365 Reflections

Isaiah 66:7–8 (ESV) “Before she was in labor she gave birth; before her pain came upon her she delivered a son. 8 Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment? For as soon as Zion was in labor she brought forth her children. Amazingly, Isaiah ends on a euphoric note of hope. God will bring a miraculous resurrection to Israel and one day she will be born. Now I happen to believe the fulfillment of that text happened on May 14, 1948, when Israel declared itself a state, and the U.S. President recognized her sovereignty moments later against the wishes of his cabinet. Biblical History was made and the world changed forever.  Isaiah does what a lot of prophets in the Bible do. They spoke of things to happen in their generation and the ultimate things to happen much later. The fact is, God was so gracious to His people, that He fulfilled their comeback prophecy twice, separated by 2400 years of hist...

God is a promise maker. It's unreal to hear how many times in the Bible God speaks about guaranteeing His people's future, safety, and prosperity. Perhaps one of those places in the Bible where the promises abound most incredibly is the second half of Isaiah 54.  God promises to make them beautiful in splendor. Isaiah 54:11–12 (ESV) “O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires. 12 I will make your pinnacles of agate, your gates of carbuncles, and all your wall of precious stones. This is a nation that has been in exile, lost, and without hope. There is no beauty to them at the moment. But as the Servant of Isaiah 53 took the ugliness of sin upon Himself, the people of God benefit by receiving the beauty of God instead.  God promises generational safety. Isaiah 54:13 (ESV) All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children. God is not only concerne...

Joshua 21:43–45 (ESV) Thus the LORD gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there. 44 And the LORD gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the LORD had given all their enemies into their hands. 45 Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass. What a profound summation of the first 6 books of the Bible. God's good promises come to pass. This passage goes back to their "fathers" and not just to Moses' death. We have to remember God's long-term commitment to His people. So here is my thought about this passage. God's promises come to pass but not without a lot of time, effort, fighting, asking, planning and organizing through many people. First: the time: Yes God keeps His promises. No, they don't happen overnight. Think of the 450...

I sometimes think we treat the Bible as a "do not do" book. All the while I read a ton of "go do" in it. The Bible is God's Word to mankind who has "fallen short" of His glory. The implication of that expression is that we were not meant to fall short. We were intended to hit the mark, to attain the Glory of God! Because the scriptures make clear that we are not living as we should and must come to terms with it if we are to change and become what God intended we could be tempted to cast dispersions on this book as if it were against us. Nothing could be further from the truth. The scriptures are FOR US. Want proof? Romans 15:4 (ESV) For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope . So we see a theme running through the Bible of a certain few people who dared to believe that though their station was not as it should be (because of si...

Genesis 21:7 (ESV)   And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.” Sarah seems to reveal her heart in this moment. She has finally given birth to a son for Abraham. The very thing she scoffed at has happened. God's Word has come true for her. Yet instead of extolling the Lord and giving thanks, she expresses some deep seated issues of the heart. It seemed to really bother her that other people knew she was barren and couldn't do what women were supposed to do. Now she is thinking about what they were never going to say and how they will say it now.  Sarah's faith is listed in Hebrews and demands consideration in light of the record of the Genesis account. Notice:  Hebrews 11:11 (ESV)   By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. Sarah laughed at the Lord's prophecy of a child in Genesis ...

Psalm 52:8 (ESV) But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. I love when a little digging into the Bible can yield tremendous results.  To many, the idea of being a green olive tree is not that spectacular but in Ancient Israel, this was one of the most valuable and beneficial trees to mankind. I did a quick search in Bible dictionary and it told me about this amazing tree. Consider the following facts as it relates to those who trust in the Lord in the house of God... The fruit is eaten raw and a ready source of valuable nutrients. 1/3 of the fruit is made of the valuable olive oil used for anointing and healing (see James 5:16) and lighting lamps. The trunk and limbs are used to make the finest of cabinetwork. The tree grows very slowly but it attains to a great age. It is difficult to kill the olive tree by cutting it down, new sprouts are sent up from the root... often forming a grove of two...

I love what Paul is doing in Galatians 3.  Pastorally taking his flock through the scriptures and the realities they point toward in Christ. He begins with Abraham... the covenant of faith. Then he gets to the law.  And here's where things need to be cleared up in the church - EVEN TODAY. For the law is a source of devastation or pride. I am proud when I keep it and devastated when I break it.  There is no middle ground. Churches have split because of the law.  For one person feels inevitably that their good behavior makes for a better Christian and they should tell others what to do.  And then the truth comes out and we find their secrets were worse than everyone else's. But there is another thing the law does.  The law presents a standard.  A standard for us to reach for and inevitably miss.  Isaiah Thomas said, "Everybody wants to be perfect."  And Jesus came and said, "Be perfect."  Why?  Because our inner desire to ac...