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- Written by: Don Goulding
Jerusalem will no longer be enclosed by walls because of the multitude of people and animals there. But I (the Lord says) will be a wall of fire surrounding Jerusalem and the source of glory in her midst. (Zechariah 2:4-5)
“Brr, swoosh,” a big-eyed, brown skinned boy glided a shard of mirror through the air at his orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico. I watched from a distance to avoid bursting his imaginary world. A fragment of glass isn’t a safe plaything and I considered taking the shard away. I couldn’t confiscate his toy without deflating an entire universe of souls desperate for rescue by the heroic Shard of Mirror.
In my own life, I can pick up one shard of life’s brokenness and build an entire universe of delusions around it. A big part of my make-believe world is the wall that surrounds my heart. I imagine bricks of acceptance mortared with ample finances will save me from deadly missiles. I get so caught up in adding defenses that I’m not even aware demons are handing them to me.
The higher my wall rises, they more necessary it becomes in my mind. My wall makes perfect sense to me. Your wall is the one I question. I don’t understand your preoccupations and you think my worries are silly.
“Wake up,” Jesus says. “You don’t need your pretend defenses because you have me.”
He’s right. While some of my fears are from real threats, my defenses are as imaginary as the orphan child’s fantasies. Jesus is the only true wall around me. He alone saves me from my sin guilt. He is the one shield that prevents the missiles of life from ever touching my eternal soul. Wherever I go and whatever happens, Jesus my Sovereign King is there ensuring I have everything I need to honor God in the moment. He will never leave me or forsake me—his words.
I have a wall of fire protecting me and his name is Jesus.
Prayer: Mighty Defender, take down my ridiculous walls so I’ll depend on you.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
But David replied to the Philistine [Goliath], “You are coming against me with sword and spear and javelin. But I am coming against you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel’s armies, whom you have defied! (1 Samuel 17:45)
Young, ruddy David ran to the battle camp with food for his brothers. Was he thinking, I will carve my name in history today by cutting off the head of Goliath? No, he was delivering cheese and dodging his bossy siblings while trying to get the lowdown on the foulmouthed, nine foot tall Philistine.
David had no delusions of grandeur as King Saul tried to fit him out with armor. He was a boy who watched sheep. But why would God deliver him from bears and lions when he fought for his sheep and not from this overlarge man who slandered the one true Jehovah? David was merely slinging stones and trusting God’s greatness like he always had.
None of us can plan to be a hero. I can’t conspire to write my own tombstone epitaph about greatness. That would only bring false acclaim from an expiring world. True greatness comes not of commanding leadership or financial success but from the strength of my dependance on Jesus. In the eternal landscape, humble faith eclipses every temporal accomplishment.
If Superman with his repertoire of heroic rescues was to trust Jesus as Savior, only then he would he understand greatness. The same is true for each of us. We all have to face the kryptonite of our dark side which leaves no one who is truly great except for Jesus Christ. The rest of us find grandeur by following him, so childlike faith wins the day.
David’s greatness was not in his skill or his cunning but in his trust of God. No one else in Israel’s army had the boyish faith of David. God turned that humble confidence into a giant victory over a giant man, and his economy works exactly the same today.
Prayer: Lord Christ, living hand in hand with you brings greatness.
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- Written by: Don Goulding
Woe to them! For they have traveled down Cain’s path, and because of greed have abandoned themselves to Balaam’s error; hence, they will certainly perish in Korah’s rebellion. Jude 1:11 (NETFull)
The largest facet on top gleams with pristine silver light. Two of the planes show color. One is mountain sky blue, the other holds a rainbow spanning yellow to fuchsia. Each of the eight triangle cuts is razor-clean, forming the tapered cylinder of the perfect diamond.
Beware, oh lover, don’t be deceived dear bride, that rarest of gems symbolizing a sacrificial vow may well be a counterfeit made of cubic zirconia. Zirconia looks, cuts and sparkles like diamond but it’s manmade. Naturally occurring diamonds are much rarer and therefore truly expensive.
Cain brought produce from the ground as an offering to the Lord. He invented his own sacrifice without seeking what God approved. Balaam intended on cursing the Israelites but his donkey refused to continue because it had more respect for God than did Balaam. Korah decided his approach to God was as good as Moses’s and his coup of the high priesthood was swallowed into a shortcut to hell.
Cain, Balaam, and Korah all tried to pass cubic zirconia off as diamonds. They offered manmade worship instead of inquiring about God’s terms of devotion. Zirconia worship construes God as we want him to be, while diamond worship lets God reveal himself as he is. Behind the first form of adoration is a preoccupation with me, while the second holds God as primary.
As I talk with people about God, I find the world rife with folks who want the benefits of posing as holy, engaging the supernatural, and going to heaven, but they don’t want to encounter the real God. It’s no wonder because the only path there takes me through the swamp of my sinfulness and who wants to wade in that stench.
To avoid the trap of Cain, Balaam and Korah, I must answer a question—Does my worship source from human imagination or am I pursuing the genuine God as revealed in the Christian Bible?
Prayer: Let me worship the real one true God.