Job 38:33-35 “Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you establish their rule on the earth? Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood of waters may cover you? Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go and say to you, 'Here we are'?

Psalm 51:2 “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!”

I remember one January semester while I was attending boarding school in Zambia. The heavens opened up and rain fell and fell and fell. That semester, it was my chore to measure the amount of rainfall at the school. I had to go out to this little collector that was set out. Inside was a glass jar that would contain the water that fell over the collector during the night or the rain storm. Every morning I would go out there and pour the collected rainwater into a graduated cylinder and measure how much rainfall there was. That semester I would be out there measuring and emptying the collector two, three, sometimes four times in a day. Sometimes the rain was so heavy I was having to continually run and check to make sure we got an accurate record. However I never went out at night, which threw off the accuracy. At the end of the semester, I had measured well over 100 inches of rainfall.

That semester, the rains were even worse up stream of our little school and the floods came. The water came rushing down one night pouring down the river, washing, sweeping, wiping out everything that it could. The school, built on a hill had water lapping at the base of the buildings. The grass strip we used as a runway would only serve floatplanes for weeks. The bridge to the school was washed away, those huge African hardwood tree trunks ripped to shreds, broken, beaten, destroyed. We had a swinging bridge over the river to one of our favorite swimming spots. We had made the bridge out of steel cables - 1 ½ thick steel cables – and those had been snapped by the rushing water as if it they were threads. The cartography of the area was changed. The rushing flood besieged us in the school. It was over a week before one brave villager managed to get across the rushing torrents to help out at the school. We had to wait for the water flow to calm, although the rushing waters began to subside at a rate that none thought was fast enough. When the water was calm enough, the school boated supplies in.

The flood damaged and destroyed everything in its path that was not firmly entrenched. Some of the only surviving objects of the flood were ancient trees whose roots where so strong and deep and whose trunks were wide and strong enough to provide strength to resist the flow, yet enough suppleness that the water would not break it. Some of the other survivors were smaller trees that were sheltered behind the large, ancient trees.

I well remember the adventure of returning home at the end of the semester. We students had to be flown out from another higher altitude airstrip at a nearby mission hospital. Normally the trip might take an hour, however that trip took over half a day!

We pray that God's blessings will come down like rain, and rain is often a symbol of God's blessing, but we rarely ever expect the true results of God's blessings pouring down on us. We pray for this, yet when we get the torrential downpours and all the destruction that goes with it, we think that there is something wrong! We want the safety of our houses and the beauty of our landscaped efforts. We want the raining blessings to be similar to a soft gentle rain. We want a heavenly sprinkler system to water the laws of our lives. God wants to cleanse us from everything that would hold us back. His blessings do so. It destroys what we hold on to and rely on instead of God. It ravages our gardens and our beautiful Kincaidesque dreams turning them into a churning wilderness where the only method of survival is to be sheltered behind the Ancient of Days, letting His strength and resiliency shelter us from His mighty flood.

When we pray for God's blessings and when we ask for God to take control. When we ask Him to lead us, He takes everything from us and allows only what He desires to remain. The floodgates of heaven do so much damage to what we think things should be, but only after do we see how the changes made things better.

After that flood, the banks of the river were changed. Our muddy swimming hole was changed, and the gardens by the banks of the river were en richened by the mineral and nutrient filled river silt that had settled. The remaining trees were stronger because of the flood, while we students had the opportunity to explore a new version of our old playgrounds. The change was good, but how long did it take for us to see it that way?

May God cleanse us from all our unrighteousness and sin. May He wash away the world from us and remove the dirt of materialism, the stain of sex, the grit of avarice, and the tarnish of profanity. When He does so we will seem to loose so much, but the gain will be greater! This is what it means to live for Christ and to die to self. We can (and will) lose everything that is dear to us to focus us and entrench us with Christ. He will ensure that only He is left behind in our lives.

Search me, O God, and know my heart today;
Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray:
See if there be some wicked way in me:
Cleanse me from ev'ry sin, and set me free.

I Praise Thee Lord. for cleansing me from sin:
Fulfill Thy Word, and make me pure within;
Fill me with fire, where once I burned with shame:
Grant my desire to magnify Thy name.

Lord, take my life, and make it wholly Thine:
Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine;
Take all my will, my passion, self and pride;
I now surrender: Lord in me abide.

O Holy Ghost, revival comes from Thee:
Send a revival start the work in me:
Thy Word declares Thou wilt supply our need:
For blessing now, O Lord, I humbly plead.

Matthew 5:19-20 “Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teachers others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Moses Maimonides (A Jewish philosopher) writes that the Sanhedrin had power when it was convenient, for the time present, to make void an affirmative command, and to transgress a negative one, in order to return many to their religion; or to deliver many of the Israelites from stumbling at other things, they may do whatsoever the present time makes necessary: for so a man may profane one sabbath, in order to keep many sabbaths. We also know from historical searchings, that the Pharisees taught and valued the observance of the Law – that is, observation where people can see - so the heart of the person was not questioned, and as long as they performed the actions they were “clean”

Paul fought against this frequently, as shown in his writings against the physical circumcision some required for their interpretation of salvation. James warns us as do John and Peter to be on our guard against false teachers, or even teachers who are trying their best, but have a flawed understanding and are teaching a flawed gospel. We know that Paul corrected Peter on occasion due to some of Peter's actions an teachings! (Galatians 2:11-14) Why then should we stand back and say “well, they know better than we do, after all, they have been Christians longer, they study more, they are more intune with God, etc” when we have just as much access to scripture as they do? Their qualifications are just as important as yours and by this I mean both them and I, them and you, I and you are all sons of the Most High, fellowshipping in the Glory that is His Son.

Here we find the importance of searching scripture for ourselves. We can not just rely on the interpretation of the one who tells us, for he will be held accountable for everything he teaches and everyone his teaching influences. This means that I, as I write this devotional, will be held accountable for everything I write here, be it truth or misunderstanding. I will be held accountable for my failure to teach the truth.

The Law that God gave down, This law is established until the current heaven and earth fade away. Nothing will be removed from it and we are held accountable to it until the second coming of Christ and the New Jerusalem. The Law convicts us of our sins while Christ redeems us from those same sins. Yet we are still responsible to be a good witness and to be observant of the law, not only in our actions (as the Pharisees taught) but also in our heart and mind and soul and strength! Honoring and obeying your father and mother (no back talk..ouch!) is just as important as not killing anyone. Desiring anything that you can not have right now (an Ipod, music you have not bought, your co-workers toolbox...again, ouch!) is still coveting and is still sinful. Unless I am more righteous than CS Lewis, unless I am more spiritually in tune with God than RC Sproul, unless I am more obedient than Ravi Zacharias, unless I am more zealous than Josh McDowell, unless I am more holy than Billy Graham, unless I am more caring than Mother Theresa, and unless I am more loving than Nate Saint, I can never enter heaven. Fortunately for me (and you) Christ gave us His perfection on the cross! How awesome is that!

Teach me, my God and King,
In all things Thee to see,
And what I do in anything
To do it as for Thee.

Matthew 5:17-18 ”Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”

This past week, I watched an old movie that I watched as a child, “All Dogs go to Heaven.” A delightful movie on the surface. A con-dog and his friendly sidekick convince an orphan girl who can speak to animals to help them. They gamble on races and win and at the end, the con-dog choses to save the girl instead of himself. Delightful. Part of the plot involves this dog dying at the beginning of the movie and winding up his life watch. This brings him back to life, but permanently evicts him from heaven – until the end of the movie. Again, delightful at first. Yet the movie gives a strange view on rules and laws.

As followers of Christ, we need to be on our guard constantly for the little things that try and pervert our knowledge of Christ. The law is constant and applies to all equally. We all have broken the Law, thus all of us are deserving of hell. The consequence of just one sin is eternal damnation because the requirement for righteousness and holiness is perfection. No spots or stains anywhere, no sins or faults. Yet constantly we are being bombarded by songs and books, TV shows and movies that subvert that fact and preach that good people go to heaven, that as long as we try our best, as long as we truly believe in what we are doing we will be able to enter the pearly gates. This is blatantly false when compared to what Christ teaches. The Law is permanent, the results of breaking the Law are permanent. Yet it is Christ's gift and mercy that He paid the penalty.

There is a story of a judge in Texas who had a case brought before him. The young girl in front of the bench was involved in drunk driving and was guilty of it. The judge had all right to excuse himself from this case. The girl was his daughter. Instead, with tears in his eyes, he sentanced her to the maximum fine allowed. She gasped. The judge could not let his daughter get away with anything less than the full penalty for her problems especially since she was his daughter. He banged his gavel down, ending the case. He then got up from his chair, slipped around the bench, took off his robe of office, and took his daughters arm, then he reached into his own wallet and wrote a check for the amount she owed. He paid her fine then and there. He loved his daughter, but she had to obey the law like everyone else, and he had to enforce the law. Christ does the same for us. He pays our fine. He writes the check and says “Ill pay it for you if you will let me, all you must do is follow and obey me.” Thus the Law is satisfied, and we are granted mercy. Yet those of us who claim Christ are also judged much harsher than those who don't. Because we know better, we are held to a higher level of responsibility. When we obey Christ and follow to the best of our ability (and beyond with His strength) we complete the Law in Christ. Thus Christ fulfills the Law and we fulfill Christ. His desires are to become paramount in our life.

Do we try our best to live according to His precepts and requirements? We have been forgiven so much, it is the least we can do! I know that we all have problem areas in our lives, but despite our failures, we learn from them and learn to do better next time. The only one who never succumbed to temptation is Jesus Christ. The only way not to succumb to temptation is to not give in and to follow His example of staying in the Word and in communion with the Father. We are forgiven! Our fine is paid, our prison sentence fulfilled. We are free! Let us live like it!

The Law discovers guilt and sin and shows how vile our hearts have been;
The Gospel only can express forgiving love and cleansing grace.

What curses doth the Law denounce against the man that fails but once!
But in the Gospel Christ appears, pard’ning the guilt of numerous years.

Matthew 5:14-16 "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Driving home after work this past week, my world was encased in a low, soupy (well, thicker than soup, more like stew) fog. Unable to see more than 20 feet ahead of me, I was driving as carefully as I could. The only way that I knew that there were cars around me was by their lights. The only way they knew that I was around was also because I had my lights turned on. The light did me no good. I could not see anyways. Yet other cars were able to avoid me because they knew where I was from the light that shone out from my headlamps.

I drove out of the fog for a quick moment. In that clear area of the road, I looked out my window to the grounds of a passing farm. There stood a cow and her calf enshrouded by fog, the tendrils of the cloud snaking around the bleating calf. All around and behind them was nothing but the whiteness of the cloud.

Light, its important. Without light, or even a visible source of light, nervousness steps in and unsureness dogs our steps. Like the calf and cow out on the rising ground, encased by fog, we become distant from our surroundings, unable to continue in any direction without fear. When we have lights to show us our way, we are able to avoid the pitfalls and the traps that might intimidate us or blindside us in the fog. Our light, although it is a poor reflection, whose source is Christ aids others. We may not see any effect from it and will wonder if we are doing any good, but assuredly, the blazing light of Christ will show others the way as we try and stay on the road.

Yet there is more to His light. We ourselves are responsible to let it shine through us, imperfect mirrors though we are. We need to shine no matter where we are, no matter with whom we stand or work. I saw a sad sight at work yesterday. I found one of my co-workers was a Christian. I know this because during the luncheon hour, he slipped away, back into the hanger and went to his toolbox. I as is my wont, also spend my lunch hours, at my box reading through several chapters in my Bible and having my devotions. Curious as to why he was looking around so furtively, I followed, and watched as he pulled out a small Bible from his toolbox and bowed his head and prayed. This, one of my fellow co-workers had been hiding his light so as to fit in with the others at work!

Christ's light shines at all times. The darker the night may be, the brighter the light will seem. Do we do our best to be the best reflectors and the best lamps of God we can, or do we – like my co-worker – hide this light of ours so better to blend in with everyone? Please! Let your light shine!

Lead, kindly Light, amid th’encircling gloom, lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home; lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.

Meantime, along the narrow rugged path, Thyself hast trod,
Lead, Savior, lead me home in childlike faith, home to my God.
To rest forever after earthly strife
In the calm light of everlasting life.