365 Reflections

Trouble has come to Israel. And in Lamentations, Jeremiah pulls no punches about what has happened. The Lord Himself has taken her down. Lamentations 2 rehearses the nature of her judgment as nothing less than God's active wrath poured out upon His own chosen people.  Lamentations 2:5 (ESV) The Lord has become like an enemy; he has swallowed up Israel; he has swallowed up all its palaces; he has laid in ruins its strongholds, and he has multiplied in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation. When we are disciplined for sin, it can seem like God is our enemy. And let us not forget that Lamentations is the cry of Jeremiah's heart over what has transpired. He expresses what the people perceive. They felt abandoned by God but it was they who abandoned Him. Sin carries severe consequences.   Lamentations 2:11–12 (ESV) My eyes are spent with weeping; my stomach churns; my bile is poured out to the ground because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, because i...

One consistent refrain from scripture is that many times bad things happen to really good people and we need to learn how to NOT give up when it does. 1 Kings 17:17–18 (ESV) After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18 And she said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” The words "after this" mean we MUST connect what just happened to the tragedy about to occur. What just happened was the miracle she received of unlimited oil and flour because she listened to the Word of the Lord through Elijah. Now she experiences the seriously tragic event of a dead child. Here was a woman who not only feared the Lord but who was well aware that she needed God's grace. Notice if you will that last line:  "You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death o...

Ancient Israel is a case study in the reality that laws, promises and blessings from God do not secure a righteous nation. They do not change the heart. Judges 19 is perhaps the Bible's darkest chapter filled with unthinkable human evil and wanton disregard for the dignity of woman. The narrator of Judges has brought us through the judges cycles one after the other and now paints the picture for the terrible realities met by a nation who left God behind and forged their own future. This chapter is a solemn reminder of how bad it can get for a country when the Lord God of Creation is disregarded. The story is about a Levite and his concubine who cheated on him and left him. That first detail is all you need to know about the spiritual life of Israel. First, a Levite was set apart for God's service. Second, marriage was between a man and woman in Israel. Third, adultery was counter to the law and punishable by death. The Levite goes to fetch her after four months away in her...

Genesis 42 reveals the guilt that long resided in the hearts of Joseph's brothers. It also serves to display the havoc guilt plays on your hearts. Consider that when Joseph imprisons the brothers taking them to be spies they immediately start looking at each other for blame. Genesis 42:21–22 (ESV)  Then they said to one another, “In truth we are guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he begged us and we did not listen. That is why this distress has come upon us.” 22 And Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to sin against the boy? But you did not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.” First we see, their guilt makes them interpret all the bad things in their lives as payback for their sin. Then the blame game begins. Reuben tries to plead his case and feels implicated even though he took no part in the sale of Joseph. What is so fascinating is that this is 22 years later. They have held on to this guilt for mor...

Genesis 13:1–4 (ESV) S o Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the Negeb. 2 Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he journeyed on from the Negeb as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place where he had made an altar at the first. And there Abram called upon the name of the Lord . What do you do when you blow it and others know you've blown it and you're ashamed to even realize just how much you've blown it? You go back to Bethel. Bethel means house of God. And it's exactly where Abram went back to after one of his greatest failures. In Egypt, Abram relied on his cunning and ingenuity to make a way for himself through the tough famine in the land of promise. He figured God could only be trusted so for and sometimes matters must be taken into one's own hands.  The result was shame and expulsion... and it reads f...

Genesis 3:8–9 (ESV)   And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” The first sin is going to set the stage for the drama of Redemption. And in this drama, God is the antagonist going after His lost people.  The devil had convinced Eve that at the very core, God did not care about her. If He did, He wouldn't have kept that specific tree off the table. She was convinced and desired all that God was keeping from her and so sin entered the world as passive Adam also felt God was robbing him of what should have been his. But the narrative takes us to this undeniable truth: As soon as they sin... God seeks them out. They run and hide... God comes and finds. The lie of the devil is expose not only before our sin in this passage... but also afte...

An interesting request from Paul to Timothy here: Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, (2 Timothy 1:8, 9 ESV) Of corse we know that being ashamed of Christ has no place in the life of a believer. But do we realize that we are not to be ashamed to associate with other believers who suffer for the name? Paul has few friends left. Sadly this giant of the faith has need deserted by almost everyone... He states: You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. (2 Timothy 1:15 ESV) History tells us Paul had been re-arrested for Christ.  I can imagine this new movement struggling to handle such peculiarities to the mission.  Are we to expect this? Is Paul not doi...