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Day 127: Like 19:11-27 — God Reigns!

Friday, May 7th, 2010

In Luke 19:11-27, we have the parable of the ten minas. Luke has two components in his parable. He focuses on talents and a king’s vengeance on those who oppose him. Luke wants us to consider a role of God’s kingdom that we don’t like to focus on. God opposes those who do not accept His sovereignty.

In Jesus’ day many kingdoms were corrupt, greedy, and violent. In many ways things are still the same today. There appears to be a growing mistrust of our government, as we see corruption in almost every aspect of our leaders. The beauty that we often miss is the contrast that Luke is putting forward. The value system of Jesus’ kingdom is diametrically opposed to that of the kingdoms of Jesus’ day and our governments today. On the other hand, the law of retribution still applies, for those who serve God faithfully will be rewarded, and those who resist God’s kingly rule will perish.

The kingdom will not appear immediately (Luke 19:11). We as disciples are called to be trustworthy while we wait for the coming of the king. We are to advance God’s interests and if there are those who may oppose God’s interests and do not want Him to reign over them, rest assured, He will deal with them in His own time (Luke 19:27). Our job is to continue to advance the Kingdom of God because GOD REIGNS!

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Day 126: Luke 18:35-19:10 — Interruptions

Thursday, May 6th, 2010

Don’t you just hate it when there is an interruption? Seems just as the show gets really interesting, here comes a commercial. In today’s world those commercial breaks have been extended from the old two minutes to sometimes as much as five minutes. Sure makes it hard to follow the flow of the show, doesn’t it?

Every once in a while those who decided where chapter breaks in the Bible should be, kind of interrupted the flow. It seems we automatically think that chapter numbers means the subject has changed, yet many times that is not the case. In Luke 18:35-19:10 there is one of these unfortunate breaks.

Luke 18:35 starts the narration of a blind man who doesn’t know what is going on so he asks. Upon hearing the answer he begins to yell louder and louder trying to get the attention of Jesus. He is asked to hush to no avail- he just keeps yelling. Jesus hears him and asks for him to be brought forward and asks him what he wants. The man, knowing exactly what he wants, has no hesitation, he immediately asks for his sight.

Then there is this break for the words Chapter 19 but it is actually the same time frame. Entering Jericho we read of a man who was “short” Luke 19:3 (NASB95) – Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. His disadvantage in height did not stop his desire to see Jesus so he climbed a tree. Oh, he saw Jesus, and Jesus saw him.

Two different stories of the same thing. Two men who sought Jesus and would not let circumstances stop their quest. Both got what they wanted and more. One not only saw Jesus; he was able to see everything. The other also wanted to see Jesus and he did, but he never expected to become His host for the day.

Dear ones, when we honestly seek Jesus, pushing aside obstacles, we will still find Him today and what we get for our efforts always far exceeds our expectations.

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Day 115 Luke 12:41-59 A List of Reasons

Sunday, April 25th, 2010

My dear Mother instilled in us something that stayed with me to this day. She would always say to me and my sisters – “To whom much is given…” anytime we objected to pretty much anything. For years I either a.) didn’t understand it or, b.) chose not to understand it. How in the world could a family of very modest means ever be able to say, “To whom much is given…”? When I looked around my house back then, it sure didn’t make sense.

Turn with me to Luke 12:42-48 and read along. Jesus is making some very pointed comments and he wasn’t mincing words. I know that you are all smart enough to know what he is talking about. But for me, as a kid, I only understood this in terms of monetary value. I knew we lived in a modest home. I knew that our cars were always a liability. I knew that Christmas meant to just be thankful for what we had. I knew that picking up beer cans along country back roads and selling them for cash wasn’t just for recreation.

However, as I look back on my childhood, Momma was right. We had been given so much. We were expected to do something with it.

  1. We had two loving parents that did all they could for us. Now I understand how fortunate I was to have that. I realize how many children have no one to call Momma and Daddy. I cannot and will not ever turn away from needy children.
  2. My sisters and I were blessed with no shortage of physical and mental talents. All three of my sisters are incredibly intelligent, savvy, loving, considerate, athletic, beautiful and Godly women. I am ugly but strong. So thankful for football scholarships!
  3. My parents made our home a Christian home. The greatest blessing my parents would ever bring to our home. I have never known what it was like to not have God in my life.

That is just a very short list of reasons I now know to be why my Mother would say, “To whom much is given…” It had absolutely nothing to do with money. It had everything to do with my spirit, my mind and my body. I am expected to give all of them to the Lord and use them to glorify Him.

God bless you and keep you this week and beyond…

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Posted in faith, Family, God, Luke | 1 Comment »

Day 114: Luke 12:22-40

Saturday, April 24th, 2010

Greetings to everyone!  When I read Luke 12:22-40 this time around, I ended up thinking about why Jesus came to earth in the first place.  Jesus chose to come down from the heavenly Father to show us how to do His will instead of our own selfish will, the will of the people, or the will of the government.  Put God’s will first and foremost, and eternity will be great, but you may find yourself doing some strange things on earth, like performing miraculous signs and wonders, teaching hungry hordes of people wandering like sheep without a shepherd, raising people from the dead, and dying painfully on a cross.

“Do not worry about your life,” Jesus says, because spiritual matters are more important than earthly issues, and your soul is more important than your flesh. God is in control, taking care of both.  If God takes care of ravens, lilies and grass, He will take care of us, too.  But there is this rebellion issue– WE of little faith!  We want good food, flavorful drinks (when water really is the best thing for us), nice clothes, large homes, and lots and lots of toys.  Now, these are all examples of my selfish will, not God’s will for my life.  The funny thing is, if we focus on God’s will and strive for His kingdom, Jesus says all these things will be given to us as well.  Note Jesus does not say I will ever earn them, but they will be given to me because it is the Father’s good pleasure to provide them in His kingdom.  But first, I must obey Him.  I must give up my rebellion, quit trying to do everything for myself and chasing after these things the nations of the world consider important.  I must submit, humbly bow to the Creator, and accept the gift He offers.

Jesus tells us not to be afraid, but I must admit I’m intimidated by the things God’s had ask others to do for Him.

Noah, build an ark on dry land. 
Abraham, sacrifice your son. 
Moses, lead my people out of Egypt. 
Joshua, march around the walls blowing trumpets. 
Samson, don’t cut your hair. 
David, kill a giant with a slingshot. 
Solomon, quit clinging to your wives in love.
Elijah, battle the prophets of Baal, only 400 to 1 odds.
Isaiah, prophecy poetically, and heal a boil with figs.
Jeremiah, do not pray for the welfare of this people, a rebellious house.
Ezekiel, eat this scroll.
Jonah, pay attention, don’t run away, now go save Nineveh.
Jesus, go down there and show them my love, and die trying.

To all of the rest of us, follow ME.

Ever noticed the difference between ‘Me’ and ‘We’ is the leading letter is turned upside down?   When we do what we want instead of what He wants, everything gets turned upside down.

Now, don’t be afraid, don’t worry about a thing.  Just have a little faith. (Gasp.)

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Posted in Discipleship, faith, Grace, Humility | 1 Comment »

Day 109: Judges 6:36-8:35; Luke 10:17-37 — The battle belongs to the Lord

Monday, April 19th, 2010

Monday, ugh. Hard day, long day. Hard problems to work out. Unhappy people to “face” with bad news. Perhaps a little good news to pass on. So here I stand/sit/walk/run/ride/drive to the place/office/field/”cloud”–if you work in the internet.  Shaking my head I pick up my mouse/pen/hammer/keyboard/rake/implement of daily battle against the chaos before me.  Who will help me, of the thousands that stand ready to work out the difficulties of the day? Anyone want to go home, take the day off?  22,000 go home.    What do I do now?  and the Lord says He wants only 300 to work with me against thousands upon thousands? And we will use rams’ horns, not as weapons but as trumpets? and lamps, not to set fire to the enemy camp but to light up the rim of the hills?

A mixture of myself and Gideon, some days. Show me the fleece, again, please? Let me hear the dream told once more about how I win, please?  Then the impossible.  “We” win.   The battle belongs to the Lord.

Meanwhile, some some 1200 years in the future, a Galilean carpenter takes a force of 70 simple folk and goes about to defeat the evil, ignorance, hurts, and chaos of man. They come away from the battle, “Even the demons are subject to us!”  I know some demons I would like to get rid of.  Then Jesus blesses them. They the few, the simple, the dedicated, have done wonders unimaginable to themselves.  The battle belongs to the Lord.

Ah, then turning again to another battle. “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?”  What great unimaginable task must I do to walk in the blissful heavenlies with the great, faithful, immortals of all time and eternity? Defeat the Midianites with a lamp and trumpet? Take the power of heaven to cast out demons?

“What is written in the law? How does it read to you?”   Doctrine doctrine doctrine . . .  read read read. So droll, so dry, so not glorious!  “Do this and you shall live.” Luke 10:25-28. Who is my neighbor? this person to love and help and treat with respect and dignity?  “Whomever you meet that needs what you can supply.”  What an oddity, in helping others I help myself? Jesus asks such strange things of me, at times.

Raging, inglorious battle all around, weapons drawn, hearts pounding, rending, people saved or destroyed.  Where?  In my life. In my day. In the paths I take today.  How do I win? Who is the enemy?  Sometimes the enemy is I, or more colloquially, it is me.  How do I fight me?  How do I win the day? Often I know the answer, more often than I like to admit.  Jesus says, “Do this and you shall live.”   The battle belongs to the Lord.

Question: Who will win today?

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Day 98: Joshua 9 — Who’s in charge here?

Thursday, April 8th, 2010

Word sure seemed to travel far and wide in the days before the internet — and I’m not talking about the ’60s either. Think about what Rahab told the two spies — the people of Jericho had heard how God had parted the Red Sea, and how they had destroyed the Amorites. Their hearts melted and courage failed, she said (Joshua 2:10-11). Now we see a group of Hivites claiming to be “from a very distant country”, telling Joshua they too had heard about the Amorites’ fate, and that of Jericho (Joshua 9:3-13).

It had been quite some time since the battle with Sihon and Og (Numbers 21:21-35), and even longer since the crossing of the Red Sea, so I suppose it wouldn’t have been that big a deal for the legend of the Israelites and their God to have spread throughout the known world. But Jericho? That battle was a lot more recent, probably only a few weeks before Joshua’s meeting with the Gibeonites.

So when these men came to Joshua saying they’re from a distant country and have heard these things, he must’ve swelled with pride. That’s just my guess; Scripture doesn’t say. But he was a man, after all, and certainly subject to human pride. That would also help explain a critical error on his part.

The men of Israel…did not inquire of the LORD. (Joshua 9:14)

This is (I think) the first time this particular failure is mentioned of anyone, but it’s certainly not the last. We have…

  • King Saul, who sought out a witch so he could bring his problems to the spirit of Samuel (1 Samuel 28),
  • King Ahaziah, who sent messengers to inquire of Baal-Zebub (which means Lord of the Flies, BTW) instead of asking God whether he would recover from his injury (2 Kings 1), and
  • King Asa, who relied on the king of Syria instead of God (2 Chronicles 16).

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (Romans 15:4)

So what have we learned from the instruction of these negative examples? If you take nothing else away, take this — God is in control, whether we seek Him or not. We can neither add anything to God nor take anything away from Him because of our actions or our faith or lack thereof. But we can certainly make our own life a lot easier and stress-free if we seek Him first (Matthew 6:33).

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Day 96: Luke 5:1-12 — “Be Clean”

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

leperLeprosy was considered in the ancient world a natural symbol for sin. It was a devastating illness socially and spiritually. For a community without the medical treatments that we have today, you would be ostracized both in the social and religious world. Jesus tells the leper, “be clean” (Luke 5:13). The word here is καθαρίζω, katharízō. We get the word cauterize from it. It has a deeper meaning than just “be clean.” It is a term that could mean healing and forgiveness. It is used throughout the New Testament to cleanse, free from filth (e.g., Matthew 23:25; Luke 4:27; Luke 5:12-13; Luke 7:22). To cleanse or make clean from leprosy (Matthew 8:2-3; Mark 1:40-42), often used in the Septuagint for legal cleansing from leprosy (e.g., Leviticus 14:7-11). To cleanse in the sense of purification, legal or ceremonial (Hebrews 9:22-23). In a spiritual sense, to purify from the pollution and guilt of sin (e.g., Acts 15:9; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Ephesians 5:26; Titus 2:14; Hebrews 9:14; James 4:8; 1 John 1:7-9). Jesus has concern for the ritually outcast. He touches a leper and restores him to community both socially and spiritually.

It is fascinating that as I was working on this post for today, I was asked to talk to one of our mothers about a skin disease that her child has. It has become contagious and we have to get everyone treated; there will be plenty of bathing and cleansing in the cities of Buda and Kyle tonight. It is not funny but when it comes to our spiritual cleansing, are we as worried? I believe in baptism for forgiveness of sins (e.g., Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; Galatians 3:27; Colossians 2:12; 1 Peter 3:21) but so many people today want to deny the importance of baptism. I watched a parent tell other parents how to wash and clean their children, themselves, and their homes because the doctor said to. Everyone seems ready to comply. Playing devil’s advocate, I want to ask why?

God tells us that baptism is important for washing away sin and so many want to ignore it. So, why don’t we ignore the doctor that tells us we need to cleanse our bodies to prevent a spread of a contagious skin disease? Go figure! I guess if the leper had lived today, he would have told Jesus, “Don’t touch me!”

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Day 95: Deuteronomy 32:48-Joshua 1:18; Luke 4:31-5:11 — On the road

Monday, April 5th, 2010

on the roadToday’s readings detail an august, hallowed ending and bright, powerful, robust beginnings.

Moses blesses Israel by tribe, describing their futures and God’s work with them. He then ascends mount Nebo from which he sees that land to which he has brought Israel but into which he himself cannot enter; Moses had failed to revere God as holy before Israel, Numbers 20:8-13. His eye was not dim nor his vigor abated. He just passes from this life to the next. The Creator, YHWH Himself, buries Moses in an undisclosed location. Such a life, such a wonder of courage, intimate relationship between God and man; no prophet like him arose in Israel after him. Moses had laid hands on Joshua and he received the Spirit of God for the work ahead. Now Joshua will take them into that land, “Be strong and courageous,” Joshua 1:6-9. A new leader, a new land, new challenges. A work to be done, evil to be conquered, promises to receive, a kingdom to build.

Jesus, prophet and priest and king, comes to Israel; new wonders to herald a new age. Those denizens of the darker spirit world know Him, but He commands them to be silent, it is not theirs to reveal the Messiah. The works declare Him, the people begin to adore Him, to need Him. The fishermen enter rather abruptly into that procession by a boat load of fish. Peter falls and declares himself unclean. They leave all and follow Jesus, the Glorious Leader to take then to a new land, to face new challenges. A work to be done, evil to be conquered, promises to receive, a kingdom to build.

When the church comes together we see such a mix of lives, of people, like a living stream swirling and flowing. We smile as new parents scramble to “do something” about crying babies. We see ourselves in the aged…perhaps that IS “us”! The aged sing the songs of a faith that is now more exciting and full of hope for them than the day they first believed. New Christians and old soldiers of the cross share in worship and the bread and the cup. We travel with a great host, many entering ahead of us, many after us, moving on the road of life to a new land of promise. A work to be done, evil to be conquered, promises to receive, a kingdom of priests, a kingdom to receive. Jesus truly is that Way, that path for godly living now and the life to come, John 14:1-6, 1 Tim. 4:8.

Question: On what path and with what people do you travel?

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Posted in faith, Lord's Supper, Moses, Obedience, Salvation, Worship | 1 Comment »

Day 83: Deuteronomy 7:1-9 — Covenant and Steadfast Love

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

husband and wifeI remember the first time I learned how to say, “ḥesed,” the Hebrew word for steadfast love. We were in an Old Testament Prophets Class and we were all trying to make deep guttural noises in our throats and we ended up spitting on each other as we practiced pronouncing the word. It is often translated as kindness, loving-kindness, mercy, steadfast love, loyalty, love, unwavering love unfailing love, etc. It is often used in connection to an affiliation between binding relationships of relatives, hosts, allies, friends, rulers, or spouses. It is trustworthiness to covenantal obligations real or implied. The word “berîṯ” means covenant, treaty, compact, or an agreement between two parties. It is like a marriage where vows are taken or a business deal and a contract is signed and both parties have responsibilities to be kept. But our relationships with our spouses are not just contractual. I would presume that most of us have a deeper relationship that goes beyond just keeping our vows. We also have deep feelings, a connection, loyalty, a desire to remain faithful, etc. The use of the words “covenant” and “steadfast love” occur several times in the Old Testament with some other instances of use in near contexts. The main instances are Deuteronomy 7:9-12; I Kings 8:23; II Chronicles 6:14; Nehemiah 1:5; Nehemiah 9:32; and Daniel 9:4. Jeremiah 2:2 is a good illustration of God’s steadfast love or devotion. Israel’s youth is compared to a love of a bride. The love of a bride is the basis of the promise, not the result.

These words mean more than the contractual obligation to provide chocolate and a bouquet of flowers on a first date that could be the last. This is a relationship that will go through thick and thin together. God’s love is expressed by covenant and His steadfast love or unwavering love for us. In Deuteronomy 7:1-5, God promises Israel that she will enter the promised land. He has some stipulations for them and if they follow His Word, they will be successful. Why? Deuteronomy 7:6-9. God has made them holy (set apart for God), His chosen people, His treasured people, His people that He loves, the people that He keeps His oath with. He is a God that keeps His covenant and has steadfast love. This is a great lesson to learn. Do we keep His covenant and do we have steadfast love for God?

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Day 80: Mark 14:53-72 — A Familiar Fellow

Sunday, March 21st, 2010

Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.Of all the apostles, I’ve most often seen myself in Peter. I picture Peter as a rough looking man with leathery hands toughened by the nets he hauled out of the sea. He is brash, bold, extremely loyal and seems to have a quick temper. Peter is always at the forefront of the group. Jesus is walking on the water and who cries out, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you!”? Jesus says that one of those close to him will deny him, it is Peter who vehemently denies that will never happen and it certainly won’t be him. When the servants of the chief priest come to seize Jesus, it is Peter who draws a sword – ready to fight.

I can believe Peter because in so many ways, I am Peter. I am loud, brash, at the forefront of any group. I too am intensely loyal and ready to fight to protect those close to me. And I have denied my Lord when it mattered most.

Pick up with me in Mark 14:66-72. Jesus has just been tried and is now being beaten by the guards. Peter is outside and trying to lay low when some people notice him. Keep in mind that Peter knows that to be associated with Jesus is now probably a death sentence. Simply put, Peter is afraid. Not that I blame him. However, Peter has a great opportunity to stand up and say, “Yes, I was with him. I’m still with him. I don’t care what you do to me”, but he doesn’t.

But haven’t we all? It doesn’t have to be a life or death situation to deny Jesus. It can be as simple as a lunchroom conversation at work where we don’t speak up. It can be the choices we make to be a part of something that we know is wrong. The rooster crowing reminds Peter of Jesus’ words.

I have heard that sound too.

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Posted in faith, Jesus, Mark | 1 Comment »

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