Spiritual bodybuilding

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Jude 1-25; Psalm 39

TO CHEW ON: "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." Jude 20-21

Jude, the brother of James wrote the short letter of Jude. It's a letter of warning to an unnamed church or churches. False teachers were the problem.

Jude talks of the havoc these teachers had created by comparing them to Bible characters. They acted in the spirit of:
Cain: destruction. Cain murdered his brother instead of caring for him (Genesis 4:8).

Balam: greed. Balam was a prophet who consented to try to curse Israel for King Balak in return for money (Numbers 21:1-22:41).

Korah: rebellion. Korah led a rebellion against Moses (Numbers 16:1-24).

How can the people resist these teachers? Jude says by "building yourselves up on your most holy faith."

The phrase "building yourselves up" brings to mind the gym. There people do multiple repetitions of exercises (sit-ups, crunches, leg lifts, bench presses, cycling, etc.) to build up different parts of the body. What would a spiritual workout look like? It could consist of reading, studying and memorizing the Bible, praying in the Holy Spirit (praise, thanksgiving, petition, intercession, worship), and singing.

The crowd of runners we pass on our way to church Sunday morning have tapped into another effective way to work out physically. They do it together for companionship, accountability, even safety. In our spiritual workout program, this would compare to being part of a faith community — a church, home group or Bible study group. (Of course Jude's letter, written out of the need to warn church members about false teachers within tells us that such togetherness also has its hazards.)

We know that in order for a physical workout program to accomplish what we want it to, it has to be consistent. That's where we get tested. For no matter how exciting a fitness program is at the beginning, it's hard to stick with it. Doing the same exercises over and over can get boring. Sometimes we're tired and don't feel like exercising. We may not notice any difference in our body and wonder if it's actually making us stronger.

Sticking with a spiritual fitness program is just as challenging. Some parts of the Bible are hard to understand. We may wonder if our prayers are making any difference. We may get discouraged by the spiritually immature tendencies we still see in ourselves and feel disheartened when temptations still trip us up. But just like sticking with a physical fitness program eventually brings about changes in our bodies, so sticking with regular routine of spiritual fitness will strengthen us spiritually.

Do you work out spiritually? If not, decide to make such a program a part of your routine. Life is full of challenges. You'll want to face them with a well-toned faith.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for being my teacher and trainer. Help me to be as devoted to developing my faith as I am to caring for my body. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 39

The Bible Project VIDEO: Jude (Read Scripture Series)



*************
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.

Real change is an inside job

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Nehemiah 12-13; Psalm 52

TO CHEW ON: “Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and the children also rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard afar off.” Nehemiah 12:43

Nehemiah completed the task he got leave from his job to do. Nehemiah 12 describes the dedication of the finished wall. It was a great celebration with  music, instruments, choirs and  sacrifices. Then Nehemiah went back to Babylon to work for Artaxerxes.

Sometime later, when Nehemiah returned to visit Jerusalem, he found, to his great dismay, that a lot of people had slipped back into their old ways.

• Some of Israel’s enemies and critics had infiltrated the temple and leadership (Nehemiah 13:7,8; 28).

• Since offerings were no longer being collected and stored for the Levites, they had to go back to farming to make a living (Nehemiah 13:10).

• People were working on the Sabbath day (Nehemiah 13:15).

• Gentile merchants were allowed into the city to set up markets on the Sabbath (Nehemiah 13:16).

• The people were again intermarrying with their idol-worshiping neighbours and forgetting or not even learning the language of Israel (Israel 13:23,24).

And so Nehemiah had to clean up again (Nehemiah 13:30,31). His zeal for obedience and holiness is a testimony of how much he feared and respected God and cared for the well-being of the people.

This passage leaves us with some thoughts to apply to our lives.
1. The rebuilt wall that was meant to set Jerusalem apart from its pagan neighbours was ineffective because the people’s hearts, from the religious and political leaders down, had not changed. Real change is effective only when it starts from inside.

2. Nehemiah’s zeal in building the wall in the first place and then his coming back and putting things right shows a respect and fear of God that we seem to have lost in our after-the-cross church era. Though we don’t fear God’s judgment as Old Testament people of faith did, God hasn’t changed. I sometimes wonder whether our casual attitude toward sin might be putting us on a more dangerous path than we realize.


PRAYER: Dear Father, change me from the inside so that my heart is to do Your will, because I love You and regard You with a realistic respect and fear. Amen.
PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 52

MORE:  Change Me on the Inside




 *********
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.

Are we perverting God's word?

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Jeremiah 23-25; Psalm 19

TO CHEW ON: "'And the oracle of the Lord you shall mention no more. For every man's word will be his oracle, for you have perverted the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God.'" Jeremiah 23:36

In his diatribe against the false prophets of Judah, Jeremiah lays bare what these prophets are all about. He accuses them of being self-appointed (Jeremiah 23:21), of prophesying lies as they interpret any old dream as a message from God (Jeremiah 23:25), of putting their words in God's mouth (Jeremiah 23:31,32), of being a burden to God instead of speaking God's burden (oracle) (Jeremiah 23:33 especially clear in the Amplified), and of perverting God's words (Jeremiah 23:36). Let's look closely at that last.

The Bible is clear about how sacred God's word is and not to be treated flippantly.
- It is not to be added to or subtracted from (Deuteronomy 4:2; Revelation 22:19).
- It is to be obeyed (Deuteronomy 12:32).
- How we observe it will have eternal consequences (Matthew 5:19).

But could we be guilty of perverting it as those Old Testament prophets were? I can think of several practices which might result in such perversion:

- Emphasizing or giving more weight to one section of the Bible over another. (An example: the Red Letter Movement.)

- Using Bible texts to prove a doctrine which isn't otherwise generally supported in scripture. (An example: Using 1 Corinthians 13:8 as a proof-text that the charismatic gifts, particularly the gift of tongues, have ceased.)

- Overlaying our Bible interpretation with systems of numbers, colours and symbols, making the plain narrative into a puzzle that only the initiated can decipher.

- Picking and choosing which parts of the Bible to obey.

Can you think of more?

I appreciate the five types of people T. Norton Sterrett suggests will properly interpret the Bible. Those with:

1. A new heart (1 Corinthians 2:14).
2. A hungry heart (1 Peter 2:2).
3. An obedient heart (Psalm 119:98-100).
4. A disciplined heart (in its persistence) (Matthew 7:7).
5. A teachable heart (Isaiah 50:4).
- T. Norton Sterrett, How To Understand Your Bible, p. 19-21, 1974 edition.

In today's atmosphere of "My truth is as good as yours," let's continue to let these attitudes guide our reading and following of the Bible.

PRAYER: Dear Holy Spirit, please be my Bible teacher (John 14:26; 16:13). Amen. 

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 19

***********

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

A heritage of wisdom

Image: Microsoft

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Proverbs 4-6; Psalm 149

TO CHEW ON: "Hear my children, the instruction of a father,
And give attention to know understanding." - Proverbs 4:1

Two weeks from today we celebrate fathers, on a day set aside as "Father's Day."

We can think of fathers in two ways: as children of fathers and as fathers of children. Solomon, the writer of Proverbs, has skillfully woven both viewpoints into our reading.

First he urges his kids to listen to his advice like he listened to his own father's words. His was a father who made a passionate case for his son's careful attention. Sample David's words as his son Solomon remembers them (New Living Translation):

“Take my words to heart. Follow my commands, and you will live.....Don’t turn your back on wisdom, for she will protect you. Love her, and she will guard you. Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do!....If you prize wisdom, she will make you great....She will place a lovely wreath on your head; she will present you with a beautiful crown” (excerpts from Proverbs 4:1-9)

Following that in verses 10-13 Solomon urges his children to follow this advice themselves. He names three reasons why:

1. Their lives will be prolonged (Proverbs 4:10).

2. Their journey will be swifter and smoother (Proverbs 4:11-12).

3. This instruction will be their life (Proverbs 4:13).

"Instruction" is an interesting word and not completely pleasant.

[Instruction (muwcar) means correction, chastisement, instruction, discipline, an admonition, rebuke or warning. Muwcar comes from the word yacar - "to reform, chastise, discipline, instruct." It encompasses chastening both by words and punishments (Proverbs 1:1-3; 22:15). Muwcar includes all forms of discipline intended to lead to a transformed life. - New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 809.]

Words of correction, rebuke, warning, or admonishment are harder for a child to take than words of praise, encouragement or affirmation. However, for fathers, they may be the easier, more natural words to give. Paul acknowledges this when he talks about fathers not discouraging their children:

"Fathers, do not provoke or irritate or fret your children [do not be hard on them or harass them], lest they become discouraged and sullen and morose and feel inferior and frustrated. [Do not break their spirit.]" - Colossians 3:21 - Amplified

And so fathers (and mothers) need a balance. For if correcting words are a child's life, a loving parent would not ever want to withhold them. But neither would that parent want to discourage, frustrate, or break the child's spirit.

In this every godly father and mother can be goaded and guided by the principal of love God applies when He scolds us. It's in Proverbs too - Proverbs 3:11-12

"My son, do not despise or shrink from the chastening of the Lord [His correction by punishment or by subjection to suffering or trial]; neither be weary of or impatient about or loathe or abhor His reproof, for whom the Lord loves He corrects, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights" - Amplified.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for my godly father. Though he has been gone a long time, his example still lights my life. As the wife of a father, help me to support my husband's fathering of our children. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 149
The Bible Project VIDEO: Wisdom (Wisdom series)





***************
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.

Listening to a child

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 2 Kings 4-7; Psalm 102

TO CHEW ON: "And the Syrians had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naaman's wife. Then she said to her mistress, 'If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.'" 2 Kings 5:2,3


I love the unnamed little Israelite girl in this story. She gets past any resentment she may have felt at being captured and enslaved. She overcomes any fear or shyness she may have felt toward her mistress. It's her testimony of compassion and faith that gets this story started, and Naaman on the road to recovery.

In our time and place children are probably given a lot more credit and listened to more readily than were the youngsters (especially slave children) of Elisha's time. As parents, grandparents, teachers, and leaders, interaction with children is often a balancing act between training and disciplining them versus appreciating, doting on, and loving them.

The Bible tells stories of children who were obviously brought up well.

• Samuel assisted Eli in the temple - 1 Samuel 2:18.

• A boy alertly retrieved arrows for Jonathan prior to his secret meeting with David - 1 Samuel 20:36.

• Joash was crowned king at seven - 2 Chronicles 24:1.

• Jesus at twelve years was engrossed in fulfilling his destiny to be about His "'Father's business'" - Luke 2:49.

• A lad gave his lunch to Jesus - John 6:9.

There are also Bible stories of children that imply failed training.

• Elisha himself was the butt of a mocking gang of youths - 2 Kings 2:23.

• The prophet Isaiah includes disrespectful children in his list of things that will oppress people - Isaiah 3:5.

Jesus' attitude toward children is a good one to study and imitate.

• He invited them to come to Him and blessed them - Mark 10:14; Matthew 19:14.

• He warned against causing them to stumble - Mark 9:42.

• He appreciated and encouraged their praise as He recalled David's psalm about the potential of a child's words: "'Out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants / You have perfected praise'" - Matthew 21:15,16, quoting: "Out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants / You have ordained strength, / Because of Your enemies, / That you may silence the enemy and the avenger" Psalm 8:2.

Let's keep these things in mind as we relate to the children in our lives.

PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for the potential in each child. Help me to listen to and love well the children in my life. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 102 

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

Does God discipline us with illness?

Image: Pixabay

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 *********
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.

Unpopular restraint

Celebration around the Golden Calf - Artist unknown

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Exodus 32-34; Psalm 28

TO CHEW ON: "…Moses saw that the people were unrestrained (for Aaron had not restrained them…)." Exodus 32:25

If a royal commission had been struck to get to the bottom of how the golden calf incident could happen, a conclusion like Exodus 32:25 may well have been in the report.

[Restraint means to hold back from acting, proceeding or advancing; to keep in check, repress; to deprive of freedom or liberty; to restrict or limit - Funk and Wagnalls Dictionary.]

People-pleasing, want-to-be-liked Aaron would have found that hard to do. He wasn't the only one. The priest Eli didn't restrain his sons and this brought a sobering judgment on his family and eventually the whole nation (1 Samuel 3:13; 4:15-22). King David was another indulgent parent with at least one of his sons—Adonijah: "And his father had not rebuked him at any time by saying, 'Why have you done so?' " (1 Kings 1:6). Adonijah ended up trying to become king behind his father's back.

In our time, when the trend in parenting (and leadership in general) is to give more freedom than less, a parent or leader who disciplines and enforces restraint needs to be resolute to go against the grain. But the Bible supports parents and leaders in this.

• Discipline is really a manifestation of love - Proverbs 3:12; 13:24.

• Lack of early discipline leads toward destruction - Proverbs 19:18.

• Discipliners (fathers, parents) also need to be disciplined in the way they train their children- Ephesians 6:4.

• Paul tells Timothy that the ideal leader acts "… in humility, correcting those who are in opposition" - 2 Timothy 2:25.

Restraint—self-restraint, parental and leadership enforcement of restraint—may not be fashionable with our society but it is something God values and rewards. Let's take up our courage to buck the trend as we practice restraint in our own lives and teach it to those for whom we're responsible.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me first to restrain myself in thoughts, speech and actions. Amen. 

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 28

 *********
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.

Fear vs. faith

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Genesis 12-15

TO CHEW ON: “Then He brought him outside and said, ‘Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” Genesis 15:5-6


Abram and his wife Sarai were childless when God came to him with a promise of innumerable descendants. Despite what it looked like, Abram believed this would happen – believed to the extent that God, who saw into his deepest heart, “accounted it to him as righteousness.”

What we believe has everything to do with our thoughts. Here Abram gave mental assent to God’s promise despite how circumstances pointed to the contrary.

Are there things in your life that are at odds with God’s promises to you? Are you reacting to those circumstances with worry, anxiety, fear, and confusion instead of faith? Joyce Meyer in her article “Where the Mind Goes the Man Follows” says:

“I like to think of our inner life as a house made of thoughts that is constantly being built. It is within these ‘walls’ of our thinking that each of us lives. Every thought we accept is like another brick in the wall of the house we are building….

[…] One of the greatest weapons that you and I have is the truth of God’s Word. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, ‘For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood] but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, [Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ.’ If we don’t lead wrong thoughts away captive, the wrong thoughts will lead us away captive.” – Joyce Meyer.

If there is something over which you fret because of the way the situation looks, try this. In one column write down your worry. In a column beside it write what God’s Word says about it. Now every time thoughts of anxiety, fear, worry, and confusion come into your mind about this thing, counter them with God’s promise to you.

Do this with day-to-day worries like:

- Flu is going around and I fear for the safety of my family - versus Psalm 91

to big life-direction issues:

- I’m afraid I’ll miss God’s will for my life – versus Isaiah 30:21


PRAYER: Dear God, please help me establish the discipline of replacing fear and unbelief thoughts with faith thoughts from Your word. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 4

The Bible Project VIDEO: Genesis Part 2 of 2 (Read Scripture Series)



**************
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.

Tests

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Psalm 105:1-22

TO CHEW ON: "His feet were hurt with fetters; his neck was put in a collar of iron; until what he had said came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him." Psalm 105:19


The "his" and "he" referred to in the verses above is Joseph. What is the psalm-writer talking about when he says "...until what he had said came to pass"? I believe it was those outrageous dreams of Joseph's which we read about in Genesis 37:

"Hear this dream that I have dreamed: Behold we were binding sheaves in the field and behold my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf....Behold, I have dreamed another dream. Behold the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me..." Genesis 37:6-9.

During his days as a slave in Potiphar's house and later as a prisoner, I wonder if Joseph ever thought back to those dreams and wondered — What was that about? His situation couldn't have been farther from what his dream predicted.

However, there was action toward the fulfillment of those dreams all through that time. The psalm-writer alludes to what was happening behind the scenes. God was testing Joseph.

It's interesting that the psalmist doesn't say that circumstances tested Joseph, or Potiphar and the jailer tested Joseph but "the word of the Lord tested him," telling us that these circumstances had God's knowledge and permission. They issued as "the word of the Lord," that same creative force that brought the worlds into being (John 1:1-3).

Joseph's response to this testing was positive. With faithful dependability he passed every test. Then on one day that began like every other, the test was over (Psalm 105:20-22). And of course, when his brothers came from Canaan seeking food, the fulfillment of his dreams came true in living color before his eyes.

Your current situation may also be far from what you feel God has promised you for your future. Viewing the unpleasant, difficult, and unfair things in your life as God's tests may help you gain courage, inspiration and the hope to keep going.

Joseph's story shows too, how completely and radically God can turn things around in a short while once the test is over. So don't be fooled or disheartened by appearances.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for this glimpse behind the scenes of the way You work in human lives. Please help me to pass the tests You bring my way today. Amen.


MORE: The test of waiting

You may find my article "In the Waiting Room" helpful if your test is waiting...and waiting... and waiting some more

************

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.

WWJD?

Jesus in the Midst of the Doctors - Alexandre Bida

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Isaiah 50:1-11

TO CHEW ON: "The Lord God has given Me
The tongue of the learned,
That I should know how to speak
A word in season to him who is weary.
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear
To hear as the learned
The Lord God has opened My ear
And I was not rebellious
Nor did I turn away." Isaiah 50:4-5


By the context it's easy to identify the Servant in this Song as Jesus (Just go on to Isaiah 50:6 and compare to Matthew 27:30). We have in Isaiah's words a wonderful Jesus-template on which to pattern our lives.

• Wisdom

We see Jesus' wisdom on display already when He was 12 and talking with the temple rulers. We acknowledge our own need for wisdom, praying along with young king Solomon: "But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties..." (1 Kings 3:7 NIV). But do we take James seriously when he tells us what godly wisdom consists of: "...pure, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy..." (James 3:13-17)?

• Appropriate speech

Jesus' speech wasn't always meek and mild. He could be fiery and funny, probing and gentle. Of course His speech was tied to His wisdom (Matthew 13:34) and ours needs to be too (Matthew 5:37; Colossians 4:6; James 3:2).

• A disciplined spirit

Have you noticed how many times Jesus sneaked away from His disciples to be with His Father? Sometimes he got up early. Sometimes He went off by Himself after a long day of teaching and doing miracles. Sometimes He stayed up all night. His words to His disciples about disciplined prayer are a warning to us too: "...'Stay here and watch ... Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation'" (Matthew 26:38,41).

• A personal relationship with God

"He awakens me... He awakens My ear" are the words of Christ through Isaiah. We get the sense of not dutiful but joyous voluntary meetings. Jesus' heart for us is to have such a relationship with Him and the Father (John 17:20-26).

• A compliant heart

Who can forget the scene of Jesus praying in Gethsemane and how He battled through to pray "Not as I will but as You will" (Matthew 26:39)? He brought home to Peter the necessity of such total surrender when they met after Jesus' resurrection when He accepted Peter back into ministry with the simple "'Follow Me'" (John 21:19,22). They are the same words He says to us (Luke 9:23).

What would Jesus do (WWJD)? We have many answers to that question in this Servant Song. Will we follow His lead?

PRAYER: Dear God, Jesus' example life is beautiful but impossible for me to copy without the activity of the Holy Spirit in my life. Help me to live out these qualities of wisdom, good speech, a teachable spirit, and a compliant heart. May my relationship with You be personal, honest, and strong. Amen.

MORE: "Lily of the Valley" - David Ruis and Kelly McMechan




**********
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 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.

Do you know what is in your heart?

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Deuteronomy 8:1-10

TO CHEW ON: "And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not." Deuteronomy 8:2


If you want to discover your grumpiness, irritability, and general unpleasantness potential, put yourself under stress. For me, even something as ordinary as camping in the rain with little kids was enough to expose impatience and short-temper just under the thin veneer of pleasantness and longsuffering.

I often ask myself, when I watch people on the news as they react to natural disasters—how would I do in that situation? It's the same with stories of the Exodus in the Bible. Though it's easy to be condemning of the Israelites as they make their grumbling way through the desert, I wonder, would I have been any different?

In our reading today, Moses, in a farewell message to the Israelites, explains the why behind God's dealings with them. Their hardship, hunger, and thirst show them how helpless they are on their own and how much they need God. The way their clothes don't wear out and their feet don't swell show them they can trust God for the most practical, down-to-earth details. Their testing is never arbitrary or random but for a purpose, to show them how much they need God and to strengthen character in them. It is to build a people who, even when the stress is off, will remember the origins of their supply and good fortune.

We may be dismayed at how difficulties show us up as selfish, fearful, impatient etc. At such times it's easy to get discouraged with our many immaturities. But we mustn't stay down on ourselves too long. For such self-revelations are also positive:

• They give us glimpses of who we really are.

• They keep us from being proud and judgmental of others.

• They throw us on God. We can ask Him to help us understand the roots of our reactions.  We can go to Him for daily spiritual nourishment, just like the Israelites went out to gather manna six days a week. In this way our difficulties will help us change. They will "do you good in the end" - Deuteronomy 8:16.

PRAYER: Dear God, please help me understand the roots of my irritability, impatience, worry — all the things that show up in me when I'm under stress. Help me to deal with them in a way that will build character and trust in You. Amen.

*****************
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.

Fasting

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Matthew 17:14-27

TO CHEW ON: " ' However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.' " Matthew 17:21

How grieved the disciples must have been when Jesus called them a " 'faithless and perverse generation,' " though He did soften His scold a bit when He gave them an excuse for not being successful with the exorcism: "' However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.' "

This passage gives us some hints about what it takes to have real spiritual power:
Belief, which can be mustard-seed-small, but even in its smallness is genuine and persistent.

Prayer.

Fasting.

Of these three, fasting is the most mysterious to us. It is a spiritual practice we see a lot of in the Bible though.

• Moses fasted for the 40 days he was with God on Mt. Sinai. It's as if that was a given—such concentrated time in the presence of the LORD Himself was all the food and drink he needed - Exodus 34:28.

• Fasting was how people showed their respect for and grief over the death of Saul and Jonathan. Similarly David fasted over the death of General Abner - 2 Samuel 1:12; 3:35; 1 Chronicles 10:12.

• King David fasted when his and Bathsheba's first baby was deathly ill (though his fast didn't save the baby's life) - 2 Samuel 12:16.

• The Israelites fasted in repentance as they returned to God after a season of idolatry - 1 Samuel 7:6. They did this again in Nehemiah's time - Nehemiah 9:1.

• Ahab put on sackcloth and fasted after hearing Elijah's prophecy of calamity about to come on him and his descendants. As a result of him humbling himself like this, God sent Elijah back to tell him these curses would not come on him during his (Ahab's) lifetime - 1 Kings 21:27-29.

• Ezra fasted for the guilty people - Ezra 10:6.

• Esther, her personal servants, and all the Jews in Sushan fasted and prayed for favour before she went in to request an audience with the king - Esther 4:15,16.

• Saul fasted after he encountered Jesus on the Damascus Road - Acts 9:9.

• Cornelius, a Gentile, was in a time of fasting and prayer when an angel appeared to him with instructions to fetch Peter. As a result, Cornelius and his household were saved and filled with the Holy Spirit - Acts 10:30.

• The early church leaders fasted and prayed when seeking direction for their leaders - Acts 13:2,3; 14:23.

• We read of Jesus fasting only once for the forty days of his temptation in the wilderness - Luke 4:1,2.  But it seems He assumed fasting would be part of a person's spiritual practice, for He said to His disciples: " 'But you when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face…' " - Matthew 6:17 (emphasis added). And here He explained His power over the tormenting spirit by implying that He had prepared for this encounter beforehand by fasting.

The experience of Bible characters paints a compelling case for the practice of fasting, not to get our way but to demonstrate our sincerity before God and to position ourselves intentionally in the powerful realm of His will and purposes.

PRAYER: Dear God, You know how hard I find fasting. Help me to grow in this spiritual discipline. Amen.

 *********
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 mind" thinking

Image: Pixabay.com

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 Timothy 1:1-18

TO CHEW ON: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7

In the next little while we’ll be reading through the book of 2 Timothy. In preparation for that I read the book notes in my study Bible and discovered some facts that put the book in its history context and gave me a deeper appreciation for it. Maybe they’ll help you see it in a new light too.

1. Paul wrote this book shortly before he died. Scholars believe he was executed before Nero’s death in A.D. 68 and that he wrote this letter in 66 or 67 A.D.

2. He was in prison when he wrote it. This was not the private house arrest he’d been under earlier. “Now he was confined in a dungeon and friends could see him only with difficulty. Formerly he had expected to be released but now he looked forward to death (2 Timothy 4:6-8)” - James L. Beall, Study notes on 2 Timothy, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1709.

3. The foremost purpose of the letter was to encourage his young trainee leader Timothy: “… the letter is not an orderly, well-planned literary production but a personal note passionately expressing the apostle’s last will and testament” - Ibid.

Keeping the above in mind, Paul’s encouragement to Timothy not to fear is especially moving. If anyone had reason to fear, it was Paul. But it seems long ago he had made peace with his own mortality (“For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. “ - Philippians 1:21) and so he could bolster Timothy’s faith with words that resonate down through the centuries to us today: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, and of love and of a sound mind” - 2 Timothy 1:7.

A Word Wealth article in my Bible elaborates on “sound mind”:
[Sound mind - sophronismos - a combination of sos (“safe”) and phren (“the mind”) hence, safe thinking. The word denotes good judgment, disciplined thought patterns and the ability to understand and make right decisions. It includes the qualities of self control and self-discipline - Dick Mills, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1711 - emphasis added]

How might we defeat the opposite of a sound mind—a fearful, timid mind—in ourselves? One way is to cultivate a sound mind, i.e. guard our thought life.

Some verses that speak eloquently of how to set that guard in place:

“The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ" - 2 Corinthians 10:4,5 MSG.

“And now, brothers, as I close this letter, let me say this one more thing: Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about” - Philippians 4:8 TLB

PRAYER: Dear Father, help me to do my part in defeating fearful, timid thoughts. Amen.

 *********
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.

Scriptures marked The Living Bible (or TLB) copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. The Living Bible, TLB, and the The Living Bible logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

When God hurts us

"How deserted lies the city"

by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld

from "Bibel in Bildern"1851-1860

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Lamentations1:1-22

TO CHEW ON: "Her adversaries have become the master, Her enemies prosper; For the Lord has afflicted her Because of the multitude of her transgressions. Her children have gone into captivity before the enemy." Lamentations 1:5


In the next several weeks we'll be reading through all of Lamentations. It is a sad book originally titled "Ekah," the first word of the book. Ekah means how or alas. Some also called it Qinot or "Lamentations" and that name has stayed with the book.

Many scholars attribute its authorship to Jeremiah. He wrote it against the backdrop of tragic events in Judah.

The kingdom was in moral decline. At a time when they were subjects to the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar, King Zedekiah rebelled and Nebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem (2 Kings 24:20).

Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem and many people starved. When Nebuchadnezzar finally broke down the wall, Nebuchadnezzar and his soldiers escaped. But the Babylonian army destroyed most of Jerusalem, burned the temple, and carried all but the poorest into exile (2 Kings 25:8-12).

As I read Jeremiah's poem of raw grief for his beloved land, I am touched by the images of Judah as a destitute woman. But I am also struck by the words "For the Lord has afflicted her."

Isn't life with God supposed to be good — better than life without Him? It seems that God has chosen to hurt His own people. Why?

A paragraph from the book's introduction in my Bible gives us something to think about in this regard:

"The Juhadites had been able to think of themselves only as God's chosen race. As such they felt that they would always experience good things. God had made covenants of blessing with them, but these were conditional. Blatant disobedience would mean that the pleasurable aspects of blessing would be replaced by punishment. The fulfillment of the promises of blessing could always skip a few generations of disobedient Israelites" - Paul B. Watney, New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 1036.

"Conditional (covenants of blessing), "blatant disobedience," "punishment." Could some of the troubles God allows us to experience be related to these things as well?

It is easy to promise would-be converts that life will be smooth sailing if they accept Jesus. But God, in His knowledge of everything about us, does allow trouble in our lives too. Could it be that sometimes God, in effect, hurts us because we have been disobedient and strayed from Him. We can be sure, though, that even such seemingly hurtful treatment is a sign of His love (Proverbs 3:11,12).


PRAYER: Dear God, please help me to have a realistic knowledge and view of my relationship with You. Help me to learn the lessons I need to from the difficulties you allow into my life. Amen.

MORE: Lamentations as poetry

Lamentations is a collection of five poems The first four, including poem 1 (our reading today), are acrostics. These are poems in which each stanza begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet (see also Psalms 25, 34, 37, 119).

Why the form? Writing acrostics may have been seen as a literary challenge in Jeremiah's day. Poems with predictable starting letters would be easier to memorize. We may also see such poems, in their going from Aleph to Tau (A to Z),  that the poet is  "...working through every grief, hurt, and fear, and opening up completely to both man and God" (from the introduction to Lamentations by Paul B. Watney, New Spirit Filled Life Bible, p. 1037).

********
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.

Necessary discipline

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Hebrews 12:5-29

TO CHEW ON: "Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless afterwards it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11

Do you have regrets about the way you have or are raising your children? In a novel I'm reading, the main character reviews how she and her husband brought up their son, now gone from home. She remembers her husband's impatience when he tried to teach his son the trumpet, her swooping in to help him out when he was in trouble, their visible coldness toward him when he flubbed a music recital. Her descriptions brought back scenes from the days when our children were young—along with some regrets of my own.

Discipline—doling it out, getting it—is never easy, or at least it isn't for me. We can tend to discipline our youngsters when we're in the throes of emotion and be over-harsh and irrational. Or perhaps we hate confrontation and avoid disciplining, only to later reap the fruit of an out-of-control child.

In our Hebrews reading the writer talks about the ways God disciplines us. Several words illustrate the range His discipline takes.

• He chastens (paideia) us  as in the rearing and training of a child (vs. 5, 7, 8, 11).

• He rebukes (elencho ) as in giving us verbal reproof (vs. 5).

• He corrects (paideutes) us as a teacher disciplines (vs. 9).

• He trains, instructs and punishes us (paideuo) (vs. 7).

• And He scourges (mastigos) us—disciplining us physically (vs. 6).

Just like children left on their own can yield a harvest of bad fruit, so will we if left untrained and undisciplined.  So let's learn to recognize and welcome God's discipline of us, and model it as we train our children, both natural and spiritual.

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to recognize and welcome Your discipline. May I be a teachable child. Amen.

***********

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

Painfully conformed

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Romans 8:18-39

TO CHEW ON: "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren." Romans 8:29

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. -  Romans 8:28

It's likely you have at some time quoted the above to comfort a person who is grieving, reassure the one who is confused, or remind the one who has just suffered a seemingly senseless tragedy that God has things in hand and everything will work out okay. I know I have.

But when we say those comforting words, do we think to add on verse 29? It really is a continuation of the thought and helps to answer the question "Why are these painful things happening?"

The little word "For" at the beginning of verse 29 signals the connection between the two. The verse goes on to state that the "all things" we are experiencing (that are supposedly "working together for good" - Romans 8::28) have a purpose and that purpose is that we, whom God knew before we were ever on the scene would accept Him and be born into His family, will "be conformed" to the image of His Son (Jesus).

The idea of conformity is not an especially attractive one, at least not  to us in our individualistic culture. My Funk and Wagnalls dictionary defines conform: 1] to be or act in accordance; show identity or resemblance; correspond; to conform to a specification; 2] to adhere to conventional behavior; 3] to make the same or similar; 4] to bring into harmony or agreement.

How do we make things conform in life?

• If the thing is made of wood, we carve, mill or sand it. 
• If it is made of plaster or cement we pour it liquid into a mold. 
• It it is metal we heat it until we can hammer or even pour it into the desired shape. 
• If it is a tree or plant we prune it, that is, cut it. 
• If it's a life that God is conforming to the image of Jesus ...?

Perhaps the list of stressors Paul names further on is something we should expect rather than be surprised by as God subjects us to His process of conforming:

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ... Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" - Romans 8:35,37.

PRAYER: Dear God, I know the goal of my life is not my happiness, comfort, ease, prosperity, success or any number of other things I so readily go after. Rather, it is to become like Jesus. Help me to see the painful things that enter my life in the light of this. Amen.

MORE: Handel's Messiah Alert

Words from three verses of today's reading are included in Handel's Messiah. Follow along with the soprano soloist as she sings "If God Be For Us" - Chorus 52 (sung here by the Brisbane Concert Choir).

Lyrics from Romans 8:31, 33, 34:
31. If God be for us, who can be against us? 33. Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. 34. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is at the right hand of God, who makes intercession for us.

***********

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

Responding to our shepherds

Shepherds (Image: Pixabay.com)

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Zechariah 11:1-17

TO CHEW ON: "Then I said, 'I will not feed you. Let what is dying die, and what is perishing, perish. Let those who are left eat each others flesh.'" Zechariah 11:9


One of the contradictory things about human nature is how we need leadership yet often resist it. There is something within us that wants our own way. When a leader (parent, teacher, pastor, boss) reins us in, we push back. At such a time, sometimes a leader gives up.

That seems to be the case here in Zechariah. In explanation of Zechariah 11:9, the Reformation Study Bible says:

"The prophet is appointed to be a good shepherd, but because he is rejected, he forsakes the flock (vs. 9) As a good shepherd, the prophet is a type of the coming messianic Shepherd, Jesus Christ, who came as the Good shepherd and laid down His life for the sheep (John 19:11-18)" - Reformation Study Bible, accessed through BibleGateway.com.

The consequences of this rejection are sobering. For starters the good, but finished shepherd of Zechariah breaks his rods of Beauty and Bonds.

Remember in Psalm 23 where David says, "Your rod and staff, they comfort me"? These shepherd tools of rod and staff were used to discipline the sheep, protect them, and rescue them from danger. Though perhaps sometimes misunderstood, they were part of the shepherd's care.

Now in the face of the rebellious people these tools of discipline and care— Beauty, the covenant between God and Israel (Zechariah 11:10), and Bonds, the unity of the nation (Zechariah 11:14)—are broken.

In addition to the prophetic overtones of this passage (in it we see predicted Judas' betrayal—compare Zechariah 11:12,13 with Matthew 26:14-16 and Matthew 27:3-10), it serves as a warning to any of us tempted to stray from our Shepherd Jesus and resist the leadership He has put us under.

His ways may sometimes seem harsh but His wounds are wounds of love, the rod and staff of wise care. Contrast that with the shepherds that God gives the people over to in  Zechariah's time—uncaring, callous toward the vulnerable, unresponsive to the needs of the flock, selfish and brutal - Zechariah 11:16.

So how are we to respond to leadership? Four examples from the Bible come to mind.

• Paul tells the Christians in Rome to obey governing authorities - Romans 13:1-7.

•  He tells Timothy to remind his parishioners to pray for leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-3).

• However, the disciples also resisted the commands of the religious leaders of the day when they were told to cease preaching the gospel (Acts 5:29). 

• Above all and in every sphere we need to recognize and respond to the voice of our Jesus, our spiritual Shepherd (John 10:4).

PRAYER: Dear Jesus my Good Shepherd, help me to submit to You and the rod and staff of the "shepherds" you have placed over me. When their leadership is ungodly, show me when to resist and when to obey even as I continue to ask You to help and guide all those in leadership over me. Amen.

 *********
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.

Sin's bitter consequences

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 2 Samuel 18:19-33

TO CHEW ON: "Then the king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went he said thus: 'O my son Absalom—my son, my son Absalom—if only I had died in your place! O Absalom, my son, my son!'" 2 Samuel 18:33

David's only reaction to his army's victory over Absalom is grief. In fact he is so overwhelmed with that one emotion that Joab, his army captain, lectures him about the effect this is having on the army's morale (2 Samuel 19:1-7).

The writer of my Bible's notes makes an astute observation about David's sorrow: "Part of his grief has to be the awareness that his sin ultimately had killed his sons" - Jerry Cook, notes to 2 Samuel, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 425.

How so?

Remember the words of prophet Nathan who pronounced this consequence of his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband? "'Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife'" 2 Samuel 12:10.

Witness the fulfillment of that when:

• Absalom killed his brother Amnon in revenge for Amnon defiling Absalom's sister Tamar - 2 Samuel 13:28-29.

• Absalom himself was killed in battle - 2 Samuel 18:14.

• After David's death, Solomon executed his half-brother Adonijah after Adonijah's sneaky attempt to wrest power back into his hands by asking for Abishag (who had been King David's companion) as his wife - 1 Kings 2:25.

If anything, I believe it is easier than ever for us to feel that we will escape sin's consequences, living as we do in the era of grace. But maybe we shouldn't be so sure about that. For though God forgives our sins and casts them away "as far as the east is from the west" (Psalm 103:12), we may still need to deal with their aftermath and consequences in health, wealth, relationships, reputation etc.

Realizing this is an incentive for us to live life from this moment on with more attention than ever to uprightness and integrity.

PRAYER: Dear God, please point out to me areas in my life where there will be bad consequences if I stay the course. Help me to clean up my act and life with integrity before you and others. Amen.

MORE: Consequences of forgiven sin

"...the aim of God-sent consequences of forgiven sin is not to settle accounts demanded by retributive justice. The aim of the God-sent consequences of forgiven sin are (1) to demonstrate the exceeding evil of sin, (2) to show that God does not take sin lightly even when he lays aside his punishment, (3) to humble and sanctify the forgiven sinner

Thus Hebrews 12:6 teaches that “the Lord disciplines him whom he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” This is immensely important to teach in a day when there is an imbalance of emphasis on the Father’s forgiving tenderness to the exclusion of the Father’s forgiving toughness. Thus many people have no categories to handle the consequences of the sins in their lives except to become less biblical and God-centered in their interpretation of life.

... We must not equate forgiveness with absence of painful impact. David’s life is a vivid illustration of this truth. May God give us the grace to learn it and live it."

- By John Piper, © 2012 Desiring God Foundation. Website: desiringGod.org (emphasis added).  Read all of Consequences of Forgiven Sin.

*********

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.

Generation Gap

Generation Gap - Image from xdmag at flickr

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Proverbs 30:7-19

TO CHEW ON: "There is a generation that curses its father,
And does not bless its mother." Proverbs 30:11


Agur, author of Proverbs 30, is a great counter and list-maker. He'd be a wonderful blogger with provocative titles like:
- Two things I want before I die - Proverbs 30:7-9.
- Four things that are never satisfied - Proverbs 30:15-16.
- Four things that mystify me - Proverbs 30:18-19.

… and what we're going to focus on today: "Four things that bug me about young people these days" - Proverbs 30:11-14.

Well, we don't actually know whether Agur was talking about only young people here. He begins each beef with the words, "There is a generation" implying that he's going to be naming a characteristic of people in a certain age range, and the first one seems to apply to people younger than he is.

The four things that annoy him:
1. Their disrespect for parents - Proverbs 30:11.
2. Their self-deception - Proverbs 30:12.
3. Their pride and vaulted opinions about themselves - Proverbs 30:13.
4. Their cruelty and lack of mercy toward the unfortunate - Proverbs 30:14.

Each one of us could probably make up our own list like this. And we might add other titles: Four things that bug me about my parent's generation or old people or young children. Agur only notes these generation gaps but doesn't propose any ways of dealing with them. How do we?

Concerning the gap between children and parents, the Bible has good advice for parents and caregivers:

• Each generation is responsible for the spiritual training of the next one - Deuteronomy 6:7, 20; Proverbs 22:6.

• We are responsible to pray for the next generation - Lamentations 2:19.

• We are to model kindness to our children - Ephesians 6:4; Colossians 3:21.

• It's a parental duty to control the home and household—not give that control to the kids - 1 Timothy 3:4,12.

• Parents are to correct and discipline their children - Proverbs 3:12; 13:24; 22:15; 23:13.

Another bit of advice that comes to mind as I think of dealing with various types of gaps between myself and others is from Paul in Philippians 2:2-3:

"Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself."

PRAYER: Dear God, when I recognize gaps of understanding, sympathy, and love between myself and others, please give me Your heart of empathy and love. Amen.

 *********
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 pruning shears

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Isaiah 5:1-7

TO CHEW ON: "What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes did it bring forth wild grapes?" Isaiah 5:4


The vines were loaded with tomatoes. It looked like a bumper crop. Then one day I noticed a subtle blush of brown on one of the green tomatoes. It started where the fruit joined the stem.

I watched in dismay as day by day, it expanded. Soon I noticed similar spots on more tomatoes. They were rotting before my very eyes! Even picking the green unblemished ones in hopes they would ripen without first turning brown didn't help. I never grew tomatoes in that blight-infested spot of the garden again.

If you've done any gardening, you may well have experienced something similar. And you will understand the disappointment in the voice of the gardener, singing the Vineyard Song of Isaiah 5.

In it, Isaiah describes how the farmer has lovingly tended his vineyard. But instead of the harvest he expects, the pampered plot yields only small bitter wild grapes. He is so exasperated, he has decided to take away its protection, stop weeding and cultivating it, and send no more rain. In other words, he will abandon it.

The vineyard is, of course, a picture or metaphor for Israel and Judah. God, fed up with their bad fruit, has decided to leave them to their own devices.

We can apply the message of this poignant poem to our lives too. We also are God's plants, which He needs to do stuff to to make fruitful.

I am fine with Him putting His hedge of protection around me— I like it that nothing can touch me without His permission. Similarly I like the rain He sends, and the weeds He pulls out. But the pruning...

Pruning hurts. In horticulture it involves cutting off extra stems so that more energy can go into the fruit-producing branches. In the spiritual realm, pruning may involve having a person in my life who brings out the worst in me so I see the carnal nature within myself that I need to deal with. It may mean a source of income dries up so I'm forced to expend my energies elsewhere. It may mean delaying the pursuit of dreams while I do my duty.

Pruning often seems harsh and random. But Isaiah 5 reminds us how intentional and purposeful is God's tending of us. His goal is never to hurt us in a sadistic way, but to hurt us so we will be successful and fruitful in His kingdom.

PRAYER: Dear God, how dreadful is the thought that I could resist Your pruning to the point that You would abandon me to my own ways. Help me to cooperate with Your pruning in my life. Amen

MORE: Curious about how to prune?

- Here's an article on how to prune a grape vine.

- an article on how to prune tomatoes.

- an article on how to prune roses.

Can you find more lessons about spiritual pruning from these examples of plant pruning?

*********
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.