Lord of the Nations

Last week while singing "Like a River Glorious" I noticed the phrase ' Lord of the nations'.  It was strange and John Alexander suggested that it was not in the Bible since the earth is under the "Prince of the Power of the Air".

The Blue Line Bible gave the following references for "Lord of the Nations" (among others because it collects all verses with the words sought whether they are in order or not):

Deut 28:12  "The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand.  You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow."

Ps 22:27  "All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You for the kingdom is the Lord's and He rules over the nations."

Ps 113:4  "The Lord is high above all nations, His glory above the heavens."

Is 52:10  "The Lord has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God."

Jer 31:10 "Hear the Word of the Lord, O ye nations."

Ez 38:23  "Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations.  Then they shall know that I am the Lord."

Hag 2:7  "'And I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory', says the Lord of Hosts."

That Ye Sorrow Not...

"But I would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope."  I Thess. 4:13

I am really curious to know where the Chinese Christians draw the line on grief over a deceased, Christian brother or sister.  I think we need to ask ourselves where the line is between appropriate Christian grief and ancestor worship, especially for a spouse that has passed on.  I ask the question because Paul obviously didn't want us as Christians to grieve as those that have no hope.

Hidden

Colossians 3:3 "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God".

What a gigantic bundle of concepts in such few words. The secret to happy and victorious Christian living is held in this profound statement. My life is hid in Him. Nothing outside of Him should be able to unsettle my life today if it is properly "hidden" in Him. Where is your life hidden?

A vivid example of a life hidden in another is that of Patriarch Jacob's relationship to Benjamin. In that epic speech of Judah to Pharaoh (who was really his own brother Joseph who had tricked his brothers and ordered to impound Benjamin) Judah says, "Sir, our father then reminded us that his favorite wife had given birth to two sons. One of them was already missing and had not been seen for a long time. My father thinks the boy was torn to pieces by some wild animal, and he said, 'I am an old man. If you take Benjamin from me, and something happens to him, I will die of a broken heart.'"