Week 18
The Lords Day, Week 18!
Thoughts on 2 Corinthians 4 & 5:
· 2 Corinthians 4 - Paul speaks about the ministry of the New Covenant in several different ways, the ministry of righteousness, the ministry of the gospel, the ministry of the Spirit, later he refers to it as the ministry of reconciliation, but in all of these he his referring to the same thing. The role that God has given to his church is to proclaim the good news of salvation offered in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins to bring people into the family of God and have their status changed from enemy of God to child of God through repentance and faith. This is what the church is called to do in this world. Here Paul is saying, that having this ministry, this service, this calling, we do not lose heart... Just consider this for a bit. We have been saved from hell, become children of God, and now have a calling from God to tell others about what we have been given, extending that same offer to them. There can be no higher calling, there is no greater ministry or service, and when people despise you for what you believe, or say, or live, as long as it's in the path of faithfulness, you do not lose heart, because all that you do is because of what God has done to save you, and for them to come to know the same. When understood fully, the right response to being despised is pity on the one who doesn't see, not anger, frustration, fear, but pain and pity for the soul that insists on spending eternity in hell apart from the love and grace of God. You don't lose heart because it's not yourself that you proclaim, but Christ and all that you do is for His sake. He goes on to speak of not losing heart over the fact that our physical bodies are perishing either, don't see getting older as a bad thing, don't mourn or fear the fact that death is coming for you, but instead recognize that day by day you are being renewed in the truth of the Gospel, and each day brings with it new opportunities to glorify God, and brings you one step closer to being face to face with Him. All that we see before us will pass away, all of it, it's not just you and me, so focus on Him, focus on that which is eternal and what waits for us after this life and live with that as your guide and focus.
· 2 Corinthians 5 - How do we know that there is more waiting for us? Paul tells us that God has given us His Spirit as the grounding of our assurance. So be of good courage, don't live in fear but have confidence, assurance of that which lies ahead. This is something we can't miss, the connection between the Spirit which is at work in us, and the assurance we have as Christians. One of the reasons Christians lack assurance is because of their lack of obedience. This doesn't always mean they aren't Christians, but sometimes it does. But the lack of confidence is due to the fact they know they aren't living the way God calls them to live. None of us live perfectly, but if we aren't growing in holiness then we will eventually find ourselves questioning the work of God in our lives, we will find it difficult to be of "good courage" or to live with confidence because, "what if I'm not really saved?" The quickest route to assurance is obedience. The motivation for that obedience is the salvation you've been gifted in Christ. But though He's saved you, you will still stand before His judgement seat... Paul says, knowing the fear of the Lord persuade others. We've talked in depth about this fear, and how it informs our love for God. Well here it informs also our obedience. God has saved you, reconciled you to Himself through Jesus Christ. You will stand before Jesus, your savior, who was pierced for our iniquities, on the day of judgement and we will be called to give an account for what we did with His salvation. I find it fascinating how so many today only want to talk about love as the motivation for obedience, but let's be honest, if love was enough of a motivation the world would look very differently today. Scripture see's both fear and love as motivators, and as humans we need both, love is only rightly understood in the greater context of right fear. It is knowing the fear of God that causes us to persuade others, but it is the love of God that controls us... The implications here are that we are proclaim and do all that we are called to do because we know who God is, and what He's capable of and that we will stand before Him, but that He died for us, and reconciled us to Himself is what keeps assured, it's what gives us courage, it's what keeps us from despair in the face of opposition, but without obedience you will doubt His love, you will call it into question, not because it is ini question but because yours is! Jesus Himself tells us, if you love Him you will Obey Him! The last thing I'll say about this chapter is this, reconciliation between man and God is the reconciliation that God is concerned with. There's a lot of talk in the culture about other types of reconciliation, and this talk has even entered the church and much of this has been a distraction from what true reconciliation is. The reason there is enmity between people groups is because man lacks peace with God. If we want to see peace in the earthly realm, then we must first call all men to repent and first be at peace with God. Be an ambassador for Christ, imploring all men everywhere to be reconciled to God, who for our sake made Him to be sin who knew no sin, that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
May you spend this day in worship of the Triune God, who saved us and reconciled us to Himself that we would fear Him, know Him, love Him for His sake and our good. God bless!
Monday, Week 18!
Thoughts on Exodus 17-20:
· Exodus 17 - The people have been led out of Egypt, God has freed them and punished the Egyptians. He has provided for them everything they need and proven Himself far more than anyone should expect. But the people are thirsty! As soon as another obstacle stands before them, they immediately turn to the God who rescued them and blame Him for all their troubles. They question all His motives even accusing Moses of bringing them out of Egypt only to die. Before we go off accusing the Egyptians of wickedness, which would be warranted, we must first recognize the wickedness in us too. God has provided all our needs in Christ Jesus, He has rescued us from slavery to sin and death. Fighting our greatest battle on our behalf and taking the punishment we deserve, but then we to become thirsty... Lord, but what about that job? Lord but what about that house? relationship? perhaps its even more serious, why am I sick? why did I lose that family member, or friend? In all of these what's at the center? Doubt of the goodness and purposes of God. He leads us out of slavery but all of a sudden we want to question why did He do it, if He isn't also going to give me everything I want, the way I want it! At least for the Israelites, they were lacking water... Which is necessary for life. We do it when we lack anything. There's a reason why we are taught of the importance of contentment in the New Testament, Paul says that he learned in whatever situation to be content. As such, Israel needed to learn the same thing, and so do we! There's also the battle, where the focus isn't on Moses arms, it's actually the statement, "the Lord is my Banner". This meant that the Lord was the one who would represent the people, not a person, or a flag, but God Himself would fight for the people, and go before the people, He would be their Hero!
· Exodus 18 - Jethro, was a pagan when he first met Moses, but he is now showing evidence of faith in the true God. Here we have him offering sacrifices and worshipping God. But it's the way in which the Lord uses Him to be an encouragement to Moses that strikes me most. Moses was chosen by God, Jethro was a former Pagan priest, and yet it's Him God uses to have Moses restructure the way he oversees the people. Don't be so quick to shut out the wisdom of others. Weigh it all, because God can speak through anyone and all that is godly is of Him. This requires discernment to of course, but nevertheless, it's a lesson we to must learn.
· Exodus 19 & 20 - Two very important chapters, why does God go through all of this, what's with all the smoke, and thunder and lightning? In verses 18-21 of chapter 20 we have our answer. The display of Gods power was so that the people would know the fear of the Lord. This fear was meant as a motivation to keep the people from Sin. Now God had already saved them, the Love of God had already been manifested in His rescuing a people out slavery and providing for them. But as we just looked at, love was not enough, love must be understood within the greater context of fear. Do you know the God who loves you and saved you, are you aware of what He is capable of and what He could do to you and would be justified if he so chose to do it! The people saw this, and they were right to be afraid, right to tremble and stand far off. Moses response to them says it all, "do not fear..." You and I should hear the same, yes the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, to know Him is to fear Him, but to be loved by Him is to cast out all fear that we could still approach Him. The people here won't approach Him, we see that, they continue to have only Moses go into the thick darkness. But you and I have access to go before the throne of God whenever we want. It should bring about a sense of awe and deepen our love for what God has done in Christ to bring us into His presence. God has not changed, He is still just as powerful and to be feared as He was here in this text, but we are also loved, and let that fear keep us from Sin, but not keep us from Him.
So far my dad is o.k., no high fevers, just some aches and stuff, so hopefully this week we see complete healing. How are all of you doing with this? Anyone else need prayer for anyone in their family? It looks like we are going to have some pretty decent weather out here this week, I hope you all are able to enjoy it. God bless you all!
Tuesday, Week 18!
Thoughts on 2 Samuel 5-9:
· 2 Samuel 5 - The kingdoms are reunited, north and south become a united Israel again under King David. In verse 12, we are told two very important truths that are important for all leaders called by God. First, that David understood that his rule was because of anything he himself did. That he didn't earn this, he didn't make himself king, but that God did it. God placed him over Israel, and his allegiance therefore must be to God. All power has the ability to corrupt, even those who shepherd Gods people are susceptible to this. All who lead, are put in place by God, there are no exceptions. Sometimes God will punish with bad leaders, and sometimes bless with good leaders, but the if you are a leader, the most important thing you must realize is that God placed you there, and God can remove you and replace you whenever He sees fit. Look at Saul, replaced by a little shepherd boy, whom God raised up and made a great leader. I think we miss the fact that Saul was taunted with this the majority of his reign. Largely because he failed to recognize Gods sovereign position over creation, even his own rule. Secondly, we see that David understood his purpose in ruling was for the sake of Gods people. His kingship wasn't to make His name great, but to be a blessing to the people of God. This is what it means to shepherd, in verse 2 David is called, the shepherd of Gods people. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and today Pastors are called to be under-shepherds. This primarily means to put the needs of the people first, to lead for their good, and Gods glory. Jesus is our great example in His great sacrifice for us, no shepherd rules for his own name-sake, and if he does then you can be sure that he isn't of God. Today's churches are full of "leaders" looking to make A name great, but not Gods name great. Perhaps its the name of their institution, you know the type, these churches where everything is about what they are doing and how they want to put little miniature versions of this everywhere so everyone will know the name of "Jesus", but it's not Jesus they are trying to make famous, its "place the brand here" that they really care about. Then there are those leaders who are in it for themselves, their name is the one they care about, and so they need to have their messages broadcasted into as many different homes as possible, they need to make sure the world knows they are the Lead Pastor, it's their church and anyone who has a problem with that, well they can just go find another church. This isn't shepherding, but it is what you see in a lot of churches today... Look, go ahead and be about, church planting, I think that's great, get the gospel out even by video, God will get the glory, but if one just pays attention you'll spot the difference between leaders who understand God gets all the glory, and His people must receive the best care... and those who seek self-glorification.
· 2 Samuel 6 - Uzzah... yeah, this one gets me every time! God is Holy, Holy, Holy... Notice the fear this struck into the people, including David. Perhaps they had forgotten a little bit about the God they served, perhaps this was just a warning that they would remember. There's a lot here that I would love to go into detail with, but I'll save it for a sermon. Point is, God does get angry at sin, no one was to touch the ark but the priests. Gods universe, His rules, and we've all broken them, and He would be completely just to strike us all down today if He so chose. Remember that... He wasn't acting unjustly with Uzzah, and He wouldn't be acting Unjustly if He did the same to you and me.
· 2 Samuel 7-9 - The Davidic Covenant established. This promise is sort of the culminating event of the Old Testament, it's Gods promise to not only bring a seed, that will bless the world, but now more specifically He will establish a kingdom, a King that will rule forever. That through the line of David there will be a King who will build His house for His name... Now this house has fulfillment in Solomon, yes, He is the one to build the temple, but it's ultimate fulfillment is in Jesus, and the house itself its the church of which Jesus is the chief cornerstone and the Prophets and the Apostles are the foundation. Do you see the connection? The sons of David will rebel, and they will be punished throughout the generations but nevertheless God will be faithful in bringing about His Kingdom and He will not depart Davids line. Jesus is seated on the throne today in fulfillment of this promise, the world may still be fighting His rule, but He's in control, and all His enemies are being made a footstool. We are blessed to live under His reign and be in His service as His children. We serve the final King, the one who rules forever and was promised generations ago. He is the great shepherd who gave His life for us that we may truly live. He is worthy of all our worship, He is worthy of all our praise! All the nations will bow before Him, and we get to call Him friend! Isn't this absolutely marvelous! Just blows my mind, that not only do I know THE KING, but He knows me... who am I? Brothers and sisters, I have nothing else to say for today... Love you, and Be Blessed, Your Brother, Friend, Savior, and Lord is Seated on His throne forever!
Wednesday, Week 18!
Thoughts on Psalms 51-53:
· Psalm 51 - One of the things that really struck me as a young Christian about the Bible, was the way it really nailed down the human condition. From as young as I could remember, I was always just one slip away from getting caught... Getting caught lying, cheating, sleeping around, I mean you name it, and living like that was always so stressful. I remember as a kid, cutting school and having to make sure I caught the phone call so my parents couldn't find out, or trying to sober up as much as possible so my parents could't tell I was drunk, or high. Then I got older, and it was hoping I wouldn't get pulled over driving drunk, or that I wouldn't have to take a urinalysis that coming Monday because of something I took on Friday. Or any number of things... But then the Lord saved me, and here's what Psalm 51 showed me, I was never really hiding anything. God saw it all, and I knew my sins and they were ever before me. It was always Him that I had sinned against, always and all my deceiving did me absolute no good. The guilt I had felt most of my life, was right, because I was guilty and God would judge me. That anxiety I lived with should have been a wake up call, but it wasn't, but when God did reveal Himself to me I knew He was my only hope. I knew I was guilty, and He was the only one that could make me clean, I also knew that my heart was wicked, and I needed a new one, that left in the state I was in, all I would do is continue to live in fear of being found out! But God set me free by showing me I could never hide from Him, showing me that in Jesus my sins could be washed away, and that by His Spirit He would give me a new heart. But I had to be broken first, I really had to understand the depth of my sin. In some ways I think this to is an ongoing process, I see my sin more wicked today than I did when He first saved me, and yet morally most would say I live more of an upright life... The strength and hope to continue though isn't in my doing, it's in His and knowing that He has delivered me and so I can sing His praises even as He purges me and continues to make me new and refine me. If you understand Psalm 51 you'll pray it regularly, you'll see the truthfulness of it and the beauty of a God who doesn't cast us out of His presence, but restores to us the joy of His salvation.
· Psalm 52 - The evil man trusts in himself, he doesn't know God nor seek refuge in Him. The evil man loves evil, and despises truth. Wicked men look to their own possessions and righteousness for confidence and hope. The thing about the wicked man, is that this is all who don't know God. They don't trust God or acknowledge Him because they love their sin, because they rather trust in themselves than God. But the righteous man, finds His hope, and safety only in God. One of the hardest lines in this Psalm is verse 6, "the righteous shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him..." Consider this, that no one is going to be in paradise with God looking at the wicked feeling sorry for them. This is hard because remember we aren't talking about those who are most evil in the world. We are talking even about the nice old man or lady down the street who died in their sin... This is difficult for us because we don't yet see clearly, but when in the presence of Jesus we will. We will not only see the wickedness of those in hell for what it is, but we will see clearly that is what we too deserved and the only thing that saved us is Jesus. That apart from Him being our refuge, we would be right there too, fully deserving of that punishment.
· Psalm 53 - We've touched on this before, a fool is a person who doesn't believe in God. All of us are born fools, all of us apart from the grace of God are fools. There is none that does good, no not one, this is quoted in Romans chapter 3. The idea of total depravity was not a concept introduced by John Calvin, but rather it is a truth taught in scripture from beginning to end. However, praise be to Him for His salvation! Let us rejoice and be glad.
My father seems to be doing well, so thank you all again for your prayers! Next week I will be starting a Tuesday night online/zoom study on apologetics, if anyone is interested, let me know via private message. It should be about a 6 to 7 week study, 730-830pm. I'm opening it up to all who are interested. Hope you are all doing well, let me know how we can be praying for you! God bless!
Thursday, Week 18!
Thoughts on Job 35 & 36:
· Job 35 - Elihu continues his rebuke of Job and His defense of God. God has the right not to answer mankind, because man is prideful and arrogant, man loves to ask the question, "why me?" when in trouble, but fails to recognize God ini the midst of their prosperity or even give God the credit for the ordering of life, that there is night and day, or that He has given human beings the ability to reason, or that that he has given us wisdom that he hasn't given the other animals of the earth. When it comes to these things, man loves to be own the side of receiving the credit, but when it's taken away, then we cry out... So, Job, who do you think you are to ask where is God? Take note of this, and ask yourself, do we spend as much time in praise of God for what we do have, as we do complaining for what we don't? or we more upset about the fact that there is no toilet paper, then grateful for the fact that we have a toilet? I know, it seems like a crass example, but you get the point... lol
· Job 36 - God is perfectly Just in all His dealings with mankind. He doesn't owe man anything, and He has a greater purpose in suffering and affliction, He opens ears and delivers sinners by both. God is great and His ways and being are largely unknowable, but for what He reveals to us. Here's what I take away, and hopefully it encourages you. Stop trying to understand what God has not explained, and start focusing on what He has. How do we do that? by reading His word, by being under solid preaching, by being discipled and discipling others. It's only in this that we will be able to stand firm and have peace in everything we don't understand... Because there is a lot that we don't understand, that shouldn't surprise us unless you have a very small view of God!
I hope you all have a great day. God bless!
Friday, Week 18!
Thoughts on Jeremiah 27-31:
· There was so much to read here and I can't possibly go chapter by chapter, it'll take forever, so I have instead decided to look at themes!
· Judgement - Jeremiah as a whole is about the Lords judgement on His people, He has banished them to Babylon. But in these chapters we see that Judgement started with the house of God, but it doesn't end there. The Lord is sovereign over all nations, and even those that are far from the God are still His servants, as with Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar. His judgement is such that even the surrounding nations of Israel will face it and if they do not submit, then the Lord will bring judgement on them through natural means such as pestilence and famine, using even war to destroy them. Judgement will eventually come to Babylon as well, who is used by God, but whose motives are also evil and worthy of His judgement. Here's what we must take away, the God we serve is the same yesterday, today and forever. Those who go around saying, no way can God judge us today, there's no way this virus is Gods judgement, that was only a specific time and only for Israel; they are not reading the scriptures honestly. God has judged nations throughout all of history, and God is now at work in the world making His enemies a footstool, how do we think this is done? Is it not Gods judgement that brings nations to its knees? In one way or another everyone has to affirm Gods judgement. There is no escaping it, and to look at the world and all that's going on and say, not today, is to then have to accept something even worse... God has no purpose in what he is doing? Or God isn't control of what's going on? I don't know where you go that is still consistent with the rest of scripture and doesn't make God out to be a liar.
· False Prophets - We have two false prophets specifically called out in these chapters, and both came prophesying prosperity, and denying Gods judgement or at least denying that it would last long. Yet, these false prophets were believed and welcomed by the people into the house of the Lord. Why? Because we all want to hear about prosperity, we all want to know the pain and suffering isn't going to last long and that God is going to forgive and make life easier again. This is what makes false prophets so dangerous, they speak what you want to hear, not what you need to hear, not what God is speaking. In both cases these men were cursed, one to death, and the other a curse fell on his entire family. Notice the similarities between these false prophets and the false prophets today... I should say, of all those who would call themselves prophets today. They all speak of prosperity, they all speak a very "positive" message. Here's what it reveals of our nature, that God isn't enough. We want a hope for good things now, a hope for wealth now, health now, more now, better now... why? God is not enough, NOW! We are as wicked as the Israelites were, and will welcome anything that will give us comfort now, because we have not found our comfort in Christ the way He has called us to. Brothers and Sisters, don't fall for this trap from the pit of hell! You may never receive comfort now, or prosperity now, things may very well get worse now, but God is ENOUGH NOW! JESUS is ENOUGH NOW! If you focus and cling to Him now, you won't be distracted by what you do or don't have! These false prophets will receive their due penalty, pray that they would repent and be saved, that God would have mercy. But HIS Grace is completely sufficient for us NOW.
· Salvation - First, I want to go to everyone's favorite bible verse, Jeremiah 29:11, reread it in context and ask yourself if you can claim this for yourself... The answer is clearly NO. Hear me, the people who received the prophecy couldn't even claim it for their specific person, it wouldn't come to fruition for 70 years, the next generation would be the one to receive the welfare, the good, the hope... Most of those who heard the words of Jeremiah, would die in exile and never see their homeland again. So why do we think, we can reach into it, and pull it out for ourselves? The truth is, there is a plan that God has for us, and there is so much in this that has application, but only when understood in right context. When we step back and look at the over arching message of hope, we see that the hope is in the New Covenant, by which God will place His law in our hearts, that promise is for us, no one that lived in Jeremiah's day received that promise, they only had hope in the fulfillment of that promise. But not us, we are the fulfillment of that promise. By Gods Spirit we have His law written on our hearts, and we desire to be obedient, we are His children that He has redeemed out of bondage by the blood of Jesus. We have more of a realization of that hope than anyone living in Jeremiah's day, but we are still not living in a time where this hope is completely realized. We are closer, but we are still waiting for it. One day it will be complete, one day we will walk ini the presence of our God again and no longer experience pain and suffering. Completely set free from the worries and concerns of this world. That's where our salvation points. God has blotted out our transgressions and forgiven our iniquity, remembering our sin no more! Amen! Live in the light of that!
Aren't you glad I didn't go chapter by chapter!!! God bless you all, and I hope you have a wonderful day today. God is good, and He is most definitely good all the time!
Saturday, Week 18!
Thoughts on Mark 15 & 16:
· Mark 15 - The Cross - Mark doesn't get into as much detail throughout his gospel, but when it comes to the crucifixion, he gives us more than enough. "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus of course was and is King of the Jews, and yet so much more. He is The King, the one through whom all things were created, and for whom all things were created. Here He stands, surrounded by His creation having condescended to save it, being sentenced to death as a criminal. The Hero made a villain, in order to save the true villains, and they have no clue. For those who are parents, just imagine your child began to mock your authority, that they take the food you purchased to feed them and threw it in your face. The house you pay for and began to destroy it, all the while looking you in the eye and saying you are nothing, I can do whatever I want, you have no real authority here. As a parent, I can't imagine the pain it would cause me, that's first. All we do for our kids is to provide for them in hope that they would grow to love God and neighbor. Second, it wouldn't take long before I'd grab a hold of them and remind them who it is that has authority in this house. Though emotionally it would destroy, I also wouldn't be able to restrain myself from disciplining them on the spot! But Jesus endured so much greater emotionally than anything you or I could ever understand, He is more than a parent, He is the Creator who gave us everything. Every single breath we owe to Him! Secondly, He completely restrains Himself for the sake of that same creation. To then be hung on a cross for 6 hours, and bear the weight of all our sin, that same sin that put Him up the cross, the same sin that spit in His face, ripped out His hair, and condemned Him. This cross itself, was made of wood, that was also created through Him, nails made of iron that were created through Him, with a crown of thorns also made through Him that pierced His skin. Jesus the Creator hung on a cross by His creation, on a piece of His creation for the sin of His creation... As Christians, we don't worship the cross, but we marvel at it... When we look at it, we see that which Jesus Himself created knowing that one day He would hang on it for us... There is so much power in the cross, a device used for torture and punishment now a symbol of peace between man and God and all of it provided by God.
· Mark 16 - Jesus didn't stay on the cross! We know that today He lives and reigns and it is because He lives that we have hope, because He lives that we now live for Him and that we can now we will one day be with Him. The resurrection is the most important event in history, just go back and read 1 Corinthians 15 again if you need to be reminded. Jesus death pays for our sin, but in His life we are promised new life. The cross reminds us our old life has been paid for, the resurrection reminds us our new life is in Him. From death to life...
Here's a song that I've been meditating on this week, and it just fits so perfectly. I hope that it encourages you today. God bless.