March 2009

Daily Reading

Judges 9,10
Psalms 49
1 Corinthians 16

Scripture

⁶ Again the Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight. They served the images of Baal and Ashtoreth, and the gods of Aram, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and Philistia. They abandoned the Lord and no longer served him at all. ⁷ So the Lord burned with anger against Israel, and he turned them over to the Philistines and the Ammonites, ⁸ who began to oppress them that year.

The Israelites were in great distress. ¹⁰ Finally, they cried out to the Lord for help, saying, “We have sinned against you because we have abandoned you as our God and have served the images of Baal.”

¹¹ The Lord replied, “Did I not rescue you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, ¹² the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites? When they oppressed you, you cried out to me for help, and I rescued you. ¹³ Yet you have abandoned me and served other gods. So I will not rescue you anymore. ¹⁴ Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen! Let them rescue you in your hour of distress!”

¹⁵ But the Israelites pleaded with the Lord and said, “We have sinned. Punish us as you see fit, only rescue us today from our enemies.” ¹⁶ Then the Israelites put aside their foreign gods and served the Lord. And he was grieved by their misery. (Judg 10:6-16) (Bold mine)

Observation

The theme throughout the Old Testament is all the same: Israel sins, bad things happen, they cry out to God for help, God says no, they cry out for help AND stop sinning, God feels bad for them and resues them, they live in peace and happiness for years serving God, then they sin again.  One big cycle that happened repeatedly in the Old Testament and continues to happen in our lives today.  One such area is with my own children.  The kids do something absolutely against the rules (they sin), they are punished and life is not fun, they ask for their priveleges back, I say no, they change their behavior and ask for their priveleges back, I feel bad for them and let them have their priveleges back, life is good and happy and they get lots of blessings from me, they do something wrong again. . .

Application

Imagine the emotions you feel when your kids disobey you.  You feel angry, betrayed, sad, revengeful . . .  God felt these same emotions when Israel, His child, sinned against Him.  Now imagine the feeling of your heart breaking when you see your children suffering, even if it of their own doing.  Imagine the overjoyed love you feel when your kid comes to you and puts his arm around you and says he’s sorry and he loves you.  You cry with joy and relief.  You want to bend over backwards to make him happy.  You want to bless him and shower him with your love.  Deep down, you know he will do something wrong again, but you relish in the moment of joy.  God did this to Israel.  We often read the Old Testament and ask why God didn’t just destroy them all.  How could they be so evil?  How could they forget what He had done for them?  The we wonder how He could be so mean and vindictive when he destroys 23,000 people in one day!  Just remember the pendulum of emotions you feel about your own children and look at God in that light.  Remember that God had unconditional love for his children, but he did not mistake love with licence.  The blessing and protection he provided were contitional upon their behavior.  This is a good model for parenting.  We tend to give our children way to much licence because we don’t want to see our children suffer.  We need to demonstrate unconditional love to our children without bestowing on them unconditional blessings.

Note: Blessings and  Salvation are two different things.  We can be in sin and still be saved because of the love and sacrifice of Jesus.  This salvation is unconditional once we have accepted the free gift.  It is free, that means we don’t have to pay for it, with our lives or our behavior.  This is something Israel did not have access to.  Blessings, however, are separate.  We reap what we sow.  If we sow weeds, we will have weeds.  God does not bestow unconditional blessings on his children for the same reason we do not give our children whatever they want.

Prayer

Father God, thank you for being my heavenly father.  Thank you for giving me a good pattern to follow.  I am so much like Israel in so many ways, but I know that you ALWAYS  love me, even when I am deep in sin.  I do want your blessings.  I want your Joy and Peace.  Help me to follow your commands and love only you so I can have those blessings.  Jesus, thank-you for your sacrifice so that salvation is never in question.  I know that even if I am not blessed because of my sin, I am still saved.  This is something Israel did not have.  Thank-you for that gift.  I love you.

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Daily Reading

Judges 6-7
Psalm 52
1 Corinthians 14

Scripture

¹⁴ Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”
¹⁵ “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!”
¹⁶ The Lord said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.” (Judg 6:14-16)

Observation

Gideon was a nobody.  He was really more than a nobody.  He was the least of the least.  Sounds like God’s economy again; you know, the one that doesn’ t make sense but always seems to work.  God said to Gideon, “Go with the strength you have.”  Gideon laughs and says, “What strength?  I have none.  I am the least of the entire tribe!  What strength?”

Application

Again we see how God uses our weaknesses to fulfil His purpose.  God used Gideon and 300 men to rescue Israel from starvation and oppression.  Why does God like to do this?  Because we “will boast [to God] that [we] saved [ourselves] by [our] own strength” (Judg 7:2)  So, like Paul, I want to be “glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” (2 Cor 12:9)

Prayer

Lord God, thank you for Your economy.  Thank you for making the foolish things wise.  I am weak.  I thank you for my weaknesses.  I don’t ever want to say that I have done something in my own strength.  Like Paul, though, I ask that the weakness I have, (you know what I am talking about) would be taken away.  But, if it is what keeps me humble, I know that you will give me strength to handle it.

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Scripture

“But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.” I Corinthians 2:10-12 (NLT)

Observation

Many of the things that Christians hold to be true are perceived as foolishness to the unbeliever. When we begin pursuing God’s ways rather than our own ways we develop a new lense in which we view the world. This lense is what enables us to make choices that are beneficial for others and not for our own self benefit.

Is there human compassion in the absence of God? Yes, non-believers have charities and out reaches aimed at relieving the world of suffering. Who are they giving the glory to? Themselves, humanity, not to God. They are working with the understanding that humans can save themselves.

When the believer reaches out to the world we don’t do it for ourselves. We do it for the Glory of God. God has placed within us his Spirit that manifests through good works. We know that humans are not inherently reconciled to God and that without Christ we exist in a fallen state. When we accept Christ we are freed from the world’s spirit that says we are in a sense our own gods, able to decide our own destiny.

Application

It’s freeing to know that we don’t depend on ourselves and that we are taken care of by the one true God. I personally have many more questions than answers, I am not the author of my own life. I know that my life is in Gods hands, and because I am reconciled to God he has placed within me his Spirit. As a vessel of God I am freed from the responsibility of doing things with my own power.

So, why don’t I move mountains? Why don’t I turn pennies into Gold and live a lavish life if all things are possible through him who is within me?

The power to move mountains and to perform magnificent works is not our power, it’s Gods. Nothing can be done that is not first ordered by the Father. I’m now responsible to seek God in all things so that his work is completed through my hands. Seek God Daily.

…I’ve Got a Long Way to go…

Prayer

God, open my eyes so that I may see your will in my life. Help me cast aside my own self will and replace it with yours.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.
Do not banish me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.”

Psalms 51:10-11 (NLT)

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Daily Reading

Deuteronomy 32-34
1Corinthians 2

Scripture

¹¹ No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. ¹² And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. (1Cor 2:11-12)

But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ. (1Cor 2:16b)

Observation

When we invite Jesus to become the master of our lives, he enters our mind.  It’s a willing possession.  Two minds become one.  That is one reason why the symbolism of marriage is used so often when referring to Jesus and the church.  We don’t loose our own thoughts, motives, willpower, strength etc, we allow Jesus’ mind to become one with ours and those human qualities change to look more like God.  The process of doing this can be long and drawn out with pain and agony, or it can be an immediate transformation.  If I were to (oh God forbid!) meld my mind with James in the same way, I would probably push his ideas way to the back of my mind quite often.  In a perfect meld, James would say, “Yes dear, you don’t have to listen, I’ll just sit quietly in the back.  Let me know when you want me.”  Well, as silly as this  seems, it’s exactly what Jesus does when he “comes into our lives”.  He is only there as much as we want him to be.  He doesn’t force his way into our mind, but OH what an awesome thing to have that meld complete!  To have the mind of Christ!  Our growth as a follower of Christ is this process of melding the two minds.  The mind looks less and less like us and more and more like Christ as we allow the process to unfold.

Application

The more and more time I spend with Jesus, the more this melding process can take place.  So, yes, I need to work on certain faults in my life, but to focus on these faults is to focus on MY mind.  To acknowledge these faults and then focus on Jesus will make those changes quicker and less painful.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I invite you to take over my mind.  Please help me to become less and less.  Don’t let me get in the way of the changes you need to make in my life.  I also want it to be as painless as possible, please.

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