A verse that has come to mean a great deal to me and there is another verse similar to it later in the Psalms (Psalm 90:12) is Psalm 39:4 and then I appreciate the subsequent two verses that tie into it as well. But of particular blessing to me that I believe has helped me is verse 4,
“Show me, Lord, my life’s end
and the number of my days;
let me know how fleeting my life is.”
It may cause wonder why a text like that is helpful to me and has helped my ministry. Maybe the following will explain…
Possibly because in my career I am often around death, I was just at a funeral today; possibly it is the melancholy in me, but I don’t see the span of my life as long. I don’t expect to die soon by any means, I am only 38…I say only, even though 38 seemed very old not so many years ago…but I am only 38, yet in spite of that I don’t view life or my life at least as a long expanse, I don’t see that I have that much time, I see my days or the days I have left “as a mere handbreadth.” (v. 5a)
I also look upon my life the totality of those 38 years and I see a lot of waste. Many years spent in absolute sin…and still to this day I see far too many moments wasted in sinful living and I know that is time I’ve lost, I am losing that belongs to God.
Therefore with these two thoughts in mind, I’ve found that this text (Ps. 39:4) and Psalm 90:12,
“Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
or as I like to think of it based on the song lyric…
“Teach me to count my days, teach me to make my days count.”
affirm that I only have a short life to live for Jesus. I only have this span of time to make a difference for Him and then I am gone.
Within a generation or so no one will remember me. No books will be written about me. My name won’t be in the church annals of history.
The only legacy I will have is the people I played a small role in helping to fall in love with Jesus and their names written in the Lambs Book of Life and because I don’t see my life as long and I view life as very fragile and because I was careless with so many years and so many minutes these texts are special to me because they remind to drive, to push, to strive, to dream, to work, to talk, to share, to prod, to demand excellence in ministry from myself and my team, because I only have a short span to serve Jesus and then I’m done.
“Show me, Lord, my life’s end
and the number of my days;
let me know how fleeting my life is.”
I will share something with you, in my quiet time sometimes when I am alone and no one else is around (of course it happens sometimes when everyone is around in church during a hymn or something) I may hear a song about the love of Jesus, or I’ll read a scripture about Jesus’ love, or the Holy Spirit will just speak to my heart of His love through the stillness or through the love of one of my boys, or through a memory I’ll recall and I start to cry…I cry first because I am so grateful for Jesus’ love, but honestly I cry just as much because I’m worried, I’m worried that I have not done enough, not in regards to my own salvation, I trust that I am “saved by grace through faith”, but I cry because I am worried that I have not done enough to reach others.
I think of my uncle who I love so much and I think of my friend who died last year. I think of my close friends that are living now. I think of the young men I’m coaching in baseball. I think of the people I ruined my witness to because of my sin. I was overzealous and drove them away or I was lazy and didn’t follow through, and I cry, because I don’t know if I’ve done or did everything I could to introduce them to Jesus.
This text, coupled with my melancholy self reminds me that my life is fleeting and I only have yea long to be a witness and that knowledge drives me to never settle for status quo in my personal witness or in the ministry sphere I have influence on.
So if you wondered why I would say this text has been a blessing to me and has helped me in my ministry, that is how this text has helped me. And maybe some of you that get annoyed or wonder about my obsession with evangelism will understand it better now.
Well that was more than I planned on writing but there you go 🙂
Tomorrow’s Reading: Job 27 & 28
From day one David did nothing but improve and enhance Saul’s kingdom, and yet Saul found hatred in his heart for David. We see here the clear signs of an insecure leader.
Leaders should celebrate with the victories that come from the team around them.
Leaders should work to improve the position of those around them.
Leaders should enable further successes of those around them.
Saul did none of this. Yet the integrity of David was so great, he continued ’till he could no longer strive to be not only a servant of Saul, but a close companion.
Both David and Saul when anointed had the Spirit of God come over them in a strong way. In our leadership the Spirit of God only remains in us to the extent that we choose to have Him stay.
David and Saul were both chosen. They both were mighty. They both were handsome. But one chose self and one chose sacrifice and God honored the latter.
Tomorrow’s Reading: Psalm 39-41
I know this post won’t make me popular with some, but the correlation and lesson just jumped out at me as I was reading the following that I couldn’t help but write out my thoughts…popular or not…
“Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9 He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are more and mightier than we.10 Come, let us deal wisely with them, or else they will multiply and in the event of war, they will also join themselves to those who hate us, and fight against us and depart from the land.” Exodus 1:8-10
History should be our teacher! Whenever leaders begin to appeal to the negative aspects of nationalism bad things happen!
Listen to what this new king is saying and tell me if any of it sounds familiar:
History should be our teacher!
Why aren’t there more Christian voices…why aren’t there more Adventist voices speaking out LOUDLY against such rhetoric?
Nationalism over humanitarianism has never worked well in history and it won’t this time around either!
Tomorrow’s Reading: 1 Samuel 16-20
“For the body is not one member, but many. 15 If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body.” -1 Corinthians 12:14-16
A word we need to hear! Every person that has by the grace of Jesus been attached to His church, His body is a “member” of that body. In other words they have a role. This means that the member that sneaks out during the last song who doesn’t support God’s body with their treasures and in the utilization of their time and talents is in no less way a member of the body, “‘I am not a part of the body,’ it is NOT FOR THIS REASON ANY THE LESS a part of the body.” That individual is still part of the body, just a dysfunctional part of the body and injured a crippling part of the body. The result then of this is not that these members only effect themselves…no quite the opposite…
“if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it” -1 Corinthians 12:26a
Each person whom God has put in a church that chooses to not engage, not support, not give of treasure, time, and talent is causing the entire body, the entire church to suffer at some level.
Our decisions are about more than just us!
Engage today!
Tomorrow’s Reading: Exodus 1-4
While there are several items that I could write upon in this reading I want to share with you the text/story that my heart was most drawn to…
“‘Jesus went out from there and *came into His hometown; and His disciples *followed Him. 2 When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him. 4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his ownhousehold.” 5 And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He wondered at their unbelief.” -Mark 6:1-6a
The verse of this story that really struck me was verse 5 then explained in verse 6a.
“And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.” Mk. 6:5
Now I don’t know about you but those sound like miracles…and not to shabby ones at that. No miracle other than just a ‘bit of healing.
Why would Mark sound so nonchalant about this? It is because we see in verse 6a what Mark and I am sure what Jesus saw as the true miracles of great note…
“And He wondered at their unbelief.” -Mk 6:6a
What is unbelief or rather belief related to most directly in the scriptures?
“He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.” -Mark 16:16
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,” -John 1:12
“so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.” -John 3:15
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” -John 3:16
“He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” -John 3:36
“that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believein your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;” -Romans 10:9
“In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,” -Ephesians 1:3
Belief in the examples above and many more in scripture directly tied to salvation.
So when I read in Mark 6 that “Jesus could do NO miracle there” but then I clearly read that Jesus did do some miracles there I have to ask myself then what is really the important miracles?
And the answer in verse 6a comes, “He wondered at their unbelief” and suddenly I realize the miracle that was lacking in this town which was the priority of Jesus and His disciples, was the miracle of true heart change. The miracle of salvation!
Now can I apply this at a level to us in our modern world. Jesus still served these people, He healed many after all. But He left disappointed and there is even a level of condemnation over this town for not having believed in Jesus.
We are still to serve the our communities no matter what their response is. We see that Jesus did that. But far too many churches celebrate doing good deeds of service like it was the pinnacle of our calling. The pinnacle of our calling is to bring salvation to our fellow man/woman. So we should serve, no matter what, but we should never celebrate or be satisfied, or pat ourselves on the back if it doesn’t help lead people to Jesus!
That is what the Holy Spirit has communicated to my heart in this story of Mark 6.
I pray you have a blessed week and let us all serve…but let us also work for the salvation…the true miracle…in others lives!
Tomorrow’s Reading: 1 Corinthians 11 & 12
There are some very powerful insights in this reading from the book of Jeremiah. It begins with a beautiful call upon Jeremiah’s life.
The best line in the calling is,
“Do not say, ‘I am a youth.’ -Jeremiah 1:7a
This line does not just apply to youth’s it applies to all people. Replace the word, “youth” with whatever your excuse is, my excuse is and it applies to us all…
It is a call for us all!
Chapter 2 and verse 5 is a powerful question!
“What injustice did your fathers find in Me,
That they went far from Me
And walked after emptiness and became empty? -Jer. 2:5
Israel has sinned and God through Jeremiah is asking them to give them evidence for what cause they had to pursue anything in life other than God.
What evidence do we have against God for our wanderings away?
I know I have none!
Several times throughout these 6 chapters we are reminded that the judgments that are coming upon Israel and Judah are a result of her own choosing. They have nothing to do with God’s choosing.
“Have you not done this to yourself
By your forsaking the Lord your God
When He led you in the way?” -Jer. 2:17
And it is not even just because they sinned. We are sinners, God understands that…listen to why the judgment is coming upon them…
“Behold, I will enter into judgment with you because you say, ‘I have not sinned.’ -Jeremiah 2:35b
We should all remember that the final judgment is not God saying “I can’t forgive sin,” it is God allowing the consequences of sin we have not asked Him to remove to destroy us.
Yes God was upset by their sin, but judgment came not because of sin, but their unwillingness to recognize they had sinned. We see this restated in chapter 3…
“‘Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord;
‘I will not look upon you in anger.
For I am gracious,’ declares the Lord;
‘I will not be angry forever.
13 ‘Only acknowledge your iniquity,
That you have transgressed against the Lord your God
And have scattered your [j]favors to the strangers under every green tree,
And you have not obeyed My voice,’ declares the Lord.” -Jeremiah 3:12 & 13
“For I am gracious…ONLY acknowledge your iniquity…”
Why in part did the people not acknowledge their sin? The leaders of the people…
“They have lied about the Lord
And said, “Not He;
Misfortune will not come on us,
And we will not see sword or famine.” -Jeremiah 5:12“An appalling and horrible thing
Has happened in the land:
31 The prophets prophesy falsely,
And the priests rule on their own authority;
And My people love it so!
But what will you do at the end of it?” -Jeremiah 5:30, 31“For from the least of them even to the greatest of them,
Everyone is greedy for gain,
And from the prophet even to the priest
Everyone deals falsely.
14 “They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
But there is no peace.” -Jeremiah 6:13, 14
Some may ask why are the people punished due to the wicked guides?
Notice in that middle passage…
“And My people love it so!”
The people were not without blame because they embraced the excuse for their sinful ways. They wanted a rationalization and their spiritual leaders gave it to them.
The last quote Jeremiah 6:13, 14 hits too close to home in our modern world. There is too much superficial healing going on in the spiritual world when disaster and great trial are just around the corner.
And we can see in our world as in the world of Jeremiah. We see it currently with those who are embracing candidates that should make us blush. We see it in the TV we watch that should make us blush. The war we hear about that should make us aghast. We are becoming a society like that in the day of Jeremiah…
“They were not even ashamed at all;
They did not even know how to blush.” -Jeremiah 6:15b
We’ve become so acculturated to sin we almost don’t even know “how to blush” anymore.
Jesus come soon!
Tomorrow’s Reading: Mark 5 & 6
What can I say about this reading other than the chapters were short? 🙂
There was one phrase that I loved after Job’s explanation of God’s works,
“Behold, these are the fringes of His ways;
And how faint a word we hear of Him!
But His mighty thunder, who can understand?” -Job 26:14
I love that first line,
“Behold, these are the fringes of His ways”
I think when I question what God is doing it would be good to go out look up at the stars (harder to do here in the DC area 🙂 ) and remember “these are the fringes of His ways” and then just trust!
Tomorrow’s Reading: Jeremiah 1-6
Oh that I could go back and advise my teenage self of this and he would listen,
“Be not envious toward wrongdoers…Trust in the Lord and do good;
Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will give you the desires of your heart.” -Psalm 37:1b, 3, 4
I know I did and many others are envious towards wrongdoers because they believe the wrong is what will ultimately give them the desires of their hearts. Oh how mistaken I was!
How true this is…
“Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.” Psalm 37:8b
Psalm 38 has some interesting lines and it shows that yes the righteous, the saved, those that walk with God still struggle with sin…
“For I am ready to fall,
And my sorrow is continually before me.
18 For I confess my iniquity;
I am full of anxiety because of my sin.” -Psalm 38: 17, 18
But then…
“But my enemies are vigorous and strong,
And many are those who hate me wrongfully.
20 And those who repay evil for good,
They oppose me, because I follow what is good.” -Psalm 38:19, 20
So which is it?
Sinner or you follow what is good?
Maybe both.
And now a quick music video from my youth based on Psalm 36
Tomorrow’s Reading: Job 25 & 26
I wonder what the time frame was of the stories in 1 Samuel 11 to 1 Samuel 13 because Saul went from,
“But Saul said, “Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the Lord has accomplished deliverance in Israel.” -1 Sam. 11:13
to this,
Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the Lordyour God, which He commanded you, for now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lordcommanded you.” -1 Sam 13:13,14
Very quickly it seems by the narrative.
Saul illustrates how quickly power can corrupt. He went from a man that didn’t even want the position to a man that felt he could pick and choose which parts of God’s instruction were absolutely necessary…he went from a man giving God all the credit to a position of not even realizing when he was making himself god over God!
Tomorrow’s Reading: Psalms 36-38
We’ve come to the end of the wonderful book of Genesis. One of my favorite books in all of the Old Testament. All the great themes of love and redemption are found in this book along with many of the great struggles that we would see and do see repeat themselves in the history of humanity.
In this reading today two things really caught my attention:
The reaction of Joseph’s brothers after their father’s death. Joseph had long ago forgiven them, he had already shared with them that he believed God used their wrong to actually save lives, yet they still feared he would hold revenge against them. Their fear and misunderstanding of his character so hurt Joseph the Bible tells us,
“And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.” Genesis 50:17b
Joseph though did not get angry, he told them to not be afraid and “he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.” (50:21b)
I see in this a type of Christ. How many misunderstand the character of God and through Christ we see in fact the true character of love and forgiveness. Also just as we put Jesus on the cross with our sins, God used this act to save many lives…all that will accept the gift. Joseph is a pre-cursor to just such a truth,
“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.” -Gen. 50:20
The second thing that stuck-out to me in my reading was what Joseph asked of his family just prior to his death,
“Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely take care of you, and you shall carry my bones up from here.” -Gen. 50:25
No matter what success Joseph had in Israel which was just about the most human success a person could have. Joseph never forgot where his true home was. May we no matter our blessings and successes on this earth, never forget where our true home is…not this wicked world!
Tomorrow’s Reading: 1 Samuel 11-15
So the great theme of these two chapters can be summed up in this:
Paul’s life was about one thing…helping people to be saved by Jesus!
That is it!
Do our lives have the same theme?
Why do we still tithe? A very clear answer is in 1 Corinthians 9:14…
“So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel.”
And who is to support the work of ministry and those who are working for the cause of God. Again a very clear answer…
“If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?” -1 Cor. 9:11
Every Christian should then ask themselves, are they supporting those materially (tithes & offerings) who are feeding them spiritually?
Read 1 Corinthians 10:1-5 again…
Wow!
A reminder that just because we go to the church every week and maybe even read religious material and hang-out with religious people means we’re more likely to get into heaven than another…
Paul points out all these areas in which the children of Israel were under the blessing of God…”the rock was Christ” but…
“Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased; for they were laid low in the wilderness.” -1 Corinthians 10:5
Again…WOW!
Let us then heed verse 12!
Tomorrow’s Reading: Genesis 48-50
Some highlights from my reading on Mark 3 & 4:
Some people in the world and even in the church are critical of Christians when they get angry, “you’re a Christian you’re not supposed to get angry.” Mark 3:5 clearly illustrates that Jesus who was perfect had at times anger. Anger is not the problem, there is an acceptable type of anger. To know what anger is acceptable or not two questions must be asked:
I will not speak for you but I know most my anger is self-protective or selfish. What I mean by that is that I get angry to protect myself or in defense of myself this is most often (some instances like abuse of some nature it is acceptable) not a good reason to be angry. Because many times that anger is because of insecurity or because we place our self worth in the hands of our fellow man. Or my anger is because I am selfish. Someone doesn’t do what I want! Those two types of anger are not acceptable. And how one’s anger is manifested is hopefully obvious to most.
I love the succinctness of Mark’s account of the calling of the disciples (3:14). He called twelve to be with Him (Jesus) and then go out and work for Him. That simple! We are first with Jesus we then go out as witnesses/workers for Jesus. Wow! And yet we seem to make it so tough so often.
I never realized before or it never struck me that Jesus gave James and John their nickname, “Sons of Thunder” (3:17)
In the parable of the Sower and the Soils (4:1-12) most sermons I’ve heard on this and that have I have preached focus on the soils as the focus of the illustration. When I read through this parable my eyes this time saw it from another perspective, that of the sower…a lot of churches and organizations talk about where to go for the right climate of ministry. In fact some churches don’t hold evangelistic meetings because they say, “the soil in our area is not right” in other words people won’t come, I noticed as I was reading this, the sower just sows and doesn’t worry about which soil the seed falls on. I also noticed Jesus doesn’t condemn this, in fact in Jesus’ explanation there is a powerful verse,
“The sower sows the word.” -Mark 4:14
That’s it Christians just sow and let the Trinity work out the hearts (the soil).
Again something similar caught my eye in the parable of the mustard seed. We often focus on the size of the mustard seed at the beginning and the end and I realized when I read 4:32, none of it would have matter…neither the size at the beginning or the size at the end, if the seed hadn’t been sown! It is really that simple.
SOW SEEDS Brothers and Sisters!
Tomorrow’s Reading: 1 Corinthians 9 & 10
In this reading we close out the wonderful book of Isaiah!
In these last chapters there are several things that to me are ABUNDANTLY clear!
There is a judgment and people will be judged!
But what is also abundantly clear is that our judgment will be because of our choosing not the Lord’s. As it is written,
“I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me;
I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, ‘Here am I, here am I,’
To a nation which did not call on My name.
2 “I have spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people,
Who walk in the way which is not good, following their own thoughts,” Isaiah 65:1 & 2
What is also abundantly clear is that there is a better land coming than the world we currently live in!
Tomorrow’s Reading: Mark 3 & 4
I apologize for being a couple days behind on this. I was no where near a computer two nights ago and did not have internet last night. Hopefully I will be caught-up by the end of today. I pray that even if you don’t see a blog you are still reading. Remember this journey is not about my blog but about all of us spending time DAILY in the Word of God!
Job 23 encouraged me in my walk today. As we all struggle, as we all at times don’t “feel” God’s presence Job understands and shows us what it looks like to really live out the text, “The just shall live by faith.”
“Behold, I go forward but He is not there,
And backward, but I cannot perceive Him;
9 When He acts on the left, I cannot behold Him;
He turns on the right, I cannot see Him.
10 “But He knows the way I take;
When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
11 “My foot has held fast to His path;
I have kept His way and not turned aside.
12 “I have not departed from the command of His lips;
I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my ]necessary food.” -Job 23:8-12
This is even more amazing in light of his limited picture of God that we see in Job 24 which brings me to my second insight.
How blessed we are to have the picture of Jesus we do in the gospels. I don’t know that we fully realize this! Jesus said, “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” We don’t have to have the horrible misconceptions of God that Job does…Job in spite of these walks by faith, so how much more should we walk by faith?!
Knowing that Jesus is the representation of God. So merciful, patient, gentle, humble, loving, etc.
Tomorrow’s Reading (Actually yesterday’s that I will write later today 😉 ) –Isaiah 62-66
Highlights from today’s reading:
I’ve been in a lot of churches anyone got to sing or play an instrument NO MATTER how poorly they played. Now I don’t believe everyone has to be an expert, but this view is in fact not Biblical. There are places where it is very clear this position is not a Biblical one and when we come to those portions of scripture I’m sure I’ll point that out again, but we see evidence of this point here quickly in Psalm 33:3,
“Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.”
Play “SKILLFULLY”
I know many of folk that take offense to such a concept and I don’t mean to be offensive, but I wish we could accept that God has gifted us all in different ways and none of us get to say this is my gift and it is so. Just my thought…you agree? Disagree?
I love the first three verses of Psalm 34 it strengthened and encouraged me in my mission this morning…
I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul will make its boast in the Lord;
The humble will hear it and rejoice.
3 O magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together. -Psalm 34:1-3
I also love the verse because it teaches an important truth about worship.
It is:
Individual: “I will bless the Lord at all times…”
&
Corporate: “And let US exalt His name TOGETHER.”
Worship is not either/or, it is both/and!
David a lot times is crying out for destruction of his enemies, but I appreciate what he shares with us in Psalm 35:13-14,
“But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled my soul with fasting,
And my prayer kept returning to my bosom.
14 I went about as though it were my friend or brother;
I bowed down mourning, as one who sorrows for a mother.”
I can testify…maybe I shouldn’t, but I can so I will…that there are certain people pastors wouldn’t mind if they decided to go to another church…but I’ve not known any pastor that if that person that is a thorn in their flesh were sick or going through crisis they would not be on their knees in heartache for them.
David wanting people gone is a reality of life that if God chooses to grant he is not going to mind…but David is also pastoral and so even though he wants that person away from him, as long as the person lives and it is in his power to do so he will cry out to God also on their behalf.
What spoke to you in these three Psalms?
Tomorrow’s Reading: Job 23 & 24
The reading from yesterday and today were both a blessing, but there was not much that stood-out in either to me so I am going to give the quick highlights that I underlined in my Bible.
Genesis 44 Joseph had to test his brothers to see if they truly had changed. Would they give-up Benjamin easily as they had given him up? We see the answer is no. They tore their garments when the cup was discovered in Benjamin’s bag. Also, Judah steps forward, Judah who is found in the genealogy of Jesus steps in and says, “I will take the punishment” our father can’t stand to lose another son from this mother. I hear echoes of our Savior in that moment, “I will take their place we can’t stand to lose our children.”
Genesis 45 I underlined verse 5:
“Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.” -Gen. 45:5
Again I hear echoes of a type of Christ. Sin brought Joseph to Egypt to preserve life…He says God but it was God acting as result of sin. Sin brought Jesus to this world to preserve life…God again acting as a result of sin.
Genesis 45:22:
“To each of them he gave changes of garments, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of garments.” -Gen. 45:22
Is Joseph repeating the error of favoritism of his father or does he still not fully trust his brothers and so he is still testing them?
Genesis 47:24:
“At the harvest you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four-fifths shall be your own for seed of the field and for your food and for those of your households and as food for your little ones.”
Look at that Joseph set-up a tax system…a flat tax…Lol
Now in today’s reading of Samuel
In chapter 6 verses 9 & 10 the question I wrote down was. Did the pagan priests of the Philistines prophesy correctly or did God condescend and do as they said would happen in order to show them He was the true God and they had done wrong in taking the Ark of the Covenant?
Also,
“And it came about when Samuel was old that he appointed his sons judges over Israel. 2 Now the name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judging in Beersheba. 3 His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice.” -1 Samuel 8:1-3
The reason this caught my attention is that there is no indication of Samuel being a bad Dad, yet his sons still went astray…was he a bad parent like the example he had in Eli or did his sons just do what many good parents kids do, get caught-up in the wickedness of the world?
8:7 is a great reminder for all Christian leaders–if we are doing right and the people still reject us, it is not about us…because really it is about what they are saying to God. We need to not get to defensive…it is not all about us!
8:10-22 are extremely sad verses and remind me of our current political climate. There are so many red flags to the decision that the people were making but they were convinced having an authoritarian figure over them would be a blessing and their adulation for such a decision blinded them to the harmful doors (8:12-18) having a king would open.
“The people refused to listen…our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles” (help us to win again).
How utterly sad!
The last verse in today’s reading that I underlined:
Saul replied, “Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak to me in this way?” -1 Samuel 9:21
As God so often does He chooses those who may seem to have the least power and to be the least expected to represent Him! A reminder that God’s calling is what matters and nothing else!
Tomorrow’s Reading: Psalms 33-35
It seems as if chapter 8 should be tied to chapter 9, so I am going to only spend some time on chapter 7 which is all about persons marital status’s.
Paul’s writing can be confusing, “I say not the Lord” when we come across those phrases we should not assume these are therefore lacking in Biblical inspiration, Paul is pointing to his understanding of Jesus’ teaching on divorce and Paul is simply saying this part are words I am first speaking to you, not the same instruction Jesus gave while He was on this earth or God gave in the course of history. This is new info.
Chapter 7 is made-up of four exhortations regarding marital status. If you break the chapter up and read it with these exhortations in mind you will have a clearer picture:
And within all those main sections there are of course verses that apply to all four sections no matter which section they are in.
If this random rambling on marriage seems odd in the book of 1 corinthians, remember it was in response to a question Paul must have received about the topic (7:1a)
Before I close this post I want to say a word about the last exhortation the great benefits of singleness…I guess this applies to the third status as well, contentment in one’s present marital status whatever it may be.
I believe the church owes an apology to many young people that feel that they are less than because they are single. What is one of the questions someone always is asked after a certain time in their lives and they are not married, “why aren’t you married?” No one ever asks “Why are you married?” at least not in the church. Yet Paul does seem to ask the question, why if you’re content with singleness and don’t have a problem with lust would you ever want to get married. We treat it the exact opposite of the Bible…if someone says, “I never want to get married.” We a). Don’t believe them and instead interpret that to mean they are masking some deep loneliness; b.) wonder if they are gay. c.) wonder what is wrong with them and why no one wants to marry them.
Why can’t we just believe that some people as Paul clearly teaches are blessed with the gift of singleness…oh and why can’t we call it a gift?! Marriage is a gift, but not more so than the gift of singleness.
And all the above applies doubly for single women, since we are way worse on them than on single men.
Okay I’ll get down from horse…
All the single ladies…and men…if that is the gift God has blessed you with…praise the Lord and I am sorry we the church have ever made you feel like it is an inferior state to marriage.
Have a blessed Sabbath.
Tomorrow’s Reading: Genesis 44-47
Mark is the Gospel of urgency…he does not let the grass grow under the narrative what may take the other Gospels several verses, like for instance the baptism of Jesus, Mark sums all of it up from going to the water and coming-up out of the water in just three verses. In the first chapter alone the word “immediately” appears 10 times.
Yet I love in the midst of that first chapter and all those “immediately’s” there is a slow down verse…
“In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.” Mark 1:35
Jesus might have been moving quickly…He did after all have a lot to do in 3.5 years, but He was never to busy to spend time alone communing with God in Heaven.
Should that be a lesson to us who use busyness as an excuse for time missed with God?
Verse 38 also struck a chord in my heart…
He *said to them, “Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for.” Mark 1:38
The true preacher of Jesus will not want to ever limit his or her reach. Now we may be limited by God and that is fine, but a true preacher of the Gospel will NEVER intentionally limit his or her own reach! We may be asked to, I know I have but this verse supports resisting such a request.
Mark chapter 2 verse 15 was a new underline in my Bible today.
“And it *happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him.” Mark 2:15
Of course I have underlined and even preached the front part of this text before, but the new emphasis to me today was,
“for there were many of them, and they were following Him.”
Oh I want to be like Jesus where even though my sermons are condemning the lifestyles of sinners potentially…or those that are irreligious (my Bible has a notation the sinners were “irreligious Jews”) that even the irreligious are drawn to the message because it is done with the overarching love of Jesus. Oh how I long to preach and teach and live like Jesus!
I love the Gospel of Mark I am so glad it is now part of our weekly blogging!
Tomorrow’s Reading: 1 Corinthians 7 & 8
Some amazing inspiration in today’s reading! I’d like to focus though specifically on Isaiah 59.
Isaiah 59 begins with one of the favorite passages of those of us who have been prodigal children and went out and wasted our Father’s “money” on riotous living,
“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short
That it cannot save;
Nor is His ear so dull
That it cannot hear.”
Oh praise Jesus for this truth!
But if we stop there in Isaiah 59 we miss a very sad reality.
It is true the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save…and His ear is not so dull that He cannot hear…
But He will not save us against our wills.
And Isaiah 59 is a story of people that reject the easiest gift on earth to receive, SALVATION
Isaiah 59 presents this powerful, beautiful, glorious truth and then shows us that people will continue to pursue iniquity and God’s arm won’t force them.
Verse 8 in particular struck me,
“They do not know the way of peace,
And there is no justice in their tracks;
They have made their paths crooked,”
“They have made their paths crooked…”
God didn’t force them. God didn’t choose some to be lost and some to be saved. Our sin is our choice and it makes our path crooked.
This verse caught my attention because of another favorite verse of many,
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.” -Proverbs 3:5, 6
In this world we have two options…trust our own ways, lean on our own understanding, never acknowledge Him (i.e. pursue all iniquity) and our paths will be crooked.
Accept His arm of grace…
Call out to His ear that is listening for you right now…
And He will make your paths straight.
Which will you choose?
Tomorrow’s Reading: Tomorrow we start the Gospel of immediacy or urgency! Mark 1 & 2
In Job 21 there is an important question that Job presents that many present when suffering,
“Even when I remember, I am disturbed,
And horror takes hold of my flesh.
7 “Why do the wicked still live,
Continue on, also become very powerful?” -Job 21:6 & 7
The question Job is really asking, “Why am I a man that has been faithful to God suffering while my neighbor who openly mocks God not only is not suffering but seems to be gaining power?”
Many a mother and father who have lost a young child, “why not the wicked? Why my innocent child?”
Many a person who has turned their life over to Jesus only to be tormented by the devil, “Why has my life gotten worse when I’ve given my heart to the Lord? And my friends who think it is foolish for me to live for Jesus live on without Him without harm?”
I understand Job’s thoughts here. I believe they are real and fair questions. And even part of his answer is true,
“They spend their days in prosperity,
And suddenly they go down to Sheol.” -Job 21:13
In this life they may seem to not suffer at all, but in the end they go down to sheol…the grave…destruction.
This is true…
While these questions are understandable and legitimate because it is in our human nature to seek understanding, I believe in suffering it is often times hard for us to be rational. I include me in that sentiment.
I say that for this reason…
I’ve known many people far from Jesus that have lost children and I’ve known many people close to Jesus that have lost children.
I’ve known many people that have been ravaged by cancer who never bowed the knee and I know many people ravaged by cancer that every day ’till they died bowed the knee.
I know many rich people that love Jesus and many poor people that hate Him. I know many rich people that hate Jesus and many poor people that love Him.
I know people that love Jesus in unhappy marriages and people that don’t love Jesus in very happy marriages & vice versa.
What is my point. In suffering we sometimes want to look for the ones that we think should be suffering and aren’t and then we start to think “only the good die young” to quote Billy Joel.
Or ask with angst as Job does,
“How often is the lamp of the wicked put out,
Or does their calamity fall on them?” -Job 21:17
My answer to Job would be just as much if not more than the righteous.
In this world evil has no self control and satan hates all humanity, those with Him and those against Him.
And so suffering is in some ways arbitrary.
The righteous live long lives and die young
The wicked live long lives and die young
The righteous get disease
The wicked get disease
Satan hates all humanity.
Here is the one difference…
The righteous at the end of the day know that there is a better day coming and they know that though “in this world they will have trouble” they take hope in knowing that Jesus “has overcome this world” and we believe Jesus’ words, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”
And so we do not suffer as the world suffers because we suffer with hope knowing one day it will all be gone and we will live eternally with Jesus.
Whatever befalls me in this life by the grace and the strength of Jesus I will go through because my suffering in this life is temporary and Jesus my best friend is on the other side and I cannot wait to see Him face to face and sin free!
Tomorrow’s Reading: Isaiah 56-61