God Opens the Door

6 September 2020

Dear Phyllis,

How I wish you were here with me. This has got to be the best time of my life. Jesus has opened the door and taken me into a room to show me things I have never seen before. The problem is that the things He has shown me are indescribable. That means you can't describe them. I believe most spiritual truth is that way. On rare occasions the Lord has revealed some of His glory to a few prophets, They did their best to describe to us what they saw and their writings are ridiculous. The most notable are Ezekiel and John. How can you describe a rainbow to a blind man? This is what we are up against.

In a poor attempt to share with you what Jesus has been doing for me; it is an overwhelming sense of His presence, and He has made spiritual truth in the Bible so real it is stronger than actually being there. One intelligible thought Jesus gave me is: Forget supper. Supper can wait. Would someone please tell Martha to turn off the stove and join her sister Mary in the other room sitting at Jesus feet listening to what He has to say. I don't know what He is talking about but whatever it is is worthwhile hearing. We can eat later.

We all know that story (Lk. 10:38-42). We are what we are by nature (DNA). Our temperaments are all different. There are the Tim LaHaye Four Basic Temperaments – choleric, sanguine, melancholic, and phlegmatic. I have known about this for many years and found it quite helpful. There is another grouping of those who are job oriented and others who are people oriented. We need them both. Martha obviously is choleric and Mary is a real melancholic. Martha is job oriented and Mary is a people person. If we didn't have Marthas in the world the job would never get done. Mary, frankly, is (was) irresponsible. In one sense Martha was right in that Mary should have been in the kitchen helping get supper ready. But Jesus was clear which one He sided with. He said “Mary has chosen the better part that will not be taken from her”.

My times with Jesus are not long, but reasonably consistent. He comes to fellowship with me in the morning. It grieves me that our time is so short - how I wish it would last all day. But afternoons and evenings belong to You Tube. Oh, when Jesus is there the Word just comes alive. Much of the rest of the day is thinking about what an unbelievable mess America is in. I have spent an enormous amount of time in Revelation recently. I am struck by the contrast in the two different scenes. Most of Revelation is talking about what is going to happen to the earth. There are the Seven Seals, Seven Trumpets, and Seven Bowels. All of this is related to the earth. But at the same time, John has given us a view of what is happening in heaven. With the exception of a couple verses that says the was a war in heaven and the devil was cast out (Rev. 12:7-12), nearly everything else is either worship or celebration. There is not a sour or pessimistic note sounded in heaven. As we watch America being burned to the ground, looking at heaven should give us a fresh breath of air.

I am greatly intrigued by the life of David. Two books of the OT are devoted to describing his life. 1 Samuel is pre-king, and 2 Samuel tell us about his life as king. Along with this we have the Psalms, Psalms has got to be one of the most difficult books in the Bible. David wrote 1/3 of the Psalms. Peter tells us that, at times, the prophets of the OT didn't know what they were writing about other than they were being moved by the Holy Spirit. I'm sure Isiah had no idea what he was writing about when he wrote Isa. 53. Likewise I doubt that David had any idea what he was writing when he wrote Ps. 22. But much of it was his own personal experience. So much of his psalms are about his troubles and enemies that I find it difficult to place this at the time he was king. If this is true that means that many psalms were written his first 30 years when he was being chased from pillar to post by Saul. I believe we can safely say the Lord was with David during both periods. He was with David when he was hiding in a cave and he was with David when he sat on the throne. Which was better? The environment and situation were much different, but the Lord was there during both times.

Our relationship of being with Jesus, or Jesus being with us, is abundantly clear in Scripture. This is the unnoticed, unsung, major messages in the Bible. His presence with us is almost the central point in both the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Both the book of Ezekiel and Revelation end on the note of God dwelling with His people (Ez. 48:35; Rev. 21:3; 22:3,4). That is the ultimate. It can't get any better than that.

But if Jesus is with us just as He was with David in the cave, why do we live such distant lives from Him. I love the song Be Thou My Vision - “Be Thou my best thoughts by day or by night; waking or sleeping Thy presence my light” Oh how I wish that was true. The trash and nonsense that fills my mind most of the time is outrageous. How I wish all that distraction was eliminated leaving only Jesus to be admired and praised.

Samuel Rutherford said, “Jesus shows me meat but will not allow me to eat it. He holds out an apple, but when I stretch forth my arm to take it He pulls it back. He tells me to seek His face but when I do He hides so I cannot find Him.” I know exactly what he is talking about. Much of that is my experience. There is so much I see in scripture, and yet I am unable to get it from the page into my mouth. But frustration is not a bad thing. Pangs of hunger only increases the desire to eat. Being filled with hunger for Jesus is a sign of a healthy believer. Dusty Bibles are a deadly sign. fact that I can see somethings is an encouragement that reality actually does exist

How we long for the day when we shall see Him as He is, but that should not distract us from the fact that He has come and He does live in our hearts today. In that sense we do have a greater privilege that David knew when the Lord was with him in the cave.

I have been badly down for the past month. Three months ago I was walking 3 km a day. Today it is doubtful that I walk 300 meters a day. Three months ago I felt I was running at at close to 100%. At present I am running at 5-10%. I have lost a great deal of weight. My pants are now about 4 inches too big. The sores on my cheeks have gotten noticeably worse. I have had one on both sides of my face for over four years but the one on the right cheek never bled. It is bleeding now. The sore on my left cheeks has grown considerably and a great deal of fluid is draining every day. But apart from lack of energy I feel fine and have absolutely no discomfort. I decided to go to the hospital yesterday, but when I got there I noticed it was a mandatory face mask place and got so mad I didn't go in. I get pretty emotional about face masks. There hasn't been one case of covid in Chiang Mai in months and yet they act like it is the bubonic plague and we will all die if we don't wear face masks. This has absolutely nothing to do with public health safety. In the states it is black and white political. Oddly enough my health is so far down the list of prayer concerns that it is almost off the list. I honestly can't pray with deep concern for healing but plead with the Father daily that Jesus might be glorified in my body. I have told Him that this body is His and He can do anything He wants with it. I also assure Him that I know He has made me the care-taker of it and I am responsible how I protect and treat it. I am so little concerned about my health that I really don't care which way it goes. Let Jesus make that call. Whatever He wants is fine with me. Only that Jesus be honored in my body.

Thank you for praying, bill