Pouring out an offering…

Three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David at the cave of Adullam, when the army of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem. And David said longingly, “Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and took it and brought it to David. But David would not drink it. He poured it out to the Lord and said, “Far be it from me before my God that I should do this. Shall I drink the lifeblood of these men? For at the risk of their lives they brought it.” Therefore he would not drink it.… (1 Chronicles 11:15–19)

Again, another OT narrative stumps me into searching for its meaning. In the above story, my first thought was David didn’t appreciate what his men had done and pouring it on the ground showed contempt for their actions, but that didn’t seem right, particularly because he poured it out to the Lord.

Study showed that this was a libation, and done by many cultures, including Israel. However they were not allowed the same cultic reasons for doing it. 

It was usually a thank offering which fits this, and as has been on my mind, a demonstration of praise to God. Drinking it would be taking the glory of what they had done for himself rather than giving it to the Lord.

In this instance, the libation went beyond being thankful that his men risked their lives to bring him a drink. It also pointed to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, whose blood was "poured out” to meet our need. 

The Apostle Paul also used this imagery to describe his own life as a sacrifice: “Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all.” (Philippians 2:17)

Both David and Paul reveal a passion for Jesus Christ that goes beyond enjoying the sacrifices others make for them. Instead of thanking people or relishing in their goodness, honoring the Lord takes priority.

I notice that other Christians seldom pour out their love for Christ when others serve them. I know in my own life that my ego is warmed by such actions, yet I know that Jesus should be honored, not me. These men could say: “I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?” (2 Corinthians 12:15) And I should be able to say it also.

Lord Jesus, how often have I relished praise or any other blessing when the glory belongs to You. I excuse the doing of it knowing how weak and useless I am without You, yet drink it up to make me feel good when that offering belongs to You alone. While I am grateful for Your forgiveness and patience, teach me to do the right thing when anyone makes a sacrifice that rightly belongs to You. Like David, the man with a heart like Your’s, may I refuse to drink water that had been fought for, choosing to pour it out to give You the glory.

Robbing God of His glory

In the spring, Ben-hadad mustered the Syrians and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel. And the people of Israel were mustered and were provisioned and went against them. The people of Israel encamped before them like two little flocks of goats, but the Syrians filled the country. And a man of God came near and said to the king of Israel, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because the Syrians have said, “The Lord is a god of the hills but he is not a god of the valleys,” therefore I will give all this great multitude into your hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.’ ” 
And they encamped opposite one another seven days. Then on the seventh day the battle was joined. And the people of Israel struck down of the Syrians 100,000 foot soldiers in one day. And the rest fled into the city of Aphek, and the wall fell upon 27,000 men who were left. Ben-hadad also fled and entered an inner chamber in the city. (1 Kings 20:26–30)

At times I’ve prayed for something that seemed impossible and God surprised me by granting my prayer. He also attaches an obedience to the answer, generally to tell the story with praise for Him. However, if I somehow use the answered prayer to say “Look at me” in any way, then He may withdraw the glory of it in someway. He did this with Ahab. Instead of letting the defeat show the power of God to Syria. . . .  

Ben-hadad said to him, “The cities that my father took from your father I will restore, and you may establish bazaars for yourself in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.” And Ahab said, “I will let you go on these terms.” So he made a covenant with him and let him go. (1 Kings 20:34)

Ahab compromised with the enemy. Closer to home, I can do the same thing by taking credit for God's surprises (as if I deserved them) instead of letting others see that He is the Lord.
As for Ahab, God sent a prophet who said to him:

“Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall be for his life, and your people for his people.’ 
At that, Ahab should have repented for his sin but instead he “went to his house vexed and sullen and came to Samaria.” (1 Kings 20:41–43)

My old nature can do that too — be annoyed that I get no glory for my praying, or for any other obedience. How silly. Apart from the Lord there would be no praying, no obedience. A quick search tells me several reasons, one is that I so quickly forget that glorifying God is for my joy and satisfaction too. My easily distracted mind plus lingering pride wants to be in charge, to do things that make me feel good. That old nature defies what God wants from me. I can sing that I want to be like Jesus and then wonder if I really do — or would I rather do what I want to do? Being so easily distracted does not help, nor does knowing I cannot overcome the obstacles by myself.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12–13)

Far too often, work is the word for obedience, and the pressure of aging and many new challenges often dampen the pleasures once enjoyed

Jesus, You know my heart and as You test my faith, I must trust You for the will and the power to pass the tests — even when my head aches, my mind wanders, life is full of distractions, and I’d rather do something else but talk to You. 

The most ‘successful’ lie…

In Eden, the serpent (Satan in disguise) suggested to Eve that God didn’t actually want the best for her and Adam. Believing that lie resulted in the first sin and is still the biggest faith-destroyer in this world. By thinking that God does not want good for me, or is not using the painful events of my life for good, I am likely to take matters into my own hands instead of trusting Him. While I am free to make choices, I have no control over the consequences. 

For example, deciding to do my own thing puts a wedge in my relationship with the Lord. Jesus said: “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” (John 15:14) He also said:

Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” (John 14:21)

He describes the consequences of obedience, but what happens if I think His will is not good for me and say no? Instead of listening to God, I want whatever I can do or get? Specifics are hard to predict but one thing is certain:

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (James 4:4)

I don’t want to be God's enemy, but Jesus made it clear that no one can serve two masters. It is either God or myself, but when fed ideas from the Liar, he appeals to my selfish desires and blurs or blasts the goodness of God.

Obedience is also important in learning God's will. Like walking a dark path with a flashlight, I cannot see more than the next step unless I step into it. The lie is exposed as I pray and focus on truth:

Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law. . . .  You are good and do good; teach me your statutes. (Psalm 119:29; 68)

Obedience is important because: “He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.” (Psalm 24:4)

Doing what God says produces the good fruit of the Spirit and increases my ability to obey. The fruit of the Spirit requires giving up its opposites, but it does not take long to see the choice is a no-brainer. Believing truth produces good things because God is good and wants good. Believing the lie leads to selfishness, gross sin, and pain for me and everyone around me.

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. (Galatians 5:19–26)

Knowing God wants good for His people changes my prayer life. If the lives of my friends (or my life) seems uncomfortable or filled with ‘bad’ stuff, I’m learning to search for the good that God promises to use in transforming lives to be like Jesus. Sometimes His pruning hurts, but the end result is always amazing. Why not pray for ‘quick cuts’ and incredible results?

Not only that, the more I know God is good, the more my prayers are answered. He does this, not so I am blessed (even though I am) but so He is glorified. The Liar says otherwise. However, as God hears and answers prayer, but to put that Liar and his lies in their place. Answered prayer is another fruit of the Spirit. It blesses those who believe and pray, and astounds those who should be doing the same. 

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. (John 15:7–8)

PRAY: Lord Jesus, the more I spend time with You and see Your goodness, the more my heart desires that You are glorified. This dark world needs to see and hear the truth. I know that some will resist and hate You, remain slaves of sin, self, and the lies, yet I also know You are able to shed light in the hearts of sinners. Be glorified in our hearts that we might be able to glorify You in our lives. Help me to submit to You always and resist the devil so he will flee from me (James 4:7). Millions need to realize that he is lying when he says You are not good. Amen.

Trusting God’s Goodness

Looking at the power struggles in the world and hearing the desires of ambitious leaders, I wonder if they ever stop to think that none of what they want will go with them when they die. 
As I read Steven Charnock’s amazing book, I also wonder how many of us belittle the goodness of God by trying to run our own lives and make personal wants our rule for each day.

The end of Job’s story showed that even this man that God called ‘righteous’ was guilty of forgetting who God is and allowing the disasters he experienced tell him lies about God’s goodness.

Charnock writes extensively on this topic. His words are a challenge to condense, but have me thinking about how the world, even the church, and also myself react to the events of life and to the daily news. He points out how the devil, by his temptation of Adam, envied God and the glory of Him creating goodness. 

Even more, those who challenge God in any way forget that He sent His Son to suffer for us, and His Spirit to enable us, both expressions of His goodness. Refusing to live accordingly is a great ingratitude and a perilous sin. It refuses to admit or repent sin. It may think that if God loves His humble children, He is okay with those who rule their own lives, and thus appreciates human effort. This also denies His holiness and righteousness.

Those who trust Him suppose He is good, no matter what our eyes see, but any who distrust Him see evil based on what they do see. Why else call events like storms “acts of God” and refuse insurance for those who suffer from hurricanes and the like? Job expressed some of this suspicion in his misery: 

I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me. (Job 30:20)

Many who profess faith in God ignore what He says, blame Him (or the devil) for all things uncomfortable, without considering that trials can be rebukes, tests, or disciplines. The Israelites thought their miraculous deliverance from Egypt and their security in the wilderness was intended to prepare them up for slaughter.

Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” (Numbers 14:3)
They tested God again and again and provoked the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember his power or the day when he redeemed them from the foe. (Psalm 78:41–42)

If a day is cloudy, do I distrust that the sun will not shine any more? If I have an ailment, do I distrust my doctor for the ill-tasting prescription given me? If I worry instead of pray, have I stopped believing that God cares? Or is my problem lack of humility?

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6–7)

To reject God’s goodness in favor of ‘I want what I want’ becomes foolish when I say such things aloud. Yet how do the leaders of this world react to such ideas? It is a wonder that any human can refuse to “lift up their eyes to heaven, and solicit nothing but the contrivance of their own brain and the industry of their own heads. They disown Divine goodness, and approve themselves as their own gods and the spring of their own prosperity. They run not to God in their necessity to crave His support, and deny either His power or the disposition of His will to sustain and deliver them. They must have very mean sentiments, or none at all, of this perfection, or think Him either too empty to fill them, or too churlish to relieve them; that He is of a narrow and contracted temper, and that they may sooner expect to be made better and happier by anything else than by Him. As we contemn His goodness by a total omission of those duties which respect our own advantage and supply (such as prayer) so we condemn Him as the chiefest good by an omission of the due manner of any act of worship which is designed purely for the acknowledgment of Him.” (Charnock)

Yet those who profess faith can do it too — built churches, hospitals, give great sums, as if God will free them from sickness, give them riches, and make them always happy, as if God will not to part with anything unless He in some measure is paid for it because He will not grant goodness without a bribe.

PRAY: I echo the psalmist and modify what I say to You from Psalm 9: “Arise, O Lord! Let not our foolish ideas prevail; let the nations and Your people (me included), be judged before you! Put all of us in godly fear, and let us remember that we are but sinners who need Your saving grace and who need to trust You and Your incredible goodness.”

 

Another Test?

 

This morning came with mixed emotions. I was dreaming of a stage play about the gospel. The person in the role of Jesus was exceptionally realistic and the storyline was accurate and powerful. Then my hubby woke me to say he was leaving for the ER. He’d been having some unusual pain and called the health link, answered many questions, then was told to see a doctor within three hours.

That still, small voice whispers, “I am with you” but makes no predictions. My devotions offered this:

Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. (Mark 10:29–30)

The first thing I noticed was the absence in that list of leaving a spouse. Family rifts over the issue of faith in Christ does not include couples. While the Bible encourages marriage with another Christian, it does give direction to wives whose husbands are not believers and so on, but leaving a partner for Jesus’ sake is not given as an option. Also, our vows say “in sickness or in health” married couples are to take that seriously.

Thinking that this could be serious and even deadly, it didn’t cross my mind to throw my hands in the air and give up. That alone encourages me. The Lord has blessed our marriage — through thick and thin.

The next thing I noted is that God promises that no matter what the gospel causes me to leave behind, the Lord will amply take care of the hole it might otherwise leave. House, siblings, parents, children, land… none of it will remain a loss. He will fill the gap. Even now, our grandchildren all live far away, but other children call us their grandparents.

Then I saw the verse for tomorrow. One word surprised me:

So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. (1 Corinthians 3:21–23)

All that God gives, leaders, the world, life in the present and future, and Christ of course, includes death. Most Christians I know are thankful for all those things, but pray that none of us experience death. We know ‘all are terminal’ yet death is not considered something that belongs to us, just as much as all else is ours. Few consider death as part of what we have because we belong to God.

Death is often seen as an enemy, but this passage says death is no longer a master but a servant. It becomes part of God's plan, a transition to the next life. Christians are not bound by the limitations of the natural world, including the threat of death. We have a new perspective on both life and death as they are now part of God's larger plan. Death is a defeated enemy.

My hubby may have nothing seriously wrong, but at our age, death is taking our peers and illness is a common complaint. Having a sound, biblical view is vital for peace of mind.

PRAY: Jesus, this unexpected event feels like a test to show me how I should think. It reveal some fears that pop up about what might happen next. You are always good and use all things for good. Enable my faith in You to be an anchor for my heart and mind and also for my dear hubby’s emotions and thoughts. May our words and thoughts trust and glorify You.

 (Later… best case scenario. The CAT scan showed a treatable issue and hubby did not need surgery or be admitted for more tests. He is back home. Thank You, Lord.)

Hope in the Lord

We moved the last week of October, about four and a half months ago. I’m still waiting for a day that does not have some chores in it that do not involve “settling in” — not that these are big things. We did move furniture and have purged and carted away a lot of unneeded items. We hung a couple wall quilts yesterday. “Normal” is not in our vocabulary. Yet “grace” is.

We have items on the calendar that call for more than the usual, and surprises that pop up with a frequency that always seem to require more than what we have — more energy, more ideas, more of God’s supply, causing us to rely on Him more often and more deeply than ever. And this is a good thing. It shows the reality of these words:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” (Lamentations 3:22-24)

Last night we prayed with another couple who has concerns for the spiritual life of their large family. This has been happening for about twenty years without seeing answers, but last night they read an email from one son who praised God for His provisions, and his parents for their faithful prayers. God’s timing might seem slow, but His steadfast love and mercy is great and He rewards those who hope in Him.

I only know a few who read these devotions yet realize many could be in the same situation — praying for years and not seeing answers. It is easy to give up, to go on to other things or to think that God is not listening or not ever going to do anything toward the prayed-for changes. My heart is saying ‘don’t give up.’ His timing is not our timing, but He hears our prayers.

This I also read with joy from Charnock’s book, “The Existence and Attributes of God”…

Since God is not only so good that he cannot will anything but what is good; so wise that he cannot err or mistake; but also so able that he cannot be defeated or mated; he hath every way a full ability to govern the world: where those three (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) are infinite, the right and fitness resulting from thence is unquestionable and indeed, to deny God this active part of his power, is to render him weak, foolish, cruel, or all three.

The four of us who have been praying for this son and other family members agree that in those many years, God has definitely changed us. This is His goodness. We now pray for different things, less for the comfort and well-being of our family members and more that God will use all things to draw them into a deep relationship with Himself. We first prayed for things that would give us comfort and joy, but now pray more for God’s glory — because when He is glorified, the joy we receive is much greater than having any answers that suit our wishes.

PRAY: Lord, after sleeping in and looking at the demands of the day, how good of You to remind me again that Your love never ends and is new every morning. It does not depend on my performance, nor having check marks on my to-do list. It does not depend on answered prayer even though You do that more often than ever before. The joy You give is in You, in Your faithfulness and mercy. When it comes to that, none of Your goodness is earned or deserved, but by grace we are saved. . . .  and blessed. . . .  and blessed. . . .  and blessed. My heart overflows with praise and thanksgiving for all that You do, therefore I continue to hope in You.

Sinful reflections?

 

When sin entered the world, its form took being like God in knowing good and evil. This means having the ability to decide what is right and what is wrong. It is sin because it threw the human race into making our own decisions about everything — rather than relying on God to guide us.

Of course sin takes many forms. It can be severe if it involves the right or wrong of robbing a bank, cheating on income tax, gossiping about a neighbor, retaliating against a person who slanders me, and so on. But it can also be subtle, such as sharing a story that makes me look better than I am, or patting myself on the back for doing well after God blesses my actions, or berating myself for making a mistake instead of confessing the error and being forgiven.

Today’s devotional is about those last two: lifting up myself for obeying God, or beating myself up with regret after a failure. Both are self-centered and both keep me from moving on. The reading quotes from an unnamed book: “Never indulge, at the close of an action, in any self-reflective acts of any kind, whether of self-congratulation or of self-despair. Forget the things that are behind, the moment they are past, leaving them with God.”

Since I often ‘indulge’ self-reflection at both ends of that spectrum, this is something to consider. The NT says this about how to think about the past:

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. (Philippians 3:8–16)

Paul did not dwell on the past, good or bad. He thanked God for His salvation, put all past accomplishments on the garbage heap because they had no value in his relationship with God, and pressed on. He forgot the past and developed an eternal perspective, considering the goal of becoming like Jesus as the most important way to think. He knew that all sins were forgiven, and that all successes were because of Jesus, not his own doing. His mind was not occupied with regret or with self-congratulations.

This temptation comes to pastors and all those who serve Christ. The devotional author stresses the need to refuse to indulge in such reflections and instead turn from them at once and refuse to think about our work at all, leaving it with the Lord to overrule the mistakes and to bless it as He chooses. I agree. How much time and energy have I wasted in “I should have…” or “That worked well…” thoughts instead of “What’s next, Lord?”

PRAY: Jesus, Monday is a good day to start fresh. Please grant me not only forgiveness for selfish thinking after Your blessings on what happens, but also for regrets in missing opportunities by wasting valuable time in all self-centered thinking. Far better to be praising You, talking with You, and thinking about the needs of others.

Learning to Follow

 

 

READ Genesis 29-33

Jacob started out as a con-man, manipulating his brother out of his birthright, tricking his father to get the blessing that he intended for the older son, and planning how he could escape his brother’s revenge. He did some odd things on his journey to find a wife, and when he found her, and worked for her father for seven years to gain her in marriage, her father ironically tricked Jacob into taking her older sister as his wife. Then the older one had sons but the loved one was barren. The story does not include this man’s thoughts but he no doubt learned something about trickery and manipulation when it happened to him instead of him being the one who did it.

This lesson went on for a few years. Finally, Jacob made a deal with his father-in-law for his wages. He would get all the spotted and striped sheep and goats. What Jacob did then has always puzzled me, but that was because I didn’t read it carefully. His actions seemed like silly superstition, and maybe they were. He put striped and speckled pieces of wood where the strongest breeding animals would see them and the result was striped and speckled offspring with the father-in-law getting the weaker animals.

It seemed to work, but Jacob had grown in his faith and knew that this was not the reason his own herd increased. He said to his wives:

“I see that your father does not regard me with favor as he did before. But the God of my father has been with me. You know that I have served your father with all my strength, yet your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times. But God did not permit him to harm me. If he said, ‘The spotted shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore spotted; and if he said, ‘The striped shall be your wages,’ then all the flock bore striped. Thus God has taken away the livestock of your father and given them to me.” (Genesis 31:4–9)

He knew that his ritual had nothing to do with the outcome; it was by the hand of God.

Later, upon leaving this place to go to his own kin, Jacob was able to trust God when his father-in-law chased after him. He stood his ground, reminding the older man of the unfairness of his actions. Then he said, “If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been on my side, surely now you would have sent me away empty-handed. God saw my affliction and the labor of my hands and rebuked you last night.” (Genesis 31:42) Jacob learned that faith insists on justice.

The next challenge was an encounter with his brother. Jacob planned what he should do, but he also prayed, reminding God of His promises:

And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’ ” (Genesis 32:9–12)

The encounter went well, better than he could have imagined and “Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem.”

OBEDIENCE. This story illustrates the importance of going after what is important, but relying on the guidance and promises of God. It might mean hard work and involve difficulties and challenges, but when the Lord leads, I can safely follow; He will take care of me. Yesterday, my to-do list was long, but the Lord prodded me to phone someone because it was her 97^th birthday. I prayed about this, then called her and she was delighted. We chatted a long time, but it didn’t ruin anything and the chores were easily finished. As with Jacob, I know that one obedience can make the remaining challenges much easier than I could have imagined. God is with me, even in the small daily stuff, and He knows what is important and what needs to be accomplished so I will prosper and even the humbling thought that I can be a blessing to others.