bible – Live the Crazy Life

Characteristics of Kingdom Citizens

February 29, 2024 No Comments

green trees near body of water under blue and orange sky during golden hour

February is almost over as I start to study the “Kingdom” verse for the month. My life seems to be going at a pace I struggle to keep up with. But I still have 2 days (thank you Leap Year) this month to get my blog posted about the word Kingdom in the Bible for this month.

This month’s verse is found in the Beatitudes from Matthew chapter 5. Because it is from a famous portion of scripture called the Sermon on the Mount we will look into that and what is maybe just as popular a portion within the Sermon on the Mount titled the Beatitudes.

Before we get to the verse at hand we need to understand what is happening in this section of the word. Jesus is speaking not to the crowds as some might think, but to His disciples. Matthew 5:1 tells us when Jesus saw the crowds He went up the mountain and sat down with His disciples. The Sermon on the Mount includes at points a larger audience, but this little section known as the Beatitudes only seems to include the 12 disciples. Matthew 5:2 tells us Jesus opened his mouth to teach them. In my opinion, if Jesus is teaching then it is a lesson worthy of our attention, and retention. The word for teach in Greek means to cause someone to learn and it almost always refers to teaching the scriptures.

Jesus then goes into rhythmic statements about those who are blessed. When I read these they are a little confusing and don’t seem to align with my Western mindset of what being blessed means. The specific Beatitude I want to look into is found in Matthew 5:10 – “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”(TLV). It is interesting to note that Jesus starts the list of Beatitudes with “Blessed are those who are poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3 TVL) and ends with our verse 5:10. These are the only two from this list that mention the kingdom of heaven. Jesus also follows up this portion of the Sermon on the Mount with details about those who are being persecuted. No other blessed person does he go into as much detail about. I think Jesus wants us to understand that persecution will happen if you are a Christ follower. It may not be grand; but in some way, we all can anticipate persecution. Before we get too far down the road of persecution, let’s gain some understanding that will aid us in understanding this verse.

Let’s first look at the most common word in the Beatitudes which is blessed. The word blessed can mean a myriad of things. To the modern reader it can mean wealth, for non-believers it can mean luck, and to the ancient Jewish person it means happy. That is the most basic meaning of the word, but happy has much more depth in the Biblical sense than our American word. It means the happiness you feel when God extends His benefits to us. The mindset of persecution used to be that of one with honor, because it meant that you were able to empathize with the sufferings of Christ. It was understood that while you were not promised earthly vindication you were promised a great reward in heaven. Perhaps this understanding helps us make sense of those who are martyred and had a sense of peace about them in the process, like Stephen in Acts chapter 6. This knowledge of honor and approval of God coupled with a reward in heaven may make the momentary pain worthwhile.

Let’s look at some other words in this verse. Persecuted means to be pursued with haste, hunted down, overtaken, or troubled. Righteousness means judicial approval, and in the New Testament, it almost exclusively means the approval of God. Who as a follower of Christ wouldn’t want God’s approval on their lives?

The last word to look at is my theme word for the year Kingdom. It means a realm in which a King sovereignly reigns. It can mean the reign of Christ in the heart of believers, as well as a literal kingdom where Christ is King. The New Testament uses the word kingdom in three ways. 1. The kingdom of God in a believer’s heart. 2. Referring to the united body of believers as a kingdom ruled by Christ. 3. The future kingdom prepared for believers after death.

If we keep reading Matthew 5, verses 11 and 12 give us more insight into why you are blessed in persecution. To be persecuted for Christ places us among some of the great heroes of our faith. The prophets who were often mistreated and misunderstood but obeyed God’s command on their lives anyway. The Apostles many of whom gave their lives to further the gospel and of course our Lord himself. Remember Jesus is talking to the disciples all of whom were persecuted in one way or another. I think Jesus was giving them something to hold onto in those dark moments of persecution.

The idea of being blessed for being persecuted is a blessing that we won’t fully understand or receive in this life, but the anticipation of the promise that waits for us makes it bearable. God is faithful to his word. If you are persecuted, He will bless you; and a blessing from God is the best kind there is.

Heaven will be full of persecuted people, those who gave their lives, to those who were mistreated, insulted, and misunderstood. God will be there smiling telling us how pleased He is that we loved Him more than our own comfort and even our own lives. To those who have given the greatest sacrifice to God, we honor you here and can’t wait to meet you in the Kingdom of God.

Bible, Jesus, overwhelmed, Prayer, Uncategorized

How you hear and how you read

August 30, 2023 1 Comment

I have been reading in the book of Luke this past week. As I was reading I found myself wondering about so many different verses and their meanings that I started making a list of things to go back and research so I could understand better. One of those things was in verse 18 of chapter 8. But before I go there I have to tell you what happened Sunday on my way to before-service prayer.

I was leading prayer this past Sunday. So as I was getting ready I was asking God what He wanted us to cover in our prayer time. The scripture came to mind about the seed falling on soil and the thorns, or cares of this world, growing up and choking out the word. I felt like God said so many people want a thriving relationship with Me, but the cares of this world keep choking it out. I shared that with the prayer team. They agreed with the feeling of needing to pray over that and we prayed.

Monday morning I was reading in Luke, and low and behold I read chapter 8 which has the parable of the seed tucked into it in verses 5-15. Since the Lord had just been speaking to me about that, I read it slowly a couple of times. The seed in this parable falls onto 3 types of soil and some seed that never even makes it to the soil. The Bible calls that the seed that fell on the road and was trampled on. The soil types are rocky soil where the seed sprouts but can’t grow well because it cannot take root due to the rock. Then there’s the seed that falls on soil with thorns. It grows but becomes choked out by cares and riches and pleasures of life. It does not bear mature fruit, but it does seem to grow some kinds of fruit. Then the last is seed that falls on good soil where it takes root, doesn’t have to compete for nutrients, and it grows and produces fruit.

This is a familiar parable to most of us. The disciples ask Jesus to explain this to them a little more clearly and in verses 11-15 you get the explanation of the soil and the growth of the seed or lack there of. MacLarens Expositions of the Holy Scriptures explains this parable in a wonderful way that makes it clear and easy to understand. The seed sown among the thorns, as Jesus puts it in verse 7, isn’t seed that the sower sowed into a weed-filled field. Rather it looked like good ground, but the ground keeper seemed to have taken short cuts. He cut down the weeds or thorns but didn’t do the hard work of pulling them up before planting. And when the good seed and the weeds both began to grow the farmer let them grow together, skipping the hard work of weed pulling.

I get this. I love to grow a garden, but I HATE to pull weeds. It’s a lot of work, hurts your back, and sometimes you end up pulling up a plant you wanted to grow just to get the stinking weed. It’s often a daily chore and I don’t want to water and weed daily, but I do want the benefit of the vegetable or flowers or fruit in the end. I have found myself taking short cuts in this process. I have even found myself just letting the weeds grow among my plants, to be dealt with at a later day. A good farmer I am not. A patience person I am not either. A daily routine task person – nope not me either. So I really get this. And in the world of my back yard garden, it’s ok. I am not trying to grow enough food to fully feed my family for the year. It’s just something fun, and if it works, bonus! And if it doesn’t, no harm no foul.

But reading verse 14 of Luke 8 tells a different story. Spiritually speaking this is important because if we don’t deal with the weeds (or cares, riches and pleasure of life as Jesus words it) we won’t become mature Christians. We won’t produce mature fruit. We are under ripe and good for nothing. Harsh I know but true. The word “cares” in this verse can be translated “worries” or “anxieties”. You know those feelings of overwhelmingness and the long list of what if’s that we are supposed to cast upon the Lord. Well, left to themselves they will choke out our relationship with God. And the riches and pleasures of this life lead us to depend on ourselves and not God, making idols out of our abilities and making us like the Israelites of the Old Testament.

As true and hard as these verses are, the one that really got me was in verse 18. It reads “So pay attention to how you listen. For whoever has, to him more will be given. And whoever does not have even what he supposes he has will be taken away.” How you listen. Is there more than one way to listen. The word how in this sentence is an adverb; an interrogative particle of manner; in what way?; also as exclamation, how much!

In the Jewish culture to hear is to obey. They go hand in hand. If you don’t obey what was spoken then you didn’t hear to start with. Which is what I think is really happening in parable of the sower, and what the second half of verse 18 is saying. If you don’t listen well or with the intent to obey then you are the one who does not have, but what he thinks he has is taken from him.

MacLaren explains what we are to do with the word and the thorns: “for in every one of us there are the necessary anxieties of life, and every one of us knows that there is real and substantial good to a part of our being, in the possession of a share of this world’s wealth, without which no man can live, and all of us carry natures to which the delights of sense do legitimately and necessarily appeal.

So the soil for the growth of the thorns is always in us all. But what then? Are these things so powerful in our hearts as that they become hindrances to our Christian life? That is the question. The cares and the occupation of mind with, and desire for, the wealth and the pleasures are of God’s appointment. He did not make them thorns, but you and I make them thorns; and the question for us is, has our Christianity driven out the undue regard to this life, regarded in these three aspects – undue in measure or in any other respect, by which they are converted into hindrances that mar our Christian life? Dear brethren, it is not enough to say, ‘I have received the word into my heart.’ There is another question besides that – Has the word received into your heart cast out the thorns? Or are they and the seed growing there side by side? “

What a thought to ponder. What a place to stop and hear what God is saying. It is not wrong to have wealth, or to love your husband and kids, and be concerned for their well-being. But are we letting the word of God affect us in our habits of life. Do I pray when my kids are facing hard situations or simple worry and fret for them? Am I truly trusting God to keep them safe and lead them into the fullness of their personal relationship with Him? Or am I trying to make their walk with the Lord happen in the way I think best and in my own time table. Do I really believe that God will provide for me and my needs, or do I hold too tightly to my paycheck, planning for the worst?

This concept with hearing and obeying carries into how we read the scriptures too. Just a few chapters over from chapter 8, we find an expert in the law asking Jesus about eternal life in Luke 10:25-28. The man asks, “What should I do to gain eternal life?” Jesus answers him with this question, “What has been written in the Torah? How do you read it?” There it is again. The word how. Such a weird word to use in both of these situations. Or is it? Jesus isn’t asking the man do you know what the law says, but do you know how to apply it? It’s the same thing as in pay attention to how you hear. Pay attention to how you read. Are reading looking for loop holes, or ways to justify your actions or cause? Or are you allowing the Living Word of God to penetrate your heart and change you for the better. Are you listening to God and reading His word with the intention of allowing God to change your motives, your desires, your attitude? Or to check off doing devotions on some list in your head making you a good person?

So as you read your Bible and listen to your pastors, parents and other people of authority in your life, and of course Jesus speaking truth over you, pay attention to how you listen to them. Don’t justify or harden yourselves. Listen with the intention to obey, and read with the intention to see the invitation to walk with Jesus – not just follow the rules.

Quote taken from Expositions Of Holy Scripture, Alexander MacLaren, https://biblehub.com/commentaries/maclaren/luke/8.htm, accessed on 8/29/23

Christmas, Friendship, Jesus, Thanksgiving, Uncategorized

Getting to the feet of Jesus

November 26, 2022 No Comments

It has been a whirlwind of a week for me. Starting last Saturday. It was the wedding rehearsal day for my second oldest son. Which was fun, confusing (lots of discussing who walks in before who, and what word in the song do we start to walk out to kind of stuff.) All in all a good day, a little surreal but good.

Then Sunday morning (church day not the wedding day because both parents on each side are pastors and well, pastors have church services we do weekly) my daughter and oldest son alert me to a shooting in a town 20-30 minutes away. Five lives have been taken and 18 more are injured. My heart breaks. This shooting is yet another hate crime. Thoughts are swirling, Why God?, How God? And then to happy nervous thoughts. Yikes, tomorrow is the big day…

Then Monday, wedding day. Great day. Lots of emotions – all happy. Then Tuesday, back to work for Christmas decorating day. Then Wednesday, finally a lull in the week. Followed by Thanksgiving which has its own set of emotions. What I am grateful for and who do I want to smack for getting in the way while food is being put in the oven and taken out of the oven in crazy amounts. And now finally Friday. Black Friday. Why do we celebrate a day of being grateful and then call the next day Black Friday? Weird. Anyway, no Black Friday shopping here. Just a quiet house for the first time in a week – ’cause there are extra friends and family around because it was Thanksgiving and a wedding in one week.

I am sitting back in my office – which was turned into a spare room for said friends and family. Life is slowly making its way back to normal or as normal of the days between Thanksgiving and Christmas can get.

I’m working my way through a study on Jesus via the book of Luke. The author, Erica Wiggenhorn, does a great job of leaving you daily with deep thoughts to ponder. Today’s is based on Luke 5:17-26. For those of you who don’t immediately know Luke 5:17-26 (if you already knew what this section of Scripture is about, you ROCK, because I would not have known without having read it this morning), it’s about the paralyzed man with the amazing friends who go to great lengths to get the paralyzed man to Jesus.

When I say great lengths I mean like physically carrying the man on a mat to the house that Jesus was in, only to find one way, through the crowds, to get to Jesus. Determined, they carry the man up the stairs (outside) to the roof, cut a hole in the roof, create some sort of pully system so they can lower the man through the hole to the feet of Jesus. That all took thought, skill, muscle and teamwork. Once the man is in front of Jesus he is both healed and declared forgiven for his sins. He leaves carrying the mat his friends had been carrying him on all night.

The author of the study (Erica Wiggenhorn) poses the questions “Are you that kind of friend? Do you have friends like that?” My answer is I hope so to both. Then she takes it further, “Are you that kind of neighbor?” If your neighbors are some of your really close friends NEVER move, because that is not so common in today’s world.

Then she says “When we become people who readily admit our own desperation for Jesus, the door opens – or the roof is dismantled – for us to become people who will do anything to bring our friends to the feet of Jesus as well as to have their sins forgiven.” She goes on to say “Are you and I ready to become mat-carrying, roof- raising, believing-the-best-for-others kind of people. Will we allow Jesus to make us people with such faith and audacity that the world is left in wonder?” (Unexplainable Jesus, pg 72-73)

As I sit here this morning, once more in my office, in my quiet home, Jesus I want to be that kind of person to my friends, to my neighbors and to those I don’t know. I want to clear a path for people to come to the feet of Jesus because He can handle any situation we lay at His feet. He can make right any wrong. He can heal, and He can forgive sins. He alone can make whole what is broken in our bodies, in our hearts and in our world.

Friends, will you join me in being people who take others to Jesus? Someone who carries those who can’t walk to the feet of Jesus? Someone who won’t stop until the hurting, the broken, or the lost are at the feet of Jesus?

Over the next month as holiday madness ensues, let us remember our job isn’t to be the best host, give the best gift, or have the prettiest decorated house… but to help take those around us, friends, family, neighbors, and strangers to the feet of Jesus.

Bible, forgiveness, complaining, slow to anger, surrendering, surrendering

When God’s Way Seems too Hard – Remember Who You Serve

October 3, 2022 No Comments

I am smack in the middle of teaching on the book of Ezekiel. This week we are going over one of the hardest chapters of the book– and that’s saying something. Chapter 24. If you are unfamiliar with the book here’s a quick recap. Ezekiel is a priest and a prophet. He just turned 30 in the beginning of the book; he could now preform priestly duties on his own. Except he was captured by Babylon and taken into captivity. But captivity is where God uses him to speak, to lead, and to prophesy. This is the first of many things Ezekiel did that was not the way he thought life would go. That right there is a big lesson to learn in and of its self. God’s ways are not our ways. (Is. 55:8-9).

Ezekiel has spent 5 years trying to help the Israelite captives understand the consequences of their sins, as individuals and as a nation. They haven’t listened. Now, in chapter 24 the last time Ezekiel prophesies to the Israelites before turning his attention to the surrounding nations, we find this HARD thing God asks him to do.

God tells him “Your wife will die, and you are not to mourn her death.” This seems like a punch to the stomach from a God who is loving and forgiving, and kind and slow to anger. Questions like “How? Why? And really?” almost jump out our mouths as we read this. It doesn’t seem right, and for sure doesn’t sound like God. And yet it is God, and it is what He says.

How do we reconcile this with the God we believe in? To start we must look at what God is doing and not just what He is saying. I don’t for a moment trivialize what Ezekiel had to have thought and wrestled with. God has asked Ezekiel to do some very strange and not so easy things to get the attention of the Israelites. But this seems too much. Enter Ezekiel 24:18 – “So I spoke to the people in the morning, and that evening my wife died; and the next morning I did as I was commanded.”

I think Ezekiel is my favorite Old Testament person. He lived a life that shows what it truly means to put God first. Something we say but do we really do? He did. He is an example that it is possible to live with God being truly #1 in our lives; above job, above our comfort, above our family (kids, husbands, mothers and fathers.) Above it all.

So we know Ezekiel chose God first but why would God ask this of him. While God’s mercies are new every morning (Lam. 3:22-23) and He is slow to anger (Psalm 103:8 and Ex.34:6), He is also just (Deut. 32:4) and a God who is jealous over us (Ex 34:14.).

For me, understanding and accepting this hard side of God came when I read verse 13 of chapter 24. “In your filthiness is lewdness because I have cleansed, and you were not cleansed.” Stick with me for a moment. Ezekiel is a prophet who is called to physically act out what God is saying. He is the visual aid so to speak. Ezekiel isn’t who God is speaking to in verse 13. Verse 13 is to those who have taken God’s forgiveness lightly.

No one wants to admit it but we all have done that at times. Hanging on to that sin we have repented of, asked to be freed from, but won’t let go of. That one thing we cling to a little tighter in our left hand while holding our right hand out to God. In the word of this Old Testament Book the Idol we have in our heart that we hope no one (not even God) sees. God is asking Ezekiel to give up his wife for the sake of His Glory. And he does.

The other day I was visited by a religious group going door to door to share their “faith”. I watched out my window as adults (not teens, not even young adults, but men and women older than me) got of their cars, gathered, prayed and went out. One man stood at the end of my driveway for several minutes – head bowed, what I assumed to be praying. Then his partner joined him and together they walked up to my front door. I walked outside, explained to them that I am a pastor and secure in my faith, had no desire to debate my believes, and blessed them. Upon returning to my front door, I felt the Holy Spirit asking me what I am doing to make my God known to the lost world? Would I be willing to go to strangers, risk being yelled at, having doors slammed in my face all for the chance to share the gospel? Would I humble myself for the sake of someone else’s salvation. Would I put God above my own comfort? Would I be willing to walk through pain if it meant someone else would truly repent and turn from their wicked ways and be saved? What would I give up to spread the fame of who My God is to the world?

This hard chapter of Ezekiel reminds us that God is God and we shall have no other Gods before Him. Not my comfort, not my wants, not my spouse nor my children can have the space that God has in my heart. God may never ask me to give up my family for Him, but He does daily ask me to give up my ways and wants so that my heart is fully yielded to Him. So that my heart is humble and willing to pray for those who don’t yet know Him, to serve those who I feel don’t deserve it. To honor those who I want to discredit. To live a life that shows the world around me that God is first, and I have no other God besides Him.

Bible, forgiveness, complaining, slow to anger, The power of the Blood, Uncategorized

A Journey Through the Book of Numbers – Part 5: The long awaited conclusion

March 12, 2022 No Comments

statue of st mary standing on top of rock

Thank you for taking the time to read this series post. Today I am wrapping up the book of Numbers. There are two different things I’d like to talk about in this last post. Starting in Chapter 29 I will share about the Day of Atonement and then wrap of with Moses’ angry outburst at the rock which will take us back to chapter 20.

I see so much of myself in the Israelites. They whine, they complain, God moves on their behalf, they rejoice, and then they repeat that cycle over again. Maybe the time gaps between the rejoicing and the complaining grow a little longer each cycle but yet they go right back to being complaining whiny babies. It is so easy to see sin in someone else than to acknowledge in your own heart.

While I was reading through Numbers I came across a verse in Chapter 29 that seemed to scream stop studying this and learn from this. It reads like this “You are to hold a sacred assembly on the tenth day of this seventh month and practice self-denial; do not do any work.” Numbers 29:7. Practice self-denial. I don’t know about you but I am horrible at this. I mean H-o-r-r-i-b-l-e. We live in the land of ‘I want what I want when I want it’. And I have adopted that life style more than I would like to admit. And the not work part – what?? I am always working, either for the church, or doing house work, or doing something for the family, or working in the garden because it helps me destress from all the work. That’s just life in America right? That is the norm, right? I mean I know we take a Sabbath but if I am honest that just means grocery shopping and finishing whatever household things didn’t get done that week, and maybe reading the Bible and watching a show.

So I sat with that. Prayed about it, thought about it and then studied it. What I learned is how the Jewish culture, at least in Biblical times, prepares for the Day of Atonement. For those that aren’t familiar with it, the Day of Atonement is the one day the High Priest would go into the Holy of Holies and offer sacrifices to atone for the sin of themselves and their nation. They did this every year along with all the other required sacrifices throughout the year.

The Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur, is the climax of a 10 day period where the Jewish people reflect and repent for their lives and actions over the last year. They spend from the 1st day of the month of Tishri which is Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur repenting and looking internally at the condition of their heart. These 10 days are called the ‘Days of Awe’.

The Torah states that on Yom Kippur the High Priest could go into the Holy of Holies and call upon the name of Yaweh to offer a blood sacrifice for the sins of the people. A life for life sacrifice. Once again we see how the book of Numbers points us to our need for Jesus who was the High Priest who could legally go into the Holy of Holies and He Himself offered His life in place of mine and yours and every person who will accept Him.

However, in my studying I found that 40 days before Yom Kippur is the ‘Season of Teshuvah’. This 40 days is the period of time marked on the Jewish calendar that Moses was called to go back up Mount Sinai and he then received the second set of tablets of the 10 commandments. Moses went up to Mount Sinai no less then 3 times, each for 40 days at a time. The last time Moses went up was on the 1st of Elul and he descended 40 days later on the 10th of Tishri which is now Yom Kippur. This 40 days between the 1st of Elul and the 10th of Tishri represents the time of national sin and forgiveness obtained by Teshuvah before the Lord. Teshuvah means “turn towards God.” It is a time of soul searching and offering prayers for forgiveness.

I had decided that I would observe Lent this year. Just me and God. I wasn’t doing this for a study but because I personally need to reflect on where my heart was, spend some time with Jesus, and get prepared to celebrate Easter. (As I have said in other posts I struggle with the Holy Holidays turned secular like Easter and Christmas.) I wanted this year to be different and was believing this 40 days of Lent would help with that. I tell you that because they day I researched and learned of the Season of Teshuvah was on March 2nd, 2022 – the first day of Lent. We see that in the old testament God was setting up practices and applications for his people to see how wicked they had become, turn and repent, and accept that one sacrifice was sufficient to cleanse them of unrighteousness so they could continue in their relationship with the Lord. Jesus is our atonement for sin once and for all. He is that sacrifice that allows me, a sinner, to stand in the righteousness of Christ before the Lord. I was blown away at God’s goodness and provisions for maintaining relationship with His people.

What great lengths he went to, to show us His love that was always there for mankind. The day of self denial is the day you realize it isn’t you that makes you clean. You can’t be holy enough for God’s standards without the blood of a sacrifice. A life for a life. It is a day and a season to reflect on how much I need Jesus. I must deny myself, take up my cross, dieing to my wants and my ways, and follow Jesus and His ways. Because His way leads to life and mine leads to more work, more effort only to end up so off from the mark I was aiming at.

And Now on to Moses and why he didn’t get to enter the promised land. Chapter 20 recants the story of the Israelites once more complaining. This time it was a about lack of water. Which, by the way, God had already shown them many times how He controlled the water. He turned it into blood in Egypt. He parted the Red Sea so they could cross over to safety from the Eygptians. And He provided water in the desert when Moses hit the rock and water poured out. So why can’t they just believe God will provide? Hmmm. I see myself there. God has healed people I have prayed for. He has provided for me time and time again. And yet when it comes down to it, I freak out, complain, ask God why He is doing this to me, only to have Him show me His love and answers to my situation once again. Turns out seeing isn’t believing after all.

This time God tells Moses to speak to the rock and water will come forth. But Moses is human just like us. He gets mad just like us. He does things out of pride just like us. Instead of speaking to the rock He hits it twice and water comes forth. Moses disobeyed God and yet God provided for the people and for Moses. Don’t miss that. Moses sinned and God still moved despite that sin. But then we read that because Moses didn’t obey God he won’t enter the promised land.

I have always struggled with this. It seems so harsh of God. In fact, too harsh for the God who loves unconditionally. But the story doesn’t end there. The book of Numbers is not the last time we read about Moses. We read once more about Moses in Matthew 17:1-9 Jesus takes Peter, James and John up on a high mountain and He is transfigured in front of them. He shows them his glory, and who he really is – part of the Trinity of God. He Himself reveals His Holy-self to them. Verse 3 of chapter 17 reads ‘Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.” Moses shows up on the mount of Transfiguration and is talking with Jesus. Moses is standing on a mountain in the Promised Land with Elijah and Jesus.

In the book of Numbers we read that God allows him to see the Promised Land. But years and years later Jesus stands with Moses in the Promised Land. God redeemed what sin caused Moses to lose. His ways really are better.

The book of Numbers reminds us of our propensity to sin. It also reminds us that God made a way to redeem us from our sins through the blood of Jesus. God’s heart is for us, it always has been and it always will be. And even when we think we have blown it so bad that God redeem our situation, He stands and talks with us as we experience His promises. God is faithful and more loving than we will ever know. And the book of Numbers reminds us of that, through all the ups and downs, sinning and repenting; God never gave up on them, and He will never give up on you.

Bible, community, Jesus, love, wisdom

A Journey through the book of Numbers – Part 3 Camping with a Cloud and the 2nd passover celebration

February 28, 2022 No Comments

unrecognizable traveler standing on mountain top and admiring landscape

For this blog on the book of Numbers we will be focusing on chapters 8-10. If you haven’t read the previous 2 blogs on the book of Numbers, you can do so by clicking here for part 1, and clicking here for part 2.

In chapter 8 we see that God has given helpers to Aaron and his sons – the entire tribe of the Levites. The Levites have to be dedicated to be able to serve God and Aaron. Again in this chapter we see that God has claimed the first born of every male both human and animals alike. In place of the first born male of the Israelites God has taken the Levites.

Not everyone is called to be pastor or priest as Aaron was. But that doesn’t mean that pastors/priests don’t need people to help them. Serving at a church is a blessing to pastors. Whether you serve on staff or as a volunteer, it takes a “tribe” to do it. Every job of serving is a help and a blessing. From serving coffee, to greeters and toddler teachers, they are all helpful and needed. Just a little plug for volunteers.

Chapter 9 is the 2nd Passover. Or really the first time that they are to celebrate it as a remembrance of what God had done for the Israelites. This is an interesting chapter to me. God has specific rules for celebrating passover which left some of the Israelites unable to celebrate the passover. There are a few lessons to learn from this chapter. First, God is a god of grace. He is righteous and Holy, and because of that He make rules and regulations, but He is not ridged. He make allowances for those who don’t meet His holy standards. Isn’t this just another reflection of what God did by sending Jesus to take our place, and die in our place? We didn’t meet God’s holy standards, so He made a way for us just like He made a way for those Israelites who were ceremonially unclean and couldn’t celebrate passover.

The next things we learn is from Moses. The Israelites bring their concern about some not being able to celebrate passover to Moses and He answers them in verse 8 saying ‘Wait, and I will inquire what the Lord commands concerning you.’ Moses didn’t give a quick reply, He didn’t respond with his opinion either. He knew this was something only God could answer. It would benefit us all if we took a moment to seek the Lord’s answer to questions.

In chapter 10 we see the Israelites are on the move once more. God has the Israelites make trumpets out of hammered silver. This gives Moses a way to call either all the Israelites or just the tribe leaders. Remember there are over a million of them with women and children. When they break camp and travel, the Ark of the covenant is to go ahead of them symbolizing God leading them. In verse 35 of chapter 10 we read what Moses would say when the Ark would set out. “Arise Lord! May your enemies be scattered! May those who hate You flee from before You! Return, Lord to the myriad thousands of Israel!” This sounds like a good thing to declare and pray before moving the people of God. This is one of those times when looking into the original Hebrew words and finding their meanings helps give a brighter picture of what is actually happening. Arise is the word Kam and it’s a verb that means move into position to attack. Moses is calling God not only to lead them but to be in position ready to attack and defend the Israelites behind the Lord. The whole phrase is a little word picture showing that the Lord would rise up away from the Ark and go out ahead of the people and do battle on their behalf, and then return to rest on the Ark and stay with the Israelites. What a picture. God is with you, then He goes before you clearing your path fighting your battle and then returns to go with you. God is a God of relationship. He protects you and fights for you and when that is done He wants to be there right in your midst until He has to go and fight for you again.

The book of Numbers may sound boring by its name, but it shows us over and over God’s love and plan for redeeming His people and bringing them to the promised land live with them and among them. It points us towards heaven, our promised land, and reminds us while we are here traveling through this foreign land, among hostile people, God is with us. God is fighting for us, and leading us home.

To continue to the next blog about the book of Numbers click here.

Uncategorized

A Journey Through the book of Numbers – Part 1

February 24, 2022 No Comments

I have never done a series on my blog. So this is a first. And yes, I am starting with the book of Numbers. I know I know I hate math, too, but this book is amazing. I began reading it in prepping to lead a Bible study this summer by Lauren Chandler on the book of Numbers. The study is called With Us in the Wilderness . I haven’t started hers yet, just thought I would read through the book and use the First 5 App from Lysa TerKeurst to have a second source of info when leading this study.

Just in the first two chapters I was blown away by all God was speaking and showing me. The book of Numbers isn’t just a list of Numbers and census of biblical Israel. It’s so much more. So I will start with my insight from chapters 1-3.

Chapter 1 starts out with the Lord asking Moses to take a census of the people. Seems boring, right? But in everything God does there is purpose, and most of the time that purpose is mind blowing. All the tribes were counted but the Levites because they were to work in the tabernacle and had specific duties in moving the tabernacle. Then once everyone was counted Moses, by command of the Lord, tells the Israelites how to camp. Remember they had just been freed from slavery in Egypt and are now making their way to the promised land. Moving more than 1 million people through the desert wasn’t an easy task and didn’t just happen over night. We all know they camped in the wilderness for 40 years, but that was due to some discontented people we will talk about in later blogs. However, I think even if that didn’t happen it still would have taken some time. So the people had to learn how to camp, how to break camp, and how to fight.

God is intentional in everything He says and does. This census that Moses took led to teaching the Israelites the best camp formation for them. When they stopped and set up camp they were to do so in a specific way. The Tent of meeting or Tent of the Tabernacle was to be in the middle. One three sides of the Tent of Meeting were the Levites camps, leaving no Levites to camp on the east side of the Tabernacle. There, the largest group would camp – the tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. To the north the tribes of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali. The west side was Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin. And last the south where the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad camped. Because Moses took the census, He knew where to place the bigger tribes. Why is that important? Because God wanted Moses to keep the Tabernacle safe from an attack. With the tribes strategically placed, there were fighting forces all around the Tabernacle with an inner force of the Levites.

Ok so you might be thinking, so what? God protected the Tabernacle. Take a look at this picture from my Holman Woman’s Study Bible.

Do you see it? They camped in the shape of a cross. With the Tabernacle at the center. Pretty cool right. Even in the book of Numbers God is speaking to us about His plan for salvation. And that is just chapter 1.

We see again the concept of redemption in chapter 3. In chapter 3 we see God asking Moses to take a count of all the Levites, the tribe that is closest to the Tabernacle and the ones who are put in charge of caring for the Tabernacle, the sacrifices, and the offerings given to the Lord. In verses 12-13 of chapter 3, we read that the Lord has taken the Levites in place of every firstborn Israelite because every firstborn belongs to the Lord.

After Moses numbers the Levites we discover that there were 273 more men in the other 11 tribes than there were in the tribe of the Levites. An atonement price is set at 5 shekels of silver for those who out number the Levites. Verse 48 calls it a “redemption price”. Jesus is the first born male of God who is perfect without blemish who was sacrificed in our place. The book of Numbers helps us see that even in the Old Testament God had plans for redeeming His people. He was foreshadowing all that Jesus would one day do, while making provision for those who lived before Him. God is full of love and wants to have relationship with His people. From the Old to New Testament, that has never changed.

I can’t wait to share God’s remedy for jealousy in the next part of this series on the book of Numbers.

To read part 2 click here.

Bible, Prayer, Uncategorized, wisdom

Life Lessons from the Book of Esther

November 10, 2019 No Comments

A while back I posted a blog about what I was learning from studying the book of Esther. Now I am on the last week of studying Esther with a group of amazing women from my church. And while I have learned a lot, the 3 big take-aways are: 1. God uses those in the shadows to affect the outcome of the start (see blog post We all have a part to play). 2. How we approach God in prayer when we are feeling attacked. And 3. the impact of seeing God’s hand in every situation we face.

Since I already explained what I mean by the first take away I will jump straight to the second and third. How we approach God in prayer matters. We can learn a lot on how Esther approached the king with the news that she and her people were set to be destroyed. She asked the king if she had favor in his eyes. We don’t have to do this. We already know we have God’s favor (see Psalm 84:11 or Psalm 5:12 for a couple of examples.) Esther wanted the king to see that he did indeed care for her, that he felt favorable towards her. Once that was established, she used that favor to her advantage. She exposed what the enemy had planned for her. Esther 7:5-6 says “King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, ‘Who is he? Where is the man who has dared to do such a thing?'” Esther said the adversary and the enemy is this vile Haman.” We have a King who favors us, but do we point out to Him in prayer who our enemy is? Do we expose the plans of the enemy to our King? Esther didn’t ask the King, “Please, if it’s in your will can you stop this attack of the enemy?” All she had to do was point it out and then let the King respond. When I am feeling attacked, I ask God to help stop the attack of the enemy. I don’t think that is wrong, but I think there is more power in exposing what the enemy is doing to me and then let the righteous anger of my King respond. The Bible says over and over He hears our cry; He rescues us. (See Psalm 34:17). So why not pray something like this? “God, do you see what the enemy is trying to do to me? The one you favor! Your beloved! How are you going to deal with our enemy?” God is our shield, our protector. We don’t have to ask Him to act on our behalf. We know He will. We just need to let Him know it’s more than we can handle, and we need Him to intervene on our behalf.

The 3rd lesson was pointed out to me in the Beth Moore study on the book Esther. She used original language to point out that the words “portion”, “favor” and “lot” in Esther are all connected in the original Hebrew. In Psalm 16:5, the Bible says, “Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup. You have made my lot secure.” In other words you have given me all things. You keep me secure in the midst of all things. Beth Moore’s words sum it up best – “No matter what life – or Satan himself – hands us, the favor God has on His children causes that “lot” to tumble out on the table in such a way that instead of destruction, the child will discover that her portion turned into destiny one trusting step at a time. When all is said and done, she will see that the portion God assigned her was good. Right. Rich. Full of purpose.” (It’s tough being a woman Bible study page 208)

So when life throws you a curve ball you weren’t expecting, remember God is working all things out for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. – Romans 8:28

Bible, Memorizing scripture, wisdom

Living in light of wisdom

May 4, 2018 No Comments

It’s May!! Wow, this year is flying by, and what a year it has been. It has had some amazing moments and quite possibly some of my very lowest moments, too! This year, which started with my theme word for the year of steadfast love, slowly morphed into a year where two words – steadfast love and wisdom – (thus far) are making the framework for how I view everything. I still am learning to see everything in life through the steadfast love of God; which by the way is a great viewpoint to live from. Then, slowly, wisdom crept into my line of sight. There has been so much that I don’t know how to respond to, or I simply respond in my own ways -which usually lack wisdom and end up making a mess of the situation. So I found myself creating the monthly memory verse this month and hoping I could return to steadfast love but found wisdom swirling in my heart and mind. So here it is.

James 3:17 “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy, and good fruits, impartial and sincere.”

I want to live with God’s wisdom in all situations – never my own. I fail at this a lot, but I promise it is a goal. So I am learning to distinguish my wisdom from God’s. That, my friend, involves prayer. Before I go any further in what I believe this verse to mean, I must disclose that prayer is the key to the whole thing. You can’t have wisdom from God if you are not talking to God about whatever the situation may be. Ok, now that that is established, let’s look at the verse a little deeper.

Being true to me I looked at what all the different words that describe wisdom mean. Some mean exactly what they say, and others had deeper meanings. Let me show you. Wisdom means intellect. Uh, could have guessed that. But pure means in a condition prepared for worship. So when I am seeking wisdom from God it will come in the form of intellect that puts my heart in a place of worship. That is not all that pure means. It also means not mixed with guilt. Meaning whatever I feel the Lord saying to do will not make me feel guilty for doing it in the end.

Peaceable means God’s gift of wholeness – knowing the Lord’s will and obeying it. God will make clear the best way to respond to the situation, and your job is to obey it. Then it is gentle. I just loved what I found this to mean. You would expect it to mean easy or soft in some way; but not so much here. It means truly fair by relaxing overly strict standards in order to keep the spirit of the law. God won’t hold us to some impossible standard. He will never change what is right and what is wrong, but how He leads through wisdom is usually a curvy path rather than a straight line.

Then comes open to reason, not meaning that you are open to being swayed by what you feel the Lord has said in a given situation, but rather that it is easy to obey. When you spend time seeking God in prayer, you place yourself in a position to obey. He moves your heart to that place of obedience. Mercy means what you would expect mercy to mean. But good fruit means something amazing here in this verse. It means everything done in true partnership with Christ resulting from two life streams – the Lord moving through our lives to yield what is eternal. Lastly, impartial means being certain, and sincere means free from hidden agendas.

Ok, that was a lot. Let me put all of this together for you. Life bombards us with decisions. Some have no impact on our life beyond that moment. Others have an impact that lasts years, and some for eternity. When those big decisions need to be made, God will give you wisdom. James 1:5 tells us God will give us wisdom when we ask. When He does, it brings peace and makes us stand in awe and worship God. It isn’t a strict and heavy burden to carry. You won’t have doubt. You will approach the whole thing full of mercy. It will yield eternal impact, and you won’t have hidden agendas in your heart.

This year has led me to make HUGE decisions I never imagined having to think about, let alone decide the right thing to do in the situation. They have been heart-wrenching hard choices, but I have been able to make those decisions in peace because I leaned into God and sought wisdom from above.

Click Here for the May memory verse

Bible, love, Memorizing scripture, Steadfast love

A Precious Love

March 6, 2018 No Comments

The steadfast love of God, how great it is. To live in the knowledge of a Savior who loves us unconditionally, with an unmoving, never-ending love is overwhelming and amazing.

You have heard of people having a word to define their season, or maybe they have a word for the year. I am not sure which mine is or both, but the word to define my life is STEADFAST LOVE. I guess it really is two words, but who’s counting. Steadfast love is a word I hear in my heart and mind daily. It seems to jump off the pages of the Bible when I see it. It recalibrates me when I get lost in the pain of life or the routine of the mundane.

So for the memory verse for the month of March, here is another one on steadfast love. Maybe it will be a year of steadfast love. Time will tell, but for now, it remains my anchor of hope in a stormy sea.

Psalm 36:7-8 says “How precious is your steadfast love O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.” Just take that first line, how precious is your steadfast love O God! The Bible ends that sentence with an exclamation mark, but it could just as easily end with a question mark. I ask God to show me how precious His steadfast love is. He reminds me of Easter. Of a steadfast love that gave His life for mine. Of how steadfast love clung to the cross, to the hope, to the redemption of my soul.

God’s love is not like man’s love. It loves when it is inconvenient – when the one being loved does not deserve it. It is always there through sleepless nights and sorrow-filled days. God’s love surrounds us if we take the time to see it.

God’s steadfast love is an abundance feast in His house. What a thought. God’s love creates a place for us where we are the honored guest. It quenches our dry throats with water from the river of His delight. It refreshes and restores our broken hearts. It reminds us that we are not alone. There are others God graciously gathers with us to join the feast, to help us celebrate who He is in our midst.

What a love. It knows no bounds, no limits, no hesitations. It gives freely to all who will partake of it. So I ask you, have you thought how precious God’s love is lately? Have you silenced your mind and your heart long enough to really appreciate the steadfast love God offers? If you haven’t you should. Take a moment and think about what God’s love is to you. Maybe you have never thought about the fact that God, the creator of the universe, is passionately in love with you. He is. He loves you with a steadfast love that will never fade. He loves you where you are right now in the midst of whatever your life is. He loves you because He created you. No one knows you better, and still He will always choose to love you. That, my friends, is a love worth daydreaming about. It is worthy of gratitude and thankfulness.

Take time to tell God how precious His love is to you and how thankful you are for it. It will change your day. It will make a bad attitude better. It will remind you there is good out there and in you. It will pull you out of a funk and hold your hand if you need to cry. It is precious and profound, and it is yours.

How precious is your steadfast love O God!(?)

Click here for the March 2018 memory verse

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