Roar!

Job 37:1-5
“At this also my heart trembles,
And leaps from its place.
“Listen closely to the thunder of His voice,
And the rumbling that goes out from His mouth.
“Under the whole heaven He lets it loose,
And His lightning to the ends of the earth.
“After it, a voice roars;
He thunders with His majestic voice,
And He does not restrain the lightnings when His voice is heard.
“God thunders with His voice wondrously,
Doing great things which we cannot comprehend.

I was catching up on Randy Bohlender’s blog the other day and happened across this entry.

I’m going to paste the whole entry also.

There Comes a Roar
Posted on January 9, 2009 by randybohlender
I was jolted out of my half-sleep this morning over coffee and a bagel as I scanned the news. There, among the earthquake reports in California and the airing of varies celebrities’ escapades, a headline jumped out at me.

FOXNews – Mystery Roar Detected From Faraway Space
It seems that the 213th annual meeting of the American Astronomer’s Society is abuzz with the discovery of a very loud, unidentifiable, other-worldy sound.

In Astronomy, variations are often described in minute increments. One degree of difference spread over a light year makes a big difference. Measurements are very precise and meaningful…so when they describe this sound as six times brighter than all radio waves in the universe, they’re not speaking in hyperbole.

Scientists are not sure where it’s coming from. They’re not sure what it means. But they’re sure as heck not denying it. Something or someone just cranked the cosmic subwoofer to 11 and it is pounding loud and proud.

NASA Astronomer Alan Kogut says “Something new and interesting going on in the universe.”

Can we all just agree that Alan can be dubbed Captain Obvious? I showed that quote to my friend, Hal, who rolled his eyes and said “I could have told him that.”

They’re saying there aren’t enough stars in the universe to make a sound like this. Where ever it’s coming from, it’s beyond the stars in scope.

It transcends the universe as we know it, and it’s roaring to us.

There is a sound coming to this earth. It is a sound that has not been heard before. It’s been called the roar of many waters. A sound like a trumpet. It will resonate with that which resonates with it, and it will shatter that which does not.

People get ready. The experts tell us that something new and interesting is going on in the universe. And our spirit knew it all along.

Does your heart resonate? Do you know that nothing combined in this universe is as mighty, majestic and vast as our GOD? Do you know that He has not left us as orphans, but that He is returning to this planet, our home?

My heart resonates! My heart sings at the sound of His ROAR!

Pounding Loud and Proud…Here comes the Lion of the tribe of Judah! Let us go out to meet Him!

Fox New: Mystery Roar Detected From Faraway Space

Endurance – What on earth am I complaining about?

Jeremiah 12 starts out with Jeremiah having a talk with God. He tells the LORD that he (Jeremiah) would like to talk about justice and to have the opportunity to “plead” his case.

Many treachous, wicked people all around Jeremiah are prospering. Their lives are successful and fruitful. They talk about God, but hypocritcally they have nothing to do with Him.

But Jeremiah, who is unswervingly faithful to God, is not doing well. He is harrassed and abused on every side. So he asks God to deal with these evil men who contrast so starkly with Jeremiah’s righteousness.

God replies with this in Jeremiah 12:5

If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out, then how will you compete with horses? If you fall down in a land of peace, how will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?

The horses are coming and the competition with these “footmen” problems will be nothing compared to what will come in the end of the age. God is sending me today problems and complications and opposition to make me stronger. Hebrews 12:4 makes me compare my whiny responses to believers in persecuted lands and finds me lacking:

You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood.

These are my training ground. These are the trips to the spiritual gym where I will build the habits that will see me through the last days. I must learn to conquer the things I deal with today through prayer, worship, the infilling of the Spirit and the planting of the Word deep in my heart, so that when the heat turns up, I will be ready.

I cannot give in to fear, anxiety, nervousness. My strength is built when I respond the right way…knowing that the God who formed me, saved me, purifies me and prepares me will not leave me or forsake me.

Help me to persevere and be transformed into your likeness LORD Jesus. Make me hungry like the hunger of a long fast for your word. Help praise and worship to be my reaction to adversity.

Enduring Until…

OK, so last entry I was thinking about Jesus enduring the cross, and then I found this verse again when I was reviewing where the sermons series has been taking us.

Romans 8:18-19

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creations waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God

Can I endure these “momentary light afflictions” for some glory to come? That verse even talks about the weight of the glory to come.

Jesus endured the cross for the JOY set before Him.
I must endure…..for a weight of eternal glory that all of creation longs to see. What on earth could be so amazing that ALL of creation is anxiously waiting to see?

Even so quickly come Lord Jesus!

John 10:10

Ahh … the message of the LIFE giver.

“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

So we welcome You, Jesus. Bless you for the meaning of Easter, which means that one day we will see You face to face.

Until then we welcome the increase of the LIFE of heaven in our lives and we welcome Baby Zoe Apphia whose name means “LIFE Increasing”.

Check out her debut photo here.

Glorious Cause – Part 2

Oh how I wish I was eloquent and able to express things in a articulate way. David was the master of poetic expressions to the LORD. In Psalm 45:1, David writes:

 My heart is stirred by a noble theme
as I recite my verses for the king;
my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.

So in my opinion, the glorious cause of Christ is to reunite us with God. To bring us back into a relationship with the God whose heart is inclined with love towards us.

Somebody else…articulate this for me – please.

What’s with the title? – Part 3

Remember this Sunday School song?

“Give me oil in my lamp,
Keep me burnin, burnin, burnin;
Give me oil in my lamp, I pray.
Give me oil in my lamp,
Keep me burning til the break of day.”

Even as a child in Sunday School, I wondered, “what is this oil I am supposed to be wanting?” So as it relates to this blog title, I’ve been searching Matthew 25 again.

If the 10 virgins of Matthew 25 are not chastised for falling asleep, then the problem the 5 are noted for is that they don’t have enough oil for their lamps. Thus I ponder… what does the oil in Jesus’ story represent.

I’ve got a few ideas for myself, but I dug out the commentaries and tried to see what the “authorities” have said. Here’s what I found.

In the context of the chapter, Jesus is talking about the day of his return. These 10 women have come to the point where is Jesus is on the threshold, and suddenly 5 don’t have enough oil. Some commentators point to grace and personal piety, and some point to simple preparedness. One commentary points out that you have to go get it yourself, there is a price to pay to get the oil, I can’t share mine with you or I won’t have enough. This quote from a very old commentary says, “the piety that had satisfied the young women before was not sufficient in the presence of death and judgement.”

So still the question is, “What is the oil?” Nobody specifically says. I think the oil is simply our relationship to Jesus. If I am sticking close to him everyday and allowing him to fill me with the Holy Spirit then I’m not wandering off into personal, self-righteous piety or my own ideas of what it takes to be like him. I’m letting him teach me and speak to me about areas I need to grow and repent and change. He’s breathing over me the areas where he is pleased with me and tells me how he loves me. The Love of God my Heavenly Father motivates me to be more like the Son in whom He is well pleased. I am motivated by the oil of love.

In scripture, we are told to buy from the LORD. Revelation 3:19, he speaks to the lukewarm Laodecian church and says, “Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing, and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.”

So, I want to be ready for the cry that comes at midnight. I want my lamp to be ready. Midnight Cry is the title for my blog, because there is nothing more important that knowing that I can rest at the appropriate times, because I am ready for Him at the moment’s notice. Everything flows from this. I love to be with him because he draws me in and I am refreshed and refilled. I will want to evangelize, because I don’t want anyone to be short of oil. I will do the work of the Kingdom, because I want him to return quickly, but laboring in love is the work that energizes my spirit not drains me.

In this blog I will share my thoughts and experiences (where I find oil) and want you to share yours with me so we can be ready together. So that if tonight is not the night that the Bridegroom stands at the door then I want my lamp to keep shining just like the song…
“Keep me burning til the break of day.
Sing Hosanna, Sing Hosanna, Sing Hosanna til the break of day.”

Jesus, teach me to daily care for my lamp. Let the light of your oil shining in that lamp draw others to you. The let the chorus go up “Come, Lord Jesus!” and the cry to go up “Behold, the Bridegroom!”