JANUARY 25, 2020

“Only when our greatest love is God, a love that we cannot lose even in death, can we face all things with peace.” 
― Timothy J. Keller, Walking with God through Pain and Suffering

EXODUS 9-10

10So they took soot from a furnace and stood before Pharaoh. Moses tossed it into the air, and festering boils broke out on people and animals. 11The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils that were on them and on all the Egyptians. 12But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said to Moses.(9:10-12)

MATTHEW 18:1-20

10“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. [11]^a

12“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

JOURNAL 

Life is precious and fragile, we all are one moment away from the grave.  There are things in this world that are avoidable and things in this world that are not. Yes I should do my best to ensure I take care of my life and the body God gives me...but the ultimate reality is that its temporary and ultimately it's destiny is the grave. 

This brings up the issue of Pharaoh...The verses about Pharaoh have always troubled me, because it seems that Pharaoh doesn't have a choice. Over and over it says that God "hardened" Pharoah's heart. Doing some research on the subject I found that the problem is in the translation. Since it is in the past tense the wording is indicating that God allowed his heart to be hardened. God allowed Pharaoh to be stubborn. Just as God allows me to be stubborn and disobedient. 

God's heart is shown in Matthew when Jesus declares that God does not desire that any child should perish. It's God's desire for all to be reconciled yet he still allows us to choose. He gives us the means and the path to relationship with him, yet he does not force our hand. It is the same with my boys. I desire their love and relationship but I cannot force that. I can create situations and cause consequences etc...but whether they choose to love me or not is in their own heart and mind. 

While that is a crude comparison...it's really the only one that I can even begin to wrap my head around. I also have to come to accept that God is not my personal servant...here to serve my dreams and my desires. Yet I often find that that's how my thinking tends to go...I get frustrated when things don't make sense and don't work out the way that seems best to me. But again who am I to make that declaration? If even Jesus refused to go there what authority do I have to make such demands???

So what I am left with is the fragile, ignorant, confines of my own mind and heart. While they are amazing and powerful they are flawed and ultimately permitted by God to exist. To think otherwise is to step outside of reality. This is sobering and confusing but ironically it's acceptance promises to bring peace and joy. And as I allow my fingers to loosen their grip on the future, I do strangely find that there is a peace and a joy in just living today...this hour, this moment. 

6Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm:

7“Brace yourself like a man;

I will question you,

and you shall answer me.

8“Would you discredit my justice?

Would you condemn me to justify yourself?

9Do you have an arm like God’s,

and can your voice thunder like his?

10Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor,

and clothe yourself in honor and majesty.

11Unleash the fury of your wrath,

look at all who are proud and bring them low,

12look at all who are proud and humble them,

crush the wicked where they stand.

13Bury them all in the dust together;

shroud their faces in the grave.

14Then I myself will admit to you

that your own right hand can save you.

JOB 40:6-14

JANUARY 24, 2020

"I found my combine shirt from 17 years ago and it got me thinking...This is what they said about me then....Poor build. Skinny. Lacks great physical stature and strength. Lacks mobility and ability to avoid the rush. Lacks a really strong arm. Can't drive the ball downfield. Does not throw a really tight spiral. System-type player who can get exposed if forced to ad lib. Gets knocked down easily. As @edelman11 always reminds me... "You can prove em right or you can prove em wrong".

― Tom Brady

EXODUS 7-8

1Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. 2You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. 3But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, 4he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. 5And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.”

6Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them. 7Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.(7:1-7)

MATTHEW 17

18Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.

19Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

20He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” [21]^a

JOURNAL 

I really don't know what I would do without the Bible. The stories have become life rafts in some of the darkest times of my life. Now with my boys,  I am able to share with them and encourage them through the power of these ancient texts. Moses, like Joseph is one that I cherish. Unlike Joseph Moses was actually raised a prince of Egypt. There are actual historical records that record his skill and leadership in military engagements. Then he has a fall from grace after killing an Egyptian in defense of a Hebrew slave. He goes on the run and becomes a nomadic wandering shepherd for the next 40 years. To say that Moses was an unlikely hero is the understatement of all understatements. 

Yet this is the miraculous nature of God. He chooses the rejected, the losers, the outcasts and does his greatest work with them. To really consider what he does with Moses is just so contrary to human logic...he uses Moses...the outcast, the shamed, the outlaw to rescue his people. Why?  Because God confounds the wisdom of humanity with grace and love. 

He gives hope to those that the world says aren't good enough. He works through the tongues of those the world says are filthy and shameful. He confounds the powerful with those that are weak and powerless. And that is the point...God will not be usurped by our judgements and our standards. He operates off a different script and one that we most often would never approve.

That is the beauty of scripture...because at some point in every human life...there will come a time when the world seems and is set against you. When that happens it can feel like a death sentence, it can seem that the end is inevitable. Yet that is the fertile soil that God works best in. 

33“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

JOHN 16:33

JANUARY 23, 2020

“The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays.” 
― Søren Kierkegaard

EXODUS 4-6

10Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

11The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

13But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”

14Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. 15You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. 17But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.”(4:10-17)

MATTHEW 16

21From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

22Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”

23Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

JOURNAL 

Human concerns are obviously different than God's concerns. Moses was guilty of seeing things simply from the human perspective and so was Peter. Here are two men who are in the presence of God and Jesus and they still fumble around and don't get it. Honestly this makes me feel better for my own shortcomings and failures. It also though is a reminder that when I trust God...he is beyond human and is not restricted by normal human standards. Therefore I shouldn't minimize him nor be afraid to embrace his nudging and his commands.

I've been thinking recently about the value of a day. It is so easy to settle into routine and fail to embrace the potential and opportunities of 24 hours. Unfortunately too often I wait for inspiration in one form or another instead of seeing today as a precious gift that I will never have the opportunity to live again. I definitely believe this is a mindset that requires some discipline to enforce. For me...that discipline is best found in reading scripture and acknowledging the simple gift of another day. 

10If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

JOHN 15:10

JANUARY 22, 2020

“Long is the way and hard, that out of Hell leads up to light.” 
― John Milton, Paradise Lost

EXODUS 1-3

7The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”(3:7-10)

MATTHEW 15:21-39

32Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”

JOURNAL 

God is aware of our suffering...this could not be more clear than in these verses. While he does make provisions to end it, he also allows it. This is often hard to accept, especially when I am right in the midst of difficulty. However I truly can take comfort in knowing that God gets it, allows it and will ultimately end it. 

It is therefore imperative that I have habits that keep me in a place of seeking God and his direction. For when times get tough...when things are falling apart and all seems lost, will I be able to keep my head and keep seeking God? This is the challenge that every believer faces and from scripture it becomes very clear that in order to make it through the gauntlet of life...in ways that truly glorify God, I must have a consistency and a discipline in following and seeking no matter the circumstance. 

One of the lesson's from Joseph and his time in Egypt is that his principles never really seemed to waver. He stayed obedient no matter if he was in prison or the second in command of all of Egypt. He remained disciplined, faithful, hopeful, loving and humble. So that when the opportunity came...he performed and God was glorified. I'm sure there were moments, especially after being falsely accused and then forgotten about where his faith and resilience were tested. Yet he never stopped believing, never stopped obeying and ultimately God rescued and redeemed him.

It's also comforting to know that God knows me and all my faults and strengths. I don't have to pretend or fake it. So that when those moments come where I just don't feel I have it in me to obey or perform or remain faithful...I can truly fall into his love and trust that he will carry me through. 

8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 CORINTHIANS 12:8-10

JANUARY 21, 2020

“The willingness to forgive is a sign of spiritual and emotional maturity. It is one of the great virtues to which we all should aspire. Imagine a world filled with individuals willing both to apologize and to accept an apology. Is there any problem that could not be solved among people who possessed the humility and largeness of spirit and soul to do either -- or both -- when needed?” 

― Gordon B. Hinckley, Standing for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes

GENESIS 49-50

15When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” 16So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: 17‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.

18His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said.

19But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.(50:15-21)

MATTHEW 15:1-20

15Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”

16“Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17“Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

JOURNAL 

Through everything that happened to Joseph and his brothers they still doubted his love for them and God's sovereignty.  Joseph is again overcome with emotion at the sign of their doubt. However he does not scorn them for it but rather shows patience, compassion and love. 

Jesus breaks from tradition and the cultural norms and it upsets the Pharisees because they did not wash their hands before they ate. He reaffirms that following traditions are not what matter but what comes out of your heart and how you treat others. 

Again and again scripture affirms that sin happens when we begin to stray from obedience to God. We stray because we don’t trust God, because at the heart of it all we don’t fully accept his love for us and that his way is the best way. I know for me it stems from putting too much value and power in other humans rather than God and my relationship with him. I truly don't trust that trusting God in all my actions and seeking and following him is what's best. 

It's subtle but that subtle disobedience has great power. For it robs me of giving my very best and making the most of each and every moment. Then just like Joseph's brothers...I begin to doubt. Yet coming back to scripture each day reminds me again of God's love, his power and his desire that I live from that power. Doing so has the power to sustain me and propel me above the circumstances of each day. 

 8Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

1 PETER 4:8-10