River Traffic

Traveling the world, great cities of the world, almost all built on water, in fact, coming in for airplane landings, you often feel that the plane will land on water, because most air terminals, large cities, built near water, because airports must have much space, both air and land. Studying political geography, nearly all large interior cities, built strategically on rivers.

Early Christians were familiar with the barges, river traffic on both the Nile and Euphrates rivers. Jerusalem, the world's greatest Holy city not built on a river. Instead, deep under the city of Jerusalem, limestone containing rivers of water. When Sennacherib, King of Persia, conqueror and destroyer of most cities around Jerusalem, encamped around the walls of the city, actually believed that he could conquer Jerusalem just from withholding water and goods from water traffic.

The Psalms usually involve stress. The 46^th Psalm involves the duress as explained in Isaiah 36. In our imagination, we can hear those Jewish people who always stood for the reading or singing of God's Word, singing Psalm 46 at the time of the seizure of Jerusalem. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea.”

We must remember that these people were looking towards the cross, the central point of all history. The 21^st century Christian is looking away from the cross, with a knowledge of explosives, nuclear energy, the fact that fanatical-critical wisdom of men could actually move mountains into the sea. The difference, old testament believers in God, closer to the parting of the Red Sea and the Jordan River, could actually believe in such Power from God. We have a history of times when people were starved in walled cities. This was not the time, just one angel from God, killed 184,000 Syrian soldiers encamped around the city that very night. And, Sennacherib did the smartest thing he had ever done, he went home. GOD ALWAYS HAS THE LAST WORD. Pharaoh realized that, when he and his 600 chariots were drowned in the Red Sea.

My home is on a river with much traffic. During the summer, I sleep with the window open and can hear the river traffic as well as the planes coming in at the local airport. With the activity of the world, flesh, devil around us, we can be as miserable as Paul, (Romans 7) “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”

Paul learned as do all who are chosen (Paul was chosen before, persecutor, killer of Christians, on the 150 mile road from Jerusalem to Damascus, to jail more) that we are a blessed, “peculiar” people with the blessed assurance of knowing that “He will never leave us nor forsake us.” (Hebrews 13:5) It is a strange thing to me that Christians do not bask in the Supreme Happiness of knowing that God is in charge. This is fundamental Christianity. Yet, most Baptist and other churches, a known Christian, problem of any type, a “supposed” Christian pastor will send a church member to an infidel psychologist for help. We worship a God of peace, comfort, healing, over and over we are told that He heals. “I am the God that healeth thee.” (Exodus 15:26, Isaiah 53, 1 Peter 2:24)

My only child, son, Dr. John Morris, he and his wife, SBC foreign missionaries said, “With new believers, they first pray before they go to the doctor.” We have the story of one woman “who for twelve years had spent all on physicians”, but felt that if she could only touch Him, she would be healed, and so she was. (Luke 8: 43-48) One can only imagine the jostling crowds around Him on that day, but she did touch Him, persistent, believing. That very day He healed a leper. (incurable, the AIDS of that time) He healed all manner of sickness. One should never forget the Gadarenes, legion, demon possessed man in the graveyard. After Jesus healed him, the people of the city asked Jesus to leave, they evidently preferred to have a crazy man in the graveyard, possessed with 200 demons. If Jesus came to the average town today, proceeded to stop the money flow into doctor's offices-hospitals, stop the demons encircling the courthouse, school house, country, civic, golf, “boozing” clubs, would He be asked to leave? Do you ever consider those who are demon possessed on your street or in your church?

The living Word became the spoken Word, became the written Word. If your Christianity is real, you cannot get enough of God's Word. Your opinion or my opinion about the church does not matter. God is only concerned with our trust.