365 Reflections

1 Samuel 23:26–29 (ESV)   Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them, 27 a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.” 28 So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape. 29 And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of Engedi. For a large portion of the book of 1 Samuel, we have Saul chasing down David. This should be bothersome to us. It should bother us that two men whom God used mightily in battles for the Lord's people - to deliver them and enlarge their territory - are preoccupied with a stupid spat between them! Instead of Saul fighting for the nation, he's fighting for his own glory. Instead of David going to war and expanding the map, he...

Deuteronomy 2 has a familiar statement from Deuteronomy 1: Deuteronomy 2:3 (ESV) ‘You have been traveling around this mountain country long enough. Turn northward God speaks to the people and says basically that they have been standing in the same place long enough. He had said this to the previous generation who had received the Law from Moses 40 years earlier: Deuteronomy 1:6 (ESV) “The LORD our God said to us in Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Both generations came to a mountain where God met with them in special ways. Both Mountains became holy sites of significance and development. However, both mountains were stops along the journey to the ultimate destination - the Promised Land.  We often want to dwell around the significant moments in our lives. God wants us to have them. They are great for us. We are touched, changed and moved in incredible ways when we come to the mountain of God. But we have to remember that we cannot stay there. W...

Hebrews 12:1 (ESV) Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us... We have a race to run.  It's been marked.  There are amazing illustrations from this verse referencing the ancient greek games.  Between 40-45,000 people watched a foot race measuring 600 feet in length in one long straight line.  They marked the race with stone sills at the beginning and end.  Each runner put his foot on a line drawn in the sand from which we get the phrase, "starting from scratch." The author of Hebrews sets a great example for preacher.  For he speaks the language of the people using concepts they can visualize.  I can see a New Testament writer using the NFL markers or terms like 4th and 11 to call us to press on in Christ.  Who knows, perhaps if the Bible was written in 2013, the word, "Lombardy" would ha...