Friday, August 07, 2009

Title: Give God Something To Get Excited About / Topic: Praise In Challenging Times

Today’s Reading: Zephaniah 1, 2, 3; John 9

Scripture: Zephaniah 3:16-17
16 On that day they will say to Jerusalem,
"Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp.
17 The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing."

Observation: This is a message of encouragement in the midst of despair. Jerusalem is in great distress. Destruction is everywhere -- there is danger and threat from every side. The people are defeated and scattered. But the Lord says, "Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp." How hard it is in the midst of such great struggle to find the strength to lift our hands. Yet God tells us to do it.

Application: This has a direct application to worshiping God in the midst of trials. I see many people who allow their negative emotions (which are typically based on difficult circumstances) to determine their worship response. If things are bad, then worship is subdued -- their hands hang limp, their faces downcast, their worship is muted. If things are good, then they can worship with enthusiasm. God says, worship even when times are bad. And the result is that God shows up and joins us in worship: "He will rejoice over you with singing."

Bottom Line: If we will keep in mind that the Lord is with us, and that he is strong and mighty to save, and if we can rejoice because of our confidence in him regardless of the circumstances, we will walk with him in many more times of joyful victory. The joy of the Lord is my strength.

Prayer: Lord, You are my strength in every situation. Help me to keep my eyes on you and my hands uplifted and to give You something in my life that You can get excited about with me. Thank you, Lord, that You are looking for ways to rejoice with me and over me.

This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Title: The Company You Keep / Topic: Solomon's Folly

Today’s Reading: 2 Kings 23; 2 Chronicles 35; John 7

Scripture: 2 Kings 23:13 The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption—the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the people of Ammon.

Observation: Josiah is leading the people back to God. And he is performing a clean sweep of the nation, getting rid of all the remnants of the idol worship that had led the people astray. What struck me here is that the idol worship actually had started with Solomon! Now, I know that Solomon had all those wives and concubines, and that he built palaces for many of them, but the fact that Solomon had actually built "high places," that is temples or shrines for idol worship for Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Molech is shocking. Solomon had an encounter with God in a dream early in his life where God spoke to him. And God had granted Solomon extraordinary wisdom to lead his people. So to see the depths to which Solomon sank is quite striking.

Application: Don't be deceived, God cannot be mocked. Whatever a man sows, that will he also reap. Solomon had aligned himself with pagans. He had indulged his sexual lust and his political nature to take him in directions that were quite damaging to him and to the people of God that he was leading. Solomon may have had wisdom to lead, but he lacked the wisdom for his own life -- to restrain himself and to embrace discipline which could have kept him from a life of dissipation. I'm sure Solomon did not lack any of the pleasure he could imagine but the result of his life included so many negative aspect that adversely impacted his family and nation for generations to come.

Bottom Line: Guard yourself and your alliances. Make sure the people to whom you join yourself have the same values and priorities that you want to be true of your life. Make no mistake, bad company corrupts good character. (1 Cor. 15:33)

Prayer: Lord, keep me protected in good and supportive relationships where I am held accountable for the things that You want to bring about in my life. Help me to be in the world but not of the world.

This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Title: Lost In The Shuffle / Topic: God's Word

Today’s Reading: 2 Kings 22; 2 Chronicles 34; John 6

Scripture:2 Chronicles 34:14 While they were bringing out the money that had been taken into the temple of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD that had been given through Moses.

Observation: Hey, let's clean out the temple. Boy, there sure is a lot of junk in here. What's this? Looks like a scroll. Should we throw it out? I don't know... I think it might me important..

It is astounding to me that the book of the Law had been lost. It just got forgotten and was in the jumbled up mess that was in the temple. Now keep in mind that there were still priests and Levites. They had time to learn to play musical instruments (vs.12). But nobody wanted the job of cleaning out the temple. And the simple fact was this: it had been such a long time since anybody saw the Book of the Law, it had been forgotten. Nobody was looking for it because nobody was even missing it.

Application: It is possible, through disobedience and neglect, to move so far away from the path that the path itself is forgotten. The word of God, which is the guide to life, and especially the guide to life for the nation of Israel, had been long neglected and shunned and, eventually, forgotten. I wonder what it was that the priests actually did and what they based their work on. If you don't have the book of the Law, which gives your job description, how do you do your job? I don't know.

Bottom Line: The point is that the word must be kept central and must be valued and a love for it must be nurtured or it is possible to move so far from its principles that the word itself can be lost in the shuffle.

Prayer: Lord, help me keep your word in clear focus and in the center of all I think and say and do and desire. And help me to live it out so others can read your word through my life.

This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Monday, August 03, 2009

Title: Missing The Point / Topic: Spiritual Blindness

Today’s Reading: Nahum 1, 2, 3; John 5

Scripture: John 5:45
"But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set..."

Observation: Jesus is speaking to "the Jews," the term John uses to describe those Jewish leaders who consistently opposed him. Whether Pharisees, scribes, teachers of the Law, elders, or priests, they interact with Jesus throughout the gospel of John in an antagonistic way. Here, Jesus has healed a man who has been an invalid for 38 years and who has been waiting for years at the Pool of Bethesda where healings had apparently been experienced by whoever entered the pool after the stirring of the waters. Jesus, after hearing the man's story, says to him, "'Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.' At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked." (vss. 8-9) But "the Jews" objected because it was the Sabbath day and to them, the man was violating the Sabbath by carrying his mat! Jesus launches a tirade against them near the end of which is verse 45 (above). These leaders claimed Moses as their authority and source. And they attacked the man and Jesus on that basis. But Jesus tells them that they are completely missing Moses' point. And that there will be a day when Moses himself will stand and judge them for it.

Application: Talk about missing the point! These leaders think that they are more holy and righteous than Jesus because they closely observe the Sabbath. But in truth, they are missing the real point of the Sabbath which was given by God as a blessing to man, a day of rest. And here is a man who can finally enter rest because of a healing given to him by God. But instead of celebrating God's gift to him, they attack him because of a rather technical violation. They rob this man of his celebration and they don't even hint that they are aware that God showed up and did something wonderful. How sad to be so hung up on something that you think is important to God and miss God himself as a result.

Bottom Line: The degree of spiritual blindness is directly proportional to an inordinate concern over trivial matters.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to not miss you because of something that is unimportant. Assist me to discern what truly matters and what does not so that I don't miss you. Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, I want to see you.

This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.