An Honor For All His Faithful People

Psalm 146-150

Happy is the one whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea and everything in them.
He remains faithful forever,
executing justice for the exploited
and giving food to the hungry.
The Lord frees prisoners.
The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord raises up those who are oppressed.
The Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord protects resident aliens
and helps the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
Psalm 146:5-9

Hallelujah!
How good it is to sing to our God,
for praise is pleasant and lovely.

The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem;
he gathers Israel’s exiled people.
He heals the brokenhearted
and bandages their wounds.
He counts the number of the stars;
he gives names to all of them.
Our Lord is great, vast in power;
his understanding is infinite.
The Lord helps the oppressed
but brings the wicked to the ground.
…
He is not impressed by the strength of a horse;
he does not value the power of a warrior.
The Lord values those who fear him,
those who put their hope in his faithful love.
…
He sends his command throughout the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
He spreads snow like wool;
he scatters frost like ashes;
he throws his hailstones like crumbs.
Who can withstand his cold?
He sends his word and melts them;
he unleashes his winds, and the water flows.

He declares his word to Jacob,
his statutes and judgments to Israel.
He has not done this for every nation;
they do not know his judgments.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 147:1-6, 10-11, & 15-20

Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted.
His majesty covers heaven and earth.
He has raised up a horn for his people,
resulting in praise to all his faithful ones,
to the Israelites, the people close to him.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 148:13-14

For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
he adorns the humble with salvation.
Let the faithful celebrate in triumphal glory;
let them shout for joy on their beds.

Let the exaltation of God be in their mouths
and a double-edged sword in their hands,
inflicting vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
binding their kings with chains
and their dignitaries with iron shackles,
carrying out the judgment decreed against them.
This honor is for all his faithful people.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 149:4-9

Hallelujah!
Praise God in his sanctuary.
Praise him in his mighty expanse.
Praise him for his powerful acts;
praise him for his abundant greatness.
…
Let everything that breathes praise the Lord.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 150:1-2 & 6

I really loved reading through these final psalms. What an amazing, awesome, loving, and gracious God we serve! There were two things really struck me in these passages:

1) God takes pleasure in His people.

Oh, how my heart needs that reminder! So often I feel more like a disappointment because I constantly fall short. But I loved what Spurgeon wrote: “What is there in us in which the LORD can take pleasure? Nothing unless He has put it there. If He sees any beauty in us, it must be the reflection of His own face. The LORD takes pleasure in us not only because of all He has done, but because He sees something in us that pleases Him, something that is His own work. A sculptor, when he commences on the marble, has only a rough block , but, after days and weeks of hard work, he begins to see something like the image he is aiming at producing. So I believe God is pleased when He sees in any of us some grace – some repentance, some faith, some beginnings of that sanctification that will one day be perfect.”

2) It is an honor to exult the LORD with our mouths.

Interestingly, part of exulting the LORD with our mouths involves wielding the double-edged sword of truth. Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Paul describes the Word as our only weapon against the spiritual warfare we will face in this world. It’s no wonder then that God’s word offends the listener who is opposed to truth. In western Christianity, primarily among progressive Christians, we see more people afraid to wield this sword. Now, I do believe we are called to be full of grace AND truth, but so many professing Christians either shy away from speaking the truth or reject it all together. God’s revealed truth is a privilege, and it is an honor to exult Him when we speak the truth in love, even to those whose hearts are hardened toward it. As I’ve been having conversations with people over the past couple of weeks, especially with those who are upset about the SCOTUS decision, it has reminded me how important it is to not only be rooted in the truth of His Word, but also to be willing to speak it. We have the words of LIFE, and people need to hear them whether they realize it or not. I can confess that it is intimidating, and sometimes awkward to step into these conversations, especially with those you know are strongly opposed to your position. Yet, I am reminded that God’s word is true, it is proven, it is perfect, it endures forever. God doesn’t need me to defend Him or His word – does a Lion need defending??? I don’t need to have all the answers or respond eloquently to every question or critique. “He values those who fear Him, who have put their hope in His faithful love”; and when we fear Him – when we love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength – we obey Him. And when we obey Him we will do the things He has called us to do…like speaking His truth to a world in need of a Savior.

LORD, thank You that You take pleasure in me, not because of anything in and of myself, but simply because I am Your child! Let this truth seep deep into my heart and may it cause me to be bold in exulting You before men! AMEN!

The Beginning of Knowledge

Proverbs 1-2

The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:
For learning wisdom and discipline;
for understanding insightful sayings;
for receiving prudent instruction
in righteousness, justice, and integrity;
for teaching shrewdness to the inexperienced,
knowledge and discretion to a young man—
let a wise person listen and increase learning,
and let a discerning person obtain guidance—
for understanding a proverb or a parable,
the words of the wise, and their riddles.

The fear of the Lord
is the beginning of knowledge;
fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction,
and don’t reject your mother’s teaching,
for they will be a garland of favor on your head
and pendants around your neck.
My son, if sinners entice you,
don’t be persuaded.
If they say—“Come with us!
Let’s set an ambush and kill someone.
Let’s attack some innocent person just for fun!
Let’s swallow them alive, like Sheol,
whole, like those who go down to the Pit.
We’ll find all kinds of valuable property
and fill our houses with plunder.
Throw in your lot with us,
and we’ll all share the loot”—
my son, don’t travel that road with them
or set foot on their path,
because their feet run toward evil
and they hurry to shed blood.
It is useless to spread a net
where any bird can see it,
but they set an ambush to kill themselves;
they attack their own lives.
Such are the paths of all who make profit dishonestly;
it takes the lives of those who receive it.

Wisdom calls out in the street;
she makes her voice heard in the public squares.
She cries out above the commotion;
she speaks at the entrance of the city gates:
“How long, inexperienced ones, will you love ignorance?
How long will you mockers enjoy mocking
and you fools hate knowledge?
If you respond to my warning,
then I will pour out my spirit on you
and teach you my words.
Since I called out and you refused,
extended my hand and no one paid attention,
since you neglected all my counsel
and did not accept my correction,
I, in turn, will laugh at your calamity.
I will mock when terror strikes you,
when terror strikes you like a storm
and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when trouble and stress overcome you.
Then they will call me, but I won’t answer;
they will search for me, but won’t find me.
Because they hated knowledge,
didn’t choose to fear the Lord,
were not interested in my counsel,
and rejected all my correction,
they will eat the fruit of their way
and be glutted with their own schemes.
For the apostasy of the inexperienced will kill them,
and the complacency of fools will destroy them.
But whoever listens to me will live securely
and be undisturbed by the dread of danger.”
Proverbs 1:1-33

My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
listening closely to wisdom
and directing your heart to understanding;
furthermore, if you call out to insight
and lift your voice to understanding,
if you seek it like silver
and search for it like hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and discover the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
He stores up success for the upright;
He is a shield for those who live with integrity
so that he may guard the paths of justice
and protect the way of his faithful followers.
Then you will understand righteousness, justice,
and integrity—every good path.
For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will delight you.
Discretion will watch over you,
and understanding will guard you.
It will rescue you from the way of evil—
from anyone who says perverse things,
from those who abandon the right paths
to walk in ways of darkness,
from those who enjoy doing evil
and celebrate perversion,
whose paths are crooked,
and whose ways are devious.
It will rescue you from a forbidden woman,
from a wayward woman with her flattering talk,
who abandons the companion of her youth
and forgets the covenant of her God;
for her house sinks down to death
and her ways to the land of the departed spirits.
None return who go to her;
none reach the paths of life.
So follow the way of the good,
and keep to the paths of the righteous.
For the upright will inhabit the land,
and those of integrity will remain in it;
but the wicked will be cut off from the land,
and the treacherous ripped out of it.
Proverbs 2:1-22

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge…” I’ve heard this proverb since I was a little girl growing up in church. I feel as though I have understood this verse in theory, but in recent years it has really started to make sense in practice. As we navigate this world of perversion, evil, confusion, deception, and darkness, this verse has never impacted me so deeply. The world celebrates and condones things that are evil and untrue at such an extreme level to the point where sometimes it makes me think, “Am I wrong? Am I crazy?” But true wisdom and understanding comes from having a right view of God.

Dr. Constable’s notes contained the following commentary of this verse:
“Fear” includes not only a correct way of thinking about God but a correct relationship with God. It is an affectionate reverence that results in humbly bowing to the God’s will. It is a desire not to sin against Him, because His wrath is so awful and His love is so awesome. But the connotation of real fear, not just reverential trust, is also present in “the fear of the LORD.”

[The fear of God] is reverential subordination to the All-directing, and … to the One God, the Creator and Governor of the world …”

“One properly fears Yahweh because he is the most powerful being in the universe. Only fools would not be afraid of a being who has the power of life and death over them. Such persons do not understand their place in the cosmos and thus do not know how to act in the world. All other wisdom builds on this point, and there is no wisdom without it.”

“Beginning” does not mean that the fear of the LORD is where one starts learning wisdom, but then he or she can move away from it—like moving away from the starting line in a race. Rather, the fear of the LORD is the controlling principle, the foundation, on which one must build a life of wisdom. It is “the first step to the attainment of knowledge.”

“True knowledge begins with an acknowledgment that everything is created and sustained by God and that he is the one who imparts knowledge not only through revelation but also through experience, observation, and reason.”

When I opened up my bible website to copy and paste verses, the verse of the day was Psalm 90:2
“Before the mountains were born,
before you gave birth to the earth and the world,
from eternity to eternity, you are God.”

God is God, our Maker, our Creator. He existed before us and His knowledge is vast beyond measure. Yet the world has rejected Him and has instead turned to its own way, all the while wondering why things aren’t getting better.

Some of the evil that I have seen celebrated over the past few weeks is just heart-wrenching, and what’s worse is that it has been aimed at children. Christians are often accused of trying to legislate “their” morality, and while yes, we want to live in a society where biblical morals and values are honored and upheld, it goes so much deeper. Yes, we want to see a change in behavior, but we also know that that change is impossible without the life-altering, heart-softening, dead-raising affect of Jesus Christ. more than a behavior change, we want to see hearts changed. We know that these people are heading toward their own destruction, and we love them too much to celebrate or condone choices and lifestyles that continue to lead them down a path further and further from God.

As I look at all the craziness of the world – the feet that rush to do evil and shed blood, the perverse speech, the abandonment of the right paths and the walking in darkness, the enjoyment of evil, the celebration of perversion, the crookedness and deviousness of people’s ways – I am reminded that it is because they did not see fit to acknowledge God (Romans 1). They have refused His extended hand, they did not accept His counsel and refused His correction. They hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the LORD. And because of this, they are heading toward destruction – they attack their own lives and they will eat the fruit of their way. In the end, the righteous – those made righteous by the blood of Christ – will inherit the land, they will have everlasting life in the presence of God; but the wicked, those who have refused Him and rejected Him, will be cut off and ripped out of it. Paul writes in Galatians 6, “ Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. For whatever a person sows he will also reap, because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.”

The world is trying to seek wisdom apart from God, and it is leading toward destruction. James writes in chapter 3, “Who among you is wise and understanding? By his good conduct he should show that his works are done in the gentleness that comes from wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t boast and deny the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there is disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without pretense. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who cultivate peace.”

LORD, thank You that You have poured out Your Spirit in my life so that I may have knowledge on understanding of You, of Your ways, and of truth. Help me to have a rightly placed fear of You so that I can continue to understand Your word and the wisdom that comes from above. LORD, I pray for those who are under the deception of the enemy, those who have rejected You. Some are in my own family and circle and it grieves my heart to see them walking down a path that leads to destruction. Help me to lovingly and boldly share truth with those who You have placed in my life. My I not boast in anything other than knowing Christ, from Whom true wisdom and knowledge flows. AMEN!

I Have Chosen The Way Of Truth

Psalm 119:1-40

How happy are those whose way is blameless,
who walk according to the Lord’s instruction!
Happy are those who keep his decrees
and seek him with all their heart.
They do nothing wrong;
they walk in his ways.
You have commanded that your precepts
be diligently kept.
If only my ways were committed
to keeping your statutes!
Then I would not be ashamed
when I think about all your commands.
I will praise you with an upright heart
when I learn your righteous judgments.
I will keep your statutes;
never abandon me.

How can a young man keep his way pure?
By keeping your word.
I have sought you with all my heart;
don’t let me wander from your commands.
I have treasured your word in my heart
so that I may not sin against you.
Lord, may you be blessed;
teach me your statutes.
With my lips I proclaim
all the judgments from your mouth.
I rejoice in the way revealed by your decrees
as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on your precepts
and think about your ways.
I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word.

Deal generously with your servant
so that I might live;
then I will keep your word.
Open my eyes so that I may contemplate
wondrous things from your instruction.
I am a resident alien on earth;
do not hide your commands from me.
I am continually overcome
with longing for your judgments.
You rebuke the arrogant,
the ones under a curse,
who wander from your commands.
Take insult and contempt away from me,
for I have kept your decrees.
Though princes sit together speaking against me,
your servant will think about your statutes;
your decrees are my delight
and my counselors.

My life is down in the dust;
give me life through your word.
I told you about my life,
and you answered me;
teach me your statutes.
Help me understand
the meaning of your precepts
so that I can meditate on your wonders.
I am weary from grief;
strengthen me through your word.
Keep me from the way of deceit
and graciously give me your instruction.
I have chosen the way of truth;
I have set your ordinances before me.
I cling to your decrees;
Lord, do not put me to shame.
I pursue the way of your commands,
for you broaden my understanding.

Teach me, Lord, the meaning of your statutes,
and I will always keep them.
Help me understand your instruction,
and I will obey it
and follow it with all my heart.
Help me stay on the path of your commands,
for I take pleasure in it.
Turn my heart to your decrees
and not to dishonest profit.
Turn my eyes
from looking at what is worthless;
give me life in your ways.
Confirm what you said to your servant,
for it produces reverence for you.
Turn away the disgrace I dread;
indeed, your judgments are good.
How I long for your precepts!
Give me life through your righteousness.
Psalm 119:1-40

C.S. Lewis famously said, “I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

Elizabeth Elliot wrote, “Faith does not eliminate questions. But faith knows where to take them.“

Yesterday, in a senseles, hatefully wicked act, a young man entered an elementary school and murdered 21 innocent people, many of whom were young children. My heart breaks for the families of these victims as they grieve the shocking loss of their loved ones. I don’t understand how a person gets to that place mentally and emotionally – to desire to take the life of another human being.

But here’s what I do know – “The heart is more deceitful than anything else and mortally sick. Who can fathom it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) Paul expounds on this in Romans 1:
“For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse. For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. Therefore God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen…And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a corrupt mind so that they do what is not right. They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, senseless, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful. Although they know God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die—they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.”

Humanity has rejected God and His ways. Since the Garden, mankind has desired to seek its own way rather than to obediently trust in the way that has been revealed by our Creator. We run further and further from His instruction and then wonder why the world is broken and full of wickedness, all while arrogantly pointing our fingers and shaking our fists at an “unjust, unloving” God who would allow such evil to exist.

I’ve seen so many people grasping to try and make sense of a completely senseless act. It’s republicans’ fault, it’s democrats’ fault, it’s gun makers/owners’ fault, it’s the school system’s fault, it’s society’s fault. There HAS to be a reason, and there HAS to be someone to blame. Yet, I never hear our culture point to the real culprit, the root cause of every form of evil – SIN. As I look at the world and the brokenness that exists in it, the ONLY thing that makes sense is what scripture teaches. I can see how in every sector of society, when we remove God’s design and way, everything falls apart. The Psalmist who wrote 119, understood that God gives life through His Word. Where can we find blessing, peace, joy, comfort, wisdom, truth, righteousness, and justice? In God’s Word. How can we keep our way pure? By walking according to His Word – His gracious, loving instruction that guides us in the way that is right.

I noticed so many active words describing what it looks like to “walk according to the LORD’s instruction”: keep, seek, learn, think, sought, treasure, proclaim, rejoice, meditate, delight, contemplate, long, remember (not forget), choose, set, cling, pursue, obey, follow. Knowing God’s Word and living by God’s Word are not the same. When we choose the way of truth, we live and walk by it. As I see God’s Word confirmed, it truly creates a deep reverence and faith in Him, and that leads to a great desire to understand and obey His Word. As my heart is turned more and more toward His precepts and my eyes are turned from the worthless idols that the world offers, I find peace in the choas and tragic events of this life. I recognize that I am a resident alien, that this world is not my home, and that even in the midst of tragic, senseless acts of evil, God is sovereign, He reigns above it all, and one day we will see His righteousness and justice redeem and restore all of the brokeness of this world as He makes every sad thing untrue. How I long for that day! But as He tarries, I pray that I would long to live by and walk in His ways, His precepts, His instructions, because I know they have been graciously given by a loving Father. AMEN!

Speak, LORD, Your Servant Is Listening

1 Samuel 3

The boy Samuel served the Lord in Eli’s presence. In those days the word of the Lord was rare and prophetic visions were not widespread.

One day Eli, whose eyesight was failing, was lying in his usual place. Before the lamp of God had gone out, Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was located.

Then the Lord called Samuel, and he answered, “Here I am.” He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

“I didn’t call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.

Once again the Lord called, “Samuel!”

Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

“I didn’t call, my son,” he replied. “Go back and lie down.”

Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, because the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. Once again, for the third time, the Lord called Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

Then Eli understood that the Lord was calling the boy. He told Samuel, “Go and lie down. If he calls you, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

The Lord came, stood there, and called as before, “Samuel, Samuel!”

Samuel responded, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

The Lord said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel that will cause everyone who hears about it to shudder. On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I said about his family, from beginning to end. I told him that I am going to judge his family forever because of the iniquity he knows about: his sons are cursing God, and he has not stopped them. Therefore, I have sworn to Eli’s family: The iniquity of Eli’s family will never be wiped out by either sacrifice or offering.”

Samuel lay down until the morning; then he opened the doors of the Lord’s house. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, but Eli called him and said, “Samuel, my son.”

“Here I am,” answered Samuel.

“What was the message he gave you?” Eli asked. “Don’t hide it from me. May God punish you and do so severely if you hide anything from me that he told you.” So Samuel told him everything and did not hide anything from him. Eli responded, “He is the Lord. Let him do what he thinks is good.”

Samuel grew. The Lord was with him, and he fulfilled everything Samuel prophesied. All Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a confirmed prophet of the Lord. The Lord continued to appear in Shiloh, because there he revealed himself to Samuel by his word.
1 Samuel 3:1-21

I love that I have this collection of journal entries of my quiet times from the last 5 years. It’s just so awesome to be able to go back and reread my entries from previous years and see what the LORD was teaching me in those passages and seasons of life. That is how I have felt as I have started through 1 Samuel this past week. I have enjoyed looking back and seeing what God was teaching me 3 years ago and even having the hindsight of knowing what evens and trials and life changes have happened since those journal entries. I love that I can look back and see how God was sanctifying me, preparing me, equipping me, and revealing more of Himself to me in ways that have deepened and grown my faith so much since those reflections were typed out.

Rereading my previous entry on 1 Samuel 3, really encouraged me this morning, reflecting on Jesus, the WORD of God, Who has revealed Himself to us. We no longer can rely on prophets and oracles to reveal God to us – He has already been revealed. He is revealed by His actual words in Scripture, but also by Who He is – Who Christ revealed Him to be. We have more scripture than any of the prophets and priests of the Old Testament ever did; even the New Testament saints did not have a complete collection of the Gospels and epistles, as these were being written during the first 100 years after Christ was resurrected. We have God’s revealed Word to help us navigate this world that is ever-changing. Peter writes in 1 Peter 1, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” And Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3, “All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

One of our teaching pastors at church often says that before he opens up his bible in the morning, he prays, “Speak, LORD, Your servant is listening.” It such a beautiful, humble way to posture our hearts before the LORD as we get ready to open up the Word, HIS WORD, that has the ability to inform and transform our hearts to become more like Christ. We don’t need to listen to other voices and opinions to help us discern what the LORD is saying. All we need to do is listen to what He has revealed in His WORD. AMEN!!!

Pursue Justice And Justice Alone

Deuteronomy 15-16

“Appoint judges and officials for your tribes in all your towns the Lord your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment. Do not deny justice or show partiality to anyone. Do not accept a bribe, for it blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous. Pursue justice and justice alone, so that you will live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
Deuteronomy 16:18-20

Social Justice. A word we have become well familiar with over the past few years. A verse I have heard quoted by many prominent Christians in the midst of the social justice movement is Micah 6:8, “Mankind, he has told each of you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.”

The Bible has a lot to say about justice. In Isaiah 6, the LORD says, “For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing.” Psalm 35 says, “The LORD loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.” Isaiah 30 says, “For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!”

We too are called to seek and pursue justice. Isaiah 1 says, “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.”Psalm 106 says, “Blessed are those who act justly, who always do what is right.” And Zechariah 7, says, “This is what the LORD Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.'” Clearly, we have a responsibility in pursuing justice in our lives and the lives of others. But I think where social justice gets it wrong is that it fails to recognize that justice exists because God is just and righteous. He is the One who defines justice and He has revealed what true justice is in His Word. Pastor Voddie Baucham said, “If the social justice movement went by its actual name,young Christians would not have been lured into it. Because the social justice movement is actually cultural marxism. There’s no such thing as social justice, people. In fact, in the bible, justice never has an adjective. There’s justice and there’s injustice, but there’s not different kinds of justice.”

Moses defines the type of judges that the people should appoint:
-Those who will judge the people with righteous judgment. 
-Those who will not deny justice or show partiality to anyone.
-Those who will not accept a bribe
-Those who will pursue justice and justice alone

These are attributes of God Himself, the righteous God who judges justly, Who executes justice, Who shows no partiality, and who accepts no bribes. He seeks justice and justice alone. Not a narrative, not an agenda, not the popular public opinion, but justice rooted in righteousness…and righteousness is always rooted in TRUTH.

I thought it was really interesting that the verses prior to the ones about appointing just judges are describing how the people are to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles/Shelters. In John 7, while Jesus is in Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles, He says, “My teaching isn’t mine but is from the one who sent me. If anyone wants to do his will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. The one who speaks on his own seeks his own glory; but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is true, and there is no unrighteousness in him. Didn’t Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”

“You have a demon!” the crowd responded. “Who is trying to kill you?”

“I performed one work, and you are all amazed,” Jesus answered. “This is why Moses has given you circumcision —not that it comes from Moses but from the fathers —and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses won’t be broken, are you angry at me because I made a man entirely well on the Sabbath? Stop judging according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment.”

Jesus says, the one who speaks on his own seeks his own glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is true, and there is no righteousness in him. I thought about how this relates to the idea of partiality and bribery, both of which are self-serving and self-glorifying. But it takes humility, and often even courage and sacrifice, to seek the glory of another. When we as believers judge or pursue justice, we ought to seek what God defines as justice. God, Who is righteous and just, full of grace and truth, is also LOVE; and Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13: “Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

Social justice, rooted in critical race theory, seeks retribution and vengeance, shame and division, and ostracizing and segregating the perceived oppressors. God’s justice will always bring glory to Him and the things He delights in – mercy, righteousness, truth, unity, peace, love, compassion.

One final thought – while we may be part of seeking and bringing about biblical justice here on earth, let us always remember that vengeance is the LORD’s; therefore, it has no part in the justice that we ought to seek. AMEN!

Don’t Worship The LORD Your God This Way

Deuteronomy 11-14

“Look, today I set before you a blessing and a curse: there will be a blessing, if you obey the commands of the Lord your God I am giving you today, and a curse, if you do not obey the commands of the Lord your God and you turn aside from the path I command you today by following other gods you have not known. When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim the blessing at Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount Ebal. Aren’t these mountains across the Jordan, beyond the western road in the land of the Canaanites, who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, near the oaks of Moreh? For you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you possess it and settle in it, be careful to follow all the statutes and ordinances I set before you today.
Deuteronomy 11:26-32

“Be careful to follow these statutes and ordinances in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess all the days you live on the earth. Destroy completely all the places where the nations that you are driving out worship their gods—on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree. Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn their Asherah poles, cut down the carved images of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place. Don’t worship the Lord your God this way. Instead, turn to the place the Lord your God chooses from all your tribes to put his name for his dwelling and go there.
…
You are not to do as we are doing here today; everyone is doing whatever seems right in his own sight.
…
Be careful to do everything I command you; do not add anything to it or take anything away from it. 
Deuteronomy 12:1-5, 8, & 32

“If a prophet or someone who has dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you, and that sign or wonder he has promised you comes about, but he says, ‘Let’s follow other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let’s worship them,’ do not listen to that prophet’s words or to that dreamer. For the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul. You must follow the Lord your God and fear him. You must keep his commands and listen to him; you must worship him and remain faithful to him. That prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he has urged rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the place of slavery, to turn you from the way the Lord your God has commanded you to walk. You must purge the evil from you.
Deuteronomy 13:1-5

“You are sons of the Lord your God; do not cut yourselves or make a bald spot on your head on behalf of the dead, for you are a holy people belonging to the Lord your God. The Lord has chosen you to be his own possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.
Deuteronomy 14:1-2

One of the first things the Israelites were instructed to do upon entering the Promised Land was to destroy completely the pagan pillars, poles, altars, and images. This was so that they would not be tempted to follow after false gods created by the surrounding nations. You see the phrase “be careful” repeated so many times throughout Deuteronomy, that Moses almost comes off ass a broken record. But the LORD knew that the more of the nations His people adapted to and accepted, the less they would reflect Him and look like the chosen nation He had called them to be.

I think we see the same issue occurring in the Church today. Many denominations and congregations tolerate, accept, and condone the things which God calls detestable. We dabble in astrology, mysticism, and new age practices and pretend that these are just fun little additions to our faith without recognizing their pagan roots. We add to or twist the scriptures to fit our agenda and take away the things we don’t like. We create our own image of “god” that we find most pleasing and palatable instead of worshipping the One Who has revealed Himself in His Word. God has shown us Who He is and how we are to worship and fear Him, yet so many people are on a “spiritual journey” with an idol they have created.

Post crucifixion, we no longer have to go to the physical place God had chosen. Instead, He has now made His home in the hearts of those who have put their faith in Jesus. In John 4, when Jesus is speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well, He says, “Believe me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and in truth.” Jesus does not say that true worshippers will worship only in Spirit, but also in TRUTH. Jesus says in John 16, “Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment: About sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; and about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own, but he will speak whatever he hears. He will also declare to you what is to come.” We cannot have the Spirit without Truth and we cannot have the Truth without the Spirit. If a “spirit”, or a teacher, or a movement, instructs us to do things that are not in line with the Scriptures, then we ought not follow it. Paul instructs us in 1 Thessalonians 5 to “test everything and hold fast to what is good.” Much like the Bereans (Acts 17) who searched the scriptures in eagerness to see if the message was true, so we too much make sure that what we “feel in our spirit” does not contradict the truth of God’s Word, remembering that the human heart is deceitful above all things. (Jeremiah 17)

Not only were the Israelites instructed on how to and how not to worship the LORD, they were instructed not to try to blend in with the cultures and people around them. Cutting oneself or creating bald spots on the head were symbolic of pagan practices in that time. Israel was to stand out because they had been set apart. We too are set apart by God and for God. Peter writes in 1 Peter 2, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” Warren Wiersbe wrote, “The external appearance of the people should reflect their internal status as the chosen and holy people of God.” How we live our lives and how we engage in the culture are indeed demonstrative of who and/or what we truly worship.

LORD, may You be glorified in my feeble attempts to live my life as an act of worship to You. I know that You see every seemingly small and insignificant act as well as the greater ones and view them as precious. May I not be swayed by the world or the culture around me that constantly adds and subtracts from Your Word. May I worship You in Spirit and Truth always. AMEN!

Diligently Watch Yourself

Deuteronomy 4

“Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live, enter, and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. You must not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it, so that you may keep the commands of the Lord your God I am giving you. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-peor, for the Lord your God destroyed every one of you who followed Baal of Peor. But you who have remained faithful to the Lord your God are all alive today. Look, I have taught you statutes and ordinances as the Lord my God has commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to possess. Carefully follow them, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the peoples. When they hear about all these statutes, they will say, ‘This great nation is indeed a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a god near to it as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call to him? And what great nation has righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?

“Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you don’t forget the things your eyes have seen and so that they don’t slip from your mind as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your grandchildren. The day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, ‘Assemble the people before me, and I will let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days they live on the earth and may instruct their children.’ You came near and stood at the base of the mountain, a mountain blazing with fire into the heavens and enveloped in a totally black cloud. Then the Lord spoke to you from the fire. You kept hearing the sound of the words, but didn’t see a form; there was only a voice. He declared his covenant to you. He commanded you to follow the Ten Commandments, which he wrote on two stone tablets. At that time the Lord commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to follow in the land you are about to cross into and possess.

“Diligently watch yourselves—because you did not see any form on the day the Lord spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb— so you don’t act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of any figure: a male or female form, or the form of any animal on the earth, any winged creature that flies in the sky, any creature that crawls on the ground, or any fish in the waters under the earth. When you look to the heavens and see the sun, moon, and stars—all the stars in the sky—do not be led astray to bow in worship to them and serve them. The Lord your God has provided them for all people everywhere under heaven. But the Lord selected you and brought you out of Egypt’s iron furnace to be a people for his inheritance, as you are today.

“The Lord was angry with me on your account. He swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. I won’t be crossing the Jordan because I am going to die in this land. But you are about to cross over and take possession of this good land. Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you, and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of anything he has forbidden you. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

“When you have children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, and if you act corruptly, make an idol in the form of anything, and do what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, angering him, I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that you will quickly perish from the land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not live long there, but you will certainly be destroyed. The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be reduced to a few survivors among the nations where the Lord your God will drive you. There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see, hear, eat, or smell. But from there, you will search for the Lord your God, and you will find him when you seek him with all your heart and all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, in the future you will return to the Lord your God and obey him. He will not leave you, destroy you, or forget the covenant with your ancestors that he swore to them by oath, because the Lord your God is a compassionate God.

“Indeed, ask about the earlier days that preceded you, from the day God created mankind on the earth and from one end of the heavens to the other: Has anything like this great event ever happened, or has anything like it been heard of? Has a people heard God’s voice speaking from the fire as you have, and lived? Or has a god attempted to go and take a nation as his own out of another nation, by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, by great terrors, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? You were shown these things so that you would know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him. He let you hear his voice from heaven to instruct you. He showed you his great fire on earth, and you heard his words from the fire. Because he loved your ancestors, he chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt by his presence and great power, to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you in and give you their land as an inheritance, as is now taking place. Today, recognize and keep in mind that the Lord is God in heaven above and on earth below; there is no other. Keep his statutes and commands, which I am giving you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper and so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”
Deuteronmy 4:1-40

I just love Deuteronomy so much! Though these words were written to the Israelites as they were about to go in and take possession of the Promised Land, there is still so much wisdom that we as believers today can glean from the instructions the LORD gave to Moses.

Moses consistently warns the people to guard their hearts, to not forget all that the LORD had done, and to continue in faithfulness to Him. Our hearts are idol factories, they have been from the beginning, and when we allow ourselves to slowly drift away from the LORD, our hearts will naturally drift toward worshipping something else.

The idea that we ought to diligently watch ourselves continues into the Gospels and the New Testament letters:

Brothers and sisters, if someone is overtaken in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual, restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so that you also won’t be tempted.
Galatians 6:1

Many deceivers have gone out into the world; they do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves so that you don’t lose what we have worked for, but that you may receive a full reward. Anyone who does not remain in Christ’s teaching but goes beyond it does not have God. The one who remains in that teaching, this one has both the Father and the Son.
2 John 1:7-9

Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.
Acts 20:28-29

And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know the true one.We are in the true one—that is, in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, guard yourselves from idols.
1 John 5:20-21

 “Be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves.” Matthew 7:15

He then told them, “Watch out and be on guard against all greed, because one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions.”
Luke 12:15

“Be on your guard, so that your minds are not dulled from carousing, drunkenness, and worries of life, or that day will come on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come on all who live on the face of the whole earth.”
Luke 21:34-35

Therefore, dear friends, since you know this in advance, be on your guard, so that you are not led away by the error of lawless people and fall from your own stable position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.
2 Peter 3:17-18

Our culture continues to move further and further away from God’s truth, and even many of those claiming to be Christians have been deceived and have begun to look more like the world, adopting beliefs and practices that are unbiblical. Progressive christianity, prosperity teaching, new age and mysticism…all these theologies and beliefs teach something other than the Gospel and move us away from the truth that God has revealed to us in His word. They either add to or take away from the Holy Spirit inspired scripture that God has deemed necessary to preserve.

Moses divinely knew that the further the people moved away from following God’s instructions and forgetting what He had done for them, the worse off they would be; therefore, he urged them to diligently keep watch over themselves. These verses in Deuteronomy remind me of Peter’s words the the believers in 2 Peter 1:

“His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. The person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins. Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these things you will never stumble. For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.”

God is full of compassion and grace and love toward us, we can never earn His free gift of salvation; yet, our election as His children ought to inspire us to move deeper in our faith, remembering what we have been saved from and what we have been called to. Therefore, let us be diligent so that we may not become useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. AMEN!

Compromising and Deviating

Galatians 2

Now from those recognized as important (what they once were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism)—they added nothing to me. On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter was for the circumcised, since the one at work in Peter for an apostleship to the circumcised was also at work in me for the Gentiles. When James, Cephas, and John—those recognized as pillars—acknowledged the grace that had been given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to me and Barnabas, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. They asked only that we would remember the poor, which I had made every effort to do.

But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. For he regularly ate with the Gentiles before certain men came from James. However, when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision party. Then the rest of the Jews joined his hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were deviating from the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas in front of everyone, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel Gentiles to live like Jews?

We are Jews by birth and not “Gentile sinners,” and yet because we know that a person is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we ourselves have believed in Christ Jesus. This was so that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will be justified. But if we ourselves are also found to be “sinners” while seeking to be justified by Christ, is Christ then a promoter of sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild those things that I tore down, I show myself to be a lawbreaker. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.
Galatians 2:6-21

I love this chapter that teaches us that our justification is through Christ alone. Rereading what I wrote the last time I was in Galatians reminded me that it is not legalistic observance of the law that makes us righteous, but God through Christ.

This time, I looked up Dr. Constable’s notes to get a little bit more context for Paul’s admonishment of Peter:

Peter at first “used to eat” meals with the Christians at Antioch, who were both Jews and “Gentiles,” until some Jewish visitors came from Jerusalem (cf. Acts 10:28; 11:3). They may have been from the group that believed Gentiles needed to undergo circumcision before they could become Christians. If so, they were not “from James” in the sense that James endorsed their views; he did not (v. 9). Perhaps they were simply Jews who came from the same church as James.

When these “certain men”—Paul did not call them brethren—came, they intimidated Peter (cf. Prov. 29:25) who gradually separated himself from the Gentile Christians, evidently to avoid conflict. Some other Jewish believers living in Antioch followed Peter’s example, as did “even Barnabas.” They were being hypocritical, saying one thing and doing another.

Peter had a tendency to compromise his convictions when he was under pressure…Paul concluded by affirming that he did “not set aside (nullify) the grace of God,” as Peter had done by his behavior. He did this by putting himself back under the Law, saying in effect that obedience must accompany grace to make it sufficient. If that were true, Paul ended, “then Christ died needlessly.” It would then be obedience that saves, not Christ.

Peter’s compromise not only lead to his own hypocrisy, but caused others to stumble as well. But ultimately his actions were a deviation from the true Gospel – the one that says we are justified not by our works but by the grace of God.

I think today the church continues to be under pressure to compromise our convictions to gain the acceptance of the world. In order to make the Gospel more palatable, we tone it down, we try to appeal to people’s feelings instead of pointing them to truth. I’ve read that the Gospel, though it truly is the GOOD NEWS, is the most offensive message because it challenges our innate pride and self-righteousness. It forces us to come to grips with the fact that we are sinners, that we cannot save ourselves, and that we in turn need a Savior. When we dilute that message, whether it be for approval or fear of offending people we are compromising the Truth.

In these times of feelings over fact, of seeking personal affirmation and approval, of preaching tolerance instead of repentance, may we who have been justified by Christ alone, who have been crucified with Christ, live by faith in His death and resurrection, and may it make us strong in our convictions so that we will never compromise on the Gospel – whether it be through legalism or through acceptance and affirmation of the things Christ died for. AMEN!

Faith Over Feelings

Numbers 10-14

Then the whole community broke into loud cries, and the people wept that night. All the Israelites complained about Moses and Aaron, and the whole community told them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to die by the sword? Our wives and children will become plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” So they said to one another, “Let’s appoint a leader and go back to Egypt.”

Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole assembly of the Israelite community. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who scouted out the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite community, “The land we passed through and explored is an extremely good land. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and give it to us. Only don’t rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land, for we will devour them. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us. Don’t be afraid of them!”

While the whole community threatened to stone them, the glory of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tent of meeting.

The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people despise me? How long will they not trust in me despite all the signs I have performed among them? I will strike them with a plague and destroy them. Then I will make you into a greater and mightier nation than they are.”

But Moses replied to the Lord, “The Egyptians will hear about it, for by your strength you brought up this people from them. They will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, Lord, are among these people, how you, Lord, are seen face to face, how your cloud stands over them, and how you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. If you kill this people with a single blow, the nations that have heard of your fame will declare, ‘Since the Lord wasn’t able to bring this people into the land he swore to give them, he has slaughtered them in the wilderness.’

“So now, may my Lord’s power be magnified just as you have spoken: The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in faithful love, forgiving iniquity and rebellion. But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generation. Please pardon the iniquity of this people, in keeping with the greatness of your faithful love, just as you have forgiven them from Egypt until now.”

The Lord responded, “I have pardoned them as you requested. Yet as I live and as the whole earth is filled with the Lord’s glory, none of the men who have seen my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tested me these ten times and did not obey me, will ever see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None of those who have despised me will see it. But since my servant Caleb has a different spirit and has remained loyal to me, I will bring him into the land where he has gone, and his descendants will inherit it. Since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the lowlands, turn back tomorrow and head for the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.”

Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: “How long must I endure this evil community that keeps complaining about me? I have heard the Israelites’ complaints that they make against me. Tell them: As I live—this is the Lord’s declaration—I will do to you exactly as I heard you say. Your corpses will fall in this wilderness—all of you who were registered in the census, the entire number of you twenty years old or more—because you have complained about me. I swear that none of you will enter the land I promised to settle you in, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. I will bring your children whom you said would become plunder into the land you rejected, and they will enjoy it. But as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness.Your children will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years and bear the penalty for your acts of unfaithfulness until all your corpses lie scattered in the wilderness. You will bear the consequences of your iniquities forty years based on the number of the forty days that you scouted the land, a year for each day. You will know my displeasure. I, the Lord, have spoken. I swear that I will do this to the entire evil community that has conspired against me. They will come to an end in the wilderness, and there they will die.”
Numbers 14:1-35

All but two of the Israelite scouts relied solely on their feelings about the Land that they had been sent to survey. Yes it was good and fruitful, just as the LORD had promised, but it was also full of people that appeared to be stronger and mightier than them. How quickly they had forgotten that the same God Who had promised this good land, was the same God Who had defeated on of the most mighty nations in the known world, was the same God Who had brought them through the Red Sea by parting the waters, was the same God Who provided food and water in the wilderness, was the same God Who appeared to them in terrifying fire on the mountain and called them to be His own special possession.

It’s so easy to allow our feelings to rule over us, despite the past faithfulness of God. One of our pastors often says, “Feelings are real, but they aren’t reliable.” It’s much more natural for us to allow our feelings to become our guides, even mini gods. We begin to trust, rely and obey them in ways that we shouldn’t. Often, our feelings lead us into sin and false beliefs about God. Eve trusted her feelings when she took a bite of the forbidden fruit, instead of trusting that the God Who loved her and created her had a good and righteous purpose in instructing her and Adam not to eat from that tree. Despite all the love and provision and protection – all the faithfulness God had already demonstrated, she chose to trust her feelings instead of her Father.

Feelings can not only be destructive to ourselves, but they can negatively impact others. The 10 rebellious spies were so set in their feelings of fear that they quickly infected the rest of the camp with their false reports about the land. They were so intent on gaining support for their misplaced feelings that they were willing to lie in order to get others to join their stance. The rest of the camp was flooded with emotion, weeping all night, and longing to be slaves in Egypt. When Caleb and Joshua contradict the false reports of the other spies, the people are so angry that they would counter what they have deemed “true” that they begin to plot to stone them to death. Then God intervenes, He promises that the faithless Israelites who complained about Him will surely not see the Land He had promised, but that their children would be the ones to enjoy it.

When allow our feelings to form our perception of truth, we are prone to act out emotionally when we are confronted with facts, evidence, or contrary opinions that go against what we have accepted to be true. This is so clearly evident in our society today. People lash out angrily toward people who have come to different conclusions on a topic, and it doesn’t matter how much their stance might be disproven, if they have attached too much feeling to their belief, they are likely going to respond with negative emotions. We can’t allow feelings to inform our truth – truth must always inform our feelings. When it doesn’t, we will open ourselves up to the deceptive lies from the enemy meant to cause us to question the nature and character and truth of God.

LORD, help me to not be formed by feelings but to hold fast to what is true. May Your truth sanctify me and deepen my faith. Help me to remember Your past faithfulness and Your future promises so that I can walk faithfully with You in every circumstance. AMEN!

Detestable Things

Leviticus 17-18

The Lord spoke to Moses: “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: I am the Lord your God. Do not follow the practices of the land of Egypt, where you used to live, or follow the practices of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. You must not follow their customs. You are to practice my ordinances and you are to keep my statutes by following them; I am the Lord your God. Keep my statutes and ordinances; a person will live if he does them. I am the Lord.

“You are not to come near any close relative for sexual intercourse; I am the Lord. You are not to violate the intimacy that belongs to your father and mother. She is your mother; you must not have sexual intercourse with her. You are not to have sex with your father’s wife; she is your father’s family. You are not to have sexual intercourse with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s, whether born at home or born elsewhere. You are not to have sex with her. You are not to have sexual intercourse with your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, for they are your family. You are not to have sexual intercourse with your father’s wife’s daughter, who is adopted by your father; she is your sister. You are not to have sexual intercourse with your father’s sister; she is your father’s close relative. You are not to have sexual intercourse with your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s close relative. You are not to violate the intimacy that belongs to your father’s brother by approaching his wife to have sexual intercourse; she is your aunt. You are not to have sexual intercourse with your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife; you are not to have sex with her. You are not to have sexual intercourse with your brother’s wife; she is your brother’s family. You are not to have sexual intercourse with a woman and her daughter. You are not to marry her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter and have sex with her. They are close relatives; it is depraved. You are not to marry a woman as a rival to her sister and have sexual intercourse with her during her sister’s lifetime.

“You are not to approach a woman during her menstrual impurity to have sexual intercourse with her. You are not to have sexual intercourse with your neighbor’s wife, defiling yourself with her.

“You are not to sacrifice any of your children in the fire to Molech. Do not profane the name of your God; I am the Lord. You are not to sleep with a man as with a woman; it is detestable. You are not to have sexual intercourse with any animal, defiling yourself with it; a woman is not to present herself to an animal to mate with it; it is a perversion.

“Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves by all these things. The land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its iniquity, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants. But you are to keep my statutes and ordinances. You must not commit any of these detestable acts—not the native or the alien who resides among you. For the people who were in the land prior to you have committed all these detestable acts, and the land has become defiled. If you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it has vomited out the nations that were before you. Any person who does any of these detestable practices is to be cut off from his people. You must keep my instruction to not do any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them; I am the Lord your God.”
Leviticus 18:1-30

I was reading with my daughter last night from her new bible promises book. We are still in the beginning and were reading about the account of Adam and Eve. The promise that we were focusing on is “God always tells the truth.” In the book it said, “God knew what was best for Adam and Eve because He had made them and had made their hearts. And He knew that their was one rule Adam and Eve needed…God told Adam and Eve that if they ate the fruit from the forbidden tree, they would die. Nothing had ever died before, but God knew how to make them understand what that meant. They heard God say that not eating from that tree was the one rule they had to obey. They heard Him promise He would always give them the food they needed, and they understood. So they enjoyed the land and the sea and the other animals and the other amazing food that grew in the garden. They were happy and their hearts were always connected to God.”

I think we can sometimes downplay how significant it was that God gave them ONE rule. ONE thing that they had to obey. ONE thing that was off limits. Their obedience to that ONE rule allowed them to have full, unhindered relationship with their Creator, because trusting God in this ONE thing kept them from the one thing that would separate them from Him – sin. All sin is ultimately rooted in not trusting God. Satan was able to convince Eve and Adam that God’s word could not be trusted, and because of that, they disobeyed and sin and death entered God’s perfect world.

Since then, humanity has come up with all kinds of ways to sin and rebel against God. I heard in a sermon recently that Martin Luther has said that obedience to the 10 Commandments ultimately hinges upon our obedience to the first two: “You shall have no other gods before me” and “You shall not make for yourself a carved image (idol)”. All the other sins come out of a heart that has disregarded the LORD as the one true God, and has allowed other “idols” to become paramount.

All sin grieves the heart of God because they separate us from Him, but it is clear that there are sins that God sees as abhorrent, abominable, and detestable. When I read the description of these sexual sins, which the LORD says are detestable, I can’t help but recognize how many of these things are no longer unspeakable or taboo in our society, but many of which are celebrated and condoned.


Paul writes in Ephesians 5, “Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God. But sexual immorality and any impurity or greed should not even be heard of among you, as is proper for saints. Obscene and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable, but rather giving thanks. For know and recognize this: Every sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, who is an idolater, does not have an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for God’s wrath is coming on the disobedient because of these things. Therefore, do not become their partners. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light— for the fruit of the light consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth— testing what is pleasing to the Lord. Don’t participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what is done by them in secret. Everything exposed by the light is made visible, for what makes everything visible is light. Therefore it is said:

‘Get up, sleeper, and rise up from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.'”

I can’t help but see how this passage in Leviticus coincides with Paul’s instruction in Ephesians. The Israelites are warned not to follow the evil practices of the Egyptians or the Canaanites. God says that it is because of these things (the list of sexual perversions) that He was punishing these people for their iniquity. The LORD tells Moses that anyone who commits any of these detestable acts must be cut off from the nation of Israel. Paul warns us not to become partners with those who are disobedient in performing these acts of immorality and impurity, and that anyone who does them does not have an inheritance in God’s Kingdom.

Now here is the GOOD News! Paul writes in Ephesians 2:
“And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient. We too all previously lived among them in our fleshly desires, carrying out the inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we were by nature children under wrath as the others were also. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.”

We were all once dead in our sins, heading from destruction, children of wrath. But now, we are children of God, children of His light! It’s and amazing, beautiful, awesome thing to recognize what we have been saved FROM and what we have been saved TO! Therefore, how can we who are saved condone, celebrate, justify, or excuse the things from which we were saved from – the very things that God says are detestable? The very things that Christ died for?

I read a quote from John MacArthur which said, “I have been accused over the years of being intolerant, and I accept that as a compliment. Of course I’m intolerant. I’m as intolerant as God is, of anything that damns people’s souls while promising them heaven.” We live in a world where tolerance and acceptance is the most virtuous thing. We encourage people to live their truth, while “loving” them straight to hell because we are too timid and afraid to stand firmly upon God’s word and His truth. We fail to heed Paul’s words from Ephesians 5, “Walk as children of light— for the fruit of the light consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth— testing what is pleasing to the Lord. Don’t participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them.” It is not loving or truthful to label what is darkness as light. It not truthful to call something beautiful that God has called detestable.

LORD, this burdens my heart so much, because so many people are walking in darkness, believing that they are walking in the light because the Church has chosen to become partners with the disobedient. We are more fearful of the world’s response to us than we are to Your command that Your people pursue holiness, righteousness, and truth. Forgive us for our sin of tolerating the things that You have said are detestable, but help us to love others by pointing them to the Gospel. Help me to grow in boldness to expose the deeds of darkness while pointing others to Christ. AMEN!