day no. 15,764: overlooked

This morning (6/12/20), I began reading through Leviticus. When most people think of Leviticus, they think of heavy-handed, meticulous insignificance. They think that because it is repetitious, meticulous, heavy-handed and refers writ large to a sacrificial system no longer practiced by Jews to whom the texts were originally concerned nor perpetuated by Christians for whom the types and shadows of the ceremonial law have been fulfilled in Jesus.

So, when I think about Leviticus, I am struck by that; but when I actually read Leviticus, I am always reminded and struck by how hopeful it all is. For as much as it involves blood and sacrifice, it is always for the sake of forgiveness and reconciliation with God eagerly receiving soiled sinners back into His good graces and declared sanitized saints.

Leviticus reminds us of TWO important realities:
(1) God pays much closer attention to details than we'd like to imagine; and
(2) God offers much more forgiveness and grace than we ever dreamed possible

As you plod through the details of Leviticus, it should give you the shivers to think about the degree to which God is involved in the details. He holds even the atoms together. At the most minute, detailed levels, He is there. That means He is interested in the details and minutia of what constitutes our life. In one sense, this may be a great comfort knowing that there is nothing that is important to us that is overlooked by God. But that also means that many things we discount or shirk as unimportant, He sees and cares about. That means our sin problem is much, much WORSE than we even know. That is to say, there are sins we miss that He doesn't.

But the fear and anxiety produced by considering that, should immediately be mediated by the breadth and depth of His provision in grace. He covers more sins than we thought. He covers things we missed and He covers them deeper than we thought they went. 19 times in Leviticus, He calls the sacrifices of repentance "sweet." He enjoys the sight and smell of repentance and gladly receives them not merely as obligatory, but as celebratory.

In reading Leviticus, you CANNOT miss the attention to detail, but DO NOT miss the fact that all of it is aimed at forgiveness and cleansing.

day no. 15,763: too much

My friend, Linda Cox, sent me this quote from her morning devotionals this morning (6/12/20)

"If you’re following the Lord at a distance, you will have too much of the Lord to be happy in the world, and too much of the world to be happy in the Lord." -- Greg Laurie

This reminds me of the man in the iron cage at the Interpreter's House in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. 

Once you have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, you can never fully enjoy what used to pass for fine wine; but neither can you fully enjoy the flavor of the Father with your mouth full of gravel. When you deliberately keep Christ at a distance, you cannot enjoy the adventure of the path or the company of the One who makes it worthwhile.

Hebrews 6:4-6
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. 

"The happiest state of a Christian is the holiest state. As there is the most heat nearest to the sun, so there is the most happiness nearest to Christ. No Christian enjoys comfort when his eyes are fixed on vanity--he finds no satisfaction unless his soul is quickened in the ways of God. The world may win happiness elsewhere, but he cannot... Christians must seek their delights in a higher sphere than the insipid frivolities or sinful enjoyments of the world. Vain pursuits are dangerous to renewed souls... No Christian is safe when his soul is slothful, and his God is far from him. Every Christian is always safe as to the great matter of his standing in Christ, but he is not safe as regards his experience in holiness, and communion with Jesus in this life. Satan does not often attack a Christian who is living near to God. It is when the Christian departs from his God, becomes spiritually starved, and endeavours to feed on vanities, that the devil discovers his vantage hour. He may sometimes stand foot to foot with the child of God who is active in his Master's service, but the battle is generally short: he who slips as he goes down into the Valley of Humiliation, every time he takes a false step invites Apollyon to assail him. O for grace to walk humbly with our God!" -- Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

day no. 15,762: celsius 37

In Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, a conservative world order, afraid of socialistic ideas, outlaws books written containing these values and employs firemen, whose occupation is to set these books ablaze. This is the common trope: conservatism looks to squash the voices of communism by abandoning its first principles and unilaterally applying its regulations. 

What has happened, what always happens, in actuality, is quite the opposite. Conservatism despises liberalism, but allows it to exist. It defends its right to exist by sending its strongest young men to fight wars in order to protect their right to exist. In a world where conservatism is King, liberalism is permitted to dwell in the kingdom. 

Yet burning books and violations of free speech are still characterized as a conservative effort to sniff out liberalism. But these tropes, mind you, are always written in books by liberal authors, printed by liberal publishing houses, and sold in liberal bookstores. If the burden of being liberal is bearing up under such oppression, it is not hard to imagine where the charge of "snowflake" originates. I mean, who could operate under such conditions? 

The reality is that principled conservatism has always reserved room for liberals, they wrote it into their founding documents. When given the chance to begin from scratch, they felt compelled to include their right to exist in essence and in print. 

But liberalism does not return the favor. When liberalism is crowned, conservatism is outlawed. That is because liberalism is not rooted or anchored in principles of free speech, tolerance, the equity of all peoples under the law, etc.. and they demonstrate this by policing social media and determining which sources are permitted to speak on which subjects. They systematically shut down and shame all alternate sources or vantage points. They refuse to tolerate any back talk.

We live in a world where England uses the metric system. English measurements are no longer used in England. There are no inches in London, only centimeters and that, in essence, is the work of socialism in a microcosm: a people finagled out of their own history by the pressure of the spirit of the age.

When the burning and banning of books comes, it will not be lit by the matches of conservative distaste and distemper, but rather at the point of the socialistic spear. When books and blogs are taken down and destroyed, it will be done by red-handed blue-heartedness. Under the first principles, all peoples thrived. Under the governance of socialistic syncretism, the first principles will be shouted down at gun point and their writings burned to bits in the name of "diversity training."

So according to the liberal fiction, it may take 451 degrees Fahrenheit to properly burn their books, but in actuality it only requires 37 degrees of Celsius.

day no. 15,761: that's what he said

Jonah 4:1-2
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the LORD and said, "O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.

When God told Jonah to go to Nineveh to offer them mercy and forgiveness in the name of the Lord, Jonah was distressed. He didn't like the fact that the wicked could get off with a warning. But he also reasoned, if they, being absolutely horrid can go about their horrible business and be forgiven on a whim, then why can't I go about my wicked business of doing whatever I want and expect the same mercy in the end? Yet, he knew this logic wasn't completely solid, yet the importunity of it perplexed and frustrated him. He reasoned, what good is it knowing God if you can't do what you want and are obligated to do things you don't want to do when those who are living their best lives now get to do so and still be forgiven for having done so? It sounds like the ignorance of the Lord is a better deal than the knowledge of Him. On having imagined thus, he headed out away from Nineveh to test his theory. What he found in walking away from the Lord was terror and turmoil. You cannot know the Lord and enjoy walking away from Him anymore than those in ignorance of Him can experience salvation for their ignorance if they are not warned.

The episode of Jonah highlights a common theme: should we sin the more that grace may abound? If we are saved by grace, why not do what we want? And aren't the ignorant having more fun? They get to live it up with a clean conscience and then still be saved since God extends grace to whomever He desires.

Yet, Jonah received discipline when he walked away, not freedom. And the people of Nineveh didn't see grace as a license to sin, but as requiring repentance in dust and ashes in order to secure. Those of Nineveh did not prefer ignorance once knowledge arrived and knowledge can find no solace attempting to ignore what it already knows. Salvation belongs to the Lord and to know Him is eternal life.

day no. 15,760 continued... Ophelia's hymn

For each child, my wife and I select a hymn which becomes theirs. We sing a respective stanza of each of their hymns with them at night before bed and often on their birthdays. For the incomparable Ophelia Belle, we went classic and selected John Newton's timeless "Amazing Grace." The stanza has not been decided yet, but will likely either the first or second, with the second leading the likelihood race at the moment.

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found;

Was blind, but now I see.

’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,

And grace my fears relieved;

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed!

Through many dangers, toils and snares,

I have already come;

’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,

And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me,

His Word my hope secures;

He will my shield and portion be,

As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,

And mortal life shall cease,

I shall possess, within the veil,

A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,

The sun forbear to shine;

But God, who called me here below,

Will be forever mine.

When we’ve been there ten thousand years,

Bright shining as the sun,

We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise

Than when we’d first begun.

day no. 15,760: God helps those who've hurt themselves

Hosea 13:9
O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help.

We cannot bring ourselves to complete destruction. We did not create ourselves and we do not possess the authority or capacity to unmake ourselves. Even in our self-loathing, we cannot erase ourselves entirely. In God's mercy, He does not allow us that jurisdiction so that even when we have done our level best to level ourselves, He is able to help us pick up our pieces.

God helps those who've hurt themselves. 

day no. 15,759 continued... introducing Ophelia Belle

12/15/2021 - 12:10 pm

Paige gave birth to Ophelia Belle Van Voorst

8 lbs. 8 oz, 21 1/2"

happy... healthy.

Our 8th child and 5th daughter is Ophelia Belle which means "helpful beauty," or "beautiful helper."

Ophelia

Ophelia is derived from a Greek word meaning, "help, aid, succour, especially in war" according to Strong's #5622 (ὠφέλεια, ἡ, ōphéleia, o-fel'-i-ah).

Your mom is named Paige, which means "servant, assistant, helper." Her name is a take on her mother's maiden name, Page. Your big sister, Penelope's middle name is Page.  You are named after your mother's family line, your mom in particular and your big sister. May you grow up to be beautiful and helpful in the eyes of God and man, just like them.

The name "helper" is also fitting in that God made women to be helpers. It is who they are and what they are when they are glorifying their God.

Genesis 2:18

And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. 

Woman, however, was not made merely to help Man with his loneliness. She wasn't merely a companion, though she certainly was not less than that. She was a co-laborer. Man had been given the high and noble task of dominating the world. God showed man the pattern by planting a garden called Eden and said, "Now go and do this to all of that," with "all of that" being every other square inch of planet earth. God gave man dominion and commanded him to take it. But man was not capable of accomplishing this goal on his own. He needed help. He needed more hands on deck. What he needed was a woman. And that is what God made for him. This woman was not only an extra set of hands, she was a different set of hands. She was made for hard work just like him, but different work. And to top it all off, she wasn't merely another worker, but she possessed inside herself an ability to house and grow more workers. She had a garden inside of her that could bring forth fruit. Just as man had been made from the ground and woman from man, so woman was given a ground from which all future generations of men and women would spring. She was a helper indeed. No wonder Adam's first reaction was the Hebrew akin to "Whoa! What a woman!"

Before woman there was work. After her creation, there was still work, but now there was poetry. The first recorded words of the first man in the history of the world were inspired by a woman and they were beautiful. She drew that out of him. The grace of God is hard work and hymnody working together in harmony. Callouses build things and caress makes them habitable. Man didn't just need more hands. Another man would have sufficed for that. Man needed a set of hands unlike his own. The woman not only multiplied the number of hands hard at work, but magnified the work by being a different kind of hands. Feminine strength cultivates beauty, nurtures life, makes a home, and makes babies. It is good and godly work that no man could do.

Ophelia in Greek means help, especially in war. Reinforcements are always a breath of fresh air. War is inescapable and everyone has their part to play. While women are prohibited from being outfitted as foot soldiers (Dt 22:5), it doesn't mean they are exempt from the war effort. Everyone is called to contribute to the war effort. The domestic theater of the war nourishes warriors and provides them with a strong desire to defend it. Beauty is dangerous. Better to face a mama bear robbed of her cubs than a man defending a home he loves.

Song of Solomon 6:10

Who is she that looketh forth as the morning,

fair as the moon, clear as the sun,

and terrible as an army with banners?

Beauty is dangerous. It is like an opposing army decked out with waving banners. It strikes fear in to heart of those gazing at the army-clad horizon. Women are like that. They are strong and influential. They move men. They are gifted with powerful persuasiveness. Eve had a great deal of sway in the Garden. She convinced Adam to go against his better judgment. She was deceived, he wasn't. He went into sin eyes wide-opened because of his desire to give in to Eve. 

Beauty wins. That is why it is so important that it accompany truth and goodness. 

Belle

Belle means "beautiful" in French. In our time, one hardly hears the name without immediately thinking of Beauty and the Beast where the female protagonist is named Belle. She is the beautiful youngest daughter and her beauty wins over her beastly captor and the spell that bound him. Beauty, in the end, wins. It reforms the deformed and reverses the curse.

In Latin, the word bellum means "war." This is fitting since beauty is warfare. It fiercely opposes the ugly and conquers it. Beauty is not burning the house down, but in remodeling it. It doesn't draw beauty out of something, but infuses beauty into it. As Doug TenNapel points out in his Nnewts trilogy, beauty is a weapon. It unmakes the ugly. Beauty overcomes.

....

Ophelia, my prayer is that you would be a beautiful woman of God, inside and out, just like your mom. May you make the world more beautiful and may your beauty destroy many of the works of darkness that surround us. May you help mankind take dominion of God's earth in the name of Jesus: for His sake and for our good. May you make men better by being what only you can be. May you make mankind in every sense of the word: bearing them, raising them, educating then, shaping them, and nourishing them. 

Genesis 24:60

And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, "Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them."

May you be the mother of millions and may they be nourished and raised under your care to join the good fight and be good at fighting it to the extent that the gates of hell prevail not against them. Amen.

God bless you baby girl.

I can't wait to get to know you.

Love,

Daddy