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God loves us and wants us to be happy. This is King David’s message to the people in Psalm 36. He writes in verse 5:
Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
And in verse 7:
How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
Verse 10:
Continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
and your righteousness to the upright of heart.
This tremendous love of God makes people happy. They feast on the abundance of God’s house. They drink from the river of God’s delights. They enjoy the fountain of life, and God’s light enables them to see the light (8,9).
For some people the greatest source of joy comes from taking refuge in the shadow of God’s wings. I think that is especially true for the girls and boys here at the children’s home in Oaxaca, Mexico. Many of the children who live here come from troubled, dysfunctional environments, where many times only one parent or a relative was around, and that “care giver” was many times abusive either emotionally, physically or sexually, and the children could run, but not hide. They had no place of refuge.
And then they come to FFHM’s home for needy children and find refuge; a place where they are safe and secure. Instead of being frightened of biological parents they are delighted with loving house parents and staff members who make sure that they are well cared for emotionally, physically, and most importantly, spiritually. They are introduced to our marvelous God who loves them, died for them, and is now on his throne watching over them and wants them to live lives of peace and joy.
They say that Christians are the hands and feet of God. That is true, but when I look around at my brothers and sisters in Christ, here at the mission, I see that we are also the wings of God. The wings of God where the children of mankind can take refuge.
God loves us and wants us to be happy. This is clear from many of the Psalms. Last week we saw it in Psalm 32, and it is even more prominent in Psalm 33. Psalm 33 is a liturgy in praise of the LORD.
God loved his chosen people Israel when this Psalm was written and sung at the temple, and he loves his chosen people, the Church, now:
The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love (5)
The eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love (18).
May your unfailing love be with us, LORD, even as we put our hope in you (22).
Because of God’s unfailing love, his people are happy:
Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him (1).
Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy (3).
Happy is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance (12).
In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name (21).
God’s love for us is steadfast and never fails. He loves the righteous; those who live in right relationship with him and with their neighbors. He delivers them from the Evil One, from their enemies, and from themselves. In this Psalm, the people are especially happy, it seems, because they have just been delivered from a large army knocking on their door. Verse 10 says that the LORD foils the plans of the nations (those unrighteous nations who do not want to live in right relationship with God or their neighbor Israel). Verse 16 says that no king is saved by the size of his army and that no warrior escapes by his great strength. Verse 19 refers to the LORD delivering his people from death.
Sometimes we have an evil army knocking on the door of our lives, our family or our community of faith. But when we trust in God’s unfailing love and “wait in hope for the LORD” (20), we will come out of the situation, in the end, victorious! We will sing joyfully to the LORD and our hearts will rejoice in his holy name.
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Before you ever get a problem, God already has your deliverance planned. Joyce Meyer
It seems that coronavirus has turned everything upside down. We are supposed to go to work, and now we have to stay home. For some, we are supposed to have a job to go to, and now we don’t. We are supposed to go to church today and celebrate the resurrection, but now we are at home watching a live stream of a pastor preaching to empty pews. We are supposed to have a big family dinner with friends and loved ones; now it is us four and no more. Indeed, everything seems upside down.
But take a moment to think about what happened Easter morning. Consider the empty tomb and how that has made all the difference. It turned everything upside right. Because of Christ’s resurrection, those living in darkness have seen a great light. Those who were slaves to fear are now children of God. Those who were dead in their trespasses and sins have been raised to life!
The effect of covid 19 pales in comparison to the effect of the resurrected Messiah. Covid 19 constrains us to our houses. Easter sets us free to live lives of joy and happiness no matter where we are. Covid 19 causes illness, anxiety and depression. Easter brings contentment, soul healing and a peace that passes all understanding. Covid 19 keeps us from family members, friends, neighbors and co-workers. Easter connects us to all of humanity through the power and love of the Holy Spirit. Covid 19 turns our world upside down. Easter turns our world upside right.
My wife and I see this everyday. We are part of Foundation For His Ministry’s outreach to needy children in Oaxaca, Mexico. We live in a community with 50 children and about a dozen staff members. Our lives are relatively the same now as before the coronavirus struck. We are one big family – a family in God. An Easter family, you could say. Things that were important and vital to us before the virus infected Mexico are still important to us now. Things like making disciples and making children smile. Sharing the love of God and sharing cookies. Meeting felt needs and meeting to watch movies. We still hug one another, encourage and pray for each other, and share meals together. Sure, we don’t go out into the community as often as we used to, and we are restricted from visiting friends and family members who live outside our Casa Hogar ( home for children). And we wash our hands a lot more! But overall, we are living the same Easter upside right lives that we enjoyed before. Lives free from the bondage of sin and guilt. Lives lived glorifying God and enjoying Him, still believing that He loves us and wants us to be happy.
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I know President Trump. I know my wife, Anita. I know them both, but in different ways. I know facts about President Trump. I know Anita personally and intimately.
Peter writes a lot about knowing and knowledge in his second letter, the first chapter.
Verse 2- Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Verse 3- His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
Verse 5- For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;
Verse 8- For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, he will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
German, French, Spanish and Greek have at least two words for knowledge; for the different types of knowledge. English has one word, so sometimes we misunderstand what the Bible is trying to tell us when it talks about knowledge. In this information age in which we live, when we think of knowledge we generally think of facts. When my daughters ask me a question in which they want a fact, and I don’t know the answer, I tell them to ask Mr. Google. He knows all the facts. All the information.
Reading 2 Peter 1, and seeing the word knowledge used five time in the first 8 verses, I immediately thought of facts and information. I thought that the more facts and information I have about God the more grace and peace I will have. The more theology books I read, the more power I will have for godly living. That’s not what Peter is talking about here.
He is using the Greek word for personal, intimate knowledge of God. This kind of knowledge of God initially comes to someone when the Spirit opens the spiritual eyes of a person and that persons heart is flooded with the love of God. It continues to grow as one dives into God’s Word, spends time with God’s people and participates in God’s activities. This is heart knowledge as opposed to head knowledge.
Anita grew up in a small town called Mitla, in Mexico. She went to the local Catholic church as most people in her town did. She and her family had some head knowledge of God, but not heart knowledge. They knew facts about God and a lot of his rules, but not much of his love. They worked for local missionaries who were doing Bible translation, whose lives were full of joy, peace and contentment, something Anita’s family lacked mightily. The missionaries regularly shared with Anita and her mom about the great love of God – how he loved them and wanted them to be happy. Finally the eyes of their hearts were enlightened, and they entered into a personal relationship with God. Their head knowledge was transformed into heart knowledge. They began to enjoy a life of peace and happiness that they had never known.
In verses 2, 3, and 8 Peter is referring to this kind of knowledge. In verse 5, Peter uses a different Greek word for knowledge, that signifies head knowledge of facts and information. He tells his readers that they need to make every effort to add to their goodness, knowledge. It’s vitally important that followers of Jesus get head knowledge of the Bible; get facts and figures and information about the major themes and doctrines of the Bible. The different cultures the scriptures were written in and the languages and genres that make up God’s Word. When we prayerfully meditate on this head knowledge, it slowly but surely makes its way to our heart, transforms our desires and deepens our relationship with The God who loves us and wants us to be happy.
I read Psalm 36 today and David mentions the love of God three times.
The fountain at the Home For Needy Children in Oaxaca, Mexico
Verse 5 says, “Your love, LORD, reaches to the heavens”.
Verse 7, “How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!”
Verse 10, “Continue your love to those who know you.”
He mentions love in contrast to the wicked. David begins and ends this Psalm by talking about the wicked. The wicked do not fear God. They flatter themselves. The words of their mouths are deceitful. They plot evil and do not reject what is wrong.
God loves those who trust in Him and pursue righteousness. I always talk about how God loves us (those who trust in Him) and wants us to be happy. This is readily apparent in Psalm 36. There are four results of God’s love that are listed.
One is a river of Delights. David writes, “you give them drink from your river of delights.” I love that. God doesn’t just throw His followers a bone once in awhile, but has a river of delights for them. We sometimes sing a song here at the Home For Needy Children in Mexico, that says something to the effect that I don’t just want to put a toe in God’s river. I don’t just want to go knee deep in God’s river. I don’t just want to wade in up to my hips in God’s river. I want to swim in God’s river. One of the blessings of God’s love is that we get to swim in His River of Delights! One definition of delight is great pleasure; a cause or source of great pleasure. God wants His followers to enjoy great pleasure.
Second, He is a fountain of Life! The wicked just exist in their misery, trying to make others miserable, but the righteous have Life and joy and vitality and Shalom which come from the never ceasing Fountain of life. Here at the Mission, we have a fountain in our courtyard. Every time I see it or hear the water splashing down, I think of the living water that Jesus talked about. I thank God that I don’t merely exist on this planet, but that I have Life that comes from the Fountain of Life.
The third result of Gods love is that He gives us light that allows us to see the light. The wicked meander in darkness, looking for delights in all the wrong places. Those who cooperate with God and His Kingdom plan, are able to do so because He has shown them the light, opened the eyes of their Spirit and understanding. They embrace truth instead of lies, which enables them to grow in truth and righteousness.
A fourth aspect of God’s love is mentioned in verse 6, “You, LORD, preserve both people and animals.”
I think that is great that animals are included in this Psalm. God’s great love that reaches to the heavens is not just for the preservation of people, but also for animals. I grew up on a farm and at various times we had pigs, sheep, cows and rabbits, not to mention the dogs and cats that were running around. I enjoy the animals in God’s creation and thank God that he looks down from heaven and not only cares for the people, but for the animals.
God loves us and wants us to be happy. He has made that abundantly clear. We are happy in Him when we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. When we set our hearts on things above, where Christ is, then we are filled with joy. We swim in the river of God’s delights. We drink deeply from the fountain of life. We live in light and not in darkness. We are preserved and protected, us and Fido and Spot and the animals we love. How great is the love of God!
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God serves up drinks, from His river of delights. He lays out a feast, from the abundance of His house.
Have you ever read a passage of scripture dozens of times and thought you really
understood it, and then upon reading it one more time, you get new revelation that you never had before? This happened to me about a week ago. I was reading John’s account of the multiplying the loaves and fishes (John 6:1-15). The words of Jesus seemed to jump off the page. He asks Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”. The passage says Jesus was on a mountain with his disciples and Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd approaching when he asked the question. A number of things grabbed my attention. Jesus was having a private time with his disciples, trying to escape the crowds. Perhaps he was teaching them about the love and power of the Father. Now approaches the intrusive hordes. Thousands of people are streaming toward him. Instead of complaining about the interruption, Jesus sees opportunities. A great object lesson for the disciples. Also an opportunity to once again show people how God loves them and wants them to be happy. He sees both the physical and spiritual hunger of the people. So He asks the question, “Where shall WE buy bread…? The passage indicates that He already knew what he was gonna do, but wanted to test the disciples. He had no intention of Buying Bread! But he knows what humans natural impulses are. Many times our first response to problems is to throw money at them and they will go away. Philip thinks about the question and answers Jesus, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” Money was not the answer.
I love the question, “Where are WE…?” Jesus didn’t ask “Where are You gonna buy bread?”, but “Where are we?” Jesus didn’t ask, “What should I to do about this need or problem?” Jesus says WE. When we face incredible situations, as Christians, we can be sure that Jesus is cooperating with us to solve the problem, if we resolve to cooperate with him. Not only with me personally, but With the Community of Faith that I am a part of. All of the disciples were included in Jesus’ question. Andrew piped up saying, “Here is a boy with two Small fish and five Small loaves of bread.” Andrew, like many of us focuses on the smallness of the resources at hand, the small fish and bread, rather than the Greatness of God who created the fish and the bread. Just like us today – focusing on the big problems rather than our Big God. God wants to step into our big situations and cooperate with us in meeting felt needs and spiritual needs.
Most people have forgotten about the two big earthquakes we had here in Mexico about a month ago, but a lot of people are still suffering from them. A week ago the Children’s Home where I cooperate with God in Oaxaca, Mexico, sent down a few adults and some of the children with a trailer full of food and water and other material to help those whose houses had been destroyed . This week an 80 year old brother and his wife, Enrique and Elvira, who lead the prison ministry, were given a large monetary donation to help a suffering church in Chiapas, and they are there now, delivering not only the money, but spiritual direction and comfort as well. The brother, Pedro, who took the load down last week, noticed the people had no place and no way to shower , so he worked all week rigging up a shower system with a huge water tank. He left early yesterday morning to deliver it along with more supplies.
Thinking about Christians responding to needs, I read in the news about different churches in Santa Rosa, California, helping out people who had lost everything due to the fires. Same with churches, Christians, Communities of Faith, helping the hurricane victims in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. All over the world, Disciples hear Jesus asking them, “What are WE gonna do about this situation?” And all over the world, disciples are joining hands and hearts with their brothers and sisters and with God, to meet felt needs, and in the process, they are meeting even greater Spiritual needs.
What a story, human need, the loaves and fishes and disciples and compassion and power and God! A never ending story, at least on this side of eternity!
I haven’t written for awhile because Anita, the girls and I went to the United States for a month. We had
not been there for four years, so we had a great time visiting family, going to a Giants game in San Francisco, Disneyland in L.A. and camping in the Rocky Mountains. I loved driving on pot hole free roads and using free bathrooms that had toilet paper, toilet seats, hot water and paper towels. I encountered no crazy taxi drivers, never heard a honking horn and saw no graffiti and little litter. These are things most Americans take for granted. In Mexico these things are the exception.
But I am glad to be back at the Mission in Oaxaca. Why? Because, while we don’t have the best roads, nicest bathrooms or cleanest cities, we do have, in my humble opinion, the finest people serving at the greatest Mission in the world. The people serving at the Home for Needy Children in Oaxaca could work almost anywhere and make more money, if money was their priority, but it’s not. Their priority is loving God with all their being, and loving their neighbors as they love themselves. Their priority is helping the poorest of the poor in Mexico. Their priority is bringing help, hope and love to the downcast, oppressed, abused and mistreated children of this poor land.
Now I am back with these fine people and enjoying seeing formerly sad children smile, discouraged little girls encouraged, angry little boys at peace, hungry teens well fed and losers at life’s sometimes vicious game, given another chance at happiness and contentment.
Of course, all of this is made possible by the grace of God, the prayers of the saints and the contributions of people who care. Thank you God for people who care!
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Our family went to a wedding on Saturday. Robin Williams committed suicide on Monday. I’m not saying there was a connection, but there are some interesting contrasts.
The young couple tied the knot on a beach in Puerto Escondido. It was a beautiful wedding. It was a solemn yet casual affair. The young couple are Christians, children of missionaries who are working to bring the Bible to ethnic groups in Oaxaca, Mexico, who have never heard the Word of God in their native language. We sang Christian songs in Spanish and English. The grooms father is German, and he prayed for the couple in German. The bride and her family are from Canada. It was a great mix of people from different cultures who spoke different languages and lived different cultures, but all had one thing in common-a love for God and the work of Christ on the cross.
The young couple, Timmy Schwab (no relation to me, although, after the wedding there was a special activity for the Schwab family that I tried to horn in on, without success) and Johanna Quezada, beamed with joy through the whole ceremony, Timmy smiling delightfully at his bride to be throughout the whole thing. After kissing his new wife he picked her up and ran down the sandy isle between the attendees.
So what does this happy occasion have to do with the self inflicted death of Robin Williams? The news reports of his death said he had suffered from depression and drug addiction for many years, and in his last days the depression had grown severe.
What does the general public think will make them happy? Wealth, power, fame, adulation, nice houses and cars. For some you can throw in drugs. Robin Williams had it all, and was so depressed he killed himself.
Timmy and Johanna barely have two pesos to rub together. I don’t think they have a house and they may have an old car. They definitely don’t have fame or power. So why are they so happy and Robin Williams so depressed? Because they have the love of Jesus, love of Jesus, down in their hearts. The have confidence and certainty that the creator of the universe loves them and brought them together to live a life of enjoying God together as they cooperate with Him in bringing His kingdom and doing His will on earth as it is in heaven.
Robin Williams never had the eyes of his heart opened by the holy Spirit, and lost the battle with the world, the flesh and the Devil. He seemed to have it all, and had nothing. Timmy and Johanna appear to have next to nothing with regards to worldly possessions, but they are living large in the riches of God’s grace and mercy and in their love for each other!
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The weather today in Oaxaca, Mexico, is perfect. It is a gorgeous day. Lots of blue sky and sunshine. I love it. It hasn’t
been like this for about three weeks. It has been cloudy and rainy. This morning I was talking to God about this beautiful day, or rather He was talking to me about it. He asked me if I liked the weather today. He asked me if I was happy. He asked me if the sunshine and blue sky made me happier than normal. I answered in the affirmative each time. He asked me if I had been taking the nice weather that we had been having in March, April and May for granted. I had to admit it. While most of the U.S. had been suffering unusually cold weather and lots of snow, we here in Oaxaca were enjoying temps in the 80’s and 90’s most everyday.
The point that God was making is that we have a tendency to take too many good things, too many blessings, too many gifts from the generous hand of our benevolent God, for granted. We don’t always acknowledge and thank God for simple things that make us so happy, like good health, delicious food, pure water, clean air and the ability to breath it. When, for some reason, God withholds these basic goodies, we are likely to complain and grumble. The apostle Paul admonishes believers over and over to give thanks to God, not just when we are fat and happy, but even in the lean times, for God is good all the time, and he always loves us and wants us to be happy.
I’m convinced that many times God withholds some blessings from us so that when they return to us we are happier than we were before. Take for example sickness. I hate being down with a cold or the flu. We all do. How thankful and full of joy we are when the sickness passes and we are feeling fine once again. Sometimes we even feel worse when a loved one is ill. My daughter’s, Sally and Kelly, had fevers and were coughing a lot last week and had to miss a few days of school. No parent likes to see their children suffer in any way, especially with an illness. After a visit to the doctor and taking some medicine they were feeling fine, and so was I. I wasn’t taking their good health and health care professionals for granted. I was thanking God for both, and was (and am) Happy for both.
My wife, Anita, has explained to our daughter’s about the importance of thanking God for all the food we have and eating everything on their plate, be cause there are a lot of poor children in the world who search through garbage dumps for something to eat. Our youngest daughter Kelly has taken this to heart and almost always asks to pray before meals. In her simple, four year old way of praying, she thanks God for our meal and also that she does not have to eat trash.
So right now I am basking in the sunshine with a heart full of joy, praising our heavenly Father for the sunshine, and also for the eternal Sonshine that floods my soul. I also need to ask forgiveness for all the times that I take for granted the incredible goodness that is always flowing from the hand of God. I ask God to remind me, that in those times when I feel something is lacking, that He is my Good Shepherd, and that in reality, I am never in need.
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To Enjoy God 