“Do not keep talking so proudly
or let your mouth speak such arrogance,
for the LORD is a God who knows,
and by him deeds are weighed.
“The bows of the warriors are broken,
but those who stumbled are armed with strength. - 1 Sam. 2:3-4 NIV
What is it that gives all of us the propensity to brag? Even those of us who consider ourselves imitators of Christ have a tendency to do so, although it's often to brag about our humility. When we do so, we are only trying to please man, not God. God sees it all. He is a God who knows and by him deeds are weighed. Any and all pretense of strength is transparent to God as well. He knows all of our limitations, and we should know by now that it is when we are weak, and only when we are weak, that we are strong.
We worry so about how others view our deeds, but in the end, it is only God that matters. If you believe there is a God at all, then you must believe that in the end he is all that matters; that he is a God who knows and by him deeds are weighed.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011
Ruth 1-4: Offspring of Significance
We always think of the faithfulness of Ruth to Naomi when we read this story, but what about the story of Boaz. It can be inferred from reading between the lines, that he was a prosperous, but older man, with a good heart, whose mission in life had yet to be fulfilled. He went about his business, planting and harvesting his crops, but he had no family to pass it on to. Then into the picture comes this young woman that he has heard about. “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” Ruth 2:11-12: NIV
Boaz's designs on Ruth were not dishonest and he does the right thing by becoming her kinsman-redeemer. As a result he receives the blessing of the elders. “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. Through the offspring the LORD gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.” - Ruth 4:11-12 NIV
Their blessing was prophetic for through Boaz and Ruth came David, all the kings of Judah, and eventually the King of Kings. All because one quiet man waited on God and did the right thing. Being zealous for God when you're young is a good thing, but sometimes God's will for a persons life is revealed only as one gets older after having spent years living a very insignificant life. Sometimes it is the offspring of one's old age that is of lasting consequence.
Boaz's designs on Ruth were not dishonest and he does the right thing by becoming her kinsman-redeemer. As a result he receives the blessing of the elders. “We are witnesses. May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem. Through the offspring the LORD gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.” - Ruth 4:11-12 NIV
Their blessing was prophetic for through Boaz and Ruth came David, all the kings of Judah, and eventually the King of Kings. All because one quiet man waited on God and did the right thing. Being zealous for God when you're young is a good thing, but sometimes God's will for a persons life is revealed only as one gets older after having spent years living a very insignificant life. Sometimes it is the offspring of one's old age that is of lasting consequence.
2010 Post - Ruth 1-4:: A Jewish Mother-In-Law
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Judges 17-21: Ephods and Idols
God is not someone who can be bandied back and forth, but that's just what the Israelites did. They took their gold and silver and created ephods and idols that they called upon whenever they wished. Of course their behavior was as holy as the gods they worshipped, culminating in all of the tribes uniting to go against Benjamin in retribution for the Levite whose concubine was raped and murdered as he tried to make his way from Bethlehem to Ephraim. In the end over forty thousand Israelites and twenty-five thousand Benjamites lost their lives in the battle that ensued. Brother fighting against brother.
As Dr. Phil would say, 'How's that working for you." Little gods do not deliver us, they only put a murderous heart in our midst. I recognize the same thing in me. When I start worshipping man made possessions, the ephods and idols created from the gold and silver of our current day, I suddenly become more self-protective, my heart is more easily deceived into fighting my brothers and sisters over things that really don't matter. I never feel that way when God is at the center of my life, when he is the only one I worship.
As Dr. Phil would say, 'How's that working for you." Little gods do not deliver us, they only put a murderous heart in our midst. I recognize the same thing in me. When I start worshipping man made possessions, the ephods and idols created from the gold and silver of our current day, I suddenly become more self-protective, my heart is more easily deceived into fighting my brothers and sisters over things that really don't matter. I never feel that way when God is at the center of my life, when he is the only one I worship.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Judges 15-16: Being Used by God
Here's Samson, the answer to his mother's prayers and the one that the angel said would begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines. What kind of man would one imagine him to be, this consecrated, dedicated Nazerite who never cut his hair, who had to abstain from wine and anything that came from the grapevine, who was to never touch a dead body? Samson should have been very holy, but he was anything but. He was a lusty, arrogant, proud man who loved to cavort with prostitutes and wild women. Even at the end of his life, when he brought about the deaths of more Philistines with one action than in his previous twenty years, his motives were still not pure. All he cared about was retribution for his lost eye sight. But this confused, flawed piece of work was God's vessel.
God works in mysterious ways. He always has, he always will. All of our leaders have clay feet, some visible, some not. Those who are truly used by God are just that...used by God. It's not our piety that makes us useful, it's our willingness to be used in spite of our shortcomings and many times because of our shortcomings. Perhaps, if we spent less time trying to be perfect, trying to be in control, and more time just being who we are there would be more opportunities for us to be used by God.
God works in mysterious ways. He always has, he always will. All of our leaders have clay feet, some visible, some not. Those who are truly used by God are just that...used by God. It's not our piety that makes us useful, it's our willingness to be used in spite of our shortcomings and many times because of our shortcomings. Perhaps, if we spent less time trying to be perfect, trying to be in control, and more time just being who we are there would be more opportunities for us to be used by God.
2010 Post - Judges 13-14: I'll Be Back
Friday, March 4, 2011
Judges 13-14: God Begins the Deliverance
because you will conceive and give birth to a son. No razor may be used on his head, because the boy is to be a Nazirite, set apart to God from birth, and he will begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” - Judges 13:5 NIV
It's interesting that the angel of the Lord didn't tell Manoah's barren wife that the son God was going to give her would be the deliverer of Israel, but that he would 'begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines'.
Deliverance is often not instantaneous. In my own life, it is usually only after years that I can look back and see that God was always in the process of delivering me from whatever oppressing circumstance I find myself in. That's the way God manifests his power, not that he can't do the miraculous instantaneously, but most often it's a steady, slow, progression towards deliverance that we experience.
We work on the area that needs deliverance, we achieve some success, and suddenly we find ourselves almost back at where we started, but not quite. We work some more, we fall back, we work, we fall. Then one day, we realize that we are free. Just as the Philistines power over Israel eventually faded into non-existence, the forces that hold sway over us fade away as God continues his work in our lives.
It was not the Israelites doing or our own actions that bring about change. It is always God's ultimate plan being carried out. As Paul wrote to the church at Philippi: Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: - Philippians 1:6 KJV
God begins our deliverance and he will be there until it is finished.
It's interesting that the angel of the Lord didn't tell Manoah's barren wife that the son God was going to give her would be the deliverer of Israel, but that he would 'begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines'.
Deliverance is often not instantaneous. In my own life, it is usually only after years that I can look back and see that God was always in the process of delivering me from whatever oppressing circumstance I find myself in. That's the way God manifests his power, not that he can't do the miraculous instantaneously, but most often it's a steady, slow, progression towards deliverance that we experience.
We work on the area that needs deliverance, we achieve some success, and suddenly we find ourselves almost back at where we started, but not quite. We work some more, we fall back, we work, we fall. Then one day, we realize that we are free. Just as the Philistines power over Israel eventually faded into non-existence, the forces that hold sway over us fade away as God continues his work in our lives.
It was not the Israelites doing or our own actions that bring about change. It is always God's ultimate plan being carried out. As Paul wrote to the church at Philippi: Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: - Philippians 1:6 KJV
God begins our deliverance and he will be there until it is finished.
2010 Post - Judges 13-14: Born to be Wild
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Judges 10-12: Cry to the Gods You Have Chosen
These chapters cause me to think long and hard about what I choose to worship and the consequences. I say I worship God, just as the Israelites proclaimed that they were God's people, but then my actions often deny what I profess. I spend too much time taking care of my possessions; financial and physical. I spend too much time sitting at the throne of technology, enjoying the sensory illusion of happiness that it provides. I entertain myself with the unreal reality of sports, television and movies. I keep my eyes and ears focused on the weather forecasters and news pundits, thinking they can give me a glimpse of the future. These are all futile pursuits as God told Israel when they complained because they were being overrun by the Ammonites.
But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!” - Judges 10:13-14 NIV
Oh, I don't want to be in that position. I don't want our country to be in that position, where our fortunes are dependent on the gods that we have chosen. If the gods of technology and prognostication are what we're serving, we're doomed. Yet, I can't expect anything around me to change unless there is a sea change in me. I feel as if I'm doomed.
The Israelites based their change of hearts on what ever leader God provided for them at the time. Thanks be to God, who once and for all time provided one to show us the way and gave us his Spirit to help us carry out what we are unable to do on our own.
But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!” - Judges 10:13-14 NIV
Oh, I don't want to be in that position. I don't want our country to be in that position, where our fortunes are dependent on the gods that we have chosen. If the gods of technology and prognostication are what we're serving, we're doomed. Yet, I can't expect anything around me to change unless there is a sea change in me. I feel as if I'm doomed.
The Israelites based their change of hearts on what ever leader God provided for them at the time. Thanks be to God, who once and for all time provided one to show us the way and gave us his Spirit to help us carry out what we are unable to do on our own.
2010 Post - Judges 10-12: The Prostitutes Son
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Judges 8-9: Worshipping an Ephod
Gideon was wise and followed after God. As a result, he was successful in saving Israel from the Midianites. He made at least one fatal mistake. He took the gold that had been given to him as his share of the plunder and made an ephod. Gideon made the gold into an ephod, which he placed in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family. - Judges 8:27 NIV
What was this ephod? Originally the ephod was part of the garment worn by the high priest. Obviously, this is talking about something different, but what? Or does it really matter. Whatever it was, it became a snare to Gideon and his family because they worshipped it. That may not have been Gideon's original intent, he may have thought he was creating something holy, but any object, even one that is intentioned as holy, can become a snare when it becomes the object of our worship. We have always had the inclination to worship the creation rather than the creator. What are we worshipping today? Something we have built of our own to honor God or God himself. It really does matter.
What was this ephod? Originally the ephod was part of the garment worn by the high priest. Obviously, this is talking about something different, but what? Or does it really matter. Whatever it was, it became a snare to Gideon and his family because they worshipped it. That may not have been Gideon's original intent, he may have thought he was creating something holy, but any object, even one that is intentioned as holy, can become a snare when it becomes the object of our worship. We have always had the inclination to worship the creation rather than the creator. What are we worshipping today? Something we have built of our own to honor God or God himself. It really does matter.
2010 Post - Judges 8-9: Fire in the Thornbush
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)