Your works - they're following you!

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Revelation 14-16; Psalm 45

TO CHEW ON: "Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, 'Write: "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on."' '"Yes," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labours and their works follow them."'" Revelation 14:13

In the midst of the mayhem and chaos of Revelation 14, the thunderous voices and the smoke of everlasting torment comes the reassuring benediction of our focus verse to those who "die in the Lord."

Though death is something we all try to avoid, here the heavenly voice tells John to call them "Blessed."

["The word "blessed"  comes from the root "mak" meaning large or of long duration. "It suggests happy, supremely blessed, a condition in which congratulations are in order. It is a grace word that expresses the special joys and satisfaction granted the person who experiences salvation" "Word Wealth," New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 1296.]

These dead are blessed for more than just the reason the cynical author of Ecclesiastes gives — because oppressions of life are finally over. Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 lays out in detail why death for the believer is so hope filled. It's because Christ conquered death. Since He rose from the dead, we too can looking forward to resurrection — a life that goes on into eternity (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).

In Revelation 14, the Spirit refers to death as "rest." The time for working is done. But the effects of that work go on.

There are some interesting examples of after-death influence in the Bible:

1. On her death, Dorcas's friends mourn and show Peter her very tangible "work" — the tunics and garments she made (Acts 9:39).

2. Jesus predicted that the act of the woman who poured oil on His head would be retold wherever the gospel was preached (Matthew 26:6-13).

3. Perhaps one of the most curious examples is of  after-death influence is the story Elisha's. When a dead man was hurriedly buried in his tomb (the rush because of approaching raiders) on touching Elisha's bones, the man sprang to life (2 Kings 13:21).

4. However, it is clear that our works will follow each one of us to a final day where their quality will be revealed:

"...for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work, of what sort it is..." 1 Corinthians 3:13.

What a challenge to consider carefully how we live, what we live for, and the eternal reverberation potential of the common things on which we spend our time each day!

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to live mindful of how significant are the everyday choices I make. Help me to not to waste time or fritter away opportunities to do lasting work, work that will follow me, in any case, into eternity. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 45

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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.

Final and finished

"O wretched man that I am..." Romans 7:24 (Artist unknown)

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Hebrews 9-10; Psalm 29

TO CHEW ON: “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.” Hebrews 10:14

In today's reading we see Jesus offering Himself as a sacrifice.

The writer here is talking to people who know the code of laws and sacrifices God gave to Israel through Moses. He attempts to convince his audience of the efficacy of Christ’s sacrifice over the animal sacrificial system. He begins by stating this (animal sacrifice) system is imperfect because consciousness of sin dictates we have to keep making sacrifices indefinitely (“And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins” - Hebrews 10:11).

But Jesus’ sacrifice is different. His one sacrifice, where He offers His perfect life as the payment for our sin, means the need for all the animal sacrifices is forever satisfied. He has made our peace with God (Hebrews 10:12).

However, that doesn’t mean we’re perfect or the consciousness of our sin is lessened. Rather, it is the settled fact of our relationship with God – even as we are still in process – “we are being sanctified.”

[Sanctified =  hagiazo: to hallow, set apart, dedicate, consecrate, make holy.
“In the Old Testament things, places and ceremonies were named hagiazo. In the NT the word describes the manifestation of life produced by the indwelling Holy Spirit” Word Wealth – New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 1463.]

What does all this mean for you and me, here and now? Here’s how I understand it.

1. By accepting Jesus’ death as applying to me, I can live guilt-free in relation to God.

2. But this doesn’t give me license to do whatever I like – to sin as much as I want because in the next instant I can say “sorry” and be assured everything is okay between God and me again.

3. Rather, my right relationship with God shows itself in my lifestyle. I am set apart (by His Spirit in me) to live a life that is hagiazo.

I ask myself, does my life show this? Are His laws and ways being written on my heart and my mind. Am I continuing in the process of “being sanctified”?

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for the sacrifice of Your life for me. Holy Spirit, please set me apart for Your purposes. Write Your laws on my heart and mind. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 29

MORE: Oswald Chambers’ insights on this passage

"We trample the blood of the Son of God under foot if we think we are forgiven because we are sorry for our sins. The only explanation of the forgiveness of God and of the unfathomable depth of His forgetting is the Death of Jesus Christ. Our repentance is merely the outcome of our personal realization of the Atonement which He has worked out for us…..


"It does not matter who or what we are, there is absolute reinstatement into God by the death of Jesus Christ and by no other way, not because Jesus Christ pleads, but because He died. It is not earned, but accepted" - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest - Read, December 8 reading.

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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.

Sound of the trumpet

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 Corinthians 15-16; Psalm 148

TO CHEW ON: "Behold I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 1 Corinthians 15:51,52

Trumpets played a big role in Hebrew life. They were made or improvised of various materials and served a variety of uses.

One kind of trumpet was what we call a shofar and fashioned out of a ram's horn. Another type was made of beaten silver on God's instruction. Others were improvised from bones, shells or made from other metals: bronze, copper, and gold as well as silver.

These trumpets were not musical instruments in the sense that they couldn't play different pitched notes. But they could play their one note in legato, staccato and trills, and thus convey complicated signals. In this way they were used as communication.

Only Aaron and his Levite descendants were to sound the two silver trumpets God commissioned (Numbers 10:1-10).

• When both trumpets sounded together all the congregation was to assemble at the tabernacle. If only one trumpet sounded only the leaders and heads of divisions were to meet.

• Another trumpet sound was that of alarm, as the Israelites went into war: "When you go to war … then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, and you will be remembered before the LORD your God, and you will be saved from your enemies" - Numbers 10:9. What an aural reminder of where their trust and hope for help lay!

• A more common use of trumpets was to get the people moving during their forty years in the wilderness. For this the trumpet sounded an advance to signal which parts of the camp were to set out on their journey (Numbers 10:5,6).

Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 explains how Jesus' resurrection makes possible our resurrection too. It will be heralded by a trumpet sound. What will that sound be to us?

Will it be the summons to assemble?

Will it be the call to advance to a new body, in a new place?

Or will it be the call of alarm, and judgment (Revelation  8 & 9) as we find ourselves on the wrong side? It doesn't have to be that. It can be the sound or victory if we trust in Jesus: "But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" - 1 Corinthians 15:57.

PRAYER: Dear God, may all of us be ready and anticipating Your victory-over-death trumpet sound! Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 148

MORE: 1 Corinthians in Handel's Messiah (The Trumpet Shall Sound)

Handel dipped often into 1 Corinthians 15:42-58 when he wrote the Messiah. He put to music:

• 1 Corinthians 15:51,52 in "Behold I tell you a mystery" (Chorus 47).

• 1 Corinthians 52b, 53 in "The trumpet shall sound" (Chorus 48).

• 1 Corinthians 15:54b, also Isaiah 25:8 in "Then shall be brought to pass" and 1 Corinthians 15:55-56, also Hosea 13:14 in "O death, where is thy sting?" (Choruses 49 & 50).

• 1 Corinthians 15:57 in "But thanks be to God" (Chorus 51).

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

Waiting for morning

TODAY'S SPECIAL:  Acts 23-24; Psalm 130

TO CHEW ON: "Out of the depths I have cried to You O Lord,
Lord, hear my voice!" Psalm 130:1-2a

In January 2018 it was eleven years since my brother went to the doctor about his morning headaches. The doc soon found the cause — high blood pressure, which led to a diagnosis of kidney failure, which led to the discovery of the real culprit, a tumour, the advancing tentacles of which had choked that poor kidney.

Surgery, radiation, prayer, and hope followed. But in the intervening time it became clear that that malignant tumour would not be denied. After a time in palliative care in the summer of 2010, my brother was sent home. There his nurse-wife looked after him in his own private hospice.* Her email update from early 2011 is a modern incarnation of the Psalm 130 experience. Here are some snatches:

"...anticipation and hope is replaced by a reality that continues to wear you down and break your heart 100 times a day.... Sometimes I feel that we have entered into a 'twilight zone,' where all the old expectations and normal pleasures have been tossed aside, and we are left to grapple with a whole new set of circumstances and rules.... This is the valley of the shadow of death..."

Psalm 130 is a psalm written by a sufferer for sufferers. Eugene Peterson in his book A Long Obedience in he Same Direction speaks of what it teaches us:

"Such are the two great realities of Psalm 130: suffering is real; God is real.... We accept suffering; we believe in God. The acceptance and the belief both emerge out of those times when 'the bottom has fallen out' of our lives" p. 142.

Thankfully it doesn't end there.

"But there is more than a description of reality here, there is a procedure for participating in it. The program is given in two words: wait and watch. The words at the centre of the psalm: 'I pray to God — my life a prayer — and wait for what he'll say and do. My life's on the line before God, my Lord, waiting and watching till morning, waiting and watching till morning.' Wait and watch add up to hope" - p. 142.

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to be realistic about suffering. May my faith in You be unshaken by it. And help me to be a companion in waiting and watching with those who are suffering now. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 130 

MORE: Notes from the furnace

My sister-in-law ended her January update in 2011 with this testimony: "....we are not without peace and gratitude. Sorrow and peace can go hand in hand, I have discovered."

Then this quote:

"Shining is always costly.  Light comes only at the cost of that which produces it.  An unlit candle does no shining.  Burning must come before shining.  We cannot be of great use to others without cost to ourselves.  Burning suggests suffering.  We shrink from pain.  We are apt to feel that we are doing the greatest good in the world when we are strong, and able for active duty, and when the heart and hands are full of kindly service.  When we are called aside and can only suffer; when we are sick; when we are consumed with pain; when all our activities have been dropped, we feel that we are no longer of use, that we are not doing anything.


But, if we are patient and submissive, it is almost certain that we are a greater blessing to the world in our time of suffering and pain than we were in the days when we thought we were doing the most of our work.  We are burning now, and shining because we are burning.  The glory of tomorrow is rooted in the drudgery of today.  Many want the glory without the cross, the shining without the burning, but crucifixion comes before coronation." - from Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman

*UPDATE:  I initially wrote this devotion on January 25th, 2011. My brother died that evening.

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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.

Our stuff

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Luke 12-13; Psalm 118


TO CHEW ON: "And He said to them, 'Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of things he possesses.'" Luke 12:15


Jesus, the ultimate teacher, sure knew how to grab those teaching moments. Here the request of someone in the crowd for Him to intervene in an estate division problem gave rise to a proverb and a parable about the stuff people own.

The man who called out, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me," was probably surprised when Jesus took him back to considering the basics of possessions. One of the ideas that He alluded to in His answer: "...one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses," is the fact that people very easily let their possessions define them.

We still do that. Notice, for example, how TV commercials tap into our desire to project a good image. One way, according to the ads, is by being the owner of that new car, living in that home on the golf course development with all its amenities, surrounded by brand-name fixtures and furniture.

Jesus' parable draws our attention away from the glittery stuff we love to posses to our impending separation from those things by death. It's inevitable. It may be much nearer than we think. We can't predict when it will arrive in any case. When it does come, "this night" or that, and our souls are required of us, "whose will those things be which you have provided?"

The implied answer is, "They won't be ours." We'll leave them all behind.

A footnote in my Bible says it concisely:

"Possessions neither give life nor provide security; because death separates from things. The fool in the parable mistakenly looked upon his possessions as his own, not gifts dependent upon the will of God and to be used unselfishly." - New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 1413.

We can't get through life without possessions. But we can hang onto them loosely, knowing they are lent for a little while. The challenge is to steward them wisely and in a way that will show us "rich toward God." 

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to have Your perspective on possessions. She me how to use them in a way that pleases You. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 118

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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.

Sing, you kingdoms!

"Glory of the Lamb - Revelation 5:13" by David van der Plaats (The Bible and Its Story Vol 10)

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 Chronicles 18-21;  Psalm 68

 TO CHEW ON: "Sing to God you kingdoms of the earth;
O sing praise to the Lord.  - Psalm 68:32

It's interesting how our two readings complement each other. In Chronicles, we see David going to war, conquering even the giants, and read the author's observation: "And the Lord preserved David wherever he went" - 1 Chronicles 18:13. 

In the psalm David describes one of his battles.

There is blood (Psalm 68:21-23).

There is a procession (Psalm 68:24-27).

And there is the obeisance of earth's rulers (Psalm 68:28-31):

"Sing to God you kingdoms of the earth;

O sing praises to the Lord."

David's words suggest a voluntary—not a forced—praise. They bring to mind the wonderful scene from Revelation:

"After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” - Revelation 7:9-10.

I see this psalm as a picture of life.

• Life on earth is our battlefield.

• We anticipate the final victory that we know is coming:

 "So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written:
'Death is swallowed up in victory.'
 'O Death, where is your sting?
 O Hades, where is your victory?'
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" - 1 Corinthians 15:54-57.

Then will come the time when all on earth will acknowledge God for who He is:

“As I live, says the Lord. 
Every knee shall bow to Me, 
And every tongue shall confess to God”- Romans 14:11 (quoting Isaiah 45:23).

PRAYER: Dear God, in a world that doesn't even acknowledge Your existence, the sight of the kingdoms of earth singing Your praises seems almost unimaginable. Help me to cling to this hope with unwavering faith. Amen. 

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 68

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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 breath of hope

Image from RGB Stock Photos

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Ezekiel 37-39; Psalm 42

TO CHEW ON: "Thus says the Lord God to these bones: 'Surely I will cause breath to enter into you and you shall live.' " Ezekiel 37:5


The people with whom Ezekiel would have first shared this vision were far from home. Their beautiful Jerusalem had been ravaged and they were living in Babylon amongst those who spoke a different language, ate different food, had differed customs, and worshiped a different God than they did. Ezekiel's vision would have filled them with hope.

The hope begins with the action in verse Ezekiel 37:5 - God causing breath to enter those bones.

[Breath - ruach is breath, wind, spirit  of living breath in man and animals, spirit as the seat of emotions and mental acts, and the Spirit of God.]

Ezekiel's vision has various interpretations. According to my Bible's study notes,* this vision may be:

- a prophecy of the post-exile return of the exiled Jews from Babylon.
- an Old Testament picture of bodily resurrection.
- an analogy for spiritual regeneration and the birth of the church.
- a prophecy of national Israel being restored in end times.

If we take it as an analogy for spiritual regeneration and apply it to our own lives, it can also give hope to us.

Spiritual life in the Bible begins with that birth / wind of the Spirit. Jesus, talking to Nicodemus about being born again, used the picture of wind: "' Do not marvel that I said to you, "You must be born again." The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes form and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit' " - John 3:7,8.

Spiritual work continues with the Spirit's enabling. After His resurrection, Jesus came to the disciples before He commissioned them and "He breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.' " - John 20:22.

Spiritual work takes off by the power of the Spirit. Jesus told the disciples to wait for the Spirit's empowering and when He came on the Day of Pentecost and baptized them all, He came with "… a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind…" - Acts 2:2.

Whatever that pile of dead bones is in our situation, God can also revive it with His life-giving breath. Like the exiles of Ezekiel's time found hope in this picture of breath coming into the dead bones of their situation, may the thought that the Spirit can breathe spiritual life into what seems dead to us also fill us with hope today.

PRAYER: Dear God, please come into the discouraging things, the disappointments and areas of my life that are dead with Spirit breath of life. And we remind You of our loved ones that appear spiritually dead. Please revive them with Your breath of spiritual life. Amen.
* New Spirit-Filled Life Bible study notes on Ezekiel authored by Howard M. Ervin, p. 1098.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 42

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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.

Limited days

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Job 16-19; Psalm 139

TO CHEW ON: "Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.

And in Your book they all were written,

The days fashioned for me,

When as yet there were none of them." Psalm 139:16

There is nothing like being in the presence of impending death to give one a sense of how much of life is out of one's control. About two years before he died, my brother's diagnosis of untreatable cancer had us all wondering how his life would play out. Would the doctor's diagnosis prove as fatal as it sounded, or would God give a miracle of healing? When, in July of 2010 he took a turn for the worse, we hurried to be by his side. Would this be the end? He soldiered on for six more months after that. None of us, not even his wife and children who were with him every day, could predict exactly when or how he would die.

Though such a limitation may make us feel frustrated, it is also a source of comfort when viewed within the context of God's knowledge and power. David refers to God's knowledge of our lifespan several times in this psalm:

"You know my sitting down and my rising up" (vs. 2).
"You... are acquainted with all my ways" (vs. 3).
"...in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them" (vs. 16).

But God doesn't only know the number of our days — He has determined it:

"You have hedged me behind and before
And laid Your hand in me" (vs. 16).

And so we know that every day of our lives is meant to be. If we are still here, God is allowing it, indeed ordaining it, to accomplish our part in His plan on earth.

The challenge for me, and you, is to use up these years, days, hours, and minutes wisely and well. To find the "way everlasting" and walk in it.

PRAYER: "Search me O God and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me
And lead me in the way everlasting" (vs. 23-24).

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 139

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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.
 

Dull hearts

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Isaiah 5-8; Psalm 110

TO CHEW ON: “And He said, ‘Go and tell these people;
“Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.”’” Isaiah 6:9


Isaiah’s encounter with God brings an overwhelming sense of his own sinfulness. But after the angel purifies his lips with a live altar coal, he responds to God’s call for help with “Here am I! Send me.”

It is then he gets the bad news. The people God is sending him to have dulled understanding. They will see but not see. Hear but not hear. Their hearts are blunted toward God and will be unreceptive to Isaiah.

A footnote in my Bible says:

“The same message that softens a receptive heart also hardens an unreceptive heart. So in sending forth the message to a people known to be unreceptive, their condition is worsened” - Nathaniel M. Van Cleave, New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p.881.

In our society, which prides itself on skepticism toward claims of absolute truth, an unreceptive attitude toward the Gospel is common. Is there a chance some of that attitude has seeped into us and begun to calcify our own hearts?

The Bible speaks eloquently of the by-products of a dull, unbelieving heart.

1. Theological confusion and dithering - 2 Timothy 4:2-4; 3:7.

2. Moral confusion - Romans 1:28-32

3. Marriage breakdown - Matthew 19:8.

4. We become blind to the fact that sin’s attractiveness is a lie - Hebrews 3:13

5. Miracles don’t happen - Matthew 13:58

6. We become vulnerable to calamity - Proverbs 28:14

7. We become vulnerable to premature death - Proverbs 29:1

8. There are repercussions on how we spend eternity - Romans 2:5

I don't know about you - but I don't like these!

PRAYER: Dear God, please give me a sensitive, believing heart. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 110

MORE: Keith Green sings his prayer for a softened heart in “My Eyes Are Dry.”





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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.

This life--not the end of the story

Image: Pixabay

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 2 Kings 8-11; Psalm 103

TO CHEW ON: "Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
Who forgives all your iniquities
Who heals all your diseases." Psalm 103:2,3

I recall the funeral of the daughter of dear friends a few years ago. She was first diagnosed with cancer in 2003. Thirteen years later, it killed her. As I read this passage, the words "who heals all your diseases" jump out at me and a voice in my mind says, "That's not true. God doesn't heal our all diseases. Despite our prayers, God didn't heal Kathy."

Have you ever found yourself weary of trying to understand God and defend Him in the face of such apparent contradiction? That was my first impulse on reading this. And yet…

I believe in the end, it all comes down to timing. We prayed for God to heal our friend in this life. That didn't happen. But is she healed now? Yes undoubtedly.

All the other promises in this passage will also come true, be experienced, and understood more fully in the real time of that future time beyond earth time:
- the promise of redemption from destruction - Psalm 103:4.
- seeing perfect righteous justice for the oppressed - Psalm 103:6.
- the removal (forgiveness) of our transgressions - Psalm 103:12.

I do believe that God can and does heal in this life, and often does. But not always. I can and do accept this, without an erosion of my trust in His integrity, especially as I view the whole panorama of God's promises in the light of the words:

"But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting" - Psalm 103:17. 

In other words, it transcends time. And this life is not the end of the story! It is only the briefest part, as David reminds us so poignantly:

"For He remembers our frame; 
He remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like grass,
As a flower of the field, so he fourishes.
For the wind passes over it, and it is gone..." Psalm 103:14-16.

PRAYER: Dear Father, I need Your mercy throughout my life and beyond. Help me to trust Your wisdom, goodness, and love in this life and to eternity. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 103

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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.

Moses—incredible senior

Moses on Mt. Nebo by Thomas Nast

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Deuteronomy 32-34; Psalm 64

TO CHEW ON: "Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished." Deuteronomy 34:7

There is an unofficial rule in our society that after a certain age it's time for the shelf. Obviously God and Moses didn't get that memo. Moses would have made a fascinating study for our gerontologists.

At 40 years of age, when we would consider him in his prime,  Moses' self-generated plans to realize what he may have thought of as his life purpose (freeing his countrymen from slavery), failed miserably. As a wanted murderer, he had to flee Egypt - Acts 7:22-29.

For 40 years he lived the life of a nobody. He married, he and his wife had kids, but in our estimation he was pretty much a failure with no land, no flock of his own, living with and working for his father-in-law (Exodus 2:16-23; 3:1).

Then at 80 God met him at that burning bush and gave him back his dream. Only now he didn't want it. After a lot of arm-twisting Moses decided to cooperate with God's destiny for him.

The books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy tell the story of Moses' next 40 years (from 80-120 years old). They are an incredible tale of leadership as Moses faced the resistance of Pharaoh, getting a multitude of thousands out of Egypt and through the wilderness, rebellion within the ranks, physical testing and hardship, victory and disappointment…

We meet him in today's reading at 120 years—no glasses, hearing aids, false teeth or walker needed. He's still physically acute and fit and wanting more, though God had said no (Deuteronomy 3:23-29). So he's saying goodbye to this life on a high note, both physically and spiritually.

I take from Moses' life some encouragement for our own lives:

• God isn't boxed into our norms and expectations. If he has a job for us to do, age isn't a hindrance.

• Zest for life can extend into old age. I love Moses' description of his rekindled desire to live on and how he begs God to be able to finish job of leading the Israelites into the promised land (Deuteronomy 3:23-25).

• When it's our time to go, God will take us. (Or we could turn that around and say, God won't take us until it's our time to go.) For Moses it wasn't even a matter of being sick or wearing out. It was simply his time and that was it. But he lived fully right to the end. May we be so blessed!

PRAYER: Dear God, May I live fully and usefully till my last breath, like Moses did. Amen.



PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 64

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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 "sweet aroma" of sacrifice

Offering a sacrifice (Image: Pixabay)

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Numbers 28-30; Psalm 49

TO CHEW ON: “Command the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘My offering, My food for My offerings made by fire as a sweet aroma to Me, you shall be careful to offer Me at their appointed time.” Numbers 28:2

Do you have a favorite smell? Have you noticed how smells have the power to jog your memory and trigger your emotions? It’s interesting to note that apparently God too has a sense of smell, and that smells also cause Him pleasure or displeasure. At least ten times in Numbers 28 and 29 following the introduction of the idea in Numbers 28:2 (our focus verse), we read the expression “a sweet aroma to the LORD.”

This “sweet aroma” was not the scent of perfume, flowers, or the seaside, but the smell of burning. Every one of the “sweet aroma”s in our passage came as a result of a burnt sacrifice of an animal alone or offered with flour and oil.

The first time we read of God being moved by the aroma of a sacrifice is in Genesis 8:21, when Noah offered clean animals after leaving the ark. “The idea is that Noah’s sacrifice was a propitiation or satisfaction of God’s righteous requirement,” explains an article on GodQuestions.org.

The same is true of the sacrifices we read of in Leviticus and here in Numbers: “As in the case of Noah’s offering, what pleased the Lord was the commitment to offer worship in His name as He commanded” (above article).

God’s pleasure at the smell of a burning sacrifice was not an automatic reaction, however, but very much in tune with the attitude and actions of the worshiper. For when instituting this sacrifice system, God said to Moses: “And after all this, if you do not obey Me but walk contrary to Me … I will not smell the fragrance of your sweet aromas” - Leviticus 26:27,31.

There are at least two references to that sacrificial aroma in the New Testament that help to connect us today to God’s olfactory reaction to offerings in the Old.

In 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 Paul challenges Christians to be the aroma of Christ to all. We know that Christ was the final sacrifice, the one by which we have life. Since His was a sacrifice of both His death and our life, the aroma of our lives should affect all around us (“…those who are being saved… and those who are perishing”) with reminders of life or death.

I ask, are we so dead to self, alive to Christ that our lives actually remind those being saved of life, those unsaved of death?

In Ephesians 5:2 Christ’s sacrifice to God (“for a sweet-smelling aroma”) is connected with His love. Paul challenges readers of His day and us today to walk in Christ’s sacrificial love.

Do we live with such love?


PRAYER: Dear Father, Your reaction to the smell of sacrifice challenges me to be more complete in offering myself to You in the way Paul describes it, “… present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God …” (Romans 12:1). Amen.
 
PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 49

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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.

A shocking conclusion to a beautiful day

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Leviticus 8-10; Psalm 32

TO CHEW ON: “Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, and offered profane fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them.
So fire went out from the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD.” Leviticus 10:1,2


Things were going so well on this day when the tabernacle worship was begun. Just before our focus verses we read of how God’s glory appeared and His fire came down supernaturally, devouring the offering. The amazed and dazzled congregation fell on their faces at this sight of God’s presence and approval.

Even as this was going on, Aaron’s sons snatched their censers, filled them with incense and fire, and began making their own offering.

What were they up to? Was this an attempt to gain a little credit for their service? Or perhaps they were showing off. Or maybe they were experimenting to see what glorious thing God would do next.  Or could they have been confused by too much wine?

We’ll never know. But lest we leave thinking God harsh and arbitrary for judging them in this way, let’s look behind their seemingly small “sin” and think about how their actions can be a warning to us.

1. Proud ambition:
Matthew Henry’s commentary suggests they were “… proud of the honour they were newly advanced to and ambitions.” What we don’t find in the passage is God’s command that they make this extracurricular offering. It was their own idea.

2. Unlawful fire:
Their presumption included taking, not the fire from the altar that was to be used in offerings but with blatant disregard filling those censers with their own fire.

3. Impulsive:
It sounds like their act was done quickly, on impulse, while Moses, Aaron and the people were preoccupied.

4. Drunk:
They may have been drunk, for immediately after this happened God addressed Aaron with a warning about serving sober (Leviticus 10:8-11).

We take away from this incident a reminder that God is holy, other, different from us. No matter what the culture of our times says about permissiveness and how breaking rules is no big deal, He doesn’t change. From this story we can learn:

• Personal ambition has no place in God’s service.

• No matter what our status or position, we shouldn’t presume to step out on our own but wait for God’s direction.

• Obedience is important, even when no one is looking.

• God’s service calls for our best focus and concentration.

PRAYER: Oh Father God, this story reminds me that You are not to be taken lightly. Please give me a renewed realization of Your holiness and respect for who You are and what You say. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 32

The Bible Project VIDEO: Leviticus (Torah Series)



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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.

Darkness

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 John 1:1-2:2

TO CHEW ON: "If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth." 1 John 1:6

I live on a part of the planet in which, during this season, darkness is increasing daily. I'm talking about life in the northern hemisphere and physical darkness which, from June 21st to December 21st (this year), progressively takes over more of each day. Thus I am no stranger to darkness and can say without hesitation, I prefer light.

The Bible is full of talk about light and dark. Metaphorically light equals life with God and everything good. Today let's look briefly at what the Bible says about the dark.

First a definition: [Darkness - scotia - is gloom, evil, sin, obscurity, night, ignorance, moral depravity. The NT especially uses the word in a metaphorical sense of ignorance of divine truth, man's sinful nature, total absence of light and a lack of spiritual perception. Light equals happiness. Scotia as spiritual darkness basically equals everything earthly or demonic that is at enmity with God" - "Word Wealth" - New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1467.]

A brief stroll through the Bible illustrates some of the things darkness signifies.

• Losing one's way: "...they shall walk like blind men..." - Zephaniah 1:17; "In the darkness they shall be driven on and fall in them" - Jeremiah 23:12; "They are blind leaders of the blind...both will fall into a ditch" - Matthew 15:14; "But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him" John 11:10.

• Imprisonment: "Say to the prisoner, 'Go forth, to those who are in darkness, 'Show yourself' - Isaiah 49:9.

• Death: "...Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death..." - Psalm 107:10

• Natural human preference: "...men loved darkness rather than light" - John 3:19.

• Consequences: - "Therefore you shall have night without vision. And you shall have darkness without divination" - Micah 3:6; "There will be no light" - Zechariah 14:6; "If your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness" - Matthew 6:23.

• Competition: "And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it [put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it]" - John 1:5 AMP (See also Psalm 139: 11-12.)

• Choice: "...cast off the works of darkness" and "put on the armour of light" - Romans 13:12; "Walk as children of light" - Ephesians 5:8.

• Opposite (of all God stands for): "...God is light and in Him is no darkness at all" - 1 John 1:5

And it is here John brings us to a point of confrontation when he says, "If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth" 1 John 1:6.

Let's examine our lives today for such darkness. Then let's bring any and all of it into the light so we can live with integrity before God and people.

PRAYER: Dear God, please show me where I'm hiding a dark past, storing dark attitudes, and still doing dark actions. Help me to "cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light." Amen.

MORE: Feast of St. John
Today the church celebrates the Feast of St. John the Apostle. The day's liturgy begins with this prayer:

Shed upon your Church, O Lord, the brightness of your light, that we, being illumined by the teaching of your apostle and evangelist John, may so walk in the light of your truth, that at length we may attain to the fullness of eternal life; 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.

Depend on what lasts

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TODAY’S SPECIAL: Isaiah 40:1-17

TO CHEW ON: “All flesh is grass,
And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field,
The grass withers, the flower fades,
Because the breath of the LORD blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.” - Isaiah 40:6-8

I mark the seasons with photographs. If you took a tour of my photo albums you would see burgeoning life creep into them perhaps as early as February with the first snowdrops and the thickening magnolia buds. By April I can hardly keep up with all the “flowers of the field” popping out in beauty around me. Then in September that record of flower life tapers off. The cold winds of December to January shut it down completely.

Wind testing life’s vigor is what Isaiah pictures in today’s reading. This wind is no weather gale, though, but the breath of God.

I usually think of the breath of God as life-giving (e.g. the creation of Adam:

“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being” - Genesis 2:7 (emphasis added).

Here God’s breath is a test, providing proof of man’s frailty:

“The grass withers, the flower fades
Because the breath of the LORD blows upon it" (emphasis added).

That breath proves the worthiness of another entity through—“the word of our God.” It stands forever. I take that “word” as the things God has decreed will happen, both the things He has revealed in His written word—the Bible—and the secret things known only to Him.

As withering, fading humans, we can lean our weakening selves on that certainty. I like how the writer of my Bible’s study notes o Isaiah expresses it:

“The Spirit-breath of the LORD blows in the life of man, amplifying the frailty of his humanity by picturing man as a fading flower and withering grass. This fading, withering man is both comforted and given strength by the Word of God and the Spirit-breath of God. Failing man must focus his faith on the unfailing Word of God and the unfaltering resources of the Spirit of God” - Nathaneal Van Cleave, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 918 (my emphasis).

PRAYER: Dear Father, help me to be realistic about my fragility and limited lifespan. Help me to shift my confidence away from the false security of people and all mankind has accomplished, to the lasting rock of Your Word. 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 dark and glorious conclusion

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: John 12:12-26

TO CHEW ON: “Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. Then they came to Philip …and asked him, saying, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ … But Jesus answered them, saying, ‘The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.’” John 12:20, 21, 23.

Jesus had just swept into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey accompanied by the delirious cheers of the crowd. Their Messiah had arrived at last! But when some Greek proselytes approached Philip asking to see Jesus, Jesus answered Philip with a cryptic and mysterious statement about being glorified. Then He added to the puzzlement by talking about His death. How does His answer relate to the Greeks who have come to see Him? And how is death glorification?

The IVP New Testament Commentary Series comments on John 12.

“…now we come to the beginning of the end. Instead of seeing Jesus doing signs, we see signs occurring through what others do to him."
- Mary anointed Jesus’ feet (John 12:1-8)
- Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the applause of the crowd (John 12:12-15).
- Gentiles came to Him. “… which signals that the long expected hour has arrived. Jesus announces the coming of his hour and speaks of his death.”
- The Father endorsed Him - John 12:27-28. 

- IVP New Testament Commentary Series, accessed through Biblegateway.com

So perhaps Jesus’ answer to Philip speaks, as this commentary suggests, to the larger issue of what the visit of these Gentiles portends.  The nations are being drawn to Him. It’s prophecy being fulfilled so that His story can continue (see Psalm 2:8; Isaiah 2:2,3).

Jesus, speaking of His death, began by saying: “‘The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.’” How can death be glorification?

IVP Commentary again:

“…death is at the heart of the Son's revelation of the Father, for God is love and love is the laying down of one's life (cf. 1 John 4:8;  3:16). So in the cross the heart of God is revealed most clearly” - Ibid.

Today, the last day of November, we're on the verge of Advent.  During the next 24 days we prepare to celebrate the early part of Jesus’ life—the cute, happy, cuddly part. But that wasn’t all there was to it.

Now is a good time to pause and think about the whole story, including its hard end.

It’s an end that is stitched into Jesus’ story from its beginning when Simeon said to Mary: “‘Behold this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also)'” Luke 2:34,35. 

It’s an end Jesus Himself was well aware of, for we hear Him say, just beyond the scope of today’s reading: “‘Now my soul is troubled and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour’” - John 12:27.

That purpose again? To come as a baby, live the Father before us, fulfill the plan God had set in motion from the beginning of revelation (Genesis 3:15), conclude its earthly chapter by loving you and me to the extent of laying down His life in our stead, and then defeating death in resurrection.

PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for sending Jesus, who became that sacrificial grain of wheat for me. Jesus, I want to follow You, serve You, and be with You now and forever (John 12:26). Amen.

MORE: Feast of St. Andrew
Today the church celebrates the Feast of St. Andrew, apostle. The day's liturgy begins with this collect prayer:

Almighty God, who gave such grace to your apostle Andrew that he readily obeyed the call of your Son Jesus Christ, and brought his brother with him: Give us, who are called by your Holy Word, grace to follow him without delay, and to bring those near to us into his gracious presence; who lives and reigns with you and 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.

Somday we'll meet Jesus

"Christ the Redeemer" statue - Rio De Janeiro - Photo: Pixabay.com

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 1 Thessalonians 2:9-3:5

TO CHEW ON: "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?"  1 Thessalonians 2:19


First Thessalonians contains several references to Christ's return. In chapter 2 Paul mentions it in verse 19 when he describes how he anticipates presenting the Christians in Thessalonica to Christ and how that will work out: "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?" - 1 Thessalonians 2:19.  He looks forward to meeting Jesus with joy. His victory crown will be the believers he brings with him.

The Bible speaks in other places of meeting Jesus and being in His presence.

• There will be joy in His presence - Psalm 16:11.

• We will enter His presence on the "today" of our death - Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 5:8 - or on the day He returns, whichever comes first - 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17.

• Jesus' servants on earth will someday join Him in heaven where even the Father will honor them - John 12:26.

• Appearing before Jesus will be just the beginning of living with Him - John 14:3.

• When we appear before and live with Him, we will experience Jesus' and God's glory in all its eternity - John 17:25.

What motivation to serve God and in that serving win the crown of others standing with us at Christ's appearing on earth or our appearing before Him in heaven.

What a reason to live each day well, for none of us knows the day He will return or the day we will die.

What a hope for the future as we soldier on in the world of sometimes difficult relationships, unpredictable circumstances, and wearing out bodies.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for Your promise to return and accept me into heaven to live with You. May this hope motivate my living. 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 death of death

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Isaiah 25:1-9

TO CHEW ON: “He will swallow up death forever. And the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces. The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; for the Lord has spoken. Isaiah 25:8

Death is a subject that brings up a variety of responses in people.

• As much as possible we avoid thinking or talking about it:

“Death is a distant rumor to the young.” ~ Andy Rooney

“We say that the hour of death cannot be forecast, but when we say this we imagine that hour as placed in an obscure and distant future. It never occurs to us that it has any connection with the day already begun or that death could arrive this same afternoon, this afternoon which is so certain and which has every hour filled in advance.” ~Marcel Proust

• We try to take the sting out of it by making it poetic:

“Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children and the younger generation. For they are us, our bodies are only wilted leaves on the tree of life.” ~Albert Einstein

• We call it by other names:

“After all, to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure.” ~J.K. Rowling

“Death is a delightful hiding place for weary men.” ~Herodotus

• We make fun of it:

“Death is caused by swallowing small amounts of saliva over a long period of time.” ~Attributed to George Carlin

• But its reality sinks in when someone we love dies:

“We understand death for the first time when he puts his hand upon one whom we love.” ~Madame de Stael

• Its inevitability is one of life’s truisms…

“No one can confidently say that he will still be living tomorrow.” ~Euripides

“Death is the surest calculation that can be made.” ~Ludwig Büchner, Force and Matter

“You can be a king or a street sweeper,
but everybody dances with the Grim Reaper.” ~Robert Alton Harris

OR IS IT SO INEVITABLE?

Isaiah, in our reading today, predicts a time when death will no longer exist. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is beginning of that coming true for all of us.

H. C. Thiessen in his Systematic Theology's discussion of the importance of Christ’s resurrection says, “It is important as a polemic for miracles….in attempting to prove the miracles of the Bible, we should not begin with Balaam’s ass or Jonah and the big fish but with Christ’s resurrection.” H. C. Thiessen, Lectures in Systematic Theology p. 332.

This is what we celebrate at Easter–Jesus alive again after He was dead, a miracle! When everything else – all the laws of nature and our experience say that death is inevitable for everyone who lives, Jesus broke those laws when He came to life again.

The results of the resurrection are many:*

 
1. It proves that Christ is really God - Romans 1:3-4.
2. Through Jesus' death we are saved; through His risen life we are reconciled to God - Romans 5:9-10.
3. God demonstrated his power through the resurrection and made Christ the head of the church - Romans 8:34
4.The resurrected Jesus prays and intercedes for us - 1 Timothy 2:5; Romans 8:34.
4. Because He rose and ascended into heaven we have the Holy Spirit - Acts 2:33
5. Because He rose, we have power for life and service - Ephesians 1:18-20.
6. And His resurrection is a guarantee that we will live again as well. That's why we can say goodbye to our loved ones who know the Lord with hope. That's why we can die (because we still do die) without fear - 1 Corinthians 15:20-23.

No wonder we will gladly relinquish all our earthly sadnesses when He wipes the tears from our eyes.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, Thank You for the hope that Your resurrection gives me. Please give me boldness to share it with a skeptical world. Amen.


*These points also taken from my trusty old Systematic Theology book – which has it way more together than I do!

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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 sword separating families

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Exodus 32:19-35

TO CHEW ON: "And he said to them, 'Thus says the Lord God of Israel, "Let every man put his sword on his side, and go in and out from the entrance to entrance throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbour."'
 
So the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. And about three thousand men of the people fell that day." Exodus 32:27-28


We are all no doubt familiar with the imagery of God's Word as a sword. Hebrews 4:12 tells how it cuts into and exposes us to ourselves:

"For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature] exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart" - Amplified

God's words also cut in other ways. In our story today, God commanded the loyal Levites to kill their idol-worshiping family members, neighbours, and friends. What a gruesome, wrenching, horrible day that must have been—humanly speaking at least.

The power of faith to divide families should not surprise us. We have all heard of belief traditions in which, if one defects to another faith, that one is no longer considered a family member but an outcast. And such cutting apart will be characteristic of the end times. Jesus prophesied that children would betray parents and parents children because of faith in Him (Matthew 10:21-22, Mark 13:12-13).

If faith in Jesus has cut your family apart, know that it's not an unusual thing—though no less painful because it's common. A comfort for people of faith in such families is 1 Corinthians 7:14 which speaks of an unbelieving spouse being sanctified by the believer.

[Sanctified - hagliazo  - means: 1) To render or acknowledge or to be venerable or hallow; 2) To separate from profane things and dedicate to God a.) consecrate things to God, b.) consecrate people to God; 3) To purify.]

Can we claim this promise for other family members as well? I think so. I don't believe "sanctified" means they have salvation per se. Whether or not to believe in Jesus is a decision each person makes for him- or herself. But I do believe it means that they are marked as God's own, and consecrated or set apart for Him. We continue to pray and believe that in due course, He will draw them to Himself.

PRAYER: Dear God, it is painful to think that members of my family could be eternally separated from You. Please draw them to You. 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)

Faith—more than just a feeling

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Genesis 23:1-20

TO CHEW ON: “So the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field and the cave which was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, which were within all the surrounding borders were deeded to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the sons of Heth, before all who went in at the gate of the city.” Genesis 23:17,18

The question that came to me as I read Genesis 23 this morning was, what’s the point of this little story being in the Bible? Sure it’s an interesting example of how people did deals way back then, but is that all?

My Bible’s study notes add this bit of insight:

“A fascinating story of Near Eastern bargaining, Abraham was quite aware that the Hittites did not intend to give him a free burial ground, nor would he have dared to accept their pretended offer. The issue at stake—will Abraham gain a permanent holding in Canaan, or will he remain a landless dependent?” - R. Russel Bixler, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 34.

The Reformation Study Bible says:

“In faithful expectation that God would fulfill the covenant promise of land (Genesis 3:15), Abraham sought to anchor his descendants in the Promised Land” - Reformation Study Bible on Genesis 23:19 - accessed through “Study This” on BibleGateway.com.

This and other incidents support this interpretation of Abraham doing some intentional anchoring here:

• He was adamant about not letting Isaac return to Ur to live, though he sent his servant back there to find Isaac a bride - Genesis 24:6-9.

• He himself was buried in that Machpelah cave and later so were Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob and Leah - Genesis 25:9; 49:29-31; 50:13.

I like how Warren Wiersbe explains it:

“When Abraham purchased the cave of Machpelah for a tomb, he was making a statement of faith to all who were there. He did not take Sarah back to their former home in Ur but buried her in the land God had given him and his descendants” - Warren Wiersbe, BE Bible Study Series, accessed through Genesis 23 on Biblegateway.com.

The lesson that I see for us moderns is one of similarly stepping out of our comfort zone in faith as we take God at His word in His assignments, promises and blessings.

For example, has God given you a burden to communicate the gospel? Maybe you should set up a website or blog.

Are you concerned for today’s children? Consider volunteering in the children’s ministry of your church.

Do you sense an assignment to extend hospitality as encouragement to Christians and outreach to pre-Christians? Start inviting guests over to your teeny tiny apartment.

How will our actions today demonstrate our faith?

PRAYER: Dear Father, help me to act in ways that demonstrate my faith in Your assignments, promises, and blessings. 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.