Truth endures forever (Psalm 1, Psalm 19, 2 Timothy 3:1-4:8)

Why should humanity pay attention to the Scriptures? Why should I diligently read, study and meditate them? Because what is seen is not all, but what is unseen is. And death is not the end. It is true that death swallows all. It is also true that there is resurrection after death as our Lord Jesus rose from the dead on the third day as the firstfruits. In fact, humanity is lost and fallen into darkness and blindness as victim of the malevolent devil, not knowing who they really are. There is a God who is so lovingly compassionate and merciful that he offers his hand for the lost and fallen. We have Scriptures preserved as means to learn and know who God is. Knowing God leads us to know who we are, what we are, and why we are. Not only the Scriptures given, but the universe for revelations and instructions. The world contaminated by the lie always opposes the truth which the Scriptures and the universe speak and teach. 

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) 

The Righteous vs. the Wicked (Psalm 1)

“Blessed is the one

who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

or sit in the company of mockers,

but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,

and who meditates on his law day and night.

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither—

whatever they do prospers.

Not so the wicked!

They are like chaff

that the wind blows away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.” (Psalm 1:1-6)

There are only two kinds of people, the righteous and the wicked. Unfortunately, there is no gray area, so we cannot belong to both but must be one of them. The righteous shall rejoice and delight in the law of the Lord, meditating his word day and night and produce its fruit in season like a tree planted by streams of water. Not so the wicked. They shall wither and be blown away like chaff. Furthermore, they shall not stand in the judgment of God, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

“For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.” (Psalm 1:6)

The question is how to delight in the law of the Lord, meditating day and night. We’re living in a busy and demanding world where so much attractive and seductive things are going on. Earn money and enjoy life, says persistently the world. Come, eat and drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die. Sounds right and compelling. But that’s wrong! However, many succumb to the lie and philosophy of the world. Not so the righteous! Because they know it is not true. Their conscience tells that such a fatalistic saying is exactly opposite of what the Creator says.

So, they say “No” to the wrongs and then come to the law of the Lord and find delight and rejoice in him. They reject to walk in the step of the wicked, nor stand in the way that sinners take, nor sit in the company of mockers. It is a so significant step because otherwise it is impossible to delight in the law of the Lord. No man can serve two masters, God and mammon, says our Lord Jesus. It is so pertinently illustrated on a cross where the Lord Jesus was crucified for the sin of the world. No death, no resurrection. No sacrifice, no life. We first have to reject any wicked things and are drawn nearer to God in his holy of holies, being united and having the wonderful fellowship with him.

The Heavens and the Skies Speaks Loud (Psalm 19)

"The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they reveal knowledge.

They have no speech, they use no words;

no sound is heard from them.

Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the world.

In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.

It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,

like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

It rises at one end of the heavens

and makes its circuit to the other;

nothing is deprived of its warmth.

The law of the Lord is perfect,

refreshing the soul.

The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,

making wise the simple.

The precepts of the Lord are right,

giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the Lord are radiant,

giving light to the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is pure,

enduring forever.

The decrees of the Lord are firm,

and all of them are righteous.

They are more precious than gold,

than much pure gold;

they are sweeter than honey,

than honey from the honeycomb.

By them your servant is warned;

in keeping them there is great reward.

But who can discern their own errors?

Forgive my hidden faults.

Keep your servant also from willful sins;

may they not rule over me.

Then I will be blameless,

innocent of great transgression.

May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart

be pleasing in your sight,

Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:1-14)

Nothing exists without being made that has been made. Humanity is still groping in darkness, wanting to know what it is and why it is, the universe and man. It is still unknown and hidden to man, even though many kings and the wise have been trying hard to find out, even after all the scientific discoveries and technological advancements, It is a mystery which only God can reveal. The psalmist believes that the heavens and skies are made and put in their positions by his hand. The vast universe is running its course in order and harmony according to the will of the Maker. It doesn’t make sound but speak loud on the works of God. The sun stands still hundreds of thousands of years, relentlessly pouring out light energy and making the earth warm. It never and ever be out of course.

“It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.” (Psalm 19:6)

The psalmist says the sun is like a bridegroom and a champion which suggests the Lord Jesus Christ. So, the visible universe is the manifestation and illustration of the mind of God. He speaks through which he made. He is like the sun which never stops showering the warmth of love. Perfect is the law of the Lord. God made all things and pronounced good. God didn’t make the universe wonderful and beautiful for themselves but for the instructions and revelations of humanity. The immovability and unchangeability of nature gives man strength and joy to trust in him and eventually leads to the fear of the Lord and the knowledge of him. The law of the Lord enlightens, strengthens, and warns man to pay careful attention to the Creator. For he made man in his image and in his likeness. 

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverb 1:7)

Follow the Way of the Lord To the Cross (2 Timothy 3:1-4:8)

This is truly the last days and ever nearer to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The lies and facades of humanity are rampant and ever increasing. People succumb to money and selfishness, bowing down to mammon, self-exaltation, polarity, exclusiveness, self-indulgence, and pleasures of the world, whereas the love of God grows cold. The false teachers infiltrate into the ranks of churches, shamefully and disgracefully deceiving and depraving the mind of man. But they will not get very far because their folly will be clear to everyone (2 Timothy 3:9). What shall we do in the last days? Apostle Paul charges his son in the faith, Timothy, to continue to follow the way of the Lord demonstrated in his life as well. That is, face persecutions and sufferings.

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:14-15)

“Preach the word, be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction,” says Apostle. Time has come that people refuse to listen the sound doctrine, the message of the cross. Not only careful search and study and understanding of the word are required for the preacher, but great patience and careful instruction are. We’re called for the good fight, not a fight with flesh and blood, but the fight for the cause of Christ Jesus our Lord. 

September 6, 2018

© 2011-2018 David Lee Ministries – All Rights Reserved.

The Child Is Not Dead But Asleep (Mark 5:21-43)

All dies. Why? How it is and what it is? Death is power over humanity. It swallows up everything--vitality, liveliness, strength, energy, life. It is scary, unknown, mysterious realm for man. All dies, so has to face death sooner or later. It is a reality and truth. There are so many different theories and studies on death and after death. One popular thought on death is “Let’s eat and drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.” It is a greatly fatalistic and empty view on life, thinking that death is the end and no more. It is not true and a lie, the deadly and poisonous lie. In the story of a little daughter who is dying and a woman who is subject to bleeding for 12 years, Jesus tells death is like a sleep, which means after death there is resurrection. When we see someone sleeping we are not alarmed, nor call 911 because we know that he or she will wake up after the sleep. By touching Jesus, the bleeding has stopped immediately. Not only healed and cleansed, but she has been highly regarded as “Daughter” and a woman of real faith which has reached to heaven. Furthermore, she has been released from the terror of separation from God, being called as “Daughter.” Jairus is the man who has encountered the facts that he cannot turn to no one and no where to go and get help. He is lost and poor because he has no options left in an attempt to cure his dying daughter. He is terrified and sorrowful and even powerless to do anything. This is the moment for him to turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. And he takes a decisive action to plea to God. His terror is released when Jesus gently tells, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” We are doomed to succumb to the darkness and power of death. However, when we reach to the point of death, there is the Lord Jesus who can raise the dead. Even when we fail again and again, there is Jesus our Lord who cares and helps us out repeatedly by raising us up from the dead. 

“When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. He pleaded earnestly with him, ‘My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.’ So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, ‘If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.’ Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering. At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ ‘You see the people crowding against you,’ his disciples answered, ‘and yet you can ask, “Who touched me?”’ But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.’ While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. ‘Your daughter is dead,’ they said. ‘Why bother the teacher anymore?’ Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, ‘Don’t be afraid; just believe.’ He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, ‘Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.’ But they laughed at him. After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha koum!’ (which means ‘Little girl, I say to you, get up!’). Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.” (Mark 5:21-43)

First, a father’s plea for his daughter’s sake. Jairus terrorized by the daughter’s sickness calls 911 and rushes to the emergency room in a hospital and learns that the doctors are struggling to figure it out what is the cause and how to cure. After a while, the father hears a deeply sad news that they can’t do anything for his little one. As a father he desperately runs to Jesus of Nazareth. When he sees him, he fells at his feet and pleads with him, chalking his voice and saying with tears, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” What makes Jairus so desperate that he has to plead earnestly with Jesus? The terror of death is overwhelming his whole person, body and mind and spirit. The moment of death is coming nearer, ticking loud and loud as his little one is dying. The power of death terrorizes the unfortunate father as his little daughter is losing the battle to fight for life. Jairus reaches to the moment of no other option but going to him, the Carpenter of Nazareth. 

Why is it happening to this man? Is he deserved to get this terror? What might he have done to be put into this kind of horrible situation? No, it is just his turn. No other reason can explain the human misery but it’s happening for every man. The Scripture says, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13) There may be thousand and one different reasons to think about why it’s happening. But an unarguable reason for all trials and miseries is God. He is the ultimate authority to allow these things to occur on mankind, not because he delights human sufferings but because he loves them with inexpressible compassion and mercy. God knows man because he made them in his image. Through trials and sufferings man is being purified and drawn nearer to God when we listen carefully what he is trying to say in the midst. Apostle Peter encourages the scattered Christians in the first century and us as well. “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (1 Peter 1:6-7) In the end, God wants us to learn the truth that everything coming from him and nothing coming from us. 

Second, “Who has touched my clothes?” Jesus agrees to go with Jairus. While he is going with him, a woman comes and touches Jesus’ clothes in the back, thinking “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” Immediately the bleeding has stopped and she feels that the suffering is over now. A large crowd is following and pressuring around Jesus. It has happened in the midst so stealthily and invisibly. But our Lord Jesus knows that power has gone out from him. So, he searches who has touched him until found. The disciples are irritated by Jesus because a large crowd is pressing around him. However, the woman is trembled and terrified in fear because she knows what has happened and tells him the whole truth. Surprisingly enough, she is highly commended by the Lord Jesus who tells her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” 

Why does she have to come to Jesus in secret? Being subject to bleeding makes her “unclean” by law. She has spent a lot of money for the doctors but to no avail and her suffering grows worse. She has been stripped of all rights as a daughter of Israel since the suffering of bleeding. Why is it happen to her? We do not know. But it is designed and planned by the Father God who is the beginning and the end, knowing all things. During those twelve years of suffering, the woman might have tried all possible means to get out of the mess. Families, friends, neighbors, communities have probably been working together to help her out. Unfortunately, nothing works out at all. Rather, it’s getting worse and worse. People are gradually distancing away from her because she is getting to be more burdensome and difficult than they can bear. Finally, she comes to the Lord Jesus, thinking only if she touches his clothes. The disease is subject to losing blood. She is losing and draining away her life and energy. She is literally dying not only physically but in soul and mind for she has lost all access to God. What a terror! What a waste for her! She has never thought about this kind of life, but it is real and she must accept it. The last resort for her is God who is loving and compassionate as far as he knows. She has found Jesus who is caring and merciful to the poor and the needy. God has drawing her nearer and nearer in the midst of suffering. Now, she is responding to the call of the Father in heaven through presenting herself just as she is to the Son of Man even secretly. She cannot make herself presentable in public to the Lord because of her uncleanness. It might be the only way for her to come to Jesus. 

Jesus does not condemn her and the unorthodox deed in coming and touching him as an unclean. Rather, our Lord searches her until found and commends her faith by calling her “Daughter.” She would have wished to appeal and present herself before Jesus in public. But she cannot. She just wanted to get healed and leave without a trace left behind. Why does Jesus search for her until found? Of course not he is giving a hard time for her. Neither to condemn. Far be it so. Jesus wanted to bless her faith which has reached to the Father in heaven. Why does her plea get a full attention of heaven? Because God is looking for such a worship in spirit and in truth. She has no where to go, no one to turn, nothing to depend upon. Instead of throwing bitterness and resentment against God, she admits that she is indeed in need and turns herself to God, asking and pleading for his mercy and compassion. God remembers the cries of his children! Not only Jesus sets her free from the suffering of bleeding but he restores her access to God. Coming to God is the way to live. Coming by faith is the way to come unto God. She obeyed the call of the Father, and more has been given. The Son of Man Jesus calls her dearly, “Daughter.” Jesus delivers her the loving message of the Father in heaven, saying “You’re accepted even way before you come.” 

Third, “The child is not dead but asleep.” A tragic news has arrived from Jairus’ home that his daughter has died even before Jesus’ coming and further they say no more bother for Jesus to come. Because the daughter just died. Is that it? No, it is not it. To humans, yes it is it, but not to Jesus. It is hard to understand Jesus has deliberately delayed coming to Jairus’ house by intently searching for the woman who touched his clothes. Did Jesus intently delay? We do not know. The Lord knows. Jairus had already been terrorized by his daughter’s dying sickness. Now it gets deeper in sorrow and desperation. The unfathomable depth of sorrow overwhelms his mind and body. Tears never run dry in his eyes. Loud moaning and grieving noise augment his emptiness and desperation. All the efforts and pleas have turned out nothing but disappointment, contrary to his ever wishes. As a father, he is so sorry and guilty for 12 year old daughter because he could not make it. 

Is it not the moment to which God truly wants for man to reach? It is a hard question why God let this thing happen. But it is not the end of story. When we get to there, God begins his work with power and might which we cannot even imagine. Jesus tells him, “Don’t be afraid, just believe.” It isn’t an empty word. Jesus further reveals the truth that the child is not dead but asleep. It is a revolutionary thinking regarding death. No man thinks that way. But Jesus knows and proclaims the truth for man. Now, Jesus demonstrates how true his word is, speaking to the girl, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”) Immediately, the girl stands up and begins to walk around. No one there in the room couldn’t believe what’s happened to their eyes. Jairus again maybe in many tears not because of sorrow but because of joy and thankfulness given from heaven above. Not only released from the terror of death, but he has the Lord Jesus who is the life and the resurrection in his heart. 

Prayer: Thank Jesus Christ who is the life and the resurrection. In his name. Amen.

August 17, 2018

© 2018 David Lee Ministries – All Rights Reserved.