TO ALL GENERATIONS

Bobservations

by Pastor Bob Lawrenz

 

    In Psalm 119 today, verse 90 states, “Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the Earth, and it abideth.” Like every scripture passage, the depth of these few words goes far beyond just what we read. To dig into them is to retrieve what the Lord refers to as “the hidden manna,” from Revelation 2:17. 

    From Genesis, we understand that God made the heavens and the Earth. But then God established them; He established the physical laws of the universe, and those of the Earth itself during His creative acts. Gravity, time, seasons, and the balance-in-nature. Evaporation, and rain give us a cycle of renewal in our water resources, and the function of humans and plant-life give us the renewal of oxygen and other gases in the air. He established radiant heat from the sun to warm us, and gathered waters together into rivers, lakes and oceans to cool us. 

    Colossians 1 tells us the Jesus made all these things, and Jeremiah 31 tells us that He set the whole universe, the sun, moon, and stars into motion. And within the ordinances of the movement of the galaxies is where we find the seasons, and the night and day. It is the spinning of the earth that gives us night and day. It is an ordinance of God, and for our benefit. Beyond Earth, we find the entire star-field following patterns, and again in Genesis, we are told that they are given to us for signs. Job 38 refers to the movement of the heavens as the “Mazzaroth;” all ordinances from God. 

“If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever.”     ~Jeremiah 31:36~ 

    Therefore, the ordinances of God are tied to the existence of Israel, and God’s chosen people. In “establishing” the Earth, God ties the spinning of the planet to the survival of His people. He set the world spinning, and it abides according to the intricacies of the movements of the sun, moon, stars, and planets. 

    The prophecies of the End-Times are at the forefront of the minds of many lately. If you want to know where we are in the end-times time table, keep watch on Israel. God has apparently, made Israel the centerpiece of all Creation.

Psalm 119:90(b) ~ “…thou hast established the Earth, and it abideth.”

THY WORD IS MUSIC TO MY EARS

Bobservations

by Pastor Bob Lawrenz

    In 2004, Christian songwriters Adam Watts, Andy Dodd, and Jeremy Camp worked together on an album, and one of the songs they came up with is most unusual for a Christian praise and worship album. The title was “Jesus, You Have Carried Me.”

    It is a song of personal introspection, as Jeremy Camp sings the lyrics which gives homage to Jesus’ sustaining grace and power. The melody is a bit eerie, but the words are powerful, Biblical truths:

Jesus You have carried me, When I could not stand

Jesus You have carried me, It's all been part of Your plan

Jesus You have carried me, It's Your footprints in the sand
Jesus You have carried me, It was always in Your hands

    The Poem “FOOTPRINTS” is referenced in the lyrics, and this is exactly the message of today’s passage in Psalm 119: 49-72. And along with today’s Reading, we have an image of God’s faithfulness to Believers, in that He promises to manifest Himself to us.

    The manifestation will not likely be physical, and we may have difficulty putting our finger on exactly what will have happened, but the manifestation will bring peace, and comfort, and assurance to the troubled soul looking to Jesus for deliverance. This is an often repeated theme throughout the Psalms, and it’s an often needed reminder to Christians that Jesus is always within ear-shot of our thoughts, our fears, our worries, and our difficulties. He hears our cries!

    Hope and comfort come from our turning to God in everything. It is the Believers expectation of Jesus to supply for all our needs, but to also “smooth our ruffled feathers” when the world imposes the unexpected upon us.

    And when the Lord brings resolution to us, there is an awe and a desire to worship Him because of His mighty works and abilities. Another popular song comes to mind, from Lenny LeBlanc :  “NO HIGHER CALLING” –

There is no higher calling, No greater honor

Than to bow and kneel Before Your throne
I'm amazed at Your glory, Embraced by Your mercy

Oh Lord I live to worship You

  

God’s Word is like music to our ears!

DARKNESS VS. LIGHT

Bobservations

by Pastor Bob Lawrenz

   Among Christian Churches, one wonders why there are so many different denominations. The Creeds of many of these denominations teach of one God, one Lord, and one salvation. There is uniqueness to each denomination, yet all are supposed to be based in the teachings of Jesus Christ. 

    Our Creed here at Whitestone regarding denominations is found on the back of your bulletin: “We are not a denominational Church, nor are we opposed to those that are. We choose to remain independent because of doctrinal differences that have led to division rather than unity within the Body of Christ.” 

    To that end, we are really quite inclusive, and tend to not put more emphasis on one doctrine of the Bible more than another. In other words, we find in the scriptures that there is a balance in God’s Word that takes exception to one doctrine being promoted over another. God’s Word is whole and complete in itself, and it sometimes takes careful study between scriptures to find the balance that God has provided through a number of different Bible scribes. 

    To that end, we also find that the Bible’s scribes often wrote to specific groups of people for very specific errors in which their faith was being lived. The unfruitful works of darkness in one church were not necessarily the unfruitful works of darkness in another. The church at Ephesus had difficulties that were different from the churches of Corinth and Thessalonica. All the churches each struggled with their own local cultural entanglements. 

    This is further born out in the 2^nd and 3^rd chapters of the Book of Revelation, as John records admonishing encouragement for each of the seven different churches which were in Asia. All had problems unique to themselves. 

    We cannot read a single verse in scripture with any accuracy unless we have the context in which it was written. In our reading today, Paul offers a doctrinal truth about the differences of light and darkness (Eph. 5:11). But he offers it in the context of that church’s error: Idolatry, and the culture of the goddess Dianah of the Ephesians (Acts 19).

“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope

of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, and Father

of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” ~Eph. 4:4-6