God Compliments 4

John the Baptist

John the Baptist, cousin of Jesus Christ, was given perhaps the highest compliment by Jesus. This was not special treatment; it was not an empty praise. By the way, John himself may not have even heard Jesus pay him this compliment. Here’s the scene: John is on death row-in the prison of Herod the tetrarch. You see, John had been in the desert preaching repentance. He had a habit of being very blunt and critical. John told Herod that he broke the law by taking his brother Philip’s wife Herodias. Herod wanted to kill John, but was afraid of the people, because they considered John a prophet. Matthew 14:3-5. Now, don’t read the rest of that story-the point where we are, Matthew 11:2ff, John is still alive. John sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He is the one who was to come. Jesus sent the messengers back, telling them to report to John what they witnessed Jesus doing…in other words “YES.” As they left, Jesus spoke to the crowd about John the Baptist. He gave a sermon on a living man! Is that enough of a compliment, the Son of Man preaching to crowds about your work? Jesus tells the crowd that this is the prophet about whom it is written:
“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.” Matthew 11:10.
This is a quote from the prophet Malachi (3:1). And prepare the way, John the Baptist did! He lived a lowly life, wearing camel’s hair and eating locusts in the Desert of Judea. He would tell any who came to him “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” He insulted the Sadducees and Pharisees, calling them “broods of vipers.” He told them that God did not need them simply because they claimed Abraham as their father, but in fact that God could raise his children even from the stones. He told them that if they didn’t produce good fruit they would be thrown into the fire. Then, the first time he met Jesus (outside of the womb), he recognized the need to submit to Him. John said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” John 1:29. Fast forward back to Matthew 11, where Jesus is addressing the crowd. Are you ready for the compliment? Verse 11 has Jesus’ words: “I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.” How about that? If Jesus stopped with those words, we might stop using the Lord as our example and convert to the church of John the Baptist, but Jesus was smarter than that. He continued, “Yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” This shows what a great servant John the Baptist was, and at the same time exhorts us to be servants who follow the Lord, just as his cousin John did. That is what made John worthy of God’s praise: He listened to God’s calling for his life, and followed it, even to the point of death. John knew the danger he was in by criticizing the Jewish leaders along with the tax collectors, soldiers, and even the rulers that the Roman Empire put in place. Remember, Jesus didn’t say “Blessed are you if men hate you, if they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.” No, read any version of Luke 6:22 and you will find that Jesus said “Blessed are you when…”
He who has ears, let him hear.

Noah

Noah was a man that we all know stood out during his time. This is obvious, I mean just being chosen to build an ark for a weather event that had never before taken place in the history of the world is an amazing compliment. Listen to Peter: “[They (scoffers) will say] ‘Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.’ But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” 2Peter 3:4-7. That means that Noah and his sons and all their wives were the only eight people who experienced the world before and after the flood. That is an incredible privilege! But there’s more. Why did God choose Noah? Why did God decide to destroy the world? Let’s answer the second first. Genesis 6:5, 6 states, “The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.” That is why God decided to destroy the earth. Man is evil, every inclination of the thoughts of our hearts are only evil all the time. If that is the condition of all men on earth, how hard could it be to stand out? Harder than we might think…what does it mean to be blameless? 1Timothy 3:2 says (KJV) “A bishop then must be blameless…” The NIV in Genesis 6 calls Noah “blameless among the people of his time.” The KJV calls Noah “perfect in his generations.” We can use these cross references to see that Noah found to be without blame among the people of his time. He was not just better than they, he was perfect. Many of us would like to believe that we are better than the next guy, but even that won’t get us to heaven. The full compliment that God gave Noah was this: “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.” Genesis 6:9. That is how the account of Noah begins. The only mention of Noah before those words is that Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Genesis 6:8. No wonder!
Have you ever been promoted at work? Have you been trusted with a whole new branch of the company? That is sort of what Noah received, except on a much larger scale than we can ever hope for. He got inside information about the “down-sizing” of the human race, and then was awarded the fast track to surviving the coming fallout. He had to endure whatever ridicule may have come with building a huge boat nowhere near water in a day before any way of towing that boat existed. He had to build this ark by himself, because nobody believed him when he preached to them. 2Peter 2:5. But God waited patiently for him to finish. Why? Because Noah found favor with God. We can have the righteousness that comes by faith. We can walk with God. He wants us to. We must do it now, because Peter also tells us that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief.” 2Peter 3:10.
Will you be found blameless among the people of your time?

God compliments 2

CALEB


Caleb son of Jephunneh gets a very honorable mention from the Lord, and more than once. He was one of the twelve spies sent out to explore Canaan by Moses in Numbers 13. This was the first time they explored Canaan, that’s important. The Lord instructed Moses, “Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. From each ancestral tribe send one of its leaders.” Caleb son of Jephunneh was chosen from the tribe of Judah. That should give you a clue of his leadership qualities—Judah was the greatest tribe of Israel. Judah was also the one about whom Jacob said, “The scepter will not depart, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his.” Genesis 49:10. The tribe of Judah was always the first to depart for battle against Israel’s enemies. Moses told the twelve spies to “See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many.” Now, the idea of that was to see that the land was indeed flowing with milk and honey, as God said it would be. Another idea that comes to mind is that the Lord wanted his people to see the strength of the nations He would drive out before them, so that they would know it was the Lord who was fighting for them. This is consistent with the army of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, at the crossing of the Red sea. This is consistent with Israel’s victory over the Amalekites at Rephidim. It would also be consistent with many other victories in Israel’s future, including battles fought by Gideon and David. When Caleb and the others came back from exploring Canaan, they reported that the land was plentiful. They brought back a single cluster of grapes so big and heavy that two men needed to carry it. Ten of the twelve gave a report that the land was indeed flowing with milk and honey, but also that “the people who live
there are powerful and the cities are fortified and very large.” Numbers 13:28. Caleb then stepped up; watch this. “Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, ‘We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.’ But the men who had gone up with him said, ‘We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are. The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.’” Numbers 13:30-33. In Numbers 14 we read that the people’s response was to grumble against the Lord, maybe even go back to Egypt! But not Caleb, he was with Moses and Joshua. He saw the giants in their fortified cities, and trusted that the Lord would fight for them. He tore his clothes because of Israel’s negative response. Caleb held fast to the Lord’s promise, and in the end was given his choice piece of land in Canaan! Joshua 14:13. Have you found the compliment? The Lord not only complimented Caleb, but also rewarded him greatly. “Nevertheless, as surely as I live…not one of the men who saw my glory…will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.” Numbers 14:21-24.
Would God say that about you today?

Joshua Michael

It took a little while, I know. I knew I would be much busier with a child in the home...I just didn't know HOW much busier. He is a great joy and a great blessing, the first arrow in my quiver. And I understand what my parents meant when they described how fast he would grow and change. Its only been 2 months! He is more reason to love my wife, and more reason to be a Godly man. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever.

God compliments

Joshua showed himself to be a strong and mighty warrior—not by his own might or strength, but by being devoted to the Lord. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Deut 1:9.

This is not the compliment. This is the commandment that God gave to Joshua. The compliment came because Joshua followed this direction; he trusted God. Let me give you an example: We know the story of Jericho. (I sing the song to my son, with some words that I made up to personalize it to my son). Before they went to Jericho, Joshua stopped at a place called Gilgal to circumcise all the men who had not yet been circumcised. Joshua and Caleb are the only two who already were. You see, all the men of fighting age who had come out of Egypt and were circumcised had died in the desert, because of their disobedience and failure to trust God. Caleb and Joshua were the only two who trusted the Lord. After they renewed this covenant with the Lord, as they neared Jericho, Joshua saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. What do you think happened? He stood at a distance and shouted to the man, “Are you with us or against us?” No. That’s what most of us might do, but not Joshua. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” Joshua 5:13-14. Joshua was showing his trust in the Lord, just as he did 40 years earlier when he and Caleb saw the giants in Canaan and knew that the Lord would hand them over to Israel. Joshua was under Moses in those days, but now he was second in Israel only to the Lord himself. The Lord promised to be with Joshua if he was careful to obey the law. And the Lord already knew that Joshua would. That’s why in Joshua 1:5 the Lord told him, “No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life.” That’s a compliment worth hearing from anyone; imagine hearing it from the Lord Almighty! If you trust in the Lord, He will never leave you nor forsake you. The proof is written in Joshua 24:31: “Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua.” Joshua was a strong leader because he trusted in the Lord. To no one else is it written “No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life.”

My son:
Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid.
The Lord goes before you each and every day.

Hernia is good news?

Well, I've been having this problem in the "man area." Its not your first thought--I've been experiencing some swelling. It doesn't hurt, and it doesn't hinder. Its just not natural, and it is uncomfortable at times. My self-diagnosis was prostatitis, or BPH. That B stands for benign, not cancerous. But, it usually means a significantly increased chance of cancer. And that, of course, is assuming that its only BPH (aka enlarged prostate).

Men, I have been initiated.

I have decided that you are not a MAN until you experience a prostate exam.
If you don't know if you've had one before-you have NOT.
Look up The Exam if you are not aware of what happens.
The good news is that I actually have an inguinal hernia, which is uncomfortable at times, but I can live with it.

The Lord is good!

What's the Purpose?

"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven."
Does that sound like The Byrds? How about Solomon in Ecc 3:1.
What is the purpose of over-commercializing holidays-such as Christmas-then forbidding employees to use the word for the holiday? "Its the holidays, not Christmas season" I overheard at a BIG retail store. Seems to me, if it weren't for the Christmas season many of these retailers would be out of business. Yet, scolding for speaking the name of the most profitable season of any given year.
Christ died for a purpose--to bring everlasting life to any who believe.
What's the purpose in celebrating him?