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You are Yahweh, Most High over all the earth, far transcending all gods.
PSALM 97:9 TNJB

I am Most High over earth—exalt Me above all false gods of the heart.
     Idols are low-life—I am the Infinite High God.
     Idols are deaf—I pay attention to every prayerful word.
     Idols are heartless and insensitive—I care deeply about you.
     Idols are blind—I am aware of every agony, attitude, and action.
     Take the high road of eminent domain, not the low road of idolatry.
     Surrender to My Transcendent Highness!

I am Most High over everything—understand that idolatry is insanity.
     Decisions built on atheism construct a dead-end road.
     Take the high road of enthusiastic devotion,
not the low road of irreverence.
     Submit in thoughtful homage!

I am Most High over ethics—live as a child of the Light.
     Avoid shadows—do not scurry like a cockroach in dark corners.
     Stay close to My heart and make Me the Tour Guide on your journey,
          then you will not be down-in-the-mouth for fear of being found out.
     Take the high road of excellent determination,
not the low road of iniquity.
     Struggle on in My transforming holiness!

I am Most High over eternity—feel for people who are joyless.
     Let your heart go out to those who do not worship Me—
          people who will one day sadly experience My wrath firsthand.
     The other side of mercy’s coin has a cutting edge—there is hell to pay!
     Take the high road of expectant deliverance,
not the low road of incredulity.
     See the terrifying hereafter!

I am Most High over ecstasy—celebrate My reign as King of the cosmos.
     I am Lord of the universe—so all will ultimately be right with the world.
     With very little to celebrate in your unbalanced world,
          here is a great reason to rejoice—I am redeeming you from sin.
     Someday it will become crystal clear that I am absolutely right—
          and that I am earth’s Rightful Ruler.
     Take the high road of exultant delight,
not the low road of indifference.
     Sing in triumphant happiness!

(c) Johnny R. Almond
Pastor, Hull’s Memorial Baptist Church
Author, Gentle Whispers from Eternity

When the Lord restored his exiles to Jerusalem it was like a dream!

We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy.

Psalm 126:1-2 NLT

I am the Lord of freedom.

When you are captivated by sin, only I can liberate you.

No other force can unshackle you from chains of unbreakable habits.

I am the Only One who can cure sin’s cruel, deceptive addiction.

Out of your bondage, sorrow, and night, come to Me …

Into My freedom, gladness and light, come to Me  (William Sleeper, “Jesus, I Come”).*

Only My Holy Spirit can cause a turnaround of purity.

I am the Lord of faith.

I am an oasis of refreshment in an arid desert of depression.

When pessimism seems to be the norm, I give you a different heart—

     daring to be optimistic about the future because of My promises.

While you may be tearful, you are also trusting.

Out of unrest and arrogant pride, come to Me …

Out of yourself to dwell in My love, out of despair to raptures above, come to Me.*

Only My Holy Spirit can cause a turnaround of perspective.

I am the Lord of fruitfulness.

Want to celebrate the harvest? Cry your heart out—then worship.

Out of the depths of ruin untold, into the peace of My sheltering fold …

Ever My glorious face to behold, come to Me.*

Only My Holy Spirit can cause a turnaround of productivity.

I am the Lord of festivity.

I transform the nightmare of sin into a dream come true.

I turn your sad exile in a land foreign to goodness

     into ecstasy in the promised land of joy and peace.

Captivity to sin fills your mouth with lamentation and lips with sighing.

The Savior’s charm fills your mouth with laughs and lips with singing.

Out of earth’s sorrows into My balm, out of life’s storms into My calm,

Out of distress to jubilant psalm, come to Me.*

Only My Holy Spirit can cause a turnaround of peace.

© Pastor Johnny R. Almond—Day 243 Gentle Whispers from Eternity

 

The Laughter of the Redeemed

By Pastor Johnny R. Almond

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ …

because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead.

So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead.

1 Peter 1:3, 6 NLT

 

During WWII, an 18-year-old German named Jurgen Moltmann was drafted to serve in Hitler’s army. Assigned to an anti-aircraft battery, he saw the horror of fellow soldiers incinerated in fire bombings. After surrendering to the British, he spent three years in prison camps. There he saw how other prisoners “collapsed inwardly”, gave up all hope, sickened for lack of it, and some died.

 

Jurgen Moltmann had not grown up as a Christian. An American chaplain gave him an Army-issue New Testament and Psalms, signed by President Roosevelt. He read the Psalms and found something he desperately needed—hope. He became convinced that God was with him, even behind the barbed wire.  Transferred to a camp run by the YMCA, he learned Christian beliefs and experienced accepting love, being treated better than by the German army.

 

Moltmann found new life in the Gospel of Christ, after seeing only death in WWII. And there’s more to his story—the risen Christ was leading him into an unexpected future. After the war, he became a Christian theologian and focused on two ideas coming out of the story of Jesus and his personal story—God is with us in our suffering; and God is leading us to a better future.

 

“Easter Sunday”, this theologian wrote, “is the beginning of the laughter of the redeemed.” Expressing the significance of Good Friday and Easter Sunday, he wrote “God weeps with us so that we may someday laugh with him. Easter is God’s protest against death. God is not satisfied with the way the world is today, and he intends to make all things new.”

 

While I was serving as a chaplain at Arlington National Cemetery,  I read an anonymous poem on the cover of Guideposts I will forever remember—

 

Lift up your hearts, ye sorrowing ones;

And be ye glad at heart.

For Calvary and Easter Day—

Earth’s saddest day and gladdest day,

Were just three days apart.

 

“Thou art the Sun of other days, They shine by giving back thy rays.”   (John Keble: The Christian Year)

 

“’Dear woman, why are you crying?’ Jesus asked her. ‘Who are you looking for?’ ‘Mary!’ Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, ‘Rabboni!’ (which is Hebrew for ‘Teacher’). Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, ‘I have seen the Lord!’   (John 20:15, 16, 18 NLT)

 

The sight of the stone rolled away from the tomb entrance, the folded linen cloth, the absence of the corpse—none of these moved Mary to thoughts of resurrection. The riddle of Jesus’ disappearance remained unsolved.

 

“They have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid him.” Her logic is faultless. Dead bodies do not just disappear—someone has to move them. We live by laws of motion and mechanics. Science, reasoning, and perception are based upon the familiar and predictable; only what has happened before can happen now—or so we think.

 

Then Mary hears the One who had been certified as dead call her by name. Like the voice that shatters glass, the voice of Jesus shattered her world—calling her forward to new possibility and a new future.

 

“Rabboni!” (my very own Teacher) she cries out to Jesus. Then she communicated this too-good-to-keep-to-herself good news to the world. She did not shout, “I have seen the empty tomb and that proves Jesus is alive” The empty tomb never proved anything. The greatest argument for the Resurrection is personal encounter with the living Lord.

 

If something very real had not occurred on that strange, confused morning, there would have been no church, Christianity, or New Testament. Some still attempt to reduce Jesus’ resurrection to the coming of spring bringing life to the dead earth, or the rebirth of hope in the despairing soul. Some suggest these are the miracles that the Resurrection is all about, but they are not. In some way these things are miracles, but they are not this miracle—the central miracle on which the entire Christian faith pivots.

 

Konrad Adenaur, post WWII chancellor of West Germany, remarked, “If Jesus Christ is not alive, then I see no hope for the world.”  Because He is alive, we are filled with hope that our living Lord will one day solve intractable problems politicians, scientists, philosophers, economists, and warriors have for generations been unable to deal with.

 

Have you seen the Lord with heart sight? Have you heard him call your name? Have you fell at his feet and called him Rabboni?  Is Jesus your very own Teacher—leading you to see timeless truth. Is Jesus your Defense Counsel—defending you from guilt? Is Jesus your greatest Friend—letting you enjoy the pleasure of his company? Have you received his blessing, “Peace be with you”?

 

“There in the ground His body lay, Light of the world by darkness slain: Then bursting forth in glorious day Up from the grave He rose again! And as He stands in victory Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me, For I am His and He is mine – Bought with the precious blood of Christ. No guilt in life, no fear in death, This is the power of Christ in me; From life’s first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. No power of hell, no scheme of man, Can ever pluck me from His hand: Till He returns or calls me home, Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.” (“In Christ Alone” by Stuart Townend & Keith Getty)

 

Johnny R. Almond

Pastor, Hull’s Memorial Baptist Church; Fredericksburg, Virginia