Settling

TODAY'S READING: Judges 1, 2, 3; 1 Cor. 12

SCRIPTURE: Judges 2:1-3
¹ The angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land that I swore to give to your forefathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, ² and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.’ Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? ³ Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.”

OBSERVATIONS: I think Judges is the saddest book in the Bible. I never really look forward to reading it. It is full of darkness and perversion. But it serves as a reminder of the consequences of disregarding the Lord and going one's own way. This book starts out recapping what happened after Joshua divided up the land into portions for the tribes. They had already defeated many of the inhabitants but there were still towns and villages that needed to be conquered. It didn't take long after they began to settle in their permanent residences for them to lose the will to fight for their whole inheritance. When they grew to the place where they needed more room, they compromised and did not completely destroy the people of the land as God had instructed them to. Settling down had made them willing to settle for less. The Lord sends an angel to tell them that their disobedience has cost them the advantage of the Lord working on their behalf.

APPLICATION: I see a parallel between the Israelites and me. I can look back at my own life and see that when I have been blessed by God, I want to stay in that comfortable place and not take on any more "battles". Instead of contending for all the promises he has made to me, I am perfectly content to "settle" for the blessings I have already received and to avoid the work of contending for my full inheritance as a child of God. Like the Israelites, God often allows testing and problems to come my way to spur me to the action of seeking him with a fervent heart. I must not allow his blessing and promise of rest to make me spiritually indolent but must maintain my spiritual fervor.

PRAYER: Father, I am truly grateful for all the many blessings you have given me in my life. Forgive me for the times I have taken those as my "right" by refusing to also engage in working with you to overcome the enemy that is at work to destroy the kingdom of God on earth. I never want to become lazy in seeking your will and advancing the kingdom by taking back territory that Satan has claimed for his own. Strengthen my hands and heart for the battles as I work with you to see victory in obtaining the full rights of the inheritance of the saints. Your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. May I settle for nothing less. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

There's a Time to Shut Up

TODAY'S READING: Deut. 3, 4; Ps. 36; Mark 13

SCRIPTURE: Deut. 3; 23-28

²³ At that time I pleaded with the LORD: ²⁴ “O Sovereign LORD, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you do? ²⁵ Let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan—that fine hill country and Lebanon.”

²⁶ But because of you the LORD was angry with me and would not listen to me. “That is enough,” the LORD said. “Do not speak to me anymore about this matter. ²⁷ Go up to the top of Pisgah and look west and north and south and east. Look at the land with your own eyes, since you are not going to cross this Jordan. ²⁸ But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see.”

OBSERVATION: Moses is near the end of his life and giving his last speech to the people he has led from Egypt to the promised land. He has already made the point to the Israelites that it is their fault that he does not get to go into the promised land. In fact, he has reminded them of this 3 or 4 times. The case could be made that he is harping on the point. It's not that Moses bears no personal responsibility for his plight; he does. But he makes a valid point in this speech that his people wronged him. Moses sacrificed and prayed for his people a lot. In fact, it was his intercession for them that kept God from wiping them out completely on two different occasions. What was their response? Too many of them made his life rather miserable with complaining, slander, rebellion, anger, and disdain. They showed no appreciation of the work he did for them and the burdens of leadership that he willingly carried for them. But, as true as all that was, did it help that he kept bringing it up that they had wronged him? What was the point of bringing it up over and over again? I think I can guess from my own personal experiences. He loved his people and was even willing to sacrifice his own life to preserve them (as illustrated by the time he told God to take his life instead of killing all of the people as a result of their disobedient and stubborn hearts). But Moses never heard them acknowledge their terrible behavior toward him or the hurt he had suffered because of what they did. I think his repetition of their sins toward him and toward God was because he wanted them to understand the seriousness of what they had done. He wanted them to truly repent and to never do that again! But did this approach work? Hmm....

APPLICATION: I am like many parents who have seen their children suffer because they refused the guidance and correction of God's Word which we tried our best to give them. It has been painful to see them suffer, but it has also been personally painful to me that they did not love or respect their father and me enough to embrace the values that we taught them. I have reacted as Moses did. I have rehearsed their faults and failures to them and how those faults have affected others in the family (and me too, of course) on several occasions. The desire has been to hear them repent and come back to living rightly as well as to restore the relationship between us. But what has happened is the opposite of what I have wanted. They has reacted negatively to hearing about how they have blown it. I have come to the conclusion that unless God works in a person's heart to convict a person of his sin, bringing it up and trying to get them to see it is not only a waste of time, it usually causes more resentment toward you on their part. God instructs us to try to do it, so Moses was not wrong to express his feelings about it to them. But going on and on when the desired response is not forthcoming can have the opposite effect. I think it hit me full force in a new way as I read this in today's reading (and yesterday's as well). Seeing in print how often Moses brought up the sin of the Israelites and its effect on him personally I found myself reacting to Moses with a "get over it" type response. I then was banged over the head by the Spirit with the thought that I need to do the same thing. Ouch!!

PRAYER: Ok, Lord. I get the point! Help me to give up trying to by You and bring my sons to repentance. That's your job. Forgive me for interfering. I lift them before you and ask that you speak to their hearts. Restore our relationship with them. More importantly, restore their relationship with you, so that they become willingly obedient to you and your Word. I thank you for all my kids; they are a gift from you and precious to me. I will wait for you to work in them and not take things into my own hands. Help me to be patient. And thank you for correcting me and changing me more and more into your image. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Sex

TODAY'S READING: Num. 24, 25, 26, 27; 1 Cor. 13

SCRIPTURE: Num. 25:1-3
¹ While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, ² who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate and bowed down before these gods. ³ So Israel joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor. And the LORD’s anger burned against them.

OBSERVATION: Sex. It's a small, three letter word that has been both a promise and a problem for mankind. God gave it as a gift to mankind with limitations. He gave it as a way to bond a man and woman in a committed relationship so that their whole being (body, soul, and spirit) would be one together. It was designed for the purpose of mutual pleasure as well as to be the means of producing new life. Because man is created in the image of God, sex carries the power of creating a new spiritual being. This is the promise of sex. It is much more than just a physical act of pleasure. Though other animals reproduce themselves through sex as do humans, mankind is the only being that can create another spiritual being that will go on for eternity. It is a very "god-like" power that carries with it a proof of being created in the image of God. Satan was cast out of heaven for wanting to usurp the position of the Almighty Sovereign God. The fact that we mere humans have a "god-like" power that he does not have angers Satan. I believe it is why he attacks our sexuality so relentlessly. It is why the devil tempts us to pervert it in every way possible. Here, in this passage, we see a perversion of sex that brought judgment on the entire community. Baal worship was based on hedonism. Children, the fruit and promise of god-given sex, were often sacrificed in fire during the sexual orgies that comprised the "worship service" to Baal. The pleasure of the sex act was divorced from the limits God gave of containing it within a committed marriage relationship. The physical experience was exalted as an end in itself without connection to the soul and spirit of a person. The result was heinous murder of children and a lack of caring for the partner with whom one engaged sexually. I'm sure that diseases accompanied this unbridled behavior, just as it does today.

APPLICATION: Though there is no Baal worship in our society, there is a worship of the creation over the creator. Hedonism is a religion that is rampant in our society. Instead of burning our children in the fire, we simply abort them when they will interfere with our lives and our pursuit of pleasure. Our sexuality is a gift of God, but when we disobey the Lord by refusing to abide by the limits he placed on sex for our own good, we open ourselves and our society to a multitude of ills. When people accept the idea that sex is only a physical act, it leads them to use and abuse others for their pleasure without thought to the spiritual, emotional or physical well-being of the ones they engage with sexually. It also leads to children who are uncared for or killed and tossed away as garbage, diseases and a host of social ills. If we claim to be Christians we must embrace God's standards and realize that this gift is precious and powerful and not to be abused. We must be aware of why Satan hates our sexuality so much and resist his temptations to misuse it.

PRAYER: Father, forgive us for our sin. Cleanse us from all unrighteousness and may we realize the preciousness of being created in your image. Help us to stand against the attacks of the enemy. Make us whole and holy for your glory. May the beauty of the gift of sex be realized by all who name your Name and call themselves part of your family. Heal the brokenness we have created in ourselves by our disobedience to you in this area. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

It's the Little Things

TODAY'S READING: Num. 17, 18; Ps. 29; Mark 4

SCRIPTURE: Mark 4:30-33
³⁰ Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? ³¹ It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. ³² Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.”

³³ With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. ³⁴ He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

OBSERVATION: The parable is talking about how the Kingdom of God grows from a small seed into something very large. But as I was reading this I had the thought that our personal integrity and godliness grows the same way. It's the little things we do, the small choices that build our character. It's easier to do the "right" thing when it's a big decision. Most of those are done in a way or place that are in view of others. We can do the right thing when our reputation would suffer in the eyes of others. But what do we do, or think, when no one is around and would have no way of finding out? It's when we have succeeded in being righteous in the small things that we know that the kingdom of God has grown large in our individual lives.

APPLICATION: So how am I doing in this? Do I hold my tongue when it would be easy to join in the criticism that others are engaging in around me? Do I pick up litter on a sidewalk when no one is there to see me do it? Do I resist "fudging" on my taxes when there is no chance of being caught? Do I do my best at every job when my boss isn't there to give me credit? Am I kind to those who can't benefit me in any way, to the unlovely, unsophisticated, and "unsmart"? It is good to examine myself on a regular basis to see if I am growing in godliness and integrity.

PRAYER: Father, thank you for your Word and thank you for reminding me to check the little things that show more truly how I am growing spiritually than the big things do. May please you with my actions and attitudes even when no one else is around. I want to hear from you, "Well, done my good and faithful daughter"! I know your ways are high above mine. Teach me the way I should walk. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Patterns

TODAY'S READING: Num. 14, 15, 16; Mark 3

SCRIPTURE: Num. 14:1-4, 26-45
¹ That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. ² All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! ³ Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” ⁴ And they said to each other, “We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

²⁶ The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: ²⁷ “How long will this wicked community grumble against me? I have heard the complaints of these grumbling Israelites. ²⁸ So tell them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the LORD, I will do to you the very things I heard you say: ²⁹ In this desert your bodies will fall—every one of you twenty years old or more who was counted in the census and who has grumbled against me. ³⁰ Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. ³¹ As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected. ³² But you—your bodies will fall in this desert. ³³ Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert. ³⁴ For forty years—one year for each of the forty days you explored the land—you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have me against you.’ ³⁵ I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community, which has banded together against me. They will meet their end in this desert; here they will die.”

³⁶ So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it— ³⁷ these men responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the LORD. ³⁸ Of the men who went to explore the land, only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh survived.

³⁹ When Moses reported this to all the Israelites, they mourned bitterly. ⁴⁰ Early the next morning they went up toward the high hill country. “We have sinned,” they said. “We will go up to the place the LORD promised.”

⁴¹ But Moses said, “Why are you disobeying the LORD’s command? This will not succeed! ⁴² Do not go up, because the LORD is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies, ⁴³ for the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from the LORD, he will not be with you and you will fall by the sword.”

⁴⁴ Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the high hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the LORD’s covenant moved from the camp. ⁴⁵ Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.

OBSERVATION: This entire chapter describes patterns that are as common today as they were when Moses was leading the people out of Egypt. I do not know a pastor who has not had to deal with rebellious, grumbling, complaining people. Moses had the naysayers who thought they could not accomplish the will of God and take the promised land. They felt too "small" to accomplish that. Then there were the men (and their followers) who thought Moses wasn't doing the job of leading well; they thought they could do better and sowed seeds of discord and distrust of Moses among the people. It makes the job of a leader very difficult, if not impossible. In this narrative, Moses prays for God to forgive the people after the Lord states his intention to wipe them all out and start over with Moses and a handful of others. But Moses graciously intercedes for this pitiful group and God agrees to spare the majority, though the leaders of the rebellion pay with their lives. When the people are confronted with the judgment of the rebellious leaders they try to "fix" the problem by going back to do what God asked them to do in the first place. This may seem like a change of heart, but God has already told them what they need to do and they really are staying in the pattern of rebellion by attempting to go back after the fact to attack the enemies of God. They get killed in the attempt.

APPLICATION: If God has called you to be a leader in the Church, you would do well to study these passages and learn that you will constantly have people in your flock who:
1. Grumble and complain about everything you want to do as a leader.
2. Think they can do a better job than you and will try to usurp your
authority and gather followers around themselves.
3. Will speak evil of you no matter how kind your intentions and actions are
toward them.
Leaders must learn to respond as Moses did, by praying for God to forgive these people and by learning to forgive them themselves, and by not changing or compromising what God has revealed to be his will for the Church. It is also ok to pray that God would remove the grumblers and complainers in his own way, or they will continue to infect the majority of the body. The Lord says that vengeance is his and he will repay. So we leave that job to him. As for our part, we need to learn from this not to be a person who is a complainer or naysayer.

PRAYER: Father, teach your people to cooperate with you and follow the leadership you have put into place in your Church. May we all be like Joshua and Caleb, who had faith to believe that you would help them to manifest the promised visions you had given to them. May we not be a people who complain, grumble, and rebel against you or the leaders you have put into place, even when they display their human imperfections. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Caring Enough to Confront

TODAY'S READING: Lev. 7, 8, 9; Acts 15

SCRIPTURE: Acts 15:1-21
¹ Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.” ² This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. ³ The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the brothers very glad. ⁴ When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them.

⁵ Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.”

⁶ The apostles and elders met to consider this question. ⁷ After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. ⁸ God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. ⁹ He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. ¹⁰ Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? ¹¹ No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”

¹² The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. ¹³ When they finished, James spoke up: “Brothers, listen to me. ¹⁴ Simon has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself. ¹⁵ The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:

¹⁶ “‘After this I will return
and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
and I will restore it,
¹⁷ that the remnant of men may seek the Lord,
and all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things’
¹⁸ that have been known for ages.

¹⁹ “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. ²⁰ Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. ²¹ For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”

OBSERVATION: The leaders of the Church had some serious disagreements with each other about doctrine. These differences of opinion weren't over trivial matters; they involved issues of how to live the Christian life and what constituted being saved. They wrestled over the meaning of scriptures and how to apply them. It took quite awhile for them to come to a satisfactory agreement about how the new gentile believers should behave and what they should be taught. They were not afraid to confront each other with their convictions of what they thought was right and they did not shy away from dealing with difficult issues. They stayed with it until there was an answer they could all stand behind. I'm sure not everyone was completely satisfied, but at least they came to an understanding with each other.

APPLICATION: I'm so glad this story is in the Word. It is an example of what we should be doing today in the Church. But all too often no one wants to go through the discomfort of confrontive discussions over areas of disagreement. No, we just tend to split churches and start new ones with people who agree with our point of view. There are precious few who will take the time necessary to work out their problems with each other so that community and fellowship are maintained. I think God is much more pleased when we don't allow our flesh to rule our decisions by avoiding anything uncomfortable. The Church would have a much more effective witness to the world if we engaged with each other so as to maintain a unity (not necessarily total agreement) with each other. This principle not only would help churches stay together but families too! Care enough to confront. It doesn't take any strength of character to walk away from someone you disagree with and simply cut off the relationship. It does not honor God to do so either.

PRAYER: Father, I have certainly done my share of cutting off relationship with others for all the wrong reasons in my lifetime. But I thank you for teaching me that this is not the right way to do things. Help me to be a peacemaker while still not compromising the truths in your Word. May I be one who deals with issues in a positive way and helps others to do likewise. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

The Problem with Prayer

TODAY'S READING: Ex. 39, 40; Ps. 15; Acts 12

SCRIPTURE: Acts 1-17
¹ It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. ² He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. ³ When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. ⁴ After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.

⁵ So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

⁶ The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. ⁷ Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.

⁸ Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. ⁹ Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰ They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.

¹¹ Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.”

¹² When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. ¹³ Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door. ¹⁴ When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”

¹⁵ “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”

¹⁶ But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. ¹⁷ Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the brothers about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.

OBSERVATION: There are a lot of great lessons in this story but it is also a story that brings up many questions in my mind. Why was James, one of the most important of the twelve disciples, put to death while Peter experienced divine intervention to prevent his death? It would almost seem like God liked Peter better. I don't believe that, but it is hard to explain why God acted to save one and did nothing to save the other. Some may think it is because the church didn't pray for James, but the text does not say that. It only says that they did pray for Peter, not that they did not pray for James. In fact, I think they may have had doubt that God wouldn't answer their prayers for Peter's deliverance because they had prayed for James to be saved from death but that prayer was not answered. There's nothing like unanswered prayer to create doubt about the effectiveness of one's prayers to do much of anything. It's very discouraging. The believers were clearly amazed that Peter had been set free in answer to their prayers. God tells us to pray about everything and to not give up. These Christians were obedient to that but they obviously had little faith that it would "work". So what can I learn from this?

APPLICATION: I have to trust God even when I don't understand why he allows certain things and not others. I need to have faith that he knows the reasons for things even when it makes no sense to me. And I must keep praying, regardless of how many answers to prayer I get. I have heard many pastors say that sometimes God's answer to our prayers is "no". That is true. But it is not a satisfactory answer. There have been many times I have had a "yes" from the Lord and many times I have had a "no". The problem is not getting a "no", the problem is that there have been plenty of times when I got no response whatsoever; when I did not sense a "no", I sensed nothing at all. I may not like a "no" answer, but it doesn't discourage me. The discouraging thing is to pray and hear nothing from God. I cannot answer why some very godly people have had to endure much suffering or death in their lives while others seem to be blessed at every turn. But it is in times like these that I need to have faith in God and trust that he sees and knows more than I do and will work all thing together for good. I do know that when I trust God and cling to him even when I don't understand why things are happening as they are I have always been able to look back after some time and see that God used even bad and horribly hurtful situations to grow something in me that was good. Going through painful trials without trusting God to do something good through it simply is succumbing to the destructive nature of suffering. Only in God's hands does suffering become a tool for positive transformative change.

PRAYER: Thank you, Lord, for recording such events in the early church for us. It is encouraging to me to read that the early believers prayed and sometimes had results and sometimes did not. It is wonderful to have a record of how you worked miracles through people who did not always pray with the greatest of faith. It lets me know that you can work through me, with all my imperfections, just as you did with them. I will stay faithful to you and trust you to work, even when I don't understand why things are happening as they are. You are my only hope and my trust is in you. Help to hear your voice better and better all the time. In Jesus' Name, Amen.