I started these notes at the train station in Kiev, on January 16, 2009. I had taken the train the night before spent the day in productive meetings and while waiting the last several hours for my train back home I opened my computer to the sixth chapter in Ezekeil, I was hoping that at least one verse would jump out at me, and it did, so here are my thoughts.

Why does God allow hardships, famine, war, sickness and other such bad things? Well of course the easiest answer is to say that sin entered the world and with sin death. Death includes dying and suffering and hardships and all that goes with it. Yet, it seems that a deeper answer can be found. Sometimes hardship can come our way in spite of following God closely. Remember the story of Job. God allowed Satan to harm Job to prove to Satan that Job was genuine in his faith. This, however, is not always the case. Sometimes God sends trouble our way to punish us and also to give us a slap in the face to wake us up, so that we return to Him.

The verse that jumped out at me in the train station is this:

"However, I will leave a remnant, for you will have those who escaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered among the countries. "Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations. "Then they will know that I am the LORD; I have not said in vain that I would inflict this disaster on them."' (Ezekiel 6:8-10)

A good way to find out how strong a person is, is to see how much they can lift. Likewise with building materials to find out what they are capable of we need to add weight and record what happens until they break or bend beyond what is acceptable.

When a broken bone isn't set right it will heal as best as possible, but it will be prone to pain, infection and breaking again. The only way to get fully healed is for a doctor to break it again, set it correctly and then it can heal fully and wholly as intended. Stay with this thought for a moment.

With Job the only way to test his faith was to add enough to make him break. Job loved God and would not be broken. Ok, so what does that have to do with Ezekiel and the people of his time? Well, you see here the people broke in their faithfulness when everything was going really good. They didn't need a stress test to find their breaking point. They broke in their faith and went away from God even when things were going good.

Not being next to God leads to a spiritual wound, because we were created for our creater. Being spiritually wounded they healed their spiritual wounds by worshiping the idols. Everything was healed wrong, so they healed those wounds by bowing down to different idols. This didn't work, yet they tried again and again and nothing worked because they didn't come to God for healing and forgiveness. So this time God took those spiritual wounds and broke their bones (spiritual bones) Himself. You see God needed to set their spiritual bones in the right spot in order for healing to happen. You can not heal spiritual wounds without coming to the creator of your spirit, Jesus Christ.

The choice is clear- we must humble ourself, allow ourself to be broken, and in asking for forgiveness ask God to set the bones correctly, then healing will happen.

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Thoughts on Ezekeil 6: 8-10 Part 2

The world we live in seems to be caving in around us. The war in Gaza, the world economy, the natural gas crises in Eastern Europe. I have read and heard and it seems to be a popular question, “Where is God in all of this?” I, however, am not to convinced that it is a good question to ask, “Where is God, in the midst of calamity?” It is of course a good question for a non believer to ask. It is a question that might lead them to faith. For as the non believer grapples with the question of where God is, he or she starts seeking and there, where one seeks, God is found. However, what I find a bit surprising is that believers are asking where is God in all of this? Yes, well, where is God? Well, the question is, “Where was God when things were going well?” Where was God when all was very nice and war, hunger, famine, tough economic times and the like seemed too far away to think about?

Ezekiel was told to prophecy about coming hardships. Yes indeed hardships were prophesied and it came directly from God! Why? Well because when times were good the people forgot about God. They didn't see any need to worship Him, there was no urgency to follow His ways. They laughed at the people who strove to be Holy. They took their idols with them when they went to worship God. They said to the people who wanted to live Holy lives that God didn't really mean what He said and that Moses must have misunderstood God and that those silly laws applied only to that culture and since we are living in a new and modern age it doesn't apply to us. – Isn't that what is happening today with the letters from Peter and Paul and John who received instruction from the Holy Spirit to write their letters to the churches and early Christians? –

Jesus told a parable about a sower who threw seed onto four different places. The rocky soil is the people who accept the word of God with joy, but the roots never went down so when hardships and persecutions come they quickly wither and dry up. In Southern Ukraine we see a lot of drought. Virtually every year farmers risk losing their crops to drought. Some years the rain comes just in time and the crops are saved, but other years the rain doesn't come and the crops are lost. Oft years the churches pray with fasting and God answers by sending rain. The best defense is if the vegetation can get a head start before the dry season to get its roots down deep. It doesn't help to ask where the roots are when the dry season starts, rather it helps to see to it that they grow when the season of opportunity is at hand. It is better advice to strengthen a building when it is calm, then when the hurricane is at your front door. Hold Christ near to you when the times are good and when everything seems to be going your way, yet keep yourself from being deceived into believing that life will always be easy. See to it that your roots are deeply embedded in Christ, through worship, prayer, and meditation in the word. If you do this you will not be asking, “Where is God in the midst of all of this tribulation?” You will know, where He is. You walked in His light in the day when everything was going good and now His light is still with you. If you do this you will have an answer to give to anyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that you have inside of you. When others are asking, “Where is God in all of this?” You will know, you will be able to share with others, you will be a light to others and your light will lead them to God and His light will shine on them and they will stop asking, “Where is God in all of this?” and start rejoicing and declaring, “Thank God that God is here in all of this!”

Merry Christmas!!

You might be thinking to yourself, either you are rather late or very early. But let me say again,

Merry Christmas!!

We live in Ukraine, so Christmas for us is on January 7 and today is January 10 my first day off since Christmas and I want to take the time to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

Christmas was not like usuall this year. It was in many respects better than past years. On Christmas morning at 11:00 our church celebrated with the children. The children put on a Christmas pageant. It was wonderful to watch the story of the Inn Keeper, who gave the last room to a rich merchant and thus no room was found for Mary and Joseph and how this Inn Keeper later came to worship Christ and was cured of greed. The children did a splendid job, I was so delighted for them.

Then at 16:00 we gathered with the adults and youth. First we had a Christmas worship service and then we had a meal together. I preached a sermon entitled If its Christmas, why is Rachel crying? Today I translated the sermon from its original Russian language and will share it here with you. I welcome your feedback, comments and opinions.

Merry Christmas!! But why is Rachel crying?

It's Christmas again. Christmas is without a doubt one of the best times of the year. Christmas is the time when we celebrate God coming to visit us. God took on the form of a person and came as a person. He ate our food, He knew hunger and lived a human life. We celebrate this gift from God, we give gifts, we say nice things and all of it is very good.

Who would have thought that God who created all things and to whom all things belong would come to visit this planet as a person?! Yes! Because not only did God create this world He also sustains it and loves it. He created us for Himself, but we rejected Him and this time He Himself came to once again draw us unto Himself. He came to take responsibility for our sins and to pay the price for our disobedience.

When I remembered the Christmas story this year, (January 7, 2009 — Ukrainian Christmas) I remembered Rachel. If God came to give us life, forgiveness and joy why is Rachel crying??

I asked myself again, why is Rachel crying??

You might, depending on how well you know the biblical version of the Christmas story, ask, «Who is Rachel?»

Rachel is the name given to all the mothers in Bethlehem who lost their sons when Herod gave orders to kill all the male children two years and under in the vicinity where Jesus was born. Herod felt threatened by the birth of Jesus and the most simple solution was to kill Jesus.

Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi. Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: "A VOICE WAS HEARD IN RAMAH, WEEPING AND GREAT MOURNING, RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN; AND SHE REFUSED TO BE COMFORTED, BECAUSE THEY WERE NO MORE."
(Matthew 2:16-18 NASB)

Why, if Jesus was born to wipe away tears, was it necessary for Rachel to cry? Why, if Jesus was born to give life, was it necessary for these innocent boys to die?

Of course you could say that satan, working in and through Herod wanted to kill Jesus and I agree with this. Satan has always wanted to kill Jesus and not only Jesus, but also everyone who is close to Him. It is a well known fact that if you get close and personal with Jesus satan will want to kill you.

But still the question remains, why didn't God protect these innocent children, Rachel's children?

It turns out that when God redeems and frees that He often does it through sufferings. It pleases Him to redeem and to free in this way. The one, through whom, God brings: redemption, freedom, justice, reconciliation, must bear the price, and suffer.

There must be a spiritual law to all of this, some reasoning to it. Some of you might know what the reasoning is, you might know the spiritual law to why God redeems through suffering.

Today, I am not so interested in proving why this happens, but I can show that it does and to some extent what happens in the process.

Let's look at some characters from the bible.

1.Abraham — in order for God to bless all the nations through him, he had to leave his home.

2.Joseph — he was sold into slavery in order that God might save his father, Isaac and family. All of God's promises to Abraham were wrapped up in the person of Isaac, so it was very important for God to save this family from starvation.

3.Ruth — she suffered the death of her husband and needed to leave her homeland, then work in the fields to feed her mother in law. God took her sufferings and hardships into mind and included her in the lineage of Jesus.

4.Esther — forced to marry a heathen, then she needed to make up her mind to be ready to die before God saved the Jewish nation through her.

5.David — forced to live in the mountains, go without food, embrace sufferings before he became the leader and shield for those who needed protection the most.

Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Now there were about four hundred men with him. (1Samuel 22:2 NASB)

6.Look at the lives of the prophets and you will see the like, repeating itself over and over again.

When a person commits his life to Christ, he or she usually knows that Christians are supposed to do good deeds, and love other people. Some even know that being a Christian includes loving your enemies, some don't know this and when they find out they stumble. But few know, when they commit their lives to Christ, that the Christian life includes a ministry of suffering. Few talk about it. What does this mean and what does it look like in real life?

Let us look at two of Jesus' ministries while He was physically on earth, from the time of His birth in Bethlehem to the time of His death on the cross.

1.The ministry of healing. — Jesus had a very special ministry of healing!! Healing, though, was a ministry before Jesus' birth — look at Naaman in 2 Kings 5 and others. God also healed through others after Jesus. Peter, Paul and others had ministries of healing. All ministries of healing find their source and climax in Jesus. However, the ministry of healing existed before Jesus' birth and continues even to this day.

2.The ministry of suffering. — Jesus had a very special ministry of suffering!! The ministry of suffering existed before Jesus' birth and continues to this day. Again, Jesus accomplished the most through His suffering, and all suffering for the name of Christ, both before and after Jesus' life finds its source and climax in Christ.

The death of Jesus Christ was enough to reconcile us to God, but His sufferings did not end at the cross.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions.
(Colossians 1:24 NASB)

How can you prove your faith?
1.Through your life? - many people live good lifes.
2.Through your good deeds? - many people do good deeds.
3.Through your readiness to suffer for Christ? - yes! For no one will suffer for something that they don't believe in.

Suffering for Christ's sake proves our faith.

1.Suffering for righteousness lets us find favour with God. It pleases Him to acomplish His tasks in this manner.

It pleases God when we suffer for righteousness.
For by Christ's wounds we received healing.
Our sufferings are added to the sufferings of Christ, through which we find healing and justification.

For this {finds} favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer {for it} you patiently endure it, this {finds} favor with God. Christ Is Our Example For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH;and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting {Himself} to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
(1Peter 2:19-24 NASB)

Suffering for good deeds is part of God's will.

For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong. For Christ also died for sins once for all, {the} just for {the} unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;
(1Peter 3:17,18)

2.God even gives some people a special gift — to suffer for His name.

For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, (Philippians 1:29 NASB)

What does God accompish through our sufferings?

1.Through suffering God accomplishes a work in us.

i.Suffering for the name of Christ helps us gain freedom from sin.

Keep Fervent in Your Love Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
(1Peter 4:1,2 NASB)

ii.Suffering for the name of Christ teaches us obedience.

Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. (Hebrews 5:8 NASB)

iii.Suffering for the name of Christ, strengthens us, builds us up, gives us confidence in our decisions, and perfects us.

After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen {and} establish you.
(1Peter 5:10 NASB)

2.Suffering for Christ's name proves that we are God's children.

Suffering proves that we are God's children and these sufferings are nothing in comparisson with what we get.

and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with {Him} so that we may also be glorified with {Him.} For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
(Romans 8:17,18 NASB)

3.Suffering for Christ's name brings us into God's glory.

God's glory rests on those who participate in the sufferings of Christ.

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
(1Peter 4:12-14 NASB)

It gives us an extra measure of His comfort.

God comforts.

For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. (2Corinthians 1:5 NASB)

4.Suffering for Christ's name always comes with great rewards!

Thus says the LORD, "A voice is heard in Ramah, Lamentation {and} bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; She refuses to be comforted for her children, Because they are no more." Thus says the LORD, "Restrain your voice from weeping And your eyes from tears; For your work will be rewarded," declares the LORD.
(Jeremiah 31:15,16 NASB)

So why is Rachel crying? She is crying because she lost her children. Her children were choosen by God to suffer for Christ's name. They share in His glory and were part of God's plan in redeeming us. Rachel is crying! but the reward for her tears is the best Christmas present ever for all of humankind.

Today is January 2, 2009 - before telling the news in my life for the last several days I want to say that this blog is intended to glorify Christ. He is the reason for this blog and I don't want this to only tell my story I want it to glorify Christ Jesus. I love Him and I am thankful for salvation. >December 29, 2008

Reading the bible in the Toronto airport

Some thoughts

Jeremiah 50:6

6 "My people have become lost sheep; Their shepherds have led them astray. They have made them turn aside {on} the mountains; They have gone along from mountain to hill And have forgotten their resting place. (Je.50:6)

Pastors who try to please men are preaching what the people want to hear.

They are not trying to hear God, they are listening to each other.

They lead the people astray. There is insecurity in the home when children rule the home. It makes the children feel insecure, it makes the adults agitated, stressed and tired. So too there is insecurity in the church when the children make the rules. ...God is no longer sovereign He is subject to our temper tantrums. He is worshiped not for who He is, but when our hat sits right. His laws and statutes lose significance and are reduced to guidelines and traditions, that can be further reduced to applying only to the culture of the time of the writing if the need arises. The older children beat on the younger children. (the shepherds are the older children and the sheep are the younger children.) Instead of caring for the younger children as a parent cares for its children these selfish shepherds lead them to places that are advantages for themselves not the sheep. What is the result? Insecurity, fatigue, lack of peace, inner fighting, angst, depression, these stresses can lead to resentment, anger and bitterness. God says, they have forgotten their resting place. Imagine going to a restaurant and walking out more hungry than going in, would you continue to eat there? Imagine going to church and after the service being further from God and knowing Him less than when you went in. Instead of hearing the truth in grace, and love, you walk out believing a lie, in self righteousness you judge others. How can that happen? Instead of worshiping you have played a game called religion. Instead of seeking the righteousness of Christ you spent time patting yourself on the back for all the good things you have done for Christ, you have confirmed yourself and your own righteousness. Instead of resting in God's presence you have been working. Your hunger is not being satisfied, your thirst is not being quenched, your fatigue is only getting worse.

What can be done?

Remember that which was forgotten and return to your resting place.

What is my resting place? No! The question is not what is my resting place. The question is where is my resting place? No! Before getting to the question of where is my resting place, we need to answer the question Who is my resting place, or Who gives me rest. If the shepherds led me to places for their own benefit and since I am a sheep who can not lead himself, then I must wait for the Shepherd who leads me to the places of green pastures, still waters and peaceful rest. This shepherd is Jesus Christ. How can I know that I am following His voice? How can I know that I am not being led on a stray path? How can I be sure that I am going to be led to a place of rest and well, to tell the truth I am tired, hungry and thirsty and I don't think I can last another wrong turn.

When coming to Christ, there is no room for coming on our terms, we must come to Him on His terms. He is Lord and we are His subjects. He meets us where we are, but on one condition, that we are willing to change. There is, I believe, a deception happening, a lie being believed that when we Christians say that Jesus accepts us as we are or that He meets us where we are that that implies that we don't have to change. The underlying understanding for many seems to be that if God has accepted me then He is happy with me, and if He is happy with me, then I don't need to change. The truth of the matter is that no one, not one single person, has ever impressed God. You can not do anything to impress God, you never have and you never will. He loves you not because of who you are, or what you have done, but because of who He is and He proved His love through what He did. The only one that God is impressed with is Himself, in the person of Jesus Christ. So does He accept us for who we are? Yes! because He has full confidence in Himself that He can change us. Does He accept us where we are at? Yes! Because He has full confidence in Himself that He can bring us to the place where He wants us to be.

So then, because we can not come to Christ at any place in our lives other than the place that we are at the moment come as you are, but be ready to be changed, altered, moved, repositioned as He chooses and in His timing. First we must come to Christ in repentance. Until we repent of our sins and of our self righteousness we won't experience His glory. Second, come to worship. Worship Him for who He is, not for what you get out of it, but for what you give to Him. Tell Him that you adore Him, that you love Him, list His qualities, give Him praise. Worship Him for His infinite strength, wisdom, counsel, unfailing love, worship Him as creator, redeemer, savior, king. Bow down to Him, lift up your hands in worship, humble yourself, prostrate yourself before Him, tell Him that you are not worthy, let Him know that He alone is worthy, thank Him for allowing you to worship Him after all, sin can not enter His presence and you carry the sin nature in you. When you do this you will open your eyes to see that while you were confessing your sins and worshiping Him that He moved you. What is the place that He has moved you to? Look around. There is lush green grass around you, there is a pool of still water to drink from, there is shade under some big tree. It is a resting place. You are rested, fed, your thirst has been satisfied. It is good! You came to repent, to humble yourself, to worship, you entered into His presence and His glory descended upon you and you could not keep the tears from flowing and when you opened your eyes you realized that you have been restored, you have rested, you are filled, satisfied, you have peace you have been refreshed in Christ the One Who gives rest because only in Him can rest be found. Don't forget your resting place be sure to return often, remind yourself that God has called you to rest in Him, not to work you till you drop or to give you stress. Rest in Christ, and do not fear those who rely on their own righteousness, those who tell you what to do, who say to you stop praying and start doing, or enough of the worshiping and lets get to the working.

The resting place in Christ is very good, when you find it, don't let it go.

Thoughts on Jeremiah 50:6 – December 29, 2008 while waiting in the Toronto airport for our flight to Frankfurt.

Cliff Dueck