365 Reflections

This verse has to be the biggest gut punch for knowing God's love in the Bible.  Hosea 3:1 (ESV) And the LORD said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the LORD loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” Could you imagine this ask of the Lord? He wants Hosea to remarry his wife, purchasing her out of slavery while she is the property of another man. And God says plainly, this is how the LORD loves the children of Israel.  Hosea actually has to purchase her.  Hosea 3:2 (ESV) So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. We see in this passage a picture of two things. The insidious nature of sin and the indescribable love of God. Hosea's name is close to the name of Jesus in Hebrew. This is on purpose for Jesus is the true Hosea who does not give up on wayward people. He loves us even when we are ensnared in our sin. Moreover, He PAYS for u...

Ruth 2:8–10 (ESV)  Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. 9 Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.” 10 Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” The incredible trouble brought upon Naomi and Ruth is about to be reversed and turned into an incredible fortune, but step by step. The second chapter of this book is intended to teach us about the grace of the Lord Jesus. Just like Boaz saw and then secured Ruth's provision and protection, Jesus does for His lost sheep, you and I. It is not we who found Him, it is He who found us. We can only respond with the same question as Ruth, "Why have I ...

When you consider all that Joseph had been through with his brothers and time in Egypt, there's no question that his self-disclosure to them in Genesis 45 is particularly amazing. Judah's heart-felt speech to protect Benjamin at the cost of his own life has shown Joseph the change of heart evident now in those who once sought his own demise. Genesis 45:1–2 (ESV)   Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. Genesis 45:14–15 (ESV) Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. 15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. After that his brothers talked with him. Weeping, weeping and more weeping. He is genuinely loving these brothers of his in outward and openly emotional ways. These ...

Think of all the evil Joseph suffered because of his brothers. Yet shortly after his rough conversation with them and taking Simeon into custody, Joseph rolls out the red carpet for his brothers in acts of tremendous generosity.  Genesis 43:16 (ESV) When Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, “Bring the men into the house, and slaughter an animal and make ready, for the men are to dine with me at noon.” Genesis 43:24 (ESV)  And when the man had brought the men into Joseph’s house and given them water, and they had washed their feet, and when he had given their donkeys fodder, Genesis 43:34 (ESV) Portions were taken to them from Joseph’s table, but Benjamin’s portion was five times as much as any of theirs. And they drank and were merry with him. Joseph does everything to be kind to these men who treated him with such hostility. I don't know if I would have done the same. But there is only one reason. He loved them. ...

Genesis 29:20 (ESV)   So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her. One thing the three major Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) have in common is their love for their wives. This was the ancient world where sincere love was rare and marriage was often an issue of property rights. But the Bible paints a common thread in the origination of God's house. The men in His house love their wives from the heart. Yes, Abraham had his other women and notoriously slept with Hagar, and yes, Jacob slept with all the women in his house, but for all of these men, only ONE woman would truly switch them on. Abraham wept bitterly over Sarah's death, and Jacob, toward the end of his life recounts the pain he felt at losing Rachel as he blesses his grandsons in Genesis 48: Genesis 48:7 (ESV)  As for me, when I came from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some di...

I write this on Easter Sunday. It is the business of God to bless people with fresh starts. The horrible evil of Genesis 6 is gone, the day of judgment is past, the visible sign of God's promise of future grace is in the sky as a multi-colored rainbow and Noah is reaffirmed as a new "Adam" over creation. Genesis 9:1–3 (ESV) And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2 The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. Everything about this passage draws us backwards to Genesis 2. God blesses and gives. Then God commands multiplication and moving outward. As well, God elevates the gift to Noah's generation to eat any moving thing....

Psalm 138 is famous for the refrain between every phrase: "his steadfast love endures forever" It is recited in each of the 26 verses. One line after each of God's acts as recorded in Scripture from who He is to what He made to who He chose and how He is enthroned in heaven. What's interesting is when the Psalm uses the term  "steadfast love" it's using the Hebrew word, "Hesed", which means loyal love. This Hebrew word for love is almost exclusively used for God's relation to His people. HE alone is the TRULY loyal lover of His people. What a God we have! Do you know what to be thankful for? His LOYAL LOVE. When you read the account of Psalm 138, you learn just how loyal God is in spite of our doubtful His people were. He delivered Israel when they didn't trust or believe in Moses. Psalm 136:10 (ESV) to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, for his steadfast love endures forever; He saved them dramatically while th...

It's love. God is looking for our love. Not our good deeds and great programs first. Not our reputation and doctrinal foundations first. Those are all of importance, but second to the great desire of God for His people.... LOVE.  How interesting that the FIRST letter of the 7 churches addressed is a call to repentance and that repentance is not from dead works of sin, but that of lost love: Revelation 2:4–5 (ESV)   But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. The Ephesian church was the home of John the Apostle and possibly Mary (the Mother of Jesus). They had two immense witnesses to speak straight to their heart. For all their projects and proper religious observance, they had missed the most important reality of what God has called us to, a lov...

I'm in awe of the control factor in Jesus when He is betrayed, arrested, denied, mistreated, questioned, doubted and handed over to be killed. He was totally in control of every situation. He predicted the betray and denial. He knew and spoke about his death often. He faced the trial of the High Priest and Pilate with absolute wisdom. At the end of John 18, He's alone, in chains, denied, betrayed, beaten, the victim of injustice, and exchanged for a notorious insurrectionist who murdered people. And the chapter ends with Pilate asking Jesus about truth: John 18:37–38 (ESV) Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 38 Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went back outside to the Jews and told them, n“I find no guilt in him. Why didn't P...

The story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead is a unique depiction of God's love in action. But what strange love is this? John 11:5–6 (ESV) Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Hearing Lazarus was sick, Jesus stay where he was for two more days. In those two days Mary and Martha watched their brother's condition worsen, his body weaken, his spirit fall and his eyes close for what seemed like the final time. Where could Jesus be? What's taking Him so long? And the footnote of verse 5 becomes very strange... "Jesus loved Martha and her sister (Mary) and Lazarus."  Now we have a choice with this text. We can either think John didn't really know how Jesus felt about them, or we can rethink God's idea of love . Of course we know Jesus loved them. But how He loved them is far different from how we think God should love us. God...

John 10:9 (ESV) I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. John 10:11 (ESV)   I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. These two "I am" statements of Christ beautifully depict the nature of His love for us. They also reveal what God is truly like. First, being the "door" and the "Shepherd" could mean the same thing. For a shepherd would lay down at the entrance of a sheep pen to keep watch over his sheep at night. Jesus certainly laid it down for us, allowing Himself to be nailed to a cross on which he was laid. He's the one who stops the thief then from coming in and us from wandering out. Second, He is the good shepherd that puts his life out there in exchange for sheep. I think of David's 23rd Psalm who said, "The Lord is my shepherd."  David was a shepherd who understood the sacrifice of caring for his father's sheep. H...

In Acts 27 Paul was sent by ship from Caesarea to Rome to stand trial before Caesar. Interestingly, the ship comes ashore to an island called, "Crete." The Roman Authorities wanted to get to Rome early and so set sail despite warnings from Paul and the ship would eventually meet a brutal storm costing all the cargo and finally be shipwrecked on the island called Malta. During the hectic voyage, it says this: Acts 27:21  (ESV)   Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. But the interesting thing is how Crete comes into play in the New Testament later on. Something must have happened to Paul on that short stay in Crete. He must have saw a need to spread the Gospel and wanted to do so but wasn't afforded the opportunity. These people would not escape his conscience however, and at some point Paul would make it to Cret...

“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? .....In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away! (Luke 15:4, 7 NLT) I wonder what some churches value more than people who don't know the Father... Because it's pretty clear from Luke 15, the Father's heart beats for lost people.  Jesus has just dined with a Pharisee in Luke 14.  He is no doubt fed up with religious pretension and show.  He is going to be as emphatic as possible so that those who may not yet know where His values lie will be absolutely certain.  Three parables, all with equally stunning statements of the Father's love for lost sons and daughters. The problem is.  We rarely see this value in some churches and in many Christians...

Mark 8:14–17 (ESV) Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15 And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” 16 And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. 17 And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? The funny thing about this passage is that it falls on the heals of Jesus feeding 5000 men with a few loaves of bread.  How could Jesus possibly be concerned that the disciples didn't bring bread?  He's trying to teach them about what's really important, and they are worrying about having enough to eat. What's really important is to watch out for those who want to look important but really don't care about people.  The Pharisees demand a sign just after Jesus fed the multitudes.  They aren't getting...