TerryLema

“All the men assigned to the camp of Dan number 157,600. They will set out last, under their standards.” [Numbers 2:31 NIV]

There was a particular order in which the tribes of Israel camped and marched in the wilderness.  The tabernacle and ark were always in the center, with tribes in front, on both sides and behind.  The Danites were assigned to be the rearguard.  [Numbers 10:25]

I’m not sure if any of want to be assigned to bringing up the rear, especially if a few million people are marching in front of us. I can only imagine what it was like for the Danites back there, eating the dust of people, dodging the droppings of the herds of sheep and cattle.

And yet, the rearguard is vitally important.  They make sure the stragglers don’t get left behind. They also make sure that the enemy doesn’t go around and attack from the rear.

The rearguard must be just as vigilant as those in the front and on the side, maybe more so. The enemy of our soul seldom comes knocking on the front door declaring his intentions to subdue us, but he will mount an attack from the rear and hope we have left that unguarded.

Our Father God thought it so important to have a rearguard that He Himself promised to be ours! “The LORD will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard.” [Isa 52:12 NIV]

Father, thank you for being my rearguard. Let me be mindful of the Spirit’s warnings and promptings. Help me to remember that the attacks against my soul are seldom head on but will often blindside me or sneak up from behind. I know, Holy Spirit, you send out the warning. Help me to be vigilant in hearing Your alert!  Amen.

The Question: How do we get people to fall in love with Jesus?  The answer: We must fall in love with Him first.

David wrote Psalm 59 to memorialize God’s rescue when King Saul sent men to David’s house to try to kill him. “But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble. O my Strength, I sing praise to you; you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God.”  [Vs 16-17 NIV]

Twice in this song David uses the phrase “my loving God.”  I often think about how we portray our God to others. Are we singing every morning about our loving God, our fortress and refuge? Or do we portray Him shaking His finger in anger at everyone not living as we think they should?

I had two great aunts who were zealous about seeing me come to Christ Jesus for salvation. One came shaking her finger and telling me all the things I needed to remove from my life. The other came joyfully telling me how much God loves me and wants me. Can you guess which one influenced me?

It was only after God captured me with His love that the indwelling Spirit began to help me remove all those things from my life that needed removal—and by then I wanted Him to!

“How do we get people to fall in love with Jesus?”  It is simple, “we must fall in love with Him first.”

Father, I am so grateful that you love me. You, indeed, O God are my fortress, my loving God. May I always project that message to others. May they see my love for You and Yours for me and be drawn to that love. Amen.

After fully assuming the throne, David began a search throughout the kingdom for any descendants of Jonathan remaining.   He found one son, Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth had been crippled when a nurse dropped him as they were fleeing after the deaths of then King Saul and his son Jonathan.  They were fleeing because it was the practice of the day for the new dynasty to kill any remnants of the old dynasty. That was to prevent rebellion and attempts to re-take the throne. [2 Samuel 9]

Mephibosheth was in hiding, in a remote part of the kingdom.  He was poor and shamed, even referring to himself as a “dead dog.” David sends for Mephibosheth, who as I wrote yesterday, probably came with “…only a fearful expectation of judgment….”  [Heb 10:27 NIV]

After falling prostrate at David’s feet, the king surprises him.  He lifts him up and gives him life instead of death. He invites him to sit at the king’s table for the rest of his days, he calls him “a son” and restores to him the fortunes of his grandfather Saul.  Mephibosheth did absolutely nothing to deserve any of this.  It was an amazing and beautiful act of mercy and grace on the part of King David.

Let’s face it, we are all Mephibosheth’s.  We are descendants of Adam who sinned and passed that sin and punishment to all of us.  We had “…only a fearful expectation of judgment….”  

Instead of death however, when we prostrated ourselves at the feet of Jesus we received life, sonship, acceptance, and restoration.  We now sit at the table of the king as sons and daughters.  We have an eternal inheritance and God will one day restore to us all that sin has taken.

John 1:16:  From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. [NIV]

Mephibosheth – the man with the almost unpronounceable name and the crippled feet. He was the only remaining direct descendant of Israel’s first king, Saul.  He was a son of the oldest son, Jonathan, and in direct line for the throne – if God had not taken the throne away from Saul because of disobedience and instead given it to a young shepherd named David. [2 Samuel 9]

Unfortunately for Mephibosheth, the common practice of the time was for the king of the new dynasty to annihilate the descendants of the old dynasty–can’t leave relatives around that might try to regain the throne through subterfuge or violence.

When news of the deaths of Saul and Jonathan arrived, Mephibosheth’s nurse grabbed her young charge and, in her haste to flee dropped him.  Mephibosheth never recovered from that drop; it left him with crippled feet. [2 Samuel 4:4]

After David fully assumed the throne, he remembered the promise he had made to Jonathan, a promise to be loyal to Jonathan’s family.  David begins a search and finally learns that a son of Jonathan is in hiding in a remote part of Israel.  He’s poor, exiled, and afraid.

Can you imagine Mephibosheth’s fear when David’s servants arrive at the house where he is staying and whisk him off for an audience before the king?  I think he must have had what Hebrews describes as “…only a fearful expectation of judgment….”  [Heb 10:27 NIV]

Instead, King David had a much different surprise in store for Mephibosheth.  Tomorrow, the best part of the story.

The last few weeks have been rough, and I have needed to laugh. Last night I watched some funny YouTube videos. As I was closing my phone for the night, God brought back to my memory a trip from almost four decades ago.

My brother Mike and I traveled from California to Pennsylvania for a 50^th anniversary celebration for our aunt and uncle. On the trip, Mike took his two daughters (8 & 6), and I took my youngest child Dan (10).  We traveled in Mike’s RV.  The trip took 10 days, and we visited many states and sites along the way.

It was hot and muggy when we arrived in Western Pennsylvania in July.  We parked the RV alongside this house that had been like home to us in our childhood. My aunt insisted that I sleep in the house, relegating Mike and the kids to sleep in the RV. I told her I was fine staying in the RV, but she kept insisting that she had a room all prepared for me upstairs. I gave in to her wishes.

I soon discovered that the upstairs of the house had no air conditioning and that the bedroom window had been secured so it could only be raised about two inches. As I lay gasping in the heat, I could hear the air conditioner on the RV whining away below me. I pictured my brother and the kids comfortable and cool. My thoughts in that moment were not happy thoughts!

In the morning, my aunt said that a thunderstorm had blown through in the middle of the night and cooled things off.  I certainly didn’t feel any cooling. I asked if she was sure about that.  She said, “Oh, yes it definitely cooled off. We have the heater set at 72^o and it kicked on around 2 AM.”

I laugh now; I didn’t laugh then.  “A merry heart does good, like medicine.”  [Proverbs 17:22 NKJV]

I have always chosen to deal with life’s problems with humor, maybe not right away, but later – a habit I developed growing up in a dysfunctional home. I didn’t learn until later that humor would be good medicine for my soul.

Ps 13:2: “How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart?” [NIV]

David’s songs always impress me with their honesty. He is so transparent as he puts pen to his soul, whether he is praising God’s goodness and greatness or examining his own thoughts and desires.  Often his songs begin with his troubles and end in God’s praise.  Psalm 13 is structured that way.

David seems a bit worn down in this song; worn from the constant battle with his enemies.  His cry of “How long …?” is one that has probably crossed all our lips.  How long, God, must I face this problem, endure this sickness, struggle with this circumstance?

How often I have wrestled with my thoughts and had sorrow in my heart. When that happens, I usually call one of my good, trusted friends knowing that they will understand.  And they do.  They don’t solve my wrestling or remove the sorrow, but they listen as I pour out my heart. I know that they will be praying for me, just as they know I pray for them.

I also know that like David, I can give this sorrow of heart to my Lord and Savior.  He will listen. He wrestled with sorrow in the Garden of Gethsemane that nearly overwhelmed Him, so I know He understands mine. I know that I can trust His love.

Ps 13:5-6: “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me.”  [NIV]

While I am fussing with God about this recent health setback, I was reading in 2Timothy. That letter is thought to be Paul’s final letter, written while he was in prison in Rome.

The final chapter describes Paul’s feelings of loneliness and abandonment. Only Luke was with him. Demas had forsaken him for the world. Crescens was in Galatia. Titus was in Dalmatia. Tychicus was in Ephesus.

He also recognized that he would soon be martyred. But despite that, his main concern was for the church and for Timothy, his son in the faith.

After his instructions and encouragement to Timothy, in the closing chapter he expresses one of the greatest truths found in Scripture. “But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me ….” [4:17 NLT]

How do we overcome loneliness? How do we overcome abandonment? How do we overcome fear or disappointment or confusion or those “Really Father?” events. Only by knowing that through everything “the LORD stood with me and strengthened me.”

I was very flexible when I was young. Not so much anymore. I used to be able to touch my palms to the floor, hold a lotus position (never did yoga just like to sit like that). I could sit on the floor and get up! I could move freely.

After nearly five years of two auto-immune diseases and the steroids required to get them under control, my skeletomuscular system is compromised. (The musculoskeletal system is the system that provides our body with movement, stability, shape, and support.) I am no longer flexible.

While that makes everyday life a bit more difficult, my concern is with a different kind of flexibility.

I receive a weekly devotion from Ron Nelson, “Monday Matters.” One of his recent devotions related an incident when he met another person who changed his plans for fallen trees on his property, making his task much easier. He concluded: “Plans are great, the direction is critical, but found that flexibility is key to experience and see what God has for us along the way. Sometimes in life there are perfectly timed miracles that God had crafted for us.” 

I have found in life that God often changes my plans. Still, we are to make plans as we understand God’s will. We are to set a direction, but we must always be open to having the LORD re-direct, stop, or change those plans.

Proverbs 16:9: “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.”  [NLT]

Yesterday we looked at the “resume” of Christ Jesus our Lord found in Colossians 1:15-17. There is a second page in that resume.

“Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. This includes you who were once far away from God….” [Colossians 1:16-21 NLT]

Oh, stop right there!

God, through His Dear Son Christ Jesus our LORD, “reconciled everything to Himself,” and He also “made peace with everything.” EVERYTHING in heaven and on earth … and this “includes you!”

Paul goes on to remind us that we were once enemies. As enemies, we were separated from our Creator God, shaking our fist at God in rebellion. We declared by our sin that we would not have Him rule over us … yet our Father loved us and sent His Son to die for us and bring us reconciliation and peace.

Now, “As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.” [vs 22 NLT]

Read that again … think again about the wonderful truth that because of God’s love, we are “holy and blameless,” standing before Him “without a single fault.” Amen!