In the Valley of the Shadow of Death

Psalm 23:4
Yeah though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for Thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.

I have read Psalm 23 hundreds of times, if not more. It was the first passage I ever memorized, at the young age of six. Recently though these words which speak of the valley of the shadow of death have had new meaning to me. Last month was a trying month for my soul. A close friend of mine tried to commit suicide and very nearly succeeded. Not long after I heard that one of my closest childhood friends was sentenced to life in prison for committing first degree murder. It is expected that one should be shocked when death knocks at your door. It is a reminder that in this dark world - a world which belongs to the prince of darkness, Satan, we truly seem to be in the valley of the shadow of death. Sin has made its mark from the days of the first Adam and the death and decay around us is sure proof. But I who lover the Lord can not fear this death - the shadow of sin's curse. My Lord is surely with me every step in the valley. While I physically see the death on one side of the door, I have entered another door through Christ Jesus - a door where Eternal Life is beside me and heaven awaits. I cross the footstool of heaven every tome I come to him in prayer. It is though he is gently prodding me - guiding me with that comforting rod and staff to remind me not to worry for He is there. O how much my knees have been on that footstool this past month as I have felt the nearness of that shadow of death in the valley. I have been easily led to tears this past month, but I have also found joy and peace in the midst of my King. I know that although death seems to be shadowing my door, mercy and goodness follow my footsteps. O Lord, I look forward most of all to the day when I shall I dwell in Your house forevermore! How I look forward to the day my King, when this life ends and a new life begins! I shall behold the beauty and glory of the Lord. Then, my Lord, YOU shall have erased all shadow of death and the curse from my body, heart, and mind. I shall truly have Christ's robe of righteousness - void of sin and impurity.

A Beautiful Story

Its been a while since I have blogged here, but I have started to do so again since many of my friends here in S.C. have no desire to have an account with the distracting myspace (where I have been blogging the last couple years). I wrote this one a year ago, but since it is once again Sanctity of Life month, I thought this would be a good thing to share with you all. I had the privilege of attending several events last year in support of the Sancitity of Life and hope to do so even more this year. The bottom two pics above are borrowed from February 2007 Time magazine which featured an article about the success of pro-life crisis pregnancy centers. The story below comes alive for me again every time I pass the church with its row of white crosses.

January 31, 2007

For those of you who don't know it, this month was Sanctity of Life month. At the church in North Charleston (I have recently been attending) there are about a couple hundred crosses representing abortions that have taken place in the last year. You can imagine that it has caused quite a stir in the community. People have called the church outraged because they do not understand the meaning behind the crosses. I think these crosses mean different things to people of the true church, but to me it is a reminder that by God's grace he covered these babes with his atoning blood so they now could rest with Him in heaven. At times, I have thought about how even in something so terrible as abortion God uses evil for good. I think of all the aborted fetuses at times and how they are now in heaven, safe from a world full of pain and sin. It was sin that brought these fetuses out of the world by death but it was grace which kept these babes from ever entering a world of sin. Somehow in all this evil, the Lord had a way of ushering these babes into the eternal life of heaven. Babes that might have otherwise gone to hell. I think of what Job said. He said to his friends I wish that I had been born stillborn that I might be now with kings and princes! He longed for an eternal life without suffering. These small babes have the joy of being raised in the arms of Christ. Of course that does not excuse the pain that abortion causes for mothers and everyone associated. Many women have complications after abortion, and many others face severe emotional trauma, which may even lead to suicide. The pastor told us a story this week that I will never forget. As I mentioned, the crosses in front of the church have caused somewhat of a stir. Last week a couple stopped their car beside the lawn of crosses. A church member thought they meant to vandalize them and stopped across the street to observe. They did not mean to vandalize but were intrigued instead. They took pictures of the sign and the crosses and walked up and down the rows of this memorial. Then the man left the woman alone. The woman knelt down in front of a cross and on her knees she cried and appeared to be praying. Then she did an unusual thing. She picked up a cross and raised it in the air and kissed it and hugged it to her chest. The church member left at.that point so we can only imagine the rest of the story. I like to think the woman was finally coming to grips with the past mistake she had made. In cradling that cross she was choosing not to focus on the emotional baggage, but instead was letting go of the baggage to accept that her child was now with the Lord. It was just a plain white cross but the woman saw power in the cross which reminded her of the cross of Christ where her sins, even that sin of abortion, had been covered. She laid the pain of the memory at the edge of that cross. Is there any baggage that you need to lay at the cross today? I know as I heard that story of the woman and tears started to pour down my face that I came before the cross of Christ myself. A huge weight of emotional baggage I had been carrying was also placed at the foot of cross. What a joy it is to know He has taken away the guilt of bloodshed for those who have accepted the power of the cross of Christ. Sweet blood flowed over me and I am forever clean. Cleaned by the blood of the Lamb.

The Road to Success

Joshua 1:8
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.

Success is measured in this world by money, aspiration, training, and by accumulating material wealth (the nice, car, dream house, etc.). So often as Christians it becomes easy to look to these worldly standards to claim success. How does God measure success and should we not also attribute our success to the Lord who was successful in all things, even in conquering death. Joshua 1:8 says the road to prosperity and success is through God’s Word. Our first step to success is keeping God’s words, as he has written them upon our lips. We must aspire to be literal walking talking Bibles ready at any moment to speak His truth. By letting the Word of God depart from our mouth, we might open our mouths to speak sinful words of gossip and slander and filth ((Eph 4:29 ESV) Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.) The second step to success apart from this world is to meditate continually upon God’s Word. Meditation conveys deep thinking and impressing his words upon our hearts. Psa 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing before You, O Jehovah, my Rock and my Redeemer. So then, when we read God’s Word we should read it in diligence so that when we are apart from the Book physically, we are still constantly thinking about its words of truth. Psa 119:43 And do not take the Word of Truth completely out of my mouth; for I have hoped in Your judgments. If the words of God are always on our minds, it would be easier to follow the will of God and harder to step to the right or the left of the path in disobedience. The word way in this passage is exemplary a course of life, a mode of action, a journey. When reading scriptures such as these, I can not help but believe that if we were to be successful in continually keeping God’s Words at our hearts, we will look back at the end of the journey of life and say, “I can die knowing I faithfully served my savior.” What a successful journey of joy that would be! Although our journey will surely meet sin along the way, the Word of God imbedded in our hearts will quickly bring us to repentance. O Lord, so often I get distracted by the world’s way of success. All of my life I have been told it has been successful to make money, and when I find myself lacking in material wealth, sometimes I ten to step off the path of trust to swim in a sea of doubt in Your Providence. I must not let I must not let our words of truth depart from my lips or my mind. I want to have a course of life that find success in being obedient to You. I will meditate upon Your Word of Truth so I may be careful to observe all You have commanded me to do.

A Lord Stronger than Death

Psalm 102 : 19 -20

For he looked down from his holy height; From heaven the Lord gazed upon the earth, To hear the groaning of the prisoner, to set free those who were doomed to death.

A man has brutally murdered his children. He is declared guilty and given the death sentence. He is doomed to death - there is no escaping his execution. The man is even guilty among his own admonition yet still cries for freedom because he is truly sorry. Would the judge set him free just because of his cries? Certainly not, we would say that was unfair. Yes Psalm 102: 19 - 20 says God does exactly that. We find here that he who holds the key to death and Hades will show mercy to those who deserve to be chained to sin. He is a Judge who waits to free the murderers, adulterers, and liars, which we all are at heart (Matthew 5). I noticed first that the text says the Lord looks down. He looks down which literally means that he bends forward to see. He bends forward from his holy height, which is his sanctuary or perhaps his throne in heaven. Next the Lord gazes upon the earth. This means he looks intently or searches out the earth. In the next verse we find shows us eh is seeking for prisoners. He is coming closer for it now says that He hears the groaning of the prisoner. The groan the Lord hears is not just any groan. According to the Greek it is a deep cry, a shriek. It is a cry of anguish and sorrow. This prisoner is doomed to death which is literally is translated appointed to execution. This prisoner was literally a son of death. Death is inevitable. Yet the Lord who has defeated death has already proved that he is stronger than death. The prisoner is abut to be hung and the Lord seeing the prisoner is repentant responds be setting him free. He takes the key to open the chains of the prisoner who drove the nails through His skin. He sets free him who was a son of death and makes him an heir with Christ in righteousness. It seems to me that every time a man or women comes to the kingdom is a reminder the Lord is stronger than death. He has already taken our execution upon Himself. He looks upon those who would have been executed, He gazed upon them, he heard their penitent cries and then he came down to their level by touching their hearts with the key of the Holy Spirit set them free for eternity. What a personal God. Lord, I will look down the halls of this prison; I will search intently for the prisoners in these halls; I will listen for their groans that I might be your prison warden when you are ready to set the prisoners free from hell. Thank you for saving me from the execution by taking my place. I want to be personal just as You are a Personal God. A time was just brought to my mind when you, my Christ, read out of Isaiah and said you had been anointed to preach deliverance to the captives. How strongly I feel I should be preaching deliverance to the captives. How I ache with the burden for their lost souls. I know you have brought me here to Germany for a greater purpose. Continue to show me how I might better reach the military member in the dorms who are prisoners bound by sin.