Divorcing the Promise Keeper’s Love (7/30/26)

If a kid has disobeyed, they usually avoid eye contact, especially after being confronted. They may feel unloved in the moment, but really, they pushed themselves away.

In the previous passage, Malachi confronted intermarriage. Not only were the Israelites marrying foreign idol worshipers, but it appears they did so after divorcing their Israelite wives! Then, they wondered why God seemed distant and displeased with them.

Malachi 2:13-16 ¹³ Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. ¹⁴ You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.

¹⁵ Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.

¹⁶ “The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,” says the Lord Almighty.

So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.

Not only did the Israelites divorce their wives, but they divorced themselves from God’s love. He created them and loved them. They belonged to Him, but they were unfaithful to Him. They disobeyed His commands about marriage, and it negatively affected their wives, their offspring, the rest of their community, themselves, and their relationship with God.

When have you and I separated ourselves from God’s love by disobeying one of His commands – whether it was related to marriage, sexual purity, honesty, hospitality, or treatment of others? What was the result? The usual result is distance from God – or at least a perceived distance. We may think He stepped away, but we pushed Him away.  

On the flip side, when we know and lovingly obey God’s commands, then we will experience closeness. We will please Him and protect those around us. He is never far away, but we will recognize and feel His presence and love when we walk in step with Him.

Alice 

Thursday Devotional - Jesus is Truth – Giving Perfect Love Gift (2/15/24)

 

I didn’t realize when I took this picture that it looked like a heart! The kids spent hours one snow day last year building a huge igloo! I thought it was an appropriate Valentine picture.

With Valentine’s Day yesterday, what’s the best love gift you’ve ever received?

 

I think the Holy Spirit is the best love gift we could ever receive here on earth! He’s permanent, never wears out, never stops working, can’t be stolen, can’t be damaged, is always in perfect condition, is always ready and has full power!

 

John 14:15-21         ¹⁵ “If you love me, keep my commands. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹ Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰ On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ²¹ Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

 

Jesus commands us to love him and keep his commands. He also gives us the means to do that through the gift of the Holy Spirit! The indwelling Holy Spirit enables believers to lovingly obey.

What is your and my relationship with the Holy Spirit? Does He live within you? What evidence is there that the Holy Spirit lives in you and me?

Thursday Devotional - God is With Us to Produce Fruit 3/10/22

Are you quick to say “yes” or quick to say “no?” How about when it comes to doing God’s work? 

Matthew 21:28-31 & 43   ²⁸ “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’

²⁹ “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

³⁰ “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.

³¹ “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”

“The first,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you…

⁴³ “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.

We can’t produce fruit in our own strength by trying harder. We can submit to God and willingly let Him change us and work through us to produce fruit (to do the good works He has planned for us).

The Pharisees appeared to follow God, but it was all in their own way and strength. The tax collectors and prostitutes humbly followed and surrendered to Jesus and then He enabled them to influence others for His kingdom in mighty ways!

Let’s be quick to say “yes” to Jesus’s work and obediently follow through with what He asks of us. He will be with us each step of the way!   

Alice

Thursday Devotional - How Persuasive are You?

I wouldn’t consider myself a very persuasive person. I do not like to sell anything. In fact, I remember being terrified to go door-to-door to sell Christmas ornaments for a school fundraiser in fourth grade! It was not a fond memory!!! I’m not in Sales for a reason!!!

When it comes to sharing the gospel and truth about God, we don’t need to focus on being persuasive. We certainly want to get our facts straight, but sharing the truth from our heart and from our personal experience is where we can focus. We aren’t responsible for the other person’s response, but for our obedience to share the truth.

The last few weeks we’ve seen Paul share the truth and his personal experience over and over. It angered some. Festus called him insane, but that didn’t stop him!

Acts 26:25-29           ²⁵ “I am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable. ²⁶ The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.”

²⁸ Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”

²⁹ Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”

Paul wasn’t focused on being persuasive (although, I’m guessing he was a very persuasive person). He focused on obediently sharing the truth out of love for the listener, no matter what the response.

With whom do you and I need to lovingly share the truths of God, without worry about their response? The Holy Spirit convicts. We aren’t responsible for persuading.

Alice

Lessons Learned

When the people heard these stern words, they went into mourning and stopped wearing their jewelry and fine clothes.  For the Lord had told Moses to tell them, “You are a stubborn and rebellious people. If I were to travel with you for even a moment, I would destroy you. Remove your jewelry and fine clothes while I decide what to do with you.”  So from the time they left Mount Sinai, the Israelites wore no more jewelry or fine clothes.  Exodus 33:4-6

The worst grounding I ever got was in the Summer of 1981.  It was the end of my Sophomore year in high school, and I was so looking forward to the many things me and my friends were going to do.  Bike rides, basketball in the backyard, and talking with girls were all on the agenda.  So, I came into this time in my life with a pretty big chip on my shoulder.  So much so that I thought I could talk to an adult like I was their equal when they asked me to take out the garbage.  “Why don’t you take out the garbage,” I said to my mom’s friend.  Big mistake!  My mother would make sure I learned a lesson from that.  She grounded me during that summer … for a month!!!  The only joy I would have would be my birthday and listening to Detroit Tigers baseball on the radio in my room.  A couple of things came out of that.  First, I grew to love a Hall of Fame broadcaster named Ernie Harwell as he was my only friend that talked to me most of that summer.  Second, I never was disrespectful to an adult again.  It’s a lesson I never forgot.  It’s a wonder that people used to compliment my mom. “Your son is so kind and courteous,” they would say.  If they only knew 😊

In our relationships with God, it is often at our lowest point that we show our greatest understanding of who He is.  Today, we are into the moment after Moses had punished the people for sinning against God.  The punishment was that those Israelites who stood with God had to kill those that chose not to.  This included relatives and neighbors; three thousand in all.  You want to talk about making tough choices?  It had to be incredibly painful to do what was asked of them.  Being honest, I guess listening to Ernie Harwell was pretty light in comparison to this, but I digress.  So, in the aftermath they stopped wearing jewelry and fine clothes because God told Moses to tell them.  No hesitation.  No deviations from the plan.  As stated, “they went into mourning and stopped wearing their jewelry and fine clothes.”  That was a pretty dramatic shift from previously where in Exodus 32:6 it spoke of their worship of the golden calf noting, “The people got up early the next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.”  Thus, the rather subdued Israelites now disdained anything that harkened to that dark moment.  Giving up jewelry and fine clothes was a reminder to never go back to that life again.  The many things God had done to earn give them freedom was not yet enough for them to be obedient.  But following a false God and having to slaughter their brethren clearly had the desired impact that they would not veer against God again.  It was this low point that drove them to be a people truly intent on following God and His laws.  I once wrote that God had to drive me down to my knees where I would say to Him, “God, I have no place else to go but to you,” and then He made a way for me.  We can always sing praise on God when things are going well and everything is in order.  But it is when things are bad and our character is broken down where we truly find God, and it is there we both submit to His will and follow Him.

God wants us to grow in our relationship with Him.  More times that not, it is with love, grace, and appreciation.  But sometimes, we must endure some hard times to truly see His glory.  Tom Hanks’s character in the movie ‘A League of Their Own’ summarizes dealing with difficult times in a great way.  When questioned about the difficulties in the game of baseball, he said, “It’s supposed to be hard.  If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it.  The hard … is what makes it great.”  Let us remember the hard times where God showed His light brightest in our lives.  What do you remember about your relationship with God in your most trying times?  How can that inspire you to a closer relationship with Him?  My prayer is that we are humbled by God’s grace in those lessons learned.  Amen.

Relationship Over Ritual

Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts; the incense of your offerings disgusts me! As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath and your special days for fasting— they are all sinful and false. I want no more of your pious meetings.  Isaiah 1:13

My daughter came to me the other day, and said, “Dad, you know I love you.”  You would think that after 13 years, she would know that I’m keenly aware something else comes after that.  However, with each passing year she gets a little more adept at saying it.  It’s gotten to the point that to the outsider, they would say, “Awe!  That is so adorable!  You have an amazing daughter!”  To be honest, she is just that; an amazing and growing young lady.  I’m still trying to figure out how I ended up with all the strong-willed black women in my life (mom, wife, both daughters).  But of course, as the verse that prefaces this devotion would suggest it is not the point of this story.  She really loves me, and I know this.  However, the pressing need for this one is to try to get her friend to spend the night.  “I don’t know, Mya,” I reply.  Immediately, she subtly says, “Ok,” as she senses weakness for a flat out ‘No’ means she has to plea much harder.  This time, I let her have her way because despite the fighting and various tete-a-tete’s we have had, she has learned to reign in her emotions a bit more.  It’s the obedience to authority as much as her love that I want her to have, and while ever slowly, she is surely starting to get the hang of it.

God places a high value on obedience to Him.  In the book of Isaiah, there was lots of prophesying of Christ to come and save us.  However outside of that, it was a pretty bleak and dark time as God was using Isaiah to speak of His utter disappointment with the people of Israel.  He was so disappointed that He compared them to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah (see Isaiah 1:10).  In case you are not as familiar with those places, they were the places God burned to ashes because of their disobedience.  Not the two places you want to be parallel to, right?  In the verse today, God was seemingly throwing His hands in the air saying the Israelites’ offerings were not good enough.  But again, the replay referee comes, and says, “After further review,” it’s not the gifts, celebrations, or days of fasting that bothered Him.  It is the actions done without true love and devotion toward Him!  It is exactly like my daughter saying, ‘I love you’ only when she wants something.  God shouldn’t be ‘God’ when we are desperate for His help or desire something.  It is not that we should not pray for those things.  What the verse today says is that we are to love and be obedient to Him regardless of His provisions.  It is then that He is responsive.  He is then not only gracious but also abundant in His blessings.

Loving God and His authority must come first and foremost for that is key to the kingdom.  With love of Him comes following His word, allowing Him to use us for His purpose, and a higher love for others than we could find on our own.  These are easy things to know, but without guidance and consistent practices to stay faithfully obedient, we could easily end up as the Israelites when Isaiah spoke to them.  Let us make a commitment to focus on having an authentic, loving, and selfless relationship with the one true living God.  Where are you falling lax in your spiritual growth?  What disciplines can you put in place to avoid going through the motions in your walk of faith?  My prayer is that we focus on the relationship over rituals.  Amen.

Thursday Devotional - God's Help Over Consequences

Last week we saw how Joshua upheld his oath, even though the Gibeonites deceived him into making a peace treaty. However, what do you think happens when the Gibeonites are attacked by the Amorites and ask Joshua for help?

Joshua 10:6-11        ⁶ The Gibeonites then sent word to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal: “Do not abandon your servants. Come up to us quickly and save us! Help us, because all the Amorite kings from the hill country have joined forces against us.”

⁷ So Joshua marched up from Gilgal with his entire army, including all the best fighting men. ⁸ The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.”

⁹ After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise. ¹⁰ The Lord threw them into confusion before Israel, so Joshua and the Israelites defeated them completely at Gibeon. Israel pursued them along the road going up to Beth Horon and cut them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah. ¹¹ As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the Lord hurled large hailstones down on them, and more of them died from the hail than were killed by the swords of the Israelites.

Not only does Joshua willingly help the Gibeonites, but God confirms Joshua is to help them and then God does most of the work!!! If I was Joshua, I might have told the Gibeonites that they were on their own. I might have thought God was bringing judgment on them for their deception. I would uphold my oath of a peace treaty, but nothing extra.

God clearly helped Joshua and the Israelites not only uphold their oath, but love their neighbor (without holding a grudge) by sacrificially helping them in crisis. Even though Joshua and the Israelites had made a big mistake in making a treaty with the Gibeonites, they obediently did the next right thing and the next right thing. God rewarded their steps of obedience despite their previous disobedience. 

God can do the same for us today. Even after making a big mistake, God wants to help us make the next right move. God is willing to help us in a mighty way, just like He did for Joshua! Where will you and I seek His help to make the next right step?   

Alice

Thursday Devotional - The Entire Bible

Have you ever read the entire Bible? Maybe you have, but it’s been a while since you read through the entire Bible. I’ve been part of in-depth Bible studies for years, but it’s been a while since I’ve read certain parts of the Bible. Recently, as I was studying II Samuel, I felt God challenge me to re-read the Bible start to finish in a short amount of time. God re-iterated that challenge through re-reading Joshua and reading some articles on the Biblical illiteracy of professing Christians.

As we saw the last few weeks with Joshua and the Israelites, knowing and remembering God’s commands is vital. With the defeat at Ai (after Jericho) and Achan’s disobedience, Joshua stops to re-read and re-write God’s commands to Moses.

Joshua 8:30-32, 34-35      ³⁰ Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, ³¹ as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses—an altar of uncut stones, on which no iron tool had been used. On it they offered to the Lord burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings. ³² There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua wrote on stones a copy of the law of Moses…  ³⁴ Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law—the blessings and the curses—just as it is written in the Book of the Law. ³⁵ There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read to the whole assembly of Israel, including the women and children, and the foreigners who lived among them.

If you haven’t ever read the entire Bible, I challenge you to consider listening to it to and from work. It will only take about half a year if you average a 20-minute commute. Or, there are great One Year Bibles (mine has an O.T./N.T./Psalm/Proverb each day).

We can’t truly love, honor and obey God without knowing Him and His Word!

Alice

Thursday Devotional - If He'd Only Waited

Have you ever told a child (or yourself) “If you’d only waited…”?

I know I have many times!

God specifically told Joshua and the Israelites not to take any plunder from Jericho when He delivered it into their hands. As we saw last week, Achan disobeyed and took things anyway. He brought destruction on himself, his whole family and other Israelites. If he had only waited, God told Joshua they could take plunder from the next battle!!

Joshua 8:1-3, 27-28            Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Take the whole army with you, and go up and attack Ai. For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land. ² You shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, except that you may carry off their plunder and livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city.”

³ So Joshua and the whole army moved out to attack Ai. He chose thirty thousand of his best fighting men and sent them out at night… 

²⁷ But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the Lord had instructed Joshua. ²⁸ So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day. 

Where do you and I need to be obedient and wait? Maybe there is something we really want and haven’t gotten yet. I can’t say for sure we will get what we want by waiting, but I can say for sure that if we disobediently go after something it won’t end well. Going ahead of God’s plans and His timing never works. It may bring temporary happiness (a few days for Achan) but not lasting joy.

Let’s remember Achan the next time you and I want to make something happen or have something now. God knows best. We can ask for His help to wait. We can seek His plans and timing.

Alice

Understanding The Process

So now that you know God (or should I say, now that God knows you), why do you want to go back again and become slaves once more to the weak and useless spiritual principles of this world?  You are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years.  I fear for you. Perhaps all my hard work with you was for nothing.  Dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to live as I do in freedom from these things, for I have become like you Gentiles—free from those laws.  Galatians 4:9-12a

When I was a child in elementary school, I learned how to do algebra quickly.  In fact, I got so good at it that I would do it in my head.  That carried me all the way to freshman year in high school, where I started to struggle.  The thing was I could figure in my head the answer because it became second nature to me.  However, I was not able to understand why that was the correct answer.  I had to learn the process that went with it.  Thus, I was slower than my peers that year.  However, once I understood the process, I was doing college level math by my senior year.  This very much reminded me of my journey with God.  When I was saved, I became His child, but I did not jump from ‘saved’ to Heaven.  I needed to understand why He valued me and to serve Him out of love and not obligation.  We know Heaven is the final destination and ‘answer to our math question,’ but we still must go through the process of learning His purpose for our lives here in this world.

We must focus on process of growing through Christ.  Many accept the gift of grace failing to go further to understand who He is.  They carry on just knowing that He saved them, but focus on doing things as an obligation toward salvation.  In those cases, we fail in our relationship with Christ because we do not deepen it or to Paul’s point, “earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years.”  Others focus on feeling emotionally connected with God without building enough substance Biblically.  They experience little change in their life, and thus, they eventually fall toward spiritual stagnation, which eventually diminishes the emotional connection altogether.  However, a true life changing spirit filled journey is not only action-oriented but also creates a transformative change of heart.  Paul was bringing this awareness to the Galatians.  He encouraged them to live a life free from the bondage of obligations and to replace it with one of love for God.  If we love God, we surrender ourselves to Him, but it is not surrendering to bondage.  Instead, it is freedom from the bondage of sin, guilt, disappointment, sorrow, and any other inhibitor of joy you can think of.  We become selfless driven to act on His behalf and love others as He loves us.

To know God is simply not enough.  We must be willing to invest our time and energy into growing that relationship.  Paul’s fear was clear in today’s verses.  We should not settle for a life continuing as is and just accepting grace, and we should not do what God says just because it is written.  Let us live free focusing on learning more about who God is and letting our love for Him drive us toward obedience.  What steps in your journey might you have ‘skipped’ past?  How will you continue to build on your foundation of Christ to forge a deeper relationship with Him?  My prayer is that we embrace our journey of faith looking to understand the process.  Amen.

Thursday Devotional - Love and Laws

Romans 3:19-24            “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”    Romans 3:19-24

God’s laws in the Bible point out our sin in light of His righteousness. If we have faith in Jesus Christ and have accepted God’s free gift of salvation, we will desire to show our love to Him through obeying His laws. 

I frequently tell James and Sarah that they show love for God and for me, when they listen and obey the first time. James is quick to verbally say he loves us and he gives hugs generously which shows he loves us. He’s working on the immediate obedience part! J If we’re honest, we all struggle with immediate obedience.

Knowing God’s laws are necessary so we can obey immediately and identify and avoid sin.

How well do you and I know God’s laws?

If we were to ask God, what would He say about our knowledge of His laws? 

What sins in your life and my life have recently come to light and how are you and I obediently addressing those sins?  

Alice

Politically Correct

Then Saul confessed, “I have sinned. Come back home, my son, and I will no longer try to harm you, for you valued my life today. I have been a fool and very, very wrong.”

“Here is your spear, O king,” David replied. “Let one of your young men come over and get it.  The Lord gives his own reward for doing good and for being loyal, and I refused to kill you even when the Lord placed you in my power, for you are the Lord’s anointed one. Now may the Lord value my life, even as I have valued yours today. May he rescue me from all my troubles.” 1 Samuel 26:21-24

There has been a great deal of political discourse in the United States this year.  If you have not paid attention, conversations have been incredibly tense and unfortunately at times violent.  It worries me that there is such passionate disagreement for I fear we have not learned as Martin Luther King once said, “I think we have got to learn to disagree without being violently disagreeable.”  It begs the greater question, “What do I do when I have such strong words or feelings toward someone I have strong disagreement toward?” How do we as Christians hold ourselves to obeying God’s word without crossing the line of being disrespectful or indifferent to others of opposing views?

God asks us to love others even as He expects us to follow Him.  I was given the words of David in my own personal dealings with political discourse.  The end of 1^st Samuel gives great insight as how one should respond to those who oppose us.  In the relationship between King Saul and David, Saul had attempted not once but twice to kill David, and was jealous of David’s growing success.  David knew this, but when given the opportunity to be rid of Saul once and for all David, in the 24^th verse, still showed humility, compassion, and love for him and obedience and honor to God.  He asked God to value his own life as he valued Saul’s. This parallels to the teaching of Jesus when speaking of the greatest commandment saying “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind,” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37b, 39b)  When faced with discourse, we must not only remember to obey what God asks of us but also love on others while doing so.  In fact, you cannot do one without the other!

Through all the rhetoric and concerns we may have in the world, we must always remember that God is always in control.  Whether we worry about how truly sane one candidate might be or question the integrity of another, our answer is to respond not with anger and disdain.  Instead like David, it is to choose one based on what God would ask of us, and then love and pray for the other.  After all as said in Romans 3:23, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”  How will you respond to those who do not agree with you even if your view is foundationally God centered?  What can you do to be more loving and prayerful of those who do not share your faith/values/political views?  My prayer is that we value others views while following God to be truly ‘politically correct.’  Amen.

Thurs Devo: What's Success?

How do you define success? Who’s standard do you use? Your bosses, your peers, your family and friends, or your own? It’s so hard not to view success by the standards of others.

What about when it comes to sharing the truths of God with others? Do you and I gauge our effectiveness or success by the response of others? I think I often do. After a conversation, I will try and think of what I failed to say or mention that might have helped the other person respond differently. It’s not bad to self evaluate so that I can learn from my experiences, but God’s the ultimate judge of success. He doesn’t rate success by the responses we get or the outcome, but by our obedience to Him.

Look at the example of the two witnesses that will prophesy at the end of time:

Revelation 11:3-7     ³ And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” ⁴ They are “the two olive trees” and the two lampstands, and “they stand before the Lord of the earth.” ⁵ If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. ⁶ They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.

⁷ Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them.

Death doesn’t seem like a result of success but of failure! The witnesses certainly won’t convince the beast or many of earth’s inhabitants to turn to God. Even with all the power God gives them, people will choose not to believe. Their success in God’s eyes isn’t measured by the response of others, but by their faithfulness to speak the truth. They “finished their testimony” as verse 7 says and completed the job God gave them to do.

Do you and I feel like failures when it comes to influencing others for Christ? How can you and I remember that obedience is success and not the response to our obedience (or outcome), just like with the two witnesses?

Alice

Always There

Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.”

But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?”

God answered, “I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.” Exodus 3:10-12

It seems maintaining faithfulness in tough times has become a theme for the New Year as I have been inundated with stories of people dealing with tough times.  Not just your ordinary ‘have a rough week’ tough times. Instead, more of the ‘the husband and pastor of my church was killed by someone he was trying to help and I do not understand why God allowed this to happen’ tough times (not my pastor by the way). These are the times you find out how real God is in your life.  What do you do when you feel all of the prayers are unanswered and the words of friends trying to comfort you fall hollow?  I admit at those times I initially feel lost and a bit alone.  However, this does not send me to a place of blaming God for my woes.  Instead, it becomes a time to exercise patience and trust in His word knowing He is there with me.  Always.

Tough times are when God’s promises will give you comfort.  The story of God revealing Himself to Moses is always encouraging to me. It’s not just the knowledge of God existence as I mentioned last week.  It is Moses’ perspective here that is revealing.  We all have the moment where we look at a task or situation that we are in, and we ask ourselves, “How can we deal with this?”  How do I overcome the pressure where there is no relief? How do I deal with the pain that seems never ending or sorrow that won’t go away?  After being given the directive to lead the people of Israel out from slavery, Moses, understanding how massive an undertaking God was giving to him, asked a similar question; Who am I to do this?  God reassured Moses saying, “I will be with you.”  Thus, Moses’ perspective went from just the average guy to God’s personal messenger.  This would instill all the confidence he needed to follow God’s instruction.  We all have those moments where we are simply overwhelmed.  However, these are the times where we should remain faithful and be filled with the never ending hope as written in Romans 12:12 (Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying).

Our journey of faith is an ongoing story filled with both struggles and successes.  Our goal is not to run from challenges.  It is to continue looking forward and focusing on God. Furthermore, we must maintain our hope that the purpose of our current situation will revealed in the future. So let us remember the words of Paul in 2 Timothy 4 fighting the good fight, finishing the race, and remaining faithful.  How can assurance of God’s presence aide you in your current situation?  What challenge do you need to take to God today? My prayer is that we continue to look forward to God knowing He is always there.  Amen.

The Prompting of Discomfort

Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.  Joshua 1:8-9

No one likes to feel uncomfortable. There are words and phrases such as ‘Pro-Life,’ ‘Gay Marriage,’ ‘Black Lives Matter,’ or ‘Homeless’ that would immediately evoke feelings or emotions that would make many of us uncomfortable. These are parts of the social war that we as Christians encounter each and every day. However, many of us will choose to live with this discomfort by doing what God would not charge us to do; ignore it. The arguments would range from the reality of it being incredibly difficult to navigate to the very callous ‘it is not my problem’ approach. If you are navigating through these very difficult waters, the answer to this discomfort is quite simple. You need to start dealing with it.

God asks us to stand firm in our faith to deal with the many issues that come up in our lives.  In the beginning reign of Joshua as the leader of Israel, the Lord spoke directly to him as encouragement for the many trials he would soon face.  God knew of the discomfort that would come from his leading the Israelites across Jordan River to ‘The Promised Land.’  There would be many battles to be fought, and many a betrayals to be addressed.  But Joshua stayed faithful dealing with each challenge trusting in God.  As a result, Joshua was favored in all of those situations because he remembered to keep following God’s law and His commanding of him to ‘be strong and courageous.’  Many times, we feel discomfort in situations because they are messy or challenge us to deal with feeling and emotions we struggle with.  However if we direct our struggles and challenges of the situation to God and trust in His word, we will find clarity and direction.  In other words, are feelings of discomfort are signs that we need to reach out to God, and then trust in the direction He sets forth for us because His word is true and we ‘will be prosperous and successful’ should we follow His instruction.

God wants us to be active participants in the world but not of this world. The intro to Romans 12 says we are to offer ourselves as a sacrifice to God transformed to being born again to test and approve what God’s will is for us. Thus, our discomfort is an opportunity to understand God’s will for our lives. It may not feel good to start, but to embrace it brings us closer to God. Ultimately, isn’t that where we want to be? What issues of discomfort are you challenged with today? What is God prompting you to get involved in something you are not comfortable with? How can you respond prayerfully to them? My prayer is that we are responsive to God’s prompting through discomfort. Amen. 

Thurs Devo: Gift Management

 In addition to our local churches, there are also so many wonderful Christian organizations furthering the cause of Christ in the world. We have so many different ways we can give to God’s work. The Israelites in Moses’ day didn’t have near as many choices or opportunities. Most of their financial gifts were to one place – the Tent of Meeting (Tabernacle).

Numbers 18:21 and 24       ²¹ “I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the work they do while serving at the tent of meeting. ²⁴ …I give to the Levites as their inheritance the tithes that the Israelites present as an offering to the Lord. That is why I said concerning them: ‘They will have no inheritance among the Israelites.’”

Just like our tithe at church goes toward the living expenses of our church leadership, the tithe of the Israelites went toward the expenses of the priests and Levites who did all the work at the tabernacle.

Sometimes I wonder if my gift is being used most effectively. However, it struck me that God didn’t tell the Israelites not to give their tithe if the Levites weren’t doing their job efficiently. He gave no caveat. The Israelites were to give to the Levites and the Levites were to give a tenth of that back to God. No exceptions!

Numbers 18:25-29   ²⁵ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁶ “Speak to the Levites and say to them: ‘When you receive from the Israelites the tithe I give you as your inheritance, you must present a tenth of that tithe as the Lord’s offering. ²⁷ Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress. ²⁸ In this way you also will present an offering to the Lord from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites. From these tithes you must give the Lord’s portion to Aaron the priest. ²⁹ You must present as the Lord’s portion the best and holiest part of everything given to you.’  

Giving is an act of worship and obedience to God. The gift belongs to the Lord. If we try to micro-manage how our gifts are used, then we probably aren’t giving from our heart in true worship of God. God will hold the recipients accountable for the use of our gifts.

How will you and I prepare to give cheerfully, in sincere worship and obedience to God? After prayerfully considering where and how God would have us give, we can leave the rest in His hands!    

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.

Thurs Devo - God's Presence Felt

God is always available. He is always there. We may not always feel His presence, though. It usually means we aren’t living in total surrender and obedience to Him. He wants to dwell among us, but He can’t be in the presence of sin. He has given us instructions in His Word so that we can enjoy His presence.

When God setup the Israelite priesthood and ordained Aaron and his sons, He gave them specific instructions to follow in order for Him to dwell among them. The tedious and repetitive tasks were to also remind them of their rightful place before a holy God. After completing His instructions for the week long ordination process, God promised to bless them. The priests and the rest of the Israelites would experience God’s glory and His presence!   

Leviticus 9:6        ⁶ Then Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded you to do, so that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.”

After Moses and Aaron did just as God commanded, then they were able to receive and give His blessing and see and feel His presence!
Leviticus 9:22-24               ²² Then Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them. And having sacrificed the sin offering, the burnt offering and the fellowship offering, he stepped down. ²³ Moses and Aaron then went into the tent of meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. ²⁴ Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.

Just this past week my family felt God’s overwhelming presence as He directed us through a very sad and hurtful situation with some fellow believers. There’s been joy in the midst of the hurt, as we’ve seen God amazingly answer prayers for direction! Sometimes the answer came through added hurt, but God worked good out of it by using those circumstances to make it very clear what we’re to do! Even with the pain, there’s no greater joy than feeling God’s presence. As we’ve followed His lead one step at a time, He’s given clear confirmation over and over again, overwhelming us with His Presence!

How have you seen and felt God’s presence as you live to obey Him?

What blessings has God given to you and me as we obediently live out His commands and do the work He’s instructed us to do?

God’s Presence can be felt!