Why then do I not “cry out” more often to the Lord when I’m breathing air on the surface and not depending on a bottle of compressed gas to sustain my temporal life? I’m certainly aware that I totally fall short of the Lord’s standards (verse 3) and of His provision of His incredible gift of forgiveness to cure me of my terminal condition (verse
4)—but why do I not “…cry to You O Lord” more consistently? Have I become too comfortable and familiar with this earthly home? Unfortunately, when I am honest with myself this is periodically the case. Why do I not consider myself an interloper in a world which is becoming darker by the moment (reduced visibility), driven by the sinful whims of humans (as shifting currents), with an overdependence on manmade toys (failed equipment)? It must be because I have inadvertently distanced myself from my Savior just as Peter did when he denied his Savior. Cause me to once again draw close my Lord!

I do wait for the Lord and His return (verses 4 and 5) and many days just cannot believe He hasn’t come back to repair and reclaim broken mankind—me especially. Let me be more than just a watchman keeping guard over the fields or people by night (verse 6). Let me proclaim my Lord through word and action alike to those who don’t know you. Let me totally and expectantly anticipate your return my Lord and Savior with the hope of hearing the words, “Well done good and faithful servant!”

I’m not sure how appropriate it is to say you have a “favorite” account of the death of Christ, but I really have come to appreciate the details of John’s account. His whole book is really chocked full of the fulfillment of Christ, not just as Messiah, but as The Passover Lamb. This doesn’t really seem all that impressive until you go looking for it (parallels with the Passover lamb) in the other gospels. If you do, you won’t find much. From John the Baptist’s proclamation that Jesus was the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world (1:29) to the description of the soldiers not breaking Jesus bones, you find many facts in John’s account that are completely left out of the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) that paint a picture of Jesus as The Passover Lamb. We take this connection for granted as New Testament Christians, but the Old Testament does not clearly describe the Messiah as being the Passover Lamb of God with great clarity. It was a mystery to God’s people and must have been so profound for authors like John to see it unfold. I find the prophetic parallels between the Passover lamb (and the individual components of the Seder meal) and Christ to be an amazing piece of art painted by God over the span of hundreds of years.

John 18 starts with the account of Jesus traveling “over the ravine of the Kidron valley” as He and His disciples moved to the garden. The synoptic gospels describe this night as Passover when thousands (some estimate >250,000) of lambs would have been slain. The blood from all of these lambs made the hillside adjacent to where Jesus walked this night a black, dirty mess. In response to this potential health hazard, Herod had an aqueduct built to wash the blood away. This blood would have run down the ravine of the Kidron valley. Imagine the imagery for Jesus as he traveled over this ravine and saw the red tinted water. His blood would soon be shed as the fulfillment and replacement of this very old tradition that started way back in Egypt.

The Passover events started on the 10th day of the month Nissan when the Jews would go and select an acceptable lamb from the herd. This lamb would save them. Naturally as the tradition was performed after the original exodus this was symbolic, but the death of that first lamb did literally save the people as its blood was the sign for the death angel to “passover" that particular household. This selection day (10th day of Nissan) was the same day that the Jewish people selected Jesus as their Messiah. This was the day (Palm Sunday) that he rode into Jerusalem on the foal and the people shouted “hosanna” begging Jesus to be their Messiah and save them. Amazingly, they would turn on Him and kill him only days later.

The parallels between Jesus and the lamb continue throughout the story. This is particularly true if He died on Passover (as the lambs would have). The differing views on when Jesus died makes for a very interesting story for debate and dialogue, but it’s a bit long … how about the short version? There is evidence that different sects of Jews followed different calendars that were off from each other by one day. This means that both groups would have celebrated Passover on the 14th day of the month (Nissan) just as God prescribed but would have done so on two different days (I guess it would be like not honoring leap year and celebrating Christmas one day early). This would explain why Matthew, Mark, and Luke clearly describe the day of the Last Supper as Passover, whereas John describes the next day (when he died) as being Passover (see 18:28). In this scenario Jesus could have celebrated Passover with His disciples and had the opportunity to transform the eating of the bread after dinner (part of the Seder) and the drinking of the cup (one of four such ceremonial drinking episodes in the Seder) into what we know as communion. Additionally, by dying on Passover, the parallel to the Passover Lamb is entirely preserved as He would have died just at the end of the Passover day just like the lambs did. Other narratives describe the sour wine Jesus was given. John is described as being at the cross and he alone mentions that hyssop (used in the original Passover to apply the blood) was used to deliver the wine. Maybe that’s a stretch as a Passover parallel.

The Old Testament Passover was followed three days later by the festival of first fruits. Why such timing? It was spring, and this is when the Jews would honor God with their first fruits. The rich, full reason for the timing of first fruits came three days after Jesus’ death when he rose from the dead on the day of first fruits to become THE first fruit (from the dead) to complete the prophetical fulfillment of the Passover events by The Lamb of God, our Messiah.

All of the other gospel writers wrote their accounts in the first 30 years after the death and resurrection of our Lord. John had an extra 20 years (approximately) to ponder all that he had seen, heard (and probably read in the accounts of the synoptics) and experienced before and after Jesus ascended. The temple was also destroyed between the synoptic accounts and Johns. This was pretty significant in taking away the Jews’ opportunity to sacrifice. I think God particularly inspired John to paint this beautiful picture of Jesus that started thousands of years earlier in Egypt as part of God’s masterful plan of salvation.

It may seem odd to others, but the picture of Messiah that the Jews unknowingly painted of their future Savior (in the specifics of their Passover celebration) is one of the central points of my faith because it shows the supernatural God at work in orchestrating a story that only He could unfold so miraculously. For me, it validates the authenticity and the legitimacy of the Messiahship and deity of Christ. Very impressive work, God. I’m glad we have John’s account, so we get to appreciate it. I’m not 100% certain about the competing calendars and all that, but it is interesting food for thought as we ponder how exactly this whole miraculous event unfolded and how God’s sovereign plan played out in all its wonderfully beautiful layers.

Abraham was promised not only an heir, but that his progeny would be so numerous as to be uncountable. The failure to wait in the face of unlikely physical circumstances led to the birth of Ishmael and a conflict which remains to this day.

Joseph waited well in the face of unjust persecution, slavery, false accusation, imprisonment and abandonment to become God’s instrument for the rescue of His people.

Saul failed to wait for Samuel to come and offer the sacrifice with disastrous consequences.

Waiting is hard, yet in recent days we’ve seen an example of waiting well in the face of circumstances that seem to fly in opposition to God’s promise.

As a mere sheepherding teenager, with an anointed and sitting king still on the throne (Saul), David was anointed as the future king of Israel. Sitting kings/rulers didn’t have much tolerance for potential rivals then. The common practice in antiquity was for a king to consolidate power and protect any threat to a dynasty by eliminating all potential rivals. Herod was, in fact, doing that very thing when he ordered the “slaughter of the innocents” in Bethlehem in an attempt to secure his throne against the one the wisemen came seeking. It’s in this context of competing claims to the throne of Israel with all of the associated potential consequences that we see David waiting.

How long does one have to wait? David has been anointed, yet he remains loyal to Saul. He waits. Even when being targeted by Saul for death as a rival not only to Saul, but in Saul’s eyes a rival to his heir Jonathan, David remains loyal. He waits. When encouraged by his band of followers to take Saul’s life, David spares Saul’s life twice when Saul is totally at his mercy. He waits. When Saul’s death is reported to him by one bringing Saul’s crown and who claims to be the one who ended Saul’s life, David does not rejoice. David, in fact, mourns Saul’s death and ends the life of the one who claims to have ended Saul’s. He waits. During the ensuing civil war when proof of the demise of Saul’s heir and David’s rival is brought to David by murderous men, David does not reward them - he enacts justice on those men for their shameful act. He waits. We’ve finally read this week that David was acclaimed as king over all of Israel. The waiting has stopped – for now.

How could David wait while enduring incredible odds and obstacles - bearing up under years of deprivation, running, intrigue and civil strife all while rejecting opportunities to seize the throne through murder or be the benefactor of murderers? Add to that the stress of living for years under a death sentence based on the false accusation of a jealous and powerful man desperately clinging to his position and most people would have given up in utter despair or have grasped any occasion to seize the throne regardless as to the method or the consequences. Succinctly - David had an unshakable faith in God’s promise based on his intimate understanding of and faith in God’s proven character.

The exciting thing is that the same offer to come and know God and His character is here for each one of us. It makes me want the same and pray that the same desire has been sparked in our daily reading for many at Grace Point. It makes the waiting in our lives possible – what am I/are we waiting for?

O Israel, trust the LORD!
He is your helper and your shield.   

O priests, descendants of Aaron, trust the LORD! 
He is your helper and your shield.   

All you who fear the LORD, trust the LORD!  
He is your helper

The LORD remembers us and will bless us
He will bless the people of Israel
and bless the priests, the descendants of Aaron. 

He will bless those who fear the LORD, both great and lowly.

The psalmist reminds us to trust . . . then he reminds us what happens to those who trust God. They are blessed.

This last season of my life has been all about trusting God. We have pursued God’s heart for us, he has spoken to us, and we putting our trust in God. We have faith that because of those decisions, because we fear God we will bless us.

How can you trust God today? Will you trust him, or will you be consumed with fear and doubt? Listen to God, trust Him, and you will be blessed.

When you started into I Samuel this week, did you notice that it starts out with a cry from a godly woman? While the people were crying for a king, Hannah is crying for a child. In chapter 1 we get a glimpse of a Hannah’s husband, Elkanah. This guy is a real piece of work. We men like to have guys like Elk around because he tends to make us look better in the eyes of our women. Don’t get me wrong, he really did love Hannah as exhibited by the double portion in 1:5, but old Elk could also slip into the “it’s all about me” mode rather easily. Note 1:8 where he exhibits this mode with “Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?” As I write that, I realize that we men have not changed all that much over the years. Most of us are vulnerable to the same slide that Elk found his way to. It also struck me that he was a bit blind to the fact that his other wife seemed to be a nasty natured person who dealt much misery to Hannah.

So moving on with the story, God hears Hannah’s prayer and blesses her with a child whom she names Samuel because “I asked the Lord for him.” She then took him to Eli (the Priest) so that her son Samuel could be dedicated to the Lord. She was fulfilling her vow to God.

Chapter two begins with Hannah’s prayer of thanksgiving. Her prayer is thought by many to be one of the greatest prayers captured in the scriptures. It is also prophetic in that she mentions the Messiah for the first time. Deliverance…Salvation. Amazing stuff!

She has been victorious over those who ridiculed her for being barren. She is rejoicing in her salvation. There is for Hannah a present deliverance.

If we think about the three tenses of salvation, I feel we can safely place Hannah into the middle or present tense.

Past Tense…We have been saved. If we hear and believe we will have eternal life. “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned. He has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24). I understand that to mean God has delivered us from the guilt of sin by the death of Jesus. This is justification.

Present Tense…We are being saved. We are delivered from sin. Delivered from the weakness of the flesh. Our old nature hangs around and causes us to sin. This is where I believe we place Hannah from the story in 1 Samuel. This is sanctification.

Future Tense…We shall be saved. Deliverance from death in the future. Not physical but spiritual death. “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears we shall be like him. For we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2. This will be Glorification.

The book of Psalms repeats over and over that salvation is of the Lord (Ps. 37:39). We have been justified freely by His Grace (Rom.3:24). Freely meaning “without a cause.” We had nothing to merit our salvation. The explanation is simply God. He loves us.

Hannah was truly a godly woman and she was right on target.

God is the "Rock of our salvation."
Come; let us sing for joy to the Lord;
Let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before Him with Thanksgiving
And extol him with music and song.

Psalm 95 suggests some of the forms of worship that we can enjoy.

1. Singing. There are many kinds and styles of music. But music expresses human thought emotionally and Christianity is a religion that doesn't deny emotion. More particularly, singing expresses joy, and the Bible's 'religion' at its heart is joyful. True, there are times of sorrow for sin. There is empathy for those who are suffering or deprived. But there is also joy in our salvation and enthusiastic praise of God, who is the Source of our salvation!

2. Shouting. We should remember that there are a number of traditions that do shout their expressions or at least with a loud “Amen”.

3. Music. The unaccompanied singing is music, but not necessarily what the psalmist had in mind here, since he is of extolling God both with “music and song”. Though this psalm does not mention the instruments that might have been used to make worship music, many other psalms do, and the list includes, templates, harps, layers, tambourines, stirrings, and cymbals. We can even add further instruments such as piano, guitars, electric keyboards and drums. Indeed this psalm is making the point that it is right and natural to use every musical means to worship God.

4. Words. First we must hear God's words, so we might know Who it is we are worshiping and why. Then we can use words to express our adoration of Him! 

Psalm 96 begins:

Sing to the Lord a new song;
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, praise His name;
proclaim His salvation day after day.
Declare His glory among the nations,
His marvelous deeds among all peoples.

We have just seen a few ways in which we can worship God.

So now in verses 3-7 there are two important reasons why we should worship him.

1. Because God is such an awesome God. We, who know him, find our hearts bursting forth in praise and adoration to Him. But until we grasp who the Lord is we are never really moved to worship Him as we ought.

For the Lord is the great God,
The great King above all Gods.
|In His hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belonging to him.
The sea is His, for he made it,
and His hands formed the dry land.

2. Because God is our own Shepherd. This becomes a very special personal call for worship of the living God -- "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me (Ps.23:1-4).

Using a common but beautiful pastoral image, the Psalmist says that we are God's sheep, "the flock under his care."

Sitting in my office at Western Seminary the other day, I experienced a true worship moment. Going through my e-mails, trying to rush through them to accomplish the given tasks for the day I was urged by one of the senders to take a moment and listen to a song. I was treated to a worship moment with the music skills and ability of Carrie Underwood and Vince Gill. But halfway through the song as beautifully sung as it was I found myself joining them in singing, "How Great Thou Art". These performers who were uniquely touched of God, powerfully led their audiences in a moment of worship. I was so moved by the song I began to weep, than joined in praise, and a little bit of shouting (just Amen), singing and worshiping the Lord! I had been in the presence of the King! He met me in a new and fresh way, and I came to a new appreciation for how to worship God -- with no restrictions. Just a full awareness that the music will be better and the choir will be larger, when I see Him face-to-face. For indeed that is what heaven will be like.

Revelation 5:11 

"Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang:

"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" 

The four living creatures said, "AMEN," and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Be sure not to miss church these days as we do indeed worship together. Look again at Psalm 95 as it calls to our hearts. 

“So come let us sing for joy to the Lord;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. 
Let us come before Him with Thanksgiving 
and extol him with music and song”.

Rejoicing. . .Larry McCracken

So in reading through the One Year Bible this week I recognized someone on which I probably would have quit. This guy seemed to care more about money than God, and certainly more about money than his fellow citizens. He’s the kind of guy that needed nobody and could take care of himself. Who was this man?

We read in Luke 19:1-10 about Zacchaeus, the chief tax-collector. He was the man who contracted with the Roman Empire to collect taxes in the region of Jericho. He would have chosen who to hire as tax-collectors. He would have skimmed off the top of what his tax-collectors skimmed off the top of their fellow Israelites. And he would have been filthy rich too.

So it’s no surprise that he was despised by his own countrymen. He was described by them as a ‘sinner’ (v.7). He had been written off. There was no hope that he could care about God and people.

And yet Zacchaeus is intrigued by Jesus. He wanted to see who Jesus was, he wanted to know more. Being short, he climbs a tree to see Jesus. Something considered only doable by a prophet, Jesus calls him by name, and invites Himself to dinner at Zacchaeus’ house. The crowd is shocked that Jesus would associate with a ‘sinner.’

Zacchaeus wasn’t interested in the God worshipped by his neighbors, and he didn’t want to care for them the way God desired. And yet Jesus hasn’t given up on Zacchaeus. He is changed by the grace given by Jesus. Zacchaeus responds to this grace by making restitution in quadruple to all he’s cheated and gives half of what he has to the poor. In fact, his response goes beyond the requirements of the Pharisees who only required four-fold restitution for a stolen sheep or ox that was slaughtered or sold.

I would have given up on Zacchaeus. Jesus did not. And the result of Jesus’ grace is a changed man…a man who is now a powerful agent in God’s Kingdom. And I would have left him to extort from more people.

Maybe it’s easy for you to be like me, to give up, to say, “They can’t be changed.” Luke 18:1-8 reminds us to never give up in prayer. Will you keep praying for those in your life and in our world who need Jesus?

Will you show them the same grace Jesus showed Zacchaeus; the same grace He showed you?

Will we live a life like Jesus that so that people would want to see who we are?

Imagine the response in their life if salvation came to their house.

It surprised the Israelites that Jesus would care about Zacchaeus. Does it surprise you that He cares about those in our world that we’ve written off? It shouldn't. After all, Jesus ends His time in this scene giving us His purpose. He came to seek and to save what was lost.

Each of us has a different personality. For some who hear those words, they simply accept it, say “OK”, and move on. Others hear those words as motivation, “Really, you don’t think so? Watch me.” Can you guess which type of person I am?

Most of us want to be the exception: The one person who the rules don’t apply to.

This morning as I read from the One Year Bible, I was stuck on Jesus words from Luke 16:13, “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Do you know anyone who wants to be the exception to that statement? Are they in the mirror each morning?

This statement of course has a context, Jesus just told a hard to understand parable about a manager who gave all his boss’ stuff away so that when he lost his job he would have friends. And yet he was commended, because he used wealth to solidify a future for himself. After this parable, and Jesus’ no exceptions statement, Jesus talks about the rich man and Lazarus (a beggar who the rich man passed by often). You can read the account in Luke 16 if you are not familiar with it, but for now let’s just say it didn’t turn out so well in the end for the rich man.

This morning I was confronted with a truth I didn’t want to hear, and one I don’t think the American church wants to hear. You cannot love both God and Money. (Period!) No exceptions, no getting around it, love for money and love for God are two things that do not mix. You have to choose. And Luke 16 leads us to understand why. Each day we are confronted with realities in the world, and following Jesus means responding to those realities with our money. So we have a choice daily whether we are going to hoard money (or spend it selfishly), or whether we are going to use it to solidify a future for us beyond the grave.

If we love God, we respond and give what we have. If we love our money, we don’t. I don’t know that I really like Jesus teaching here (it’s hard). The Pharisees certainly didn’t like it because they loved money. But the line has been drawn; our love is what motivates us one way or the other, no exceptions.

I find that Jesus’ mission, words and actions – and His effect on the people he encountered – captivate me. It is interesting to me that Jesus describes his purpose a little differently than how we might typically define it. Luke 4:18-19 records these words from Isaiah:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

For much of my life I’ve reduced Jesus’ words to a spiritual sense rather than the context in which he speaks. What impact these words must have had on the poor, the prisoner, the blind, and the oppressed. I’m certain these words have spiritual implications – but as I read the chapters that follow – he really brings good news to real people suffering in poverty, injustice, disease and disability, and oppression for hundreds of years by outside polities.

The kingdom of God is Good News for marginalized people who are powerless – whose dreams are suppressed by their various circumstances. Jesus is the restorer of kingdom dreams! He restores a man from Capernaum tormented by an evil spirit. He restores Simon’s mother-in-law who is suffering from a fever – a much more life threatening condition in Jesus’ day. As a result of these acts, people are brought to him and he continues to heal, release, and proclaim his good news!

The kingdom of God is Good News for a group of fishermen. Luke 5:1-11 has great significance – it’s an amazing fishing story. It makes me wonder how I would react if Jesus went for a boat ride with me and we caught more fish than we could handle alone…I wonder if Peter and the rest considered making Jesus their business partner? Instead, Jesus calls them to come into his business – and “So they pulled their boats up on the shore, left everything and followed him.” Following Jesus is counter-intuitive. Following Jesus is counter-culture. Following Jesus resists common sense. Following Jesus restores dreams and restores purpose and restores hope.

These chapters in Luke are so rich in showing the way of Jesus – the way of the disciple. What does it mean to be a Christian? Simply put – it means to follow Jesus – completely. He heals – but even more, he touches the leper. He heals – spiritually as well as physically because of the faith of friends who bring their broken friend to Jesus despite the obstacles. He restores Levi, oppressed by his own shame – and gives him a new purpose and calling.

There is so much more to Jesus – and I’m left asking, “Am I more like those he called or those who opposed him? Do I care about who he cared about?” The kingdom life is so much more than the “personal relationship” and a future oriented faith. It is our relationship with Him now that calls us into a radical way of life. It is a call to follow Jesus – to do what he does, touch who he touches, think what he thinks, act how he acts, love who and how he does, give comfort as he has…

I have so far to go. I’m so immature in my following of Jesus. I’ve not arrived…but the process is the point. I’m to follow, and in following I will be changed from the inside out. After all, “A student is not above (their) teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like (their) teacher (6:40).”

So as I read through Jesus’ proclaimed mission to the suffering and impoverished (in so many ways) and the opposition he faced by the religious leaders – I’m left to ask, “Where am I in Jesus’ story? Who am I following? Who’s my teacher?” I suppose it’s easy to see, really – “Each tree is recognized by its own fruit (6:44).” I’m so thankful that Jesus heals and restores – I, too, need the Lord’s favor!

As a scientist, I must say that I tend to look for “natural” causes for many of God’s works in the Bible. If there is fire and brimstone raining down on Sodom, perhaps there is some sort of fault line near a sulfur source that given the right conditions might result in sulfur literally raining down somewhere. My natural brain tends to shy away from the explanation of direct supernatural intervention. Definitely this is a weakness for me, and it isn’t actually even logical (which is ironic). Why would one’s brain allow for the idea of supernatural intervention at times (tough to come up with a naturalistic cause for the resurrection that doesn’t completely shatter my faith) but be resistant to it in other circumstances? Childlike faith is not my strength at times. I guess it makes sense then that I would then get a talking donkey in my first blog as your most junior overseer.

The story of Balaam (and his noble steed) falls directly before Joshua’s succession of Moses and after the sin of Moses (hitting the rock he was instructed to speak to), so we’re just about to usher the Israelites into the Promise Land. In short, Balak the king of Moab asks Balaam to curse Israel (which was a good thought since his future looked pretty bleak with the Israelites headed his way). It doesn’t appear entirely clear to me what Balaam’s relationship to Yahweh is, but Balaam knows enough not to oppose the clear will of God.

It seems clear that if God allowed it, Balaam would have happily cursed Israel for the reward offered him for doing so (in fact Balak likely came to him because he was typically available to hire for such a task). Unfortunately for poor, greedy Balaam, God did not allow Balaam to go with Balak’s men and curse God’s people. The story gets interesting, yet a little confusing when Balak sends in his varsity squad of negotiators (and a better bribe) the next round. This may be somewhat conjecture, but it seems fairly clear that God has already spoken on the issue. God does not tell Balaam that Balak’s price is not yet high enough to curse His people. He simply says “Do not go with them; you shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.”

God’s response is without ambiguity. Why then does Balaam return to God a second time when the price is more enticing? As I said, the story gets a little confusing at this point. God allows him to go, yet is angry that he does (leading to the well known story of Balaam smacking his talking donkey while narrowly escaping the sword of the Lord). Perhaps we aren’t given all of the information. I’ll leave further questions to better scholars than I. We also aren’t told why Balaam doesn’t seem to think it odd that his donkey is speaking. Perhaps Balaam’s omitted response was “gee wiz you are a really smart donkey.” God would have known how that would eventually translate in the King James and would have wisely left his response out to eliminate years of snickering in Sunday Schools. Forgive my old English joke, let’s get back on track here… Let’s go back to a simple principle at play here because it seems to play out in our lives (and those around us) very often with sometimes devastating consequences.

The principle is this: do we clearly hear from God on an issue and then later make attempts to come up with different answers when temptation increases. Here’s a common example. I have yet to have a conversation with a Christian brother or sister who is single (not dating or married) in which they have concluded that dating/marrying someone who doesn’t share their faith is an idea that God approves of. I have, however, seen time and again believers asking (again) this question when they happen to meet someone with whom there is mutual interest that is A) clearly not a believer and B) an otherwise spectacular dating option for them.

Let’s try another example. I have been blessed with a wonderful wife. I know today that in the future if we were to fall on difficult times (relationally) I might to be tempted to wander (mentally or physically) or simply give up on our relationship. God has spoken on my responsibility and moral obligation. As with Balaam, God has spoken without ambiguity. But how many people have found themselves in the middle of similar temptation and taken a request to God where the answer is already abundantly clear. I think this is particularly dangerous. Is God really in a position to have to be redundant on issues like this? In our sin we may go to Him with the same heart as Balaam. We know He has spoken. We know it is written. Yet we persist in making insincere petitions of God in the hopes that some warm, fuzzy feeling will take hold in us that we can attribute to God to pacify our need to justify our sin.

This highlights two needs. 1. To be men and women of conviction even when the truth or righteousness is more difficult and less convenient than a selfish desire. 2. To be students of God’s word early and often. Once the emotions of life become involved in decision making, it is difficult to remain objective. If I have no idea what God thinks about ending a marriage to begin a new relationship, how foolish would I be to attempt to ascertain what God thinks about that for the first time after temptation has already occurred? The heart is deceitful, and a time like that is a perfect opportunity to see that principle at work.

There is an endless list of issues that we must make decisions on between now and the grave. Who/how to date, work requirements that we are and are not OK with, appropriate responses to a myriad of situations, and on and on. The better equipped we are to answer those questions preemptively before any level of temptation is in the equation, the easier it is to be honest with ourselves and God. For too many there is not a “Mr. Ed” (or whatever Balaam’ donkey’ name was) to warn them of the danger to come if they continue on a particular path. If God has settled something, it is our job A) to know God’s position and B) to resist the temptation to pursue sin if God doesn’t creatively restate His position (since He has already made it abundantly clear to us).

I do not happen to be one that finds certainty easily when dealing with God’s perspective on an issue. I tend to question everything and try to dissect out man’s tradition on a particular issue until I am comfortable with a conclusion. Even then, I want to leave myself open to reinterpreting an issue given new information or perspectives, but NOT simply because of a new temptation. Somehow it is easy for me to see how ridiculous it is when my kids ask me repeatedly for the same thing. Perhaps “obey all the way, right away” should be a speech I should also give to myself (but maybe not 20 times a day!) and not just my kids.

For those of you who like a good western, you may have seen the movie “Quigley Down Under.” In my humble opinion it is a good movie. In this film the star, Matthew Quigley, played by Tom Selleck coins a phrase that I keep in my memory bank and use from time to time. The phrase is “That’s for sure and for certain.” So borrowing his phrase let me try this blogging thing on for size.

Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so…is the only thing that I can honestly say fits within Quigley’s phrase for me; “That’s for sure and for certain.” At least it sort of sums it up for me. Everything else seems to have been thought through over and over, written down time and again, analyzed, opinionized, catergorized, and viewed from every possible perspective by men far more learned and much smarter than I. At times, I question whether or not there are really any original thoughts left on the subject of the Bible.

Now that we have that established let me comment on some of what we read the week of 2-13-11.

I think Psalm 37 is worth some discussion. It is of course a psalm of David. Did you know or notice that each verse in this psalm begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet? Example…two verses of this psalm begin with Aleph, two with Beth, two with Gimel, right on through the alphabet. Think about that. It is similar to the way we teach our kids. “A” is for apple, “B” is for baby, “C” is for cat and so it goes. One difference is that our children’s books generally have pictures and there is a definite shortage of pictures in the Bible.

Many of us have something in common with David that is described in both Psalm 37 and then again in 73. It bugged David when evil people prospered. I have to admit it bugs me right here right now in today’s world. David came to a conclusion that seems to help a bit. He concluded not unlike Asaph in psalm 73 that someday the wicked will be cut down and like grass that has been cut it soon withers away. I can recall a fairly recent conversation with some guys where we were discussing how God could have allowed a wicked evil guy like Hitler to do some of the terrible things he did. How about Musolini and all of his atrocities? You don’t have to go nearly that far in world history to find evil dudes but those are a couple who might be somewhere near the top of more than one list. But where are those men
today? Give God time and He will deal with the evil and wicked people.

What can we do today when we see so many evil doers prospering? Might I suggest psalm 37:3 & 4. “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” These were promises for Israel but I think it applies to us today. Far be it from me to say that you can translate any of this into “He is therefore going to bless my career or my personal financial investments. It does however point to the fact that He will shower you with spiritual blessings. Then in verse 4 he tells us something else we can do; “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Wow! His promises just get better as long as we keep the proper perspective.

God was telling Israel don’t spend time or effort worrying about the evil doers. Trust in me and I will take care of you. I think that is still His message to us today. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this…”and that’s for sure and for certain.”

Jim Wilson

However, I was challenged when I read Psalm 31:15-16, "My times are in your hands." This challenging verse is reinforced with the instructions of the opening verses of chapter 31. Here the psalmist speaks of a prayer for help in time of trouble (v. 1-5); of a positive expression of trusting God (v. 6-8); a lament over past physical sickness or distress (v. 9-13); then a call to trusting God (v. 14-18), which he followed with praise to God for His help in times of trouble.

I soon came to those striking words of Psalm 31:15, "My times are in your hands." I wondered what times he was speaking of. I believe it was from the time of his earliest steps as just a small child when the parents became the hand of God for their child. It was that time when he totally relied upon his parents, for their counsel, guidance and development. To be the extended hand from God is an awesome responsibility for all parents. Proverbs 22:6 reminds us to "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turned from it." It is less about what we say at that stage of life and more by what we live out in front of the child that determines his life path and practices.

Then there comes the time of the youth years when you come to realize that now you are sharing God's hand with others. Youth make their decisions, influenced by those that are good and others that are bad with whom they associate. It's a time when parents must hold tightly to God’s hand and still lightly hold the young person’s hand as they seek to leave home and enter more fully into life around them. So we need to take comfort that God is working out His plan for good for those who love Him.

Then comes the time of our maturity, but we too are in God's hands. In those days when we are about our Father's business, we will experience success as well as defeats. Even in spiritual work, everything does not always go well. Does that mean that God has abandoned us? Not at all! The times of defeat as well as the times of victory are controlled by God. So we remember Proverbs 3:5-6, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."

Finally, the times of old age are in God's hands as well, from the developing stage of the youngest child to the strength of youth that now has blossomed into the full age of maturity. We come to that period of time when the strength of youth has faded away and the opportunities for starting new works are now past. But praise God, He still cares for us in our old age and is able to bless those days as much as any others.

Looking back I understand how important it is to be in His hands. I'm reminded that God is present in all ages and circumstances of life. Certainly nothing has come into our life that surprises Him. Nothing can come into your life that has not first of all passed through the filter of His "good, pleasing and perfect will." For in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him. And if I could only learn to be content in whatever circumstance I find myself, I will have learned the true meaning of “My times are in your hands." Praise God for that encouragement.

But cause and effect isn’t always about what happens now. I’ve got to think of the distant future in my choices today. For example, it would be easy to sit down with the baby in front of the TV every time he cries…because it calms him down. Problem solved, right!? But I know that I want to put off the addicting quality that TV has for a while longer, so instead, we resort to rocking, bouncing, etc…

Prudence teaches us to think of the future in our decisions today and to go past the immediate for a long term look. A prudent life is big in the book of Proverbs. In fact the fear of the Lord in Proverbs 1:1-7 leads to wisdom, and a prudent life.

It’s not something we are born with. You may hear many parents ask their teens if they thought about the outcome before they made the decision (at least my parents asked me that!), and the answer is no…because prudence is still being acquired.

So when I read the rhetorical questions of Proverbs 6:27-28 this week…I was reminded of prudence.

“Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched?”

The obvious answer is no. And while the immediate context deals with sexual sin, I can’t help but widen the implication to sin and our choices in general. Proverbs provides a great metaphor here for the pain caused by poor choices and sin, which leads to the reality of destructive consequences.

Of course we know that our actions have outcomes and consequences, but often it’s easy to think of our situation as the exception. We won’t be hurt or cause pain by the offense we carry out...but the truth is, we will.

We get in trouble when we think we know best, giving the Designer of life a back seat in our decision making.

Instead, why don’t we trust Jesus, who said, “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” (John 10:10b, The Message)

So how do you make choices? Do you make choices based on temporary gratification? Or do you live prudently, knowing your actions have long term effects?

Let’s seek to fear the Lord in the way Proverbs describes,

Pastor Aaron

Other times when Jesus asks, it feels hard . . . too hard. I don’t want to do it. Fear begins to take over and I begin to look for excuses as to why not: I am not gifted for that, I am not the right person, and I can reach for a whole shelf of other reasons. But His request, His call remains.

As I read Exodus 3 this morning as a part of our church reading plan, I saw that in Moses. 

God pursued Moses saying, “take off your sandals, for the ground is holy.” Going barefoot? Not hard. I can do that. But God didn’t stop there. He said, “I want you to bring my people out of Egypt.”

Moses’ reply was, “Who am I?”

Moses was wrestling with feelings of inadequacy for God’s call. I feel that in my life. But God didn't respond with “You are adequate.” He said, “I will be with you.” God’s presence is what will make the difference in his mission. Note: that is the same thing Jesus said at the Great Commission, as He sent out his disciples, “I will be with you always.”

Then Moses replied “Who are you?” And God answers, “I AM the existent one. Before anything else was, I was . . . I AM!”

I’M NOT! I am not the existent one. But I was not meant to be. God created me to be and to do something unique, something for Him. My fears, hold backs, excuses, expose the need to trust Him more. To have faith that He will be with me; to have faith in the character and power of God.

When I put it that way (more accurately because God put it that way), my heart begins to fill with courage. I begin to believe that God can do something and use me in the process.

May you be filled with courage also as you trust in His presence and character to live out what He hasasked you to do. And if you are not sure what that is right now, join me in listening.

Pastor Jon

This week, when I read Psalm 18, I was struck by how this worked for David. Remember: he was “a man after God’s own heart” (see 1 Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22). I don’t know all that expression means, but I like the sound of it. So sign me up! But it might be helpful to look a little closer first at the psalm David wrote and notice ... being a man after God’s own heart isn’t the same as saying, “God I want cake and punch and two scoops of ice cream, please.” It may be hard. Plenty hard.

Consider that David probably wrote this after the Lord delivered him from the hand of his enemies ... especially Saul. Don’t miss the many metaphors David uses to describe the Lord he loves. The Lord had been a rock – fortress – deliverer – shield – horn – stronghold (v.2). What makes these things so important to David is described in verses 4-5. David was in a tough spot. Several times he talks about facing such difficulties that he nearly died!

Now for a surprising twist. What impresses me more than God delivering David, is that God would allow someone He’s crazy about (“man after God’s own heart!”) to experience such difficulties in the first place! What’s it say about God that He allows serious suffering into our lives ... the lives of people He loves?

One writer was honest but wrong in her assessment. Complains Teresa of Avila, “God, if this is the way you treat your friends, it’s no wonder you have so few!”

Maybe. But more likely, when God lets hard stuff into our lives it’s to make us people after His own heart. And, at the same time, give us a chance to see Him as David did ... as our Rock – Fortress – Deliverer. 

That’s the kind of friend I want!

~Pastor Steve

Supplemental Scriptures: James 1:2-5, Romans 5:3-5, 1 Peter 4:12-19

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