tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80064808236555183052024-03-05T12:04:08.306-08:00A Pilgrim's JournalThoughts from the heart, through the pen, of Pastor Scott BiondiUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger85125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006480823655518305.post-17060155516312765752010-04-04T21:18:00.000-07:002010-04-05T08:12:39.478-07:00Does the Lord speak to us through His Word?<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">What we have been doing the last couple months on this blog is looking at the book of Philippians and seeing how it relates to marriage. Though the book of Philippians was not written as a manual on marriage it certainly has much to say that we can relate to the marriage relationship.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">What I want to encourage you with today is to really use your Bibles.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">We believe that the Bible is God's Word and we know that it is intended to be applied to our lives. What we may not be taking advantage of is the very practical and daily benefits it has for us as we mix it with prayer and a listening ear as we allow the Holy Spirit to lift the words off the page and settle them into our hearts.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I have found the Word to be most useful as the Lord has uses it to speak into my life to answer the most specific questions imaginable.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Let me tell you how it works for me.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I come to the Word with a specific question in mind, perhaps an area of my life that is a current concern, perhaps it is a desire to know the Lords will on a specific decision. I sit down with my Bible in hand and a prayer in my heart asking that the Lord will speak to me regarding whatever issue I have brought to Him.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Let me give you an example. Say I have a ministry opportunity with a person and I am not certain how to handle it; what to say, when to bring it up, do I even bring it up... I come with those questions and begin reading. It doesnt seem to really matter where I read, but if the Lord directs me to a certain passage, of course, I go there. And I read. And I listen. And I read some more. And I pray. It may not come that first time, but invariably it does come over time. The Lord will speak to me through His word.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Very directly, very practically, very powerfully!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Do you have an issue with your children? Have you read ... oh, lets say, Galatians with parenting in mind? How about a question about your business? Proverbs would be a natural place to look but how about reading Hosea and see what it will tell you about that decision in the workplace.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">This is what we have been doing with Philippians. We are reading this letter to see what it tells us about marriage. I came to the book with marriages in mind and I am taking what Paul says and applying it to the marriage relationship.<br /><br />This is not the only way to read or study your Bible, but it is an effective way to put yourself in a position to allow the Lord to speak to you through His Word.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">As you can see we are about 10 verses in and there has been something to note in almost every verse.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">The Bible is such an untapped, or at the very least, yet to be fully explored, resource for the life of the believer. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">We will continue to track through Philippians together here, I am anxious to see just how much I can learn about being a Godly husband through this short letter. And there are 65 other books just waiting to be explored!</span><br /><br /><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com70tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006480823655518305.post-20009298434278273752010-03-31T08:05:00.000-07:002010-04-07T07:26:54.918-07:00Article 8 V 1.10 Approve what is Excellent<span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" >How easy it is to see the flaws.<br /><br />You have them, I have them, we all do. Spending our lives in close contact with someone as we do in our marriage relationships gives us intimate knowledge of each others failings and shortcomings. And oh boy, can we make a list.<br /><br />Ok, so there we have it ... no one is perfect! Big revelation there.<br /><br />Paul is simply encouraging us to focus on the other parts. To look for and identify the things your partner does well, to notice the things that are commendable, the things that are excellent.<br /><br />Remember what mom used to say, at least my mom did, "If you cant say anything good, don't say anything at all."<br /><br />Paul is taking it a step further. As true as it is that all of us have faults, we also have good traits, all of us do some things well. We ought to be looking for them and when they are identified, actually speak those words of affirmation and appreciation to our spouse.<br /><br />"Man, I am going to have to really look hard."<br /><br />Ha! Well that may be so, but it will be an investigation that will yield great fruit.<br /><br />Our relationships can at times corkscrew into bickering and fault-finding and criticism. We can change that immediately with a change of mind about the words that we speak. We simply choose to approve what is excellent rather than amplify what is imperfect.<br /><br />I challenge you to speak a word of affirmation to your spouse today. Tell them something what you see in them that is excellent. It will bring immediate results, of that I am sure.<br /><br /><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006480823655518305.post-91836102987713714892010-03-20T20:27:00.000-07:002010-03-20T20:41:23.665-07:00Article 7 V 1.8<blockquote style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">For God is my witness, how I yearn for you with all the affection of Christ Jesus.</span></blockquote><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I have had occasion recently to speak into the lives of a couple and remind them how much they love each other. Both readily admitted it, yet somehow, their love for each other had been buried. The thing is, their love was real and real apparent. It had just grown cold or gotten lost in the stuff of daily life.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I encouraged them to do what Jesus told the church at Ephesus to do after proclaiming that they had "abandoned the love they had at the first." The Lord tells them to "</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" >remember</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">," </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" >repent</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"> (a change of mind that brings about a change of action) and </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: trebuchet ms;font-size:100%;" >repeat</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">, "do" the first works again.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">What were you doing at first when your love was inflamed and passionate. Do that!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">But that would be just going through the motions one might say. The motion will bring the emotion. Jesus put it this way in Matthew 6.21 "Where your treasure is, there your WILL BE also."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Jesus is saying invest, make regular deposits, place great value in your relationship and in the intimacy of marriage and your heart will follow.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Has the fire dimmed? It need not be so. Go back, remember how you won your husband, what you did to "catch" your wife... have some fun with it as you rediscover your passionate love for each other.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006480823655518305.post-3894894703535170992010-03-16T11:39:00.000-07:002010-03-16T11:56:41.199-07:00Article 6 V 1.7 Partakers of Grace<div style="text-align: center; font-style: italic;font-family:trebuchet ms;"><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">... for you are all partakers of grace with me.</span></blockquote></div><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">This reminds me of what Peter says in I Peter 3.7:</span><br /></span><div style="text-align: center; font-family: trebuchet ms;"></div><blockquote style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way,</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel,</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">since </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">they are heirs with you of the grace of life</span><span style="font-style: italic;">,</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">so that your prayers may not be hindered.</span><br /></span></div></blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Men, listen, that woman sitting next to you, that treasure the Lord has blessed you with and entrusted to you, is a fellow heir with God's Son. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">She is royalty! </span><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">A joint heir with Christ!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">As such she is to be honored and esteemed and treated with the utmost dignity and respect. Peter says we need to understand this and live with her as though we understand this. She is a child of the King.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">And if, for whatever reason, we begin to loose sight of this, keep in mind that Peter attaches to his exhortation a self-serving motivation. Do you want your prayers answered? Then don't allow the way you treat your wife to hinder the Lord from giving you those answers.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">You have been blessed brother. You have been given the privilege of spending your life with royalty!</span><br /><br /><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006480823655518305.post-76464706610148899632010-03-11T17:50:00.000-08:002010-03-11T18:40:46.312-08:00Article 5 V 1.7 Giving Up the Right to be Right<div style="text-align: center; font-family: trebuchet ms;"><blockquote><span style="font-size:85%;">It is right for me to feel this way about you</span></blockquote></div><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;" >Or, as we might say it, "I have the right to feel this way about you."<br /><br />We find ourselves on the receiving end of our spouses fleshiness or rebellion or hard day at work, and we get hurt, something is said or done and we are wronged, truly wronged. Sometimes it a more prolonged "wronged," an issue that has been an ongoing grief in the marriage.<br /><br />How will we respond?<br /><br />I know one thing that we can often do; we can begin to feel as though I have a right to feel like I do in light of how he/she is treating me. "I mean anyone in their right mind would feel the same way." I can hold on to that emptional turf. Hold on to my defensive position. Hold on to my being "right."<br /><br />Problem is, our "right mind" is not what we are called to rely upon. You have the mind of Christ (I Cor 2.16) and it is with this Christ-like mind that we are to respond to one another. Later in this letter to Philippi Paul will say, "Have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus."<br /><br />That means that at times I need to just let go of, give up the right to be right and begin to think in a way that represents Jesus. Forgiveness. Compassion. Patience. Love. Grace.<br /><br />"But I"<br />"How about"<br />"Why doesn't"<br />"Why am I the one who has to be right when I was the one wronged?"<br /><br />In order for reconciliation to happen, someone has to die.<br /><br />"Well then he should"<br />"Then it is on her, she after all, is wrong"<br /><br />No, its on me.<br />It is what I am called to do.<br />It is in obedience to the Lord that I lay down my rights and "be reconciled one to another."<br /><br />Lord, give us the strength to lay our right down and do the right thing.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006480823655518305.post-26145484091440391742010-03-09T05:42:00.000-08:002010-03-09T05:55:54.983-08:00Article 4 V 1.6 Not Done Yet<blockquote style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><blockquote>And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.</blockquote></span></blockquote><span style=";font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;" ><span style="font-size:100%;">What a wonderful promise, God always finishes what He starts.<br /><br />How does this apply to a marriage? We are not done yet! Paul says that our "completion" will be realized on, "The day of Jesus Christ." This means that I am not a finished product, nor is my wife. We are a work in progress.<br /><br />We need to realize that the Lord is not done with us yet. All of us have room to grow, we are becoming more and more like Jesus as we continue to walk with Him. But in no way are we a finished product.<br /><br />In marriage, we go a long way if we can simply give each other a break once in a while. Show some grace and forgiveness and patience towards each other. Allow the Lord to continue to do His thing in our spouse. Avoid making judgments; avoid being judgmental toward each other realizing that I am not a finished work either.<br /></span><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006480823655518305.post-35585749164339650972010-03-06T19:20:00.000-08:002010-03-09T05:54:53.875-08:00Article 3 V 1.5 A Life Partner<blockquote style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><blockquote>Because of your partnership in the gospel.</blockquote></span></blockquote><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">A "helpmate". That is how God described the woman that He would create for Adam. A helper, a traveling companion, a co-laborer.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">To be honest, this is one of the areas I am not too good at yet, but my wife is helping me to see and understand how much of a help she is and how much she desires to be a part of what I am doing. I do believe as we see marriage work as it is designed, there is a partnership.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It only makes sense really. I have so many flaws and weaknesses - too many to count. now, my wife is pretty spectacular in every sense but, never the less, she does have a few (very few, honey) of her own.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">Even between the two of us we lack much but what is certainly true is that our best shot at making good decisions, doing our best work at parenting, giving our best effort in service will be accomplished as we partner in the work.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I can not tell you how many times her strengths have bailed me out when I was blind to circumstances, when I needed her gifts in a particular situation, when a decision had to be made and her wisdom has affected how we proceeded.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">It is just essential really. But, as I mentioned, I am not accomplished at this at all.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">I hope to continue to improve.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">As it turns out we are three verses into Philippians and we have already had three things to talk about. At this rate we could end up with a hundred of these little marriage tidbits before we are done. I suppose it is likely that there will be more than a couple that I still need work on, maybe you too.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:trebuchet ms;">That does not change the truth. Two heads really are better than one as it turns out.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006480823655518305.post-54183680032962918142010-03-06T19:03:00.000-08:002010-03-09T05:54:36.448-08:00Article 2 v 1.4 Praying for One Another<blockquote style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Always in every prayer of mine for you... making my prayer with joy.</span></blockquote><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;"><blockquote>Seems simple enough doesn't it... pray for your spouse.</blockquote></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I know that it can be overlooked. I know it can be ignored. I know that often we find ourselves praying for anything and anyone else and neglect the one we are closest to and are spending our lives with.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">This is actually a little self-serving if you think about it. As a matter of fact, everything related to the marriage relationship is self serving because the two are "one." This means that if my partner is growing, I am the beneficiary and vice-versa. As the Lord works in your life or in your spouses life both of you are the recipients of the God-likeness that takes place.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">So pray.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">When is the last time you simply prayed that the Lord would just bless your husband/wife in some significant way? Just bless their day, the work of their hands, the things they are concerned about?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Here is another dynamic that takes place to be sure; it is very difficult to pray for your spouse to be blessed while at the same time being mad or frustrated or whatever at them. What we realize is that though it is true that "prayer changess things," it is also true that prayer changes ME. If I will pray for my wife to be blessed, truly blessed; I mean over the top, "windows of heaven" blessed, I am going to find myself letting go of that last argument, that last disagreement, that last thing that did not go as I planned. It just goes away.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Try it! you will find that as you pray for blessing, you will be the one blessed.</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006480823655518305.post-48840214705746724762010-02-23T16:46:00.000-08:002010-03-09T05:55:11.182-08:00Article 1: v 1.3 Being Thankful<span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">"I thank my God in all my remembrance of you"</span></blockquote><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Have you thanked your wife today? How about your husband? It is very easy to take each other for granted. We settle into the routine of life and stop noticing the little things, sometimes even the big things that are done for us.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I am talking about the regular stuff of life. Thanking your wife for keeping the house so nice, for caring whether the kids socks match, for putting on makeup - wait, that might not be taken in the right way - well you get the idea. Ladies, have you thanked you hubby for working so hard for the family, for making sure your car runs, for leading your family?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">It is amazing how much a simple word of thanks can elevate the spirit and let the other person know that you notice, that the effort is appreciated, that the little things still matter to you.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">You know, come to think of it, there is a significant element of romance in the simplicity of a sincere "thank you."</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Having a thankful heart is transforming. It is impossible to both curse and give thanks. James said, "Does a spring pour from the same opening both fresh and salt water?" Have I thanked the Lord for my wife, for your husband today.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">So, today's assignment? Say, "Thank you."</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006480823655518305.post-62299710988811623392010-02-21T21:52:00.000-08:002010-02-21T22:50:02.471-08:00A Marriage Manual<span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;" >Marriage. An institution designed by God in the garden; protected by God in the law; validated by its occasion being the location of Jesus' first miracle and shrouded in mystery and beauty as the relationship of intimacy that we will soon share with our bridegroom.<br /><br />The subject of marriage has great interest to the vast majority of us because the vast majority of us are... married! Or will be.<br /><br />With that in mind at first glance it is a bit startling that the Bible spends so little time on the subject. We have a few key passages like Ephesians 5, I Peter 3, and Genesis 3; there are several pictures given throughout scriptures and a number of references in Proverbs and a few other places. However, unlike the plethora of marriage books found on the shelves at your local Christian bookstore, there is no single place where we can turn to scripture and read chapter after chapter on this or that aspect of marriage.<br /><br />After spending some time wondering about this phenomenon I have concluded that it comes down to our God being not only effective but efficient. The Bible, after all, is the a story of the redemptive work of God </span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;" >ultimately revealed through the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;" >. The Bible is not a self-help manual, nor is it a parenting manual, nor, as it turns out, a marriage manual.<br /><br />When the Bible instructs us concerning how we should relate to our fellow man (or woman) it speaks in general terms about loving each other, submitting to one another, being patient, kind or being a helper of one another's joy. All of which applies to anyone and everyone in our lives including our children, those we work with, live next to, or are married to.<br /><br />Without question, if we were to apply all that God said about how we should bear with one another, forgive one another, look to serve one another; the lions share of marital problems would be dealt with. The problem is that, for some warped reason, we can treat those we are supposed to be closest to in the most horrible way. It is as though we think the instructions of God regarding how we ought to act with others applies to everyone except those we live with.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;" >So where is the efficiency seen? With so much of the interpersonal instruction already covered it seems the Spirit simply and solely added those instructions concerning marriage, for instance, that were particular to marriage. In other words, "Do all that I told you about how to treat all other people... and here are some special instructions on aspects of this particular kind of relationship that are unique to marriage" (hierarchy in the home, the marriage bed, divorce, etc.)</span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;" ><br /><br />I say all that to say this.<br /><br />Over the years I have instructed many couples to read through the book of Philippians together and then talk about what they saw that could apply to their marriage. I could send them to any number of books really, there is instruction everywhere you look. Philippians though, is written with a tenderness that is apparent. It is also a book of joy and rejoicing so it has a very positive tenor to it. For me, it works particularly well for this purpose.<br /><br />What I intend to do here on the Pilgrim's Journal is walk though the letter and do just as I described above. I am not looking to break down the Greek and extract the deepest contextual understanding, that will be for another time. This is much more devotional, much more applicable, maybe even a little "word association-al."<br /><br />If you choose to continue to track with me on this journey through Paul's letter to Philippi, you will soon get the idea of what I am talking about.<br /><br />In the mean time it is important to remember that God did not give us a manual, He gave us His Son, Emmanuel - God with us. The new covenant is based not upon rules to follow but a Spirit that leads, Who speaks, Who writes His will on our hearts. It is CHRIST IN US... He is THE HOPE OF GLORY. He is the only hope we have to live gloriously, to live in a way that glorifies Him. God with us. Emmanuel.<br /><br />Stay tuned.<br /><br />Peace.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:85%;" ><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006480823655518305.post-38406047279466453832010-02-21T21:44:00.000-08:002010-02-21T21:52:03.537-08:00Lets try it again.I am not sure anyone reads these any more, I have not posted anything for quite some time. The blog format does work well as a repository for my latest “stream of consciousness” so I am venturing back in. If you happen to get anything out of what I write, praise the Lord!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006480823655518305.post-69538021866810072602009-06-09T17:50:00.000-07:002009-06-09T17:51:11.406-07:00Faith: the spiritual energy drink<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; ">From my good friend Chris Stadler<br /><br />In the military, men have always understood the value of morale. To boost morale, a general will let his men know that there is a plan and it's a good one. He will instill the confidence that they can prevail. He will get them focused on the prize: victory.<br /><br />When morale is high, a general almost can't contain his soldiers. They want to go out and do battle now – not tomorrow.<br /><br />So if you have an enemy, what would he try to do to you to get you to fear the battle? Simple. He will try to get you to take your eyes off of the prize and place them on the cost of failure. And when you mention God's promises, he'll say “Did God really say that?”<br /><br />Because in a Christian walk, there is a cost of failure. The enemy knows that. He also knows that, if we're not full of the Word of God, he can convince us that we may have misunderstood God.<br /><br />But what choice do we have? We can live for our big-screen TVs and a relaxed family life – until the economy takes a nose dive. Or we can live to fight the battle. But if we're going to fight the battle, we have to do it with our eyes both on the prize and on God's promises and the might that He has to fulfill them. And God doesn't fail.<br /><br />Strength, energy and self-control come from confidence in our Commander and His calling on our lives. Find energy in His Word, because that's where our confidence comes from.<br /><br />--</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006480823655518305.post-3891051183068696742009-03-02T19:48:00.000-08:002009-03-02T19:52:05.322-08:00Pray Like it Matters<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Times;"><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; "><blockquote></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working James 5.16b</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It is a mystery to me why God invented prayer</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.<br /><br />Certainly He knows what we need: </span></span><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><blockquote></blockquote></span></span><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Matt 6.8</span></span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Certainly He has the power to meet any need: </span></span></div><div><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God Mark 10.27 </span></span></blockquote><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding? 40.12-15</span></span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Certainly He knows what He is going to do and when:<br /></span></span><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But He is unchangeable, and who can turn Him back? What he desires, that He does. For He will complete what He appoints for me, and many such things are in His mind. Job 23.13-14</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Yet the Lord has asked us to pray as though, somehow, prayer makes a difference.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">What if failing, frail and feeble people can change the course of things through prayer. </span></span></div><div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">What if Joshua had not prayed for the sun to stand sill<br /></span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">What if Elijah had not prayed for rain, or for fire to fall upon the altar<br /></span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">What if Moses had not prayed for water, or Hannah for a son<br /></span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">What if Jonah had not prayed from the belly of the whale<br /></span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Or Paul and Silas from the darkness of Jail</span></span></li></ul></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Would Gods' hand have moved? Would the stories end as they did? Or, did their prayers actually make a difference?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I see in the Word of God an ongoing encouragement to seek the face of God in prayer knowing that God has designed it so that PRAYER MATTERS!</span></span></div></div></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006480823655518305.post-77588392677233140612009-02-12T13:26:00.000-08:002009-02-12T13:52:35.810-08:00Was She Right? Part 3<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(Please read the previous two posts for the full conversation)</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So was Naomi right to "blame" God for her circumstances? </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I dont know if blame is an appropriate term, but to say that it was within God's providence that these things happened is certainly true. Whether one says, "God did it" or, "God allowed it" the truth is that either way the circumstances of our lives are in His control.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The more important issue for each of us when we find ourselves in a season of "Dark Providence" is to realize that God's purposes are ultimately being worked out... even though I may not in the short term, or even in the long run know what those purposes might be.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Here is what is clear from Naomi's Story. Lets first remind ourselves of the difficult season Naomi </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">had experienced.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(41, 48, 59); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In chapter one we read that she and her family had left the promised land because of </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">famine</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, so they were strangers </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">in a strange land</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, then </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">her husband died</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, then </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">both of her sons died</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, leaving her with </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">no heir</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(41, 48, 59); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Now look at the end of the story:</span></span></div><div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"></p><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and the Lord gave her conception, and </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">she bore a son</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">a restorer of life</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> and a </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">nourisher</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">more to you than seven sons</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, has given birth to him.” Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap and became his nurse. And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">David</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. </span></span></blockquote><p></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Instead of famine, "a nourisher"</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Instead of a strange land she was now among her own people</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Instead of mourning "a restorer of life"</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">She had lost sons now a daughter worth "seven sons"</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">She had no heir, now a grandson... an heir indeed</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And no run of the mill heir at that; rather, none other than David would come from her new family and ultimately the greater than David, the Son of David, Jesus Christ.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Had the Lord brought </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">calamity upon Naomi, well, yes He had. For a season she languished under the "dark Sovereignty of God as God worked behind the scene to get a Moabite woman into a particular field to meet a particular man at a particular time; in order that the ultimate plan of God could move ahead.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Naomi had an important role in the fulfillment of God Eternal plan of redemption for mankind. I do not think that she is in heaven now still upset at God for what He saw fit to put her through.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lord give us eyes to see and appreciate the bigger picture and your sovereign work in our lives.</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(41, 48, 59); font-family:verdana;font-size:12px;"><br /></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006480823655518305.post-5663750692013095782009-02-05T12:01:00.000-08:002009-02-05T12:21:45.210-08:00Was She Right? Part 2<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; "><div><blockquote></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">(read part one for the full conversation)</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Lets take our discussion one step further.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">One of the responses I received went in part as follows, "Calamity in the old testament was brought on by God for the sins of His people..." </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">So what was Naomi's sin? If in fact the tragedy that she experienced was judgement for her sin, what was it God was judging her for? </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">It is a fact that at times the Lord did judge His people; sometimes He did it directly, often times He used the nations surrounding Israel as the rod of correction. The question is... is every dark circumstance the result of sin? </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">If we are not careful, we can find ourselves in the same place as Job's accusers when they said to him on numerous occasions, </span></span></div><div><blockquote></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande'; "></span></span></span><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande'; ">"</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande'; ">If you will seek God and plead with</span></span></span></span> the Almighty for mercy, if you are pure and upright, surely then he will rouse himself for you and restore your rightful habitation. And though your beginning was small, your latter days will be very great." Job.8.5-7</blockquote></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">The problem was Job had not sinned. </span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Jesus had something to say on this subject and the light He shine on the subject gives us insight in how to look at Naomi's situation.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';">Listen to Jesus from John 9.1-3 </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande';"><blockquote>As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him."</blockquote></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;">So there may be more to consider here than simply the judgement of God on poor Naomi. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;">We'll talk more.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'lucida grande'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: normal;"><br /></span></div></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006480823655518305.post-83396424108582374452009-02-02T20:25:00.000-08:002009-02-02T20:46:44.038-08:00Was She Right?<blockquote></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Here is something to think about...</span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Listen to Naomi's complaint and lament in Ruth 1.20-21:</span></span></div><div><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana;"><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?” </span></blockquote>To say that she had hit a rough patch would be an understatement. Earlier in chapter 1 we read that she and her family had left the promised land because of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">famine</span>, so they were strangers <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">in a strange land</span>, then <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">her husband died</span>, then <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">both of her sons died</span>, leaving her with <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">no heir</span>.</span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Now, I don't know what trials you are facing right now, I am guessing you are facing some... most of us are. The proximity and the severity of this season for Naomi is pretty spectacular by any estimation. She says dont call me Naomi (pleasant), call me Mara (bitter).</span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">The magnitude of it all had swamped Naomi's </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia;">boat</span>, she had exhausted all her hope and strength and was at her wits end.</span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Here is the question I have for you; was Naomi right? Was she right to say, " the Almighty has brought calamity upon me."</span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Does the Lord Almighty bring calamity, would our God do such a thing? What counsel would you give Naomi? Would you say, "Buck up sister", or, "Don't speak of God like that", or, "Your faith needs to be shored up"? What comfort, what word of encouragement would you offer Naomi in her time of need, what counsel?</span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">I am going to let you think about that one for a few days and we'll talk more.</span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Feel free to leave comments if you like.</span></p><p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Times New Roman"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p></span><p></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006480823655518305.post-22765519600112211902008-12-19T07:34:00.000-08:002008-12-19T08:09:58.649-08:00Who Am I?<blockquote></blockquote>When David said these words in I Chronicles 17.16, he was not seeking the meaning of his existence, he was overwhelmed by God graciousness and mercy. The verse reads:<div><blockquote>Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house that you have brought me thus far?</blockquote>Here is a little back story - </div><div><br /></div><div>David finished building a palace for himself then realized that the Ark (God) still dwelt in a tent so David had it in his heart to build the Lord a "House". It was a good thing but it was not a God thing. God had another plan.</div><div><br /></div><div>What David wanted to do was good, what God was going to do was better. </div><div><br /></div><div>God says to David through the prophet Nathan you shall not build a house for Me but,</div><div><blockquote>Moreover, I declare to you that the Lord will build a house for you.</blockquote></div><div>David can hardly wrap his mind around what the Lord is saying to him and exclaims,</div><div><blockquote>Who am I , O Lord God and what is my house that You have brought me thus far?</blockquote><blockquote></blockquote>Isn't that how we should respond each and every day in light of what the Lord has done "thus far", and what He has promised to do for us in the future? David will say later on,</div><div><blockquote>What more can David say to you for honoring you servant? For <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">you know you servant</span>.</blockquote>David is amazed at the grace of God, amazed at His mercy, amazed at His goodness. Even more so in light of the person David know himself to be.</div><div><br /></div><div>Then David says one more thing that I have always found very interesting. Listen to Vs. 23</div><div><blockquote>And now, O Lord, let the word that You have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house be established forever and do as you have spoken.</blockquote>Knock yourself out Lord, You want to bless me, bless away, don't hold anything back. And, Lord, the thing you promised to do, do that for me. David was claiming the promise and holding God to His word. </div><div><br /></div><div>Have you ever dared to pray like that? It is pretty radical, but David, a "man after God's own heart" prayed that way. "Lord you promised to do this thing for me, I am asking You to fulfill Your promise." That kind of prayer does not offend the Lord, is not disrespectful to the Lord, it is called appropriation, claiming what God said is ours. </div><div><br /></div><div>That is all David was doing.<br /><div><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote></blockquote>Who am I? I am a sinner saved by grace, a recipient of mercy, a child of the King! I am also on the receiving end of the multitude of promises God has made to his people, they are there for me to claim daily as I walk in awe of God unimaginable goodness towards me "thus far".</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006480823655518305.post-18249487162804864412008-11-24T20:09:00.001-08:002008-11-24T20:42:03.143-08:00"Charge it to my Account"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">We have been talking about reconciliation a bit over the last month or so. It is so important to keep the peace between brothers and sisters in Christ, between family members, between friends and neighbors. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">What I have become much more aware of over recent weeks is the immense value you are to me. How long it takes to develop relationships and yet how fragile they can be at times. The value and the fragility makes them all the more important to preserve. It is just not OK to loose friends or be at odds with each other, it is just too costly.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">The Lord has asked us to be reconciled and has given us both the "word" and the "ministry" of reconciliation. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">The problem is that we don't relish the idea of humbling ourselves in order to begin the sometimes difficult process. There is a real sense of being wronged as well as a very real feeling that the other person does not deserve the effort it will take, we often feel, perhaps especially, that we are "owed". Fairness and equity scream for satisfaction and all of this has a bearing on the emotion we feel when facing the task.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">The little postcard of a letter called Philemon gives us the wonderful principal that lies at the heart of reconciliation.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Philemon was a dear and close friend of Paul. Philemon had a slave by the name of Onesimus who had stolen from his master and run away. As ONI made a run for it he ended up, of all places, in prison with none other than the great apostle Paul himself.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">You'll have to read the whole letter to get the full impact of the friend-to-friend tone of the letter, Paul pours it on pretty thick, it is pretty funny! Paul writes the letter to urge his friend to take his slave (and now brother in Christ) back with open arms. Then Paul says to Philemon, "If he has wronged you at all or owes you anything, charge it to my account". <br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Philemon owed Paul much! Paul said whatever debt ONI owes you... charge it to me. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Doctrinally this is called imputation. it is a banking term that means charged to the account of. As it relates to our faith it means that Jesus, through the work of the cross, cancelled our debt and charged to our account His righteousness - it's huge. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Practically, as it relates to reconciliation it means this... and this is key. It means that when I reconcile (also a banking term by the way) I don't have to worry about the "owing" or "fairness". Jesus is the one asking for the reconciliation and he says, let me worry about the debt owed, I'll take care of that. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">We do not reconcile for our sake primarily, nor for the sake of the relationship, nor for the sake of the other party. We reconcile for Jesus' sake and any outstanding debts that might remain, He has got that covered.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">This means that I can be reconciled in a hurry as there is no settling up that need to take place. It was all handled at the cross.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006480823655518305.post-33846635469992441942008-09-16T10:18:00.000-07:002008-09-16T11:05:05.758-07:00Glad to be Back<div>Forty days... interesting.</div><div><br /></div><div>For those of you who have been checking in here for a while it was a little more than a year ago that I planned a 40 day sabbatical. The leadership were in agreement and things were covered as I set out on what I hoped would be a refreshing and revitalizing time of reflection and rest.</div><div><br /></div><div>In fact I began this blog as a way of keeping folks updated on the things I was experiencing during that time. You can read those early submissions in the archives if interested.</div><div><br /></div><div>This one wasn't planned, least-wise not by me, but as it turned out I spent another 40 days "resting" this year. By the way, though I might suggest picking a different location for the purpose, taking time away to rest and be refreshed in the Lord is always an excellent idea.</div><div><br /></div><div>As I reflect on the two "sabbaticals" I must confess that I have benefitted more from this one than from the one I planned. The Fellowship has benefitted more already from this years version than it did from the previous one as well.</div><div><br /></div><div>I dont think I have ever had a greater love for the Lord - He is everything to me. It has been said that, "you wont fully know that Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have". I would not say that I ever felt like Jesus was all I had, not with my wife and family at my side and not with the multitude of wonderful folks praying and visiting, etc; but still, day to day, there was an intense need to really cling to the Lord and a profound sense of His presence.</div><div><br /></div><div>The Lord is so good (All the time).</div><div><br /></div><div>These 40 days have produced in me a renewed passion for ministry, a refreshed vision of our mission as a Fellowship; a rekindled love for the Lord as I mentioned; a desire to preach the Word unlike anything I have experienced before, and, a greater love for the body of Christ, wherever it might be found, but particularly that part that congregates at 252 Lawrence Street.</div><div><br /></div><div>I want to thank all of you for the tremendous welcome home. It was a day that was more than a little overwhelming to be sure. A day that I will not soon forget.</div><div><br /></div><div>My thanks again for your prayers and love and help. Heaven alone will be able to repay you for the grace and kindness extended to me.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Happy to be back.</div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006480823655518305.post-20143924397598630722008-07-01T10:24:00.000-07:002008-07-01T10:54:37.715-07:00Renewal<blockquote>Then Samuel said to the people, “Come and let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingdom there.” I Samuel 11.14</blockquote>I wanted to return to the journey through the books of First and Second Samuel today but really had it on my heart to share with you the story of Joshua chapter 5.<br /><br />And there it was! The same idea right there in I Sammy 11.<br /><br />If there was any place that befit the renewal of the kingdom it was Gilgal.<br /><br />Gilgal was a place that was given its name after a very important event in the history of Israel took place there. You see the name "Gilgal" means "a rolling", "today I have rolled the reproach of Egypt from you"<br /><br />What was it that happened at Gilgal?<br /><br />The Israelites were finally over the Jordan river. 600 years or so after the Lord had "promised <span style="font-style: italic;">(the)</span> land" to Abraham and 40 years after they had failed to enter the first time; Israel was finally in.<br /><br />They had been promised that the land would be given to them step-by-step as they moved in. The enemy would have to be defeated, it wouldn't be easy, but the Lord had promised victory as long as they continued to follow His Word.<br /><br />The assignment had been given, the moment had come for them to march in and take the "promise land.<br /><br />And yet... and yet; before they were allowed to take another step forward the Lord said to them that they must first circumcise the men. Circumcision had been neglected while they had been wandering in the wilderness.<br /><br />Circumcision, of course was the mark, the outward sign of the covenant between God and his people. It marked them as belonging to God, it was a tangible reminder of their relationship with God... and it had been neglected. So God told them that they need to take care of it now.<br /><br />They were not to go one step further until they relationship was restored, the covenant back in place.<br /><br />Now, logically this makes little sense, at least in timing. I mean, they were in the enemies front yard and the work of conquering was before them. In human terms it would seem like the worst possible thing to do ; to put your entire army out of commission.<br /><br />You may have noticed however, that God does not work according to "human terms" and the fact of the matter is; God is always much more concerned with who we are than what we do. God said, in effect, you are not going to take one more step forward without getting your heart right with Me, and, by inference, we can see that without a right relationship with God nothing we do will be pleasing to Him.<br /><br />Now we look at the simple statement of Samuel and we see its value, we see the reason he said it need to take place at Gilgal. If I want to see the kingdom renewed in my heart... It must begin at Gilgal.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006480823655518305.post-45407608606898127392008-06-19T09:19:00.000-07:002008-06-19T09:57:06.398-07:00Isaiah 54In preparation for Bible study last week the Lord led me to a passage in Isaiah. I truly felt it was a word for someone, perhaps more than one, in the service that night. I want to re-print it here in light of the untimely loss of family members that a couple families in our body are experiencing.<br /><blockquote><br />“O afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted,<br /><br /> Behold, I will set your stones in antimony,<br /><br /> And your foundations I will lay in sapphires.<br /><br />“Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies,<br /><br /> And your gates of crystal,<br /><br /> And your entire wall of precious stones.<br /><br />“All your sons will be taught of the LORD;<br /><br /> And the well-being of your sons will be great.<br /><br />“In righteousness you will be established;<br /><br /> You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear;<br /><br /> And from terror, for it will not come near you.<br /><br />“If anyone fiercely assails you it will not be from Me.<br /><br /> Whoever assails you will fall because of you.<br /><br />“Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows the fire of coals<br /><br /> And brings out a weapon for its work;<br /><br /> And I have created the destroyer to ruin.<br /><br />“No weapon that is formed against you will prosper;<br /><br /> And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn.<br /><br /> This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,<br /><br /> And their vindication is from Me,” declares the LORD.</blockquote><br />Last night we were reminded that "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes" and we are reminded that Jesus said, "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another <span style="font-weight: bold;">Comforter</span>, that he may abide with you for ever" (Jn 14.16)<br /><br />This is one of the many blessings and advantages we have as Christians, as children of God.<br /><br />Isaiah 53 tells us that Jesus is, "A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief" He knows we hurt, He knows what it means to hurt and He has made Himself available to us when we hurt.<br /><br />This knowledge does take away the pain completely, sin stinks and so to its' "wages". I think this was part of what was taking place when we are told "Jesus wept" at the tomb of Lazarus. Jesus knew what was about to happen, He knew that Lazarus would soon walk out of that tomb, but I believe it was the affect of sins' wages on his dear friend that caused the tears to flow. He wept for sins' curse.<br /><br />Lazarus, however, knew the giver of life, the One who said, "I am the resurrection and the life" and because of that relationship with Jesus the grave could not hold him, would not hold him.<br /><br />And it will not hold us either. The ultimate comfort is knowing that we will walk out of the tomb as well.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006480823655518305.post-72777311168082119282008-06-10T09:27:00.000-07:002008-06-10T10:28:56.377-07:00One Thing<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:verdana;font-size:10;" ><blockquote>As (Jesus) was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” ...Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing". Mark 10.17, 21</blockquote>Let us first set aside the idea of "doing" to obtain eternal life. Jesus "finished" all that needed to be done when He offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. In another place Jesus responded to the question, "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?" by saying, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent". John 6.28-29<br /><br /><br />It is an important question; is there anything in my life that if the Lord asked for it I would say "no". Take anything but that Lord, ask me to do anything else Lord... but not that.<br /><br /></span><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:verdana;font-size:10;" >Would I take my children out of school, away from their friends and move?</span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:verdana;font-size:10;" >Would I quit my job, give up my "security" and go to the mission field?</span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:verdana;font-size:10;" >Would I simplify sacrificially?</span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:verdana;font-size:10;" >Would I, could I?</span></li></ul><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:verdana;font-size:10;" ><br />Jesus is no kiljoy, He is not out to make our lives miserable, in fact quite the opposite is true. He came to "give us life and that more abundantly"; He deisres to see us experience a life that is "exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or think".<br /><br />But what the Lord does want is for us have absolutely nothing standing between us and Him. What is important to Him is that we have "no other gods before Him".<br /><br />So it is a profitable exercise to take inventory, to ask myself, "Is there anything that if the Lord asked me to give it to Him or do it for Him, I would say "no".<br /><br />I want to stay in a place where my life belongs to Him completely. And not just hypothetically or theoretically but actually and literally.<br /><br />Now you might be saying, "Come on Scott, is the Lord that serious about all that? I mean do you really think it is that important to be willing to give the Lord anything and everthing? The Lord wouldn't test us like that just to see if we would and then not have us actually follow through!<br /><br />Really? Ask Abraham!<br /></span><ul><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:verdana;font-size:10;" >“Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” </span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:verdana;font-size:10;" >He said, “Do not stretch out your hand against the lad, and do nothing to him; </span></li><li><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:verdana;font-size:10;" >for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” </span></li></ul><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:verdana;font-size:10;" ><br />With God it is always about our heart. He wants us to know what is in our own heart.<br /><br />If I find that there is "one thing"... I will be faced with a choice: go away sad as the rich young ruler did; or take that "one thing" to the altar as Abraham did. We can choose to remain bound and covetous and trying to save our lives or we can be free and find the blessing of what it means to truly lay our lives down for the One who laid down His life for me.<br /><br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-family:verdana;font-size:12;" ></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006480823655518305.post-2634582316165934362008-03-11T18:17:00.000-07:002008-03-11T19:34:57.288-07:00Righteous Indignation<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><blockquote>And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly. I Samuel 11.6</blockquote>If you were ask me if I was righteous in my "indignation", I would probably say "yes". In the moment, we can all feel as though our anger is justified but that is not really the idea behind "righteous indignation".<br /><br />As it turns out, this is one of Saul's brighter moments because he is exhibiting anger in a way consistent with the nature and example of Jesus himself.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Jesus got angry? </span><br /><br />Yes He did! On three different occasions we are told that Jesus exhibited anger but it was always in a specific context. It is by this context, as illustrated by Saul, that we must measure our own anger.<br /><br />First lets see the three instances:<br /><br /><blockquote>And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. John 2.13-17<br /><br />And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him. And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth. And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. Mark 3.1-5<br /><br />And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them. Mark 10.13-16</blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;">What these stories show us about Jesus' anger</span><br /><br />In each case Jesus got angry when there was someone standing in the way of folks (or children) getting to God. He was angry at the sellers in the temple as their selling table became a barrier to people having free access to the temple; He was angry at the religious leaders as they sought to prevent Jesus from healing on the Sabbath; and He became angry at His own disciples for trying to prevent the children from approaching Him.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Jesus' anger was always on behalf of others.</span><br /><br />It is this "anger on behalf of another" that Saul is exhibiting in our text.<br /><br />With Jesus there are several other instances where, though not told explicitly we see implicitly that Jesus was angry, He certainly had curt words for the Pharisees and priests and religious leaders who were laying burdens on the people and generally made being one of God's chosen people pretty miserable.<br /><br />Importantly, we are not told of any occasion where Jesus became angry about anything said or done to Him. In fact Jesus never even defended Himself, He just spoke truth, acted in a way pleasing to the Father and left the reaction to those around Him... amazing. Isn't our Lord wonderful!<br /><br />Now my anger is usually a response to something someone did to me. And... I can feel pretty righteous about feeling as I do. Fact is people really do sometimes do terrible things to us or say terrible things about us... I mean they really are out of line! And it is those times that I can really pull out the righteous indignation card and wave it around, "hey, I am justified in feeling this way."<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Yet Jesus shows us a better way.</span><br /><br />This is one of those reminders that, upon hearing it I instantly become exceedingly aware of the fact that I am not going to be able to pull that off on my own. This is not a natural character trait for any of us but it is a character trait </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;">available</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"> to all of us:<br /><blockquote>But the fruit of the Spirit is, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. Gal 5.22</blockquote>And, in order to live like Jesus did, walking in the Spirit, constantly in fellowship with the Father, we need the whole fruit basket. No grabbing an apple or banana before we rush out the door in the morning.<br /><br />If you have "let the sun go down on your anger" would you do yourself a favor this morning and just let it go. Just give it to the Lord, forgive, and move on.<br /><br />That offense was nailed to the cross, its penalty was paid by Jesus who would again today say:<br /><br /><blockquote>"if he has wronged you in any way or owes you anything, charge that to my account" Philemon 18</blockquote>Be free today to live without the burden of anger.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006480823655518305.post-55337839715907685352008-03-03T21:42:00.000-08:002008-03-03T22:23:20.592-08:00Second Best<p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><o:p></o:p><blockquote> Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen? Surely there is no one like him among all the people.” So all the people shouted and said, “Long live the king!” Then Samuel told the people the ordinances of the kingdom, and wrote them in the book and placed it before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his house. I Samuel 10.24-25</blockquote></span><st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on"><span style="">Israel</span></st1:place></st1:country-region> had demanded a king and when they did so the Lord told Samuel, "they have not rejected you they have rejected me from being King over them" (8.7). Here is an interesting bit of background...<o:p></o:p></p><span style=""></span> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">350 years earlier God had told the people of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Israel:</st1:place></st1:country-region><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><o:p></o:p><blockquote>“When you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, and you possess it and live in it, and you say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me,’ you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses, one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman. Deuteronomy 17.14-15ff</blockquote><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Did you see that, "and you say, "I will set a king over me like all the other nations..." which, by the way, is exactly what they did say (8.5)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">It was not His best for His chosen people yet God knew they would reject Him and seek after a distant second best, a man. <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Israel</st1:country-region></st1:place> would act in rebellion against God and yet God had already made provision for when that time came. He gave them very specific instructions so that they could be as blessed as possible in their new situation.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><o:p></o:p>These most interesting attributes of God, his omnipresence and omniscience; allow God to look down the tunnel of time and know ahead of time what we will do. This is a dynamic of God's sovereignty that relates to our own salvation.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><o:p></o:p>God knows what is best for man and has made an offer to Him; that if any man or woman will simply accept the free gift of salvation, allow him to be the God of our lives, our sovereign, our King; our sins will be forgiven; we will be spared the righteous judgment of Almighty God and we will find ourselves in the most blessed life possible.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><o:p></o:p>But God also knows what each man will choose to do, he can look down the tunnel of time and see with absolute clarity the destination of every persons' soul. But, as with the Israelites, the choice is up to the each individual, each of us has a the opportunity to decide how we want to live and where we want to spend eternity.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Trying to reconcile the two kind of tweaks the circuits a bit to be sure. God knows, we chose.<span style=""> </span>But it is also true that God chose us before the foundations of the world... and as you go a couple more times around that conversation... little puffs of smoke start to drift out of our ears. It is difficult to understand, but for me, not difficult to accept.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">All that to say that this story illustrates this mystical and marvelous aspect of our great God. It has been said that a God small enough to fully understand isn't big enough to fully worship. I can't agree more.<o:p><br /></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><span style="font-size:130%;">Now I want to take your thinking in a whole different direction if you have the time to read on...</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">The BEST for <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Israel</st1:country-region></st1:place> was to continue to be a theocracy, to continue to allow God himself to be their king, but they chose another option. In that decision, a decision that was not God's best for them, there would be a price to pay (see chapter 8 blog for more info) and direct access to God and His blessings and His best were all now going to have to pass through the hands of their king. They were going to have to hope that their king would continue to follow God, most of them would not, and that their king would look out for their best, again, most of them would not.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><o:p></o:p><span style="font-size:130%;">Allow me to bring this home now...</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">I was talking to a brother the other day who had been speaking to a young gal who had gotten pregnant and the father was off the scene, had been involved in drugs and such and was now homeless and in a pretty desperate situation. Your heart just goes out to those in such dire circumstances. This brother continued by saying, "she just doesn't have many options".<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Now, at the risk of sounding callous, and certainly this kind of "truth" would have to be shared with great love and discernment; but I said, "well yes she did". This brother knew exactly what I meant and finished my thought for me. "she had options, many opportunities to make the right decision, now she isn't left with many."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">In fact she had, and now her options were severely limited by the choices she made earlier. There are just some things that are no longer available to her; others that will take a long, determined, grace filled journey to reach.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><span style="font-size:130%;">So it is with Gods will...</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">If I truly believe that God desires the very best for me, had the best plan for my life, that He can see ahead and direct me to the best life possible; then it would also follow that to stray from God's will will only lead to something less than best and perhaps much, much worse. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">The truth is that as one act of rebellion added to another stiff necked refusal which is compounded by a dose of self-will, I can find my self where my choices become very limited.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">But it is not that God abandons us at that point though. As with <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">Israel</st1:country-region></st1:place>, even in their rejection and rebellion he still said, "let me tell you how to get the most out of life from that point on." (Deut. 17.14ff)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">And I will continue to experience God's best for me under the new circumstances as long as I continue to walk with him, abide in Him, trust in Him. But there will be other aspects a God-defined, blessed life that will no longer be available to me, I opted out of those.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">You see there just aren't any promises of blessing for those who walk in rebellion or disobedience, you won't find it in scripture.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">All to say, the best life, the best-blessed life is found in the center of God's will.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8006480823655518305.post-48861428184794500092008-02-25T21:18:00.000-08:002008-02-25T21:39:18.110-08:00Hiding in the Baggage?<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9;"><blockquote>Therefore they inquired further of the LORD, “Has the man come here yet?” So the LORD said, “Behold, he is hiding himself by the baggage.”So they ran and took him from there... I Samuel 10.23-24</blockquote><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9;">Saul had been anointed king in chapter 10 and now it was time for the coronation. Problem was, when they went to look for the guy who was to wear the crown, he was nowhere to be found; he was hiding in the baggage.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9;"><o:p></o:p>Hmmm interesting word, but more on that in a minute.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9;">My friends and I have had several intriguing debates over this passage; was Saul simply exhibiting humility? He had, after all, said at the time he was anointed, <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9;">“Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of <st2:country-region st="on"><st2:place st="on">Israel</st2:place></st2:country-region>, and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak to me in this way?” <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9;">Perhaps his reluctance to step forward indicated a genuine feeling of unworthiness for the task. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9;"><o:p></o:p>Could be. And if that is the conclusion that we are to draw, well, well enough. Certainly it is true that none of us are “worthy” for the slightest responsibility that the Lord entrusts us with, of that we can be assured.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9;"><span style="font-size:130%;">On the other hand…</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9;">There were two significant chinks in the armor of Saul’s life, his soul, his heart. One was a disconnection from the God who called him and the second is fear.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9;"><o:p></o:p>I believe that this is the first indication we have of a personal attribute that will haunt Saul for the rest of his life; fear in general, fear of man specifically.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9;"><blockquote>The fear of man brings a snare, but he who trusts in the LORD will be exalted. <st1:bcv_smarttag st="on">Prov 29</st1:bcv_smarttag>.25</blockquote><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9;"><o:p></o:p>God had chosen Saul, anointed Saul, empowered Saul, etc. God had given Saul a specific job to do, “he will deliver My people from the hand of the Philistines” (9.16). It seems to me to hardly be the time to be hiding.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9;"><o:p></o:p>I so appreciate Paul. He was a man who understood where he came from; where the Lord found him; what he was doing when God called him. In fact it is Paul who wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9;"><blockquote>“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service” I Tim 1.12<br /></blockquote><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9;"><span style="font-size:130%;">And yet it is Paul who also wrote:</span> <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9;"><blockquote>Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead), and all the brethren who are with me... <st1:bcv_smarttag st="on">Gal 1</st1:bcv_smarttag>.1 (also <st1:bcv_smarttag st="on">Rom 1</st1:bcv_smarttag>.1, I Cor 1.1, II Cor 1.1, <st1:bcv_smarttag st="on">Eph 1</st1:bcv_smarttag>.1, <st1:bcv_smarttag st="on">Col 1</st1:bcv_smarttag>.1, I Tim 1.1, II Tim 1.1)</blockquote><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9;">Paul says over and over; I am an apostle, I was given that job and that title by God himself. So, in the authority that God has given me and in obedience to the responsibility I have been entrusted with, I am writing to you. I have a job to do and I am doing it in the strength God himself supplies, in the authority that comes directly from the Lord, for the glory of the One who has entrusted me with this ministry.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9;">No apology, no extraordinary explanation, no excuses, no fear!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9;"><o:p></o:p>What have you been assigned? How about me? Shame on us if we are hiding in the baggage when we ought to be getting on with it. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9;">And let’s not let our baggage keep us from being obedient to what the Lord has called us, anointed us and empowered us to do… whatever that might be. Do I have some hang up, some “history”, anything hanging around in piles; the <st1:translation_smarttag st="on">KJV</st1:translation_smarttag> calls it “stuff”? Is there stuff you are hiding behind, hiding in, being buried by? <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9;">Times-a-wastin’! Take your baggage to the airport and leave it there, it will be the last time you see it </span><span style=";font-family:Wingdings;font-size:9;" ><span style="">:)</span></span><span style="font-size:9;">, and get to work!<br /><o:p> </o:p><br />The Lord knew what he was doing when He assigned us the task, He knows how weak we are, how insufficient our abilities, but if He called us, we best be about the Fathers business!<o:p></o:p></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0