January 4, 2013

Friday: January 4, 2012

READ: 2 Corinthians 8

THINK: A challenge was presented to us earlier this week to consider the God-ordained economic system described in Exodus 16 and ask ourselves, in light of that, what is God’s call upon our lives in the area of our finances? You can click here to read that post, in which 2 Corinthians 8:12-15 was quoted.

“For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have. Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: ‘He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little.’” – 2 Corinthians 8:12-15

The challenge we were left with from Exodus 15-16 and the words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 8 tend to make us uncomfortable. There are a couple of natural responses to the issues of our generosity and others’ poverty: we consider poverty the government’s problem (whether or not we appreciate their handling of things) and tell ourselves there is no need for our generosity or we force ourselves into an unfortunate state of numbness in which we ignore poverty to the best of our ability to make sure our hearts are never moved enough to give. Those sound a lot worse when you have to read them spelled out, but for the most part we can become pretty comfortable turning a blind eye to the needs around us.

The Macedonians generous response to the needs around them (that Paul applauds them for in this passage) is so drastically different from a natural human response because there is nothing “natural” about it. It requires a supernatural working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts to create in us a selflessness so powerful that we are more concerned with equality (vs. 14) than we are with our own accumulation of wealth or comfort (vs. 14).  It requires a supernatural working of the Holy Spirit for rich generosity to pour out of our most severe trials as it did for the Macedonians (vs. 2).

 Generosity most certainly does not look the same for everyone, but its important to look closely at ourselves to see if we are truly even being generous – giving as much as we are able and even beyond our ability (vs. 3.) We have the most incredible example in Jesus Christ Himself, “that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (vs.9). If we long to be like him, we must “excel in this grace of giving” (vs. 7).

PRAY: Don’t let fear keep you from the throne of Christ – honestly share your hesitations, your fears, your confusion. Ask for an infusion of the Holy Spirit in your life to lead you, guide you, and give you the courage to be generous.

Posted by on January 4, 2013 in Uncategorized.

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January 3, 2013

Thursday: January 3, 2012

READ: 1 Samuel 27-28

BACKGROUND: By Verse –
27:1 – God promised to protect David, but he decided to trust himself and hide out in the territory of the enemy instead of remaining in Israel.
2 – Achish likely welcomed David because he knew David and his men were great warriors.
8-12 – David used the town of Ziklag as a base to attack the enemies of Israel. He then lied to Achish about it – telling him he was attacking Judah – so Achish would think David was his friend. He killed everyone he came across so nobody would be able to tell Achish the truth.
28:1-2 – Now, because of David’s deception, he’s in the terrible position of being expected to fight with the Philistines against his people.
7 – A woman who is a medium is one who practiced necromancy, a practice borrowed from the Canaanites. The medium would talk to the dead – who were not actually the spirits of the dead but instead demonic spirits pretending to be the dead.
12 – The medium was scared when Samuel actually showed up – because usually it was just a demonic spirit impersonating a dead person. This time, God actually sent Samuel to deliver his message.

THINK: I spent my time off for Christmas and New Years being incredibly productive and accomplishing very important tasks…like watching Star Wars. I couldn’t help it…there was a Star Wars marathon! I didn’t watch all 6 movies but I caught parts of them. And I did manage to see one of the greatest scenes ever: when Yoda gets into a light-saber fight with Count Dooku (towards the end of this video). Yoda is ridiculous! But that fight only became necessary because of the missteps of the young Jedi, Anakin Skywalker (at the beginning of the video). Anakin and his mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, had the chance to fight and overwhelm Dooku before Yoda arrived, if only they had worked together. But Anakin, lacking faith in his partner and surging with selfish pride decided to attack Dooku on his own. Predictably, it did not go well and Dooku was able to subdue both Anakin and Obi-Wan after fighting them as individuals.

Those of you who have never seen Star Wars – or have seen it and hate it – are probably wondering what the point of all this rambling is. Well, I think we often act like Anakin did whenever we’re faced with difficult situations. We start to lose our faith – in others and, most importantly, in God – and we pridefully choose to place our trust in ourselves and seek out our own solutions. The problem is: that’s a really stupid thing to do. It’s easy to watch the scene in Star Wars and think, “Wow, why would Anakin do that? That was so dumb!” But are we any smarter?

David and Saul weren’t. These two chapters record the poor choices that both of them made. Each of them faced a crisis and felt fear. And each of them knew where he should turn. And yet, when push came to shove, neither turned to God. They both decided to trust in their own plans and their own abilities instead of putting faith in God. And where did they end up? David ended up as part of a Philistine army that was headed out to fight his own people – the very people God had called him to lead. And Saul ended up in the house of a witch, getting a clear message that his life and his kingship were coming to an abrupt end.

We can learn something from them. It’s not just that God’s plans are always better than ours and that putting our faith in God is a way better idea than putting our faith in ourselves. We know that already. It’s a cold, hard, incontrovertible fact. We can learn something about human nature, about ourselves. And it is this: during difficult times, when we feel hard-pressed and scared and anxious, it is easy to lose our faith in God and start trusting ourselves. And it’s also a dumb thing to do. So, the next time you find yourself in a difficult situation and you’re feeling fear, stop and pray! Put your trust where it belongs: in God.

PRAY: Confess the situations in your life where you have abandoned your faith in God and trusted yourself instead. Place your trust him in today and ask him to help you conquer your fears through faith in him.

Posted by on January 3, 2013 in History.

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January 2, 2013

Wednesday: January 2, 2012

READ: Exodus 17-18

THINK: “And his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.” – Exodus 17:12

So mighty was the prayer of Moses, that all depended upon it. The petitions of Moses discomfited the enemy more than the fighting of Joshua. Yet both were needed. No, in the soul’s conflict, force and fervour, decision and devotion, valour and vehemence, must join their forces, and all will be well. You must wrestle with your sin, but the major part of the wrestling must be done alone in private with God. Prayer, like Moses’, holds up the token of the covenant before the Lord. The rod was the emblem of God’s working with Moses, the symbol of God’s government in Israel. Learn, O pleading saint, to hold up the promise and the oath of God before him. The Lord cannot deny his own declarations. Hold up the rod of promise, and have what you will.

Moses grew weary, and then his friends assisted him. When at any time your prayer flags, let faith support one hand, and let holy hope uplift the other, and prayer seating itself upon the stone of Israel, the rock of our salvation, will persevere and prevail. Beware of faintness in devotion; if Moses felt it, who can escape? It is far easier to fight with sin in public, than to pray against it in private. It is remarked that Joshua never grew weary in the fighting, but Moses did grow weary in the praying; the more spiritual an exercise, the more difficult it is for flesh and blood to maintain it. Let us cry, then, for special strength, and may the Spirit of God, who helpeth our infirmities, as he allowed help to Moses, enable us like him to continue with our hands steady “until the going down of the sun;” till the evening of life is over; till we shall come to the rising of a better sun in the land where prayer is swallowed up in praise.

By: Charles Spurgeon

PRAY: Ask God for the strength you need today to continue to be transformed into the person he wants you to be.

Posted by on January 2, 2013 in Law.

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January 1, 2013

Tuesday: January 1, 2013

Happy New Year!

READ: Psalm 70-71

THINK: An unknown author made this analogy: “Can you imagine the captain of a ship, driven about by rough winds and desiring to drop anchor, trying to find a suitable place to do so right on board his own vessel? Such a thing seems ridiculous, but for the sake of a lesson let’s picture the skipper doing that. He hangs the anchor at the bow, but still the boat drives before the wind. He sets it on the deck, but this too fails to hold it steady. At last he puts it down into the hold, but has no better success.

“You see, an anchor resting on the storm-driven craft will never do the job. Only as it is thrown into the deep can it be effective against the wind and tide. In the same way, the person whose confidence is in himself will never experience true peace and safety. His actions are as futile as one who keeps the anchor aboard his own ship. Cast your faith into the great depths of God’s eternal love and power. Place your trust in the infinitely faithful One.”

This is excellent advice! Remember, if your hope for riding out the storms of life is anchored on your own capabilities, your confidence has been tragically misplaced. Instead, with the psalmist declare, “In You, O Lord, I put my trust” (Ps. 71:1). We’ll be steady in the storm if we’re anchored to Christ the rock.

By: Richard De Haan in Our Daily Bread

ASK: As I enter in to a new year, where will my anchor be? In whom will I place my trust in 2013?

PRAY: Thank God for being a reliable anchor. Thank him for his incredibly love and grace and faithfulness. Thank him for being trustworthy!

Posted by on January 1, 2013 in Psalms.

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December 31, 2012

Monday: December 31, 2012

READ: Exodus 15-16

THINK: “For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have. Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: ‘He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little.’” – 2 Corinthians 8:12-15

The Apostle Paul quotes from Exodus 16 in his letter to the church at Corinth in order to urge them to give generously to those in need. And the context that Paul – a Jew who was highly studied in the Old Testament – gives to the passage helps us to get a bigger picture of just how the system of collecting manna actually worked. It wasn’t an every-person-for-him/herself type of a deal where each individual – or each family – collected what they needed and then didn’t worry about anybody else. The idea of that seems fine in principle, but there were elderly and infirm people within the Israelite camp who wouldn’t have been able to collect all that they needed. There were also young, healthy, able-bodied Israelites who had the ability to collect even more than they could possibly need.

Some of them gathered a lot. Some of them gathered very little (v.17), but when they measured it all out they made sure that nobody had too much – because that would have done absolutely no good whatsoever since it spoiled and rotted overnight – and that every single person had enough. Each individual was to collect what they could in order to make sure the needs of the entire community were met, even though that meant that some had to give from their excess and others had to receive because of their lack. The reason for this, echoed by Paul in 2 Corinthians, was not so that some would be hard pressed but so that all would be equally provided for. Each person gathered according to his or her ability and each received according to his or her need.

Are you feeling uncomfortable right now, reading these words? If you are an American there is an astronomical chance that the answer is “yes” if even just a little. We hear about a system like that – one that flies in the face of individual achievement, meritocracy, and the collection of assets – and we cringe (and we have company because clearly not all the Israelites in Exodus 16 were excited about it when they heard it). And it’s especially challenging for us given our current highly charged and divisive political scene. But here is the cold, hard fact: Exodus 16 & 2 Corinthians 8 are not the writings of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin. They are the writings of Moses and Paul, divinely inspired by the God of the Universe. And they demand a response.

I want you to wrestle with a question today. I’m not going to reflect on this passage any further because I really want to leave space for you to think and grapple and even struggle with this. Spend time thinking about it and praying about it and asking for God’s wisdom and his guidance in letting you know how he wants you to respond. Here’s my question:

ASK/PRAY: When God set about shaping the people of Israel into the people he created them to be and into a people who would hopefully be a light to the nations and call all people to the relationship with God that they were created for, he very intentionally set up the economic system described in Exodus 16 and even built a safeguard into it (the spoiling) to ensure that it had to be followed. Why do you think the Creator God set things up in this manner and, in light of that, what do you think his call is upon your life in the area of your finances?

Posted by on December 31, 2012 in Uncategorized.

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December 30, 2012

Sunday: December 30, 2012

READ: Job 28

THINK: “Where can wisdom be found?” – Job 28:12

In the late 1970s, thousands of men and women rushed to the American West. In the tradition of the diehard prospectors of 1849, they dredged river bottoms and reopened gold fields long since abandoned. The activity, however, was not sparked by new finds. The same old metal had been there all the time. But because the value of gold had skyrocketed, the dust and flecks were now worth mining.

Suppose you knew that 100 pounds of pure gold could be found somewhere in the walls of your house? What you wouldn’t do to find it!

Now let’s change the stakes. What would we do if we knew that a large amount of wisdom was in our house? Well, it is! God tells us that nothing compares in value with the spiritual treasures contained in the Bible–not even gold at the highest prices (Job 28:12-17).

We would probably search everywhere in our house to find 100 pounds of gold. Yet, do we seek with as great a diligence the mind and will of God? As His followers, we should long to understand the fear of the Lord and to develop a hatred of evil–which the Bible says is true wisdom (v.28). And its value has never been higher. We need a new rush–not for gold, but for God!

By: Mart DeHaan in Our Daily Bread

PRAY: Spend some time today thanking God for the gift of his Word and asking him to give you wisdom.

Posted by on December 30, 2012 in Poetry.

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December 29, 2012

Saturday: December 29, 2012

READ: 2 Corinthians 7

THINK: I think this is a powerful text to reflect on at the end of a year as we close out 2012 and look ahead to 2013 because of what we can learn from Paul’s words about regret, particularly in verses 8-12. As we reflect on the year that has passed every single one of us has regrets. Lots of them. And the question is this: what do we do with them? Life inevitable moves on as time marches forward so how do we appropriately deal with our regrets so that we can move on with it? Do we simply try to forget them or paper over them, pretending they never existed? Do we allow them to define us and wear them around like a label? What’s the answer? Well, Paul gives us some clues in this passage.

We can tell by the context that he had written a letter to the church at Corinth that was harsh and was very uncomfortable for them to read. It was apparently so harsh that Paul felt some regret about writing it after it was sent. But the pain caused by Paul’s letter achieved exactly the result that he had intended: it caused the Corinthian believers to repent and turn things around. The regret that they had when their failure was made evident to them – through Paul’s letter – caused them to change. And they didn’t repent and change because it was the easy thing to do or the self-interested thing to do or the comfortable thing to do. True repentance and transformation to Christ-likeness never are. Ever. They repented and allowed God to transform them because they were convicted over their sin and they desired to be whom God was calling them to be.

Though our sins are not all the same, we are all in the same position as the Corinthian church today. Each of us has fallen short and done things we regret over the course of 2012. Some of us may have even been called out for those things by friends, family members, leaders, or others – like the Corinthians were by Paul – and reacted defensively instead of with repentance. But whatever our regrets may be the fact of the matter is: we are here and we cannot take them back. So, we have 3 options. We can try to forget them and pretend they never happened. We can allow them to weigh heavily on us and cripple us. Or we can move forward like the church in Corinth. We can reflect on them, repent and ask forgiveness for them, and genuinely ask that God would transform our hearts so that we can be more like him – more like the people he designed us to be – in 2013 than we were in 2012. (I suggest option 3.)

PRAY: Take some time to very openly and honestly reflect on the last year and some of the mistakes you’ve made, people you’ve hurt, and times you’ve turned away from God. Confess these to God – and to others as necessary – and repent. Then ask God to transform you – with the full knowledge that genuine transformation is never simple or painless.

Posted by on December 29, 2012 in Epistles.

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December 28, 2012

Friday: December 28, 2012

READ: 1 Samuel 24-26

THINK: Can you picture yourself making the same choices that David made in chapter 24 and then again in chapter 26? I wish I could, but I’m honestly not sure that I would have shown the same level of restraint, especially the second time around. I mean, it’s pretty incredible when you think about it. David had never been anything but kind to Saul. He came and basically saved Saul’s bacon by taking out Goliath for him when it technically should have been Saul’s job. Then he continued to fight for Saul and work as a musician in Saul’s court. He even married Saul’s daughter. But when Saul learned that David, and not his own lineage, had been chosen by God to be Israel’s next king, he decided to kill him. And he was so driven by this thought that he tried to spear him not once but twice while David was playing the harp for him to cheer him up! Seriously. And then he kept on trying to hunt David down. But when the opportunity was sitting right there in front of him to take Saul’s life, David chose twice to make a very public display of his unwillingness to do that. And that’s not normal.

What’s normal is to wait for any opportunity, even the slightest chance, to humiliate and shame our enemies and to win a fight against them and then seize it immediately. That, I think, is our natural reaction as human beings. I know this to be true from both personal experience and from watching a three year-old, who does things he shouldn’t do every day of his life, jump at the chance to tattle on his 11 month-old sister every time she unknowingly steps even an inch out of line. We are so concerned with our own glory and so obsessed with our own image that we are willing to trample others, especially those who have wronged or opposed us in the past, if we believe that bringing them down will in any way enhance or elevate us. Doing anything else almost seems counterintuitive to us.

But David spared Saul’s life. Even thought Saul had wronged him and violated him and been and enemy to him. And I think there is so much to be gained from following David’s example here. The sad reality of our broken world is that there will always be people who oppose us and seek to tear us down and destroy us. Jesus promised us that if we follow him with our whole hearts then the world will hate us as it hated him. And, if you’re wired like me, this is a difficult reality to deal with. I relate powerfully to Michael Scott, the boss from the TV show The Office, when he says, “Do I need to be liked? No. I like to be liked; I want to be liked; I have to be liked. But I don’t have a need to be liked…like my need to be praised.” It is hard to deal with people who set themselves up against us. But they will always be there. And we can choose to seek revenge and vengeance and victory on our own. Or, we can model Christ and follow David’s example and show even our enemies a huge amount of love, honor, and respect and trust God to take care of the rest. Both options are on the table. Which will you choose?

PRAY: Confess the times where you have not acted like David did in your dealings with others. Confess the bitterness and anger in your heart to those in your world who oppose and oppress you. Turn the situation over to God and trust that his justice will always prevail.

Posted by on December 28, 2012 in History.

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December 27, 2012

Thursday: December 27, 2012

READ: Psalm 69

THINK: In a book written in 1696, I found these statements: “Sharp afflictions are to the soul as a soaking rain to the house. We know not there are such holes in the roof till the shower comes, and then we see it drop down here and there. Perhaps we did not know that there were such unmortified cuts in our soul till the storms of affliction came, then we found unbelief, impatience, and fear dropping down in many places.”

How true! Affliction tests us and proves what sort of Christians we are. If there are defects in our spiritual armor, they will show up under the strain and pressure of trouble.

When the floodgates of distress are opened, it is then we echo with understanding the words of the psalmist, who exclaimed, “Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck” (Psalm 69:1). Yet we need not fear, for it is our loving Father who allows the waters to come, not to drown us but to cleanse us and help us to see where our life needs repairing.

Have you been through a storm? Have you been disturbed, irritated, faithless, fearful, or rebellious? Consider that God may have put you through this difficulty to reveal your spiritual needs. By prayer, faith, and yielding to the Holy Spirit, repair the “leaky roof.” God takes us into deep waters not to drown us but to cleanse us.

By: Henry G. Bosch in Our Daily Bread

PRAY: Ask God to show you the places in your life – and in your faith – that need repair today.

Posted by on December 27, 2012 in Psalms.

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December 26, 2012

Wednesday: December 26, 2012

READ: 2 Corinthians 6

THINK: “As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.” – 2 Corinthians 6:1

The grace you had yesterday will not do for today. Grace is the overflowing favour of God; you can always reckon it is there to draw upon. “In much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses” – that is where the test for patience comes. Are you failing the grace of God there? Are you saying – Oh, well, I won’t count this time? It is not a question of praying and asking God to help you; it is taking the grace of God now. We make prayer the preparation for work, it is never that in the Bible. Prayer is the exercise of drawing on the grace of God. Don’t say – I will endure this until I can get away and pray. Pray now; draw on the grace of God in the moment of need. Prayer is the most practical thing, it is not the reflex action of devotion. Prayer is the last thing in which we learn to draw on God’s grace.

“In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours” – in all these things manifest a drawing upon the grace of God that will make you a marvel to yourself and to others. Draw now, not presently. The one word in the spiritual vocabulary is Now. Let circumstances bring you where they will, keep drawing on the grace of God in every conceivable condition you may be in. One of the greatest proofs that you are drawing on the grace of God is that you can be humiliated without manifesting the slightest trace of anything but His grace.

“Having nothing . . .” Never reserve anything. Pour out the best you have, and always be poor. Never be diplomatic and careful about the treasure God gives. This is poverty triumphant.

– Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest

PRAY: Think about the situations in your life today where you need God’s grace. Take some time to lift them up to him and draw on his grace.

 

Posted by on December 26, 2012 in Epistles.

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