My Journey Through The Bible

Psalms 57 – 59

Sometimes David states the obvious, like the “theme” for Psalm 57. Here David is asking for got to “let your glory be over all the earth.” Again it doesn’t matter if David prays for this or not, it just happens. Verse 57:1 is a great start to this Psalm:

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
till the storms of destruction pass by.

As magnificent and glorious this world is, sometimes the storms need to be ridden out. We need to ask if the “storms” we need to ride out are “natural” or “man-made”. No I am not talking about global warming, but rather the financial mess we are currently struggling through. Often times we ask for protection from these events, but most of the time they are self-inflicted.

With David, I often wonder if his requests are asking for protection from the fallout from his affair. As with David, I have created personal financial “storms of destruction” in my life. Once I strayed from sound Biblical finances and borrowed with regard to potential hiccups in the economy, my personal storm became difficult. In 2007 I prayed for this to be lifted and in December of 2008 decided to apply Biblical principles to our finances. It’s been 4 years and the end is still far off, but a huge dent has been made.

God will judge the earth and everyone’s actions, some earlier than others. Psalm 58 addresses God’s sovereignty over the world and its people. Verse 58:11 show David hanging his hope on God being just to the “righteous”:

Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
surely there is a God who judges on earth.”

One can parse this out and realize there are no “righteous” people on this earth. Sure many may be close, but only one was truly “righteous” and fortunately that one ensured that our “unrighteousness” would be forgiven. Honestly I wonder about the “reward” God offers, and how we view it. God’s view of a reward may be health, where ours is a big bank account. We remain unhappy because God’s “reward” did not match our expectations.

Psalm 59 is one that David as a king can relate to, but really most of us never have to endure. Verse 59:1 starts this prayer:

Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
protect me from those who rise up against me;

On one hand today we have few “enemies” who will “rise up against” us. Sure there is the occasional crook or wrong doer, but for the most part we do not experience nations as “enemies” unless we are in the military. For the most part our “enemies” are far from us and do little harm. Of course as I say this I think of the “effect” the terrorist has had on travel and the effect the “economic terrorist” in the banking world has had on our economy. So maybe this is a valid prayer for all, even today?

2 Samuel 15 – 18

David’s son and technically the next heir to the throne decided he wanted things now and was not willing to wait for David to surrender his rule. This turn stated when he killed his brother, Amnon. Verse 15:6 shows Absalom is very persuasive:

Thus Absalom did to all of Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.

He slowly built an alliance so not to be thrown from power quickly. But when David heard of this he ran and hid from him instead of killing his son. Verse 15:30 shows his sorry for the turn of events:

But David went up the ascent of the Mount of Olives, weeping as he went, barefoot and with his head covered. And all the people who were with him covered their heads, and they went up, weeping as they went.

David did this with Saul, instead of taking his rightful spot as king, he ran and was sorrowful. In this case Absalom is family and therefore the emotions run deeper. The deceit and drama continue throughout the reading where one of David’s “inside” men actually changes the way they go to attack David. Hushai offers another option to Ahithophel’s plans and in verse 17:23 Ahithophel takes it personal:

When Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his donkey and went off home to his own city. He set his house in order and hanged himself, and he died and was buried in the tomb of his father.

How many times have your plans been overridden? Would this be your response? It sure that would not have been mine, but for whatever reason it was traumatic for Ahithophel to have his plans dismissed. Is this old school honor or just plan foolish pride? Or is it a combination of both? Think about your responses to certain things, I find my most foolish are based solely on pride or anger. Events like this should make one think about the source of their emotion.

Now chapter 18 finishes with Absalom’s death which when you read about it is kind of strange. He gets caught in a tree and for whatever reason cannot get down. Joab surrounds him and kills him. Now David gets word of this and is sorrowful as shown in verse 18:33:

And the king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went, he said, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would that I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”

I often wonder if this is a byproduct of David’s sin with Bathsheba. Would David’s house have been in disarray of he had not strayed and had just let his lust go? I think when you analyze much of the problems with David’s family and how many generations this shook the course of Israel you see how sin affects our lives. Sure it may not seem to be a big deal today and sure, as with David, you will be forgiven upon repentance, but that does not change the consequences. One thing that David’s story drills into our head is the difference between forgiveness and consequences. We assume that being “forgiven” means all repercussions of our sins are removed. That is rarely the case! As the old saying goes “you made your bed, now sleep in it.”

Exodus 25 – 28

Now we are getting into the “nuts and bolts” of the building of the moving sanctuary. Verse 25:8 explains what the purpose was for doing this:

And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.

As Christians we tend to not get this since we have the Holy Spirit and basically God lives in us. So the idea of a place set aside for God does not compute. Also, once you realize one of the natures of God is being “omnipresent”, God having a place to “dwell” doesn’t make sense. Knowing this makes one question why would we need a “temple” when God is always here?

I tend to believe the “grandeur” of the temple or church is not a special place for God to live, but more a special place for us to focus our attention on God. I often think how this time in the morning is focused time with God, but you would be shocked to know how many times I drift off the Facebook or YouTube. I tend to lose focus on God and drift with a computer, whereas in church my attention is focused.

The mobile tabernacle then is a place defined by God so man can focus on God and here from Him. It’s interesting how the tabernacle goes from a general assembly and narrows to “the Most Holy Place” where God “sits on “the mercy seat”. This is more like the interface port with God since the Holy Spirit had not yet been available.

Verse 26:33 describes a curtain or veil that divides man and God:

And you shall hang the veil from the clasps, and bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil. And the veil shall separate for you the Holy Place from the Most Holy.

This veil keeps the priest in “the Holy Place” separated from God so not to defile God. Now if we spring forward to Matthew 27 when Jesus dies on the cross we see in verse 51 this “curtain” is torn “from top to bottom” symbolizing the removal of restrictions to God. The tearing “from top to bottom” is significant since that symbolizes God tearing the veil and not man. Some 3000 or so years prior to Jesus coming God had placed a barrier between mankind that only Jesus could solve.

This veil has been torn for everyone now, not just the Israelites. All of man now has access to “the Most Holy Place” by just praying before God. One thing I will say being “Mr. Attention Deficit” is you may want to make a “Most Holy Place” that is something without distractions away from God. From personal experience you may want a dedicated place and not an office, since that would provide distractions.

In setting up this room, a Bible is a must. Also a note pad and pen, to write notes that pop into your head. This is actually important since that is my problem, I will be praying and the header I need to order pop’s into my head. So if I am in front of the computer it’s off to eBay or online to see where I can get this part. But if I had a dedicated place, it would be a note that I could act on later and then immediately go back to God. Sure God is with us daily and we can pray to him whenever we desire, this may be a model for focused time that we all can have. Just make a special place!

2 Corinthians 6 – 8

One of the most dangerous things a Christian can do is surround themselves with people of a different mindset, away from God. Verse 6:14 explores this aspect of friends:

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

This is one of those fine lines that we always try to tread. Paul is trying to ensure that your friends and associates, whom influence you in some way, don’t over take your belief in Christ. I have seen this happen often with people who are trying to save the world, by surrounding them with sinners, like Jesus did in His ministry. Problem with this model is Jesus saved them and THEN surrounded himself.

This becomes one of those fine lines between reaching the lost and protecting your values. One of the biggest problems I have experienced is when I get in the mindset that either I will save them or their beliefs will not affect mine, I get trapped. Unless you approach friendship with an idea of balance you can get yourself in trouble. You need a “equally yoked” with friends who believe so that if you do stray, they can slap you upside the head.

Another problem we get into is leading a dual life of sin and salvation. You often hear of the man who is holy at church Sunday, but drunk in the strip clubs Friday. You can find the root in most cases is they are not being truthful with their Christians friends while allowing their non-Christian ones to compromise their values. Unfortunately, these two lives exist primarily because the non-Christians don’t like your Christian buddies and will try everything they can to keep you away. This is why you need balance with an “equally yoked” group of friends is often more heavily with Christians, since the pull away is so aggressive.

One of the “pulls” away from God is our charitable giving. Often non-Christians don’t understand why you would give. Chapter 8 starts with Paul giving the people of Corinth encouragement on giving. Verse 8:3 tells them what happened with the churches of Macedonia:

For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord,

I don’t think God is of the mindset “give until it hurts” but I think he wants us to show honor to him. Often we do this in the mindset of “He will bless me if I give” and that should not be the reason for giving. We give because we can, not because we desire more in return. I often get trapped in that loop and it’s dangerous. I have also personally found the blessing come when I am not expecting them.

Conditional giving is the wrong approach to charity because it WILL lead to disappointments. I know Malachi 3:10 says “put me to the test” and that is where the trouble comes. We expect that IF we “test,” then blessing will “pour down for you … until there is no more need.” And this is the trap, what is defined as “need” and “want”? Do we think blessing pouring down mean a new Ferrari or never lacking in food or shelter? Do the 10-10-80 exercise and if the “80” allows for a Ferrari then yes that is a blessing, if you go outside the 10-10-80 then it’s not a blessing.

The 10-10-80 plan is simple, 10% goes to your church or charity as your tithe, 10% goes to savings and you live off 80%. If we want something we need to save off the 80% and not draw down the 10% as that is for “emergencies” when the store house is not being filled. The biggest problem I see with “savers” is they get this big pot and then start tapping into it for pleasure and not true emergencies. The 10-10-80 plan requires a life of intense discipline, but will offer a life of intense blessings!

Luke 1 – 2

These first two chapters are the most detail depiction of Jesus’ birth and everything leading up to it. Verse 1:12 is about John the Baptist’s father:

And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.

We have this idea that Old Testament times angels and miracles were common, I think Zechariah’s response shows they were not. Think about if you were in his shoes and an angel appeared before you. Would you be amazed or would you be fearful? I would answer yes to both and my fear would be two fold. First, I would be in fear because of not being sure if what I was seeing was real or in my head. Second, it would be the fear of what was to come.

Think about that for a bit, why do angels appear to man? Usually they have a big “ask” and it’s not just to say “hi, how are you!” In Zechariah’s case he was being told he was having a son in his old age. His disbelief caused him to be mute until the child was named. Although not a huge “ask” it had huge consequences in the end for his questioning.

Verse 1:37 is one of those often quoted verse:

For nothing will be impossible with God.”

We read stories of amazing things in the Bible and see this to be true. I just finished “Filming God”, a story of Darren Wilson who went out to “film” God today. His journey is amazing and his films are wonderful. You hear of modern day miracles that are only of God’s grace upon mankind. You find healings and salvations of very unlikely people, all in amazing God stories.

But one of the things that happened also is reality. We experience it each and every day, where our prayers remain unanswered. Miracles often don’t happen and friends or loved ones suffer and die. We cry out and ask God why, and the answer is almost always the same, silence. Darren found a key to miracles happening, he noticed one key which was needed and that was love. The other key was lack of self, to ensure God was elevated and not the person doing the miracle.

We could spend all day talking about the birth of Jesus, but verse 1:7 is an interesting commentary on society:

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

Here is a woman about to give birth and not one person sacrificed their comfort for one who really needed it. Not to mention she was carrying the savior of the world! How many times have you personally gone out of your way to help someone? Not just open a door or help a little lady with her baggage, but something that made you sacrifice. We look at tithing as “sacrifice”, but even that is out of excess and really only makes us have less. Think about Mary, in labor and no one would sacrifice for her wellbeing. No she bore the Messiah in a barn with farm animals while we slept in the comfort of a bed. Think about God’s “asks” and don’t worry how they will affect you in the short term. We can always camp or sleep in our cars for an evening if it helps another.

Jeremiah 32 – 36

I don’t know what it is about Jeremiah, but something always seems to “come up” and delays me doing this study. Subconsciously I must be avoiding it since the readings can be intense. At the same time my subconscious did not have me in the ER at 3am! (all is fine, just a scare). Verse 32:19 has a prayer I often repeat, but not as eloquently as Jeremiah:

great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.

We tend to trivialize God in addressing Him. Often our conversations are like with our best buddy and not with the Lord of the entire universe. Think about if you were to talk with the President of the USA, would you address him the same way you address God in your prayers? From time to time we may address God in frustration, but we need to be able to “reel back” quickly and acknowledge his majesty. I think back to Crocodile Dundee and his comment that “me and God are mates!” It is a loving comfortable one, but we always need to “respect” God.

I struggle with much of Jeremiah, like in chapter 35 when he talked about the obedience of the Rechabites. Verse 35:6 spells out their following of their fathers rules:

But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons for ever.

Then it appears Jeremiah and God chastise them because they “have not listened to (God)”. But then the chapter ends at verse 35:19 with a positive:

therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man to stand before me.”

It is interesting that they can follow the orders of their earthly father, yet ignore God and they still receive God’s blessing. Either I read this chapter wrong or am confused on why God chose to honor these people, yet others that obey they father down the wrong path have generational curses. This is one of those books one could “park” themselves in for a while to clearly understand what Jeremiah is trying to convey.

Verse 36:3 gives the people of Judah an option:

It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, so that every one may turn from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin.”

Think about this we are all offered this same chance for freedom. Unfortunately one may not easily turn from their “evil ways” as easily was we think they should. Think about it before you found God, the idea there was a supreme being was far off and that what you considered “fun” was really bad. Then the way to “salvation” was to repent all the “fun” you were having and live a boring life. It’s hard to convict people of sin when they do not see the problem with it.

I think of people I know who use drugs, especially mild ones like marijuana. Most don’t see the big deal and can actually spout the benefits verse say wine. Heck I have had some even tell me that “weed” is Biblical and can quote scripture that implies God is ok with “pot heads.”

One in particular “stoner” I knew had inherited two homes, was renting one out and living off the income. He was the one who could quote the Bible and knew it better than most preachers I knew. They guy was a genius, but had zero motivation. He never cleaned and would show us magazines from 1979 that had the first real motorcycle I ever owed. I could ask him what the “Pygmalion effect” was and he would quote a text book definition right of the top of his head.

He had potential, but he loved the weed. He lost both homes in a tax foreclosure, since he was a difficult seller being very “paranoid” on every buyer. It all ended because the removed his mail box because he did want “them” to contact him. Never paid his taxes and lost the properties that could have set him up for life if he was “wise” with his money. No idea what happened to him, he is like sasquatch now with occasionally sightings.

I guess my point in the story is how difficult it can be to share God with someone who cannot see the damage they are doing. And that is where the “Bible thumping”, “hell-fire” approach to preaching the Gospel rarely works. The only thing we can show is show love and pray God will show up in a big way to transform the individual. Also, as representatives of God we need to remove the “I” from the equation and let God shine on his own, we just facilitate the transaction.

Job 37 – 38

Elihu in verse 37:1 continues talking to Job:

“At this also my heart trembles
and leaps out of its place.

Elihu continues to describe God’s majesty to Job. In reading this sometimes we don’t really think about just the day to day things. The beautiful sunrises and sunsets that are painted before us each day, go largely unnoticed. The weather that rolls in and out with the only credit going to the meteorologist, who can only get things 50% right with radar and advanced forecast computers. One can look under a microscope and see each unique snowflake, yet we just dismiss it to the science of crystal formation.

No Elihu got it right! We need to stop and smell the roses, to use a cliché. Yep be amazed that God made a plant with such an exquisite aroma. Also, be amazed at the “design” in which that aroma attracts bees that spread the pollen between the blooms to make new roses. An added benefit is the remainder of the pollen gets brought back to the hive to make honey which feeds the bees and allows them to multiply. My question is how could this evolve? You need the flower before the bee can survive and you need the bee before the flower can survive.

Verse 38:2 God takes over and addresses Job:

“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

Here is where God starts asking the tough questions to Job. How many times to we address God without really understanding what we are asking or why things are happening. We tend to look at our world as we perceive it, but rarely consider the God view of things.

Verse 38:4 has God starting to ask the tough and humbling questions:

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.

Every time I start to whine at God about this or that, I need to step back and read this chapter over a few times. We come to God with some of the most frivolous stuff and get surprised when God does nothing. Our concerns are nothing when you take a look at them on a world view, much less a universe view. We are a tiny speck on a flea!

And even though we are nothing in the grand scheme of things, God cares about you and I enough to know how many hair are on our heads. He has cosmic events that he must attend to, but giving you a hand on saying the right words to a loved one is just as important. I think what God is trying to say to Job is be thankful for what you have, pray for what you desire and don’t get mad if those desires are not met. Often the “big picture” view shows that these “desires” are detrimental to our “world”.

If we should get anything from the story of Job, it’s God’s relationship with us and the world. With that said, I just got an odd thought. Here God is essentially chastising Job for his complaining. Now in a way chapter 38 “covers” the fact God basically handed Job over to Satan. I wonder if God ever says “sorry” to Job for letting Satan ruin his life to prove a point. Sure God restores his wealth and gives him a new family, but what about the ones that died? I wouldn’t care if I got a hundred more offspring, Devon and Veronica could NEVER be replaced in my heart!

Psalm 54 – 56

Verse 54:1 opens with a big request from God:

O God, save me by your name,
and vindicate me by your might.

I don’t know if I would personally ask for vindication from God because I don’t worry about that. We should focus more on ourselves and less on avenging our people doing us wrong. Now this is an odd Psalm when I am not sure the perspective. Now in David’s case he wants justice with Saul so he doesn’t need to keep hiding. But considering his role and ours “vindication” is different.

We usually just want justice for something petty, which often times we discover we are in the wrong. David had a unique view on his pursuer in Saul and respected him. Think about it, David had a chance to kill Saul more than once and he did not. So I believe the vindication he was looking for was more Saul accepting him rather than God removing Saul entirely from the equation.

Verse 55:22 sets light to the placing our problems with the Lord:

Cast your burden on the LORD,
and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
the righteous to be moved.

How easy it is to say “cast your burden on the Lord” but how difficult it is to actually do it. Sure we all have the “head knowledge” that God will protect us and we are safe with the Lord, but how many of us can say for sure that is the case? Our society here in “the industrialized world” has changed our view to more of a “naturalist” than a Godly one.

Think about it when we pray for healing. The “naturalist” view would be pray for the doctor to heal the person while one of faith would be asking for God to heal the person. I “intellectually” fall on the “faith” side and believe God CAN heal all. BUT, and this is a big “but”, my strength in doing so is weak. Sure I have seen videos and heard of many “faith healing” but I have yet to experience that aspect of God. Because of this deep inside I question if it’s possible, at least for me or my world, hence why it’s difficult to “cast (my) burdens on the Lord.”

This dovetails into verse 56:3 concerning trust in the Lord:

When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.

It’s funny I have had so many “little” experiences with God throughout my life that there is no question His role and existence. It’s just difficult to “trust” him with the “big things” in life. With 20/20 hindsight I can see “disasters” that were really not and “nudges” that have brought me to where I am today. But I have never been able to heal a person and that really has bothered me. Now in writing this I realized the problem in the second word, “I”. Maybe that is the issue with many of our experiences with God is we put too many “I”s in the mix.

Miracles don’t happen because they are not the way “I” wanted them. “I” have not healed a man. Or “I” have had no prophetic visions. All are filled with our expectations on what “we” desire from God. God will move in our lives, we just have to get out of HIS WAY!!

2 Samuel 10 – 14

I am going to gloss over chapter 10 since it’s about war and battles and since chapter 11 goes into the fall of David. Verse 11:3 is the start of what is one of the major unraveling’s in the Bible that goes for generations:

And David sent and enquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?”

First comment is what was David doing at home while a battle was raging? The chapter before David led his men into battle, then for whatever reason David stayed at home. The disobedience was quickly followed by him sleeping with Bathsheba and killing her husband. So in one act of lust he commits adultery and eventually murder.

Nathan the prophet rebukes David and tells him what will happen. Verse 12:13 David repents:

David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.

He continues with a “nevertheless” the child created shall die. Even though he is forgiven, this starts the unraveling of the house of David. God will forgive us of our sins, but we still have to live with the consequences. David’s house will still be blessed, but there will be an undercurrent of this transgression for generations to come.

Bathsheba has Solomon and quickly the story erodes. Absalom’s sister Tamar is raped by her brother Amnon. Once he gets what he wants, in “typical” guy mode, discards her and want’s nothing to do with her. This leads to trauma on her end and eventually has Absalom killing Amnon.

Now one could argue that this had nothing to do with David’s impropriety, but God did say “I will raise up evil against you”. Is this and what continues to happen with David’s line a direct result from David not doing the right thing? I think as you study the kings you and many of their writings, you will see an undercurrent of this sin affecting their lives.

Verse 14:33 ends with a kiss:

Then Joab went to the king and told him, and he summoned Absalom. So he came to the king and bowed himself with his face to the ground before the king, and the king kissed Absalom.

Here David is showing he has learned and forgives Absalom. Now again we see that does not end the consequences, but as for David he has shown he can learn. I think that is the key thing we need to take from this story is if we repent we will be forgiven, but with many sins there are consequences that one must live with forgiven or not.

Exodus 21 – 24

Ok, slavery is one of those subjects people who don’t ascribe to Christianity claims to be one of its flaws. Verse 21:2 is rarely quoted, but is the source of the problems:

When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing.

The rest of this section goes into the details of defining freedom and some conditions that may cause issue. This then gets twisted into a view that forced slavery is ok. We get to our nation in the mid-1800 and the “indentured servitude” slowly changed into a people trade. Think about this, the key is “Hebrew slave” and not just slave. Over time the definition of slave has changed, while the Biblical one has remained the same.

I am not condoning or suggesting what was done in the states was right, but to apply that definition to this verse is absurd. I would love to compare the Hebrew text and see if there is a difference between their status in Egypt and this “Law”. This law implies more of an intern who will gain freedom in the end if desired. The slaves in the 1800’s did not expect freedom and therefore was not “biblical” in any form, especially when applied to the New Covenant with Jesus.

Verses 23:6 -8 talks about judges and the Law:

6 “You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit. 7 Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked. 8 And you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.

This hits so many flaws in today’s society and legal system it’s not even funny. First point is basing judgments on one’s economic status. How many times has some outrageous judgment been won because the person could use the money and the company was rich? I think back to a case where a lady won $10mil from McDonalds because she spilled hot coffee on her lap. They said it was too hot and therefore was liable for damages. This is a prime example of justice being perverted for the poor in a suit.

Second and even bigger is the aspect of bribes. I tend to believe the court system is free of bribery, although it still is a “good-ole-boy” network. My point is a poor person cannot easily defend themselves without time and knowledge. The law is made so complex it eliminates anyone defending themselves and actually perverts justice towards the rich.

Now I will say one place where bribes are not only rampant but have been made legal is in the wild world of Washington DC. Justice has been perverted to the point where the rich make the laws to free them from future problems in court. The nice thing about Hebraic Law is its author and ultimate arbiter is God! The problem with most systems is the people inside making the laws need to justify their existence and make more laws. It gets to a point where the law is so complex and difficult to rule on a specialized lawyer is needed to understand each aspect of the law. Occam’s Razor should be applied to the law today, where the simplest law is usually the right one.

2 Corinthians 4 – 5

Verse 4:3 is something that’s big when you think about it:

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing.

This is almost dangerous if used out of context since it could justify not sharing the Gospel with others. But if you place it in context, it requires our light to shine and have us be open to actually share the Gospel with others. I think the “modern church” has missed the mark here, we think sharing the Gospel is getting on our soap box and spewing our point of view.

We tend to invite to church to let the preacher do the work, than get in the trenches. I think we are missing a big part of the Gospel buy not sharing it properly. A preacher once had a vision of church, filled with prostitutes, gang bangers and drug addicts. Drug deals were going down, they were turning tricks in the pews and fights were breaking out. He was rushing in to kick everyone out when God said to him, “you asked for the lost, here they are.”

Verses 4:8 – 10 in a way crush the prosperity Gospel:

8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

Consider what this is saying. It’s not saying follow God and everything will be rosy, money will grow on trees, everyone you meet will be saved or you will understand it all. No Paul makes it clear there will be bumps along the road, but never insurmountable ones. Rarely will you hear verses like these preached except for maybe in oppresses towns or the “old-timey” southern church. Unfortunately people don’t warm up to a difficult message and therefore don’t always preach the tough stuff. Does this mean life will be tough as a Christian? Don’t know fully, but can say the journey is well worth it.

Verse 5:15 discusses Jesus’ death and the importance of his love:

and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

This kind of ties into the last verse since we no longer live for ourselves, since it doesn’t really matter what happens if our goal is to serve Christ. If you think about it this shows God’s ultimate love, by giving his only son on the cross. He dies so we may live in Him. How COOL is that?

Now the reading ends with verse 5:21 where Paul explains the significance of Jesus’ death:

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

A perfect man became the final sacrifice for our sins. The old sacrificial system took an animal and who had your sins transferred to it before being killed. Jesus bore all of mankind’s sins so we could be righteous before God and “hang” with Him. It’s mind blowing when you think about it. That proves God’s love for man.

Mark 15 – 16

Chapter 15’s story of the crucifixion as with much of Mark has been condensed. It starts with him being delivered to Pilate, and by verse 21 he his hung on a cross. Verse 15:15 is a great example of the concise format of Mark:

So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

I read this initially and thought wow; it didn’t even go into the beating Jesus took before being hung on the cross. Mark next discusses the Roman’s mocking him and giving him a crown of thorns, but no beating. I was under the impression “scourged” meant he was “chastised severely”. In looking at the usage in this context the footnotes all say it’s a beating with a multi-tailed whip with bone and metal embedded. So in one word, Mark describes the horrible beating Jesus took.

Verse 15:32 is a discrepancy between the Gospels:

Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.

Mark viewed the two thieves hung next to Jesus as reviling him, yet in Luke one was “saved” before Jesus’ death. Often inconsistencies like this are brought forward and shown to everyone as how Jesus is not really who he claims to be. Just look at politics, the act of the President will be viewed as one group positive and another negative. It depends on your point of view. In this case Mark may only have view the crucifixion from afar and assumed the men we just as angry as the rest of the crowd.

Often we get hung up on minor details and miss the big picture. Now having said that; look at verses 16:9 – 20 and the footnotes in your bible. This section was “added” from the earliest manuscripts. I wonder if it was originally in the writings of Mark or added later. Verse 16:18 tends to be one of those “extreme” verses that either was part of the reason it was omitted or was added later and should be ignored:

they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Most of us can accept the “laying hands and healing” part, but messing with snakes and drinking poison is a bit over the edge. I often look at that the same way Jesus treated jumping off a cliff to prove to Satan He was the son of God. If faced with drinking poison or “handling snakes” I would claim “you shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”

But then again is that where we fail as Christians today? We were told we are to do greater things than Jesus. Is that Jesus just falsely pumping us up or are we really meant for greater things? If we are meant for greater things than why not join the “crazies” in Kentucky and handle snakes? Or are we doing greater things, but explaining them away with “science” and not really digging into the quantum aspects to see God’s finger in the “science”?

Jeremiah 27 – 31

King Nebuchadnezzar is about to overrun Judah and Israel and verse 27:5 sums up how God views what is happening:

“It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me.

This is one thing people sometimes don’t understand, that when things are going wrong it’s not always Satan mucking things up. We tend to also get into the “blame game” trying to shift blame on some events, which gets into the “God’s will” mantra. Life is confusing and difficult to understand much less trying to figure out why some things happen.

There are so many variables and things acting in our lives that we tend to find the easiest path or the rosiest path to be the correct one. Let us look at all the options and variables then look back at Jeremiah. First thing we like to consider is God is in control of everything that happens in life. One possibility that could be is God is orchestrating Nebuchadnezzar’s invasion, which He is in this case. One could say God has His hands in everything and controls the world. This is the key to “predestiny” and God’s will.

Second is Satan could be controlling Nebuchadnezzar and God is allowing this invasion. I believe Satan has power, but with enough prayer God trumps all. I often wonder if after receiving Jeremiah’s message if Israel and Judah had repented they would have been spared the “yoke” of oppression. The final view is this would just happen and is part of the way God designed the world with “free will”.

Personally I think it’s a huge mix of all of the above and unless you receive a word from God one will rarely be able to decipher what is the mix until well after things settle down. In this case you will see in chapters 28 and 29 there are false prophets which tend to confuse the issue and tell the people what they want to hear. This becomes extremely difficult as believers to determine who is “prophesizing” the word of God or the word of man.

As people we would rather hear what is positive than negative. The presidential election cycle we are going into is a great example of this. People don’t want to hear things will be rough before they get better. Instead they want to hear a positive future or they will dismiss the messenger. I am sure most people dismissed Jeremiah who did not have knowledge of his connection with God and listened to Shemaiah or Hananiah. Fortunately today we have the Holy Spirit to help us decipher paths.

The reading ends in with the New Covenant being discussed. God shared to Jeremiah how the covenant God had with the people was impossible to do as man. Verse 31:33 starts to talk about the Holy Spirit:

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Think about trying to go through life without the Holy Spirit nudging us! It is something we don’t really think about too often, but imagine no know right from wrong except for what is told to us. I honestly think God has always written this on our hearts, it’s just with the New Covenant we are now guided. Imagine being the one to share this with the people! Read this and understand how important Jesus actually was in this prophecy.

Job 35 – 36

Verses 35:10-12 looks at how man and God interact:

10 But none says, ‘Where is God my Maker,
who gives songs in the night,
11 who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth
and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’
12 There they cry out, but he does not answer,
because of the pride of evil men.

Elihu’s response to Job and his elder friends is tough to digest. On one hand like the others he is right, but on other aspects he misses the mark. Verse 9 almost implies God is too busy for most of us, hence why the “cry out”. I tend to think of God as being active and alive in all our lives. He answers all who calls on him, be prideful evil men or righteous ones.

One thing not to get too wrapped up in the story of Job is trying to parse out “spiritual truths” since this book recounts many ½ truths. Honestly Job is one of those stories that I often wonder about since God hands Job over to Satan. We tend to read these back and forth discussions to try to parse out God’s truth, when in reality it’s just a story.

Of course after saying this Verse 36:5 discusses God’s glory and there is no denying that:

“Behold, God is mighty, and does not despise any;
he is mighty in strength of understanding.

Elihu continues in talking about how great God is and how these afflictions may be used for His glory. Or it may be used to draw the righteousness away from Job and to God. Either way Elihu makes an interesting observation that Job’s problems have directed him off track and maybe become too self-absorbed.

Verse 36:29 makes and interesting observation concerning God and the rain:

Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds,
the thunderings of his pavilion?

At the time this was a good example of God’s greatness because weather was not really known. We did not have Doppler radar or the ability to fly into clouds. The mystery of the weather has been unraveled for all who cares to study and understand. Unfortunately, man tends to think that since we understand how weather happens and why, it removes God from the equation.

This is the dangerous road science has lead us down where we put our trust in it and push away God. Since science can explain a phenomenon it removes God from the equation. The idea or the trap is if man can explain an occurrence than it removes God from the picture. Reminds me of a joke, a group of scientists were able to create a man from dust. They went to God and said we can create man from dust. God said go ahead and show me. So the scientist bent down and God said “Get your own dust!”

Just because we understand how God does things does not dismiss God from our equation. Just think about how much science has existed that was fact has now been disproven. Just because we think we know how things are done often doesn’t explain the “how” or “why”. That is where God still holds the secrets.

Psalm 51 – 53

These are three awesome Psalms that discuss our relationship to God. Verse 51:1 starts things off:

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.

Psalm 51 is David trying to create a clean heart with confession. At the time he was under the “sacrificial system” but realized it was all ceremony if there was no repentance from the heart. God doesn’t really care if you just say your sins as confession and continue to repeat them over and over. He desires true repentance to really transfer that sin to either the lamb or Jesus.

I can’t tell you how many times my “confession” has been a hollow string of offensives without real remorse. God doesn’t want us going through the motions; He wants that relational level connection. At the same time going through the motions often gets us back on track. But really the key is never get to the point of a mundane experience with God.

Verse 52:1 opens the next Psalm:

Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
The steadfast love of God endures all the day.

In the Psalm David is pointing out that our love for things is really futile. Verse 52:7 spells it our clearly:

“See the man who would not make
God his refuge,
but trusted in the abundance of his riches
and sought refuge in his own destruction!”

It’s hard to imagine some unseen entity can provide refuge greater than our “castle”, but God can. We become so caught up in the security here on earth that we often forget the source of our security. We think it’s all in our court and money will fix everything. Not saying money will not help, but until you have true peace with God it really don’t matter how much you have. All the riches in the world could not provide the “refuge” David is talking about.

We see this today on Wall Street and how greed overruns that institution. Some of the richest people in the world are miserable because they felt wealth would buy them peace. For some reason money did not buy a working relationship with their wife and children. They derive no “joy” from work and only strive for more of something they believe will fix it all.

Verse 53:1 end today’s Psalms with the concept of no man can do good:

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none who does good.

Many think their public acts are “good” but in private their hearts are dark. We need to acknowledge God and accept His path in our lives. The key to what is considered good is what people do when they are not being scrutinized. Mitt Romney, not matter what your slant on him politically, had be demonized by his opponents as a greedy Wall Street hack. But in 1996 when one of his friends lost his daughter in DC, Mr. Romney closed his company and flew the entire staff to DC to successfully find this girl.

This was at great personal expense and was not done for political reason or promotional ones. I mean who cares if a private equity firm gets good press, the majority of the public would never care or even do business with them. Unfortunately the ones who would do business with them would be concerned that they would close shop to find an assumed druggy and ignore their investments. No, without question Mr. Romney at a great personal expense did what it took to help a friend. That to me is a definition of doing “good” in God’s eyes.

These Psalms are prayers that help us reflect on our relationship with God. Read them a few times and think about how they apply in your personal existence.

2 Samuel 5 – 9

Chapter 5:2 opens with the people realizing David is their king:

In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the LORD said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.’”

His reign was for 70 years and we see over this time he was both great and not so great. During the initial time we see he actually led the people, where as he continued he became less “hands on”.

Verse 5:10 shows God’s hand was on David’s reign:

And he became more and more powerful, because the LORD God Almighty was with him.

Might and power in the hands of a Godly man is unbeatable. I often wonder how David became “anointed”, was it his upbringing or his DNA? Or was it neither and God just used him to prove he was sovereign. Think about it, God has used the most unlikely people for greatness. Why is this? Because he wants mankind to know it’s not he man, but God behind the man that make the “more powerful.”

Verses 7:12 – 14 foreshadow Jesus:

12 When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men.

When this was originally written no one had any idea this king would be a carpenter from Nazareth. This is one of the reasons the Jewish people rejected Jesus, they were expecting a king like David. They were looking for that mighty warrior who will crush all their enemies. They expected him to come into the world with great fanfare, not in a stall. If anyone has ever “mucked” a stall, they know stalls are not as sanitary as most “manger scenes” are today.

Chapter 8 goes into David’s victories. “He defeated” was used multiple times while expanding on the nation or people he fought. I read this and often wonder why God was not as “benevolent” as the church is today. Don’t throw the “crusades” at me, which have often been used as an example of Christians not following Jesus. We forget these “crusades” stated when the Turks cut off Christians access to Jerusalem and started to form a “caliphate” or world dominated by Islamic law. Anyway, I have always found it interesting how God’s battles ended with Jesus. Why are the Christians not on an offensive campaign to spread the Gospel? I think the key was these OT wars were actually defensive in nature and was to protect the people of Israel.

Chapter 9 tells a story of Mephibosheth, who was son of Jonathan and Saul’s grandson. David showed benevolence to him and although he was crippled, David shared the king’s table with him “always.” This was “family” to Saul who pursued David to his death. The “normal” response would be oust or kill all the family so no one could lay claim to the throne. David knew God had anointed him and therefore was “safe” from being overthrown. We can learn a lot from David’s rule and how to accept others.

Exodus 17 – 20

Things start to “stall” in the wilderness and the people began “grumbling”. The chapter starts with the people thirsty and wanting water. Verse 17:6

Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.

This is actually a key “miracle” that Moses performs and you will see it cause him problems later in Exodus. But how cool would that be to see water just appear from a rock! It has always amazed me how the people experience God in such amazing ways and they still “grumble” about things. It seems the more they experience the more they complain.

Often I wonder if that is why God does not do this anymore. Look at many of the Occupy Wall Street protesters, they have been given a great life but they just want more stuff handed to them. Sure the “base” wants to stop the fraud and outright theft of our money from the “banksters” on Wall Street, but many just want a free ride. I think that is where the Jewish people are now, when things get slightly uncomfortable they complain and not pray.

Chapter 18 is about Moses’ father-in-law and his advice to him. He sees Moses being overworked dealing with conflict with the tribes of Israel. Based on how difficult managing this is with a family I can’t imagine doing it for an entire nation. With Jethro‘s advice, Moses divides up the people and gives them arbitrators who will bring Moses only the “big stuff.”

This leads to Moses going up the “mountain” and getting the 10 commandments. Read Exodus 20 closely and dwell on the commandments. As I said in the last “thought,” these appear to be inscribed on every human heart no matter their exposure to the “Law” or God. Every culture seems to adopt these as a foundation of their laws in one form or another.

Verse 20:8 talks about the “Sabbath” or day of rest:

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Moses continues and says work 6 days and rest one. We as a nation have for the most part dismissed a formal “Sabbath” and rewritten the law to mean just a day of rest. Instead of everything being close on Sundays, the strive for the all mighty dollar has changed shopping to include Sundays and now even 24 hours for many retail operations. Rest is not a consideration when it comes to making bucks.

Have we violated 20:3 in this quest?

You shall have no other gods before me.

Have we made the dollar our god and dismissed the fundamental need for rest? At the same time have we made “rest” a god? Most no longer work 6 days but rather 5. There is a growing movement to make it 4 days to “conserve” energy. We expect 2 weeks or more paid vacation or more and through all this forget God during our extended periods of rest. On the flip side there are others working themselves to death working 7 days a week to get more money. Either way striving for one or the other is dismissing God’s fundamental law of rest for the body to recuperate and work to be productive for society.

The 10 Commandments are a great stating foundation for any nation; they just have to watch the drift away from them. You have seen this throughout history and will see it continue as we “progress” are people.

2 Corinthians 1 – 3

In verse 1:9 Paul compares our burdens with the relief in Christ:

Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.

In this instance Paul believed he was facing a death sentence for his new found beliefs. Although things looked grim, he had faith in God to help him thought these tough times. Think about it, we serve a God who raised the dead and parted the Red Sea, so why worry? God is not saying you will not be pursued by the Egyptian Army or even be safe from death, but he is saying he has your back.

Verse 2:4 shows Paul’s caring heart and his love for people:

For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

I have to wonder if the original parchment this letter was written on was stained with tears. Paul definitely cared for the people he was writing to and was deeply concerned of their salvation in Christ. How many of us deeply stress of the salvation of one’s family or friends, much less acquaintances? Paul has a sense of urgency that most seem to have lost or never had. The salvation experience becomes and individual one and we miss the “share” part of the Gospel. We may be initially on fire, but after 2 or 3 “your crazy’s” one can easily get discouraged and give up sharing. The key is don’t!

One of the most beautiful part of be indwelled in the Holy Spirit is shown in verse 3:3, where we have God’s law inscribed in our hearts:

And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

One could argue that all humanity has the 10 commandments inscribed on their hearts. If you look at almost all cultures that have developed over time, they all have a set of rules that in one way have the 10 commandments as a part. We know in our hearts we “shall not kill” before any mention of Jesus or God. How is that? God and the Holy Spirit inscribed this on our hearts before we were created.

This is proof that God dwells in us before we discovered Him, so why would the Holy Spirit not help us as children of Christ? As much as I love to follow the Holy Spirit we need to have a solid foundation in the Word so we can interpret His commands and ours. I have known of people being “led” by what they “feel” is the Holy Spirit without any Biblical foundation for this path. From time to time these “paths” work, but often they are so far from God’s will it becomes destructive to their relationship with God.

We can get too “wonk’ish” in studying the Bible to miss out on God’s internal prompts. Often I wish for that clear word in my heart to follow God. Sometimes it just a prompt to “help this person carry a bag” or “buy their meal” while I want a crystal clear voice that says how to do life. The few times I believed I had a “crystal clear” voice from God; I quickly discovered it was my own selfish desires. That is where I pray for discernment and then that one vision I can hang my hat on.

I am currently reading “Filming God” by Darren Wilson and he talks about many times God talked to him. This happens when his mind becomes overwhelmed and singularly focused on one thought that cannot be confused with anything but a word from God. I pray for that daily and wait; at the same time I keep getting those quiet prompts which lead me into some amazing experiences. Why is it we all seem to want the Red Sea parting before us or that burning bush? Why are we not satisfied with that quiet little prompt?

Mark 13 – 14

Mark is now documenting the final days of Jesus and verses 13:5 – 8 documents one of the biggest warnings:

5 And Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one leads you astray. 6 Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. 7 And when you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.

He will return and has warned us of his coming. Everything that we are seeing today with the world in turmoil and the frequency of natural disasters appears to be signs of His return. We need to be on our toes not to be sucked into following a false Christ. At the same time if Jesus appeared before you in jeans and a t-shirt would you dismiss Him or follow Him?

Interesting idea when you think about it. Jesus during his first “stint” on earth was rejected as the Messiah for two reasons. First, He did not fit the “mold” which the Pharisees had of a mighty warrior. Second, He disrupted the status quo and therefore was rejected because the Pharisees would have been “out of a job” if they accepted who He was. Would that happen in today’s church? If Jesus wasn’t coming down from heaven in white flowing robes would the church accept Him? This would be especially true for the mega-churches, but all the preachers would be out of work since Jesus returned. How many would accept the end of their income stream?

Verse 13:32 tells us we will never know the time or day this is to happen:

But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

Now he ends this chapter with “stay awake” which after 2000 years would be impossible. If we were to follow the Word literally we would be performing the most effective form of torture on ourselves (sleep deprivation). Here it means we will never know, so be alert and ready, but how does one do this? It’s a multifaceted approach to knowing Jesus.

The first connection we need to have is in our hearts, because without that we do not have the root of salvation. Now to build this “root” up and support it we need to regularly attend church, not only for the message, but for the time of worship. We need to build a support group of friends who are Christians so we may have one on one time with others to pose questions. Finally we need to make personal time with the Lord to pray and read the Word. Do these things and you will be “awake” when the time comes.

Verse 14:7 needs to be touched on:

For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me.

This happens when a woman (in other Gospels it is Mary) pours expensive perfume on Jesus. The disciples were arguing the perfume could have been sold and the money used for the poor. Interestingly Jesus does not agree, but makes this statement. This often is twisted to justify keeping ones wealth and not even trying to help others. Again Jesus is one of extreme examples where we MUST us context to apply this to our lives. There is a balance between giving and using ones blessings. We must realize it is all His in the first place and not become self-absorbed, but at the same time not just give it all away and never be able to help again. So learn to enjoy your blessings and follow God’s prompts on helping others.

Jeremiah 22 – 26

Jeremiah is speaking to the future king of Israel and Judah in verse 22:3 where he states:

Thus says the LORD: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place.

This advice is something we all should take to heart, not just those who would be king. Jeremiah knows what the future holds and knows the way to peace and prosperity. He warns the king to now follow the path of unrighteousness or folly. But as we can see from the history of the kings of Israel, most drift far away from God’s word and intention. Most of us can see how “drifting” takes us away from the path God desires for us. Sure he may be able to “nudge” us back into His plan, but often we go too far.

Verse 23:23 gets into the root cause of our drifting:

Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away?

Do you look at God as an interactive part of your life or a king who rules from afar? It a hard concept to get but God is not some muscular old guy sitting on a throne in the clouds waiting for our mistakes and not concerned about our day to day lives, but rather a loving God who is always at our side. He is the ultimate manager, where He gives us to freedom to live and helps us along the way.

As Christians from time to time many have said “God is silent” in our lives. We get this image of God going to His throne and ignoring us completely. Again we try to create God in our image and not His. God is “omnipresent” and therefore ALWAYS with us. If He seems silent it may be more of a whisper to get you more in tune with Him. I find His “silence” is more my “deafness” to His prompts.

One can get wrapped up in Jeremiah’s imagery of the good and bad figs from chapter 24 and try to apply this to their lives today. Or they read chapter 25 about drinking from the cup of wrath and apply that to drinking and not to the image of God dolling out his punishment. When reading the prophets one must understand every word they speak is not directed towards us. We have to take them in the “historical” context of when they were written.

Sometimes you have to dig a bit for “nuggets” of wisdom since the doom and gloom tends to overwhelm all of us from time to time. It also tends to give us the view that God IS punishment and not love. We see what he does to those who mess us and wonder when the next “shoe will drop” on us. Or you can reverse it to this shows how much God cares for his people that He will keep “nudging” them to the right path no matter how many times they fail. This is like he does for us!

Job 33 – 34

Elihu is “rebuking” Job in chapter 33 and then talks about God’s justice in chapter 34. Depending on your walk this will seem spot on or you will start to notice the flaws in Elihu’s comments. One part I like is verses 33:14 & 15:

14 For God speaks in one way,
and in two, though man does not perceive it.
15 In a dream, in a vision of the night,
when deep sleep falls on men,
while they slumber on their beds,

I cannot say I have ever had a vision in my sleep or one while awake. But I have had God address me directly in the Bible and in simple prompts, either from other people or inner thoughts. I question my inner thoughts the most since I need to test them Biblically before I can trust them, because more often than not they are desires and not God’s voice. Same can be said with council, no matter the source I test and confirm before following.

Think about Job, his friends were very well versed Biblically yet they we so off the mark a huge portion of this book is devoted to their folly. I think of Harold Camping who was at one time a very respected Biblical teacher, but somewhere along the way he became promoted as a fool with his doomsday predictions. One could say he was misguided or did not understand scripture. Others say he just miscalculated and will have it right soon.

What if he was 100% right in his vision of God’s message to the world and he was like Jonah? Jonah predicted the end of Nineveh, the repented and God spared the city. Maybe his predictions caused enough repenting that God spared us once more? We cannot dismiss a man because of his apparent madness since the majority of the prophets were considered mad in their time. The key is verse 34:3 in how we should “test”:

for the ear tests words
as the palate tastes food.

We need to test everything we hear to ensure it is right and of God. Paul was very clear to have us “test all things” to ensure they are of God. The one thing I notice is when you do this to a preacher, many times they get upset for questioning their “theology” and status. God will introduce peace with His way and not conflict, but Satan will try to introduce conflict so one needs a solid Biblical foundation to clearly hear from God.

Verse 34:12 focuses on God’s intent:

Of a truth, God will not do wickedly,
and the Almighty will not pervert justice.

Concerning staying in the Word, Jesus said it best in John 8:32 – “and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” Often unwise council will bind you even if it’s partially rooted in Biblical truth. So again I fall back on to have a full relationship with God one must be rooted in the spirit and in the word, otherwise one can misinterpret their “feelings”. Jesus was able to contract the Pharisees by knowing the Word inside and out. The only one, who knows the Word inside and out, aside from God and Jesus, is Satan. So one must be prepared with their foundation in God and the Word before doing battle with Satan.

Psalms 48 – 50

Chapter 48 starts out with verse 1 by saying:

Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised
in the city of our God!
His holy mountain,

This verse makes me think of the old prayer for dinner that starts “God is great, God is good.” How many times do we say this more out of motion that belief. It really becomes trivialized as children because we are saying the prayer just so we can eat. The acknowledgement that God is far beyond our wildest imagination is rare in most of us. Have you made God into “your image” and limited him to a throne and a body? Or is God really omnipresent and omniscient?

Our faith teaches us that God can do anything, but we sit and wonder why does this or that happen. If God can do anything why are their earthquakes? Why is there mental retardation? This is one of the primary reasons why we get a limited view of God. We don’t view this as designed, but often blame the problems on a “fallen world”.

The negative with having purple mountains majesty, is you need earthquakes to heave them skyward. This is by design. For each person to have a unique fingerprint and personality, we have to have very “fluid” makeup. The problem is you introduce flaws, impurities or defects they get compounded into many of the birth abnormalities. Unfortunately this too is by design.

Now verse 49:5 ties into God’s greatness:

Why should I fear in times of trouble,
when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,

That is a great question! Why should one ever fear with a great and almighty God around them? Fear is actually a basic survival mechanism that we have to protect us. If we did not fear, the lion’s would eat us at will. Often this fear become incapacitating when one starts creating future possibilities. This is also called anxiety and tends to eat us up. God is not saying do not fear when you NEED to, but do not fear the future. It’s beyond your control and will tend to keep you inactive.

One of the most common “fears” as Christians is what others will “think” about our faith. We have “fear” of being rejected or looking like a fool when we express a belief in an unseen God who sounds more like a “fairytale” than reality. This is the type of “fear” the Psalmist is talking about. The “fear” that you get when you are being attacked is ok, just like the “fear” of the future don’t freeze up. Both types of “fears” need to be overcome, one to survive and the other is just to live your life.

Verse 50:6 sums up a “pet peeve” I have about judging others:

The heavens declare his righteousness,
for God himself is judge!

I find myself judging others and being self-righteous quite often. I will see others succeed while taking advantage of others and I become indignant. I see some get all “pious” and full of themselves, and I judge them just like they do others. Relationships crumble because one judges by a different “standard” than the other is living. I often wonder how “judges” fall into the biblical sense. Are they really “arbiters” and not judges in the eyes of God? Or are they “judges” for man’s law? Is it not right to “judge” someone who is a risk? Would it have been wise for Susan Atkins to “judge” Charles Manson before following him? There goes the “fine line” between God’s word and reality. When does God mean “do not judge” and when do we need to “judge”?

2 Samuel 1 – 4

As we start this I wonder who actually wrote this book, since Samuel died near the end of 1st Samuel. Originally the book was one book and then later split into two when first translated into Greek. Jewish tradition say the author was Samuel himself but that appears impossible since he died half way through the book. It may have retained the name Samuel since it dealt with the history of the two kings (Saul and David) Samuel anointed.

David was a very harsh man, we think of him as having soft attributes since he played the lyre and danced around. But verse 1:15 shows a different side of David:

Then David called one of the young men and said, “Go, execute him.” And he struck him down so that he died.

Amalekite was in battle with Saul and his sons when he came upon Saul who was almost dead on his spear. Saul asked Amalekite to finish him off, which he did. Then in telling David the story, David has him executed for killing the king. That seems harsh to me since the man confessed and was following “orders” of Saul himself.

I find David’s response to Saul’s death interesting. Here is Saul possessed to kill him and in 1:17 David mourns his death:

And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son,

One would think he would be rejoicing since he was now king and he no longer had to fear for his life. But that was not the case with David, he understood the “power structure” and that Saul was mad. He did not hold a grudge that Saul was trying to kill him.

One could find these two verses in contrast, but they actually show the honor and commitment to the leadership in place. A man kills his pursuer and is executed, yet he mourns his hunter’s death. That is honoring the position of king no matter the circumstances.

This time in Biblical history there is a bunch of murder. In verses 3:26-30 Joab murders Abner and in chapter 4 Ish-bosheth is murdered. The power struggle for leadership of Israel was intense. See Ish-bosheth was Saul’s son and reigning king over all but Judah who honored David as king. This split happens again later as Judah separates from Israel during King Rehoboam’s reign. I am not clear of exactly why Judah is so independent that they seem to not follow the same path the rest of Israel does. Anyone have an answer here?

Exodus 13 – 16

It is interesting how many of the Jewish traditions and celebrations stem from Moses and the exodus from Egypt. Chapter 13 goes into the Feast of the Unleavened Bread. One thing the caught my eye was the lead into this section in verse 13:2:

“Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”

The importance of the first born actually gets explained later in the explanation of the “Feast”. The first born male for some reason in most cultures gets the highest place in the family structure. That then add significance to the story of the Prodigal Son because remember it was the younger son who leaves and returns to the feast. The oldest, with the birth right, is upset that this never happened for him. Read the story again in light of the importance of the first born son and see if you can understand the eldest son indignation towards his brother.

Chapter 14 is probably the most debated chapter in the Bible where Moses parts the Red Sea and the people are saved. Something this amazing happens only one other time when the flooded Jordan River is stopped up and the people again pass on dry ground. The Jordan could be explained away with blockage, where there is no way to explain the Red Sea. One scientist actually built a model of the Red Sea and demonstrated how God must have done this miracle. That was real cool to watch, and only lead credence to how this is a real story.

Imagine being in verse 14:29 and walking the corridor of water:

But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

We tend to think this all just happened, but in the story God held off the Egyptian chariots with the pillar of smoke and fire before the ground was dried. This then makes the scientist’s depiction of the event more believable. It’s cool when you read about an amazing event like this and wonder how it could have ever happened and then have science show how it may have occurred. The only way I believe skeptics will believe is if they found 600 chariots at the bottom of the Red Sea. Doesn’t matter how many working models one had of the event, it’s very unbelievable.

And this is where God wants to work. He is not looking at some Biblical scholar to “light the way” for everyone, but someone like Moses or Paul. Both we murderers and both were not adept at speaking or leading. But God made these two the foundation of the Church. Think of Jesus’ reception in Nazareth and how He was rejected for being the son of a carpenter, not the living son of God. God uses the most unlikely for the most amazing.

Darren Wilson, a producer of many great films, had an interesting story of a person he was following. This man was known for his ability to heal others and Darren was following him to capture these miracles for his movie. They came upon one man who had a hurt leg, after many times this “healer” failed and called on Darren to try. Darren reluctantly did this, said a few “God, heal this leg” and without faith asked how the man was doing. He was healed, not by a man of great faith but by one of NO faith. That is where God want to be, where there is no doubt it was anything but HIS own power.

As we close out the reading Moses is again in the wilderness with grumbling people. In verse 16:12 God responds to this complaint:

“I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.’”

God had manna from heaven and quail in the evening just that “magically” appear each day for the people to eat. And the people just kept complaining and drifting. Really! How much more does God have to do to keep the people quiet? He does 10 plagues before the people, leads them around the wilderness with fire and smoke, parts the Red Sea, purifies water and feeds them, yet they eventually blow this trip to the Promised Land. How difficult must it be for us who just relies on the redeeming blood of Jesus shed for us some 2000 years ago? The one benefit we have is the Holy Spirit to help solidify our faith in God. But how is our faith just reading stories like this where the people then LIVED this and still strayed.

1 Corinthians 15 – 16

Paul tries to “clarify” the idea of “resurrection” and what will happen. Based on the number of sermons that I have heard on the subject I don’t think Paul helped any. I have heard everything from our bodies, to our “heavenly bodies” and everything in between get raised after our death. He talks about the resurrection of Christ as the whole body, which is where the idea of our bodies being “brought up” stems from.

Verse 15:6 tells us that not only did he and a handful of others see the resurrected Christ, but a large crowd:

Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

I wonder in this writing if “fallen asleep” means died or fell away from believing in Christ? In the day of Paul’s writing this most commonly referred to death of the body and the soul resting. Mankind has never been too keen on the idea of death and it scares even some of the most devout Christians. No matter how you slice it, the idea of not 100% knowing our fate scares many.

Many preach hell fire and brimstone as the reason for salvation in Jesus. To someone who thinks we just die and that’s it, this is nonsense. So to me the “salvation” message needs to focus more on the here and now and less on death, but that’s me. Although we need to have the hope of a future in heaven and in verses 15:17 & 18 he addresses that subject:

17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

This implies that if as a Christian you do not believe in “life after death” than your “faith is futile.” I don’t know if Paul is implying that if you don’t believe in the resurrection of Christ, than you still haven’t gotten “it” yet or if your “faith” is just not strong yet. The concept of something after death is difficult for most to understand, so I don’t think not getting the concept is a “qualifier” for being a Christian, but it is something that needs to be developed.

Now verse 15:22 sums up life in a nutshell:

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

“ALL will be made alive” with Christ when he dies as the last sacrifice, but only to those who believe. The penalty of sin is death and that is where the sacrificial system of transferring our sins to an animal and then killing it for the sins came from. Christ when he died went one step further, He died but came back to life to be a living sacrifice that we can go to forever.

Paul finishes out the chapter trying to explain the “resurrection body” and how it’s not going to be ours. Again this is a tough concept to understand and grasp considering the finality of everything in our world. When asked I would say “I don’t know for sure, but the Bible says this and in faith I believe.” How could we have our “bodies” resurrected when we decay in the ground? I don’t want a bunch of bones with rotting flesh to be my “resurrected body”!

Now I am more positive because I resolved it with science. The “energy” or soul needed to drive this body is immense, so from the Law of Conservation of Energy it proves that there must be life after death for that soul since there is little energy produced on combustion of the body. If “energy” is “conserved” than the soul must represent “energy” and must live on. So what was a doubt has become “proven” by science, at least to me;-)

Mark 11 – 12

There is a story in chapter 11 about the fig tree being cursed that I find interesting. Something in verse 11:13 I did not notice is this fig tree was “out of season”:

And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs.

This is one of those stories I never really got, especially now when we discover the tree should not have had fruit on it anyway. Here the tree is not in season, yet since there is no fruit, Jesus curses the tree and it dies. We can make analogies of people growing in Christ but are not fruitful, but the tree was out of season. This to me means it would not have had fruit and therefore was cursed for a “natural” reason.

Another off beat way to look at this is Jesus just got upset and was having a mild fit, which cost the tree its existence. Interestingly, the explanation Jesus gives has nothing to do with fruit or bearing fruit but with faith. Verse 11:24 sums up what Jesus was trying to point out with the tree:

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

We all tend to pray “for” an outcome or something, but Jesus is clear of an actual shift in one’s mindset. We need to pray as if it already is and not from a desire for. This is a subtle difference in pray we often miss because in praying “for” something we are actually praying a “lack” or a negative without meaning to. I could get into the energy and connection with God, but there are whole books written on this subject that you should read if it interests you. The first is from more of a Biblical look at prayer called The Isaiah Effect by Gregg Braden. The second is more of a secular one called The Secret by Rhonda Byrne.

Both get “out there” with our understanding of God and the connection within, and I will have to say The Secret is very materialistic. It’s more in a tone of treating God like a genie and not acknowledging Him at all. The Isaiah Effect ties this more closely with our prayer life. Both are excellent books and opened my eyes to God.

Verse 12:17 is one of those verses that “get’s” me all the time:

Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him.

Back when I was early into my Christian rebirth we had a tax issue with the state. We had paid sales taxes early on, but got way behind. I wanted to either dump it claiming the business failed or pay it. So I prayed and used the Bible as an Ouija Board. As God what to do and opened to this verse. Not linking the answer I did this again and opened to the same words in Matthew 22. So we did the taxes, sold a home and pad the taxes to the tune of $45,000.

Verse 12:44 ends with the story of the widow’s offering:

For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

This is often used to “guilt” Christians into giving more to the Church. I often wonder what Jesus’ point was in this passage? Was it to point the hypocrisy of the wealthy giving out of surplus and making a big deal of it? Or was it to point out that we really should give it ALL to God and leave nothing? Should we give till it hurts our ability to survive? I question this often as to what we should give or how we should view the money. I think the point was more our money is really God’s gift to us and how we use it to glorify God.

The question is an ornate home or giving that excess to the poor? Should we not enjoy the fruits of our labor? Or should we not live in “excess”? If so that who defines “excess” anyway? Is excess anything more than a hut like in Nicaragua? I think we “excess” is when the “stuff” becomes our God!

Jeremiah 17 – 21

Jeremiah is struggling in verse 17:1 with Judah and their misdirection from God:

The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of their altars,

I read passages like this and wonder if the God really was the same throughout time or if He changes like we do and now he is in the “Grandpa” stage with mankind. Follow me on this, God creates man and man messes up. God gets mad and casts them out. He destroys them with a flood and continues in similar fashion for most of the Old Testament. Why would sins that can be forgiven be written in “stone”?

Even before Jesus they had the sacrificial system to repent and this chapter implies that would not matter. Now we get to the New Testament and God is more like a grandpa than an upset father. Grace, love and forgiveness abound. At least that is the way it appears now.

Verses 18:6 & 7 highlight what we see in God then and honestly I think it’s today also, just more on an individual basis and not on a “grand scale”:

6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it,

More than once God is called the potter as dealing with mankind. He makes very ornate, fancy vases and garbage receptacles. In His hands each one of us is formed. I often wonder if we are all made as garbage receptacles at first and then reformed after accepting Christ. Either way the potter can mold us and change us into whatever image He desires, we just need to accept His hands and not fight it.

Verse 19:10 & 11 highlight the relationship God and Jeremiah had where they appeared to have direct communications:

10 “Then you shall break the flask in the sight of the men who go with you, 11 and shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: So will I break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, so that it can never be mended. Men shall bury in Topheth because there will be no other place to bury.

Notice how God is instructing Jeremiah in detail what to do and what to say to the people. I wonder if this is happening today and if so how they are being received. I have seen many people talk about hearing the voice of God and then in relatively short order their actions directly contradict the word of God. After 38 years of being a Christian I am still waiting for that audible and defining voice that is without question God. I can see in hindsight the hand of God all over my life in “coincidences” that are too odd and “nudges” that were of His doing, but that one defining crystal clear voice has been missing. Am I worried? Nope, just envious of those that have had that moment.

Job 31 – 32

Job makes his final appeal in chapter 31 and the questions start coming. Verse 31:4 is the start of trying to find the reason why:

Does not he see my ways
and number all my steps?

God loves us so much He watches every move. To me I have no idea why He would care to “number all my steps.” I understand He knows the number of hairs on my head, but again have to ask why. Think about all the useless knowledge we have trapped in our heads. I think the problem is we “personify” God on the limitations of our mind. I don’t think God cares how many steps we take or how much hair is on our heads, but unlike mankind this useless information is not clouding God’s mind.

Verses 31:24 & 28 sum up this chapter as far as the line of questioning:

24 “If I have made gold my trust
or called fine gold my confidence,

28 this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges,
for I would have been false to God above.

Through this chapter Job is going through a laundry list of sins and how he perceives his adherence to God. I guess this one specifically attracted me since I have been accused of being hung up on money. My perception is I just want out of debt and be able to work on my own. At the same time I really think it’s more a desire for freedom or a perception of freedom. And unfortunately that freedom is not necessarily what God wants for me right now. See I want the freedom to tell my boss off if I ever wanted to and therefore is the wrong motivation.

Now Job has been said to be a righteous man and pleased God. I am interested with the next chapter how a younger Elihu finally talks. Apparently, he was listening to everyone and not voicing his opinion since he was the youngest of the bunch.

Verse 31:6 sets the stage for why Elihu remained silent:

And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said:

“I am young in years,
and you are aged;
therefore I was timid and afraid
to declare my opinion to you.

Often the youngest among us is the most insightful because their minds are not clouded with personal opinion. We all tend to read the Word and apply the filter of life to understand the words. Often times someone who is not “jaded” from “life” can see the pureness of God’s word. The key here is don’t dismiss someone just because they are younger, for their advice may be just what you need.

Psalms 45 – 47

When I read Psalm 45 all I could think about was how God was limited by the Psalmist. Verse 45:6 talks about a “throne” where God sits:

Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever. The sceptre of your kingdom is a sceptre of uprightness;

I guess we need to personify God and place Him on a throne to start a relationship. Now as we get into the attributes of God this quickly falls apart, like the concepts of “omnipresence” or “omniscience.” Both leave the realm of a human body and become much larger than anyone can really imagine. But for our limited minds, putting God into a body and placing on a throne give us an image we can understand. This also helps because we are made in “His image” and that is easier to equate to our bodies than anything else.

Verses 46:1 – 3 give us a fantastic image of the protection God provides us:

1 God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

This is easy to conceptualize but often difficult to accept when we are in the trenches. Sure hindsight one can see God all over a trial, but in the midst it seems to be difficult to rest in God’s arms. The idea “we will not fear” is easy to say when things are rolling your way, but when life and circumstances overtake you it becomes almost impossible not to fear.

I don’t think we really need to fear life so much as embrace it. God never promised us a “rose garden” but he did promise us paradise. Unfortunately, that utopia is not hear and now. We are going to have our ups and our downs. Jobs will be plentiful and they will be sparse. Death will happen and life will go on. We need to embrace the lows as well as the highs and praise God in both.

In verse 47:2 I saw the word “feared” and wanted to explore it:

For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared,
a great king over all the earth.

As I jump around to each translation it’s amazing the differences. NIV makes God “awesome” and not a terror. It’s interesting that the KJV uses the word “terrible” which I don’t get and may be one of those subtle changes in the English language over the decades. My OT fall back is the Complete Jewish Bible and it uses “awesome”. Now awesome can be used for something so huge it is scary, but I believe God needs to be experienced in awe and not cowered from in fear.

1 Samuel 26 – 31

As we close out 1 Samuel, David and Saul are still at odds. It starts with David getting another opportunity to kill Saul, but he spares his life. Verse 26:21 is when Saul and David interact after Saul realizes David isn’t such a bad guy and repents:

Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have acted foolishly, and have made a great mistake.”

Interestingly in the next chapter David runs from Saul and escapes to the Philistines. In verse 27:1 David gets one of those feelings that Saul will pursue him again and that was the only basis for his escape. It does not sound like Saul pursues David again, yet David still ran away based on his “heart”.

How many times have you had one of those feelings? What did you do? Did you follow or ignore? I can think of many times I ignored my “gut” and got into trouble. There were a few times when I kept out of harm’s way by doing this also. Simple things like recently having my broker call and say sell a position. My gut says ok, but my mind says squeeze out a few more bucks. It dropped before I could act on my gut and we lost. Granted it’s not much, but it was the principle of ignoring my “feelings” for my “thoughts”.

This is where the lines between God and man get really blurred. See if we operate too much into “feelings” we get ourselves into trouble because we often cannot decipher between good feeling of God and of man. Often the “feelings” miss the mark or maybe close but not Biblical. On the other hand the one who is full of knowledge will miss God prompts because they tend to intellectualize problems and often ignore God “prompts” because they do not trust their “feelings”.

Sometime you get a mix that is both right and wrong at the same time. After 50 years with 38 of them being a Christian I cannot say I know in the moment what is right or wrong. I have found that “hindsight” has been invaluable in teaching me what is right or wrong. It becomes unbelievably difficult when everything inside me says go one way, while there is conflict on the outside. I have multiple people either confirming or denying that path I have chosen. With still others saying I need to go another way altogether. These are all people I trust and have had great insight before.

I often dream of the connection David had with God and wonder if that is possible with someone like me? Now back to the reading we find Saul goes to a medium to get help from Samuel. At the same time the Philistines are preparing for battle with Saul and they reject the help from David. His camp gets raided by the Amalekites which he avenges to get everything back. And finally even after a warning from Samuel, Saul goes into battle and is killed. How’s that for a “Readers Digest” version of 4 chapters?

Exodus 9 – 12

These chapter deal with plagues 5 thru 10 and the start of the exodus into the wilderness. Verse 9:12 ends the sixth plague with Pharaoh’s heart hardening:

But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had spoken to Moses.

It’s interesting to see each of these plagues Pharaoh becomes more and more stubborn. He actually starts to “crack” on the last few, but continues to revert to a harden heart. This verse and many of the other “ends” to the plagues has the Lord hardening his heart. I know that always seems odd to me the Pharaoh needed help from the Lord. This can quickly develop a view of the Lord as the one with the magnifying glass over the ant hill of Egypt.

By the seventh plague Pharaoh is realizing he has sinned and is confessing only to harden his hart again. The eighth and ninth plagues have the Lord hardening Pharaoh’s heart again. Again was He doing this for greater impact or to ensure he did not change his mind? We know Pharaoh did change his mind or the parting of the Red Sea would never have happened. Why do you think the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart? Why did he “flip-flop” between releasing the people and the hardened heart?

This finally leads to the killing of the first born in Egypt. Verses 12:11-12 describes the preparation which would also become a celebration called Passover:

11 In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s Passover. 12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgements: I am the LORD.

Notice they are preparing to scramble at a moment’s notice. This is when they placed blood over the door which would signal to the Lord to “Passover” this home and not strike the first born down. If you notice in verse 12:15 they are preparing bread without leaven. The main reason they did this is because putting “leaven” into bread is very time consuming and they needed to be ready at a moment’s notice. Also I would have to presume that made the bread get mold quicker so it would not handle long journeys.

Now the other thing I find interesting about the Passover is how it ties into Jesus’ death on the cross. Notice how God did not Passover his first born son. Now one could argue Adam was really his “first born” but I don’t remember God calling Adam his son. So there is a subtle significance to the time of Jesus’ death and Passover. Also the leaven can be used to symbolize evil creeping into our lives and how it spreads over everything and can turn sour quickly if let free.

The final verse I wish to touch on is verse 12:23 and the word “destroyer”:

For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.

I was wondering if any translations used “Abaddon” to name the “destroyer” but I did not find that. Interestingly in the Complete Jewish Bible, which appears to most closely translate the Hebrew to English for the OT, says “Adonai” instead of the destroyer will kill all the first born. It’s actually used twice in the CJB, once in place of the word destroyer and the other in place of the word Lord. See “Adonai” is another name for God in the Jewish Bible which says God did the dirty work. Interesting how almost all Christian versions imply someone other than God did the “dirty work.”

1 Corinthians 13 – 14

Chapter 13 is the “Love” chapter! Verse 13:1 opens making sure that our gifts are useless if not done in love:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

Paul continues with other gifts, making the same comment about love. In reading this chapter my first question is which “love” is this? Is it “eros” or the erotic love? Is it “storge” or the love between a parent and child? Is it “philia” or the love of deep friendship or partners? Or is it “agape” or the self-giving love?

A quick check with the theologian Dr. Google we find it’s agape. In reading about this chapter I found some interesting things about “agape” love. First it’s self-giving without expectations of anything in return. Second, it can be given to those who are unlovable or unappealing. Third and most interesting is it has little or nothing to do with emotion and more to do with self-denial for the sake of others.

Interesting but “agape” and “storge” often get used similarly, but I wonder if it’s more in “sarcastic” writing. “Storge” is most commonly referred to as one’s love for their family, but has been used as in “loving” the tyrant. I found relief in the “agape” love not having much emotion connected to it since I often don’t have much emotion for others in our day to day lives. Sure some instances a stranger will have me balling like a little child, but for the most part it makes me feel comfort in knowing I am not a heartless dude.

Verses 13:4 & 5 get new light to with the “agape” definition:

4 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;

We tend to get in a quandary over this chapter and its verses often thrown into the faces of our spouses. We tend to apply our “eros” or “storge” love to this chapter and get messed up. Sure “agape” is an underlying root to the other forms of love, we tend to miss the mark here. Why? Well if you are throwing back in the face of the one you love, you are being “resentful”!!! The only saying “two wrongs don’t make a right” comes to mind here.

The next chapter deals more with the worship service and how it’s conducted. Verse 14:1 ties gifts into this and put one above the rest:

Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.

That has always been something I desire to have. But at the same time I miss the mark and want to be able to foresee the future to get winning lottery numbers. Interesting the definition is to “edify, exhort or comfort” the members of the church. This does not always mean seeing the future events. Also I am sure the last thing God is going to do is give me a vision of winning lottery numbers for a given day.

The other thing I find interesting in this chapter is how Paul wants to make sure that speaking in tongues is not as important as prophecy. Verse 14:22 talks about how tongues are for non-believers and prophecy is for believers. I would have thought it was the opposite since most non-believers look at people speaking in tongues as needing to be locked up!

I’ll end with verse 14:33:

For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

Remember that the next time you are freaking out at God!

Mark 9 – 10

As with most of the Gospels, each chapter of Mark is filled with great stories that each could have hours of discussion. So you have to excuse me with the A.D.D. jumping around. Verse 9:24 stuck me hard because it’s a person who believes in his head but still doubts:

Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

He believes yet he immediately asks for help with his unbelief. I get in this mindset often because on one hand we are told we will do greater things than Jesus yet I can’t heal the simplest wounds or raise a dead goat. I am still waiting for prophetic visions or a burning bush. Sometimes my belief gets overwhelmed by blindness and unbelief.

I have cried this out recently when something that seemed “of God” by the way it transpired fell apart. Times like these make me wonder if my belief is right or wrong. My mind can actually comprehend God and know He exists; my problem gets into my personal relationship. When I hear “no” after everything points to “yes”, my belief gets a kick. Funny how I focus on this one disappointment and quickly forget the previous 38 years of “nudges” and “unexplained coincidences” that statistically point to God!

Verse 9:35 gets into another subject of pride and service:

And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

This defies logic, how can one get to first by being last? The key point is to be a “servant of all” because God wants us humble and putting Him first. We should not be clamoring for first place because that quickly moves pride into the picture since we all will feel deserving of that place. But when we serve others we silently move to the front, without fanfare or notice. This is where God seems to defy logic to ensure we always retain Him in the true first position.

Verses 10:24 & 25 are one of the more quoted verses for those in need:

24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

We all like to quote this to say how difficult it will be for those richer than us to get into the kingdom. What we forget is there is always someone eyeing our position with envy and saying the same thing about us. This is the answer to a rich Godly man who refuses to give up his wealth and follow Jesus. It’s really not that he is rich, but that he has placed his wealth first and God second.

How many times do you find yourself in this position? This often happens when the stress from money overtakes your relationship with God. This becomes a struggle, because is Jesus saying we all must be poor, street people living each day on faith? Or does Jesus really want a better life where are dreams are all met? You have both sides of the coin preached weekly around the world; one says Jesus says no money while the other says Jesus will bless you beyond your wildest dreams. The point is not the money, but where do you place it in relationship to God?

I could ramble on for hours but will just say a few quick things on verses I did not touch. Verse 9:38 could relate to the different denominations of Christianity. I have seen it often where Churches will point to others saying they are not of God because of “X, Y or Z”. Think about verse 9:38 before saying this again. Verse 10:52 is one that has me questioning my faith often, since my aches and pains remain along with others I have “laid hands” on. It goes back to the question – if Jesus says we are to do greater things then why is it not happing with “me”?

Jeremiah 12 – 16

Some mornings my concentration is awful and all you focus on are the battles from the night before. Sorry but this is one of those mornings for me. Jeremiah starts in verse 12:1 complaining:

Righteous are you, O LORD,
when I complain to you;
yet I would plead my case before you.
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all who are treacherous thrive?

I often wonder this and immediately tie it into why many of my prayers go what appears to be ignored. I often question the world and what is wrong with it. What I am doing within it and how my relationship with God is.

The Lord answers Jeremiah in verse 12:13 with an answer I feel like I am getting:

They have sown wheat and have reaped thorns;
they have tired themselves out but profit nothing.
They shall be ashamed of their harvests
because of the fierce anger of the Lord.”

In times of turmoil I wonder if my “thorns” that are being reaped are because of my relationship with God or just life. I believe for the most part God is more “hands off” than controlling everything. I know to many this is blasphemy, but hear me out. Take the world, without earthquakes we would not have the purple mountains majesty. Without hurricanes the swamps in the south would be a toxic cesspool.

Without the disasters of this world, we would not have the beauty to enjoy. And the only reason they become “disasters” is because the resulting damage to manmade things. Sure God can use and earthquake to rattle or punish a community, but it’s not a normal thing God does. The world is just operating as designed.

This gets deep into freewill and predestiny in our lives. The idea that we are predestine to our lives and how they work out eliminates the idea of freewill. The argument is God has determined our path before we were born. If that was the case explain Charles Manson or a host of other evil crazy people. Or explain the infant who is abused, did God predestine that child into a life of abuse? If so why?

Again my blasphemous opinion is we have freewill and control our lives. Sure God is there always, but I think He is less hands on than anyone wants to admit. Our decisions dig the hole and God only tries to nudge the shovel in another direction. We cannot expect God to instantly cure decades of bad decisions.

Verse 14:11 & 12 kind of scare me in a way:

11 The LORD said to me: “Do not pray for the welfare of this people. 12 Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”

Israel has gotten to a tipping point where God is not willing to “bail them out” anymore. This ties into my “funk” this morning and I wonder if God is saying the same thing. I don’t care if you, Mr. Smillie, pray, fast, repent and read the Bible every day, I am done with you.

We have the redeeming blood of Jesus that the people of Israel did not have. But that forgives us of our sins and but does not wash the “aftermath” away. If you murder someone, on your confession God will forgive you but not stop the resulting punishment. Again like the natural disasters, our lives are operating without much input “as designed” with freewill. That is what makes God’s intervention amazing.

Job 29 – 30

Every morning I see Job come up I always seem to “find” others things to do. It’s a well written story, but one I have never really been comfortable with since God allows Satan to have his way. This book is a great story of how God can restore us.

Verse 29:3 gives us clear understanding of God’s guidance through tough times:

when his lamp shone upon my head,
and by his light I walked through darkness,

See we tend to think God just pops in and out of our lives, when He is with us all the time. Even in the times of darkness, He is giving us light to live by. We can all remember times when life was not going the way we wanted and something seemed to move us in the right direction.

As we move to verses 29:15 & 16 we see more of Job’s faithful acts in obedience to God:

15 I was eyes to the blind
and feet to the lame.
16 I was a father to the needy,
and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know.

Job not only lived a blessed life, but he obviously blessed others. I think this is something many miss in today’s culture. We live “large” but rarely provide hope and assistance to those truly in need. Granted in today’s society the “needy” often “need” a swift kick because they are more than capable to help themselves. Ironically I know of many blind and crippled who live fruitful lives with little to no assistance.

This is where the governments have gone astray; they claim they are doing the work of Jesus. They do this and enable people that are more than capable to find work and be productive. Many times the best “love” one can show a person is by saying no. It hurts when you do this and see the person crumble but at the same time they crumble with the help also.

Verses 30:10 & 11 give us insight to how people react to many in need:

10 They abhor me; they keep aloof from me;
they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me.
11 Because God has loosed my cord and humbled me,
they have cast off restraint in my presence.

If you think about it, Job is in need and very ill and the people tend to ridicule him. Imagine being so bad off people spit on you in disgust! That is where Job was at this time. Ironically, Job would have helped and cared for a person in his same condition. That must have made the spit seem like acid, knowing that mankind is doing the opposite of what they should.

This again goes into “benevolence” ministries and assistance to the needy. Often we help those who are “safe” and are easy to deal with. Someone who just hit a rough patch is easy to help since they most likely will be back on their feet. Victory is easy and measurable. At the same time we avoid the long hauls that require time and sacrifice. Situations where you put your life on the back burner and devote it to a difficult situation with no easy end in sight are hard to commit to.

We need to really look at what it meant when the chapter stated saying Job was “blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.” We often think of him being a good family man and church goer. We learn from today’s reading that he did more than this and actually helped in the trenches. We need to really look at what it meant in his life and learn to apply it to ours. We don’t have to spend years in African, start with a weekend at the homeless shelter. Living in God is one thing, sharing God is another!

Psalms 42 – 44

These are three Psalms that deal with us when we are down. Verse 42:1 opens with an illustration of spiritual thirst:

As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.

Have you ever been “thirsty” for God? Times when things are down and nothing seems to be going your way when you cry out for help. We often think God has left us on our own and plead for help. The one thing we must always remember is that God is always here, it just how we see him that changes.

It becomes tough to transition from a daily blessing to nothing or what appears to be nothing. So often times we “pant” for his living waters and pray incessantly for his intervention. Sometimes he answers quickly, other times we seem to be in a desert with no water. Other times we define the answer different to what God does and often dismiss it. We need to learn that the stream is always there, we just need to open our eyes and drink.

Verse 43:1 starts with a plea for defense against man:

Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause
against an ungodly people,
from the deceitful and unjust man deliver me!

Often we need help from others. We feel pressures building from every direction that will suck us away from God. Many times we enter close relationships with people that need God thinking it’s our job to save them. We suddenly get sucked into their depravity instead of the opposite. This is where we need that constant connection with God to avoid the temptation to drift.

Psalm 44 continues the theme from 43 and in verse 5 we see the psalmist pray for supernatural help:

Through you we push down our foes;
through your name we tread down those who rise up against us.

Without God we cannot always defend our faith and our purity. Often times, like this I assume, you need His help on a physical level in defending attackers. Now as we have seen with most of the stories in the Bible, when God helps it not without our action. How often have I prayed for financial help in the form of a lottery win. Not saying that God can’t do that, just saying the odds are about the same as the random chance of winning the lottery itself.

See God wants to use us to prove He is sovereign and real. But at the same time in doing so He does not want to produce a lazy or expecting group of believers. Often times to receive a blessing we need to act and many times act boldly. This means stepping out of your comfort zone and doing something crazy, not just buying a lottery ticket because “God said so”! I like the song “Voice of Truth” on this subject because they talk about Peter stepping out in faith to walk on water and David slaying the giant with a stone. We need to become bolder in our actions and have less passivity.

Now does this mean get on a soap box in the square or jump of every dock expecting to walk to the boat? I don’t know for sure, for you it may be. I know for most it’s listening to that small little voice that says “pick up that trash” or “help that man with a meal”. You may not change the world, but people notice. I was out on a long stretch of beach in New Zealand on a hike in the late evening to see seals. It was winter so there was no one there; I was prompted to pick some trash up. Shortly thereafter the one person I passed made comment and joined in. A small prompt helped others enact change.

Sometimes it’s something simple like cleaning a beach that God wants. More often than not, He seems to want simple over saving the world from starvation. We get into these huge tasks that are really part of our human condition and think God will solve it. Think about it, really … and I will leave with a huge thought that kills many people’s faith. If God is able to create the world, why are there still starving people and disasters? Note the answer is with God.

1 Samuel 21 – 25

Now we start getting into the perilous flight of David from Saul. Verse 21:3 has David trying to get provisions for his men:

Now then, what do you have at hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.”

The priest ends up giving them “holy bread” since they have been pure in the wilderness. In the next chapter we find this act of kindness cost Ahimelech his life. I never really liked these parts of the Bible since the senseless blood bath the ensues is sometimes justified as “of God”. Parts like this have justified killings over the years in the name of God, and I honestly don’t think God is that vengeful.

At the same time if we get into this “God is love” mantra we are able to justify a bunch of sins that will be covered by “grace.” We tend to want to dismiss the reason Saul lost his anointing was because he showed mercy on the king and some of his livestock. God said kill everything and he did not. To me a “God of love” would never had done this in the first place. That is why we cannot solely focus on the attributes we like and dismiss the ones we do not.

In verse 24:4 David spares Saul’s life, but makes sure he has a token to show Saul what he could have done:

And the men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’” Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.

This story cracks me up since the reason David got so close is Saul was “taking a dump!” If you think about it, that’s either gross or funny that God would have given Saul the “urge” to go potty in the cave where David is hiding. David immediately surrenders himself to Saul and swore not to harm him.

Verse 24:12 & 13 has David telling Saul this:

12 May the LORD judge between me and you, may the LORD avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you. 13 As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Out of the wicked comes wickedness.’ But my hand shall not be against you.

I like how David can quickly quote a proverb in an instance of pressure. Think about it he is pulling his life in imminent risk and here he can pull a proverb quote out. That is working under pressure! I have always envied ones who could quickly and easily quote scripture. I have been in those situations also, but only because I had read the verse that morning.

One example was recently we got on the discussion on how Chick-Fil-A served pork and was “cherry picking” the Bible because of their stand on gay marriage. People immediately jumped in with Peter’s vision in Acts and said that allowed all foods. Well someone chimed in that Jesus never said it and therefore like homosexuality the issue is open since only Paul said it was wrong. Well this was right after reading Mark 7 where Jesus said “all” food was acceptable, so I got to seem like the Bible nerd. But even so was I doing this for my glory or the glory of God?

Enjoy the stories of the Old Testament, but make sure you have you New Testament glasses on and don’t take these stories as truths that we must follow. We don’t need to follow our pursuers into the bathroom stall and cut their pants to prove we are loyal. But at the same time it sure would be nice to have the connection David has with God!!

Exodus 5 – 8

Moses and Aaron are getting down to the business of freeing the Israelites from Egypt. Verse 5:1 starts the dialog between Moses, Aaron and Pharaoh:

Afterwards Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’”

Interesting this started out asking Pharaoh for just three days off to get away and practice their religious ceremonies in peace. It’s not clear if Moses was just saying that to escape or if that was really the original plan. Either way we know the end result.

Shortly thereafter Pharaoh started flexed his muscles and made the Israelites gather their own straw. Now we commonly think of this happening in Cairo and in the shadows of the Great Pyramids, but based on archeological digs of the delta, that is where most of these bricks were laid. Because of this one could assume that the Israelites were in slavery in that area of Egypt.

Now on thing I find interesting is verse 7:3 shows God was active in the mess:

But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,

The common though is Pharaoh’s heart just hardened or Satan that was active, but this verse shows it was of God. There needed to be one big stand to show the people God’s might. It seems odd that God would inflict so many just to prove he was there.

Often I wonder just how much God really is a “father”. I know when I was a new dad my anger was quick and often not logical. I wonder if God developed as a father the same way humans do? I will get slammed for this statement, but think about how early acts of God were big spankings and later were more wrapped in love and grace. Just trying to get the mental juices flowing here!! Was God like most human fathers as they grow and mature or were the people like children growing along the way?

Now the plagues start and interestingly Verse 7:22 starts the early ones Pharaoh has his magicians do the same thing:

But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,

I have two comments on Pharaoh doing this, first in proving a point Pharaoh makes thing far worse for his people. Second, we see by the third plague the magicians failed to repeat what God did. You see Pharaoh’s heart softening, but God comes in and hardens it. Once his magicians started to fail, that would have been a great sign that I was in over my head. But again God needed to make a big show to make a point.

Funny thing is I see this just like all the spankings of our youth, it helped but didn’t seem to stop our teenage and young adult period from disobedience. Even with the images of the plagues, the Red Sea parting and being fed Manna, the people still drifted. I wonder if the Bible is a mirroring of life itself, how we all tend to grow and develop a relationship with God.

1 Corinthians 11 – 12

Paul first discusses long hair and head coverings. I find it interesting today how this tends to be dismissed today. Men wear their hair long and women cut it short. Women also rarely, if ever, cover their head while praying or prophesizing. Verses 11:14 & 15 give us some insight into the anger over the “hippy” generation:

14 Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, 15 but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering.

From this verse one could argue the long hair is the “covering” women should use when praying. Again in today’s society this is one of those sections that is ignored these days. Men wear long hair, women wear short hair and no one seems to worry about it.

I don’t seem to have an opinion one way or another. This could be viewed as a “tradition” the church of Corinth practiced and Paul was addressing this practice. The hair length and coverings doesn’t seem to matter to man these days. I wonder if it matters to God?

The next section talks about the Lord’s Supper and how to practice it. Paul makes two great points concerning how the church was handling this sacred practice. He notices there are many who use this as a meal or to get sauced. He wants us understand that should be done at home and not during the celebration of the Lord’s Supper.

Verse 11:29 highlights the second point Paul made:

For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgement on himself.

Our mindset and spiritual state is critical when partaking in the Lord’s Supper. This isn’t a time to sip wine and grape juice, but rather a sacred time to remember Jesus and his sacrifice. I believe Paul is clear here in making sure we come to the table cleansed of our sins. One would argue as Christians we are already forgiven, while others argue to have clear pathways one must confess all the sins.

So when I approach the table to partake in the Lord’s Supper, I confess everything I can remember that have not specifically been addressed before. This ensures I am discerning the condition of the body and have corrected the sins it has committed. We should approach the table as if we are taking Jesus’ body and blood, not just a hunk of bread and wine.

Chapter 12 deals with spiritual gifts and how they work in the body of Christ. This is one of those subjects I have problems with. First it is because I want gifts I don’t appear to have in me. I would love the power to heal or the power to prophesize. But often times I sometimes want to do this more for my glory than the glory of God.

Paul uses the analogy of the body and how each part is critical in the operation, every part can’t be an eye. Where I get into addition trouble with this is how some appear to me to feel if you don’t have their gifts then you are not “living with God” or “God is not in you”. I get this often since my “gift” appears to be boring and just doing background work. The tests I have taken say I am a coach, but me pontificating each morning is the only “coaching” I seem to do. And often I feel that just gets lost in cyber space.

Vern has seen this in college church groups where everyone is speaking in tongues and just assumes if you are not then you have not “received” Christ. This is dangerous since it can alienate people quickly and turn them away from God. Just because you accepted Christ does not mean you have the capacity to understand all aspects of the way. That is why people keep reading and studying the Bible! The last thing we need to do is to crush a new believer’s spirit by babbling in some perceived mumbo-jumbo and say if they can’t they are not true believers. Also, Paul is clear we all have unique gifts.

Paul ends with verse 12:31 saying:

But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

We need to find our gifts and use them. Pray earnestly and ask God to show you what they are. Don’t just assume that you gift is where you “feel” most comfortable. Often people just fall back in the corner doing their perceived “gift” not ever letting the gift God planned for them blossom. So many people feel their actions should speak louder and this is true, but unless we are willing to open our mouths the actions are just of kind people and are not connected to Christ.

Mark 7 – 8

We start having to quickly look at how we live our day to day lives. Verse 7:8 is talking to the Pharisees concerning legalism of the religion:

And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!

The Law was something in place that could never be obeyed by man, but became a way religious leaders could manipulate the people. It’s funny how often we take something that may be a guide from God and make it a tradition that may never be broken. In this case it was hand washing before meals. Yes this is a great idea, but at the same time one could argue the nutritious and the immunity benefits of dirt on ones hands.

Like me feeling I have to get up and read my Bible and write every morning. Often it becomes more a tradition that I have to do and not something I do to enhance my relationship with God. It becomes more a have to do and a mechanical act than something I desire to do to get closer to God. We all can point to something like this; I look at many churches and their services. They become steeped with tradition and become more of a ritual than a time to hang with God.

Verse 7:15 blows away the food laws:

There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”

This again is a huge swipe at the legalism of the Hebraic Law. The “Law” had been twisted into a bunch of legalistic traditions that God did not intend. The food laws are what Jesus is going after here, since it never was intended to “defile” a person if they ate pork. It was more a guide to the best foods for the body and not about sins. Read Jordan Ruben’s book “The Maker’s Diet” for a scientific explanation on why the Biblical diet is the best for our bodies.

The second part of this is more critical than being “released” from the food laws. We need to consider what comes out of our mouths and our actions more than the food we eat. That can quickly become toxic more so than pork. I don’t know if Jesus intended this imagery, but pork leaving the body is much like word coming out the mouth, very messy. We need to stop focusing on traditions and legalism and start focusing on relationship and honoring God.

Before I leave verse 7:15 one odd observation … some translations leave out verse 16. The ESV and NIV do, while the KJV does not. You should explore why, I will.

Now verse 8:35 ends on a high or low note depending on how you look at it:

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.

This is one of those scriptures that gets quoted over and over making every Christian feel they have to dump everything they love to live for Christ. They need to sell everything and live in grass huts in Africa ministering to the poor to really live this verse. Think of God as a father, would you wish on your children a life of poverty to honor you? I think it’s more a mental attitude than a physical one, if you hold on to the earthly things you will lose your life, whereas if you focus on God they are there for your enjoyment.

Jeremiah 7 – 11

As one reads through Jeremiah they can see his distress over the way the nation of Israel has gone. Chapter 7 starts his first temple sermon, which immediately goes to the core of the problem in verse 7:3:

Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place.

The first thing he talks about is the people not being worthy of entering in the temple. As you dig in you will see idolatry and turning away from God are rampant. I often wonder is this is the “wash, rinse, repeat” cycle from the shampoo bottle, only with mankind. Seems like people constantly drift down the wrong paths throughout history and needed to be shaken up into a “revival” to return.

Verse 7:24 seems to get to the root of the problem:

But they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked in their own counsels and the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and went backwards and not forwards.

The root is inattentiveness and thinking we know the right way. After reading history and the Bible, mankind has not “evolved” but rather just changed the way they get distracted. Now we have cell phones that have more power than the personal computers did thirty years ago. I can have a question pop in my head and have an answer in seconds. It’s amazing what technology can do for us.

These phones have enabled us to be able to roam freely and not be locked to our desk and keyboard. But at the same time, how many times do you check Facebook? Instagram? Your email? Or texts? There is a phenomenon in today’s society of getting injured or even killed walking. Where people are starting to learn to put down the cell phones and drive, walking is another matter. Has this become the ultimate distractor from God?

Sure we all have the Bible app, but how many actually use it? See we try our hardest to make these things work for good, but they end up sucking us into a world of social media and games. We may start out wanting to save everyone on our friends list, but often get sucked away from what God had intended for our lives.

Verse 10:8 makes me wonder about our idols today:

They are both stupid and foolish;
the instruction of idols is but wood!

Our idols today have become the phones, the iPhone vs Android has almost become “cultish” these days. I hate to admit Apple, which I own 4 Apple products and within the family we have 8 to 10 more, is one of the worst for manufactured idols. Society waits for the next idol to be produced by Apple so we can worship it. The next “idol” we await is the iPhone 5.

I guess what I get concerned about in reading Jeremiah and other books which lambast the Israelites for drifting away from God, is we are doing the same today. The only differences today is our idols are dressed in aluminosilicate glass and stainless steel! We no longer look to them for connecting with God, but by connecting with the thousands of friends we appear to have on Twitter. For some reason we thing they care about what we had for breakfast or what this post is about. Doesn’t matter if we are sucked into the lie of a false god or get sucked into thinking a friend list makes us have friends, we drift from God either way!!

Job 27 – 28

Job’s friends are not “getting a talking to” by Job. First thing in verse 27:3 & 4, he emphatically states is he will maintain his integrity no matter what the situation:

3 as long as my breath is in me,
and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,
4 my lips will not speak falsehood,
and my tongue will not utter deceit.

Basically he is saying as long as he lives he will honor God. How many of us can say that? Especially when the going gets tough! How has your “faith” been through the economic downturn? Have you lost friends or seen pain that you can’t explain that has caused a slip?

Personally, it hits me especially when I see Godly families suffer a loss or get hit with hard times. My Old Testament mindset often kicks in and I have to wonder what sin He is punishing. Then I look at Job and see he is not blaming God or getting upset at Him. Often there may be a reason for our pain, but more often than not it’s just sh^& happening. As much as we want to think God has made us His puppets, we are here on this earth with free will. God “interjects” into our lives when we ask or when we need, not to punish us randomly. No most of the time our bad decisions have consequences tied to them that punish us without God stepping in.

The verse 28:12 Job must be looking at his friends and asking where the wisdom is in this world:

“But where shall wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?

He starts by mentioning how basic it is to extract precious metals and gems from the earth, but then wonders how to find wisdom. This is one of those qualities that is difficult to find. The famous “redneck’s last words” come to mind as a perfect example of a lack of wisdom. “Hey y’all, hold my beer and watch this!”

One often does not have to look too far back for their “redneck” moments. Unfortunately, a few of mine have resulted in some close calls and some minor injuries. It is interesting how drinking and wisdom seem to be mutually exclusive to each other. Same with drugs, I know many who “became enlightened” when stoned only to find they were doing nothing for those 10 years of their lives. These mind altering substances fool us into believing we are wise.

Job is dealing with people who are partially wise. Sure they have the book knowledge but not the experiential knowledge of God. Others we meet during our walk may know nothing of scripture, but have experienced God first hand. Those sometimes are more dangerous because they go off feelings more than God’s word. Often I hear the words “God gave me” or “it feels right” coming out of people mouth going into debt or a sinful relationship. Sure a new car feels nice and sure the dealer is going to give you a deal that can only be from God, but if you can’t afford it you should not buy it! Or the person who said “it feels right” going into an adulterous relationship. It isn’t right, it only feels good and that’s where lines get blurred when one is not grounded in the Word. So become book smart AND connect with God on a “feeling” or heart level.

Psalms 39 – 41

As I read the Psalms I must constantly remind myself that these are prayers and not always Biblical truths, but more examples on how we should pray. Verse 39:8 is a good one:

Deliver me from all my transgressions.
Do not make me the scorn of the fool!

If you were to take this as truth, one would have to question why they received the scorn from a fool. I know this is an extreme example, but realize what you are reading. Don’t get me wrong, the Psalms have a ton of Biblical truths embedded into the prayers. The key is as you read; lean how to filter them, I sure haven’t figured that out yet.

These three Psalms seem to catch David in a difficult place. I assume since they are early in the book the time frame is when Saul was chasing him, but not 100% sure. Either way I could read these and apply them directly to my life. Again I would filter some, like the above verse, since I am not worried about some of what weighs on David.

Verse 40:4 is one with truth’s that need to be parsed:

Blessed is the man who makes
the LORD his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
to those who go astray after a lie!

Although not a “truth,” this is a great way to live one’s life. We may or may not be “blessed” if we put our trust in the Lord. Often times we will go astray if we follow the proud in one of their lies. In this case the probability is very high you will be blessed following the Lord, although it may not be the lottery win you want. Also, there is a high probability you will go down the wrong path following proud people.

So there is truth embedded in this Psalm, just need to understand David’s context.

Verse 41:1 again is another example of a truth embedded in David’s prayer:

Blessed is the one who considers the poor!
In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him;

This is true in so many ways, and Jesus throughout his ministry expands on this. The “B-attitudes” have the poor and weak being blessed. He also has a servant’s heart blessing the poor all along his ministry. He also makes sure we understand there will always be poor around us. Therefore don’t give everything away to help the poor, because your resources may be needed elsewhere. The only time he says give it all away is to the man who was not willing.

Enjoy the Psalms as you read them, just make sure you don’t take them as Biblical truths all the time.

1 Samuel 16 – 20

As Saul sinks as king, Samuel is led by God to find the next king. He led to Jesse and is told one of his sons will be king. Well after going through the “obvious” sons, verse 16:7 sums up how we should be thinking:

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”

How many people have you know that on the outside seem to have it all going for them? And then how many times have you found that same person in jail, strung out on drugs, drunk all the time or committing suicide? Where we only really get to glimpse the outward human, God gets a view of the whole man. He sees the condition of his head and heart, nut just his body. That is spooky consider how my mind drifts into some dark places from time to time.

Now David’s most famous introduction to Israel is with his encounter with Goliath. I find it interesting that in verse 17:16 they have been in a “stand-off” for 40 days:

For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.

I would get bored after about the third day and want something done! David came to the front lines and immediately questions their faith. If you think about it, they had God on their side and still were scared. But David came to deliver supplies to his brothers and has to point out the obvious. He eventually stops talking and takes action and in verse 17:37 he volunteers to go against Goliath:

David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you!”

So on pure faith he faces this “giant” with only a sling and 5 stones. How do you face your giants? Do you freeze in fear, run away or run towards the giant with what you have? Faith gets put to the test when it has to move from the mind and words to actions and risk! David’s only military training was protecting his sheep from wild animals and yet he realized that was the exact training needed to drop Goliath.

What are your “giants” today? Is it debt, marriage, job, addiction or just a lack of faith? I know God works within my life daily, but when faced with difficulty I turn towards earthly solutions first. Heck when they business was failing and debt was on the rise, I turned my faith to a batch of balls rolling in a drum, AKA the lottery. Heck with following God’s word and believing He is there. In a nut shell once I placed my finances with him, the debt has gone down over $200k in 4 years with an income that should have only supported the debt load, not reduced it.

As we finishes out the reading notice two things, first Saul’s envy towards David. I find it interesting that when Saul lashes out the “harmful spirit” is “from God” or “from the Lord”. In this case Saul cannot use “the Devil made me do it” defense since it was from God. My question is why did God place that spirit on Saul?

Second thing to notice is David’s new ally in Saul’s son Jonathan. This is one of those lost in translation things, but the way they use “love” and “kiss” it gives the appearance of an inappropriate relationship between these two men. This is one of those hotly debated topics that would really have to be debated by scholars of the original text, because I know words often get interpreted differently. But the way the English reads, it implies at least a slight romantic attraction if not a romantic relationship between these two men. A man who slays giants and skips around playing the lyre is one in conflict:-)

Exodus 1 – 4

In four chapters the Israelites go into slavery before Moses to Moses returning to free them. For those who have seen Charlton Heston’s Ten Commandments, it added a bit to the storyline. Not to say it isn’t a great film, but we should be cautious on getting our theology from the movies. Because of the film and the many stories of Moses, Exodus is a very familiar book even on the first read. As you read God’s immense powers as well as mankind’s self-indulgent desires become apparent quickly.

The first little story of Moses shows God working in his life. His mother abandoned him, because the first born were being killed. Pharaoh’s daughter finds him and in verse 2:7 seeks help in raising him:

Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?”

Here is where God rocks, Moses’ mom gives up her child for safety and ends up getting to nurse and raise him anyway! Little things like this amaze some, get discredited by others and a few look at it as no big deal. The “no big deal” crowd experiences God often and this is just a normal thing He would do.

Verse 3:4 & 5 have Moses before the burning bush that is never consumed:

4 When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

Often times we want things to be laid out before us as God did for Moses. Many of us will read this story and beg for that “burning bush” moment where God spells out our life and gives us his secrets. Many ask to strengthen their faith; I know I have from time to time. It’s taken me a long time to come to the realization that God really exists and is active in our daily lives. The secret in finding God is being open to realizing odd coincidences and time lines are very much His fingerprint.

Verse 3:14 God answers Moses’ question on who should he say he talked with:

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

If you had to “describe” God right now how would you? The Great I AM is about as simple as one can get in describing God. I personally would explore the world of quantum physics and become a babbling technocrat quickly losing most in my description of God. We need to understand our audience before going to “deep” into our understanding of God. Often a simple answer is the best.

As we read in verse 4:10 we see Moses tries to justify him not being the right one:

But Moses said to the LORD, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.”

How often do we dismiss a calling because of some reason that seems logical to you? Do you really thing God was not aware of Moses’ speech problems? I think you will find some of the greatest things God does is through the most unlikely people. When you think about it the greatest leader of Israel had speech problems and was a murderer. Look at Saul and David who were both unlikely kings, but God used them.

My favorite quote from Moses comes in verse 13 where Moses tries an out:

But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.”

Often times God says “go” and we don’t like what’s before us. Honestly when you look at it our “calling” is often in what we are skilled at or what we like to do. I don’t think God keeps us from that, it’s just we always try to set the conditions. My motorcycle ministry was under the condition that I was racing the nationals; God’s was just do it where I was at the time. For those who know me there was never a motorcycle ministry and I never raced the nationals. See God may have used me, but I responded with conditions and “send someone else” for the small local races.

Don’t miss you opportunity when God says “jump” because he is not a father trying to make you do things HE wants you to do. Like most “fathers” he wants you to excel at what you want. But unlike most fathers, He knows the best way to success.

Just after posting this title I realized in the age of computers that saying must be foreigin to most of the younger people. Well back in the day of “printing presses” when you were setting the letters it was all backwards and the letter P and the letter Q looked very similar in lower case … as B and D does … so it was a saying to be attentive to the details.

As time progressed this became be attentive to your manners. So make sure you say “please” and “thank you” … or as some justify “thank-q” 😉 Either way it applies to being attentive to your walk with God the father.

1 Corinthians 9 – 10

Verse 9:1 starts a barrage of questions from Paul:

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord?

These are all in support of his “compensation” and survival while spreading the Gospel. When you think about the missionaries and clergy, how are they to survive? They technically don’t producing anything that is tangible to sell, but they still need to live. My favorite church in this area is Phoenix Church in Duluth, GA. They have come up with a unique concept where their “normal operation” is actually selling coffee to fund their “overhead”.

Phoenix still has the same outreach as normal churches, but they sell coffee. Church is awesome because the “sanctuary” is the warehouse where the smell of fresh roasted coffee envelopes the room. They have gone to growers in Central America and gave them a fair price for their beans, so not only do they get top quality coffee but the growers earn a fair wage. This is different from the “normal” for profit companies who will squeeze the grower to extract as much profit for their quarterly reports. The cool thing is their offering is able to be used fully to expand the “kingdom” since their “overhead” is covered.

Now Paul discusses the “fairness” of being supported for his mission work, which is what I would expect much our tithe to be used for. Interestingly as he completes his arguments for supporting the ministry, he starts in on how he does not expect that personally. Verse 9:18 shows this freedom:

What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

He realizes our rewards should not be measured in the cars we drive or the homes we live in, and honestly who cares about the crown and jewels we may get in heaven. No we need to follow Paul’s lead and just do what needs to be done without worry of tomorrow’s needs. Now being a planner and control freak, this is almost impossible for me to comprehend. I need to know how I will survive the next 40 years!

Verse 9:27 focuses on and interesting aspect of Paul’s journey:

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

See he realizes that his actions are under a microscope and one perceived “slip” could have major ramifications on one’s salvation. I think back to Katy talking on the phone to a young lady trying to resolve her walk with God. She was on the edge and was exploring a walk with Christ. Well during this conversation, something ticked me off where suddenly I was yelling at Devon and Veronica in the same room that Katy was trying to explain the love of Christ to this person. Talk about a blown witness, we never saw that person again and have no idea their relationship with God. So this is why our actions should be carefully considered to protect the fragile seekers.

I think verse 10:31 sums up how we should live our lives:

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

If we focus on this a lot of the messes we create would not happen. Think about if everyone honored God with their first fruits how the kingdom could help with poverty. Or if everyone honored God with saving an addition 10% while living off the remaining 80%, imagine the depth of the current financial crisis then. People would not be defaulting on huge debts because they would not have existed. Think about if people ate the food God designed for us to eat, how we would have fewer health problems in the world today.

I am not saying we are bound by the Law, but it is a great guide to a more fruitful life. The key is not to get all “legalistic” about what is written. If someone likes bacon for breakfast, so what it’s not going to separate them from God’s love any more than fasting for a week will draw us closer. In a nut shell the condition of our hearts is more important than any “rule” that one creates to “honor” God.

Mark 5 – 6

This chapter starts with Jesus casting out many demons from a man. Verse 5:9 has Him actually talking to the evil spirits:

And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.”

Notice how this man was running in the wild when he immediately noticed Jesus and ran to Him for help. The story says even chains and shackles could not hold this possessed man, yet Jesus subdued him with words. Jesus did this by His authority as the son of God where the demons must answer Him.

Interesting when you read this story, Jesus casts these demons into a herd of pigs, “numbering about two thousand,” who ran into the ocean and died. I often read this story and think about how the headsman and the town’s people think. I mean Jesus healed this crazy man who could not be controlled but at the same time destroyed the livelihood and food for many. There must have been a huge conflict in many there.

Verse 5:41 is one of those stories than many “scholars” claim are false or not interpreted correctly:

Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi”, which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.

Here Jesus raises a dead child. Funny how a child “codes” in the hospital and they resuscitate them, it’s normal but a story of Jesus doing the same thing is considered impossible. People often claim she must have been in some kind of coma or other state which appeared dead, or considered “figuratively” dead.

I take this story on face value, Jesus raised a dead girl. How did He do this miracle? God! It’s easy when you are the one who created everything. Someone breathed life into dirt, so breathing life into something that was already alive is “child’s play.”

Often we wonder when do we stop and move on in our attempts to share the Gospel. Verse 6:11 is clear on what we need to do:

And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”

I read this and agree, but at the same time how many of us totally rejected the message until sometime later it made sense? How many can tell a story of a friend who would not relent in his attempts to save you? If they had given up, would you have found salvation through the blood of Jesus? I have personally heard stories of people who friends took years to change their hearts, so I often read this and wonder.

At the same time they were working on getting message out, and therefore needed to go where people received it. Think about it, we are trying to tell an amazing story that’s over 2000 years old. They were telling a story that just happened and still people rejected eye witnesses. If they cannot believe eye witnesses, their hearts are hardened and you should move on.

Chapter 6 ends with feeding 5000 with just five loves and two fish, then has Jesus walking on water. When you dive into both people try to apply human logic to both. The feeding 5000 story is one of those people try to rationalize in one way or another, but in reality you can’t since there was more left over than was started. And the walking on water thing people justify saying he was walking on “reeds”. If one really understood our bodies and water on an atomic level one could easily understand how Jesus could have done this. So think about the glory of the miracles and not “how” they were pulled off, they just were.

Jeremiah 1 – 6

Jeremiah is a prophet set during the time of Judah’s final five kings, between 627 B.C. to 586 B.C. and possibly beyond. Verse 1:8 has God assuring Jeremiah not to be concerned of his youth:

Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
declares the Lord.”

We all read this and only wish that would be the case. Often we feel abandoned by the Lord and wonder when we will see him. We read passages like this and wish that to be our relationship with God. Well maybe it is and you are just not tuned in! Sorry to be “in your face” on this but really, God is right there with you all the time, “omnipresent” means God is everywhere all the time.

I think the reason we miss Him so much is we are tuned into what we don’t want more than the relationship with God. Think about your relationship with God, are you seeking Him or expecting Him to appear via a burning bush? Do your pray “for” your hearts desires or pray “your hearts desires”? Think about it, we often pray “for” things, yet rarely give thanks until they transpire. Think about this relationship with God, pray “for” it but also pray that it exists in the present. You will be surprised at how you will notice God IS with you as He was with Jeremiah.

The next 28 chapter can be draining as they are prophecies against Judah and Jerusalem. Verse 2:17 sets the stage for the problems:

Have you not brought this upon yourself
by forsaking the LORD your God,
when he led you in the way?

Often times when we disconnect with God, we drift and often wildly. As you read Jeremiah’s descriptions you will notice he compares the people’s actions to adulterers and whores. Once you leave God and start chasing some other God, be it Baal or the dollar, the result is similar to committing adultery with the Lord.

Verses 3:12 & 13 lay out what God wants from everyone:

12 Go, and proclaim these words towards the north, and say,

“‘Return, faithless Israel,
declares the LORD.
I will not look on you in anger,
for I am merciful,
declares the LORD;
I will not be angry for ever.
13 Only acknowledge your guilt,
that you rebelled against the LORD your God
and scattered your favours among foreigners under every green tree,
and that you have not obeyed my voice,
declares the Lord.”

See God is like the Prodigal Son’s father; He waits with arms open wide. He will not restore us until we repent and declare our sins. It’s simple when you think about maintaining our relationship with God. Just seek Him daily and repent when you drift.

To get that connection we must look at how to do this. Our thoughts are only part of the equation, we must learn to teach our emotions and feelings to connect also, to experience what Jeremiah does. This is something I am still trying to learn, but I will say there have been “ah-ha” moments where I notice the connection. Unfortunately like my first and only “Ollie”, I lost it quickly, but unlike the skateboard trick I am continuing to pursue that feeling with God.

Job 25 – 26

This is the last lecture Job gets from his three friends and the theme has not changed; God is majestic and Job was especially sinful. Bildad asked in verse 25:4 some pointed questions which on the surface seem correct:

How then can man be in the right before God?
How can he who is born of woman be pure?

He is correct but completely dismisses the redeeming blood of a sacrifice. This is where the “Law” becomes lost with non-believers and many Christian. We have a holy God in which cannot be in the presence of sin, but it does not mean we cannot be redeemed. In Old Testament times a blood sacrifice would cleanse the sins before God. Today we have Jesus as the last sacrifice before God to redeem all mankind, we just have to ask.

That is the point that Bildad misses in his relationship with God. His is so pious that he assumes that God is unobtainable to mankind. Now the only flaw with Bildad’s argument and my comments are God is with us all the time. He is in the trenches while we are sinning, so God can be in the presence of sin. I believe the difference is when we pray, if we do not confess our sins before God his ears will not hear us. Think about it, how can God be “omnipresent” and at the same time not be in the presence of sin?

Verse 26:3 has Job responding and targeting his friends:

How you have counselled him who has no wisdom,
and plentifully declared sound knowledge!

He is calling his friends out for speaking as fools. Sure what they say sounds logical, but misses the mark scripturally. Bildad makes God sound like a punisher and one who is intolerant of our mistakes, Job is correcting that misnomer but is in a difficult position to argue since he is a mess and has lost everything. On the surface his friends appear right, but they cannot see Job’s heart. They also do what many do and distort scripture to work for their argument.

As normal I am going on a tangent! For some reason in the Middle Ages mankind got the idea the earth was flat. Not hard to imagine since every ship that headed west never returned, so they must have fallen off. All Columbus had to do is read Job and see in verse 26:10 his description of a round world:

He has inscribed a circle on the face of the waters
at the boundary between light and darkness.

It appears to be common knowledge of the time that the earth is round, so where did we go astray? Think about this these men should have been in tune with scripture and know that what Columbus proposed was true, but instead they made their own assumptions. Kind of like Job’s friends who know scripture but missed the details.