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The Big “If”

Unconditional … with Conditions

PREVIEW: God’s unconditional grace, unlimited love, and undeserved mercy—for which we are all unspeakably grateful—come with some conditions for us. There is a sense in which his unlimited grace is limited, his unlimited love is limited, his unlimited mercy is limited, and we must do some things to unlock the door for them to operate in our lives in a transformational way. There are some big “ifs” to this relationship we enjoy with God. But “if” you are fulfilling the big “ifs” in your relationship with God, then you can expect an unimaginable supply of unconditional grace, unlimited love, and undeserved mercy.

The Big “If” - Ray Noah

A JOURNEY OF WORSHIP // Psalm 81:8,13-14

Hear me, my people, and I will warn you— if you would only listen to me, Israel! …If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes! Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever. But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.

We often speak of God’s unconditional grace, unlimited love, and undeserved mercy—for which we are all unspeakably grateful. But let’s not forget that God does have some conditions for us; there is a sense in which his unlimited love is limited; there are some things we must do to deserve his mercy. There are steps we must take to access the blessings of his grace fully. There are some big “ifs” to this relationship we enjoy with God.

God is a conditional God. Did you notice how the psalmist put it? “If” God’s people listen to him, “if” God’s people obey him, then, and only then, will he fight on their behalf and give them victory. The psalmist is only echoing what is taught in a hundred other places throughout Scripture: The blessings of the covenant that God has made with us are conditional—God’s unconditional, unlimited, and undeserved favor flows to us only as we walk in loving surrender to his rulership over our lives. God has covenanted to bless us as we covenant to obey him.

In our Christian culture, there has been a tendency to emphasize grace in a way that is not balanced by truth, love that is not balanced by obedience, and mercy that is not balanced by authentic repentance. That has led to what has been called “easy believism”—an unhealthy and risky view of salvation. It is time for us to reexamine what Scripture tells us rather than mindlessly allow current preaching trends to adjust what the Bible teaches to what our culture finds acceptable. We must adjust our beliefs and behaviors, as painful and costly as that might be, to what God’s Word says, not vice versa.

So, on this particular day, as you examine your heart, honestly and openly ask yourself if you are living up to your end of the bargain. Check to see if you are meeting the conditions of the covenant. The painful part of doing that may be that you are required to do some costly realigning of your life.

The upside is that if you are fulfilling the big “ifs” in your relationship with God, then you can expect an unimaginable supply of unconditional grace, unlimited love, and undeserved mercy.

MY OFFERING OF WORSHIP: Are you expecting God’s unconditional grace, unlimited love, and undeserved mercy today? Then, ask yourself if you are living up to your end of the covenant. If you are carefully listening to his instruction and lovingly obeying his voice, then you have nothing to fear. If you are not, then offer up a sincere prayer of repentance.

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Prayer For a Once Mighty Nation

Mercy is God’s Specialty

PREVIEW: How do you pray for a once-godly nation—Israel in ancient times, America in the current hour—that is now suffering the just punishment for rebellion? You do what the psalmist did: Boldly, persistently, and unashamedly pray for restoration! God has been very clear that consequences will follow sin; the law of sowing and reaping is unmistakably clear in Scripture. Yet the psalmist, along with other Biblical writers, often placed their hope in the mercy of God—and prayed like crazy for a crop failure. I think it’s okay to pray for a crop failure. In fact, I would even say it’s wise to pray that way. Why? God may just substitute his mercy for discipline. The Message translation says of God in Micah 7:18, “Mercy is your specialty.”

Prayer For a Once Mighty Nation - Ray Noah

A JOURNEY OF WORSHIP // Psalm 80:1-3

Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Awaken your might; come and save us. Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.

How do you pray for a once-godly nation that is now suffering the just punishment for rebellion? You do what the psalmist did: Boldly, persistently, and unashamedly pray for restoration!

Three times, the psalmist made the exact same appeal for the restoration of Israel—Psalm 80:3,7,19.

Restore us, O God;
make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.

Each appeal is more intense than the previous, building to this crescendo of importunity in the final verse. He even sneaks in another plea for revival in the chapter’s penultimate verse—Psalm 80:18,

Then we will not turn away from you;
revive us, and we will call on your name.

This guy is bent on spiritual awakening and national renewal in Israel!

What is interesting about Psalm 80—which you would agree is especially applicable for America for right now—is that this desperate cry for restoration came during a time when the Almighty had removed his blessing because of the nation’s persistent rebellion. It was most likely written at the tail end of the Northern Kingdom’s rebellious run as a nation, and they were suffering the harsh reality of life without the protective hand of God—deservedly so!

How like America! We, too, have strayed from our once-declared dependence upon the Almighty’s protective hand. We have abandoned the collective sense of our national raison d’être: To serve God’s purposes in the earth. Our belief that American greatness results only from Divine Sovereignty has been severely damaged, perhaps without remedy. Some have said that we have traveled so far down the road of spiritual rebellion that God will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah if he withholds punishment on this nation much longer. That is really what we deserve.

But in truth, isn’t what was true of Israel, and what is true of America, true of you and me, too? At the end of the day, aren’t we all undeserving of anything but God’s judgment? Yet what is even more interesting about Psalm 80 is that the appeal for restoration is not based on the worthiness of Israel, it is rather rooted in the immutable character of God—who is gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love and delights to show mercy rather than send calamity!

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.
(Psalm 103:8-14)

Rend your heart and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
(Joel 2:13)

Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.
(Micah 7:18)

God has been very clear that consequences will follow sin; the law of sowing and reaping is unmistakably clear in Scripture. Yet the psalmist, along with other Biblical writers, often placed their hope in the mercy of God—and prayed like crazy for a crop failure.

I think it’s okay to pray for a crop failure. In fact, I would even say it’s wise to pray that way. Why? God may just substitute his mercy for discipline. The Message translation says of God in Micah 7:18,

Mercy is your specialty.

Since mercy and grace are what makes God, God, why not tap into them and pray for the restoration of a once mighty nation—and perhaps, a once blessed life!
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MY OFFERING OF WORSHIP: Today, join me in praying for the restoration of a once mighty nation. And if you need to, for a once blessed life!

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No Longer A Christian Nation?

It’s Time to Take a Look in the Mirror

PREVIEW: For the president, the leader of the free world and our national spokesman, to proclaim that America is not a Christian nation should ignite a holy conflagration among Christians. But not, perhaps, in the way you think. The fires of revival will never burn again in America because of political or social activism. Don’t forget that! That is not to say you should disengage as a political or social activist. By all means, if that’s your deal, go for it! What America needs most is another great awakening! And that will only happen as believers act like believers and churches act like churches are supposed to act. That will only happen as we, both individually and corporately, humble ourselves in repentance and prayer. As the great revivalist Charles Finney said, “There can be no revival when Mr. Amen and Mr. Wet-Eyes are not found in the audience.”

No Longer A Christian Nation? - Ray Noah

A JOURNEY OF WORSHIP // Psalm 79:6

Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you, on the kingdoms that do not call on your name.

A decade or so ago, Newsweek magazine headlined “The End of Christian America” while President Obama explained to the Turkish people that America is not a Christian nation.

Technically, you could make that argument. For sure, there are a lot of Christians and churches in America—which I believe to be the catalyst for America’s unprecedented greatness. Yet when you look at America culturally, politically, internationally, morally, judicially, and spiritually, does the evidence tell you that, indeed, we are a Christian nation?

Biblically, you can see the danger of mistaking our national politics for the true faith. Just because we hang the Ten Commandments in a courtroom, or insist that school kids “pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all,” or have “In God We Trust” on our coins, or claim the deep spiritual roots of our forebears does not guarantee the “Christian-ness” of America. Just go back to any number of places in the Old Testament and see how that mindset worked out for Israel.

But while it might be technically and biblically true that we’re not a Christian nation, to do so with the sense of pride that seems to be behind these current-day pronouncements should cause us, one and all, a great deal of concern. You see, spiritually, any nation, including the great nation of America, that does not acknowledge God or call upon his name, or root their national values in the unchanging moral laws that he has made known is a candidate for Divine wrath, according to not only this particular psalm, but a whole host of other Biblical teaching as well. Pride in our spiritual diversity now will one day cause our corporate knees to turn to putty as we stand before the judgment of Almighty God. Those who are so bold today will not be on that day!

For the president, the leader of the free world and our national spokesman, to proclaim that America is not a Christian nation should ignite a holy conflagration among Christians. But not, perhaps, in the way you think. The fires of revival will never burn again in America because of political or social activism. Don’t forget that! That is not to say you should disengage as a political or social activist. By all means, if that’s your deal, go for it!

What America needs most is another great awakening!

And that will only happen as believers act like believers and churches act like churches are supposed to act. That will only happen as we, both individually and corporately, humble ourselves in repentance and prayer:

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14).

As the great revivalist Charles Finney said, “There can be no revival when Mr. Amen and Mr. Wet-Eyes are not found in the audience.” Renewal will only happen as we truly live out our faith in deed, not just in word. Renewal will only happen as believers begin to clean up their act. The next great spiritual awakening in America will only happen when Christians get serious about penetrating this society as salt and light exemplifying the real Jesus and the real kingdom, living proof of a loving God to a lost world.

So let me ask you this: If you were the only Christian left in America, and the spiritual renewal of America depended on your witness, what hope would there be for America?

Sounds like you need to get with it! Me, too!

MY OFFERING OF WORSHIP: Take some time to reflect on the statement: If you were the only Christian left in America, and the spiritual renewal of America depended on your witness, what hope would there be for America? Then, do something about it.

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Parental Neglect

It is Easier to Build a Child Than to Mend a Broken Adult

PREVIEW: I have a deep concern that we have been in a fifty-year or so cycle of parental neglect. I’m not just talking about our culture; I’m speaking of the church. Christian parents have been neglecting one of the most basic and important roles that God calls a father and mother to play in the lives of their children: Teacher. You see, the better we become at doing church, the more parents have abdicated their duty to teach their own children the sacred things of God. We have outsourced that to the children’s pastor, or the youth leader, or the small group mentor. Not that I have anything against those people—those are roles God calls people to serve within his family—but frankly, pastors and mentors have not been called to the primary role of instructor in your child’s life—you have! They are only there to assist you and complement the spiritual foundation you are laying down.

Parental Neglect - Ray Noah

A JOURNEY OF WORSHIP // Psalm 78:4,6-7

We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation, the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done…so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then, they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.

I realize my title is a bit negative, but I have a deep concern that we have been in a fifty-year or so cycle of parental neglect. I am not just talking about our culture; I am speaking of the church. Christian parents have been neglecting one of the most basic and important roles that God calls a father and mother to play in the lives of their children: Teacher.

You see, the better we become at doing church, the more parents have abdicated their duty to teach their own children the sacred things of God. We have outsourced that to the children’s pastor, or the youth leader, or the small group mentor. Not that I have anything against those people—those are roles God calls people to serve within his family—but frankly, pastors and mentors have not been called to the primary role of instructor in your child’s life—you have! They are only there to assist you and complement the spiritual foundation you are laying down.

The psalmist calls us to pick up the mantle and begin to teach our children well. The parent’s job is to teach, train, and equip so well that when the child comes of age, they will not refer to “the God of my father,” but will exclaim, “my Lord and my God.” You see, God doesn’t want to be your child’s grandfather, he wants to be their Heavenly Father. That is less likely to happen if you surrender your teaching role to another.

Likewise, you are called to teach them the things of God so well that they not only will continually remember the mighty acts of God, but they will know in no uncertain terms that it is now their role to pass the sacred things of God on to their children, who will, in turn, pass it on to their children, and thus, a perpetual cycle is established where “the next generation would know.”

This is a lengthy psalm, but I would suggest it provides the core curriculum that must be mastered in every godly household if the Christian community is going multiply a godly heritage throughout Planet Earth. Within it you will find:

  • History 101—the mighty acts of God among his people. (Psalm 78: 12-16)
  • The Law of Cause and Effect 201—what happens when God’s people rebel. (Psalm 78:18-21)
  • Ownership 301—God’s sovereign choice gives him the right to place demands upon our lives. (Psalm 78: 68)
  • Living On Purpose 401—honoring God by living a life of integrity and skill (Psalm 78:70-72).

All your child needs to know can be learned in Psalm 78. Recess is over—time to get to class!

MY OFFERING OF WORSHIP: If you are a parent, ask the Lord to show you how you can reclaim the role of primary teacher in your child’s life.

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Righteous Wrath—What A Relief

God is Just—And God is Fair

PREVIEW: Ask most people and they will tell you they prefer a God of love, not wrath. They like a Jesus who is “full of grace,” but they are not so sure about a Christ whose grace is perfectly balanced with “truth.” They have, at least in their minds, as Dorothy Sayers notes, “efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified him ‘meek and mild’ and recommended him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies.” You see, most people are very uncomfortable with a Deity who actually punishes sin, preferring a world where “all dogs go to heaven”—as do all people. All of which would render judgment, punishment, and hell entirely irrelevant. However, though perfectly loving, resplendent with grace, unequaled in patience, and a place of safety for his children, God is also a bit dangerous because he is organically just. God is just, and like it or not, we should all be eternally grateful!

Auto Righteous Wrath—What A Relief - Ray Noah

A JOURNEY OF WORSHIP // Psalms 76:7-9

It is you alone who are to be feared. Who can stand before you when you are angry? From heaven, you pronounced judgment, and the land feared and was quiet—when you, God, rose up to judge, to save all the afflicted of the land. Surely your wrath against mankind brings you praise, and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.

Ask most people, and they will tell you they prefer a God of love, not wrath. They like a Jesus who is “full of grace,” but they are not so sure about a Christ whose grace is perfectly balanced with “truth.” You see, most people are very uncomfortable with a Deity who actually punishes sin, preferring a world where “all dogs go to heaven,” as do all people. All of which would render judgment, punishment, and hell entirely irrelevant.

Yet throughout the Bible we find in the Triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—a capacity for righteous wrath: Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed by fire, moneychangers are given the bum’s rush right out of the temple, greedy Ananias and Sapphira drop dead in church, and at the proper time, the living and the dead will face the final judgment. Though perfectly loving, resplendent with grace, unequaled in patience, and a place of safety for his children, God is also a bit dangerous because he is organically just.

I prefer a God like that. I don’t want the syrupy, doting eternal Santa Claus who does nothing but dispense goodies to one and all—even the bad ones. I want a God who is fair and true and just…and dangerous.

However, what I prefer, what anyone prefers, matters little. Like it or not, the kind of God we get is a God of love—and of justice! Likewise, the kind of Savior we get wasn’t the sugary sweet version so many in our culture have made him to be—a sanitized, tame, Mr. Rogers version of Christ. Dorothy Sayers was right,

To do them justice, the people who crucified Jesus did not do so because he was a bore. Quite the contrary, he was too dynamic to be safe. It has been left for later generations to muffle up that shattering personality and surround him with an atmosphere of tedium. We have declawed the lion of Judah and made him a housecat for pale priests and pious old ladies… To those who knew him, however, he in no way suggests a milk-and-water person; they objected to him as a dangerous firebrand.

But the Bible is quite clear: Jesus is no pussycat—he is the Lion of Judah, and one day, as 2 Timothy 4:1 says, “Jesus Christ [will] judge the living and the dead.” And on that day, all of heaven will thunder, “You are just in these judgments, you who are and who were the Holy One…Yes, Lord God Almighty, true and just are your judgments.” (Revelation 16: 5,7)

All of creation, including you and I, will be utterly amazed at the justice and fairness of God’s judgment, and we will stand in solidarity to declare in unison, “That’s exactly right—true and just are your judgments!”

Justice will finally be served by the only One who can be trusted to judge in righteousness and fairness. What a relief!

MY OFFERING OF WORSHIP: As you read scripture, the next time you come across a passage where God is meting out punishment or issuing a law that seems so incredibly harsh to our modern, sophisticated ears, just stop and by faith, thank God that he is both just and fair.

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God Rules—Live With It!

God's Sovereignty Means You Can Get a Good Night’s Rest

PREVIEW: If we could truly absorb the truth that God rules over all—big and small—and embrace it as a guiding principle for our everyday lives, what a difference would it make in how we approach life! We would live with less anxiety about the current global climate. We would be a great deal less upset about our current leaders or a lot less dependent on them to solve our every problem. We would be a lot less worried about whether we would have a job, good health, or a happy family when the sun comes up tomorrow. In fact, we would not lose any sleep at all about the sun coming up tomorrow or not. Why? Because God truly does rule over all, big and small!

God Rules—Live With It! -Ray Noah

A JOURNEY OF WORSHIP // Psalm 75:6-7

No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt a man. But it is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another.

What a great reminder! It is neither the Democratic nor the Republican National Committees that get their candidates elected; it is not how well organized the parties are at the grassroots level; it is not the hundreds of millions of dollars that we now spend to “buy” elections—although those factors certainly play into the outcome. But at the end of the day, it is what God permits that determines who will rise and who will fall.

The truth is we see only a little slice of history. From our perspective, the country was desperately needing change, or we were at war, and we needed a wartime leader in the Oval Office, or the economy was in shambles and we needed an administration with financial savvy to fix us, or whatever other scenario we used to describe our current context. But God lives outside of time and above circumstances, and he is moving human history to a foreordained conclusion. Daniel 2:20-21 reminds us,

Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his.
He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them.
He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.

If we could truly absorb that truth and embrace it as a guiding principle for our everyday lives, what difference would it make in how we approach life? I think we would live with a lot less anxiety about the current global climate. I think we would be a great deal less upset about our current leaders or a lot less dependent on them to solve our every problem. I think we would be a lot less worried about whether we would have a job, good health, or a happy family when the sun comes up tomorrow. In fact, we would not lose any sleep at all about the sun coming up tomorrow or not.

Now, I’m not claiming that we should adopt a do-nothing, careless approach to life. Of course not—that would make us unworthy servants (see Matthew 25:24-30) of a Master who expects us to do our best with what we have been given (Colossians 3:23-24). But remembering that God rules over all, big and small, that God controls all, big and small, that God uses all the events of this world, big and small, to bring about his perfect plan, and helps me to live out my life in a much more purposeful, peaceful, and productive way.

Here’s the thing: God rules—live with it!

MY OFFERING OF WORSHIP: When you pray today, bring every concern that you have, big or small, to God’s throne. After you have expressed them to God, let your ending statement be, “God, you rule over them all.”

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When God Is Silent

He’s Still There, Invisible, Yet Nonetheless Doing His Part

PREVIEW: You’ve had moments when you dared to be brutally honest with God. You said something to the effect, “God, where are you? You’re really letting me down!” Or worse! Don’t worry, Jesus had a moment like that, too: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” But Jesus would remind us that the best part of our walk with God is not what he does for us, as glorious as that may be, it is what he does in us! And those best things, faith, humility, trust, and Christlikeness, are best forged in the crucible of silence.

When God Is Silent - Ray Noah

A JOURNEY OF WORSHIP // Psalm 74:9

We are given no miraculous signs; no prophets are left, and none of us knows how long this will be.

Have you ever talked to God like the writer of this psalm did? I have! There have been times of desperation in my life that led me to frustration with God—when a loved one was on her death-bed, when a conflict arose that seemed to have no resolution, when a financial need was staring me in the eyes and I had absolutely no answer for it; when an attack came from out of nowhere that just sucked the life out of me.

You’ve had those moments, too. And if we dared to be brutally honest with God, we said something to the effect, “God, where are you? You are really letting me down on this one!” Or worse! Don’t worry, Jesus had a moment like that: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)

Perhaps your desperate cry to God has been more general—like the one in this particular verse. Your holy discontent has led you to prayerfully complain to God that he never seems to show up in his power and glory, with signs, wonders, and miracles, as he did in days of old—and there seems to be no indication that he will anytime soon. You are desperate for God, but he doesn’t seem desperate for you.

The writer of this psalm most likely penned this prayerful lament after the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BC. The Jews were deported to Babylon, the Holy Land had been overrun and defiled by pagans, and God’s people were in a bad way—with no end in sight. Worst of all, God was silent—he wasn’t acting (“no miracles”), he wasn’t talking (“no prophets”), and there was no game plan except for more of the same (“we don’t know how long this will be”).

So, the psalmist poured out his complaint—which is always a good thing. And even though it wasn’t in this psalm, God did give his people some profound advice (I guess his advice is always profound since, after all, he is God) through a prophet who served around the same time as the Palmist. His words are recorded in Jeremiah 29:1-23. I hope you will take the time to read them.

Of course, this passage contains the verse that everyone loves: Jeremiah 29:11—I know the plans I have for you…plans to prosper you and give you a hope and a future. But read the context. God is, in essence, saying to them, “This difficult time is going to take a while, and yes, I will see you through it. But in the meantime, bloom where I’ve planted you. Even though you don’t hear me or see me, I am still at work. I’m doing my part, so you do your part by staying faithful and useful to me.”

Here’s the deal: The best part of our walk with God is not what he does for us, as glorious as that may be, it is what he does in us! Faith, humility, trust, and Christlikeness are best forged in the crucible of adversity. God has done that with all the greats—Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, Elijah, Job, Daniel, and Paul. And with each of those spiritual heroes, part of the crucible included God’s silence. As Oswald Chambers called silence “the first sign of his intimacy,” noting that,

God’s silence is the sign that He is bringing you into an even more wonderful understanding of Himself.

Are you frustrated with God’s silence in your time of desperation and adversity? Why should you be any different than the greats of our faith? Out of the fire of adversity, including the silence of God, comes deeper understanding and intimacy with God, along with the fruit of righteousness. So, while frustrating times seem to last far too long, fruitful people are those who have endured through them while trusting God to do his work … no matter how long it takes.

MY OFFERING OF WORSHIP: If you are going through a difficult time where it seems like God is invisible, distant, and deaf, begin to thank him for the grace of his silence.