2 Samuel 17:14

2 Samuel 17:14 ^ESV

And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, "The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel." For the LORD had ordained to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, so that the LORD might bring harm upon Absalom.

 

There are plenty of verses in the Bible that tell us our responsibility to obey the Lord (Deut 11:26-28), keep His commandments (Dan 9:4), trust in the Lord (Prov 3:5-6), etc.  Clearly, our fellowship with God is in part our responsibility (Rom 10:13).  The purpose of these verses is that we remember who we are and who God is; there is no walk with God if we are not walking.

 

But the verses filling the whole Bible are a testament to the fact that God is absolutely sovereign.  God must choose us before we are able to choose Him.  And God chooses also those whom He will destroy (2 Sam 17:14).  This terrible reality must give us pause; this terrible reality must not, however, cause us to doubt or to rely on our own wisdom.  What would be heinous for us to decide (destroy a man in the eyes of his lord) is not for God.  In some mysterious way that we can only get a glimpse of an imagining of a piece God is glorified when His justice is given.

 

Note however it is justice: no one in the end will get injustice; God be praised some of us will get non-justice, we will receive mercy, we will receive grace PRAISE JESUS!

 

I read verses like this and tremble.  I deserve no less that Ahithophel (note also, he didn’t have to hang himself, God ordained to defeat his counsel: Ahithophel’s pride caused him to do the most foolish/self-centered thing possible). 

 

So read God’s Word.  Obey it.  Pray for grace to obey it.  Seek His good counsel and walk in His steps.  And, tremble!  Fear the Lord lest you walk contrary to that Word.  Cling to Him as to a rope suspending you over nothing.  Then you will be sure that He is holding on to you.

 

Praise You Father that You do hold on to us.

Praise You Son that You loved us enough to save us.

Praise You Spirit that You captured our hearts.

 

Being held together with you,

Pastor Greg

2 Samuel 12:20

2 Samuel 12:20 ^ESV

Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate.

 

The son born to David because of his sin died.  David had fasted and wept and refused to be comforted.  So when his son died, David’s counselors did not want to tell him because they were afraid David might harm himself.  Instead ‘he went into the house of the Lord and worshipped.’

 

David’s heart was so after God (in spite of his sin…this is mind boggling…) that when he faced one of his greatest crises he worshipped.

 

This says something about David’s sin as well.  David did sin; he allowed his flesh to get in the way of his reason (actually, the story makes many sins apparent, all the more proof that such egregious sin does not happen alone).  But David’s heart remained essentially true to the Lord, as is evidenced here.

 

This does not give us license to sin; what it does is explain that one who is generally oriented towards the Lord still falls to sin.  But that sin is no longer characteristic of him.  We sin, but we fight.  The surest sign of the genuineness of our faith is our willingness to repent when our sin is disclosed.  The surest sign of the genuineness of our faith is our willingness to worship when we are struggling with our flesh.

 

Praise You Father that You accept our imperfect worship.

Praise You Son that You lived the perfect life for us.

Praise You Spirit that You work out our salvation in our lives through us.

 

Repenting for God’s glory with you,

Pastor Greg

2 Samuel 7:28

2 Samuel 7:28 ^ESV

And now, O Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant.

 

David is astounded at the covenant God has made with him.  We too stand in David’s place, in awe, as we read in Scripture promises too marvelous for us to understand let alone comprehend.

 

We rejoice in the fact that God is a beneficent God; quick to bestow favor and unwilling to curse.  Let us marvel and spread His Good News as far as our voices will carry.

 

Praise You Father for Your wonderful Promises.

Praise You Son that You are the Amen to all of God’s Promises.

Praise You Spirit that You communicate those Promises to us.

 

Trusting in the Promises with you,

Pastor Greg

2 Samuel 4:10

2 Samuel 4:10

When one told me, 'Behold, Saul is dead,' and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him at Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news.

 

David was so unpredictable to those who didn't know him; David did not act the way people thought he should.  Who wouldn't want the head of their enemy given them?  Who wouldn't want to be given the crown jewels? 

 

This is how we should be.  We should in important things think, what is the opposite of how the world would handle this situation?  Then do that (Romans 12:1-2).  Of course this doesn't mean that if the world loves their children or does their work honestly that we shouldn't do it.

 

What was unique about David is that he was concerned about how God thought of a situation more than he was concerned about his comfort or ease.  Since this is the exact opposite of how the world lives (in almost every case) then we can know how we ought to live: not for our ease but for the Lord's glory.

 

Live like David; a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22). 

 

Praise You Father for giving us the example of David's godly heart.

Praise You Son for showing us Your heart on the Cross.

Praise You Spirit for giving us a heart after Yours.

 

Pursuing God's heart together with you,

Pastor Greg

1 Samuel 26:9

1 Samuel 26:9 ^ESV

But David said to Abishai, "Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the LORD's anointed and be guiltless?"

 

David had a heart for God.  David knew that God had at one time anointed Saul and was therefore unwilling to strike him down.  On two occasions his friends told him to take the opportunity.  In this second case Abishai volunteered to do the deed for David just in case he was squeamish (LOL!  cf. 1 Chron 28:3). 

 

No, the concern was not that David did not want to see Saul die; and I seriously doubt that he was afraid for his life in case someone awoke because David or Abishai killed Saul: David’s concern was that he act rightly before the Lord.  So, once again he took symbols of his presence and his ability to have done the deed and went on his way.

 

Perhaps there is an application for us:

 

Hebrews 13:7 ^ESV

Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

 

Hebrews 13:17 ^ESV

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

 

Authority is not a bad thing.  Authority is something Christians should welcome.  Authority is godliness working through those who love us for our good.  Seek it.  Obey it.  Strive for that authority in your life.

 

Praise You Father that You anoint even today those who speak Your grace into our lives.

Praise You Son that You are our ultimate authority and that You make us more like You through proper authority.

Praise You Spirit that You show us in Your Word how we can and should change.

 

Pursuing authority in our lives together,

Pastor Greg

1 Samuel 24:13

1 Samuel 24:13 ^ESV

As the proverb of the ancients says, 'Out of the wicked comes wickedness.' But my hand shall not be against you.

 

David refused to kill Saul though Saul was trying to kill him because Saul ‘is God’s anointed’.  David refused to go against God even in this way.  Of course in the next chapter he didn’t refuse to kill someone who had insulted him…a little inconsistency here.  But the fact that he controlled himself in this case is significant.

 

Also significant is his use of a proverb, 'Out of the wicked comes wickedness.’  Even if a wicked person kisses you, the kiss itself is wickedness.  David did not want to allow wickedness to ‘come out’ of him thus belying the fact of his own wickedness.  This is important because when we resist temptation it doesn’t mean that we aren’t still sinners, but it does mean that we have avoided that much wickedness corrupting us.  Abigail was concerned that David’s conscience not be tainted by avenging himself: these two ideas are very similar.

 

Thank You Father for preventing sin in me.

Thank You Son for forgiving the sin I am guilty of.

Thank You Spirit for working in me to both do and desire Your good will.

 

Fighting wickedness in my own heart along with you,

Pastor Greg

1 Samuel 17:45-47

1 Samuel 17:45-47 ^ESV

Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷ and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hand."

 

Goliath had defied the God of Israel.  David would have none of it.  He was young, we’re not really sure how old he was.  (I’m guessing that he wasn’t as big as Michelangelo’s statue makes him out to be.)  But the size of the warrior is entirely besides the point; the Lord is big enough to win a battle with a small child.

 

The point is that David fought for two reasons:

1.   “that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel”

2.   “and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear”

 

When we fight for the honor of God more than the honor of ourselves or any other mere human, then God will honor us.  Make sure the hills that you fight on are hills that are won for the glory of God, then you will have honor because God Himself with honor you.

 

Praise You Father that You win battles for Your own glory.

Praise You Son that You won the great battle already.

Praise You Spirit that You will win our battles against sin in our own hearts.

 

Your fellow soldier in Christ,

Pastor Greg

1 Samuel 12:20-25

1 Samuel 12:20-21 ^ESV

And Samuel said to the people, "Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. ²¹ And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. ²² For the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for himself. ²³ Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. ²⁴Only fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. ²⁵ But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king."

 

Right away in verse 20 we have what seems to me (on first glance) to be a contradiction:

"Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil.

Yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart.”

 

They have already sinned (by asking for a king in the place of God), ‘yet do not turn aside…’.  Haven’t they already turned aside?  Haven’t they already stopped serving the Lord with all their heart?  The answer is obviously ‘yes’ they have, but more is happening here.  God’s people sin; but when God’s people sin and turn back to Him, repenting, hating their sin, longing to be free of their sin, this shows a heart that desires God’s grace and mercy and love.  This is the kind of heart that God saves.

 

²¹ And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty.

 

The ‘empty’ in this verse is the same word that is translated ‘formless’ in Genesis 1:2.  Some things are empty they are worthless.  The NIV translates this assuming Samuel is talking about idols (which he may in fact be talking about), yet there is more that is empty in this world than mere idols.

 

The author of Hebrews mentions this fact:

 

Hebrews 12:1-3 ^ESV

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

 

Not everything that hinders your walk with Christ is necessarily sin; some things are just not profitable, they don’t help you.  Instead of allowing these hindrances, these empty things that cannot profit or deliver, Paul makes a concerted effort to subdue these influences so they do not interfere with his walk with Christ.

 

1 Corinthians 9:27 ^ESV

But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

 

Don’t allow yourself to think that you can skate through the Christian life; it is a matter of strict discipline: with Grace! 

 

Here’s where our passage is significant.  Was Paul afraid to sin?  You betcha (hi Doug and Evie in the Great White North!)!  But was he aware of Grace?  You’d better believe it!

 

Romans 5:1-2 ^ESV

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ² Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

 

It was this grace that Samuel was alluding to: ‘you have sinned, but don’t turn aside from the Lord’.  You can sin, but God offers you a way back.  Only grace; only the gift of declared righteousness; only the undeserved gift of God can make Christianity possible!  There is only grace in the end for those who are in Christ Jesus!

 

Romans 8:1-2 ^ESV

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

 

Trust in this grace while you are running the race.  Beat your body so that you won’t stumble; but when you stumble trust in the remarkable, saving grace of our amazing God.

 

1 John 2:1 ^ESV

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

 

Thank You Father that You made a way for me to be saved by grace through faith.

Thank You Son that You provided that propitiation for my sin.

Thank You Spirit that You work in me to do and desire the will of God.

 

Rejoicing in Grace with you,

Pastor Greg

1 Samuel 10

Samuel prophesied many things concerning Saul’s return trip home after anointing him king.  It would be kind of a trip.  Here you are sent after some donkeys, you meet the main dude in your country and he gives you a great big meal and pours some oil on your head.  What would you think.

 

Now he’s got to go back to town and tell first his uncle, then his dad, ‘uh…BTW, I’m the new king around here…IMHO’.

 

What caught my attention is the prophesy.  First of all, someone might think that God looked down the corridors of time and saw these specific things would happen when Saul was heading home.  But it is even better than that: God orchestrated the whole thing.  God knew when this guy had to leave his home in order to meet Saul at one place, and several other prophets so Saul could prophesy with them.  God had it all down to the very second.  So when one of the men on his way to meet Saul (though he had no idea) stepped on one rock too many and told his buddies to hold up a sec, God took into consideration that was going to happen and arranged the time the way it needed to be.  Another guy wanted to stop at the well and get a drink but took a second longer to check out the new Ford F250 that the shepherd down the street had; God knew how long that coveting was going to take and arranged the time accordingly.

 

Man, when you think about how long ahead of time did God have to set the weather in motion so that it was hot enough to slow a group down or cool enough to speed them up to keep warm it is mind boggling.  Really.  That’s how God rolls…

 

Praise You Father that You are absolutely sovereign over all things.

Praise You Son that You care enough to make it happen.

Praise You Spirit that You open my eyes to see these things in Your Word.

 

In awe together with you,

Pastor Greg

1 Samuel 2:12

1 Samuel 2:12

     "Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the LORD"

 

People, when they think of God at all think of Him more as a loving grandfather who spoils His children.  On the one hand I can't imagine where on earth they get this idea because none of them win the lottery or find gold in their backyard...  but of course, by far, most of our decisions are NOT made by logic; most of our daily decisions are made based on our emotions, what we want to be true.  On the other hand this makes perfect sense because God has given us such a wonderful world.  We rejoice in the rain, we rejoice in the fruit of the earth, we rejoice in the tri tip the Lord provides: it makes perfect sense to see God as an all loving God.

 

But, as Lewis said, love does not equal kindness (as many think), love includes much that is painful (as a parent how it feels to make his child take a shot in a doctors office; ask a spouse how it feels to confront about a painful sin; ask a pastor how it feels to counsel someone who steadfastly refuses to repent from drinking the poison that is destroying them from the inside out.

 

Not only that, but the kindly grandfather image doesn't work because there is more than enough evidence that God also judges His people.  Here is an example of two men that God obviously did not love.  The judgment of the Holy Spirit inspired writer is that these were 'worthless men'.  I can't think of many insults that would be worse than that.  A worthless man is one who is good for nothing, someone who is not fulfilling the God ordained purpose for his life: he is worthless.

 

And what was the key characteristic that the author pointed out was that they "did not know the Lord'.  These men were the priests and they were the sons of the Judge of Israel.  These were important men.  They were probably relatively rich.  They were probably relatively inteligent; one of the few in their culture to be taught.  But they were worthless.  Don't be worthless.  Don't rely on any gifts you have; they can be taken from you in a moment.  Don't rely on any connections you have; you know as well as I that people can turn against you in a moment.  Instead, know the Lord.

 

Praise You Father that You choose based on Your own judgment.

Praise You Son that You won for us all that we need.

Praise You Spirit that You work in us to love us for Your glory.

 

Knowing God better along with you,

Pastor Greg

Joshua 21:45

Interesting to me is that in 19:47 Dan lost his inheritance and yet  ‘not a word of the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed’.

 

Evidently, the promises of the Lord are in some way dependent upon the actions of men.  Does that mean we can’t trust the promises of God?  Should we fear that my actions or attitudes or those of someone else will place the promises of God in danger?  No, because none of those promises failed He made to Israel (or Dan).

 

Instead, we must continue to seek Him (Deut 4:29) and confess our sins (1 John 1:9).  Doing these things puts us in a position to be blessed: to be the recipients of God’s promises.

 

So seek Him.  So repent when you have sinned.  Start today.

 

Praise You Father for giving us righteous commands and promises.

Praise You Son for giving us the opportunity to be forgiven.

Praise You Spirit for showing us how to repent.

 

Seeking and repenting along with you,

Pastor Greg

Psalm 84:11

Today’s reading was Joshua 11-16, but I didn’t find anything to comment on there, so…

 

Psalm 84:11 ^ESV

For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor.

No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.

 

“No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.”

What an amazing promise!  What kind of God do we serve?  One who blesses the undeserving!  This is the God who cannot look upon wickedness; yet for those who serve Him, for those who have been chosen by Him, for those whom Christ has paid the penalty for their sins: for those, God doesn’t withhold anything good.

 

What about when life hurts?

 

Isaiah 38:17 ^ESV

Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness;

but in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction,

for you have cast all my sins behind your back.

 

Again, How amazing is that!  Even when I have ‘great bitterness’ I know that God does it for my good!  Praise Jesus! 

 

Psalm 37:4 ^ESV

Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

 

How can we not praise Him?  How can we forget Him who benefits us day and night?  How can we neglect such a great salvation?

 

Praise You Father for Your overwhelming promises!

Praise You Son that all of God’s promises find their amen in You!

Praise You Spirit for placing in my heart praise for You!

 

Trusting in the promises along with you,

Pastor Greg

Sin in the Camp

Joshua 7:1 ^ESV

But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the LORD burned against the people of Israel.

 

Because of one man’s sin 36 of Israel’s warriors died.  Because of one man’s sin everything he had (and apparently his family as well???) was destroyed.  Most importantly: because of one man’s greed ‘the anger of the Lord burned against the people of Israel.”

 

‘The people’ of Israel were subject to the wrath of God because there was a man among them who coveted spoil from Jericho.  Now, it was an obvious sin: who wouldn’t want fine clothing, a ton of silver, and a huge chunk of gold?  But they were forbidden from taking it (that time, notice later they were allowed to take the spoil…).

 

Is there sin in the camp where you live?  At home?  At work? At church?  Repent. Turn away from your coveting or bitterness or lust!  Turn toward God or else you may bring His wrath against what you love. 

 

Praise You Father that You are too pure to look upon sin with approval.

Praise You Son that You bore the sin of those who trust You.

Praise You Spirit that You convict us of our sin so that we may not bring destruction upon those we love.

 

Repenting with you,

Pastor Greg

Joshua 4:21

It is very important to God that the parents teach their children about God.  God made that clear in today’s reading.

Joshua 4:21 ^ESV

And he said to the people of Israel, "When your children ask their fathers in times to come,
'What do these stones mean?'

 

The most famous passage where this principle is taught is:

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 ^ESV

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. ⁵ You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ⁶ And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

 

Two more (of the many are found in the Psalms:

Psalm 22:30-31 ^ESV

Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
³¹ they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it.

 

Psalm 78:4 ^ESV

We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD,

and his might, and the wonders that he has done.

 

Here’s the point, when we teach our children about the God we experience, they are able to trust Him because we trust Him. By God’s grace, as they grow they will have their own experiences with God thereby knowing Him: and of course, as they know Him better they will therefore love Him and trust Him more.  Praise Jesus!

 

Thank You Father for my children.

Thank You Son for saving my boys.

Thank You Spirit that You are already moving in them.

 

Loving God and my children along with you,

Pastor Greg

Deuteronomy 32:46-47

Deuteronomy 32:46-47 ^ESV

He [Moses] said to them, "Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. ⁴⁷ For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess."

 

“God’s commands are not burdensome.”  (1 John 5:3)

 

God is not a cosmic killjoy.  God is not some petty police officer.  God is Ultimately Good.  His Laws are Ultimately Beneficial.  You are His creature and He knows what is best.  Trust His commands.  Live by them and they will be life to you.

 

Proverbs 1:8-9 ^ESV

Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching, ⁹ for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.

 

Praise You Father for Your Laws.

Praise You Son that You fulfilled Your Laws.

Praise You Spirit that You live to fulfill those Laws in us.

 

Trusting God’s Laws together with you.

Pastor Greg

Deuteronomy 28:47

Deuteronomy 28:47 ^ESV

Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things,

 

God is serious!  His command is not merely that you serve Him, but that you are happy about it.

 

If you and I can look out over our abundance of things and not be glad about the One who gave you all these things, then you are acting sinfully.  Ouch!  All my bad attitudes are sinful; even (perhaps especially) the ones I feel most justified about at the time.

 

While no other human could command such a thing and enforce it (determining our attitude is the last freedom we have, and one which no one could take away from us even though we often give it away for less than nothing), God is God and He not only can command and enforce it, He does.  You cannot half-heartedly give God a great gift and expect Him to receive it with blessing from your hand.

 

Therefore, we must serve the Lord with gladness.  Begin with serving Him in those areas you already enjoy: do them with your whole heart.  Then ask God for the strength and grace to serve Him in areas that are more difficult for you.  He is not only the one Who requires joyfulness, but He also give it.

 

Praise You Father that You look into our hearts.

Praise You Son that You purified those hearts.

Praise You Spirit that You enable those hearts to serve joyfully.

 

Serving joyfully with you,

Pastor Greg

Deuteronomy 24:10-13

Deuteronomy 24:10-13

"When you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not go into his house to collect his pledge. 11 You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you make the loan shall bring the pledge out to you. 12 And if he is a poor man, you shall not sleep in his pledge. 13 You shall restore to him the pledge as the sun sets, that he may sleep in his cloak and bless you. And it shall be righteousness for you before the LORD your God.

Compassion "shall be righteousness for you before the LORD your God."  Does Moses preach a works righteousness.  Many have thought so; some still do.  I think there are reasons not to suspect legalism in this verse: I will give two NT arguments why not.

 

1.  Paul understood that he had a righteousness before He submitted to Christ as his Lord (i.e. became a Christian).

 

Philippians 3:7-11

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith- 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

There is a 'righteousness' that comes from the Law.  This righteousness Moses speaks of is a real thing: it is not a saving righteousness; but it is a righteousness nonetheless.  Would you rather live next to someone who is in this way 'righteous' or next to a sociopath?

 

As Christians we must not stop there.  Nor can we be willing that our neighbors stop there either.  (Lord how hard it is to bring salvation to 'good' people!  We cannot; but thanks be to God that what is impossible for man is possible for God!)

 

However, and this I think is the real point of the verse, there is another way to look at this using a NT example:

 

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never ends."

Many (certainly I was one of these at one time) look at these verses and think, "O, I get it, I just have to go through my day being patient and kind and not envy or boast and when I get good enough at that then I'll be a loving person."  But this is not what Paul is saying at all.  Read it again.  What he is saying is that love is patient and kind etc.  Love is these things; so when you are patient with your co-worker or your children (or, better, yourself...but that may be revealing too much about my own personality) then you are loving.  You are loving your neighbor when you are not envious of his possessions.

 

Wow, for me this insight came as a wonderfully freeing thought for me.  Praise Jesus.  I suddenly realized that much of my own works righteousness bent was instantly evaporated.  Now I could be free to love even my enemy by relating to him or her with compassion.  This is exactly what Moses was talking about.  When you give your poor neighbor compassion by allowing him to stay warm even though he borrowed something from you the you are acting righteously.  Which is of course what God demands: a righteousness that comes from a heart of compassion (of course this could be done with an impure heart that would invalidate any true righteousness and leave only the first category of righteousness we talked about that cannot save!).  But, I believe, that when you do this kind of thing over and over again, so often that you do it automatically (so that your right hand does not know what your left is doing) praying for a right heart (create in me a pure heart oh God) then God is being faithful to complete the work in you for the day of Christ Jesus.

 

Praise You Father for giving me a standard of righteousness.

Praise You Son for completing that standard of righteousness for me.

Praise you Spirit for working in me so that I am becoming more and more like the Son in that righteousness.

 

Loving together with you,

Pastor Greg

Deut 16

Deuteronomy 16:11-15

And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your towns, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, at the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell there.12 You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt; and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.13 "You shall keep the Feast of Booths seven days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and your winepress.14 You shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your towns.15 For seven days you shall keep the feast to the LORD your God at the place that the LORD will choose, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.

The command is to rejoice!  You must have a good time; no excuses!  Make sure you don't fail to be happy!

 

The command is serious however.  If you will not rejoice when the Lord has blessed you TO THE LORD then your heart is such that it cannot receive blessings; you have proven to yourself and God that you are not a child of His.

 

Hebrews 10:31

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Don't be found not rejoicing in your God!

 

Praise You Father that You have revealed Yourself as one to be rejoiced in.

Praise You Son that You receive our rejoicing.

Praise You Spirit that You work in our hearts to rejoice.

 

Rejoicing with you,

Pastor Greg

Deuteronomy 11:12

Deuteronomy 11:12 ^ESV

a land that the LORD your God cares for. The eyes of the LORD your God are always upon it,
from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

 

God says that His eyes are upon the land. What does that mean?  His ‘eyes’ are everywhere.  He sees everything.  Nothing is outside His grasp.

 

But in a special way, God’s eyes are on His people and our ‘land’ (I recognize this was different for the Jews in that they were tied to a geographical location whereas the Church is not).  God watches out for those who belong to Him.  The same principle is communicated in:

 

Matthew 18:10 ^ESV

See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always
see the face of my Father who is in heaven.

 

again,

 

Matthew 18:20 ^ESV

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."

 

more significantly,

 

Matthew 26:26 ^ESV

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples,
and said, "Take, eat; this is my body."

 

Jesus wants to communicate a special sense of His favor, His presence to us so that we know that we are under His care.  God is very careful to note again and again that He loves us and will never leave us or forsake us.  Trust in that.  When you see these promises scattered throughout the Bible Rejoice! (Deut 12:12)  When you do you will know God better and therefore trust Him and love Him more.

 

Praise You Father for Your loving presence.

Praise You Son for coming to dwell among us.

Praise You Spirit for living in and through us.

 

Rejoicing in His presence with you,

Pastor Greg

Deuteronomy 10:21

 

Deuteronomy 10:21 ^ESV

“He is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen.”

 

What is your ‘praise’? 

Do you ‘love’ baseball?  Then your praise is probably some pitcher or some squad.

Do you ‘love’ football?  Then your praise is the Indianapolis Colts, if you are wise enough.

Do you ‘love’ TV?  Then your praise is some program or channel.

 

Your praise is whatever you think is ‘best’.  It could be in a relatively small category or larger one in life.  But whatever it is that you ‘love’ you will find a praise: God has made us worshipping creatures.  There will always be someone with money, power, fame, nerve, or genius that you will find to love.  That is how God made us.

 

Very often the Bible tells us things like ‘He is your praise” because that is what you are to aspire to. For example

Psalm 119:14 ^ESV

In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches.

I’m guessing that this verse is not true for most of us.  Do you want it to be?  Don’t answer that question too quickly; be honest, ask your heart if you really want to be the kind of person who loves God’s Word as much as you delight in riches.  Most of us know our hearts well enough to say, “I haven’t proven that is true by my attitudes or actions.”

 

Then begin.  Speak verses like these into your heart so that you meditate on them.  You turn them over and over in your heart and you begin to think about them when you have nothing else to think about.  That is when you will start to make them true of you.

 

Praise You Father that You are the greatest Person in the universe.

Praise You Son that You are God with skin on so that I can worship You.

Praise You Spirit that You communicate God to my heart.

 

Making God my praise along with you,

Pastor Greg

Deuteronomy 6:3

Deuteronomy 6:3

"Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey."

 

The command 'hear' is a frequent one in the OT.  It is a command that tells us to 'listen, pay attention, stop what you are doing and focus your attention here, now!"

 

'Be careful' is also common.  Again, the focus is on 'paying attention, focusing on the matter at hand.'

 

And God gives a promise to go with his call to our hearts: 'that it may go well with you' and 'that you may multiply greatly'.   God does not give us idle commands: He gives us commands because in obeying them we will have blessing.

 

Notice what is next: 'as the Lord...has promised you.'  Moses indicates that the 'hearing' and the 'being careful' are requisites, they are conditions for recieving the promises that God had already given.  The promises of God are given in such a way that we need to 'put ourselves into position' to receive those promises.  (Now, the grace upon grace is that God makes us desiring and able to do those conditions to receive those promises (Phil 2:14-15).

 

But the promises and the conditions are there.  Study them, know them, live them: then your life will be right with God.

 

Praise You Father for giving us great and precious promises.

Praise You Son for securing those promises.

Praise You Spirit for giving us the desire and the ability to live by those promises.

 

Trusting the promises along with you,

Pastor Greg

Deuteronomy 4:24, 31

Deuteronomy 4:24 ^ESV

For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Deuteronomy 4:31 ^ESV

For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.

 

So which is it? Is God ‘jealous’ or is He ‘merciful’?

 

A merciful God is one who doesn’t give us what we do deserve.  Since we deserve death and hell when He doesn’t give us that (immediately, as soon as we have decided to sin) then He is already merciful.

 

But He is also jealous.  But what does His jealousy mean?

 

God’s jealousy is not like that of a weak and insecure husband who suspects his wife at every turn or every moment of the day.

 

God’s jealousy is not like that of a weak and immature person who looks at the good another has and despises him/her for that good.

 

God’s jealousy is like a husband who reacts strongly against another’s attempts to woo his wife.

 

God’s jealousy is like a husband who reacts strongly to his wife following after other lovers.

 

God’s jealousy is for the good of His bride; not for the weakening or stifling of her.  This type of jealousy IS merciful.  This type of jealousy has as its heart a strong desire for the good of those who seek Him and long for Him so that they may be whole.  By chasing after the world, a lost sinner only finds hard, cold, nothing; far from the good, living, hope in the arms of God.

 

Trust your loving, jealous, merciful God to both desire and do what is best for you: then you will live in the security of an all powerful, all knowing, all wise Creator God.

 

Thank You Father for being jealous for me.

Thank You Son for purchasing me so that the Father would be jealous for me.

Thank You Spirit for placing in my heart a note when I am crossing over into the area of the Father’s jealousy.

 

Striving to please my Father along with you,

Pastor Greg

Psalm 43:5

Psalm 43:5 ^ESV

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?

Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

 

1.   Preach to yourself!  You know the Good News; preach it, to your own heart.

2.   Hope in God!  That is the answer!  Place your trust in the Almighty and believe that He will come through for you now and tomorrow and every single day: as long as it is called ‘Today’ and into eternity.

3.   Praise Him again!  You may hope in God because you will praise Him again: this side of eternity or the next.

4.   Praise Him because He is your salvation; praise Him because He is your God!  He will never leave you nor forsake you; He is with you wherever you go!

 

Praise You Father for the wonder that is our physical and our spiritual self.

Praise You Son for the grace to know what is happening and to preach ourselves out of it.

Praise You Spirit that you are still with me; even when I don’t sense it.

 

Preaching to myself with you,

Pastor Greg

Matthew 6:1

Matthew 6:1 ESV

      "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven."

 

Oh, and does Jesus know how to hit us where it hurts.  He doesn't mess around with pleasantries; Jesus puts His finger on our hearts and pokes so that we know we have been touched by Jesus.

 

How easy it is to do the right thing when we know people are watching!  How easy it is to avoid temptation when we know other see!  (Of course, how often have you 'blown' it when you knew people were there: we're not even as good as we pretend in our hearts to be!)

 

But many righteous deeds, including prayer, must be done in front of others.  I will do that tomorrow at least a couple of times.  Am I sinning?

 

The point, again, goes to the heart: why am I praying?  Is it so people will see an example of prayer?  Is it so people can join in prayer with me?  Is it so I can also ascend to the throne of God with my brothers and sisters? or, Is it so that people will think well of me and how I pray?  Ah, there's the rub! Certainly I have fallen to that sin!  Prayed so that people think I pray well!  Foolishness!  Rubbish!  Sin!  All the reward I can expect has already been given me for that. 

 

Oh, let it not be so Lord Jesus, that when I pray, or give to the poor that I will do it in order to be seen by others!  Oh God, save me from myself and my own wicked desires!  Instead, cause me to seek You and You alone as I do all that I do.  May this be more and more true of me and those I lead.

 

Thank You Father, for clarifying Your stringent demands.

Thank You Son, for completing those demands.

Thank You Spirit, for working in and through me to do and desire to do those demands.

 

Striving for a pure heart together with you,

Pastor Greg