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Wednesday in the Word

How the Christian Life Can Sometimes Feel

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Job 31:35
35 Oh, that I had someone to hear me! I sign now my defense–let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser put his indictment in writing.

Here, Job, who feels he has suffered unjust accusations either from his three human friends or even God Himself, cries out his desire for God to hear his claim of innocence, and free him from further suffering. He has lost everything he ever worked for, everything else he ever cherished, and now it seems he stands to lose his connection to God as well. He feels as punished as if God has set down intentional judgments on him for sins as yet unknown.

Living a Christian life does not mean a life free of troubles. In fact, sometimes it seems that the life of a Christian is especially beset by trials; Job’s case is an extreme example of this. Loss of livelihood and/or health, financial or emotional disasters, family and relationship strife, stress from work–all these and many other sources of sorrow can beleaguer us, and seem to be all the more painful to endure because we feel we have been faithful to God. Sometimes, in the most trying of circumstances, we can even begin to wonder what all the worship and devotion was for, if God is allowing such awful things to happen to us.

The important thing to remember when facing trials is that God is right there with you, in the thick of it, and He will never abandon you. Just as God never abandoned Job, and eventually restored his life to rights (see chapter 42 in the Book of Job), He will also do the same for us.

Why did God restore Job? Because he continued to pray to God and speak to God honestly, never doubting that God was there and never doubting that God would answer his need. As long as we keep trusting in God and praying, our trials too will pass and be replaced with joy, even if it’s long in coming.

Wednesday in the Word

Even if We’re 99% Good Enough, Jesus Provides the 1% We Need

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Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God–9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

Paul makes it clear, in this letter to the Ephesians, that God’s grace (provided through Jesus’ suffering and death by crucifixion) is what saves us as Christians, even today. God loves each one of us enough to want to reconnect with us through our faith, and if we accept by faith Jesus’ suffering and death as payment for our own sins, God welcomes us home.

And yet, there are some Christians today who do not truly believe that. Oh, they go to church, they do all the right things and say all the right words, but they don’t truly believe they’ve been saved by grace. They, instead, believe that they were saved by their own good works, which made them “good enough” to go to Heaven when they die. I’m sure this description puts you in mind of a few people you know, just as it does for me.

Being saved by works is a fallacy; much as it might sound good to the Christian ear to “work for salvation,” it is not needed, and indeed can even hinder salvation by causing boasting and ill feeling between Christians. (And if we can be “good enough” for God to save us on our own merits, then why did Jesus suffer and die, anyway?)

The Ephesians, too, were having trouble with this concept of being “saved by grace,” so Paul spells it out to them in this verse. Salvation is wrought by God and not by our own works; we don’t have to worry about working for God’s approval, because He already loved us enough to send His Son to pay our sin price.

We may lead an almost completely pure life, and we may spend almost every waking moment in service to God, but we still need that grace to be saved. No one is exempt, and no one can boast of anything else, as Paul says.

Wednesday in the Word

Our Plans are Small Beside God’s

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Psalm 33:10-11
10 The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. 11 But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.

With words like “foil” and “thwart,” a casual reader may take this excerpt to mean that God spitefully strikes down our plans in favor of His own. That is definitively not the case. Our schemes and thoughts are merely flimsy and limited in scope; we simply are not God, Who is omniscient and omnipotent, all-knowing and almighty.

This is an alien idea, especially to our modern culture. We tend to give the most rewards to those who are self-sufficient, those who have ambition and drive; unfortunately, neither personal ambition and drive, when taken to extremes, allow much room for God. This is where many of us can get into trouble, because we begin to trust our own knowledge too much, and we leave God out of the planning of our lives.

These two verses serve as a reminder to us: keep God as Priority #1 when looking ahead to the future, and you will be placing your faith in Someone whose plans “stand firm forever.” Even as your world shakes around you, changing for the worse every day, you can still trust God and know that He ultimately has the best interests of the entire world in mind, because His plans are unshakable.

This is a comfort to us; we will not always have a life full of roses and sunshine, but God will be there when the storms come and the blossoms wilt, too, and His plans will carry us through.

Wednesday in the Word

Jesus: Bringer of Freedom, Healing, and Joy

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Luke 4:16-21

16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus went to the synagogue for His regular time with God (thus setting a good example for his followers), but instead of simply praying, He chose to read a scripture aloud. It’s unclear whether Jesus chose this specifically or whether this was the passage everyone was already studying; the important message here is that Jesus uses this scripture to announce His purpose and His ministry to the people He grew up with.

This is a triumphant scripture Jesus reads–one of joyful news. Jesus, the Messiah so often prophesied about through Isaiah and many of the other Old Testament prophets, is finally here, and is come to give freedom and healing. Freedom from having to work for their salvation; healing for their spirits as well as their bodies.

In Isaiah, this time of good news is referred to as the “year of the Lord’s favor.” It’s akin to the Year of Jubilee in the Old Testament, when slaves would be set free, debts forgiven, and property was returned to its original owners…but this time, the Lord’s favor would be extended to everyone who believed in Jesus as Messiah. Jesus didn’t officially begin His ministry with His “hometown” as such, but He is bringing His message to Nazareth now, declaring His purpose. (Nazareth doesn’t accept His message, as I’ve discussed in another post, but that’s a whole other story.)

Do We Tell Others How Jesus Has Brought Us Joy?

These days, the phrase “Lemme tell you the Good News about Jesus” is almost a cliche in our culture, often heard but seldom listened to. In our haste to convert people, as Christians, we sometimes forget about this Good News and focus instead on our target’s need to “come to Jesus.” So often, we forget to tell about how Jesus has changed our lives, how He has given us freedom and healing, how we rejoice in His presence.

But what if we approached witnessing, and even worship, with this kind of joy (presented in Isaiah, read aloud by Jesus Himself) instead of condemnation? What could that start?

Wednesday in the Word

What Happened to Nineveh, the “City of Blood”

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Nahum 3:5
Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims! 2 The crack of whips, the clatter of wheels, galloping horses and jolting chariots! 3 Charging cavalry, flashing swords and glittering spears! Many casualties, piles of dead, bodies without number, people stumbling over the corpses–4 all because of the wanton lust of a harlot, alluring, the mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution and peoples by her witchcraft. 5 “I am against you,” declares the Lord Almighty. “I will lift your skirts over your face. I will show the nations your nakedness and the kingdoms your shame.”

Here, Nahum, one of the Minor Prophets of the Old Testament, speaks God’s opinion and judgment of Nineveh, the capital city and representative of the ancient Assyrian nation.

A Little History about Assyria

Assyria was an aggressive, conquering nation that had already swallowed Samaria; by the time of this prophetic writing, the northern part of Israel was conquered as well. The Assyrians posed a great threat to the Israelites, God’s chosen people, but it seemed nothing and no one could stop them–or so they believed.

But Nahum’s prophecy speaks against their self-importance. Not only does God disapprove of what the Assyrians have done, but His judgment is coming for them, and swiftly. Nineveh isn’t called “the city of blood” for no reason, after all; God has seen the massacres and torture they have inflicted on the populations they conquered. (Several historical accounts contemporary with the Bible have the ancient Assyrian kings stacking thousands of corpses like felled wood, or arranging body parts into whole pyramids.)

It is not only the Assyrians’ brutality in conquering that has angered God, however. Nineveh has also tempted many from around the known world to seek pleasure and wealth within its walls, like an ancient Las Vegas, only to then inflict brutality on them. Worship practices to other deities go on within the city as well, drawing God’s people away and ultimately leading them to ruin.

God’s Judgment: Stern but Absolutely Just

God is righteously angry at the Assyrians’ blatant, grievous sins, and for these He declares judgment against them. He will punish them the only way they can be punished–through shame and revelation, immobilizing and stopping their rampage. Nineveh, being the symbolic prostitute in these verses, will be stripped of her wealth and beauty, her crimes against humanity exposed for all to see.

Notice that God is not doing evil acts. This punishment is exactly that–a tactic meant to halt bad behavior and correct it in the long run. While God’s words sound harsh to modern readers, Assyria’s treatment of its nation-state neighbors was far worse, and needed to be stopped. God is the only One who can, and yet it must grieve His heart to have to do so; He created these people, too, and now has to stop them from continuing these bloody sins.

God is not happy or forgiving here; He’s very different from how He seems in the New Testament especially. Yet this is part of God’s personality, too–He is indeed kind, but firm to the point of sternness, too. He leaps to the defense of His people, and moreover intervenes in the middle of sin to keep more from happening. Sin angers and grieves God, and He always acts to stop it.

What Can We Learn from This?

  • God is just, not overly wrathful and out of control. He is still holy and forgiving even as He punishes, much like a parent must be.
  • God’s judgment always comes for the wicked who will not stop sinning and hurting others. It may not be right away, it may be even years or decades later, but it always comes, and we have justice in that.
Wednesday in the Word

We Aren’t the Judges–God Is

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Romans 14:13
12 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.

This advice from the apostle Paul is at least 2,000 years old–and yet we modern Christians still haven’t learned from it, if the church’s actions themselves to be believed.

One of the main outside critiques I hear about the modern Christian church is that it is full of “judgmental” people. Yet we Christians often refute this claim as vehemently as if we were being accused of a horrible crime. “We’re not judgmental!” we say in defense of ourselves. “Jesus taught us to be loving and kind, and compassionate!”

That He did, most certainly. But how long is it till someone from church slips up, and we can’t help but gossip just a little bit about them?

  • “Didja hear what So-and-so did? I heard he’s been sleepin’ around, right under the missus’ nose…”
  • “Well, I heard that So-and-so’s goin’ drinkin’ at all hours, drinkin’ and dancin’ like she ain’t got no shame!”

And, after we’ve finished our gossip, we usually add the phrase, “And they still think they’re a Christian.”

That right there is judgment of our fellow Christians. The Roman church was doing it too, and the apostle Paul rebuked them for it in this verse. He knew that Christians judging each other could lead to more sin and corruption within the church than anything, and he wanted to halt it before it got too much worse.

When we judge one another, especially harshly, we make it harder for the one we’ve judged to return to church, to worship with us, maybe even to pray or have a personal relationship with Christ. After all, when church reminds you of all the people who’ll be looking at you askance, why would you even try to return? Harsh judgment is an obstacle and a stumbling block to others, especially when we too sin and make mistakes.

When we become saved, we do not magically become unable to sin anymore. Our human nature is still there, though Jesus has paid the cost of all our sin and we no longer have to answer for it all. And so, being still imperfect, we are not suitable to judge each other–only God, being perfect and holy, is suitable to judge each of us.

Every person in church is battling sin in some form; as a church, we are simply a family of believers worshipping God together. The best thing we can do is to lift each other up and encourage each other to keep battling that sin, and to support one another when the battle seems nearly lost. To rush to judgment is to doom that person to a lost battle, and perhaps even a lost war.

Wednesday in the Word

All The Little Miracles We Never Notice

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Psalm 66:1-5
1 Shout with joy to God, all the earth! 2 Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious! 3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you. 4 All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing the praises of your name.” 5 Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man’s behalf!

This psalm calls us all to praise God for the wonderful works He has done and continues to do. But it might surprise us to know just how many “wonderful works” God does in our lives every day–in fact, there are likely thousands of little miracles that happen to us each day, without us ever noticing.

I used to think that there were simply “happy coincidences” that led me to run into an old friend who’d been on my mind earlier, or which made me just a few minutes later leaving the house, and kept me from being in the path of a dangerous person. I have since come to realize that these “happy coincidences” are indeed God’s works, just as much as the “big miracles” of healing, rescue from peril, and grand opportunities. Every time we get behind the wheel and end up where we intend to go in one piece, that’s a little miracle, after all.

If we paused in our daily prayers long enough to praise God for all the miracles He does for us every day, we would never stop praising Him. Since I reconnected with God and realized how much He works for our benefit, I’ve taken to praising him when I narrowly avoid an accident on the highway, or when I hear from an old friend after a long time, as well as when someone at church is healed from major disease. His works are indeed “awesome”–we can’t comprehend how much God does for each one of us, and how perfectly He works everything out.

Praising God in this way, taking time to remember all the little things that went right as well as all the big prayer requests that were answered, has really bolstered my faith. I face life with a much more positive attitude than I used to–which, considering how much of a complainer I used to be, is saying something. Now, I still have worries and I still fret about things sometimes, but when I remember all the tiny details He’s already taken care of for me, how can I not trust Him to carry me through the big problems, too?

Wednesday in the Word

Anyone Can Be Saved, Even “The Worst of Sinners”

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1 Timothy 1:12-17

12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service. 13 Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. 14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners–of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

This passage, as part of Paul’s first letter to Timothy included in the Bible, encapsulates what it means to be a “sinner saved by grace”, as the song goes. Paul fully acknowledges, in these verses, how undeserving he is of the grace of God, and how much more wonderful that grace is to receive when undeserved. All of us, any person alive, has this gift of grace waiting for us. None of us are righteous enough in our own merits to deserve it, but God offers it as a way to reconnect with us.

When we accept Jesus’ sacrifice as an atonement for our own sins, we accept this grace and are saved, are reconnected with God in the most powerful of ways. Even Paul, self-described as a “blasphemer,” “persecutor,” and “the worst of sinners,” came to God in the same way that anyone does–through Jesus. And, once he accepted that, then God was able to use him in mighty ways to reach others, to lead them towards the same salvation and peace that was offered him.

Those who do not know about God (or do not believe He exists) may doubt that such peace exists, or that salvation is necessary; I can personally attest that not only is salvation necessary, but that it brings the most loving peace into one’s life through a closer spiritual connection to God. (I have lived outside of that peace, and I have lived within it; I know which life I prefer much more.)

The word “salvation” is not meaningless jargon, or a pithy slogan. Instead, it means that you no longer bear the burden of payment for everything you’ve done wrong in your life. You can give that burden, that guilt, that shame, even that pain, over to God the moment you talk to Jesus honestly and ask Him to guide you through life. For Paul, this “talking to Jesus” was literally a life-changing experience (as we see in the Book of Acts)–just as it was for me, and just as it is for every person who becomes Christian.

And the best part? Once you become Christian and begin to talk to God through prayer, you will experience a peace you can’t explain, even when more troubles come than you ever expected. Somehow, even through the most trembling times, knowing that you have God to rely on brings that feeling of strength and peace. Being a Christian doesn’t mean that your life will magically become easy and carefree; it means that you’ll now have a well of heavenly strength to draw on when you need it.

Wednesday in the Word

When God Has to Get Our Attention

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Amos 9:1-4

1 I saw the Lord standing by the altar, and he said:

“Strike the tops of the pillars
so that the thresholds shake,
Bring them down on the heads of
all the people;
those who are left I will kill with
the sword.
Not one will get away,
none will escape.
2 Though they dig down to the depths
of the grave,
from there my hand will take them.
Though they climb up to the heavens,
from there I will bring them down.
3 Though they hide themselves on the
top of Carmel,
there I will hunt them down and
seize them.
Though they hide from me at the
bottom of the sea,
there I will command the serpent
to bite them.
4 Though they are driven into exile by
their enemies,
there I will command the sword
to slay them.
I will fix my eyes upon them
for evil and not for good.”

Whoa. This sounds harsh. In fact, this is some of the harshest language we see God use through an Old Testament prophet. Outside of the context of the Book of Amos, and indeed outside of the context of the Old Testament, this passage seems to fly in the face of all who say that God only does good things. After all, God is talking about killing His people, even though they hide from him on the tops of mountains (like Carmel), underground, the bottom of the sea, and even in the middle of their enemies.

God’s Anger: Resolved, Not Raging

Let’s take a moment to consider what has happened, why God might be saying these things. All throughout the Old Testament, the nation of Israel has been waffling back and forth between worshipping other gods from other cultures and worshipping God, who led them from Egypt and has blessed them continuously. Not only that, the Israelites have been warring with themselves, forgetting commandments, and pretty much doing everything that God asked them not to do. The sacred worship sites have been profaned; no one in Israel, it seems, is interested in listening to God or following any commandments besides their own desires.

We know, from reading other parts of the Old Testament, that God relates to Israel much as a parent relates to a child. What does a parent do, then, when a child is being not only disobedient, but gleeful and willful about it? Most would say that the child needs punishment, to stop the unwanted behavior and to retrain the child’s thinking.

God has tried punishing in other ways before this, but every time, it has taken drastic measures to get Israel to stop behaving willfully (Noah’s Ark and the Flood, anyone?). This passage describes another drastic measure God is outlining here–this will be Israel’s punishment for drifting so far from God and refusing to listen. Israel has forgotten how omnipresent and omnipotent God is, and this passage reminds them (and us) that there is nowhere we can hide from God, no action or thought we can disguise from Him, because He is Almighty.

But What About Verse 4’s Ending?

Understood in this context, God’s anger is less out-of-control than it may have seemed at first; it’s more the anger of the parent trying to control an incorrigible child. But there’s still one more issue: why would God add that point at the end about “fixing [His] eyes upon them for evil and not for good?”

Admittedly, this is a disturbing phrase; in many other places in the Bible, God is referred to as being “holy,” never doing anything evil against anyone. Verse 4’s ending, therefore, can be horribly misleading…unless you know the rest of the context. God is not saying “I’m going to do evil things against you;” He is instead saying “I am going to punish you for the evil things you have been doing.” His eyes are fixed upon his people because of the evil they have been doing, and much like a parent resolving to discipline a child, God is going to have to be firm and a little harsh to straighten His children up.

Summary

For certain, this is not the most comforting part of the Bible to read. But this is an important characteristic of our relationship to God: when we do not follow His laws, just as when we disobeyed our parents, there will be retribution. It doesn’t mean God doesn’t love us, just as punishment from our human parents does not necessarily mean they have stopped loving us. In fact, God desperately wants to reconnect with us, just as He wanted to reconnect with the Israelites–He just had to get their attention first. And He is still trying to reconnect with us today.

Wednesday in the Word

If All Witnessing Was Done This Way…

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1 John 1:1-3
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched —this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

In this set of verses, which reads very similarly to the opening verses of the Gospel of John, much of Christian doctrine is explained and shared in brief, but in a joyful manner.

For one, John characterizes the Word of life as “eternal,” having always existed, and having become flesh in the form of Jesus Christ. Second, he characterizes Jesus as this Word of life, because He personally lived for a time on earth, brought the hope of salvation to us through His death and resurrection, and is sovereign over life itself. Thirdly, he introduces the living disciples as “witnesses” to Jesus’ life, ministry, and teachings, and invites the readers into joyful “fellowship” with them.

It’s important to know at this point that this small New Testament book was written primarily to battle early Gnosticism. Gnostics taught a few strange, not-quite-Christian ideas, among them the following:

  • Spirit is good, flesh is evil;
  • Because flesh is “evil,” Jesus was never really made flesh;
  • Jesus was actually two different people–human Jesus and spiritual Christ, which separated right before crucifixion.

These ideas are considered heresies by the church today, since they do not actually reflect the teachings of Scripture. First, flesh is quite susceptible to sin, but not inherently evil, not even according to God. Second, Jesus was indeed made flesh, according to Luke 2 (Jesus’ birth story, which definitively involves the Virgin Mary, a human woman, in His birth). Third, where is the Scriptural evidence that Jesus was actually considered two separate entities, when from the beginning He called Himself “Son of Man” just as much as “Son of God?”

In this little book, John sought to correct these “kinda-sorta-not Christian” ideas; however, he also demonstrates a peaceful, celebratory style of witnessing that is little seen in today’s world. Today, many Christian churches are known for preaching messages of “fire and brimstone,” talking more about the damnation of sinners and burning judgment. This turns off many people who might otherwise want to learn about Jesus–all they hear is how much their sin is sending them to hell, and they’re NOT hearing what makes Christian living so much better.

If we all could witness to others as John is doing here, sharing the joy and life of Christ (as well as true doctrine) with others instead of sharing tales of damnation and judgment, then I think we might have more listeners. We need to be able to share what makes living in Jesus’ light a much more awesome and wonderful existence. I’m not saying we lie and pretend there’s no punishment for unbelievers, but shouldn’t people should know how much better life is with the Savior first?