The Psalms 5b: Lead Me In Your Righteousness

We’ve already done the first half of this psalm but I think it’s important for us to read through the whole thing again and get the flavor of the whole thing again.

O LORD; consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray. O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch. For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you. Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me. For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue. Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you. But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover him with favor as with a shield. (ESV)

This is a psalm of urgent prayer; a psalm reaching out for help; but also a psalm grasping at the holiness of God as a means of finding vindication and victory.

7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.

The last part of the first half of this psalm was spent considering the holiness of God, and the sanctity which the people gave the Temple. But how much do we know about the Temple? Try to place yourself back in the time when the House of God stood like skyscraper, rising above everything else in Jerusalem. It rose 150 feet into the air. The complex was so huge that it could’ve fit almost 6 football fields inside of it. And this is good, because during festival times there would’ve been millions of Jews in Jerusalem, with 300,000 to 400,000 on the Temple complex at the same time. This thing was huge. It was one of the most impressive things man has ever built. And that wasn’t even the most impressive part of it!

Deep in the heart of the Temple was the Kadesh HaKadashim. The Holy of Holies. This truly is the heart of the entire Temple. This was the entire reason the Temple was even built. While the Temple is considered the house of the Most High, this is where He actually dwells. The Temple was built so that God could have a place on the earth to put His feet up. The Temple is the actual dwelling place of God! So all of the beauty and splendor of the Temple complex (and it was beautiful) was like filthy rags (Is 64:6) compared the intense beauty of our God and our King.

8 Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me.

When we think about how holy our God is, how could we not want to be led into His righteousness? It could be so tempting to just skirt by and glory in the grace which we are freely given. To be sure, there’s nothing we can do to earn the salvation which we have been given. We are a chosen people. He chose us. Out of all the people in the world, you were a chosen by the King of the Universe. Elected.

Sometimes we as Christians view this as a wholly Christian concept but, historically, the Israelites always viewed God and their election the same way. They had their salvation because God chose them among all peoples. Though it’s easy to think that they followed the Torah in order to attain salvation this concept wasn’t introduced until around the time of Martin Luther. The Israelites followed the Torah because they loved their God – even if they sometimes forgot this – and it was what He asked them to do. Obedience is the sincerest form of love. So when Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments, (John 14:15)” this wasn’t an unheard of concept. John echoes these sentiments when he writes, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments (1 John 5:3)”. For those who are married or in a functioning relationship, would it be showing love to know what your significant other likes and then to just do whatever you want without caring about their likes because you know that they already love you and that they’re already yours? The obvious answer is ‘no’. If you truly love them, you go out of your way to do the things they like. Should we expect it to be any different when we talk about our love for our God who brought us in to His family?

So David, in this verse, is asking the Father to lead him into His righteousness because he knows that God has only his best interest in mind. But it’s important to note that when he bows down before the Temple, before he does anything else, he seeks after the righteousness of God. Hmm… where else have I heard something like that? Oh yeah, Jesus told us the first thing we should always do when He said, “…seek first thing kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you (Matt 6:33).” So before we go to God, asking for Him to help us out, we should first seek righteousness. This isn’t a magic formula but it is being obedient.

If the last part of this verse sounds familiar it’s probably because it too is speaking of the repentance which brings righteousness. David crying out “make your way straight before me” is same thing John the Baptist was doing when he was making straight in the wilderness the paths of the LORD (John 1:23, Matt 3:3, Mark 1:3, Luke 3:4, Is 40:3). John was calling for the repentance of the people. Calling for them to turn from what they were doing and seek after the righteousness of the LORD. Then, when they were truly ready to seek the kingdom, they would be ready for the words of Messiah, which are living and breathing. In Colossians 3:16 we are urged to let the Word of Messiah dwell in us so that we can build one another up in His wisdom.

So let this be a reminder that the first thing we should do when we’re presented with a new situation is to seek the righteousness of God. Search out how this new thing is guided by the Kingdom of God and how God’s righteousness would react to it. That would be the advice of not only David, but also our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

9 For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue.

This is a good reminder of what we find when we step outside of the righteousness of God. It’s wise to remember that we have a description elsewhere in the Bible which gives us a description of what satan is here to do in the world (steal, kill and destroy – John 10:10) so why would we think that those who serve his ends would be any different?

10 Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you.

How many of you can feel this one? A cry for justice in the midst of injustice. We’ve all had times where we felt that we were unfairly facing slander. When we look at this verse, though, we need to recognize that David is first seeking righteousness and he’s not asking for justice because his enemies have done anything to him, specifically. He’s crying out for justice because his enemies have rebelled against God.

11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.
12 For you bless the righteous, O LORD; you cover him with favor as with a shield.

Still, at the end, we come back to the positive. We come back to the recollection of strength and protection. Notice that protection comes to those who celebrate the Name of the LORD. I’m not saying that God doesn’t protect those who don’t enjoy singing praise and worship songs, but it would appear that, if you truly enter into praise with the right heart, the LORD will extend His wings over you.

The key here is our pursuit of righteousness. We don’t attain any kind of eternal salvation by our pursuit of righteousness. If that’s why you’re pursuing righteousness you’re going about it for the wrong reasons. We pursue righteousness because we love our Father and it’s what He wants of us. We pursue righteousness because He gave His son for those who believe in Him. We pursue righteousness because love doesn’t care about puffing itself up; on the contrary, love shows obedience because an action may be sacrificing (1 Cor 13).

So seek the righteousness of the LORD because He has done so much for us, and His protection will follow. Even if that protection comes in a form you may not have expected.

This was a fun one. There’s a lot to look at here and to dig in deeper. I barely grazed the surface and it took two posts to get through 12 verses. The true fun is in finding out what else might be there. Seek it out yourself and see what treasures you can uncover!

Shalom!

The Psalms 2b: The Reign of the Lord's Anointed

So let’s be honest with ourselves, it took longer than expected to get through those first 4 verses. I can’t say whether or not every psalm will be this way, but at least now you know a little bit of what we’re doing here. We may go down some rabbit trails when we see something interesting. I hope that’s OK with you. 😊

Since we’re still pretty close to the beginning of this psalm why don’t we do a quick once over on the whole thing again, and then we’ll pick back up in verse 5.

The Reign of the Lord's Anointed

1  Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? 

2  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, 

3  Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 

4  He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. 

5  Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. 

6  Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. 

7  I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. 

8  Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. 

9  Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. 

10  Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. 

11  Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 

12  Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. 

Let’s switch it up and go to a different translation for this verse. When I see lines like “vex them in His sore displeasure” I start to get a little confused. The ISV renders this verse as follows:

5 In his anger he rebukes them,

                         and in his wrath he terrifies them:

In other words, God ain’t playing around anymore. What do we know about the wrath of God? Well, we know that we, the commonwealth of Israel (Eph 2:12 –“remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.”) , aren’t appointed to God’s wrath (1 Thes 5:9 – “For God has not destined us to receive wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus, the Messiah,”) but there are some very real promises of wrath in the book of Revelation (Rev 16 – the whole chapter). So, in verse 5, who is it that’s seeing this wrath of God? At the very least, it’s those who are out of covenant (remember our study on the word ‘goyim’ from last time) and who are outside of the commonwealth of Israel. And if we're looking at eschatological prophecy is in view then we’re talking about, basically, anyone who has taken the mark of the beast.

6 “I have set my king on Zion,

                         my holy mountain.”

Time for some more questions! Let’s start with the easy question: where is Zion? The quick and easy answer is that it’s a mountain in Jerusalem. If you want to dig deeper, it stops being quite so easy, but that’s an entirely different topic…

The second question would have to be, who is His king? Actually, let’s first talk about why God would be saying that He placed a king on Zion. In ancient Near Eastern (ANE) society it was almost always claimed by the king that they had been installed as king by their god(s). So for Israel to not be able to make the same claim – even though the Israelite religion would deny that the gods in question from those other kingdoms were actually God, and that they were actually devils (we went over this a bit last time but the a verse reference would be Deut 32:16-17) – would be, in essence, weakening the claim of the Israelite king to the surrounding nations.

Ok, now back to who God’s king is…

We need to first recognize that our God, Himself, is the actual King over all the earth (Ps 47:7, Ps 22:28, Ps 98:6). But there’s something different happening here, as well. There is a hint, an allusion of the sonship of Messiah at play here. In Zecheriah 14:9 we read, “The LORD will be king over all the earth at that time. There will be one LORD, and his name the only one.” The language here dictates that we’re talking about a future event. If the LORD is already king over the earth (as we’ve just shown), why is it that we’re looking at this with a future fulfillment in view? It’s possible that this was a reference to a future time when God would reinstate His dominance over the earth. That’s a perfectly valid interpretation. But, it’s also possible that this is reference to Jesus being God, because He is also described as King over the earth.

In 1 Timothy 6:15 God the Father is described as “King of kings and Lord of lords” but in Revelation 19:16 we see this very same title being applied to Jesus. In fact, in the verse before (Rev 19:15) we have a reference to this very description of God’s king sitting on the holy mountain of Zion. It says, “And out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which  to strike own nations – ‘He will rule them with a staff of iron.’ It is he who treads the winepress from which flows the wind of the furious rage of ADONAI, God of heaven’s armies. (CJB). That brings us to our next few verses…

7 Let me announce the decree of the LORD

                         that he told me:

                         “You are my son,

                         today I have become your father.

8 Ask of me, and I will give you

                         the nations as your inheritance,

                         the ends of the earth as your possession.

9 You will break them with an iron rod,

                         you will shatter them like pottery.”

The same iron rod (staff) is in view here. We’re already drawing the connections between Psalm 2 and Messianic end times fulfillment, and verse 9 is connected to Revelation 19, when Jesus is enthroned over all the earth.

If there’s still any questions over whether it’s Jesus who is in view here, Hebrews 1:5 clears this up, “For to which of the angels did He ever say, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten you’? And again: ‘I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son’?” And in Acts 13:33 we read, “God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.’”

So, who is this king who God has installed on His holy mountain? It is none other than King Yeshua, King Jesus.

Before we move on I feel that we should at least bring something up for verse 8. (I know we’re going slow here, but I promise we’re getting through the rest of this psalm today. Just something real quick…)

When Jesus was fasting in the wilderness and Satan tempted Him, one of the things Satan offered Jesus was “all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.” (Mat 4:8). We can assume that Satan actually had the authority to make the offer since Jesus didn’t deny the validity of the claim but, through Scripture, told him, “You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.” But I’d like to point out that Jesus knew that because He worshipped the Father, and Him only did He serve, He was going to receive the nations after Satan lost his claim upon the earth. You can go into this little study a lot deeper than I’m doing here (and I think you’ll have a good time if you do) but I just wanted to touch on it before we moved on to the next verses.

10 Therefore, kings, act wisely!

                         Earthly rulers, be warned!

11 Serve the LORD with fear,

                         and rejoice with trembling.

12 Kiss the son before he becomes angry,

                         and you die where you stand.

                         Indeed, his wrath can flare up quickly.

                         How blessed are those who take refuge in him.

I think this part here is pretty self-explanatory, but let’s look at it just a little bit. The most surprising – and almost out of place – is plea for repentance. Repentance is always something that we should be focusing on when we’re viewing ourselves. And we should always be praying for the repentance and restoration of those who would stand against our King, but it seems a little bit strange coming directly after we’re told of their coming judgment of being broken like pottery. But I think that this is important for us to remember. No man is so far removed from the Father that he is beyond the grasp of the Father. Our heart’s cry should be for the salvation of every man, no matter how we view their current actions.

In reading 2 Peter 3:9 we see that God is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” Our most adamant prayers, greater than my pleas for health or relief, should be for the salvation of every man, even my enemies. It’s sometimes difficult to prayer for the salvation of our enemies but it’s a selfish thing to want to win an argument more than we want to see those around us come to know the Father’s love. I’m just as guilty as anyone else here, but I’m trying.

I’ll repeat the last line of the last verse one last time in closing:

How blessed are those who take refuge in HIM!

Shalom!

Stand With God: Days 3 & 4

Stand With God: Day 3
(1 John 5:14, Matthew 26:39)

Today’s devotional was about praying God’s will for your life. I love prayer. I’ve had a fascination with prayer and the amazing stories of the miraculous results surrounding prayer for decades. But, I struggle with prayer more than most other parts of my Christian journey. I’d like to say that I believe in the supernatural power of prayer but there’s the quote that I keep in my head to remind myself that I should prayer more: “If Christians truly believed in the power of prayer they would pray a whole lot more.” It’s such a convicting statement. If I TRULY believed that prayer could accomplish the miraculous, wouldn’t I pray the impossible? I feel like Fox Mulder, “I want to believe.”

We should also, constantly, seek God’s will for a situation. As we pray, we need to ask the Father what His will actually is, but this shouldn’t scare us off of asking in belief that what we’re asking for is going to happen. It’s a tricky one. Don’t throw that little “if it’s Your will” in there just so you have an excuse for an unanswered prayer. Ask in full faith, but also ask to be shown the will of God. In the end, every prayer of a true follower of Jesus will be for the Father’s will do be done, as long as our hearts our turning to His (even if this process is happening more slowly than we might like it to be happening.) Too often we add in the “if it’s Your will” as a just-in-case measure. Make sure your heart is in the right place when you’re saying it.

And this is the confidence that we have before Him: That if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
-1 John 5:14

Stand With God: Day 4
(Matthew 25:31-40, Psalms 89:14, Matthew 28:18-20)

Ok, so I said I struggled with yesterday’s devotional application, but today we’ve gone even deeper into the parts of my Christian walk that I struggle with: Sharing Jesus with those around me. It’s a scary thing because you don’t want society to think your “one of those people”. But, I guess, so what if I am one of those people. Why am I so scared of sharing Jesus? Honestly, I think it must be because once you take that stand, people are going to expect you to live up to their standards of what a Christian is. Maybe we don’t want to be forced to live up to those standards. Maybe we want to be able to “cut loose” from time to time. Maybe we don’t truly want to change who we are. Maybe we are even scared that we’ll let Jesus down when the world sees us stumble. But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be out there trying to be Jesus to everyone we meet. And if we’re representing Jesus to the world, the world will want us to tell them about Him. You don’t have to be out preaching on the street corner (although there’s certainly a place for that.) If it scares you, ask God to help you show the love of Christ to the world, and ask Him to put someone in your life that you can help lead to the Lord. Or just someone that you can show the love of Jesus to.

And the king will answer and say to them, “Truly I say to you, in as much as you did it to one of the least of these brothers of mine you did it to me.”
-Matthew 25:40

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you all the days until the end of the age.
-Matthew 28:19-20

Habakkuk's Journey: Day 3

Day 1
Day 2

Habakkuk’s Journey – Day 3
(Habakkuk 2)
We need to constantly remind ourselves that God’s ways are better than our ways, and if He’s withholding judgment for the time being, there’s probably a good reason. Our job is to seek out His will and discern what our next action should be.

Personal Reflection Questions

1. Focus on verse 1 for a moment and think about the importance of this verse. Explain your thoughts on this.

When we’re not sure of what it is God wants us to do, it is important that we not just listen for God’s reply but also position ourselves in a good place to see God’s response. Habakkuk says that he will station himself at the rampart to keep watch. This can be taken two ways. He is either stationing himself as a watchman on the wall in anticipation of hearing the Word of God, or he is being a watchman in anticipation of the oncoming attack from the Babylonians so that he will be ready when Yahweh’s judgment comes down. Personally, I think that both of these meaning apply hear. He will not only position himself in a place where he’ll be able to hear God’s answer but he will also be able to act as the watchman on the wall and inform his brethren of invasion.

2. How did God choose to answer Habakkuk and what does it say about how we should listen?

Habakkuk is told to wait patiently. He’s told to not grow impatient because the message is surely coming, even if the timing is not known. In verse 4 we reach a key verse which was not only Martin Luther’s life’s verse, but also, probably, the impetus of the books of Romans, Galatians and Hebrews (Paul sure liked to expound on this one). The just shall live by faith. We often overlook the beginning of this verse, though. We are to live in contrast to the prideful. We are to stand on our faith. In our society pride has become a badge of honor. In the distant past pride was one of the “7 Deadly Sins”, not that I know of any reason to separate these sins as being any more deadly than any of the others (or, frankly, I’m not sure that any on the list are actual sins, when you use 1 John 3:4 as your definition of “sin” is), but the takeaway is that pride was considered to be a bad thing. Today pride is looked upon as a good thing. We’re to take pride in our work. We’re to take pride in our family. We even currently have a community (based upon a sin) that embraces the word “pride” as their definition. As I’m writing this in June, we are in “Pride Month”. As Christians, we need to step away from this mindset of pride being a good thing and embrace our faith in Jesus Christ so that we can be found righteous when God sends His word to us. It is our faith which will keep us ready to listen.

3. Why do you think God used the word “woe” while speaking to Habakkuk instead of another word such as “cursed”?

The word used here (הוֹי– “hoy” H1945) implies waiting. Where just saying “cursed” could have the same general meaning, saying “woe” implies delayed judgment. Throughout this entire passage God was telling Habakkuk that the judgment was coming, even if it was tarrying. So by using this word He was just reiterating that Habakkuk should wait for it.

4. How can we take this into our daily lives?

While God’s timing is perfect, we are not. When we’re waiting for an answer from God (hopefully we’re not waiting for judgment) on whatever it is we’re anticipating, we need to remind ourselves that God is going to provide the answer when it is going to be best for us and for His plans. But, we should also be seeking to position ourselves to be in the right place to hear God’s response. And, quite probably, it will be us putting ourselves in the right position which will trigger the response anyway.

Devotional Rewind for Week Ending 6/4/16

On Sunday and Monday I finished up the "Our Daily Bread" devotional plan. I really enjoyed this plan and I would recommend it, if you're looking for a devotional plan.

Sunday 5/29/16
(Genesis 27:19-33)
Why do we hide our faults. I mean, I know the answer but as a Christian shouldn’t we be more concerned with owning up to our faults and repenting of them, and trying to be more like Jesus? That being said, I still hate owning up to my faults to those around me. It’s pride. But the only thing we should be boastful of is the death and resurrection of Yeshua, our Messiah (Gal 6:14)
Then Isaac trembled violently. Then he said, “who then was he that hunted wild game and brought it to me, and I ate it all before you came, and I blessed him? Moreover, he will be blessed.
-Genesis 27:33

Monday 5/30/2016
(1 Timothy 6:6-16)
We often strive for more and more, and feel like we don’t have enough when we look at our neighbors and see the ‘stuff’ that they have. The truth is that those neighbors are usually, also, looking at you and thinking the same thing. One of the keys to happiness is to learn to be grateful for what we already have. When we can do that, we are moving in the right direction.
But you, O man of God flee from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith,, love, patient endurance, gentleness.
-1 Timothy 6:11

Tuesday and Wednesday
The Our Daily Bread plan was over and I hadn’t found a new plan yet so the only devotional I did over these two days was my Bible in One Year plan. I didn’t take any notes for these days, though.

Be Transformed To Transform
Thank goodness I have still had my one year plan to go through. And thank God that this was only a 3 day plan. I don’t want to complain about a free devotional but this was the most disjointed, poorly put together plan I’ve encountered. I wouldn’t recommend this one if you’re looking for a plan on the Bible app.

Thursday 6/2/16
(1 Corinthians 1:1-3)
Paul, though he thought he was on God’s mission, was in severe rebellion to God when He was persecuting the church. What areas of your life are like this? Do you have any areas where you’re certain that you’re doing Yahweh’s work? Search yourself and ask the Holy Spirit about it. Be willing to hear correction. Maybe we are doing Yah’s work, but we need to be sure we are, especially if what we’re doing is marginalizing anyone.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
-1 Corinthians 1:3

Devotional Rewind for Week Ending 5/21/16

This past week was the third week of this current "Our Daily Bread" devotional plan. I've always seen the Our Daily Bread devotionals around and I'm really enjoying this one. I may look into these in the future.

Sunday 5/15/16
(John 16:5-16)
Much like yesterday, we’re dealing with God being the answer to our handicap. Just like a blind person accepting a seeing eye dog, and accepting that they need someone who has vision, the Holy Spirit can be our seeing eye dog, and lead us to the right paths, we just have to admit that we’re blind and that we need Him.
But when he – the Spirit of truth – comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak from Himself, but whatever He hear He will speak, and He will proclaim to you the things to come.
- John 15:13

Monday 5/16/16
(1 Chronicles 22)
When we do things, sometimes we can get away with running at 90%. But we should always be doing everything as if we were doing these thing for God, and God always knows when we’re not giving 100%. This is really convicting for me because there are definitely times where I think, “that’s good enough.” But the truth is that there’s more that I could do. And the truth is that God can see my accepting a subpar performance from myself and others (Col 3:23).
Then you will prosper if you take care to do the statutes and judgments which Yahweh commanded Moses concerning Israel. Be strong and be courageous; fear not and do not be dismayed.   -1 Chron 22:13

Tuesday 5/17/16
(Psalms 130)
Forgiveness is powerful and it takes a powerful person to forgive. With so much sin in the hearts and minds of most people, how powerful must God be to have forgiven us, if we just accept His forgiveness? Do we have the proper fear of the Lord, or do we see His forgiveness as weakness? I’m asking this honestly. Oftentimes we view forgiveness as weakness. Search your heart and make sure you’re not looking at it this way because, if you are, you may be viewing it as weakness for God, too.
If you, O Yah, should keep track of iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with You is forgiveness, so that You may be feared.     -Psalms 130:3-4

Wednesday 5/18/16
(John 10:14-30)
The Bible tells us that we are like sheep, but how much like sheep are we? Do we follow the sheep around us or do we listen patiently for our Shepherd’s voice? How well do we know our Shepherd’s voice? Have we spent time listening to it so that, in times of trouble, we know instantly which is the voice of the Shepherd and which is the voice of the wolf?
I am the good shepherd, and I know my own, and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep.                         -John 10:14-15

Thursday 5/19/16
(Matthew 6:9-13)
Sometimes I’m struck by how uninspired my prayer life is, compared to what it should be. How often do I even say a prayer of thanksgiving for the food that I eat? Growing up we said a prayer before every meal but as I’ve gotten older this practice has gone away. Is it that I now work for my money and the food that it buys so I am not thankful for the food I have because I feel that I’ve earned it? I want to make a concerted effort to give thanks for my food over the coming days.
Give us today our daily bread                      -Matthew 6:11

Friday 5/20/16
(Joshua 2:1-14)
In Jericho, Rahab was in awe of the great power of Yahweh because of the stories of His greatness that she had heard. And because of that God was able to win a victory over one of the most fortified cities in the Levant. Have you told any stories of God’s greatness today? You just may be the person who helps break down a wall in a person’s world.
For we have heard how Yahweh dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you went out from Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, Sihon and Og, who you utterly destroyed, We heard this, and our hearts melted, and no courage was left in anyone because of your presence. For Yahweh your God is God in the heavens above and the earth below.
- Joshua 2:10-11

Saturday 5/21/16
(Luke 23:32-43)
How much do we believe in Jesus? Are we willing to die with Him? The truth is that as soon as we accepted Him as our Lord and Savior, we were supposed to let our self die and live from that moment forward as a new creation, created by the only one who has every created new creations (Galatians 2:20).
And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise.”

Devotional Rewind for week ending 5/7/16

This past week I started the "Our Daily Bread" devotional plan on the Bible app. It's kind of refreshing how much scripture it actually incorporates into the daily readings. This one is an oldie but a goodie. It's a 30 plan so it looks like this one will be going throughout the month of May.

Sunday 5/1/16
(Matthew 4:12-17)
We get so caught up in the next big experience that we oftentimes fail to catch the lessons which can come from the mundane. Sometimes God speaks through the thunder, but sometimes He speaks in a whisper. We need to never forget this.
From that time on, Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven is near.”  -Matthew 4:17

Monday 5/2/16
(Daniel 9:3-19)
In today’s society Christians worry about the encroaching humanism and the potential persecution of the Church. Daniel dealt with all of these things, and yet he got down on his knees and prayed to God. He knew that it was against the law but he wouldn’t sacrifice his love for God just so he could be politically correct. This should be a lesson to us.
Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, pay heed and act! You must not delay for your sake, my God; because your city and your people are called by your name.” -Daniel 9:19

Tuesday 5/3/16
(Hebrews 13:5-8)
Bad things happen to good people. It’s true. That doesn’t mean that God isn’t there. He’s there in the people who come to your aid. He’s there in the still, small voice that speaks to you when you’re watching something on TV. He’s there inside of you, waiting to be talked to.
So then, we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man to do me?”              -Hebrews 13:6

Wednesday 5/4/16
(Philippians 1:21-27)
What am I doing in my life that shows the people around me that I am a follower of Christ? Do I read the Bible in public? Do I do anything letting the world know that I am a Christian? Am I happy and exuding the joy of the Lord? Why would anyone want to be like me if I don’t seem to want to be like me?
For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.  – Philippians 1:21

Thursday 5/5/16
(Genesis 15:1-6)
Sometimes it feels like we’re being forced to wait forever for God to answer our prayers. How long is ‘forever’? Abraham had God physically visit him and tell him that he was going to have a child (and a nation, on top of that), but he had to wait 25 years before this came to pass. Abraham doubted, but God still showed up and came through with that child (even after Abraham though he knew better and Ishmael came along). How long have you waited? Remain faithful and hopeful, God is coming.
And He brought him outside and said, “look toward the heavens and count the stars if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” – Genesis 15:5

Friday 5/6/16
(Proverbs 15:13-33)
It’s better to live well than it is to live long. What can we do each day to choose to be happy instead of miserable? If we are to show Jesus in the way that we live, how do we expect people to see Him when we’re moping and disdainful?
A heart of gladness will make good countenance, but in sorrow of heart a spirit is broken.
– Proverbs 15:33

Saturday 5/7/16
(Job 6:1-14)
It's often difficult to know what to say when you’re at a funeral home (or something like that) and you’re trying to ‘be there’ for a friend. After Job’s ‘friends’ had told him that it all must’ve been his fault for sinning Job made them aware of what it was he needed from them: reasons to continue hoping (6:11), kindness (6:14), and words that do not presume guilt (6:29-30). Frankly, whether you’re mourning or not, having a reason to continue hoping is the most important thing in the world. Thankfully, we have Jesus.
O that my request may come, and that God may grant my hope… What is my strength that I should wait? And what is my end that I should hold out?    - Job 6:8,11

Devotional Rewind for Thursday 4/14/16

Bible in One Year

Recently I’ve only be highlighting one of my devotional plans, and not going over the Bible in One Year plan. But that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been doing that plan. I’m still holding steady with this one and I’m not almost at 1/3 of the year finished. I’ve tried doing this in the past and I usually only make it about a month in before I stop running that race. So, this is actually a good year. I’m not celebrating my completion yet but it feels good to be reading the Word of God every day.

Since I just finished a secondary plan and I haven’t found a new one yet, I’m going to give you my thoughts that I had while doing my 1 Year Plan. I hope you enjoy!

Thursday
The major festivals of the church help us to remember the key events in the life of Jesus. At the Last Supper, Jesus instituted the service of communion so that we would not forget the central events of world history – the death and resurrection of Jesus.
[I would add here that this is precisely how we should treat the Feast of YHWH. The spring feasts should be celebrated as memorials to our king, so that we can remember all that He has done for us. The fall feasts should be celebrated in anticipation of what is yet to be done. And since the victory is already assured, we can still celebrate them for what He has already done for us.]

(Psalms 45:10-17, Luke 16:19-17:10, Deuteronomy 23-25)

Psalms – When we accept Messiah as our King we are instructed to “forget your people and your father’s house.” Too often, we say Jesus is our Lord but we still live like our people and our father’s house are still in charge. We need a total reorientation of our priorities. This take vigilance and we need to go over it each and every day.

Luke – The tale of Lazarus and the rich man should give us pause. How often do we see someone who is in need and, though we’re able to help in some way, we pass them by? Do we turn our head so that we don’t see them? Maybe we’ve been turning our heads for so long that we don’t even notice that we’re doing it anymore. It is our calling to be Jesus to the world. Even though I try my best to offer help when I can, I know that I could do more. So the question is, why don’t I do what I’m able to do. If I’m honest with myself it’s because I’m scared that if I give away the money/things that I have which could help someone I will find myself in the same place that the person I would be helping might be in. But we’re not to worry about where our next meal will come from (Matthew 6:31). Everything we have been given is by God’s providence.

Here’s the kicker: God has told us not to worry about our next meal because He will provide; what if the way God has chosen to provide for the person in need is by your giving, and you just turned your head?

Deuteronomy – We have been given the Holy Spirit as our comforter and our teacher. He will bring to our remembrance the law of God which is written on our hearts. There are so many commandments that we need to keep in mind but, if we keep the right mindset, all we need to keep in mind is this:

And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." (Mat 22:37-40 ESV)

Now all that’s left is to figure out how to show our love to God…

Devotional Rewind: Good or God

I have always liked John Bevere’s teachings over the years, and I have actually already purchased his newest book Good or God a little while back and I just haven’t had the opportunity to read it yet, so when I saw that there was a devotional plan for it on the Bible app I jumped right on it. I thought this was a really good devotional and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a new plan to work on. In fact, the only thing about it that I didn’t like was that, the way it was written, it was difficult for me to pull a line from the devotional part of it that impacted me (as I usually do, and then put them in italics right below the list of verses for the day) because it was written in a way that it all worked together. That’s not really a problem though, so I guess I shouldn’t say that I didn’t like that. It just made it more difficult to me to do the thing that I normally do. And that is actually kind of relevant to the study anyway. So, kudos, Mr. Bevere!

Good or God

Monday
(Proverbs 14:12, Hebrews 5:14, 1 Kings 3:9)
If good is so obvious, why does Hebrews 5:14 say we must have our senses trained to “discern [or recognize] both good and evil”?
It’s true, we so often judge for ourselves what is Godly by making Godly and good synonymous instead of pulling our definition of Godly from the pages of the Bible. What is good oftentimes depends on your perspective: to a child it seems good to have ALL of the candy, but the parent knows that this is not truly a good thing for the child. It’s difficult to see the parent’s perspective until you’re no longer a child. Should we expect the rest of life to be any different? The only way we can hope to discern the difference between what is Godly and what we currently see a ‘good’ is by seeking the answer from God.

Tuesday
(Genesis 2:16-17, Genesis 3, Psalm 136:1)
The longer she believed God was denying her something good, the more justified her longing seemed.
Why do we think that we know better than God? The same thing which Eve did, we do every day. We struggle to live under the authority of God because we think we know what is best for ourselves. I am just as guilty as anyone else, and maybe more than most. The devotional suggested that I keep Psalm 136:1 at the forefront of my thought today (Give thanks to Yahweh, for He is good, for His loyal love endures forever.) God is good. We need to live in that knowledge and trust its truth. And if it is true, why would we not live in His Word…

Wednesday
(James 1:16-17, Joshua 1:8, 2 Timothy 3:16)
It doesn’t matter how good or sensible something looks, how happy or successful it makes us, how spiritual it appears, or how accepted it may be. If it is contrary to God’s will, it will bring sorrow to our lives in the end.
How seriously do we take the Bible? Do we seek out the answers to our problems in God’s word? Do we rely on the Word of God, or do we simply say that we do? Often, I think that we give lip service to the Bible but we’re really just going to do what we think is best. I’m guilty of this, I can admit it. This is the lesson: how seriously can we take the Word of God? How can I, today, add steps in my life to take it more seriously?

Thursday
(Philippians 3:14)
We are all single-minded in pursuit of something.
What is the one thing we are driving toward? We’re here in a devotion so, hopefully, my answer isn’t money/fame/power or anything like that. It’s OK to want those things for the right reasons, but the shouldn’t be the biggest desire of our heart. My biggest goal (the thing my GPS should be set on) should be to be Jesus to everyone who encounters me today (every day).

Friday
(Hebrews 11:24-26, Exodus 33:1-3, Exodus 33:15, James 4:8)
Moses’s reply is mind-boggling. In essence, he tells God, “If I have to choose between Your presence and Your blessing, I’ll take Your presence.”
God told Moses that the Israelites were ready to go to the Promised Land, but while God was going to send an angel to go with them and drive out all of the inhabitants of the land before them, He wasn’t going to go with them Himself. Moses had the opportunity to go and for the people to view him as the hero, and Moses said that he would rather stay in the wilderness (where the people couldn’t stand him) and stay in the presence of God, than go to the land flowing with milk and honey and lead a people who would adore him if it was without God’s presence. Could we make that sacrifice? Do we love God’s presence enough to sacrifice what seems so good in the natural? Do we even know that that feels like? This is what I should seek out today!

Saturday
(James 4:5, 1 John 2:15-16, 1 John 5:21, Colossians 3:1-2)
When people hear warnings about “the world,” they often fall prey to legalism.
This is a good point, if you build up rules in your life to create boundaries so that you don’t fall prey to sin, how do you not fall victim to legalism at the same time? How do you live a set apart life without coming up with barriers which set yourself apart from the world? The trick, I think, is to constantly have God in your sights. I know, easier said than done. Hebrews 12:1-2 suggests that we fix our eyes on Jesus, and in so doing we get an example of how we should live. That, again, isn’t as easy as just saying it is, but it’s a start. Seek to know Jesus and you’ll be moving down the right pathway.

Sunday
(Hebrews 12:14)
I believe a healthy understanding of holiness can transform everything about our lives. It is the difference between fulfilled life and unsatisfying existence.
Holiness is what we are called to. I honestly don’t understand why so many Christians reject holiness because of the grace given them. Anyone who knows me could probably guess at this. To my understanding, we were afforded grace because Jesus died for our sins. Jesus, the guy who once told the woman caught in adultery to go and sin no more, after He had shown her grace by forgiving her. Yes, were sin abounded, grace abounded much more (Rom 5:20). But, does that mean that we should continue on sinning just so grace can keep abounding? Certainly not! (Rom 6:1) We don’t need to keep proving that grace is there and present in our lives. We are called to set ourselves apart. We’re not setting ourselves apart to gain salvation, we’re setting ourselves apart because that’s what we should be compelled to do as a thank you to God for granting us the grace He has given us. We don’t seek holiness to gain salvation, we seek holiness because we are saved!

Monday
(Ephesian 1:3-4, 1 Peter 1:14-17, 2 Corinthians 5:9-10)
We can settle much of the confusion about holiness by understanding that it has two aspects. One deals with our position in Christ. The other deals with the behavior that results from it.
Holiness isn’t about legalism, it’s about love. It’s easy to fall into legalism if you’re obeying the commands of Jesus, but as long as we keep our eyes focused on Him we won’t fall victim to legalism. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we have the ability to live a holy life.

Tuesday
(2 Corinthians 12:9, 2 Peter 1:2-3)
…we’re still frustrated by our inability to live the way God wants us to. We’ve been born again in Christ, so why do we keep falling?
Today’s devotional was about grace, and its power and strength, not just its forgiveness. Admittedly, my guard goes up when we talk about grace. Not because I don’t believe in grace, but because so much of the Christian church has used grace as an excuse to bring the unholy inside of what should be holy. But I love, and am for grateful for, the grace which the Father has given me through Jesus, our Messiah. And I do love John Bevere’s teaching on grace. I’ve heard it before and I judge it to be foundational to a healthy walk with Christ. Go didn’t provide His grace just so we could have our sins blotted out. God granted us grace so that we could be empowered to not sin going forward. It is the grace of God that enables us to live a holy, set-apart life. I still fail daily, but most days are better than previous days. I still fall down, but God’s grace picks me back up and keeps me on the right track.

Wednesday
(Ephesians 1:19, Ephesian 2:10, Ephesians 3:20-21, Romans 5:17)
My friend, you are not limited by your past, family background, education, or anything else in the natural. God’s grace defines who you are and what you can do. Your potential is immeasurable. The only thing that can limit you is your faith.
This final day of the plan is entitled “The Good Life” and I got a little concerned that this was going to go into some “prosperity gospel” teaching. Thankfully, it didn’t really go there. Through the grace of God we have been given the ability to walk righteously, but God’s grace is also a power within us which empowers us to overcome any obstacle. If we have the faith to believe that God’s kingdom can be built around us, we can be the tools which God uses to build it!

If You Love Me...

(Ephesians 2:8, Galatians 3:6, Romans 4:6-8, John 14:15)

We are justified by Yeshua the Messiah, and it is this grace that allows us admittance into the kingdom of God. But does that change the way that God wants us to live?

Abraham was justified by his faith in God (Gen 15:6, Rom 4:3, Gal 3:6) centuries before God gave the law to the Hebrew people. But that didn’t stop God from giving His instructions (His Torah). God, even then, saved the people because of their faith in Him, but He still gave the people instructions as to how He wanted them to live.

David rejoiced that even though he sinned, God would never hold sin against him (Ps 32:1-2). It was David’s faith in God that saved him, not his observance to the Father’s instructions. If it was that observance he would not be able to say, “blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” The observance of the law is secondary here. God will not count David’s sin against him because of his righteousness. And his righteousness certainly has nothing to do with his works (David wrote this psalm after the whole Bathsheba affair), but everything to do with his faith in Yahweh, just like Abraham. If this is unclear, Paul clears it up when he says about this verse, “David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works…”

So, what does that mean for today?

Well, we have been justified by Jesus, but by our accepting Him as our redeeming Lord and Savior it is inherent that we should follow His commands, right? If we accept Him as Lord of our lives, we are accepting the definition of the word “lord”. According to dictionary.com the primary definition of the word “lord” is, “a person who has authority, control, or power over others; a master, chief, or ruler.” In today’s society the meaning of the word has kind of been lost. We no longer have any real contextual idea of what a lord is because we don’t live in a society where lords are a thing. The only time we even hear the word “lord” anymore is when we’re talking about religious things. So the word “lord” has, at this point, just become synonymous with Jesus or God (on a Christian level, at least.)

We don’t understand that when someone is your “Lord” they have authority over you. If they make commandments, or deliver statutes which you are to live by, well… you’ve got to follow those statutes. If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you have proclaimed that you are going to live by His statutes. The disturbing realization may be that if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, but your life hasn’t changed from what it was like before your proclamation, then you have to wonder if you’ve ever actually accepted Him as your Lord and Savior. Or did you just say some words and hope that they would work like some sort of spell?

This isn’t to say that if you sin then you’re not saved. But when we invite Christ into our heart (to use some old school Christianese), there should be a noticeable change in us. Because God gave His Son to die for us, so that we no longer have to be slaves to sin, our response should be to set ourselves apart unto God.

I guess the question then becomes, what have you done today to show your love to God? It’s easy to question what it is to show our love to God. Many people over the years have had different answers as to what it is to show your love to God. Rick Warren said that you show your love to God by talking to Him.

Then there was another dude who was besties with Jesus. This is what he said…

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. (1Jo 5:3 NKJV)

And then there was Jesus. It appears that Rick Warren is on the wrong side of this one…

"If you love Me, keep My commandments. (Jhn 14:15 NKJV)
     *words of Christ in red.

So, as for me, I’m going to attempt to keep God’s commandments to show my love for Him. I’ll leave it up to you to decide what are God’s commandments. But, we should probably note what God, Himself, has to say about His nature…

"For I the LORD do not change... (Mal 3:6 ESV)

Where Did We Come From... Where Do We Go...

Genesis 6:1-4, Deuteronomy 32:8-9, John 1:1, 1 Samuel 3:1-21, Matthew 7:21-23

There seems to a bunch of us who have “grown up” in this “fringe” community. For me it seems that all I used to want to look into was Nephilim and aliens. I think that was the conspiracy carrot that God put on a stick in front of me. I kept following that carrot anywhere that it’d go. It led me into deeper study than I had ever known, and I had led church small groups before. And that is what led me understand the thing I had always been looking for, anyway: Jesus. That statement needs some unpacking but before I do that I want to say that I am by no means “perfect”. I still lose my temper for idiotic reasons. I still cuss when I’m in a bad mood, or even sometimes when I’m in a good mood. I still go through the same struggles any other human being goes through. The difference between me now and me 5 years ago is that while I may not be Jesus, I’m hanging out with Him a lot more.

So let’s unpack a little of what I meant when I said that I found Jesus. I have “always” been a Christian and I have had a decent understanding of what Christianity is (or, what it has become). And even though I had read all of the Gospels, and I had read Paul’s letters, and from time to time I would read the Old Testament and be able to connect Joseph to Jesus, or something like that, I don’t necessarily believe that I knew Jesus. Truthfully, I don’t really even know him yet. We all have people who we hang out with, but how many of those people know you? I have a lot of friends but I don’t have a lot of friends who truly know me. And that’s how I want to know Jesus.

So how would somebody get to know you that way? They would have to not just hang out with you all the time, they would have to know your story. They would have to know where you came from and how you got to where you are.

How would you go about doing that for Jesus? Well, we learn in the book of John that Jesus is the Word. There’s a silly Greek tradition that says that “The Word” is a Greek philosophical concept, and that’s what John was talking about.

You know what, let’s stop there for a second. That is a perfect example of what I’m getting at. We are 2,000 years removed from the time of Messiah. And we are 4,000 years removed from Abraham and the birth of the Israelite religion. And we’re 6,000 years removed from the birth of the context of it all. And for the last 2,000 years we have been trying to fit the Hebrew peg into the Greek hole. It’s never going to fit, but we keep pretending that it does. When John wrote down, “In the beginning was the Word,” he wasn’t talking about a mystical Greek concept. John was a Jew and was raised as a Jew, not a Greek. In fact, his name wasn’t even John, it was Yohanan. But I don’t want to make this about using Hebrew names. Jesus was/IS a Jew and you’re not going to KNOW Him if you think of Him as thinking with a Greek mindset.

What John was talking about was the “Word of God”. The very same thing that had been talked about all throughout the Tanakh. The Word is a person, and always has been. But what does this all mean? Before the rabbit trail goes too far, let’s circle back. If you want to know Jesus the way only your best friends in all of the world know you, you have to understand the Jewishness of Him. And you have to understand the references to the Word in the Old Testament. And you have to understand the Hebrew culture, since it was God who had taken them as His own. And, even though I’ve really moved away from a lot of the Genesis 6 stuff (not that I don’t get excited about it anymore, I’ve just expanded my field of study to its logical conclusion… Jesus), you really have to understand “the war of the seed” in order to get the history of where Jesus came from.

So how did it all happen that I moved from one station to the next? Well, the obvious answer is that it was a movement of God. I had always believed in the supernatural. And I had always believed that there were other gods, but none of them were God (there are many elohim, but only one of them is Yahweh). And I had always believed that understanding the Jewish nature of Christianity was important. And so, with that base, it only seems natural to move into all that I’ve talked about.

What’s the point of all of this anyway? What’s the point of me harping on getting to know Jesus the way that only my best friends know me? Well, maybe this is just me but if you know Jesus, that’s when He knows you, too. And, in the end, isn’t that what we’re all really trying to do?

I'll leave you with a teaching from Michael Heiser that gives an explanation of the many names of Jesus throughout the Old Testament. So, when you have 3 1/2 hours, give this a watch...