pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

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God at Work

Reading: Esther 9: 20-22

Verse 22: “Mordecai wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving of presents of food”.

Our passage today begins with Mordecai recording the recent events and sending this out in a letter to “all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerses, near and far”. Mordecai is writing to all the Jews for two purposes. In Esther 3 an edict had been sent out to all the provinces that on the 13th day of the month of Adar, all the Jews were to be killed. Imagine the horror and fear that must have swept through the Jewish communities spread “near and far”. The date would have felt like a ticking bomb. So the first purpose of Mordecai’s letter was to let the Jews know that they had been spared.

As important as this information was, the bigger purpose of the letter was to tell the story of how God had acted to save His people. Yes, being spared is super important, but the “how” is much more important. The letter must have detailed Mordecai’s faith and trust in God to act. It must have spoken of Esther’s course and trust in God. In both cases, it speaks of people willing to step up and stand up for God and for their faith. Thus, it encourages to do the same should necessity or opportunity arise. The letter also tells, more importantly, of how God was faithful too – guiding and orchestrating the events to rescue His chosen people from sure death. The letter ultimately reminds the Jews of God’s love and care.

In his letter, Mordecai declares the 14th and 15th days of Adar to be “days of feasting and joy and giving of presents of food” as the people celebrate God at work. These are the days immediately after the former date of their destruction. Mordecai directs the people to give gifts of food not only to each other but also to the poor. Just as God had cared for His people in a time of need, so too will they care for those in need among them. This act is also one more way to tell the story of God’s saving hand.

This story reminds us of times when God has been at work in our lives. These times are part of our story of faith. Like Mordecai, may we also share the story.

Lord, I recognize and give thanks for the many times that you have guided and cared for and even rescued me. May I use each opportunity today to tell the story of your love and care and faithfulness. Amen.


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Solomon’s Request

Reading: 1 Kings 3: 3-14

Verse 5: “Give your servant a discerning heart… to distinguish between right and wrong”.

Solomon is now King Solomon. He is the ruler of the nation of Israel. He inherits the kingdom from his father David. Israel has enjoyed a recent period of peace and prosperity under David’s leadership. Often, with a new king, the competing and rival nations around him want to test him and see if he really can lead. And although Solomon has worked hard to eliminate all possible and known enemies or threats within, one never knows who amongst your “friends” might be eyeing power. So when God comes and tells Solomon, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you”, he could have easily and naturally asked to be king for “x” years or to have rest from his enemies.

Kings also often like to look “kingly” so Solomon could have asked for people to admire him. Or he could have asked for more wealth or a bigger kingdom… But Solomon does not ask for any of these worldly trappings. In essence, he asks for more of what it appears he already has. Solomon’s response to God’s offer: “Give your servant a discerning heart… to distinguish between right and wrong”. This is such an interesting response!

First, notice how Solomon identifies himself: your servant. He is acknowledging God’s supremacy and defining his preferred role in their relationship. Solomon shows both great faith and also deep humility. Second, he asks for a “discerning heart”. Solomon is asking for eyes to see and a heart to feel. This is different from knowing. To know means that 2+2=4. This is a fact that we can know. Discernment is deeper – it adds the ‘why’ to the knowing. Third, Solomon asks for the ability to distinguish right from wrong. We cannot miss why this is important. This request applies on two levels: as a leader of Israel and as a follower of God. Not only does Solomon desire to lead the nation well, but he also wants to walk upright before the Lord. Verse 10 tells us, “This pleased the Lord”. God not only granted Solomon’s request, but He also blessed him in many other ways as well.

When we come to God with our requests, may we be as wise and humble and faithful as Solomon, seeking ever to please God, to bring God the glory, and to walk in His ways. Amen.


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Dying Inside

Reading: Psalm 14

Verses 2-3: “The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men… all have turned aside”.

It would be easy to read today’s Psalm with an air of superiority or arrogance. We could easily think, “Oh, those poor unsaved people” or worse as we quietly relish our place in the family of God. We can choose to play the role of righteous church goer as we look down upon the masses. We can smile inside as we reflect on all those we know who fit these words from the Psalm: “The Lord looks down from heaven on the sons of men… all have turned aside”. It is easy to judge the other, isn’t it?

It is harder to read Psalm 14 and to honesty consider when we have been foolish and said, “There is no God”. Now, we may not voice or even think these words, but we certainly act at times as if there was no God. Maybe more precisely, we acts as if we were the gods. (If the sarcasm of the opening paragraph slipped by, read it again). At times we do loose sight of the whole love God, love neighbor thing. We instead live very self-centered lives. We focus on our wants and desires instead of seeking to meet the needs of the other. We fail to do good.

In those moments or in those seasons, God must look down from heaven to see if we are understanding His ways and seeking Him above all else. If I am honest, God stands a pretty good chance of looking down and finding me doing my own thing or going my own way. Yes, there are moments when God would look down and be pleased. But those moments could be more often. My faithful steps could fall more often.

So I pray… Lord God, help me to be a more faithful follower and a more regular witness to your love and your ways. Help me to die inside of me so that you can become more. May it be so today and every day. Amen.


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King of Glory

Reading: Psalm 24: 3-10

Verses 8 and 10: “Who is this king of glory?… the Lord strong and mighty… He is the king of glory”.

Today’s Psalm is about connecting to God. It begins by asking who can approach God and stand at His altar. The psalmist tells us it is those with clean hands and a pure heart. It is one who does not worship idols and who does not swear falsely. It is one who seeks to connect to God. Because of what Jesus did on the cross, we can confess and repent and find forgiveness anytime. At all points, we can be made holy and pure again, able and ready to stand in God’s glorious presence.

The Psalm also reminds us of why we connect to God. The one with a clean hands and pure heart will receive blessings and will be lifted up. The psalmist writes, “such is the generation of those who seek Him”. The Lord does not bless with the things of this world – they are temporary. God blesses the faithful with joy and peace and contentment and hope – all things we cannot find in idols or other things of this world.

The last few verses speak of who it is we seek to connect to – the Lord God. The psalmist writes, “Who is this king of glory?… the Lord strong and mighty… He is the king of glory”. The Lord God is in control indeed strong and mighty. He will be present to us in our battles and will help us emerge victorious when we trust in Him. God is the king of glory. When in God’s presence we experience and dwell in His glory, but here in this time and place, we only experience a taste of God’s glory. When we stand in God’s heavenly presence, we will know His true glory.

Connecting to God and being daily in His presence brings us much in this life. Each day may we begin by trusting all of our being to the King of glory, the Lord our God. Amen.


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Shepherd Kings

Reading: 2 Samuel 5: 1-5 and 9-10

Verse Two: “The Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler'”.

In many ways David is an early example of how a faithful believer should live their life. No, David is not perfect, but he does provide a very good example. The best example will always be Jesus, but in today’s passage we find a man who was closely attuned to God. From David we can learn much as individuals and as leaders.

Long before he was king, Samuel came and anointed David to one day be king. David was just a shepherd then. From that moment of anointing, we remember, “the Spirit of the Lord came upon David” (1 Samuel 16:13). As we read through the rest of 1st Samuel and into 2nd Samuel, we see over and over how God was with David as David trusted and leaned into God, remaining ever faithful to God. The leaders of Israel saw this too. They gathered at Hebron to make David king over all of Israel. The people said, “The Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler'”. They want David to shepherd the nation. He will do so for forty years.

Often we relate the job of shepherd to the bottom of the socio-economic ladder. While there is some truth to this, we cannot miss the parallels between a shepherd and a leader as God intends one to lead. In Ezekiel 34 we get this job description for a shepherd: feed the sheep, heal the sheep, protect the sheep, strengthen the sheep, recover the lost sheep, guide the sheep, keep the flock together. This list sounds a lot like Jesus. This is also how David was a shepherd king for Israel. One of the main reasons that David is considered Israel’s greatest king ever is because under his leadership Israel prospered and lived in security and peace. Life was good for the sheep under David’s care.

How awesome would it be if all leaders led this way? What would life be like if peace and safety and security extended to all people? Today may we pray for our current leaders and for our future leaders – local, state, national, and world – to model their leadership after the shepherd king. Pray for our leaders. Amen.


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Disobedience

Reading: 1 Samuel 15: 34-35

Verse 35: “The Lord was grieved that He made Saul king over Israel”.

Today our passage marks the beginning of a transition in the leadership of Israel. Saul was Israel’s first king. If we remember, it was the people who begged for a king, rejecting God as their leader. Saul was a good king at first, but then he became disobedient to God and chose to follow his own plan instead. When confronted by Samuel, Saul does admit his sin, but his fate is sealed. We read, “The Lord was grieved that He made Saul king over Israel”. It made God sad that the one He chose to lead was disobedient.

Acts of disobedience are familiar to us as well. Even though we have an overall good relationship with God and are faithful most of the time, we can also be disobedient periodically. This is because we are human. Like Saul, we sadden God when we choose to disobey. We can think we know it all can make decisions that are not in line with God’s will and ways. We can have a clear sense of where God is trying to lead yet we go the other way. We can definitely feel the nudge of the Holy Spirit but still choose to ignore it and to even do just the opposite. We too can be disobedient.

In our passage today, we also read about Samuel’s reaction to Saul’s disobedience and rejection of God. We read that Samuel mourned for Saul. As sinful people, we find ourselves on both sides of this scenario. At times we grieve for our fellow brothers and sisters who stumble and spend a time living in sin. We grieve for the separation that they have from God. Sometimes our words or actions cause others to be hurt or to grieve. We also grieve God in these moments or seasons when sin or disobedience has the upper hand in our lives.

But, thanks be to God, our story or the relationship that we have with God does not end in disobedience. Because Jesus Christ was obedient to death on a cross, He paved the way for our possible victory over sin and ultimately over death. If humility and repentance are our response to sin in our life, then the mercy and love of God offers us forgiveness and restoration. Through this love and mercy, we once again can walk in faithful obedience with the Lord our God. Thanks be to God. Amen.


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Love at Work

Reading: Psalm 107: 17-22

Verses 19 and 20: “They cried to the Lord in their trouble… He sent forth the word and healed them; He rescued them from the grave”.

The psalmist recognizes the foolish behavior of some and identifies the consequences that came with poor choices. During our lives we have seen many people make poor decisions and we ourselves have made our share as well. After suffering because of their or our iniquities, there comes a point of admitting the error of our ways and turning to God for help. Verse 19 reads, “They cried to the Lord in their trouble”. It is a cry filled with both pain and hope. Pain because of the regret of ending up in such a place. Hope because we know that God is faithful and true.

Verse 20 bears this out: “He sent forth the word and healed them; He rescued them from the grave”. God responds to the cry for help and restores those in need. For the psalmist, the ‘word’ could come through the Spirit or it could come through the voice of the prophet. For the Christian, the word could also come from the Holy Spirit or it could come from the ‘Word’ – Jesus himself. The net result is the same: God brings healing and rescued from the grave. This could literally be the grave or it could represent being saving from eternal damnation.

Sometimes we observe this cycle of sin, suffering, conviction, repentance, crying out, healing/rescue and sometimes we experience it ourselves. In both cases, we are privy to seeing God’s hand at work over and over. Because of this we come to know God as steadfast and faithful. We come to know God’s love and mercy as unending and as a blessing for all. And we come to the place where we know God will never let us go. From here we begin to understand the depth of God’s love. It is a beautiful and wonderful thing. It is a love that we are called to share with others. May it be so today.


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Righteousness

Reading: Romans 4: 17-25

Verse Twenty: “He did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God”.

Paul connects back to the Old Testament today and recounts the faith of Abraham. Paul refers to the story in Genesis 17 where God promises to make Abraham and Sarah into a great nation. Despite being ninety-nine and ninety years old, they “in hope believed” what God promised. Paul writes that Abraham “faced the fact that his body was good as dead” and chose the possibility of God. Yes, he did question and doubt a bit – the Genesis passage tells us they laughed at first – but in the end, “He did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God”. Abraham chose to be “fully persuaded that God had the power to do what He promised”. We know from hindsight that Abraham does go on to be the father of many nations.

Within this story we too can have hope for our faith. We see that our God keeps His promise even if we question or doubt or laugh or take a little time to rachet up our faith. This is because the promise is based on God’s power and love, not on ours. Abraham shows faith in spite of the seemingly impossible of his context. Deep down, he knew that anything was possible with God. We also trust into this fact. Abraham chose to believe and chose to live into this promise from God. Even though we may wrestle and question and doubt now and then, we too are called to choose to believe. We are not perfect, God is. In the end, we must come to trust into our relationship with God and to believe that God can do anything in our lives as well.

For Paul, righteousness comes through Jesus Christ. Paul writes, “for all who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord”, God will credit us as righteous. Jesus not only died for our sins but was also “raised to life for our justification”. For us, this means that Jesus makes us right before God. He washes away our sin and makes us holy and pure before God. When we falter, when we stumble, Jesus is there to pick us up and to return us to a place of right standing before God.

In Deuteronomy God said, “I will never leave or forsake you”. This too is a promise. It is a no matter what promise. This promise is carried out today through the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Through the Spirit, Jesus remains ever by our side. Like the Father, the Son keeps the promise for us. Thanks be to God for the power and presence of Jesus, our righteousness.


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Best Friend

Reading: Psalm 25: 1-10

Verse Ten: “All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of the covenant”.

In today’s Psalm, David outlines what a great relationship with God looks like. He begins where all relationships must begin: trust. In the opening line, he declares that he is coming to God in prayer because he trusts God. David’s trust in God is based upon past experiences of God being faithful to His promises over and over. From his time as a shepherd defending the flock from lions and bears through the time of the writing of the Psalm, God has protected David as He puts to shame those who have rebelled.

In verse four, David asks to know God’s ways. This is the second step in all great relationships: knowing each other intimately. David asks God to teach and guide him in truth. Verse five ends with the result of knowing God intimately: “my hope is in you all day long”. David knows God and trusts God; therefore, he places all of his hope in God.

Next David admits his shortcomings. Honesty is essential in all great relationships. We are not perfect so at times we must see past the mistakes and failures. God has forgiven David many times, not only because of God’s great mercy and live, but also because of David’s genuine repentance. David recognizes that God is good and upright. Because of these qualities, God chooses to instruct sinners in the right way to walk. Like a great friend, God accepts David for who he is – both the good and the bad – and does all He can to help David’s faithful walk. He is willing to invest in the relationship.

Our passage today closes with David recognizing what makes God such a great friend, saying, “All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of the covenant”. God is indeed loving and faithful. The second half of this verse turns to us. That is only right as all great friendships are two way streets. What does it look like to keep our side of the covenant? It may sound familiar. The demands are to trust God, to seek to know Him better and better, to be honest and to seek His mercy when we stumble, and to acknowledge that our best friend is loving and faithful and steadfast in His covenant. May we ever strive to live as faithful servants of the Lord our God, the best friend and father in the world. Amen.


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Covenant Relationship

Reading: Psalm 25: 1-10

Verse Ten: “All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of the covenant”.

Our relationship with God is based in covenant. We each have our roles to play. In today’s Psalm, the two sides of the covenant are pretty well spelled out. While it is good to be reminded of our responsibilities, it is equally important to remember that a covenant says, “I will love you no matter what”. The ‘no matter what’ includes what I do, what you do, and what the world does as well.

The psalmist begins by lifting up his soul to God. In offering confession there is a trust that God will continue to love us – no matter what. It is through this trust that we can share anything with God. We can bring our sins, our doubts, our temptations, our joys, our anything. As covenant is about relationship, the psalmist next asks for God to show him God’s ways, to teach him God’s paths. To be in relationship means that we know and understand one another. In knowing God, the psalmist names God as Savior and as his hope.

In verse six the Psalm shifts to God’s responsibility. The psalmist reminds God of His great mercy and love and goodness. As the admission of sin is again acknowledged, so too is God’s greater love and mercy. It is really the love and mercy that holds the covenant together. The psalmist returns to our imperfect nature, asking God again to teach us sinners His ways. The Psalm reminds us that when we humbly seek God, He will guide us and teach us to walk in His ways.

Verse ten sums it up well: “All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of the covenant”. Above all God is loving and faithful. He guides and instructs us when we are humble enough to admit our need. He forgives and redeems us when we are honest enough to admit our faults and failures. For our part, we seek to grow closer to God, to become more like Him, as we walk in His ways. Our covenant relationship is one of love. May all we do and say this day reflect our love of God and God’s love for us.