Morality, Justice and Righteousness

Morality, Justice and Righteousness

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Amos 5:24

But let justice run down like water,

And righteousness like a mighty stream.

God spoke these words through the prophet Amos when the northern kingdom, Israel, was at the height of prosperity and at a low spiritually.  Greed and exploitation were the ruling values in the business world.  Worship of pagan gods was the center of religious life.  God refused the offering that the Israelites brought with unrepentant arrogance to the temple.   He would rather have His people practice justice and righteous rather than have them involved in meaningless religious rituals and lives devoid of devotion to their Creator.

We often ask why is there so little morality, so little justice, so little righteousness in our world today.   Part of the answer lies in the fact that so little morality, so little justice, so little righteousness are in the Church.  Justice and righteousness are foundational to a vibrant society.  True justice and righteousness are found only the Lord.

As God spoke to His people in the days of Amos, so He is speaking to His people, the Church, today.  We speak out against the persecution of the Church.  We despair as those in authority deride Christian values.  We stand in fear as our right to worship is eroding away. We decry the lack of prayer in the public arena and skip worship services to do our shopping.  Empty pews grace our churches.  Few Christians attend Bible studies.  Prayer meetings have been cancelled because of lack of attendance.  Sunday sports have become a priority for both children and adults.   

We often use church attendance and our offering as a means of buying position and authority in the congregation.  As our lives become more and more devoid of devotion to our Creator, church becomes more and more a meaningless religious ritual. We gossip about other church members.  We desire to bend pastors to our will rather than allowing them to follow the Holy Spirit.  Our relationship with others is a manifestation of our relationship with the Lord.   

God is crying out to us, “Come back.  Put away injustice and unrighteousness.  Be a template of victory in the midst of adversity.  No matter what circumstances come against you, remember that I have given you justice.  No matter how unrighteous the world system is, I am always righteous and through the blood of Jesus Christ, I have imputed righteousness to you.  

May we cry out of repentant, submissive hearts, “The world has treated me unjustly, but God has given me His justice.  Therefore, I can let His justice flow down like water over others. The world has treated me unrighteously, but God has given me His righteousness.  Therefore, I can let His righteousness flow like a mighty stream over others.”

Read another article on the same topic:

“No!” “A Better Economy Won’t Fix It!” By Mike Pyatt (on page 1 of the website)

http://www.usrpn.org/articles/category/wyoming/

God Is Love

God Is Love
By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

1 John 4:7-8 (NKJV)
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.


    Because God is love, He is worthy of love, our intimate, personal, individual love.  We are to love Him with all our hearts. When asked which commandment was the most important, Jesus answered: "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'  This is the first and great commandment. "(Matthew 22:37-38 (NKJV)

    All of our emotions: our joy, peace, anger, indignation, longing, and hope should result from our love relationship with God.  We have peace and joy in fellowship with Him.  Our anger and indignation should well up against those things that offend His holy name.  Our longing and hope must center on the fulfillment of His will.

    We must love Him with our soul, which is our intellect and our reasoning. We cannot love Him with our soul unless we know who He is, unless we know that He came to give us life in abundance. (John 10:10b)    His love took Him to the Cross.  His love brought Him from the grave.  His love touches our hearts and changes us for all eternity.  His love sets us free from fear, from doubt, from the bondage of sin.  It is truly God’s love that makes the world go ‘round.  The more we know of Him, the more deeply we will love Him.   

    We are, likewise, to love Him with our might, our physical strength.  Every action we take, every move we make, every word we speak should center on loving God and glorifying His Name. We are to be walking, talking testimonies of the love of God.  Our lives are to be beacons shining the love of God found in Christ Jesus to an anguished world. 

    Lord, we confess that we do not love You as You are worthy to be loved.  Our prayer is that we will grow in grace and in knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, because then, and only then, will we grow in love.  May our very lives give testimony to the truth that the Lord our God is love.  Amen

Prayer for the Restoration of Fatherhood

Prayer for the Restoration of Fatherhood

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Malachi 4:5-6 (NKJV)
^“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.
And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse."

            Father God, we recognize the need for the biblical spirit of fatherhood to be reestablished in our families, in our churches and in our nation.  We repent of embracing a negative attitude toward fatherhood.  We repent of our culture’s bombarding us with television shows, movies, books and other media that have established in our minds the picture of fathers as either indolent buffoons or workaholic menaces.  We are grieved that we have so long endured the picture of a man as one who spends his time golfing, drinking beer and watching television. 

            We declare with You, Father, that it is time for the hearts of the fathers to turn to their children and the hearts of the children to turn to their fathers.  We are saddened, as You are saddened, to see so many of our children without fathers or father-figures in their lives.  It is time, as well, for the heart of our culture to turn toward the fathers. 

            The spirit of fatherlessness has become a curse upon our land.  That curse is breaking up our homes, discouraging our children and setting our society on a course that is contrary to the will of God.  By the authority given us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we rebuke the spirit of fatherlessness.  We break the assignment of the enemy against fatherhood.  We declare that the biblical spirit of fatherhood will arise in our homes, our churches and our nation.  We pray for the familial bond of love to once again be the cornerstone of our society. 

            In the Name of Jesus, we bless fatherhood under the authority of Jehovah God, our heavenly Father.   We declare that our children will be blessed because their fathers (or father figures) walk in integrity.  Amen.

Proverbs 20:7 (NKJV)
^“The righteous man walks in his integrity; His children are blessed after him.”

Those Things That Abide: Faith VS Fear

Those Things That Abide:  Faith VS Fear
By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

1 Corinthians 13:13 (NKJV) " And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."

    Although we are often uncomfortable with change, we live in a continually changing world.  We often feel adrift in the uncertain stream of those changes.  The one certainty that we have is that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever more. (Heb. 13:8).  In that certainty, we can abide, now and forever, in faith, hope and love. 

    To abide in faith, we must first overcome fear.  Fear is deeply embedded in the collective psyche of mankind.  When man fell, fear entered (Genesis 3:9-10 NKJV). “Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?" So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself."    From that experience on, the Bible tells us again and again not to walk in fear.  Clearly, fear is troublesome.  

    John 10:10 (NKJV):  “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Fear entered when the thief of our joy came into the garden.  Fear exits when we accept the abundant life we can have in Jesus Christ. 

    Romans 12:3 tells us that God has given to each of us a measure of faith.  The object of that faith determines whether we walk in abiding faith or unsettling fear.  When we place our faith in the things of the world, in the philosophies of man, or in ourselves, we meet with despair, disappointment and fear.   Whenever we think that mankind has all the answers, we need only to watch the news.  

    When we place our faith in the unchanging nature of God, we walk in the knowledge of Isaiah 55:8-9 (NKJV):  "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts”.   By faith, we know that in spite of what is going on around us, our Lord knows the way through our wilderness.  

    When we place our faith in Him, we know that the way is good because He is good.  We know that we are surrounded by His love because He is love.  We abide in peace because He is the Prince of Peace.  In spite of circumstances, we can be filled with His joy, and the joy of the Lord is our strength.  In our faith in Who God is, we have victory over fear.

    Father God, we confess the fear that troubles our spirits and keeps us from Your peace and comfort.  By the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, we release that fear, and by faith, welcome Your peace.  We choose this day to abide in faith. Amen

In the Eye of the Beholder.

In the Eye of the Beholder

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NKJV)
 “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven.”


    I know that to many it is a nuisance, that burst of yellow that suddenly appears in Spring’s manicured lawn.  Yet, it pleases the eye and dashes winter’s chill.  Its blades nourish, and its stems while away childish hours becoming necklaces and baubles that delight the heart of a would-be princess.  A child’s purity of vision sees its beauty, treasures it and gathers it into bouquets that wilt in smudged fingers.
    As it is in the natural, so it is in the spiritual. No matter what our situation; no matter what exasperation we cause others, God sees our beauty.  He fashions us into jewels and gathers us unto Himself so we can serve in nurturing others.  We are His “dandy lions.” 

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NKJV)
“He has made everything beautiful in its time.”


                                                     DANDELION    
    Dandelion,
    Often peeping through the snow--
    Crystals frosting saffron bloom and verdant blade,
    Your song bursts forth.
    Sing, Flower of Spring, sing.

Worshiping in the Beauty of Holiness

Worshiping in the Beauty of Holiness

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

           

"Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, 'Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, you shall be holy because I am holy.’" (Leviticus 19: 1-2)

            We are to be holy because God is holy.  What is holiness?  We have seen the artistic renditions of holiness:  saints, serenely enveloped in halos of purity and light.  But somehow, we cannot put ourselves and our daily lives into that framework.  God knows our frailties, our inability to be holy within ourselves.  Therefore, He has made provision for us so that we may be holy as He is holy.  God is spiritually whole.  He is perfect.  He is complete.   Because in these earthly bodies, we cannot become spiritually whole, God has become our wholeness.  Because on earth, we cannot attain perfection, He has become our perfection. He is not only our example of holiness, He is our pathway to holiness. 

            The psalmist encourages us, to “worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him all the earth.” (Psalm 96:9 NKJV)  When, through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, we stand in His spiritual wholeness, in His perfection, in beauty of His holiness, we can truly worship Him. 

            God is holy.  Through the sanctifying work of the Cross, He has set us apart to worship Him in holiness.   To worship the holiness of God is to understand the nature of God.  To understand the nature of God is to obey His commandments, the greatest of which is to love Him with all our heart, soul and mind. (Matthew 22:37) It is in our love for Him that we worship in the beauty of holiness. 

  

            Lord, we lift our hands in temple of our hearts and worship You. You are holy God, worthy of adoration, and yet desirous of fellowship with Your children.  Anoint us, empower us that we may walk in obedience and love and holiness. Father God, we receive Your wholeness within ourselves.  Though we are imperfect, we stand in your perfection so that we may worship You in the beauty of holiness. Amen.

Shavuot/Pentecost--Growing in the Lord

Shavuot/Pentecost--Growing in the Lord

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

            Shavuot or Pentecost is the third of the Levitical Feasts which required all Jewish men to bring an offering to the Temple in Jerusalem.  As we continue to look more closely at the Feast Days, we gain an understanding of the importance of the days that God has designated as His appointed times. 

Shavuot is the Hebrew word for weeks. There are seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot.  The Feast takes place exactly 50 days after Passover. The Greek word for the holiday is Pentecost, which means 50.  50 is the number of Jubilee, symbolizing restoration and newness of life.  In ancient Israel, every 50^th year was a Year of Jubilee.  Debts were canceled and land was returned to its original owner.  It was a time of celebrating freedom in the Kingdom of God.  It is always jubilee for Christians because Jesus has paid our sin debt and set us free.  

Shavuot celebrates the first fruit of the wheat harvest.  Passover is the celebration of the first fruit of the barley harvest.  The Feast of Tabernacles celebrates the harvest of the fruit of the land.  God’s plan is all about harvest. On Shavuot, the first fruits, Bikkurim, were brought into the temple in decorated baskets.

As we study the historical events that occurred on Shavuot, we discern a pattern of growing in our relationship with the Lord.  It was on that day, 1500 years before Christ, that God gave Moses the law on Mount Sinai. The Ten Commandments are God’s directives to an abundant life in Him.  When we are obedient, life is less stressful, we are more victorious and more open to all the blessings that God has in store for us.  In synagogues all over the world, Shavuot is celebrated by reading the 10 Commandments.

It was also on that day, fifty days after the crucifixion of Jesus, that God sent His Holy Spirit to fall upon 120 disciples who were praying in Jerusalem.  Acts 2:1-4 (NKJV)
¹ When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. ² And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 

            Notice the pattern.  The disciples were in Jerusalem because Jesus had told them to stay there until they had received the gift of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 1:1-5)  They were obedient.  They were in one accord and in one place.  They were in unity.  Then they received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. First comes obedience to the Lord and unity within the body. Then the power of the Holy Spirit comes.

The same God that appeared to His people on Mount Sinai in fire and glory (Exodus 19:18), appeared to those waiting in the upper room, manifested His power once again in fire and then filled them with His Spirit.

Messianic Rabbi K.A. Schneider of the television ministry Discovering the Jewish Jesus writes, “At Pentecost/Shavuot God went from reaching us through tablets of stone, to touching us by His Spirit in our hearts. God’s relationship with man has moved from the outer to the inner, and because of this we are eternally empowered to move forward in our relationship with Him.”

The power of Pentecost, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, is available today in the same measure as it was in the Upper Room.  God has empowered us for victory.