Pastor’s Corner

Trivia:

The accomplished wrestler that was our former U.S. president was Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln entered into amateur and more professional wrestling matches for more than a decade in which he rarely lost, In fact, in 1992 he was formally recognized by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, as "Outstanding American" and was inducted into their hall.

Here's a head scratcher; Which state has a town named after the radio show "Truth or Consequences"? New Jersey; New Mexico; Alabama; or California. Make a guess.

Challenge:

Psalm 76:7-9 "No wonder you are greatly feared! Who can stand before you when your anger explodes? 8 From Heaven you sentenced your enemies; the earth trembled and stood silent before you. 9 You stand up to judge those who do evil, O God, and to rescue the oppressed of the earth.

In this third section of the Psalm the writer remembers God's role as our divine king, ruler, judge, and helper.

He sets out to write about the works of God; he is NOT speaking of fear as a criminal fears his judge, or as a slave fearing his master, but RATHER as a child would respect his father. To be fearful of God isn't shrinking away from Him or to back off from Him, but rather to be afraid of doing anything that would grieve or disappoint Him.

Today let's reflect on the last phrase of this meditation: "To rescue the oppressed (meek) of the earth."

Notice who our all powerful God rises up to defend or save? The oppressed or as the King James say it "The meek".

All around us the worldly emphasis is to be assertive, audacious, be forceful, however, Jesus said in Matthew 5:5 "Blessed are the meek. (humble)"

Now think about this for a minute, Meakness doesn't imply being weak, but is better defined as those who have "their strength under control."

The Bible tells us that Moses was the meekest man on the earth in Numbers 12:3, but he didn't always have his strength under control. When he was fourty, he saw a couple of Egyptians beating up an Israelite. He was so incensed that he felt he had to handle this in his own strength, so in the process he killed one of the Egyptians and then buried him in the sand. Unfortunately, his deed was soon discovered, and he was forced to run for his life.

Unfortunately, this is often the result when we attempt to handle things in our own wisdom and energy. Often things don't work out the way we had planned, then when we try to cover up our mistakes, our failures suddenly appear.

Moses ran for his life and, for the next fourty years he was forced to live on the backside of the wilderness. This was where he learned from the school of hard knocks, that he couldn't lean on his own ability, strength, personality, or even energy. Instead he learned to become totally and fully dependent on the Lord.

This lesson of strength under control is an important truth to master, "the secret of meekness--of strength under God's control".

SO GO WITH GOD my children for then He will teach us His important truths each day that's for us to follow in His footprints. Mary Slade wrote about this in 1871 and then her friend put it into a tune. When you have time listen to this song on You Tube Footprints of Jesus. Oh my dear one His path is one of love and compassion and its outcome is always refreshing and pleasing to our lives.