On Friday I had an amazing experience of synchronicity which lead to me shelving the blog I had been anticipating and writing this one instead!
That morning I had been pondering the simple song we had been taught many years ago by Barry Maguire.
It’s a happy day and I praise God for the weather.
It’s a happy day and I’m livin’ it for my Lord
It’s a happy day and things are gonna get better
Livin’ each day by the promises in God’s word.
I thought of how life does get better and better, when we are ‘Livin’ each day by the promises in God’s word’ ……because the longer we live the more we are convinced through personal experience that God’s promises are indeed faithful and true! We prove the truth of Paul’s words,“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. (2 Cor.1.22)
My mum used to have a ‘promise box’, and as visitors to our home were about to leave she would always say, “Oh but you’ll have to get a promise first.” They would then use the tiny tweezers to pull out one of the little scrolls from a compartment in the box, and read the bible verse containing ‘their’ promise from God for that day.
Sometimes I find myself singing “……and things couldn’t get any better, Living each day be the promises in God’s word” for we know that God’s perfect plan is being perfectly outworked in every way and in every day.
I had the privilege of attending my mum at the end of her life. As she slipped into a coma she seemed to move between two worlds as she could be heard muttering things like “Would you like another piece of cake?’ Is there anything more I can get you?” It seemed that her earthly gift of hospitality was now being engaged in hosting at a heavenly banquet!
On one occasion as I leaned in toward her to pray, she must have detected the sadness in my voice as I anticipated her nearing departure.
“But it’s a happy day!’ she protested.
Taken aback, I literally changed my tune and began singing…..
“It’s a happy day, and I praise God for the weather…..”
Her comatose countenance brightened!
Even though we know the end of the story is .…..and they all lived happily ever after” and although we know that our lives are ‘hid with Christ in God’, as long as we still have one foot in this world, we can’t but share in the experience of our Lord’s sadness over the consequences of a fallen and broken creation.
I learned “It’s A Happy Day.” when I had the privilege of performing with Barry Maguire at a worship concert in the Ulster Hall, Belfast many years ago. In 1975 we met up again while Hilary and I were staying at Jimmy and Carol Owens home on our honeymoon. We got to know the Owens through Come Together In Jesus Name. Their daughter Jamie, Barry and The Second Chapter of Acts were a bunch of musical friends from Jack Hayford’s, Church on the Way who hung out together!
Barry had of course become famous in 1965 when his rough ‘one take’ version of the protest song The Eve of Destruction soared to the top of the music charts in the USA and UK. He subsequently was caught up in the Jesus Movement and his musical talent found a new direction. It was also in 1975 that Barry recorded an album reflecting his new life in Christ, appropriately entitled, “Lighten Up”
So you can imagine my surprise and de-light, when just as I was typing this blog about the Barry Maguire song “It’s a Happy Day.” ‘out of the blue’ an email arrived (from someone whom I hadn’t heard from in years, and knew nothing about our personal connection with Barry) containing an audio file of Barry’s other ‘famous’ song – “The Eve of Destruction”!!!
“So what is the Lord wanting to convey through this ‘God-incidence’?” I thought.
The version of the song I received is the one posted at the start of this blog. It is Barry’s A.D. rendering on the “Lighten Up” album. There, The Eve of Destruction prefaces God’s Not To Blame where he sings, of America…..
“Living for the dollar, she’ll be dying by the sword.”
The idol of materialism must be toppled if America is to fulfill her God given calling as His ‘light to the nations’… for “you cannot serve God and money”. The sword is the sword of God’s judgment and I believe we indeed, now 46 years later are “on the eve of destruction.”
……..as God swings his sword, to bring about the ‘Destruction’ of all that has not bowed down humbly before him.”
and so the medley closes with 2 Chron. 7:14″ “If my people who are called by my name will HUMBLE themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways…then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal their land.”
Interestingly in Stephen Jones blog yesterday he shared about a ‘Call to Repentance’ he had just received.https://godskingdom.org/blog/2021/09/the-rise-of-the-saints-part-4
…..and so this is how these two ‘apparently’ contradictory statements can and do stand, side by side….
It’s A Happy Day. The Eve of Destruction.
……..because the Sword of the Spirit is the living and active Word of God that separates soul from spirit so that all that is not of God is destroyed, as we are made compatible with ‘the One’ who is pure love and light.
‘Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.”‘(Rev.14:15)
…….and those who are enemies of God, who are in this season being increasingly exposed, will also be destroyed, ultimately by being changed into God’s friends as they too are brought low and humbled under His mighty hand,
‘Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine, because its grapes are ripe.” The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath (Gk.’thumos’). They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses’ bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia.’ (Rev14:18,19,20)
The grape harvest is the third and final ‘fall’ harvest following the barley and the wheat ‘spring’ harvests. Barley requires winnowing, wheat requires threshing and grapes must be trampled underfoot. These three increasingly stringent types of processing reflect the degrees to which God has to go with different groups of people to destroy the ‘fleshly’ covering in order to release the goodness, that can then be used to bring forth the bread and the wine for the heavenly banquet.
This portrayal of the grape harvest should be understood as metaphorical. Stephen Jones writes, “The number 16 is the biblical number of love, and when multiplied by 100 suggests the fulness of love. This is consistent with the underlying meaning of thumos, “passion.” And so, no matter how violent the wine press appears to be, the ultimate goal of God’s passion is to reconcile through judgments, not to destroy or lose any part of creation.”
for as God has promised,
“…..at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess (lit.swear allegiance to) Jesus Christ as Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil.2:10,11)
“This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Ps.118: 24)