Joseph's Dilemma

 

"The Anxiety of Saint Joseph" by James Tissot (1836-1902)

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Matthew 1:18-25

TO CHEW ON: "Then Joseph her husband, being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly." Matthew 1:19

Joseph has always intrigued me. I think of him as thoughtful and deep, the strong, silent type. Here he faced the dilemma of his life: his beautiful fiancee was pregnant.

My Bible's study notes explain about Jewish betrothals:

"In Jewish law, betrothal involved a formal binding contract before witnesses but the betrothal abstained from sexual relations and the woman remained at her father's house until the actual wedding ceremony. The betrothed referenced each other as husband and wife (vs. 19,20), and the contract could be terminated only by death or a formal divorce decree" - J. Lyle Story, New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 1290.

Did the culture allow private conversations between engaged young people? If it did, I can imagine Mary's explanation, probably tearful (how could you not be emotional when the love of your life, the man who had your future in his hands, was looking at you with utter shock, disbelief and...revulsion?) even though this was a holy, joyful thing that had happened to her.

What to do? Joseph was considering putting her away secretly—divorcing her—the solution described in Deuteronomy 24:1. But just in time, "while he thought about these things" an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream to confirm Mary's claim that this baby was indeed what she had said and not the fruit of a sinful union. So Joseph married her and the rest of the story played out.

Have you noticed how God showing up here just in the nick of time, just as He often comes to us in our emergencies. It never feels soon enough for our likes, but neither is it too late for the situation. God could have alerted Joseph to what was about to happen before any of it transpired, saving him the stress, worry, and crisis. But He didn't. Why? I believe it was because God was developing Joseph's faith at the same time He was working out His plans for the earth in sending Jesus.

God's response to Joseph reminds me of some paragraphs I came across in J. I. Packer's Knowing God. Packer, speaking of another Joseph and his reaction to his brothers in Genesis 45:4-8 says:

"Once again we are confronted with the wisdom of God ordering the events of a human life for a double purpose: the man's own personal sanctification and the fulfilling of his appointed ministry and service in the life of the people of God....


These things are written for our learning: for the same wisdom which ordered the paths which God's saints trod in Bible times orders the Christian's life today. We should not therefore be too taken aback when unexpected and upsetting and discouraging things happen to us now. What do they mean? Why, simply that God in His wisdom means to make something of us which we have not attained yet, and is dealing with us accordingly....


But how are we to meet these baffling and trying situations if we cannot for the moment see God's purpose in them? First by taking them as from God, and asking ourselves what reactions to them, and in them, the gospel of God requires of us; second by seeking God's face specifically about them" J. I. Packer, Knowing God, pages 103-105, 1975 edition (emphasis mine).

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to go to You when life is puzzling and full of questions. Then help me to, in faith, obey what you reveal, as Joseph did. 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.

Jesus, my mercy seat

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Romans 3-4; Psalm 134


TO CHEW ON: "...Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood..." Romans 3:24b-25a

Within the word "propitiation" we have one of the most amazing and offending aspects of the Gospel.

In English when we talk of propitiating someone, we mean that we appease, conciliate and cause them to be favourably disposed toward us.

The Greek word for "propitiation" is hilasterion  which actually means "mercy seat." It refers to the place of atonement between the two cherubim on the top of the ark. "The root meaning of hilasterion is that of appeasing and placating an offended god" - New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 1738.

The idea that a loving God would personally exercise wrath against His creatures is what's offensive to some. However, the Bible makes it clear that that's the way it is (for example, see Isaiah 53:4-5; Romans 5:9; Ephesians 5:6; Revelation 6:16-17).

But that's not the end of the story. Though we deserved God's wrath, Jesus took it for us. God "set forth" Jesus as a propitiation. "...By His blood" refers to the fact that He died: "Blood is a reference to Christ's death as a substitute sacrifice for us. Christ's blood poured out is a clear evidence that His life was given for us" - New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1553.

And so God was able to satisfy both His holiness in its complete abhorrence of and wrath against sin, and His love. It really is the most incredible good news (gospel)!

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for being my mercy seat. May I never take my sin lightly, but keep in mind God's wrath visited on you for me. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 134

MORE: More on propitiation

"What is a 'propitiation'? It is a sacrifice that averts wrath through expiating sin, and cancelling guilt.


This...is the real heart of the gospel: that Jesus Christ, by virtue of His death on the cross as our substitute and sin-bearer, 'is the propitiation for our sins' (1 John 2:2). Between us sinners and the thunderclouds of divine wrath stands the cross of the Lord Jesus. If we are Christ's, through faith, then we are justified through his cross, and the wrath will never touch us, neither here nor hereafter. Jesus 'delivers us from the wrath to come' (1 Thessalonians 1:10)" - J. I. Packer, Knowing God, p. 173.

If you're interested in reading more, check the "Theological Term of the Week," propitiation page of the Rebecca Writes blog.

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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.

Spirit-born

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 3-4; Psalm 104


TO CHEW ON: "Jesus answered, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.'" John 3:5

Talk of being born again hardly moves the needle on the Richter scale of our minds. But when Jesus first introduced this idea to Nicodemus, it was earth-shaking. It really should remain that to us too. For it is the way we "enter" and "see" the Kingdom of God.

How? In Jesus' words by being "born of water" (repentance) "and the Spirit."

J. I. Packer says of the interchange between Jesus and Nicodemus:

"Speaking corporately for Himself and His disciples to Nicodemus and to the whole class of unregenerate religious people to which Nicodemus belonged, Christ went on to explain that the inevitable consequence of unregeneracy is unbelief — 'Ye receive not our witness' (verse 11). The gospel produces no conviction in them; unbelief holds them fast.


What follows, then? Should we conclude that preaching the gospel is a waste of time, and write off evangelism as a hopeless enterprise, foredoomed to fail? No; because the Spirit abides with the Church to testify of Christ" -  Knowing God, p. 74 (emphasis added).

The Spirit's working is, by Jesus' description here, a mysterious, unaccountable thing:"'The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit'" (verse 8).

Packer again:

"It is not for us to imagine that we can prove the truth of Christianity by our own arguments; nobody can prove the truth of Christianity save the Holy Spirit, by His own almighty work of renewing the blinded heart. It is the sovereign prerogative of Christ's Spirit to convince men's consciences of the truth of Christ's gospel; and Christ's human witnesses must learn to ground their hopes of success, not on clever presentation of the truth by man, but on powerful demonstration of the truth by the Spirit" - p. 74 (emphasis added).

Which is why we must not give up on anyone, no matter how resistant to the gospel they appear. For we have no idea how the Spirit is working in their lives, what is growing in the field of their hearts (Matthew 13:24), how Kingdom leaven is spreading  in the  secrecy of their inner lives (Matthew 13:33), or how they might even now be finding themselves mysteriously drawn to God's wedding banquet invitation (Matthew 22:2,9-10).


PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for sending the Holy Spirit to birth me into Your kingdom. God, the Spirit,  please use my life to accomplish Your mysterious, wind-like workings. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 104 

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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.

Offending wisdom

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Matthew 13:47-58

TO CHEW ON: "When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, 'Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works?'" Matthew 13:54

The kingdom of heaven parables poured out of Jesus. In today's reading, we read the last of a series recorded in Matthew 13. In it, Jesus compared the kingdom to a mixed catch of fish (Matthew 13:47-50).

We take from it the message that the church's responsibility is to spread the gospel wherever it can, even to those who appear unlikely to accept it, for it attracts people of all kinds. And like the parable of the wheat and tares, here the 'fish'  who survive a sorting by the angels at the end of the age will be preserved while the wicked will be cast into a place that sounds a lot like hell - Matthew 13:50.

"Where did this Man get this wisdom?" the people in Jesus' home town inquired. Even though they may not have been referring to His kingdom of heaven speech specifically (He had in the meantime traveled to the place where he grew up - Nazareth), His teaching was invariably wise, thought-provoking, stimulating, and controversial.

Unfortunately even though townspeople called Jesus' teaching wise, they were offended by it (Matthew 13:57). It's the same reaction Jesus' teaching receives today (e.g. the ongoing controversy within Christianity about the existence and meaning of hell).

Two applications come to mind:

1. I wish I had a tiny iota of Jesus' wisdom, don't you? We are reminded of Peter and John and the reaction to their teaching: "Now when they (rulers, elders, scribes etc.) saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus" - Acts 4:13 (emphasis added). Is the secret to wisdom spending time with Jesus?

2. We need to be mindful of our own reaction to Jesus' teaching. Our generation has a tendency to select what it will believe and live by. A popular emphasis today is Jesus' message about caring for the poor, while we gloss over His message of judgment. Are we personally guilty of letting society's preferences dictate which of Jesus' words we take seriously and which we don't because they offend?

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for the record of Your wisdom in the Bible. Help me to assimilate it into my life. I want my mind, life and speech to be changed by time spent with You. Amen.

MORE: What is wisdom?

Charles Spurgeon writes:

"Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom."

J. I. Packer writes:

"Wisdom is the power to see, and the inclination to choose, the best and highest goal, together with the surest means of attaining it. Wisdom is, in fact, the practical side of moral goodness. As such, it is found in its fulness only in God. He alone is naturally and entirely and invariable wise."

John Piper writes:

"Wisdom is the practical knowledge of how to attain that happiness. Therefore, wisdom is hearing and doing the Word of God."

For further reflection, see John Piper's 1981 sermon titled "Get Wisdom."

(From the website DesiringGod.org)

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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.

Forsaken

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Matthew 27:27-56

TO CHEW ON: "And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'Eli, Eli, lama sabachtani?' that is, 'My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?'" - Matthew 27:46

Jesus and God the Father were always incredibly close. Even at twelve years, Jesus wanted to be in his Father's house and seemed surprised that His parents hadn't thought to look there first when He was discovered missing on their journey back to Nazareth.

At Jesus' baptism the Father, in "a voice from heaven" alerted the onlookers to their relationship: "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased" - Matthew 3:16-17.

Jesus was always going off somewhere to spend time with His Father. He'd get up early, spend all night,  stay behind, go off by Himself  just so He could be with Him (Mark 1:35; Luke 6:12; Mark 6:46; Luke 5:16).

Again at Jesus' transfiguration, God the Father broke through to the human bystanders in the proud pronouncement: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!"- Matthew 17:5.

So when Jesus cried from the cross, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" we know something very serious was up.

And why Had God the Father forsaken His beloved Son? Because that Son had become something the Father could not look at. Jesus became utterly abhorrent to God when He took our sins on Him.

"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" 2 Corinthians 5:21.

Why did Jesus and God allow that to happen? Because:

"God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life' - John 3:16

Explained eloquently by J. I. Packer:

"God's love to sinners was expressed by the gift of His Son to be their Saviour. The measure of love is how much it gives and the measure of the love of God is the gift of His only Son to be made man, and to die for sins, and so to become the one mediator who can bring us to God. No wonder Paul speaks of God's love as "great," and passing knowledge (Ephesians 2:4; 3:19). Was there ever such costly munificence?" - Knowing God, p. 138-9.

PRAYER: Dear God, Thank You for sending Jesus. Jesus, thank You for enduring the utter desolation of my sin and death on the cross and so that I can be reconciled to God. Amen.


MORE: Good Friday

Today the church celebrates Jesus' crucifixion. We call it "Good Friday."

The Good Friday liturgy begins with this collect:

"Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen."

Andrew Peterson's song "The Silence of God" portrays how we  feel when it seems God is giving us the silent treatment. At such times perhaps the best thing for us to do is follow Jesus' example and keep praying.

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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 wrath

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 3:22-36

TO CHEW ON: "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abides on him." John 3:36


We 21st century Christians struggle with the concept of God's wrath. Why? Perhaps because we interpret it in human terms, as a loss of self control, or a sign that God feels powerless, has wounded pride, or is just bad-tempered and miserable. The tendency is to equate God's wrath with the wrath of, say, a parent that furied down on us out of the blue, seemed unusually harsh for our 'crime,' but was unpredictable too in that sometimes we got away with wrongdoing — it sort of depended on the parent's mood.

J. I. Packer has devoted an entire chapter of Knowing God to God's wrath. Hear his explanation of what God's wrath means and how it fits with His more popular attributes like love, mercy, and justice:

"God's wrath in the Bible is never the capricious, self-indulgent, irritable, morally ignoble thing that human anger so often is. It is, instead, a right and necessary reaction to objective moral evil. God is only angry where anger is called for. Even among men, there is such a thing as righteous indignation, though it is, perhaps rarely found. But all God's indignation is righteous. Would a God who took as much pleasure in evil as He did in good be a good God? Would a God who did not react adversely to evil in His world be morally perfect? Surely not. But it is precisely this adverse reaction to evil, which is a necessary part of moral perfection, that the Bible has in view when it speaks of God's wrath" - p. 167.

He goes on to explain how God's wrath doesn't make Him a monster because:

1. It is always judicious — the wrath of a judge administering justice (Romans 2:4-11).

2. It is something we choose for ourselves. Two verses from John 3 bear that out: Jesus' testimony about Himself (3:18) and John's testimony about Jesus (3:36).

"The basic choice was and is simple — either to respond to the summons 'come unto me...take my yoke upon you and learn of me' (Matthew 11:28 ff), or not; either to 'save' one's life by keeping it from Jesus's censure, and resisting His demand to take it over, or to 'lose' it by denying oneself, shouldering one's cross, becoming a disciple and letting Jesus have His own disruptive way with with one" - J. I. Packer, Knowing God, p. 169.

What is my response to the fact of God's wrath? What is yours? 

• Do we begin to comprehend God's total and complete aversion to sin? 
• Does His hatred and wrath against it put in us a healthy fear of Him and aversion to that same sin into us? 
• Do we begin to appreciate what Jesus did for us when He died, taking the blow of God's wrath in our place?

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for being against sin and moral evil. Please work in me the same revulsion against sin that so readily wiggles its way into my life in so many manifestations. Than You Jesus, for taking the wrath of God for me. Amen.

MORE: Want to read more?

If you want to read more about God's wrath, check out the quotes and links in the "wrath" entry of Rebecca Writes blog series "Theological Term of the Week."


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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.

Hope food

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Lamentations 3:22-45

TO CHEW ON: "'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul, 'Therefore I hope in Him!'" Lamentations 3:24

Writer, singer Carolyn Arends told this story on a 2010 Christianity Today webinar on worship:

"On July 12th my dad passed away and I was very, very sad and still am. My husband and I speak together at family camps and we were right in the middle of speaking at this camp. We went home for a day to see my Mom and cry together, and then she said, "I really think you need to go back and finish speaking at that camp."


At first I thought, How am I ever going to do that? I'm too sad. But it turned out to be such a gift because each day of that camp for about three hours I had this opportunity to formally affirm all the things that I know to be true about God's character — about His goodness, about His trustworthiness, about His provision for us. That was such a gift to me in my grief. It didn't take it away, but it reminded me that we do not grieve as those who have no hope and that we never mourn alone." (Webinar no longer available online.)

Focusing on God seems to be what Jeremiah is telling the beleaguered citizens of Judah to do here. In a turnaround so abrupt it practically gives us whiplash, he goes from dwelling on his desperate state, to reminding himself—and his hearers—of a vital fact: We have God, therefore we have hope.

He calls God his portion, a word commonly used to describe one's set-aside amount of food. How do we take God as our portion?

I think of it as meditating on and claiming for myself that aspect of God that relates to my specific problem. For example, if I'm experiencing injustice, I recall God's ability to see any situation realistically and to mete out justice for me in it. If it's illness or physical injury, I review the stories of healing in the Bible and meditate on God's ability to restore health—that sort of thing.

Jeremiah goes on to give other reasons it makes sense to trust in God—more flavours of that portion if you will:

1. It's good to experience God's "yoke" or constraint when we're young (it's implied that such experience matures and makes men and women out of us) (Jeremiah 3:25-27).

2. Problems don't last forever. God's merciful nature will eventually cause Him to show compassion (Jeremiah 3:31-33).

3. Nothing can come into our lives without God's knowledge or permission (Jeremiah 3:37-38).

Whatever you or I are facing today, let's claim God as our hope. Let's recall who He is. Let's remember His faithfulness to us. Let's make Him our portion.

PRAYER: "Dear God, thank You that You are big enough for every one of my problems. Help me to understand this at a heart / life level. Amen.

MORE: Store up for hope before trouble strikes

It's a good idea to prepare ahead for times of trouble. One of the ways we can do this is by familiarizing ourselves with God and  His attributes and ways in the good times, before tragedy strikes. Knowing God by J. I. Packer is an excellent book to read in this regard.

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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.

Do your 8-12-year-olds have daily devotions? Point them to Bible Drive-Thru.

Running away from God?

Jonah fleeing to Tarshish

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Jonah 1:1-17

TO CHEW ON: "But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord." Jonah 1:3


Did Jonah really believe that changing his location would get him out of God's sites? He certainly tried. A map of the Roman Empire shows Joppa and Tarshish (Tarsus) to be quite a boat trip away (one source estimated 225 Km.). 

My Bible's commenter on Jonah observes: "Jonah is trying to escape the presence of the Lord. This indicates that he had a very localized view of God's presence or perhaps a belief that the Spirit of prophecy would not follow him there" - Charles W. Snow,  commentary on Jonah, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1196.

Before we shake our heads and and smile knowingly at Jonah's foolishness, perhaps we should examine our own sensibilities. Though we may feel God's presence in church, do we realize that He also sees us / is with us when we are in places where His very existence is ignored or even denied—the neighborhood bar, a hockey game, a play or opera, the classroom?

Another time He may feel distant is when we're in trouble—on a back road at night beside our broken-down car, at the bedside of a loved one who is ill or badly injured, when we're opening yet another bill after the money is all spent...

God may feel absent but we can trust, with David that His awareness of us and presence with us doesn't waver by even a blink-second:

O Lord, you have examined my heart
    

and know everything about me.

You know when I sit down or stand up.
    

You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.


You see me when I travel
    

and when I rest at home.
    

You know everything I do....


I can never escape from your Spirit!
    

I can never get away from your presence!


If I go up to heaven, you are there;
    

if I go down to the grave, you are there.


If I ride the wings of the morning,
    

if I dwell by the farthest oceans,


even there your hand will guide me,
    

and your strength will support me.


I could ask the darkness to hide me
    

and the light around me to become night—


but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.


To you the night shines as bright as day.


Darkness and light are the same to you" 

Psalm 139:1-3; 7-12 NLT  

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for Your continuous awareness of me. Help me to live in a way that acknowledges Your presence. Amen.

MORE: "He knows me"

In his chapter "Knowing and Being Known" (Chapter 3 in Knowing God), J. I. Packer makes this reassuring declaration:

"What matters supremely, therefore, is not, in the last analysis, the fact that I know God, but the larger fact which underlies it—the fact that He knows me. I am graven on the palms of His hands. I am never out of His mind. All my knowledge of Him depends on His sustained initiative in knowing me. I know Him, because He first knew me, and continues to know me. He knows me as a friend, one who loves me; and there is no moment when His eye is off me, or His attention distracted from me, and no moment, therefore, when His care falters" - J. I. Packer, Knowing God, p. 41.

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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.

Is our goal God's glory?

"Unless a grain of wheat ... dies, it remains alone"

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 12:20-36a

TO CHEW ON: " 'Father, glorify Your name.' Then a voice came from heaven, saying, 'I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.' " John 12:28

I see three upside-down realities of the kingdom of God in today's reading:

1. To preserve life, we give ours away—like a seed dies to produce the next crop of seedlings (John 12:24-25).

2. To get honor that really counts—God's honor—we don't king it over people but serve (John 12:26).

3. To attract the world Jesus had to be "lifted up" in crucifixion (John 12:32-33).

How easy it is for us to lose sight of these counter-intuitive aspects of God's kingdom as we respond and react to life's daily challenges. We are careful to preserve our lives for ourselves instead of flinging them on Jesus. We like to be served instead of serve. We find Jesus' death almost an embarrassment instead of an attraction  because of the way it draws attention to the sinful and helpless condition of each person on earth. In our humanistic self-sufficient culture, such a thing is politically incorrect.

Perhaps we're also so often unmotivated to pursue this kingdom point-of-view in our lives because we aren't fully invested in its eventual goal—that God get the glory. We secretly want glory for ourselves.

Theologian J.I. Packer confronts this tension of viewpoints in his book Knowing God:

"The Christians instincts of trust and worship are stimulated very powerfully by knowledge of the greatness of God. But this is knowledge which Christians today largely lack and that is one reason why our faith is so feeble and our worship so flabby. We are modern men, and modern me, though they cherish great thoughts of man, have, as a rule, small thoughts of God. ...

"Today vast stress is laid on the thought that God is personal, but this truth is so stated as to leave the impression that God is a person of the same sort as we are—weak, inadequate, ineffective, a little pathetic ...

"Like us He is personal, but unlike us He is great. In all its constant stress on the reality of God's personal concern for His people, and on the gentleness, tenderness, sympathy, patience, and yearning compassion that He shows towards them, the Bible never lets us lose sight of His majesty, and His unlimited dominion over all His creatures" - J.I. Packer, Knowing God pp. 87,88 (italic emphasis in the original, bold emphasis added).

When we feast our minds on the greatness of God, we begin to understand why He (not us) deserves glory. Then investing our lives for the furthering of His glory begins to make sense. And the price we may be asked to pay of losing our lives, of serving, and of spreading the good news of rescue becomes every bit worth it.

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to know You better and be fully committed to furthering the glory of Your being, name, and reputation. 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 in unlikely places

Jacob's Dream - Gustave Doré, 1832-1883

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Genesis 28:6-22

TO CHEW ON: "Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, 'Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it.'" Genesis 28:16

Jacob's thoughts on waking from his wonderful dream are a testimony to how God-forsaken he felt. His feeling of being alienated from God was no doubt largely his own fault. He had recently participated in his mother's plot to deceive his father into giving him the blessing reserved for first-born Esau. Now Esau was living, eating, and sleeping revenge: "Just wait till Dad dies; I'll kill Jacob!"

Mother Rebekah got word of this and had Isaac send Jacob away on the pretext of getting a wife from her people. It is into the first lonely night of the journey that God came to Jacob in this dream of a ladder, angels, and God, who spoke a generational promise over him, the weasel kid. His first thought was: "God is here. I had no clue!"

I think of other unlikely times and places God showed up.

• In the words of an enemy soldier - Judges 7:13-15.

• In the life of a young boy who was surrounded by evilly religious men - 1 Samuel 3:19.

• In the sea depths - Jonah 1:17.

• In the middle of a Babylonian furnace - Daniel 3:25.

• In a den of lions - Daniel 6:21-22.

• In the presence and words of a young relative - Luke 1:41.

• On an island of exile - Revelation 1:9-10.

These examples recall the words of David in Psalm 139:

"Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there.
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold You are there.
If I take the wings of the morning
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea
Even there Your hand shall lead me
And Your right hand shall hold me...." - Psalm 139:6-12.

Wherever we are today, no matter how God-forsaken we feel, let's cling to this truth: God is here, with us, whether we feel Him or not.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for the truth of Your everywhere presence. Help me to recognize You in my everyday world. Amen.

MORE: Not one hidden moment

"I can hide my heart and my past and my future plans from men but I cannot hide anything from God. I can talk in a way that deceives my fellow-creatures as to what I really am, but nothing I say or do can deceive God. He sees through all my reserve and pretence; He knows me as I really am, better, indeed, than I know myself. A God whose presence and scrutiny I could evade would be a small and trivial deity. But the true God is great and terrible, just because He is always with me and His eye is always upon me. Living becomes an awesome business when you realize that you spend every moment of your life in the sight and company of an omniscient Creator" - J. I. Packer, Knowing God, 1973 edition, p. 91 (emphasis mine).

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I'm excited about launching a newsletter and I'd love to send it to you! 

In it I'll be sharing

• Book recommendations. I discover some wonderful books as a book reviewer.

• Bible study tips and aids. In the 4+ years I've been writing Other Food  Daily Devos, I have come across many helpful resources.

• Author news.

Sample page from Pathways Calendar.

The newsletter will come out quarterly (four times a year). I'm currently collecting names for my September 1st newsletter launch and would be delighted to have your name on the list. 

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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.

Who is this?

Jesus' Triumphal Entry 
by Alexandre Bida

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Matthew 21:1-17

TO CHEW ON: "And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying 'Who is this?'" Matthew 21:10

I sometimes wish that I could strip away all familiarity with the Bible stories and read them again for the first time. Wouldn't it be a thrill, here, to see Jesus triumphant at last, and enjoy the exultation of the moment untainted with the knowledge that this incident was just a blip and that a few hours from now, a crowd (maybe some from that crowd( would be shouting something altogether different?

I love the way all Jerusalem reverberates with the question: "Who is this?" So many answers jump off the page:

- This was a Man who had unusual knowledge: "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her..." Jesus tells His disciples (Matthew 21:1-3).


- This was a Man who knew His role in history: "All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet..." (Matthew 21:4-7).

- This was a man who was humble, yet accepted worship (Matthew 21:8-9).

Was this only a man?

J. I. Packer in his book Knowing God says:

"If Jesus had been no more than a very remarkable, godly man, the difficulties in believing what the New Testament tells us about His life and work would be truly mountainous. But if Jesus was the same person as the eternal Word, the Father's agent in creation, 'through whom also He made the worlds' (Hebrews 1:2 RV), it is no wonder if fresh acts of creative power marked His coming into this world and His life in it, and His exit from it. It is not strange that He, the author of life, should rise from the dead.


If He was truly God the Son, it is much more startling that He should die than that He should rise again. 'Tis mystery all! The Immortal dies,' wrote Wesley; but there is no comparable mystery in the Immortal's resurrection.


And if the immortal Son of God did really submit to taste death, it is not strange that such a death should have saving significance for a doomed raced. Once we grant that Jesus was divine, it becomes unreasonable to find difficulty in any of this; it is all of a piece, and hangs together completely. The incarnation is in itself an unfathomable mystery, but it makes sense of everything else that the New Testament contains."

- J. I. Packer, Knowing God, p. 53-54.

Who is this?

The multitudes answered: "This is Jesus the prophet from Nazareth of Galiliee." To them He was a man with a name, a vocation, and a place of birth on the globe.

We know, though, He was and is much more, and that this triumphant moment was bittersweet because He understood the utter desolation to death that awaited Him. Yet he went through with it. Why? Here is Paul's answer:

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich" 2 Corinthians 8:9.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, God the Son, thank You for coming to earth, taking on the humility of a human body, going through the ups and downs of human experience, then taking the punishment I deserve for my sins, so that my relationship with God can be restored. Amen.

MORE: Palm Sunday

Today the church commemorates the Sunday of the Passion or Palm Sunday. The day's liturgy contains with this collect:

Almighty and everliving God, in your tender love for the human race you sent your Son our Savior Jesus Christ to take upon him our nature, and to suffer death upon the cross, giving us the example of his great humility: Mercifully grant that we may walk in the way of his suffering, and also share in his resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and 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.

Living with integrity

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 15:1-5


TO CHEW ON: "Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle?

Who may dwell in Your holy hill?" Psalm 15:1

Though none of us can ever earn God's love and favour with our goodness—and we know that—striving to please Him has its place. Perhaps striving is the wrong word, for when we become His children, our relationship takes on a Father-child dimension, where wanting His approval is as natural as the longing to hear the "well done" of our earthly dads.

In Psalm 15 David asks, "Lord, who may abide...who may dwell with You" and then lists 11 attitudes and actions God's kids cultivate to live in sweet harmony with their heavenly Father.

God's child:

1. "Walks uprightly" ("those whose walk is blameless" - NIV). Does this mean we have to be perfect? I don't think so. What it does mean, I believe, is that our consciences are clear. We don't habitually commit or cover over known sin.

2. "Works righteousness" ("works rightness and justice" - Amp).

3. "Speaks truth in his heart" ("speaks and thinks the truth in his heart" - Amp; "speaking the truth from sincere hearts" - NLT).

4. "Does not backbite with his tongue ("does not slander" - Amp; "refuses to gossip" - NLT).

5."Nor does evil to his neighbour" ("Nor does evil to his friend" - AMP).

6. "Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend" ("casts no slur on others" - NIV 2010).

7. "In whose eyes a vile person is despised" ("those who despise flagrant sinners" - NLT).

8. "He honours those who fear the Lord" ("honours the faithful followers of the Lord" - NLT).

In regard to 7 & 8, I can't help but think how we, even us followers of Jesus, are influenced by the star worship of our society. Oh to rather be starstruck with the people who impress God!

9. "He swears to his own hurt and does not change" ("keep their promises even when it hurts" NLT).

10. "Does not put out his money at usury" ("lends money without charging interest" NLT). Footnote: "Usury - The Levitcal law prohibited demanding interest on loans to the poor (Leviticus 25:36)" New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 695.

11. "Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent" ("who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent" - NLT).

Such a list speaks for itself. Note how it impacts every part of life from our thoughts to how we do business. Depending on our circumstances, we'll notice different items on it. What jumps out at you today?

PRAYER: Dear God, please help grow in me the qualities of integrity, authenticity, fear of You, and compassion. I want to be a woman of godly character. Amen.

MORE: "Maker's Handbook"

Another reason we adopt the principles and standards of the Bible to direct our living is because by doing so, we live life the way God designed it to work best. Theologian J. I. Packer says:

"The Christian accepts the moral standards which are set forth in the Bible, acknowledging them as standing in a ‘maker’s handbook’ relation to his own nature and as circumscribing the only way of life that can lead him to ultimate fulfilment and felicity" - J. I. Packer in "Conscience, Choice and Character"

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Unless otherwise noted, all Scriptures 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)

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV 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.

Are you one of the peculiar?

Artist A.P.s sketch of "That they (the older women)
may teach the younger women" - Titus 2:3-4

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Titus 2:1-15

TO CHEW ON: "Who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works." Titus 2:14

Paul gives Titus instructions on what to teach the various people in his congregations about lifestyle and attitude. I don't know if following his teaching would have set them apart from their unbelieving peers. Probably. For in the second half of Titus 2, when Paul is explaining why they should live this way (because they are looking forward to the return of Jesus - vs. 13), he calls them "His (God's) own special people." He is reminding Titus and all the Christ-followers that though they may no longer fit in with their neighbours, they fit in with God.

These days, when our everyday contact with the world through personal interaction, TV, the internet, and radio may far exceed our contact with people of faith, we may also feel like misfits. At such times it is good to remember that we too are "God's own special people." As such we are:

1. His special treasure (Exodus 19:5).
2. Chosen and holy (Deuteronomy 14:2).
3. Exalted (Deuteronomy 26:19).
4. Blessed with strength and peace (Psalm 29:11).
5. Guided as a flock (Psalm 78:52).
6. Included, even though we're Gentiles (Acts 15:14).
7. Characterized by zeal (Titus 2:14 - today's focus verse).
8. A people with God's law written on our hearts (Hebrews 8:10).
9. Called "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation" (1 Peter 2:9).
10. A people with whom God chooses to live (Revelation 21:3).

If you're feeling isolated, odd, "peculiar"—the word the King James Version translators use to describe the people of God in 1 Peter 2:9—encourage yourself today as you review how God looks at you. As Bible teacher Dr. Dan Hayden says in an article called "A Peculiar People":

"Christian friend, I hope that you are encouraged to know that you really are 'peculiar'. You belong to a special group of people who are the unique possession of God. You are a member of His eternal family. And that means, of course, that you are the special object of His love and care. It also means however, that we are to live consistent with who we are."  - Read all of "A Peculiar People."

PRAYER: Dear God, I'm so encouraged to review what it means to be part of the company of Your people. Help me to live in such a way that I will bring credit to You and my fellow citizens of this "holy nation." Amen.

MORE: God's goal for His people

"What is He after, then? What is His goal? What does He aim at? When He made man, His purpose was that man should love and honor Him, praising Him for the wonderfully ordered complexity and variety of His world, using it according to His will, and so enjoying both it and Him. And though man has fallen, God has not abandoned His first purpose.


Still He plans that a great host of mankind should come to love and honor Him. His ultimate objective is to bring them to a state in which they please Him entirely and praise Him adequately, a state in which He is all in all to them, and He and they rejoice continually in the knowledge of each others love—men rejoicing in the saving love of God, set upon them from all eternity, and God rejoicing in the responsive love of men, drawn out of them by grace through the gospel."
- J. I Packer, Knowing God, p. 97-98 (1975 edition).

When you're down, look up

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 145:1-21

TO CHEW ON: "Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised." Psalm 145:3

What is getting you down today? Whether you are battling vague discontents or outright threats to you life and well-being, a positive outlook can make a difference.

David's thoughts in Psalm 145 can be a template of how you and I can strengthen our hope and brighten our outlook. Such an attitude change basically involves shifting our focus from ourselves to God.

In this acrostic psalm David names the ways he talks with and about God. A good chicken-and-egg-type question here may be - Which comes first, the feelings or the praise? Many wise people speak of how our feelings often follow our acted-upon decisions. You have no doubt heard relationship counselors advise us to speak words of love to our spouse even when we're not feeling the love.

Whatever David was feeling on the day he wrote this Psalm, he left no stone unturned in his praise. Look at all the ways he draws his own attention and the attention of his observers to God. He says he will extol, bless, praise, search (implied by "His greatness is unsearchable" - Psalm 145:3), declare, meditate on, speak, sing, remember (implied by "utter the memory of" - Psalm 145:7), talk, make known, call upon.

David's boasts about God are rich in content:

• He praises God for who He is; His person and identity: "I will bless Your name; I will praise Your name...my mouth shall speak praise of the Lord" - Psalm 145:1-2, 21.

In the preface to his book Knowing God, J. I. Packer says, "Knowing about God is crucially important for the living of our lives ....The world becomes a strange, mad, painful place, and life in it a disappointing and unpleasant business, for those who do not know about God. Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfold, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you" p. 15.

• He praises God for what He has done in history: "One generation shall praise Your works to another....Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts..." Psalm 145:4,6.

We can start on this by reviewing God's actions in Bible stories. We can keep our ears open whenever Christians gather to hear how God is at work in their lives. We can read the biographies of others. And of course, we can review our own histories to refresh our minds about how God has worked in our lives in the past.

• He praises God for His "wondrous works" - Psalm 145:5,10. I interpret this as praising God for creation. A study of any aspect of creation from the galaxies of outer space to the intricate workings of our bodies reveals an organized creativity that is simply awe-inspiring.

• He praises God for His kingdom: "Your saints...shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom....Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations" - Psalm 145:11-13.

This is praising God for His interactions with us, His sin-tainted, fallen race of humanity, as revealed in the Old and New Testaments. It's really the whole story of redemption and the possibility of being reconciled to God through Jesus and thus to become subjects in that kingdom.

After considering all that, who can stay down in the dumps? David's focus on God in Psalm 145 has certainly lifted my spirit. I hope it has yours too.


PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to get into the habit of looking at You when I am feeling down. Amen.


MORE: Praise is rising - by Paul Baloche

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The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. - Used with permission.

Bore deep into God

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 89:1-14

TO CHEW ON: "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;

Mercy and truth go before Your face." Psalm 89:14

Who of us hasn't set some person on a pedestal only to find, when we get to know them better (or if they are a historical figure, we read about them), there are, running through the strata of their lives, veins of unrighteousness, injustice, falsehood, selfishness, or other failings? We will never experience such disillusionment with God!

God is righteous and justice at the deepest level: "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne" is expressed in the Message as, "The Right and Justice are the roots of your rule."

The result and evidence of His rule is love and truth: "Mercy and truth go before Your face" (NKJV) is translated "Unfailing love and truth walk before You as attendants" - NLT, and "Love and truth are its fruits" - Message.

Psalm 89:18 uses the adjective "holy" to encapsulate all God's good, sinless, peerless, authentic, above reproach qualities. He is called "The Holy One of Israel."

[holy - qudosh: set apart, dedicated to sacred purposes; holy, sacred, clean, morally or ceremonially pure...Holiness is separation from everything profane and defiling; and at the same time dedication to everything holy and pure" - New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 155.]

A commentary note in my Bible gives some ways to work the holiness of God, into our lives:

"Holiness is understood and learned by going directly to its source, the Holy One of Israel.

• Search the scriptures to learn the truth of God's holiness.

• Spend time worshiping God to be transformed by His holiness (2 Corinthians 3:18).

• Ask the Holy Spirit to enable you to walk in holiness (1 Peter 1:13-19) - New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 756.

PRAYER: Dear God, I am so glad that You are holy through and through, that in You there is no hint of injustice or unrighteousness, no whiff of hatred or lies. I revel in Your name (vs. 16) — Your essence and reputation. Amen.

MORE: Thoughts on knowing God

"What were we made for? To know God. What aim should we set ourselves in life? To know God. What is the 'eternal life' that Jesus gives? Knowledge of God (John 17:3). What is the best thing in life, bringing more joy, delight, and contentment, than anything else? Knowledge of God (Jeremiah 9:23 ff). What of all the states God ever sees man in, gives Him most pleasure? Knowledge of God (Hosea 6:6).


In these few sentences we have said a very great deal.... What we have said provides at once a foundation, shape, and goal for our lives, plus a principle of priorities and a scale of values. Once you become aware that the main business that you are here for is to know God, most of life's problems fall into place of their own accord" - J. I. Packer, Knowing God, p. 31.

(From the archives)

When you're down, look up

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 145:1-21

TO CHEW ON: "Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised." Psalm 145:3

What is getting us down today? Whether we are battling vague discontents or outright threats to our lives and well-being, a positive outlook can make a difference. David's thoughts in Psalm 145 can be a template of how we can strengthen our hope and brighten our outlook. Such an attitude change basically involves shifting our focus from ourselves to God.

In this acrostic psalm David names the ways he talks with and about God. A good chicken-and-egg-type question here may be - Which comes first, the feelings or the praise? Many wise people speak of how our feelings often follow our acted-upon decisions. You have no doubt heard relationship counsellors advise us to speak words of love to our spouse even when we're not feeling the love.

Whatever David was feeling on the day he wrote this Psalm, he left no stone unturned in his praise. Look at all the ways he draws his own attention and the attention of his observers to God. He says he will extol, bless, praise, search (implied by "His greatness is unsearchable" - Psalm 145:3), declare, meditate on, speak, sing, remember (implied by "utter the memory of" - Psalm 145:7), talk, make known, call upon.

David's boasts about God are rich in content:

• He praises God for who He is; His person and identity: "I will bless Your name; I will praise Your name...my mouth shall speak praise of the Lord" - Psalm 145:1-2, 21.

In the preface to his book Knowing God, J. I. Packer says, "Knowing about God is crucially important for the living of our lives ....The world becomes a strange, mad, painful place, and life in it a disappointing and unpleasant business, for those who do not know about God. Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfold, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you" p. 15.

• He praises God for what He has done in history: "One generation shall praise Your works to another....Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts..." Psalm 145:4,6.

We can start on this by reviewing God's actions in Bible stories. We can keep our ears open whenever Christians gather to hear how God is at work in their lives. We can read the biographies of others. And of course, we can review our own histories to refresh our minds about how God has worked in our lives in the past.

• He praises God for His "wondrous works" - Psalm 145:5,10. I interpret this as praising God for creation. A study of any aspect of creation from the galaxies of outer space to the intricate workings of our bodies reveals an organized creativity that is simply awe-inspiring.

• He praises God for His kingdom: "Your saints...shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom....Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations" - Psalm 145:11-13.

This is praising God for His interactions with us, His sin-tainted, fallen race of humanity, as revealed in the Old and New Testaments. It's really the whole story of redemption and the possibility of being reconciled to God through Jesus and thus to become subjects in that kingdom.

After considering all that, who can stay down in the dumps? David's focus on God in Psalm 145 has certainly lifted my spirit. I hope it has yours too.


PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to get into the habit of looking at You when I am feeling down. Amen.


MORE: Praise is rising - by Paul Baloche

The first-and-last God

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Isaiah 44:1-20

TO CHEW ON: "Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel,

And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts

'I am the First and I am the Last;

Besides Me there is no God." - Isaiah 44:6

I find it interesting that in this verse that precedes a denouncement of idols, God identifies Himself in detail. It's as if He's saying - I am that God — the King of Israel God, the Redeemer God, the Lord of hosts God, the first-and-last God. Don't confuse Me with any other God.

Notice the "I am"s. Don't they hearken us back to Moses and the burning bush (Exodus 3:13-15)? And they place us fully in the conundrum of a God who is without beginning and end which flows through scripture

• Abraham called on the "Everlasting God" in Genesis 21:33.

• "The Lord shall reign forever and over," Moses sings in the song that celebrates God's destruction of the Egyptian army and making a way for the Israelites to cross the Red Sea - Exodus 15:18.

• The psalmist praises God for His everlasting kingdom in a dominion that endures throughout generations - Psalm 145:13.

• Paul lauds Him as "The King eternal, immortal, invisible to God who alone is wise, be honour and glory forever and ever. Amen." - 1 Timothy 1:17.

• John sees Him as "the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End ... who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty" - Revelation 1:18, and Revelation 11;17.

He is a God whose forever-life does not change. J. I. Packer describes Him:

"Created things have a beginning and an ending, but not so their Creator. The answer to the child's question, 'who made God?' is simply that God did not need to be made, for He was always there. He exists forever; and He is always the same. He does not grow older. His life does not wax or wane. He does not gain new powers, nor lose those that He once had. He does not mature or develop. He does not get stronger, or weaker, or wiser as time goes by. 'He cannot change for the better,' wrote A. W. Pink, 'for He is already perfect; and being perfect, He cannot change for the worse.' The first and fundamental difference between the Creator and His creatures is that they are mutable and their nature admits of change, whereas God is immutable and can never cease to be what He is." − Knowing God, 1972 edition, p. 81

PRAYER: Dear God, Thank You for words like eternal, Alpha and Omega, everlasting, forever and ever that help me understand You, albeit in a still limited way. Help me to grasp the implications of Your eternity for my life. Amen.

MORE: Immortal Invisible, God Only Wise

This song written by W. Chalmers Smith expands on 1 Timothy 1:17. What grand lyrics, focusing our minds on the amazing attributes and qualities of God.




More on Immutability

- See the Immutability entry in Rebecca Writes "Theological Term of the Week."
- See her blog post "God's Immutability."