Circumcision (July 31)

"The days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh--  Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab are all who live in the desert in distant places.  For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart."
                                        Jeremiah 9:25-26 NIV

Prophecy is timely, timeless; understood with the help of the Spirit and has an obvious fulfillment.  Here we read of Jeremiah's words of warning, coming judgement on nations, and punishment for being circumcised only of the flesh and not of the heart.

We readers do understand that Judah, Israel and other nations of the period did fall under God's judgement and own demise due to their falling away from the law, worshiping idols, and turning to treaties, others and themselves rather than to God for protection, safety, guidance and life.

As we move ahead to Jeremiah, realize that Jeremiah's message was a message that was parallel to the other old testament prophets.  Jeremiah explained that Judah had sinned, that there is present responsibility, and a future hope.  However, that future hope was dependent on repentance, a change in the hearts inward attitude.  This hope would not occur if only a restoration of worship without a concurrent change of heart.


God's anger was heightened by idol worship, burning incense to other gods, and by other detestable actions.

Can you think of any idols in the world today?

Are there things in your life that turn your heart's focus away from Jesus and His work for you?

Pray for the Spirit's guidance through your day, pray for those in government to have wisdom and guidance from the Lord as they discern our challenges.

In Christ,


David P

False Prophets

One of the subjects I'll discuss next Sunday will be false prophets/teachers. Look at today's world--the air waves are filled with people predicting every possible outcome for a given situation, when only one will come to pass. Here's a small example, one I'm using because I witnessed part of it.

For those that don't know (or don't care), Major League Baseball has a trading deadline of July 31st each year, which means that teams in contention the playoffs are looking to acquire players that can help them, and teams that are having a bad year  trade players that can get them prospects in return. One of the players involved in this is Hunter Pence of the Astros, a excellent right fielder on a very bad team. One web site for trade rumors had NINETEEN separate thoughts regarding three different teams that might be interested in him. Not all of these "prophets" were going to be correct. 

I happened to be at the Brewers/Astros game Friday night in Milwaukee as we were visiting our daughter. Pence was playing right field and was pulled from the game after the fourth inning, at which point I mentioned to my daughter's friend, "He must have hurt himself, they wouldn't pull him in a 0-0 game." We got back to our hotel room, I turned on ESPN and saw how Pence had been traded to the Phillies (a good number, but by all means not all, of the "prophets" had "prophesied" this).

So how do we tell a false prophet from a true one? That will be a question that will never be completely answered, because one of final characters in the Bible will be an adjunct to the Beast, the False Prophet who will bring people to the Anti-Christ. It's easy to tell false prophets in hindsight, because their prophecies were (wait for it) false. Even when Christ discusses this very issue in Matthew 24, it still won't be easy. Christ tells us that these false prophets will claim to be in his name and do remarkable signs and miracles, but he makes it pretty clear that those who are vigilant and mindful will not be deceived. 

As I've said over and over again, Old Testament prophecy is a three-step process:

1. Don't do it

2. Or else

3. But I'll forgive you if you repent

This is still the same for us, because we're just as stiff-necked and stubborn today as they were back then, but to me, the easiest way to discern false prophecy would be if one of these three steps is changed--for example, if we're told we can continue to sin because God doesn't really care, or any other notion that is not supported in Scripture, I would suggest would be false prophecy. One of the first things Jesus said publicly was to warn against false prophets (in the Sermon on the  Mount, Matthew 7:15) and one of his last public preachings was the aforementioned Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24-25, where he spent almost all of Matthew 24 warning of false prophets. I'll revisit the issue when we get there in late October, but the message of Jeremiah is just as important to us today--beware the false prophet, and always be discerning enough to recognize one, because we'll never know when we'll be faced with one.

Scott

(July 29)

If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!
                                      Psalm 81:13-14

We have two ears and one mouth.  How often do the two ears do more work than that one mouth.  In relationships, often we feel compelled to add something, to talk, to contribute.  This seems to occur even if we are not certain about the topics and events being discussed.

To understand people, events, or relationships, we need to learn about them and be taught.  A large part of learning and understanding comes to us through language, by listening.  Understanding is a process that can evolve from data, to knowledge, to wisdom.

Understanding God's faithfulness, His love, and other attributes is gained when the Spirit acts on us through the Word and Sacraments.  God does through the Spirit direct our steps.  It is through that still small voice.

Are you listening?

How do you listen for and look for God's direction?

Pray for eyes to be wide open to the Lord's guidance.

In Christ,


David P

A Refuge In Times Of Trouble

Not being familiar with Nahum, I found both the recipients and the message interesting. The verses that caught my eye were Nahum 1:7-8. I'll list them separately to illustrate what struck me so:

⁷ The LORD is good,
   a refuge in times of trouble.
He cares for those who trust in him, 

An excellent verse, reminiscent of some of the Psalms, as my NIV Study Bible cross-reference suggests. It tells a simple yet powerful message that should be able to get us through anything in life. It's followed by verse 8:

⁸ but with an overwhelming flood
he will make an end of Nineveh;
   he will pursue his foes into darkness. 

All righty then. The carrot has been used with the stick since the beginning of time, and this two-verse couplet is a simple message to the people of Judah.

For the people of Nineveh, however, it's an entirely different story. As we all know, Nahum is the second prophet to Nineveh, after Jonah, and after Jonah shared his message, the people of Nineveh saw the error of their ways and repented. That was then, and this is now. God, through Nahum, is clearly telling the Ninevites that their time is coming. Notes throughout my Study Bible suggest that the Assyrians (and that's where Nineveh was) were especially brutal in warfare, and God was telling them that their punishment for those atrocities was nigh. Yes, the Lord used Nineveh to take the Northern Kingdom into captivity, but that was around 100 years in the past. 

God's will WILL be done, and all through the prophecy section of the Bible, we've learned and will continue to learn that no matter how dire the situation, no matter how ungrateful or evil the people of Israel were, God would always be ready to forgive them and restore them to their former place. We have that same promise today, which we should gratefully acknowledge and not use as an excuse to continue sinning. It's laid out clearly in the first verse I referenced--he cares for those who trust in him. It seems like such a simple request, but we spend so much time and effort trying to NOT trust in God but rely instead on our puny and feeble abilities. Life would be so much easier for all of us if we lived this simple concept.

Scott

Prepare (July 28)

Prepare yourselves...

and prepare the lambs for your...

The service was arranged...

After this, they made preparations for themselves...

their fellow Levites made the preparations for them...

So at that time the entire service of the Lord was carried out for the celebration of the Passover and the offering of burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord, as King Josiah had ordered.
                   From 2 Chronicles 35 NIV

Today, in 2 Chronicles 35, we read of Josiah proclaiming a celebration of the Passover and the events that preceded that celebration.

To prepare Webster defines is to: put in a proper condition or readiness; to get ready for eating, as in prepare a meal; to manufacture, compound or compose as in prepare a cough syrup; to put oneself or things into readiness; get ready as in prepare for war.  Synonyms include: provide, arrange, order;  imply planning for and making ready for something expected or thought possible. 

Preparation is often a planning process that occurs over time, a sequence of events that when effected help to ensure success.  Planning and preparation go into large relationships, like planning for international relations; and also into small relations like planning for a day with grandchildren.

Webster, in his entry on preparation does qualify preparation to something thought possible. 

With our awesome, incomparable, omnipresent, omnipotent Lord, the impossible is possible.  Our Lord is a Lord of order and wants order in your life. With the Spirit's guidance, we should also prepare ourselves for worship and also prepare a place in our daily life for our Lord.

It has been said that failing to plan is planning to fail. 

What kinds of things do you do to prepare yourself for your day?

What kind of preparation do you do for worship?

How do you ask the Spirit to guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus?

Pray for the Spirit to guide you in your preparations.

In Christ,


David P

I....Forgot!

For those of you of a certain age, there was once a time when Saturday Night Live was a TV show worth watching. No, seriously, stop laughing, it really WAS a good show, but then the next thing we knew, it was 1979...Anyway, one of the times when Steve Martin was on, his punchline for a long joke he was telling was "I FORGOT!," spoken in the unique voice that he has. I tried to find a clip of it, but came up short.

We read in 2 Kings 22 where the people of Judah forgot. After sending the secretary to pay the people repairing the temple, the Book of the Law was found. Now, if you're a God-fearing king like Josiah apparently is, it had to be rather disconcerting to find the document that describes how you were to live, the sacrifices, festivals, etc. No one likes documentation of our shortcomings, and we'll see how Josiah reacted in the next day or so.

I gradated from Trinity in 1976, the bicentennial year of the U.S. As part of our commemoration of that, we planted a tree at the end of the parking lot and buried a time capsule. What we DIDN'T do was leave any notes behind as to where this time capsule was located. We might have extended the parking lot, so where it is could easily be under asphalt, the tree is certainly no longer there. None of it matters--until someone very accidentally does some digging and comes across it, that time capsule is lost. To put it in other words, that piece of history has BECOME history.

Believe it or not, this isn't unusual for time capsules. All it takes is for one generation to forget, and they're lost and will only be found by accident. We're told at the beginning of today's reading that the Law was found in 622 B.C. The last mention of Passover I can find occurred in Joshua 5, and something we're going to read in a couple of days very strongly implies that the Passover hadn't been celebrated in quite some time.

We have two responses when confronted with evidence of our shortcomings--admission, repentance and a promise to change our ways, or a shrug of the shoulders and a "so what" attitude. Josiah clearly made the correct choice, and we commemorate that choice every Sunday when we begin our service with our confession. We are presented with the evidence of our shortcomings, and if our heart is in the right place, we act just as Josiah did, figuratively tearing our robes and promising to change our ways. "I forgot!" works as a punch line to a joke, but fails miserably as an excuse for why we don't  adhere to God's law.

Scott

Incomparable (July 27)

O Lord, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in time of distress, to you the nations will come from the ends of the earth and say, "Our fathers possessed nothing but false gods, worthless idols that did them no good."
                                            Jeremiah 16:19 NIV

We can consider some of God's attributes as we read today's passage: strength, fortress, and refuge are mentioned here.  As we have read thus far, we have learned that God is sovereign, just, eternal, unchanging, forgiving, and truly incomparable. 

In view of who He is and what He has done by His Word, with Spirit-led missionaries bringing the Word to the ends of the world, there will be a response to Him.  Nations will come from the ends of the earth to Him after realizing the worthless idols that they have. 

For more information on worthless idols, one can read Isaiah 44.

As long as things are going smoothly, an idol "seems to work fine."  It is when things do not go smoothly that an idol shows its true worthlessness.  For an idol can do nothing.  Despite this fact, we humans can hang onto idols with a vengeance.  Just turn to Acts 19 to read how the silversmiths of Ephesus held on to Artemis, shouting for 2 hours in unison about how great is Artemis of the Ephesians.

Where is Artemis now?  (Tossed aside) One might also consider; where is Ephesus now? (it is a ruin in Southwestern Turkey).

When the story of the Incomparable Living God; our strength, fortress and refuge, is told then the Spirit has another opportunity to work on the hearts and the minds of the listener.  An opportunity to turn the listener from death to life.

Have you had the opportunity to tell the story this week?

Did you?

Pray for the Spirit to guide you to tell the story to others.

In Christ,

David P.

One Honest Man

I didn't have to read far to find the verse that spoke to me today, which is Jeremiah 5:1:

Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem,
   look around and consider,
   search through her squares.
If you can find but one person
   who deals honestly and seeks the truth,
   I will forgive this city. 

I immediately thought of Diogenes, who you can read about in this Wikipedia entry and how legend has it he wandered the streets of Athens looking for an honest man. Consider the truly low bar that the Lord has set for Judah--one honest man, just ONE, and as we read further, apparently even that was too high.

This verse should also jog your memory regarding Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18-19, pp 72-76 in our Chronological Bibles), where Abraham begins by asking God to spare the cities if even 50 righteous people can be found, working his way back all the way to 10 righteous people. As we know, even this low standard wasn't met, and the rest is history.

It's the same way today. Even those of us who bear the name Christian and do what we can to live up to that name implicitly understand that we fall short. We understand that no matter what we do, it's not enough, simply because there isn't ANYTHING we can do to earn or guarantee our salvation. To think otherwise would be to commit one of the two sins I discussed in yesterday's post, the sin of thinking that we can do things our own way. The people of Judah couldn't then, and we can't today. In our world of 6 billion+ people, that one honest person is still missing.

Lucky for us, we don't have to rely on ourselves. Through Christ's death and resurrection, we don't have to rely on something we can't do anyway, which alone should give us all the confidence and assurance we'll ever need in this life. Also included in this verse is a small reminder for us as we go through life--since NONE of us meet this standard, NONE of us have any right to accuse someone else of falling short of it. Christ will describe this clearly in Matthew 7:1-3 when we're asked how we can look at the "speck" in someone else's eye and ignore the "plank" in our own. But keep in mind the audience for Jeremiah--a people who had been instructed that their righteousness was obtained through the observance of the law. God is telling us two things:

1. No one can meet this standard

2. Since no one can meet the standard, who are we to point out the shortcomings of others?

It's something we constantly have to remind ourselves of as we go through this world. We're saved not because of anything we did or will do, but because of what God did for us. As long as we keep that humbling thought close to our hearts, we'll do a much better job of spreading the message to others, because, as we all know, we're not better than non-Christians, we're just saved.

Scott

Oceans (July 26)

"Should you not fear me?" declares the Lord.  "Should you not tremble in my presence?  I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross.  The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it.
                                        Jeremiah 5:22 NIV

The word fear we can recall means, in this context, awesome respect and reverence.  This is what God, the creator of the cosmos deserves from us.  One of God's attributes is order.  He ordered creation perfectly.  He orders the stars, planets, and our world.  He keeps the sea in its place with a boundary of the sand. 

We do live in a fractured and fallen world.  Consider the tectonic plates as literal, physical fractures in our planet.  When those plates move, as in an earthquake, certainly the sea may violate the boundary of the sand, however; in short order, the ocean retreats to its boundary of sand.

The contrast of weakness and strength come to mind.  Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:10 NIV states: That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Think of how the sand contains the ocean.  We too are sand and can, through Christ with the Spirit's guidance, contain our challenging oceans of temptation, self defeating habits, and divisions.

It is by Christ's strength, in redeeming us from our sin and overcoming death that we are made strong, and despite our fear of our awesome God, need not tremble in His presence, and can live a life filled with the fruits of the Spirit: peace, joy, love, hope and self control. 

What oceans, areas of difficulty and challenge, do you have in your life?

How do you bring those areas to God's attention?

Pray for all to be guided by the Spirit as they deal with the challenging oceans in life.

In Christ,

David P

Two Sins

Jeremiah 2:13 states:

My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
   the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
   broken cisterns that cannot hold water. 

All throughout the prophetic section of the Bible, God is exhorting the people of Israel to repent, and we've seen (and will see) a long litany of sins to repent of, but in this verse, God very clearly states what Judah has done to deserve punishment:

1. Forsaken God

2. Tried to do things their own way

Old Testament Israelites had an extensive list of Levitic law, holiday observance and sacrifice requirements, and something we're going to read in a couple of days implies that they've forgotten or stopped practicing most of it. God, through Jeremiah, boiled down the reason for these rituals and laws, as well as our modern practice of worship, into these simple steps.

In other words, when we discuss Christianity with anyone, believer or non-believer alike, we can tell them the point (or what should be the point) of our worship:

1. Acknowledge God as the omniscient, omnipotent creator

2. Acknowledge him as the source of everything we have

It's just like calling up mom on Mother's Day--acknowledgement and thanks--no more than that. Anything in our worship (and use an expanded definition of worship to incorporate our prayer life, Bible study and whatever else we do to learn about God and don't limit it to Sunday services) that does these two simple steps is God-pleasing, and anything that doesn't isn't necessarily bad or wrong, but it could be superfluous. God has said over and over in the Old Testament that mindless sacrifices mean nothing, and Jesus will teach that public prayer is more boasting than worship if we turn the focus on ourselves instead of on God.

Reading the Bible can be tricky--parts we're familiar with we can just gloss over, telling ourselves "Oh yeah, I remember this part," or skipping those parts we don't like or care for. It's also just as possible to miss little nuggets like this as we read along, getting lost in the narrative, which is one reason I proposed slowing down when we reach the New Testament. Familiarity breeds contempt, but it also breeds a notion that we already know it, and I'll admit we do know it, but we don't study the Bible to know it, we study it to use it and spread that knowledge out in the world. This little verse in Jeremiah can be that simple ice-breaker that can help someone understand Christianity--it's short, easily understood and makes a simple but important point.

Scott

Forgotten (July 25)

"In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land," declares the Lord, "men will no longer say, 'The ark of the covenant of the Lord.' It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made."
                                   Jeremiah 3:16 NIV

The ark of the covenant of the Lord, the place where the ten commandments were kept, the ark upon which the atonement cover rested was an object of great importance to the Israelites.  Jeremiah prophecises that the ark, at some time, would not be remembered or rebuilt.

Think about the covenant that we live under.  Our covenant is the unconditional covenant written in Christ's blood; shed for our sin and his resurrection to overcome death and to bear all of our sin so that we are justified before God.

Draw a parallel between forgetting the ark of the covenant and forgetting the new covenant we live under.  If one does not take time to "tell the story" to others, Jeremiah's prophecy might well apply to us today.  The reason for direct application to us is that if we do not "tell the story" to our children, family, friends, acquaintances, and others, "the story" may not enter their minds and hence not be remembered or missed.  It would be forgotten.

Certainly Christ's perfect, sufficient, substitutionary sacrifice is complete for our redemption and most certainly another one will not be made.

How does the above encourage you to, in love, tell the story?

Can you think of specific ways you could tell the story?

In Christ,

David P

 

Excuses (July 24)

"Ah, Sovereign Lord," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child."
                                       Jeremiah 1:6 NIV

An excuse is what we read as we meet Jeremiah, the weeping or reluctant prophet, today.  The excuses Jeremiah uses to try to avoid the Lord's call are resting firmly on his ability to speak, his age, and immaturity.  Jeremiah probably felt ill equipped to carry out the ministry of a prophet.  

One can consider the array of excuses Moses used when he met God and was told by God of the plan for the exodus from Egypt to the promised land.  Recollect Moses' statement that he was not eloquent and was slow of speech and tongue (Exodus 4).

We can be thankful that we are given the Spirit who helps us in our weakness.  We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express (Romans 8:26 NIV).

What kind of excuses do you use when called for a special service?

Have you ever been called by God for a service and felt ill equipped?

How did you respond?  How did it go?  

Pray for eyes, ears, heart and minds wide open to perceive the Spirit's call and guidance.

In Christ,

David P  

Repentance

First, there was a column in yesterday's Wall Street Journal I think you might find entertaining. It regards Michele Bachmann, a Republican candidate for President, but that's immaterial (and also in no way any kind of endorsement on my part). The gist of the article is that Ms. Bachmann was once a Wisconsin Synod Lutheran and is now a Catholic (!). It's a good read, and I think you'll enjoy it.

Today's reading told about Manasseh, who apparently spent the better part of his life doing evil, as 2 Kings 21:1-17 points out:

⁵ In both courts of the temple of the LORD, he built altars to all the starry hosts. ⁶ He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger. 

Nice guy--yet another in a long line of kings of Judah who fall off the path and do their own thing. And, as usual, God doesn't take kindly to this punished him. However, unlike some of the other kings, he apparently came to his senses, got rid of the false gods and idols and restored the altar. This is yet another example of forgiveness and redemption for people who are truly penitent and regret the offenses they did to the Lord.

In today's world, we're usually less upset with ourselves for doing wrong as much as for getting caught. In courtrooms real and imagined throughout the world, a common refrain upon handing down a sentence is that the defendant showed NO REMORSE for the crimes they had committed. We've had our share of instances in the Bible where the people, when faced with their sin and shortcomings, immediately repented, changed their behavior and tried to lead God-pleasing lives. Samson saw the error of his ways immediately prior to his death, the Ninevites repented immediately upon being told of their sin by Jonah, and Manasseh, though not as quick, humbled himself before the Lord and repented.

And, lucky for us, this still happens today. We may not set up idols in the temple or worship false gods as overtly as the people of Judah did, but we're still just as guilty and sinful as they were, and just as deserving of God's everlasting contempt. The fact that he's willing to forgive us, just as he forgave Manasseh and every other evil-doer who asked for it, should be among the greatest comforts we'll ever receive.

Scott

Clay (July 22)

Yet, O Lord, you are our Father.  We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.
                                   Isaiah 64:8 NIV

We, in a sense, are just clay in a fractured and fallen world.  We have our challenges, our conflicts, our doubts, and our misunderstandings.  We are all the work of God's hand, we are the dust He works with.  As baptized followers of Christ, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit.

We do need to remember Ecclesiastes 12:7-14; where it is stated that the dust will return to the ground it came from and the spirit returns to God who gave it...Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole (duty) of man.

In this life, as a Christian, we will have challenges, trials, problems, mistakes and failures.  God will guide us and protect us; however we still make blunders.  Keep in focus that our duty is to fear God and keep commands.  Also remember when we fail, there is restoration by repentance and a request for forgiveness by His mercy and through Jesus' work on the cross.

Jesus told us the most important commands are to Love the Lord your God and to love your neighbor.  God also uses love in working on us as clay; although often times as we are being fired up in the kiln, we have challenges considering love has any role.

It is difficult to grasp but we are told in Hebrews 12 that the Lord disciplines those he loves and punishes everyone he accepts as a son.

God, in love through challenges, allows us to mature and to accept the responsibilities in life.  Satan on the other hand wants us to believe that any challenge, problem, difficulty, or trial we have is proof that God does not love, care, look out for or protect us.

Again, remember that we do live in a fractured and fallen world.

How have you felt like clay this week?

When you have challenges, do you look at the challenges as times of growth in faith, maturity and wisdom?

Pray for the Spirit to guide you through your trials and challenges.

In Christ,

David P

Left Behind

Isaiah continues the imagery of a new heaven and new earth in today's reading, particularly in Isaiah 65. This will not be the last time we see these words, since John will use much the same language in Revelation 21. These are among the most beautiful words we'll read in the Bible, so take some time and read them over and over--it's our entire raison d'etre as Christians.

Starting about 15 years ago, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins began publishing a 13-book series about the End Times titled Left Behind. The books got loopier as they progressed, because the further along they got in the narrative, the more they had to make things up, since we'll never know what those days will look like until they're upon us. The last book in the series, titled Glorious Appearing, went completely off the deep end, and the primary basis for that was based in Isaiah 65:20:

Never again will there be in it
   an infant who lives but a few days,
   or an old man who does not live out his years;
he who dies at a hundred
   will be thought a mere youth;
he who fails to reach a hundred
   will be considered accursed. 

I don't want to go too deep on this, but the crux of the book was that you could tell the evil in the Millennial Kingdom by whether they lived over 100 years of age or not, to which I responded with a resounding "Whatever."  My only point was to point out what LaHaye (and it's all him--Jenkins just fleshed out the story, LaHaye is the man behind the theology of the books) was referencing when he makes that point. Maybe he'll be right (doubtful), maybe he'll be wrong (which is what I think).

Nor does it really matter. I had a brief discussion with Pastor Vokt today, and we touched on the idea that while we have a tendency to plan for things, it's much better to be prepared to meet whatever life throws at us. Planning for the End Times would be akin to stating you'll make a last-minute confession, accept Christ when you "know" that we're in the End Times (good luck with that) or things along that line. It's much better to be prepared by reading prophecy such as this and know that, while we may never experience it in our lives, it's always possible. In the parable of the 10 Virgins, all of them planned--they had lamps with them. Only five prepared by having oil for the lamps. I'll touch more on it when we reach 1 Peter, but what we're being shown here is that our preparations won't be in vain and that being reunited with God will surpass anything we can imagine. In other words, it will be the greatest reward ever. That's not enough?

Scott

The Millennial Kingdom

Strictly speaking, the only mention of God's 1,000-year reign on Earth occurs in Revelation 20:4-6, and I really don't want to get mixed up in that today, because it brings up far too many questions that are totally unanswerable until that time comes. Fervent believers in the Millennial Kingdom also point to the part of Isaiah we read today, particularly Isaiah 60 as a prophesy of what it will be like when God returns and reigns here on Earth prior to the final judgment.

I've already bitten off more than I can chew at this point, but I wanted to point out that, while not explicitly espousing the Millennial Kingdom view as it is usually put forth, consider where the events in Isaiah are taking place. I could very easily be wrong, but it would appear that this will occur on Earth. We'll run across a verse tomorrow that those that believe in a literal Millennial Kingdom put great emphasis on, but for now, read these verses and ponder their various potential meanings:

1. As a metaphor for the return from Babylonian exile (at some point, I'll have to discuss how literalists can't use metaphors, but that's for another day)

2. As a description of the freedom from the strictures of the Law that Christ's death and resurrection will give us

3. A true description of what it will look like when Christ returns

It's entirely possible that all three could be true, and just as possible that I've missed it entirely. Either way, Isaiah portrays an Earth that all of us would love to inhabit--a place of safety, peace and the presence of the Lord. It will happen someday--we just don't know when or what it will look like.

Scott

Guidance (July 21)

The Lord will guide you always;  he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and he will strengthen your frame.  You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
                           Isaiah 58:11 NIV

The Lord, as a guide, always leads one to think of the Great Commission from Matthew 28:16-20; where Jesus states in verse 20b: "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

This verse is a part of Isaiah where proper fasting is contrasted with improper fasting.  Fasting is an action, a refrain from food.

The Bible Dictionary describes 3 types of fasting.  A normal fast, or abstaining from food and not water (Luke 4:2); an absolute fast, or total abstinance from both food and drink (Acts 9:9); a partial fast, a partial restriction of diet
(Daniel 10:3).

The Godly purpose of the fast is to seek to know God in a deeper experience as we read here in Isaiah 58 and also in Zec. 7:5 where the question of why did fasts occur?

The people hearing Isaiah were fasting, not to bring glory to God; but elsewhere, perhaps to themselves.  As a result, fruits of the Spirit were absent as we read about exploitation of workers, quarreling, strife and fights being the fruits of these improper fasts.

We can consider our lives and our walk in reading this passage.  When we fast, attend worship, or even pray; we can pause and reflect on where the focus is.  Is the focus on God to bring Him glory, honor, praise in our petitions or is it on us to make us look good or be a better person.

One needs not look far for the resultant fruits of our activities.  Are fruits of the Spirit; peace, joy, love, self-control, and unity seen? Or are other fruits seen?

With a proper heart, the Lord will guide your path, satisfy needs, strengthen your frame, and make you like a well watered garden.  What kind of fruit is your garden growing?

What kind of guidance do you seek from the Lord?

How do you go about looking for that guidance?

Pray for the Lord's protection and guidance.

In Christ,

David P

Contrasting (July 20)

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways." Declares the Lord.
                                    Isaiah 55:8 NIV

The awesome, abundant, glass overflowing; incomparable nature of God in contrast to our generally awful; scarcity, glass half full; common nature of man is highlighted by the Lord's declaration we read today.

We Christians can also appreciate differences between us individuals.  We individuals do not think alike nor do we act alike; we are all different and all have different gifts, blessings, challenges and burdens.

It is by what God has given, what Christ has done, and the work of the Holy Spirit that we differing individuals have a common message, goal, destination and purpose.  It is by Christ's work on the cross and his overcoming of death that we have eternal life. 

Jesus, being the perfect Son of God, was able to purchase all of humanities sin by shedding His precious blood.  His action was perfect, sufficient, complete and whole for all. 

God has a plan.  It is His plan, by His design, He orchestrated it.  His plan surpasses all human understanding.  It is only by the work of the Spirit that we can begin to gain a dim understanding of the clear perfect plan for all of us, despite our many differences.  We are united in Christ into one body, but many parts.

Let us stand united in Christ and be thankful that we all have different functions in that body.

What functions do you have as a member of Christ's body?

How do your perform those functions?

Do you have any questions about how you could serve, if you do please discuss those questions with a pastor or leader.

Pray to work, united in Christ as a team to tell the story.

In Christ,


David P

Gentile

Gentile is a word we'll become very familiar with when we reach the New Testament, but used only seven times in the Old Testament, four of which are in Isaiah. In Sunday's reading, Isaiah 42:6-7 stated:

⁶ “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness;
   I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
   to be a covenant for the people
   and a light for the Gentiles,
⁷ to open eyes that are blind,
   to free captives from prison
   and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. 

 In today's reading, Isaiah 49:6 states:

he says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
   to restore the tribes of Jacob
   and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
   that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” 

So what is a gentile? Depends on the source (this was at dictionary.reference.com):

1. of or pertaining to any people not Jewish 

2. Christian, as distinguished from Jewish

3. (Mormon Church) not Mormon

4. A heathen or pagan

Talk about letting a point of view dictate the definition of a word--Jews say it's non-Jews, Christians say it's not Christians, etc. One thing all the definitions have in common is that a Gentile is "not ME"--it's always THOSE GUYS. And we in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod have a long and colorful history of saying that we're not THOSE GUYS (those guys being an often-changing group). In fact, that's what defines our individual religions--WE'RE on the right path, it's those (insert denomination[s],sect or relative's name here) that are all wrong.

Compared to God, we're ALL Gentiles, Jews and non-Jews alike, because we're not God. However, what God is setting up is a very important explanation of the covenant he had initially made with Abram WAAAAY back in Genesis 12:3 when he said that ALL the nations would be blessed through Abram. Abram's descendants may have taken a narrower view, but God was reminding the people that while the people of Israel might be his chosen people, they wouldn't be his ONLY people. As the New Testament will point out clearly, this message drove the Pharisees mad and in many ways was the primary reason why Christ had to be silenced. The message that salvation was available to ALL was not part of the lexicon of the church of the New Testament, and even Peter and Paul would have disagreements on this issue. 

God knew that his Chosen People would resist this notion.I wish I could say we live in a more enlightened world, but we're just as parochial in our own ways. Lucky for us, humans don't have the final say in the matter.

Scott

Words (July 19)

The sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary.  He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.
                                       Isaiah 50:4 NIV

Consider all the gifts we have received from the Lord; family, friends, faith, work, food, day and night, rain and others.  The gift of language, the ability to communicate is focused upon as a special gift today.  Our language, these words, that we have received and use provide us with much. 

Language is the gift that allows us to clearly and precisely communicate our feelings, ideas, concerns, cares, and thoughts.  In a very real sense, language lets us think and reason. 

Language provides us with the ability to praise and to grumble.  Remember how Moses prayed and sought God.  Compare Moses' use of language with the Israelites use of language to grumble, voice displeasure, build an idol, and to express perceived unmet wants and unmet needs. 


Through the Spirit, we read today that there is a very special gift in language.   The gift of sustaining the weary with encouraging words.  One might reflect about where the words come from when we comfort a child, an ill individual, a person with a special struggle, a prisoner or one with other needs.

It is by the Spirit that we arise in the morning and it is by the
Spirit that our ears, hearts and minds are prepared to listen, hear, learn and act on the word.

Remember, words convey to us our daily bread and also the gift of how Christ provided us redemption from sin and made us acceptable to God.

What would your friends and associates say about how you use your tongue?

How do you use your tongue to sustain, encourage, support and seek fruits of the Spirit?

Ask the Spirit to guide your speech to choose the correct words and to prepare the hearts and minds of those who hear you.

In Christ,


David P

Cyrus

Isaiah 44:28 states:

who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd
   and will accomplish all that I please;
   he will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,”
   and of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.”’ 

The mention of Cyrus piqued my interest, and I'll get slightly ahead of the narrative at this point. As soon as I read this, I went straight for my NIV Study Bible and was surprised that this isn't even the first time Cyrus was referenced. Isaiah 41:2 states:

“Who has stirred up one from the east,
   calling him in righteousness to his service?
He hands nations over to him
   and subdues kings before him.
He turns them to dust with his sword,
   to windblown chaff with his bow. 

Cyrus is the "one from the east," but I missed it. This is the part where I'll jump ahead--Judah will be taken into Babylonian captivity in approximately 586 BC, and will spend approximately 50 years in the captivity. In around 540 BC, Cyrus (also known as Cyrus the Great) would overrun Babylon from his home base of Persia (modern-day Iran) and enable the events that will be chronicled in Ezra and Nehemiah, which is the return of the people to Judah and the restoration of the temple.

Pretty straightforward stuff, and we'll spend more time on it as we move forward. My point is a simple one--Cyrus was born around 600 BC (there's no definitive date), and Isaiah gave this prophecy approximately 100 years before the birth of the man who will release the Israelites from a captivity that occurred for 100 years in the future. It's one thing to make a non-specific and vague prophecy, it's entirely another to specifically name names as Isaiah did here. My point is that Christ isn't the only thing that Isaiah predicted that came true--we have the total 20/20 hindsight benefit of seeing just how specific Isaiah was in his prophecy and how successful he was. As we continue to read through the rest of the Old Testament, some of that prophecy won't sound like anything to look forward to, but we're in a section of Isaiah that will paint a vivid picture of what our eventual salvation and reunification with the Lord will look like. The restoration that Isaiah prophesies for the people of Judah will be just the same when we're released from the captivity of sin. Isaiah has been spot-on in his prophecies, which should give us all the hope we need for the prophecies yet to be fulfilled.

Scott

Things to Remember (July 18)

Remember these things, O Jacob for you are my servant O Israel.  I have made you, you are my servant; O Israel, I will not forget you.
                                Isaiah 44:21

We need to review, refresh our mind and remember what we read in the Bible.  For it is God's Word of truth, light and life to the world. Today we are comforted reading that God will not forget us.  We may have been listing attributes of God during our reading.  We have quite a list thus far.  Some of the attributes of God are incomparable, powerful, creator, everlasting, provider of salvation, just, righteous, forgiving, and merciful.  We need to remember that God will not forget us.  He knows us by name, and, in fact, knows us better than we know ourselves.

In addition, we need to remember that we  are servants also.  On Earth, led by the Spirit, we are in a sense the hands, feet, eyes and ears of God. We are vessels that might convey God's love, concern and message to others.

Jesus' parable of the sower comes to mind. The Word, God, is the sower, but we too must partake in the sowing, for there is much work to do and the hands are few.

How are you encouraged by knowing that you are remembered  and will not be forgotten?

What kinds of sowing have you done recently, today?

Pray for opportunities to tell the story.


In Christ,

David P

A Simple Message Worth Repeating--OVER AND OVER AND OVER

The verse that caught my eye today was Isaiah 40:12:

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,

   or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?

Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,

   or weighed the mountains on the scales

   and the hills in a balance?

It's a common theme, best represented by God's response in Job 38-39, but it always bears repeating in my opinion, which is why I bring it up so much. Today, I'm going to do it pictorially.

This should be a familiar sight:

Yes, it is indeed the Grand Canyon, for those in any doubt, and anyone who's ever seen it will tell you that pictures don't even remotely do it justice. It is one of the most awe-inspiring sights anyone will ever see, and something that man, with all our technology, power and might, couldn't even come CLOSE to replicating no matter how long or how hard we tried.

Kind of like this next image:

The picture doesn't exist that can capture the awe and majesty that is Mt. Everest--it's a mountain over 29,000 feet high, or almost as high as commercial airliners fly. I just looked up the tallest skyscrapers on Earth (man, was my information out of date--what I thought were the tallest, the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia are now 5th and 6th) and the tallest one is the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, and that tops out at an amazing 2,716 feet, but you would need ELEVEN of them stacked on each other to reach Everest's summit.

The next one doesn't have a picture, and I don't think one is possible. It's the Mariana Trench, the world's deepest point. It's located in the Pacific Ocean:

The trench is over 35,000 feet deep, so if Mt. Everest were dropped in it, it would be covered by over a MILE of ocean. Think we could dig a hole that deep in some inhospitable conditions (the pressure is over 1,000 times more the pressure at sea level--we'd collapse in no time)?

This last one will simply blow your mind. I ran across it in a recent issue of Sky and Telescope:

This is a view of the farthest object visible from Earth. Leave aside for the moment that just about EVERY SINGLE OBJECT in this picture is a galaxy, just as big or bigger than the 250 billion star Milky Way Galaxy we call home (I take that back--I think there's three stars in there--you can tell because they have the diffraction spikes on them--there's two smallish ones in the upper left corner and and a brighter one in the lower right corner). This object is approximately 13.2 billion light-years from us. By my (probably incorrect) math, that would be:

79,200,000,000,000,000,000 miles (give or take one or two zeroes)

I'd pack a lunch if you're making that trip, because at highway speeds, it's going to take you over 114 BILLION YEARS to get there.

And God, through Isaiah, is telling the people of Judah that he's bigger than all of this. He CREATED it all. Whenever we puny humans start thinking grandiose thoughts on our powers, consider these pictured items--they dwarf and overwhelm anything we'll ever do. We need to constantly remind ourselves just how small and insignificant we are, and unceasingly thank and praise God for caring so much for such an insignificant species. 

Scott

Don't Take My Word For It--The Jehovah's Witnesses Told Me...

Hopefully, the title of this post piqued your interest, so I'll wait a bit to explain it. Isaiah 24 covers some very familiar ground, that the Lord will destroy the Earth, but this chapter raises the stakes by not just implicating Judah, but the entire world. The imagery is harsh and unflinching and doesn't portray a place where any of us would like to spend time, which leads to my general point.

I think my house used to be a regular stop for the Jehovah's Witnesses as they were out and about on Saturdays. It sure wasn't to talk to me, but I think they (in their mind, at least) had developed a relationship with Lisa (they hadn't--let's be 100% clear on this)but they hadn't stopped by in awhile. So, while minding my own business, doing what everyone else does on a Saturday morning (entering play-by-play data from yesterday's baseball games into my 350,000-line Excel spreadsheet), our DEW (Distant Early Warning) monitor, otherwise known as our dog Tessa, goes crazy because someone had the audacity to WALK ON MY SIDEWALK! Even more, they even CAME UP TO THE DOOR and RANG THE DOORBELL, which is not allowed in Tessa's mind. I answer the door, and it's either because of me or the dog, but they're not that interested in talking. They simply hand me an invitation to a presentation (not even a Watchtower--I guess budget cuts cross all lines), and they hightailed it as fast as they could. I bet there's some secret mark in front of my house identifying me as a hardcore LCMS defender.

Still reading at this point? You truly are patient. The title of the presentation (and it will be given at Northern Illinois University in Dekalb, if you're so inclined to attend) is "Will Humans Ruin This Earth?" Read Isaiah 24 and decide for yourself. 24:1 states it rather succinctly:

See, the LORD is going to lay waste the earth
   and devastate it;
he will ruin its face
   and scatter its inhabitants— 

I've commented before and probably will again, but it takes extreme hubris and egotism to believe that we humans can destroy the Earth. Our little home has had it all thrown at it in its history--bombardment by comets, asteroids, extreme heat, cold, poisonous gases in the atmosphere, and even today, in any contest between man and any of Earth's extremes (heat, cold, pressure, height, depth), man's going to come in second. I'm guessing here, but from what I can tell reading the rest of the flyer, the Jehovah's Witnesses come to the same conclusion.

Way back in Genesis 2, God gave Adam stewardship over the Earth, and stewardship implies the wise and judicious use of what we've been entrusted with. Humans can mess things up pretty bad, but still--even the Gulf Coast oil spill of last year has largely been rendered invisible, and much of that was due to the EARTH and not to man's efforts. Consider on any scale the worst of man's degradations to the Earth, and compare it to what the Earth can inflict--tsunamis, earthquakes, volcano eruptions, wild fires (the ones caused by lightning strikes, which are the vast majority), even snowstorms like that one we had last February. Man can mess things up, but we got NOTHING on the power of the Earth. And the Earth has nothing on God. When God decides our time is up, then, and not one moment sooner, will the Earth go away. 

Scott

Gathered (July 16)

In that day the Lord will thresh from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered up one by one.
                         Isaiah 27:12 NIV

We have reference to "that day," the day of the Lord, or judgement day, the gathering of Israel together for worship on the holy mountain of Jerusalem.  What an assurance for the believer that all believers will be gathered up one by one. 

It might be a good time to read ahead in Revelation 20 for that chapter describes the contrasting outcome for the devil and those deceived by him.  That outcome is a throw into a lake of fire or burning sulfur, with torment day and night for ever and ever.

Our theme this year is to "Tell the Story."  The contrasting outcomes above might provide encouragement, urgency, and importance for us to consider as we live our life to motivate us to show and tell the story in Christian love. 

It is a comforting assurance to understand and look ahead to the gathering of Israelites one by one.  Paul describes  Christian believers as being grafted into Israel through Christ in Romans Chapter 11.

How have you been moved to act on opportunities to tell the story this year?

What kinds of feelings did you experience after telling
(or not) telling the story?

Pray for opportunities, strength, wisdom, and courage to tell the story.


In Christ,


David P