The Glory of His Presence

Holmes Bay Baptist Church

For a day in your courts is better
    than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper
    in the house of my God
    than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
    the Lord bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
    from those who walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts,
    blessed is the one who trusts in you!


Without question, the greatest joy of my life is time that I spend alone with God whether it is in a house of worship, in a quiet moment at the breakfast table, reading the Bible online, or communing with Him at night from the 
silence of  our bed.                                                         

What a wonderful sense of peace, comfort, and joy to know that He will never leave me nor forsake me.  From childhood, I have had the question: "How can God keep track of everybody from all of the world and from all of history all at once?" It is amazing and it is mind boggling. The Psalmist addressed that question in the 139th Psalm:

"Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,”
 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you."

It is true that I cannot hide from Him, but it is equally true that I am always in His loving care. What does that mean to me? It means that in the most joyous times of my life, He is there to make them more wonderful. It means that in the sorrows of life and the pain, He is there to hold my heart and give me assurance that He will never leave me, even though I walk "through the valley of the shadow of death."  He will do that for you, too. I hope you know Him.

There is an old song, "why should He love me so?" All I can say is that it is God's nature to love. He has poured out His love in a way that I cannot ever understand. And, YES -- in view of all of this I can think of NO wealth, position, power, or anything the world has to offer that would or should be preferable to me than to serve the one true and living God and Creator of the universe.

A doorkeeper is a menial job, but the door belongs to the King of Kings! I have to say I would love to open that door and welcome people in. What about you?

Inscribed on HIS Hands

“Can a woman forget her nursing child,
And not have compassion on the son of her womb?

Surely they may forget,
Yet I will not forget you.
See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands. . "
                        -- From Isaiah chapter 49

There is a simple but sweet little chorus that we used to sing a number of years ago. "Oh, how He loves you and me. . ."
All of us have times -- some more than others -- when we are mystified that GOD should love us as much as He says He does. We especially feel that way when we look closely at ourselves and see that we do not deserve God's love. We wonder why and how He would bless us the way He does.

Perhaps that is why God uses the analogy of a parent to communicate the truth of His love. He is our Heavenly Father. He is our "Abba" (Daddy) He says that He cherishes us the way a mother does her baby.

Most of us can understand that picture -- especially those of us who are parents. There are times when we are SO disappointed in the actions or attitudes of our own children. Most of us have shed tears over their crimes and misdemeanors. Some of us have faced some tough situations with our children or because of them. But no matter how difficult things were, there remained a place in our hearts that cherished them. We never gave up hope. Through the various heartaches, love endured.

You may or may not be a parent, but you ARE someone's child. It is very likely that you have been on the receiving end of that kind of love. You may remember an embrace or a few. You may remember encouraging words. You have probably heard, "I love you SO much and I want the very best for you." If that is the case, you have a small picture already of the kind of love that GOD has for you and me -- and for all of us.

When I read that Scripture from Isaiah tonight, I pictured God with a tattoo across the palm of His hand. I imagined my face indelibly inscribed there. I cannot be wiped off His palm and He will never remove me. He will keep me there even when I bring grief to His heart and disappoint Him. He will keep His eyes on me even through tears that may flow over MY high crimes against Him. 

Are you discouraged? Are you battling an illness? Do you have financial needs? Does your heart ache over a wounded or broken relationship? If you belong to Jesus, He is holding you and He will not let you go! 

Someone has aptly said that whenever we come TO a difficult circumstance, God will bring us THROUGH it.  He will not stand idly by and root for us, but He will enter into the difficulty with us. "He holds my hand. . . the way may be long but my Savior is strong and He holds my hand." 

Count on it. It is true!  

How Do I Meet God's Standards?

Three Men of God

If You, Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with You,
That You may be feared.

                                 Psalm 130:3-4

If you are anything like me, you know people who just seem to have it all together. You look at them and think, "oh, I wish I could have their talent, their looks, their personality, their faith." You admire people who always seem to be there for others. They are the people that you know you could call at two o'clock in the morning and they would not hesitate to help you out. When you compare yourself to such a person you know that you fall short. You know your life will never meet the standards that guide their every thought and deed. You would love to be such a servant of the Lord, but you know how weak you are.

You and I think that way because we are forgetful people. We think we have to dig in our heels and work hard to make ourselves acceptable to God. We forget that is impossible. It is not possible for us to ever meet God's standard of righteousness by our own effort. Remember how we were comparing ourselves to other people that we admire? That was foolish of us. They are not God's standard. Jesus is! God's standard is perfection and we cannot perfect ourselves, can we? Nobody can.

That is what GRACE is all about. God has given to believers the very righteousness of Christ. He has done for us what we could NEVER do for ourselves. He sees us as clean, as pure, and as lovely as Jesus. How can that be? It is a supernatural transaction where God took the righteousness of Christ and imputed it or credited it to those who are saved.

He has taken our failures, our weaknesses, and our sin and He has put them away from Himself. They are gone, never to be remembered by Him again. The Bible says He has cast them into the deepest sea and put them as far away as the East is from the West. We are forgiven. Forever.

The next time we are tempted to struggle for righteous lives, let's remember that we are clay in the Potter's hands. It is not what WE do by ourselves. It is not our own works. We are His and we can have confidence that He is working in and through us according to His plan and purpose for us.

Romans 5 says, "therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,  through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand. . ."