"Kept"

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 Peter 1-2; Psalm 33

TO CHEW ON: "… who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." 1 Peter 1:5

It's easy to trust in God's keeping power when times are good. But when we get sick, or suffer setbacks in business, or go through heart-breaking times with our kids, or have all we own ripped away from us by fire, tornado or mudslide, or any number of other trials, can we trust that God is still there? Is He still keeping us?

Peter here reminds the "pilgrims of the Dispersion"—mostly Gentile Christians living in various parts of Asia Minor who are experiencing persecution because of their obedience to Christ—that even through their trials they are being "kept."

["Kept—phroureo is "a military term picturing a sentry standing guard as protection against the enemy. We are in spiritual combat but God's power and peace (Philippians 4:7) are our sentinels and protectors" - Dick Mills, Word Wealth, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1763.]

But we have our part to play in this keeping. For it is "through faith." And this keeping will not necessarily mean a return to how things were before the trial, but in ultimate salvation, completely accomplished and understood "in the last time."

If your faith is old, seasoned and experienced, a wealth of memories reminding you of how God has kept you in the past will buttress your faith now. If you're new to faith, you may want to spend time reading stories of Bible characters and biographies of modern Christ followers. The way God kept them through trials will build faith in God's creativity and faithfulness for your life. 

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for keeping me in the past and continuing to do so. Please help me to grow in faith as I experience your keeping power. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 33

The Bible Project VIDEO:  1 Peter (Read Scripture Series)



MORE: Reading list

Some Bible characters to read about:

• Joseph - Genesis 37, 39-47.

• Hannah - 1 Samuel 1:1-2:11.

• Ruth - Bible book of Ruth.

• Esther - Bible book of Esther.

• Daniel - Daniel 1-3, 6.

• Nehemiah - Bible book of Nehemiah.

Some faith-building biographies (links are to my reviews of these books):

• Appointment in Jerusalem - Lydia & Derek Prince

• Journey on the Hard Side of Miracles - Dr. Steven Stiles.

• Gray Matter - Joel Kilpatrick & David Levy.

• Kabul 24 - Henry O. Arnold & Ben Pearson
  

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Does God discipline us with illness?

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TODAY’S SPECIAL: Leviticus 26,27; Psalm 39

 
TO CHEW ON: “But if you do not obey me, and do not observe all these commandments… I will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart” - Leviticus 26:14,16

“Remove your plague from me;
I am consumed by the blow of Your hand.
Deliver me from all my transgression;
Do not make me the reproach of the foolish.
I was mute. I did not open my mouth,
Because it was You who did it.” Psalm 39:8-10

Was David (the writer of Psalm 39) right in connecting his sickness to God’s hand of discipline? Reading Leviticus and Psalm 39 together, it’s hard not to make that connection.

In fact, the consequence of sickness as a result of sin is a connection made in other places in the Bible.

In the New Testament, when Jesus and His disciples were confronted by a man born blind, the disciples asked Jesus, was it the man’s sin or his parents’ that was the cause of his blindness. Jesus replied, neither, but this blindness occurred so God’s works should be shown in him (John 9:1,3).

However, Paul connected the ill health of the Corinthians with the careless way they were participating in the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:30). And James, when speaking of prayers for the sick, mentioned confession and forgiveness of sins (James 5:13-16) as integral to healing.

Exactly how God is involved in / causes / allows / disciplines with our sicknesses we probably won’t know until eternity. But one thing is certain—our repentance from sin resets our relationship with God. Even harsh Leviticus 26 bears this out:

“But if they confess their iniquity … then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac, and My covenant with Abraham I will remember…” Leviticus 26:40,42.

I love how my Bible’s study notes sum this up:

“Re: “Then I will remember My covenant” (Leviticus 26:42): The theme that God remembers His promise and never goes back on His word is emphasized in the covenant relationship. The community of the covenant is never without hope. God is always ready to receive His people in repentance even after they have failed and abandoned Him” - Brad H. Young, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 167.

PRAYER: Dear Father, please convict me of sins in my life that make me vulnerable to sickness. May I be quick to repent and turn from them. Amen.
 
PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 39

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Thanks for reading! This year we are using The Bible Project "Timeless Reading Plan" to read through the Bible in 2018. If you'd like to read along in your own Bible, you can download a pdf of the reading plan HERE.

Full-circle

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TODAY'S SPECIAL: Genesis 35-37

TO CHEW ON: "And he built an altar there and called the place El Bethel, because there God appeared to him when he fled from the face of his brother." Exodus 35:7

Have you experienced God as the God of the full-circle. I have. Though I left home at 18 to work and went away to university halfway across Canada, I ended up teaching in the town a few miles from where I grew up and marrying a man who, as a kid, played in a community band with my dad and brother.

It seems that bringing us back to where we've been before is often God's way of working in our lives.

That was His way with Jacob. Years earlier, while running away from his murderously angry twin Esau, he stopped exhausted at a "certain place," put a stone under his head for a pillow and slept. But over the next hours that no-name place became "Bethel" as God met Jacob there in a dream, comforted him with His presence and promised to bring him back to that very spot. Read about it in Genesis 28:10-22.

Now, many years later, on the way back to the home of his childhood, Jacob is coming full-circle in various ways. The first is re-connecting with his brother, that Esau from whom he had run away all those years ago. He was scared about that meeting, but it turned out okay (Genesis 32:1-33:20).

Then he arrived back to the spot of his dream. I can just see him, looking around, trying to identify landmarks, a familiar tree, perhaps, and certainly that stone he had used as pillow. No doubt he thought back to the promise God had made to him those many years ago. (I wonder if he remembered the promise he had made to God, or whether he kept it - Genesis 28:15,22.)

God spoke to him again at that spot (joy of joys!). He reaffirmed his name change from Jacob (Deceiver, Supplanter) to Israel (Prince with God; He Strives With God; May God Persevere) and promised to make a nation of his family. Looking back over the years since he had been there, he could see how faithful God had been in keeping His promise. A part of that promise ("in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed") echoes down through the years even to us celebrating that blessing — the coming of Jesus — during the Advent season just past.

Take a little time today to reflect on how God has brought you full-circle.

• Has He or does He keep bringing the same people into your life?

• Has He brought you back to significant physical locations?

• Does He remind you of past promises He has made to you? What about the ones you've made to Him?

• Ask Him to show you what these full-circle experiences mean.

• Thank Him for His faithfulness.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You that you plan, know and see all my days; nothing happens randomly. Help me to notice the patterns in my life and to understand how and why you bring me back. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 11

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Thanks for reading! This year we are using The Bible Project "Timeless Reading Plan" to read through the Bible in 2018. If you'd like to read along in your own Bible, you can download a pdf of the reading plan HERE.

 

Back to God's perfect default

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Isaiah 35:1-10

TO CHEW ON: “A highway shall be there and a road,
And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness
The unclean shall not pass over it,
But it shall be for other…
But the redeemed shall walk there.” Isaiah 35:8,9


Glorious Chapter 35 of Isaiah falls at the end of Part One of Isaiah—a section titled in my Bible “Prophecy of Denunciation and Invitation.” It is definitely an invitation—a chapter of “Joy and Blessing to God’s People” - New Spirit Filled Life Bible - Introduction to Isaiah.


In it, nature has a party. The desert and the wilderness bloom. They take on the characteristics of the area’s beauty spots of Lebanon, Carmel and Sharon (Isaiah 35:1,2). It’s a time doctors are no longer needed, for the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the mute talk (Isaiah 35:5,6). Everything that is desolate comes alive (Isaiah 35:7). And there is a broad way back to God (Isaiah 35:8-10).

What stands out for me is a snippet from verse 9. After listing who will not walk on that highway (nothing unclean, no hungry wild beasts) is a statement of who will “But the redeemed shall walk there.” I like how the NIV shades it: “But only the redeemed walk there.”

[Redeemed - gawal: Ransom, redeem, repurchase, to set free by avenging or repaying. Refers to the custom of buying back something a person has lost through helplessness, poverty or violence… The biblical view of redemption is extremely wide for God has pledged to redeem the whole creation, which currently groans in bondage” - New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 935.]

That’s what I see here—a redeemed creation (humans included) bought back and reset to the default of God’s original creation perfection.

This passage is for me an expression of longing and faith, the “already / not yet” that we live in, knowing Christ has already redeemed all by His death, but not yet seeing the completion of that redemption in real time. May it be soon!

PRAYER: Dear Father, I long for the day when these things come to pass. May it be soon. Until then, help me to be Your faithful servant in this fallen world, helping others find their way to You. Amen.
 
MORE: Feast of St. Luke

Today the church celebrates the Feast of St. Luke the physician and gospel writer. The day’s liturgy begins with this Collect prayer:

Almighty God, who inspired your servant Luke the physician to set forth in the Gospel the love and healing power of your Son: Graciously continue in your Church this love and power to heal, to the praise and glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

God's answers in real time

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TODAY’S SPECIAL: Exodus 12:29-51

TO CHEW ON: “And it came to pass at the end of four hundred and thirty years—on that very same day—it came to pass that all the armies of the LORD when out from the land of Egypt …. And it came to pass on that very same day that the LORD brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt …” Exodus 12:41,51

When the day of freedom from Egypt finally came for the Israelites, it was a big surprise—to them at least. For we read that they had made their usual night-time preparations for the next day (mixed dough to which they usually added leaven in the morning). But then came the tenth plague and they were “driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared provisions for themselves” (Exodus 12:39).

It was no surprise to God, though. The writer of Exodus (most likely Moses) even points out that the date of their leaving was a significant one—the 430th anniversary of their arrival.

The phrase “on that very day” occurs twice in this account, as if to emphasize the fact that God’s decisive action came in the real time of human history.

I take comfort form this for my life. God is still able and does answer our prayers on a particular day in time and space. I am looking forward to the day I can point to a date on the calendar and say, on this very day the project I bathed in prayer was completed, the healing occurred, the prodigal came home… Do you join me?

PRAYER: Dear Father, I love the fact that You know my upcoming days as if they had already happened (“And in Your book they were all written, / The days fashioned for me, / When as yet there were none of them” - Psalm 139:16). I know You will answer the things for which I have been burdened to pray in “that very day” that you have foreseen they will occur. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

God's conundrums

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TODAY’S SPECIAL: Matthew 11:2-15

TO CHEW ON: “And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, ‘Are you the Coming One, or do we look for another?’ 
‘... blessed is he who is not offended because of Me’” Matthew 11:2,3,6


Why do you suppose John sent disciples to Jesus asking if He were the “Coming One” in the context of all the “works” he was hearing about? Do you suppose it was a subtle way of reminding Jesus—Hey, I’m here in prison. I could use one of those works right about now?

Jesus didn’t come through with a prison escape, though. Instead He made this curious statement: “'Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.'"

Why would John be offended (skandalizo from which we get scandalized: "to cause a person to begin to distrust and desert one whom he ought to trust and obey")?

Perhaps because what happened here (or didn’t happen) didn’t make sense to him?  The ways of God often don’t make sense to us either. The couple on the mission field have to return when their children are diagnosed with autism. At the peak of his career, a gifted musician gets cancer and dies. A young wife and mother suffers a stroke, becomes brain damaged, and needs 24-hour care in an institution.I’m sure you could name more. It’s quite possible you’ve experienced one of these God conundrums.

I love how Oswald Chambers riffs on this theme:

“We are not taken up into conscious agreement with God’s purpose, we are taken up into God’s purpose without any consciousness at all” - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, August 3 reading).

“As long as you think there is something in you He cannot choose you because you have ends of your own to serve; but if you have let Him bring you to the end of your self-sufficiency, then He can choose you to go with Him to Jerusalem, and that will mean the fulfillment of purposes which He does not discuss with you” - Chambers, Op. Cit, August 4 reading.

“His call is to be in comradeship with Himself for His own purposes… If we have a purpose of our own, it destroys the simplicity and the leisureliness which ought to characterize the children of God” - Chambers, Op. Cit, August 5 reading (emphases added).

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, help me to avoid becoming offended when Your ways don’t make sense to me. Teach me to trust You in every circumstance. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Living well in the big picture

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Exodus 1:1-14

TO CHEW ON: “And Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation. But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied, and grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them …
And they (Egyptians) made their (Israelites) lives bitter with hard bondage—in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor” - Exodus 1:6,7,14


Our reading today continues telling the story of Jacob’s family in broad strokes. Two short verses (Exodus 1:6,7) take us through over 400 years of time: “The book of Exodus is a continuation of the Genesis account, dealing with the 430-year development of a family group of 70 into a large nation” - J.C. Tollett, study notes on Exodus, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 77.

The Israelites had, for all intents and purposes, become Egyptians. Or at least they had lived in Egypt long enough to identify that way. But God had other plans for them, plans hinted at in a promise made to Abraham centuries earlier (Genesis 15:18). And so began the discomfort of hard labor and slavery for Israel, that would eventually dislodge them permanently from Egypt.

The tricky thing about living in time is we don’t understand the times we’re in and the significance of day-to-day events as we’re living them. “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards” - Søren Kierkegaard.

Like the oppression of the Egyptians no doubt vexed and puzzled the Israelites, so many happenings in our time vex and puzzle us too. We won’t know, in the near term, the significance of the 2016 American election of Donald Trump as president of the U.S. or the recent defeat of a long-governing political party in my province. Only time will tell how current events affect history.

But we take comfort in knowing that history never gets away from God. As He declared through Isaiah:

Remember the former things of old,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me,

Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things that are not yet done,
Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
And I will do all My pleasure,’

Calling a bird of prey from the east,
The man who executes My counsel, from a far country.
Indeed I have spoken it;
I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it; I will also do it. - Isaiah 46:9-11 (my emphasis)

We can also, pray and trust God for wisdom to understand and live well during our short span of years on earth. Let's aspire to have the reputation of the "Sons of Issachar" in David's army who were known as those "who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do" - 1 Chronicles 12:32.

PRAYER:
Dear God, thank You that You know the end from the beginning and will bring about the things You have purposed. Please give me insight into my time and wisdom to live well in it. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Cooperating with God

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TODAY’S SPECIAL: Matthew 15:21-39

TO CHEW ON: “And He took the seven loaves and fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples, and the disciples gave to the multitude. So they all ate and were filled…” Matthew 15:36,37

Where did this multiplication of bread and fish take place? In Jesus’ hands or in the baskets and trays of the disciples?

The Bible doesn’t say. But I imagine Jesus giving each disciple a similar small amount of fish and bread. It may have looked puny, inadequate to feed a dozen let alone hundreds. Then they started passing it out and they passed it out and passed it out … and it never ran out! I imagine that multiplication occurring when the bread and fish were in the disciples’ hands (for they wouldn’t have been able to carry a receptacle loaded with food enough for hundreds!)

I can imagine my reaction if I had been one of those disciples, getting my portion to hand out: “But this small amount is ridiculous. How many will this feed? These hungry people will beat me up when some get fed and others don't …”

Of course the disciples didn’t say anything like that. They had been with Jesus through enough emergencies to realize He was dependable to come through. And His work through them kept happening:

“And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, confirming the word through accompanying signs and wonders” - Mark 16:20.

God in His wisdom continues to use people to accomplish His work with Him:"

"For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building” - 1 Corinthians 3:9.

“We then as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.” 2 Corinthians 6:1.

I love how the Blackabys, in the book Experiencing God, challenge us to put this principle into practice:

“God never asks people to dream up something to do for Him. We do not sit down and dream what we want to do for God and then call God in to help us accomplish it. The pattern in Scripture is that we submit ourselves to God. Then we wait until God shows us what He is about to do, or we watch to see what God is already doing around us and join Him” Henry & Richard Blackaby, Claude King, Experiencing God p. 34.

“Every conversation with God has limitless possibilities attached to it, because He is ‘able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.’ - Ephesians 3:20” - Ibid, p. 89 (emphases added).

PRAYER: Dear Father, help me to work with You. Help me distribute what is in my hands and trust You to use it in the needed way. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

We are God's puzzle pieces

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TODAY’S SPECIAL: Romans 9:19-33

TO CHEW ON: “But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why have you made me like this?’ “ Romans 9:20

Sometimes these Bible Society readings gain weight by juxtaposition. Today’s reading, about God’s sovereignty, coming after yesterday’s story of Joseph’s brothers selling him to Ishmaelite traders who happened along at the perfect moment, is one such.

I can imagine Joseph, at the time, wondering what he had done to deserve such a fate. It wasn’t his fault that he’d been born to Rachel, Jacob’s favorite wife. He couldn’t stop the puzzling dreams that came to him at night. And who could resist retelling them in the hope that someone could explain what they meant? He was just trying to be a good son when he went in search of his brothers, and now this?!

Years later, he had insight into where it was all going, and why and who:

“But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. ...  And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; ...” - Genesis 45:5-7 (emphasis added).

The same may be true for us someday—or not. In fact, we may never in this life understand the whys and wherefores of the twists and turns our lives have taken or been kept from taking. Someday, though, in eternity if not here on earth, I believe like Joseph we will understand how the bits and pieces of our lives fit into the picture of the “riches of His glory” - Romans 9:23

"For now [in this time of imperfection] we see in a mirror dimly [a blurred reflection, a riddle, an enigma], but then [when the time of perfection comes we will see reality] face to face. Now I know in part [just in fragments], but then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known [by God]" - 1 Corinthians 13:12 AMP (emphasis added).

PRAYER: Dear Father, please help me to trust You with life circumstances I don’t understand, and that You will make my life an enhancement of Your glory. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked AMP are taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)

Acknowledge the past before transformation

Jacob Wrestles - Matthaeus Merian I (1593-1650)

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Genesis 32:6-32

TO CHEW ON: “So He said to him, ‘What is your name?’
He said, ‘Jacob’ (supplanter, deceiver).
And He said, ‘Your name shall no longer be called Jacob but Israel (Prince with God)…’” - Genesis 32:27,28


We left Jacob yesterday alone and determined to deal with his past. For not only had he broken with Laban, but he sent servants to tell Esau, his estranged twin brother, that he was passing through (Genesis 32:1-5).

The servants returned with the news that Esau was on his way to meet Jacob, accompanied by 400 men.

That put the scare into Jacob!

He did all he could to prepare for this meeting that he feared would end badly.
- He prayed - reminding God of His promise to him - Genesis 32:9-12.
- He prepared and sent on ahead herds of animals as gifts for Esau - Genesis 32:13-15.
- He separated his most precious possessions, his wives and children, from the main company and sent them to the other side of the Jabbok River.

In the fear-filled and sleepless night before the meeting, Jacob experienced perhaps the greatest preparation for the day ahead (and the rest of his life). He met a mysterious stranger who wrestled with him. This man (a theophany? an angel?) made Jacob say his name (acknowledge his identity, Jacob—deceiver, supplanter) before He would pronounce the blessing for which Jacob begged.

Then God blessed him with a new name (identity): Israel—Prince with God, a reminder of the encounter (a lifelong limp), and a formal blessing (Genesis 32:26-29)

Perhaps what happened to Jacob may also be applicable to us. Before we get God’s blessing of transformation, we may also need to admit what we were, to acknowledge the human means we’ve used to this point to make our way in life. This so we can forsake them and in their stead lean on God and trust His ways of working.

PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for faithfully bringing me face to face with my human coping mechanisms in order to transform me into a person who relies on You.

MORE: The rest of the story…

To read how Jacob and Esau’s meeting went, read Genesis 33:1-16.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Being on the way

"Then she quickly emptied her pitcher into the trough" ( Art Journal - V. Nesdoly)

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Genesis 24:1-27

 
TO CHEW ON: “Then the man bowed down his head and worshiped the LORD. And he said, ‘Blessed be the LORD God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His mercy and His truth toward my master. As for me, being on the way, the LORD led me to the house of my master’s brethren.’” Genesis 24:26,27


I can imagine the self-conversation Abraham’s servant has as he travels back to Ur to fulfill his master’s wishes to get a wife for Isaac from Abraham’s relatives:

This is crazy. How will I ever find those relatives.

Maybe Abraham’s God will be with me. My boss sounded pretty confident (Genesis 24:7).

But this is a deity of whom Abraham doesn’t even have an image. Is he real?

I’m nearing the place he told me about. How will I know where to go next? How will I recognize Abraham’s people?  If I find a girl, will she even want to come? Help!

It is at this point, I imagine, Abraham’s servant utters a prayer of his own—a very practical prayer that if answered would solve his real problem of finding the right woman for Isaac.

Can’t you just feel his heart begin to pound as beautiful Rebekah comes out and proceeds to fulfill all the conditions of his prayer? Talk about the sun beaming from behind clouds showing the servant: I, Abraham’s God, am real. I am here. And You are in the very place you should be!

Perhaps you have experienced moments like that—moments that remind you that God has been with you, guiding you all the time. Times when the brightness of His favour seems to break through the clouds of confusion, illuminating your situation with divine certainty and benediction.

I know I have. But most of the time we operate like Abraham’s servant through most of that long journey—not quite sure, but faithfully staying "on the way” the best we know how. Let’s take heart from Abraham’s servant and stay the course.

Some promises of Gods guidance:

• He illumines our path with instruction and teaching - Psalm 32:8.

• Sometimes we have to step out in faith. God’s reassurance that we’ve made the right move comes later - Isaiah 30:21.

• God also goes before us. As we follow Him, we learn to know and recognize His voice - John 10:4.

• He has promised to guide us lifelong - Psalm 48:14.

PRAYER: Dear Father, help me to faithfully stay on the way, even when the path to take seems unclear. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

In the nick of time

Abraham Climbs Mount Moriah - Schirmer

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Genesis 22:1-19

TO CHEW ON: “And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, ‘Abraham, Abraham … Do not lay your hand on the lad.’” Genesis 22:10-12


I like to plan things and know beforehand what to expect, how things will go, and what I will say. I am challenged by stories like Abraham, Isaac, and God’s nick-of-time rescue of Isaac from Abraham’s knife.

However, we could say, I think, that God is very much a God of the last minute.

• When the Israelites faced the Red Sea after leaving Egypt, the Egyptians were nipping at their heels when God opened a way before them to cross to the other side - Genesis 14:10,13,21-23.

• Again when Israel was about to cross the Jordan into Canaan, only when the priests carrying the ark entered the overflowing Jordan did its flow stop so the people could cross - Joshua 3:15-17.

Such last-minute events happened in the New Testament too.

• Peter was delivered from prison the night before Herod planned to bring him out (supposedly to execute) Acts 12:6-9.

• Jesus told His disciples to expect the Holy Spirit to give them on-the-spot answers when they would be questioned about their faith in the near (Luke 12:11,12) and distant futures: “'Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist’” - Luke 21:14,15.

God's nick-of-time ways are not, I believe, that He figures out what to do so late in the game, but His “fullness of time” way of testing our faith even as we learn by experience how very faithful He is.

PRAYER: Dear Father, help me to trust You, not my own devices, as I listen to You moment by moment. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Are we in sync with God's ways?

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TODAY’S SPECIAL: Psalm 95:1-11

TO CHEW ON: “For forty years I was grieved with that generation,
And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts
And they do not know My ways.’” Psalm 95:10

Here we have a sobering indictment of the Israelites by God Himself. We pause and re-read, for any quality or action that grieves God [the word grieves is qut—to loathe, be grieved, feel a loathing or disgust for] is worth our close attention.

We know the story this passage refers to of the Israelites and how, on the doorstep of Canaan, they refused to put their faith in Yahweh, who had showed up for them countless times already on their trek from Egypt to Kadesh Barnea. Instead, they followed the advice of the ten faithless spies, balked at entering the land, and sealed their fate of wandering in the desert for 38 more years (Numbers 13 & 14).

For them it all started privately, we might even say innocently, enough “in their hearts.” However, a life lived habitually by the dictates of one's own heart (which could include the intellect, self-will, common sense, for the approval of others) led them, in the end, to an ignorance of God’s ways.

So how could the Israelites, how can we adjust the true north of our hearts to please God instead of grieve Him? How do we live in sync with instead of ignorant of His ways? For starters we need to:

Cultivate faith:
The biggie for the Israelites—and often for us too—is lack of faith.
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” - Hebrews 11:6.

Model our lives on Jesus:
We please God when we observe, listen to, and pattern our lives on Jesus, of whom God the Father said: “‘This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him’” - Matthew 17:5.

Do good with generosity:
“But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” - Hebrews 13:6

PRAYER: Dear Father, please change my heart from loving and following my own ways to living by faith. I want to become a person who knows Your ways. Amen

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Weak, small things

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Luke 2:1-14

TO CHEW ON: “And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. … Joseph also went to be registered, everyone to his own city … to be registered with Mary his betrothed wife, who was with child.” - Luke 2:1,4,5

How often God used weak things to accomplish what He wanted to get done.

• He empowered Moses’ rod to do amazing signs - Exodus 4:2.

• He had Gideon pare his army down to a mere 300 men to defeat the Midianites - Judges 7:1-21.

• Samson took a lot of lives with the jawbone of a donkey - Judges 15:15.

• David felled Goliath with five stones - 1 Samuel 17:40.

• God kept Elijah, a widow, and her son alive for a long time on a handful of flour and a little oil - 1 Kings 17:12-16.

• The end of Israel’s three-year drought began with a cloud the size of a man’s hand - 1 Kings 18:44.

• In our story Jesus was born to a young woman who was just a common citizen. At the beck-and-call of Caesar, she and her betrothed Joseph had to make a trip to Bethlehem at the worst time, with baby due any day. When they got to Bethlehem, they took the only available place—a stable, and that’s where Baby Jesus was born.

The angels announced Jesus’ birth to shepherds, rough, uncouth, despised members of society.

Today, on the threshold of Christmas day, let’s not despise the small things in our lives:
- The opportunity to give a smile or show a kindness to a child, a neighbor, a stranger.
- The prompting to say a prayer for the one who crosses our mind.
- The grace to let someone proceed ahead of us in traffic, a parking lot, a store lineup.
- The lyrics of a song that lift our spirits in praise.

“For who has despised the day of small things?” - Zechariah 4:10.

“But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things that are mighty” - 1 Corinthians 1:27.

PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You that my weakness and inability are not impediments to You. Please be present and active in the smallness of my life today. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Pilgrims

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Isaiah 35:1-10

TO CHEW ON: "A highway shall be there, and a road,
And it shall be called the Highway of Holiness
The unclean shall not pass over it,
but it shall be for others
Whoever walks the road, although a fool,
Shall not go astray…
But the redeemed shall walk there
And the ransomed of the Lord shall return
And come to Zion with singing,
With everlasting joy on their heads
They shall obtain joy and gladness
And sorrow and sighing shall flee away." Isaiah 35:8-10

Eugene Peterson says in the first chapter of A Long Obedience in the Same Direction:

"For recognizing and resisting the stream of the world's ways, there are two biblical designations for people of faith that are extremely useful: disciple and pilgrim...Pilgrim (parepidemos) tells us we are people who spend our lives going someplace for God and whose path for getting there is the way, Jesus Christ. We realize that 'this world is not my home' and set out for 'the Father's house.' Abraham, who 'went out' is our archetype. Jesus, answering Thomas's question 'Master, we have no idea where you're going. How do you expect us to know the road?' gives us directions: 'I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me' (John 14:5-6)" (p. 17-18).

Our focus verse today talks about part of that pilgrimage path. It appears to be the part near the end of the journey. Don't you just love the way Isaiah describes this part of the road — it's bigness (it's a "Highway"), its purity (it's a "Highway of Holiness" with nothing unclean on it), its safety (no one goes astray on it), its music, and its joy!

Isaiah's description here got me thinking about ways and roads and paths and how this metaphor for our life as people of faith is used again and again in the Bible. Here are some examples:

1. We choose the way we want to go (Psalm 119:30).

2. It's important to choose well, for our choice has implications for eternity (Matthew 7:13-14; Proverbs 15:24).

3. God and our leaders teach us the right way (Jeremiah 42:3; 1 Samuel 12:23).

4. Staying on the right path involves continuing choices for us (Proverbs 9:6; Proverbs 10:17; 2 Peter 2:2).

5. The way we choose impacts private actions as well as public life (Psalm 101:2).

6. When we get confused about the path, God promises to give us direction (Isaiah 30:21; Psalm 139:23-24).

7. The right path — the path of wisdom — is righteous, level, straight, and smooth (Isaiah 26:7), also described as pleasant and peaceful (Proverbs 3:17).

8. Staying on the right path brings with it the promise of a prolonged life (Deuteronomy 5:33).

9. It leads, finally, to a wonderful destination (Psalm 107:7, as well as today's focus verse).

A while ago we attended the funeral service of a friend who was part of the church we were members of years ago. Though it was a sad time, the afternoon had a glad side to it too, as we again met people we had worked with in the nursery, in Sunday School, and on the church board, people we knew well because we had, for years, journeyed side by side.

It was also an afternoon of reflecting on where our friend, was now. The hours I spent musing and mingling was to me a brief glimpse of what it means to be on that "Highway of Holiness" — traveling, singing, joyful, and ever hopeful as I make my way, in the company of many others, to a wonderful destination.


PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for this picture of life as a journey and Your way as the road. Please guide my steps on it today. Amen.

MORE: "I'll Lead You Home" by Michael W. Smith



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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Spiritual stumblung

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Luke 7:18-35

TO CHEW ON: "'Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of Me.'" Luke 7:23

When John asked his disciples to get reassurances from Jesus that He was indeed "the One who is to come," it seems like he was really asking, 'Have I given my life to the right cause or person?'

Jesus' answer back, that His questioners tell John of all the miracles He was doing—was, I imagine, both reassuring to John and not. I wonder if, when John was reminded of Jesus' power, he didn't ask, at least inwardly, Couldn't you then do a miracle for me—get me out of Herod's prison?

Perhaps that's what Jesus was referring to—His inscrutable ways—when He concluded, " 'Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of Me.'"

We too try to understand Jesus' continuing works on earth through the Holy Spirit. But there's still no predicting or controlling Him. We fast and pray for situations, the sick, the unsaved. Sometimes we see results, sometimes not. I believe Jesus' words are as relevant to us as they were to John: "'Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of Me.'"

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, help me to continue to trust You even when I don't understand what You are or are not doing. Amen.

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Unless noted otherwise, all Scriptures quoted in this meditation are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

A deal in our favor

Image: pixabay.com

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Isaiah 1:18-31

TO CHEW ON: "'Come now, let us reason together,'
Says the Lord,
'Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.'" Isaiah 1:18

In the middle of this prophecy, which is mostly a blistering scold of Judah for her rebellious ways, comes this short and dispassionate invitation: "'Come now let us reason together.'"

[Reason - yakach isn't transliterated reason very often. In other places it is rendered to decide, judge, show to be right, prove, reprove, chide, correct, rebuke. That, then, is the shade of reason here—a deal proposed by the One with the power, wisdom, and right to judge, to the one without.]

The deal the LORD sets out is simple. For willingness and obedience they will get supernatural cleansing (from sin). But refusal and rebellion will lead to death.

When we consider the price God demanded as payment for cleansing from sin—the life of a perfect lamb in the Old Testament, culminating in the life of the Lamb of God in the New, this "deal" seems highly weighted in favor of Judah, and us humans. But it does have two sides to it.

Still today the opportunity to be cleansed stands:

• "…the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all " Isaiah 53:6.

• "… while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" Romans 5:8

• " For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works…" Ephesians 2:8,9

• "For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God…"1 Peter 3:18.

When we accept it, it means new life for us.

• " I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you … Ezekiel 36:25-27.

• "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new" 2 Corinthians 5:14-17.

But we also have a part to play in this agreement.

• "…present your bodies a living sacrifice…" Romans 12:1.

• "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only…" James 1:22-25.

• "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me…" John 14:21.

However, even in this, God is at work to enable us.

• "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord" 2 Corinthians 3:18 (emphasis added).
  

Through the centuries it's a deal that remains weighted in our favour.

PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for making a way out of the stench and stain of sin to purity. Even though sacrificing You our whole selves in love and obedience is no little thing, in reality, it's all You, and a very beneficial deal for us! Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Refugees—a crisis or…?

Graphic from Pixabay.com

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Philippians 2:12-29

TO CHEW ON: "For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus."  Philippians 2:21

As I write this, the world is still in the thick of the Syrian refugee crisis. Justin Trudeau made a promise during the recent election campaign to take in 25,000 by year's end. Now that he's our Prime Minister, he's beginning to make good on that promise.

Not surprisingly, the media is full of chatter about this. Social media too. Often I see in my Facebook updates links to articles, and images designed to make me afraid of what an influx of refugees will do to our country. And there's no question the thousands refugees that pundits project will be settled in B.C., mostly the Lower Mainland where I live, will put a strain on schools, hospitals, medical facilities, organizations who integrate newcomers, not to speak of where will they all live and the biggie: ARE THEY SAFE?! Or by inviting them in, are we opening ourselves up to terrorist attacks like France experienced on November 13th?

I easily get swept up into this line of thinking and yet something about it troubles me deeply. That's why, when I saw the article title: "Building His Church in a Refugee Crisis" on my Twitter stream last night, I clicked through. What a breath of fresh air—scented with the fragrance of Christ—is this piece by David Crabb on John Piper's Desiring God blog. Here are a few choice bits:

    "What if, while America was asking questions about safety and risk management, Christians were asking, What is God doing? What if, through the senseless evil of civil war, God was bringing unreached people groups to our cities? What if, through great tragedy, God was bringing about the triumph of the gospel?

    Syria has over twenty million Muslims in eighteen unreached people groups. Christian missionaries have spent years praying, strategizing, and risking everything to go to these people. Now, God is bringing them here.

    ...One of the things that hinders Christian witness most is simply that the primary voice speaking in our heads, influencing our thoughts, and determining our behavior is not the Bible, but media pundits....   

    How would we view Muslims if we were steeped in God’s words so that we were thinking his thoughts after him? What would be our perspective on the refugee crisis if the Bible, and not our favorite news channel, was guiding our thoughts and directing our behavior?" (emphasis added - article linked below*).

So this morning, when I read in Philippians: "For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus," I can't help but look at myself in the mirror and feel convicted: 'That's been you, sister, seeing this crisis from a human, not a Jesus perspective, listening to the wrong voices!'

With God's help I'm going to do better with my thoughts and prayers about this refugee crisis and with whatever else is going on in my country, province, city, family…

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to become steeped in Your thoughts so that the thoughts and fears of the world would seem the foreign ones. Help me to be open to what You would do through me as I "…seek … the things which are of Jesus Christ." Amen. 


*Read the article "Building His Church in a Refugee Crisis".

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

A way God calls "perverse"

"Balaam's Eyes Were Opened" 
Artist Unknown 
From Treasures of the Bible (Moses)

"Balaam's Eyes Were Opened"

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Numbers 22:22-40

TO CHEW ON: "And the Angel of the Lord said to him, 'Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold I have come out to stand against you, because your way is perverse before Me.' " Numbers 22:32


Balaam really does want to go with Balak's men. His hastily acquired permission (Numbers 22:20) means that the morning after the second delegation arrives, he is on his way back to Balak with them (though there is no record that God's condition: "'If the men come to call you…'" is ever met).

What happens next on the road—the donkey crushing Balaam's foot, lying down, refusing to go further and actually speaking to Balaam—is a familiar Sunday School story. The Angel of the LORD's words (God's words) to Balaam are sobering (Numbers 22:32-33). He describes Balaam's way as "perverse."

[Perverse - yarat means to precipitate, to be precipitate, to push headlong, drive recklessly.]

The use of that word gives us the sense that Balaam's decision to go with Balak's men is impulsive, reckless, and headstrong. Peter gives us a clue about his motivation. He really did want all that stuff, that attention, that honor:

 "They (Peter, referring here to false teachers) have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness…" - 2 Peter 2:15.

In Balaam's reaction we see a flashing caution light for ourselves and our own tendencies to impetuously push ahead with what we want to do. I like how Priscilla Shirer expresses it:

"I am learning that God will use the appropriate means to reveal His will in His timing. … If you feel an overwhelming urge to act spontaneously, pull in the reins" - Priscilla Shirer, Discerning the Voice of God, pp. 92,93

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to be aware of my own tendency to act on my own, rashly, spontaneously, and recklessly. Help me, instead, to wait for Your clear timing and direction before I move ahead with plans and projects. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The power of FAVOR

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Exodus 11:1-10

TO CHEW ON: "And the Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh's servants and in the sight of the people." Exodus 11:3

One of the ways God uses to accomplish His purposes on earth is to give His human servants favor.

[What is favor? The dictionary defines it as: something helpful, advantageous or considerate done or granted freely as a gesture of goodwill; an attitude of friendliness; being looked upon with liking or approval; special treatment; kind permission; something that helps or furthers an undertaking.]

God predicted to Moses at the burning bush that He would give the Israelites favor with the Egyptians (Exodus 3:21). Our focus verse is the writer's observation that this prediction came about. And we see it playing out in the next chapter as the Israelites "plundered" the Egyptians, receiving from them whatever they asked of gold, silver, and clothes (Exodus 12:35,36).

This is not the only place in the Bible where we see people blessed with favor.

• Joseph found favor, first with Potiphar, then the prison keeper, and later with Pharaoh himself (Genesis 39:4; 21-23; 41:39,42).

• Esther was favored by all who saw her and King Xerxes, who chose her to be his queen. He later granted her favor by enacting a law that allowed the Jews to defend themselves against their enemies (Esther 2:15, 17; 8:5).

• The boy Jesus had favor (Luke 2:52).

• So did the early Christians (Acts 2:47).

I believe we can and should ask for favor to carry out the assignments God gives us. Barbara Billet in the introduction to the scripture prayer for favor on her book Praying with Fire says:

"The favor of God will open doors that men say are impossible to open. It will change regulations and give you preferential treatment to get you where God wants you to go. … Favor … will cause you to be noticed and cause people to be drawn to you like a magnet" Praying With Fire p. 88, emphasis added.

PRAYER: Dear God, please open doors of favor so that I and my activities will further Your kingdom today. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.