
that the world might believe
that thou hast sent me.”

~ John 17:21 (12-26) ~

"IT IS WRITTEN OF ME"

Bobservations Column
by Pastor Bob Lawrenz


    Believers often hear that a non-believer has read the Bible, but never got anything out of it. Even as the written Epistles show, the writer introduces himself, and follows up with the purpose of the writing. Every reader of every generation can then easily follow the “who, what, why, and when” of each epistle. Personal introductions seem vital to developing any relationship. This is a no-brainer.. Without an introduction, relationships won’t develop.

    In the Old Testament, many of the Prophets follow the exact format as the writers of the Epistles. It is a timeless formula applied across the ages. The Bible proves to be an apparent resource for all things in life here on Earth, for faith in God, and for hope in a future with the Lord in heaven.

    Jesus tells us in John 6:63 that it is the spirit that quickens; and the flesh profits nothing. He says the words that He speaks unto us are spirit, they are life! As we look at our teaching for today in Psalm 40, we find David writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “Lo, I come: in the volume of the book, it is written of me.” Because we know that David is here to write the Psalm, then the phrase “I come” must refer to another, not to David. David’s Psalm is an open letter to God, and the Lord interjects through the spirit that the Main Character of the book is Himself, not David.

    Further, it is also a prophetic word through David, that the Lord is coming. So, His words are spirit; His words are life; the spirit quickens (to life), and Jesus says He is coming so that we might have life more abundantly (John 10:10). The Lord is coming, He has told us. And within the telling, His Word reveals more of Himself to an unbelieving world.

There are many that read the Bible as any other book. They read searching for evidence of the Holy. Those that search for God, rather than for evidence, will find Him revealed on page after page. Their lives (your life) will change, and you will find Jesus Christ and you might find life more abundantly, an eternity of it.

“It is the spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the words
that I speak unto you, they are spirit, they are life.”  - John 6:63

    Read His Word with the anticipation of finding Jesus. Don’t just look
for evidence of Him, look for Him as He reveals Himself to you.