365 Reflections

Jeroboam will become the leader of the 10 tribes of Israel and an instrument of God's judgment upon Solomon for his wandering ways late in life. The promise made to Jeroboam sounds very similar to the promise God made to Solomon at the beginning of his call to the kingship. 1 Kings 11:37–40 (ESV) And I will take you, and you shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel. 38 And if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did, I will be with you and will build you a sure house, as I built for David, and I will give Israel to you. 39 And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever.’ ” 40 Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled into Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon. What's interesting here is that the Lord is promising g...

Judges 9 does not paint a happy picture of the nation. You have the lone step-brother of Gideon's children (Abimelech) slaughter his 70 half-brothers on one stone. You have an uprising against that same man by the very people he appealed to for power. You have one massacre after another until a chance milestone throw takes out Abimelech once and for all. It's a sad chapter without mention of the Covenant name of the Lord. In fact, the only time God is mentioned is at the beginning of the insurrection against Abimelech and at the end of the matter to summarize His purposes: Judges 9:23 (ESV)   And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, Judges 9:56–57 (ESV) 56 Thus God returned the evil of Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers. 57 And God also made all the evil of the men of Shechem return on their heads, and upon them came the cu...

Exodus 9:13–17 (ESV)   Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord , the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 14 For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. 15 For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. 16 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. 17 You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go. We are all serving God. It's just a matter of how so. This passage makes it abundantly clear there is no one in the story of God's deliverance of Israel that isn't part of the Sovereign plan of the Almighty.  God says to Moses, "Rise up early ...

I know this sounds harsh, but God doesn't need us. We like to romanticize the Christian faith. We like to believe that God just wanted on big ole family and so He came to the idea to create us and form us... But we had to go and blow it and so God came and dealt with it. Why? Because He didn't want anything taking us away from Him. He's just that enamored with humanity. To say such things is completely wrong. God created us because God creates. He saves us because He saves. He redeems because He redeems. He does this because of Who He is, not because of who we are! If you don't believe me, look at what He told His people several times: Deuteronomy 7:7–8 (NLT) “The LORD did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! 8 Rather, it was simply that the LORD loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the LORD rescued you with such a strong h...

Psalm 8 is a well known Psalm for it's first verse which is echoed in the final verse: Psalm 8:1 (ESV) O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Then again: Psalm 8:9 (ESV) O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! At first sight, the Psalmist then proceeds to make a big deal out of man. His place in the world, the abilities granted to him and the glory he has placed upon him. But the more you read the Psalm it becomes clear, this is not an exaltation of man, it's an exaltation of God. Caught in the wonder of the universe God has created, mankind is simply a sheep-herding gardener (see verses 6-7). Compared to the universe, mankind is silly and small. Yet, by God's design we are right where He placed us and wants us. Psalm 8 is a reality check. The Universe is much more majestic than we realize. In fact it is so majestic, it shrinks us properly down to size. To think these words co...

For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. (1 Peter 2:15-17 ESV) We represent God to those who do not know Him.  It is vitally important that we take this responsibility seriously.  We know this because Peter puts this concept right up there with the "will of God" language that gets our attention. And how do we do this? By being subject "for the Lord's sake" to the authorities of our world.  Today in America, this is easy to hear, for first century persecuted Christians, it must have seemed impossible.  But yet it was the example set by Christ and commanded in the Sermon on the Mount. But they were to see all authority as God's servants.  God is sovereign over all.  He has put in place what He has determ...

One of my common worries as a church leader is what happens to people when the wrong person gets in there here. Will they be deceived? Will they fall away? Will they be loaded up with things that are unnecessary and make them bear a burden that will pressure them to  shipwreck their faith? Paul the apostle had the same concern and pass that concern onto Timothy.  (2 Timothy 2:16-18)  But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.  He saw the faith of some being upset by the bad teaching of two people that he knew by name. He worried about it. But he didn't worry too much for look at what he says next: Verse 19: But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: "The Lord knows those who are his," and, "Let everyone who names...