365 Reflections

Of all the people you would think could have resisted the temptation to forfeit his place in the world in exchange for sinful, cheap and costly decisions, Solomon would be at the top of that list. Solomon BUILT the temple and prayed one of Israel's most famous prayers over it. He sacrifices 10s of thousands of animals to the Lord. He covered everything used in the Temple with gold. He was filled with heavenly wisdom. But STILL, he fell into sin. But he falls tragically and demonstrably into the hook of sin in 1 Kings 11. The lesson for us is simple: anyone, no matter their education, wisdom, insight or spirituality can get seduced and suckered by sin. As the old puritan writer put it: Be killing sin or sin will be killing you. Solomon's sin will cost him dearly and this chapter outlines important truths for Solomon and us concerning our place is God's plan. 1 Kings 11:14–17 (ESV) And the LORD raised up an adversary against Solomon, Hadad the Edomite. He was of the ro...

David put a lot of men to death during his life. He killed Goliath, he raided the land of Israel constantly. He seemed to be surrounded by blood. But there's one death we kind of skim over in reading the Bible that we should pause to take notice of. At the end of 1 Samuel David has raided the Amalekites and won back his property and wives and those of his men. At the same time, the Philistines overcome Saul and he attempts suicide. Evidently, he failed. We pick up the report from the young man who was there: 2 Samuel 1:6–10 (ESV)  And the young man who told him (David) said, “By chance I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul leaning on his spear, and behold, the chariots and the horsemen were close upon him. 7 And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called to me. And I answered, ‘Here I am.’ 8 And he said to me, ‘Who are you?’ I answered him, ‘I am an Amalekite.’ 9 And he said to me, ‘Stand beside me and kill me, for anguish has seized me, and yet my life still...

By Judges 14 we see that Samson is surrounded by Philistines. He goes in and out among them peacefully and comfortably. The details of these chapters is meant to give us a picture of just how accustomed to the nations around them Israel had become. In fact, the comfortability with the pagan nation is such that Israel will intermarry and even celebrate together with the Israelites as it happens. When he found a pretty girl among them the text tells us they gave him 30 companions . Judges 14:10–11 (ESV)  His father went down to the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, for so the young men used to do. 11 As soon as the people saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him. YET Judges 15 makes it clear that Israel is in fact being RULED by the Philistines. Judges 15:11 (ESV) Then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, “Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us ? What then is this that you have done to us?...

Numbers 32:1–5 (ESV) Now the people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very great number of livestock. And they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for livestock. 2 So the people of Gad and the people of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the chiefs of the congregation, 3 “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, 4 the land that the Lord struck down before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” 5 And they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan.” The slaves of Egypt have come a long way. They are no longer poverty stricken. They have experienced a few sizable victories over powerful peoples. They have seen God's blessings for obedience. Now they face a different temptation altogether. The temptation to stand pat where they a...

Genesis 38:1 (ESV) It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and turned aside to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. Genesis 38 is the chapter that appears to be out of place. We just started to get into the story of Joseph. He's on the way to Egypt and our minds are thinking about what may happen to him. Suddenly, we are encountered with this long narrative of sexual dalliance in Judah. Judah goes to the Canaanites and intermarries. He has children, two of which died, and after his wife passes, he ends up sleeping with his son's daughter because she thought she was a cult prostitute. The reality was she positioned herself perfectly to bait him into this action and then turned the tables on his hypocrisy when he found out she was pregnant. Meanwhile, as Judah is the slave of his own desires and deceit, Joseph's life will take the opposite track in the next chapter. Potiphar's wife will pursue Joseph and he will reject her citing such...

Do you ever pray for protection... from yourself? David did. Psalm 141:1–4 (ESV) O Lord , I call upon you; hasten to me! Give ear to my voice when I call to you! 2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice! 3 Set a guard, O Lord , over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips! 4 Do not let my heart incline to any evil , to busy myself with wicked deeds in company with men who work iniquity, and let me not eat of their delicacies! David knew the human heart was deceitful and desperately wicked. He knew his own mouth could be his downfall. He knew that sin seemed good at first (calling it delicacies)... but in the end lead to death.  And because David knew this about himself, he prayed against the danger that he posed. We do well to do the same. The Lord instructs us to pray, "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one." We need to pray this prayer more than we do.  Ja...

Psalm 119:33–37 (ESV) Teach me, O Lord , the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end. 34 Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart. 35 Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. 36 Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain! 37 Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways. We are fallen. I think that is an understatement. We often do not realize how fallen we are. And the call to obey God is not just to do what's right, but to think it, and feel it, and do what's right right with the right motivation at the right time. That's a tall order. But it makes us realize just how fallen we are. It's good to admit your fallen. Otherwise, how will you ever get help? The Psalmist here has no problem telling God he needs help to obey the Word. He has already made it clear he loves God's Word. Now he's confessing that he lacks he means n...

Psalm 91 is a wonderful promise of protection. Psalm 91:1–4 (ESV)   He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say to the Lord , “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” 3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. This Psalm also shows up on the lips of satan himself in the wilderness as he's tempting Jesus. He quotes the 11th and 12th verses: Psalm 91:11–12 (ESV) For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. 12 On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. But I never saw this before: Satan left a key part of those verses out in his temptation: Matthew 4:6 (ESV)   and (the devil) said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down...

The common saying, "God will never give you more than you can handle." Paul says that's just wrong . 2 Corinthians 1:8–9 (ESV) For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death... Paul, the powerful and mightily used Apostle of Jesus Christ. The one the Holy Spirit inspired to write almost half of the New Testament. The Apostle that brought the Gospel to the utter reaches of the world said, "We were in a place that was BEYOND OUR STRENGTH." "Beyond our strength." That sounds like more than he could handle. The thing about "Christian lingo" is that it often conflicts with scripture. It sounds good and helpful, but its not accurate and can do a lot of damage. Before you throw out that next "Christianese comfort phrase" to someone in a d...

Mark is known as the Gospel of Action.  He cuts to the chase and gives us the fact.  Mark 1:11 (ESV) And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” What a beautiful moment for Jesus.  The Father bragging on Him.  The Spirit descending on Him for empowerment.  The people witnessing this momentous occasion of edification and glorification. Then the very next verse: Mark 1:12 (ESV) The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness . I learned from my Seminary professor, this word, " drove " in the Greek can be translated " thrown " - it's a forceful driving, not a light or incidental push.  The Spirit descends on Jesus and immediately drives Him into the uncomfortable region of the wild.   Mark describess it further: Mark 1:13 (ESV) And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him. Jesus is pre...