Hands Off the Hot Stove!

It was there at Marah that the Lord set before them the following decree as a standard to test their faithfulness to him.  He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.”  Exodus 15:25b-26

We have all had that moment where we heard our mothers tell us, “Don’t touch the hot stove,” right?  We touch a little bit and feel the warmth of it.  Then, we go a bit closer or maybe grab on a little longer, and the exhilaration continues to build as we keep pressing further and further until that one time where either the finger goes too far or the hand gets too close to the burning flame.  “Ouch!” We cry.  If you were like me, you probably got away with just that painful tingling sensation for the rest of the day.  Some of us had moms that would gladly call you out.  “I told you to keep your hand away from that!  I guess you learned that lesson, didn’t you?”  Oh, the utter pain of defeat.  If I had only listened more carefully to her instruction, I would not have had to shake my hand repeatedly trying to get the normal feeling back.

We are always rewarded for our submission to God, and as such, we should not be surprised that we are subject to His discipline as well.  We join our walkthrough of Moses after the soldiers of Egypt drowned in the Red Sea, and Pharaoh’s army were decimated completely.  The Israelites have entered the true beginning of their journey to The Promise Land.  So, as they reach their first stop, they were complaining about a lack of water.  This will be a recurring theme throughout the next devotions (remember the comments when they were captive and brutalized by the restrictions placed on them to build bricks without straw?).  What made this even more perplexing was the fact this occurred after the parting of the Red Sea.  There’s this part of me that wonders if God was looking down on them and simply saying, “Seriously?”  So, after He heard Moses’ prayer and made bad water good with a stick, He instructed Moses to tell the people to follow Him and nothing bad will happen to them.  Furthermore, to ensure His instructions were crystal clear He jogged their memories of all the diseases He placed on the Egyptians to help free them.  Care to touch that hot stove again?  Like a good father, God will provide us with guidance be it through His word, action, or maybe even a message through a friend.  No matter the delivery, the expectation is for us to simply follow or suffer consequences.  It sounds a bit harsh and threatening, but if we understand His intent is to protect and love us, it’s not a bad thing at all.

God is always on our side.  We may not at times understand why He instructs us in a certain way, and other times we simply lose context of all that He has done as we wander off the path.  The goal is for us not to find out the hard way through pain and discipline.  Instead, it is to grow spiritually and stay on the righteous path for as Jesus said, “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate.” (Matthew 7:13a) Let us intently listen to God’s instruction to avert potential hardship and pain.  How can God’s past discipline provide guidance to your current walk of faith?  What lessons can you take from Moses’ submittal to God?  My prayer is that we listen to God’s voice and figuratively ‘keep our hands off the hot stove.’  Amen.

Righteous Anger

Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!” Matthew 21:12-13 NLT

Is it ever right to display anger?  As I am raising my youngest child, I have found that there are typically four levels of dealing with things she has done wrong.  There is the first level where I must talk about where she went wrong, and going forward, provide guidance on the right way.  In these cases, it is not major.  Call this the ‘threw the recyclable paper in the wrong bin’ wrong.  Then there is the situation where the consequences of her mistake have more gravity, and thus, the conversation gets a bit more serious.  There may be a punishment or discipline given based on this level.  This would be the ‘carelessly broke my favorite glass’ wrong.  Next, there is the ‘you know what you should have done, and yet, you chose not to’ wrong.  This tends to be the defiant and rebellious choice that has severe consequences (ex. Coming home at 11 when curfew was 9:30).  Let’s qualify this as the ‘playing indoors and hitting the 55” HD TV’ wrong.  These all can be dealt typically with discussion and dialogue as to things done and better choices that needed to be made.   However, the last level is a dangerous one.  It’s the one with serious consequences and she is lucky to not be in far more serious danger or harm. Call it the ‘She stole a car?!?!‘ wrong.  In these cases, the response will have no two-way dialogue.  The punishment is severe regardless of the outcome, and is usually met with a reaction rarely ever scene.  I think of it as ‘The house is on fire – GET OUT’ reaction.  The intent is for my daughter to understand this is one thing that must never ever happen again.  Whether you’re a parent or been on the receiving end, one can understand another’s anger in this situation. 

This brought me to reflecting on God’s righteous anger, and how it is to help us never fall into those circumstances again.  In reading today’s verses, there are a couple of things that struck me.  The first thing was the wrongness of the people.  The people in the temple selling animals were like those false evangelicals on TV peddling a ‘prayer cloth’ guaranteed to help God hear your prayers for $20.  I know it sounds silly, but there are people who believe in these things.  Through my bible study, someone helped me reflect on another perspective, which was Jesus’ reaction. Reading His knocking things over, you can imagine this near crazed response of anger from Jesus.  When we think of anger, God’s word speaks of it as sinful as Ephesians 4:26-27 (And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 for anger gives a foothold to the devil.)  However, there are numerous times where God was angry with His people, and thus carried out His wrath when they were sinful (ex. Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19 and Lamentations 2:1).  The principle here is to understand that God hates sin in all forms.  He is loving of us, and His righteous discipline will vary from multiple warnings to one swift and decisive response.  Our goal is to always look to walk in a way that shows our love for and submittal to Him living our lives free of sin.  That is not to say we will not sin, but our walk of faith both mirrors an understanding of His authority and focuses on a life He would expect of us.

God’s love is both awe inspiring and overwhelming, and it can bring us to our knees. Like a loving parent, His anger toward us is never intended to hurt us.  It is a reminder how precious we are to Him, and we can live a life filled with His love and blessings.  It is to correct us toward living a life that is for Him, and that He alone is indeed enough for us.  Let us focus on understanding why God’s discipline is just and not questioning His judgment.  When you have sinned, are you repentant to God?  What lessons have you learned from God’s disciplining of you or others?  My prayer is that we learn to understand the love God has for us when He shows His righteous anger.  Amen.

Filling The Gap

Be good to your servant,
    that I may live and obey your word.
Open my eyes to see
    the wonderful truths in your instructions.
I am only a foreigner in the land.
    Don’t hide your commands from me!
I am always overwhelmed
    with a desire for your regulations. Psalms 119: 17-20

One of the first things I tried to do when I became born again was give up something for lent. The funny thing was I was never successful.  I would slip up somewhere along the line, and eat the chocolate cake, or I would have that night out where the cheesecake looked too good.  Eventually, I would give in.  Then one year, I put it all together and found success!  There was so much joy in my heart that I enjoyed cheesecake that year much more!  In retrospect, each passing year where I failed, I also learned something from my failures.  I realized to avoid certain places, or had greater will power to never ‘give up.’  I was overwhelmed with a desire to make it.  The whole thing reminded me about reading a section of a book that talked about ‘failure.’  It noted that we look at failure as something to avoid.  However, many people view failure as an opportunity.  Their failure was not because they did not plan well or perform at their best.  It was because they were missing something, and thus, their quest was to look at the gap between what they wished to accomplish and where they ended up.  They had lofty expectations where they learned a great deal about themselves striving to become something they would not ordinarily grow to become.  It was the gap that became the key to their finding greater energy and ambition to make the final changes and adjustments to achieve their goal.

This is what spiritual growth with God sounds like.  We see the perfection of His son Jesus Christ, and we try so hard to meet that lofty expectation, but we often fall short.  We should see our failures as opportunities to learn about God’s plan and grow from it. In reading David’s 119^th Psalm, I was struck by his passion to truly learn about God’s purpose for his life.  I noted that he prayed to live and obey His word.  The key word here was ‘may.’  This was an acknowledgement that he studied and focus on God, but he was not always perfect.  He hoped that he was following God’s word.  Additionally, he was overwhelmed with desire to learn more.  Thus, he further understood the ‘gap’ between where he was and where God wanted him.

This is incredibly powerful for us when we are focusing on our own spiritual growth. We will fail.  We will not always hit the mark.  However, we must not be deterred by the loftiness of our goals to become followers that Jesus Himself would be proud of.  Thus, we must look at Christ’s example and see where the ‘gaps’ are.  Then continue to adjust and make changes that will make us more in His likeness.  This can be both scary and challenging.  However, as Hebrews 12:2 says, “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.”

God is very intentional in His pursuit of us. He sets the stage and moves things so that we know of His presence, and He provides protection, comfort, inspiration, and of course love to solidify that relationship.  Is it no wonder that we should be “overwhelmed with a desire” to know more of Him.  That is what a true growing and loving relationship is like.  Famous football coach Vince Lombardi said to his team once, “Gentlemen, we are going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we will not catch it, because nothing is perfect. But we are going to relentlessly chase it, because in the process we will catch excellence.”  This is exactly what being a Christ follower is all about.  Let us ‘chase’ Christ in such a way that truly honors Him.  Where is your obsession to learn more of God’s word?  How will to continually raise the bar to be more like Jesus?  My prayer is that we are honest with ourselves and are overwhelmed with desire to fill the gap between our ways and God’s.  Amen.

Thursday Devotional - Peas and Peter

My Mom has a plaque in her kitchen that says “You have 2 choices for dinner – take it or leave it.” However, as a kid, if I “left it,” I got it for breakfast the next morning. I remember eating peas for breakfast more than once! My parents knew best. They knew I needed to eat fruits and vegetables instead of the chips and cookies I preferred. They helped me learn discipline to do the best thing even when it’s the hard thing. They also helped me learn the value of submitting to authority even when I didn’t understand or didn’t see the long-term implications.

Jesus did the same for Peter. Last week we talked about Jesus’ personal selfless surrender. He voluntarily submitted to God’s plans even in the face of terrifying opposition. This week, we will see how Jesus encouraged His disciples, especially Peter, to do the same.

John 18:10-11         ¹⁰ Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) ¹¹ Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”

God expects submission, even in the face of opposition. Like Peter, we may not understand or see the long-term implications, but we can trust God knows what He’s doing.


What unavoidable trial, hardship or difficulty are you and I trying to overcome or fight in our own strength? How is it going? What if we embraced the unavoidable difficulty for God’s glory? We can trust God knows best, submit to His authority and then look for His results. 

Alice

Split Decisions

 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.  But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.  Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.  Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.  James 1:5-8

As much as I love the Lord and follow Him, there are times that I struggle with the latter.  It is not because I do not want to follow God.  Instead, I feel torn between the love I have for my fellow man and the love I have for God.  It explains why I really struggle with condemnation.  Sure, we all must be accountable for our sins and grow to be better advocates for God.  But there are people who I love dearly, and God has said that they are living in sin.  That’s a tough pill to swallow!  Thus, my world feels like it is unstable.  These are the times I realize my spiritual growth is a continual work in progress.

The word of God is meant to be a spiritual guide.  We all have situations where we are either unsure of what to do or how to respond on a spiritual matter.  The words of James thus seem to be words of condemnation for those in that divided world.  In fact, lots of the Book of James seems like it (ex. Faith is dead without good works – James 2:26b).  However, these are words of guidance and clarity.  If we look at these verses through that lens, one receives God’s wisdom in reading it, and thus is not in the ‘should not expect to receive anything from the Lord’ camp.  The words are welcome to the troubled and torn because they give direction.  We must look at the word of God, and pray that we find guidance in it and have both the courage and conviction to follow it.

Following God is not meant to be easy as Jesus said, “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way.” (Matthew 7:13)  But do not be discouraged by your past and current struggles for after telling Peter he would deny Him, Jesus said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.  There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:1-2)  It is ok to struggle with things God says to us.  The key is to keep walking toward Him.  Never give up.  Never lose faith.  What is your struggle with God today?  How will you continue to rely on God when split between God and the world?  My prayer is that we continually challenge ourselves to rely on God when facing split decisions.  Amen.

Understanding Discipline

Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.  Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.  Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.  Deuteronomy 8:2-5

The topic of corporal punishment has come up over the past week.  Many have questioned whether it is child abuse or not.  My belief is that it is necessary in certain situations.  No, I do not endorse any type of punishment that either injures or causes physical harm of children.  However as a parent who as a child saw other children that lacked responsibility and control when those forms of discipline were not in the household, one could understand why my view is what it is.  No matter which side your view on the topic might be, we all agree that in rearing children, discipline, corporal or not, is an absolute necessity.

This brings me to discuss how God disciplines us.  Just as we remember the discipline we were given by our parents to aid in our growth to becoming more responsible, God disciplines us for our spiritual growth.  There are numerous times I suffered at the hand of God’s discipline.  Poor choices led to feelings of emptiness or dealings with the consequences of those choices.  Often we live in the moment where we question God’s goodness when things are not going are way.  However, God always is faithful showing us love and protection not just in the moment but forever and always!  It is with this knowledge that Moses spoke to the Israelites as they were well into their long journey to the Promise Land.  We should embrace the Lord’s discipline the same way as Moses did; with understanding and appreciation that God loves us and does things on our behalf.

Discipline is hard.  No one wants to feel the stinging pain and heartfelt disappointment that comes with it.  However, true spiritual growth cannot happen without it.  While we should never look forward to it, we should be grateful that God loves us enough to deliver it and feel good knowing that both our faith in and relationship with God will be strengthened by the experience.  How can you be more accepting of the Lord’s discipline?  What spiritual growth can you recognize from past discipline?  My prayer is that we take the Lord’s discipline with clear knowledge of its necessity for our own spiritual growth.  Amen.