Delight in the Lord

Psalm 37:1-9

Worry is a chronic problem for so many people, myself included.  Financial worries, health concerns for myself and children, their future, etc.  These are my worries.  Most people probably have similar concerns.

What does the Lord say in answer to our worries?  Do not fret.  Trust.  Commit your way.  Rest.  All of these phrases are throughout this portion of Psalm 37.  Over and over again He calls on His children to trust in Him, and not to worry.

Every day so many go to their job, work hard, and barely have enough to get by.  We follow the Lord  and His Word, obey the law.  Then there are people who are immoral, cheaters, they treat people wrong.  The Lord is not in their hearts, and yet they seem to prosper.  They have the nice homes, the luxury cars, and the expensive vacations.  Why is life easy for them, when we struggle just to get by?  It sure doesn’t seem to be fair.

That has been many people’s thoughts for thousands of years.  Why do the wicked prosper, and the righteous struggle.  Several other places in Scripture also ask this, including other psalmists.  God’s answer is always the same - trust in Him.  That is repeated multiple times in this passage and throughout all of Scriptures.  He will take care of the wicked.  His Word makes it clear that unless one repents and turn to Him, their doom is certain.

In verses 4 and 5 it says that if we “delight” in the Lord, He will give us our heart’s desire.  He will “bring it to pass”.  What does that really mean?  Does it mean that He will give me anything that I like?  My dream of a nice 4-door black Mercedes or BMW out in front of my large Victorian house?  I don’t believe that giving us whatever our hearts desire is what the Lord is talking about here.  When we delight in someone, they are the most important thing in our life.  They are frequently in our thoughts and minds.  We want to spend as much time as possible with them, and we really get to know them well.  So if we are delighting in the Lord, He is forefront in our life, and we spend as much time as possible getting to know Him well through His Word.  Slowly but surely, His thoughts and desires become ours.  Our heart’s desire would not be for material gain, like cars, mansions, vacations, but instead it would be to further His kingdom, and bringing others to salvation in Christ Jesus.

As the Lord tells us, do not fret, trust in Him, commit your way to Him, and rest from all worrying.  He will take care of us.

What Does The Lord Require?

Micah 6:1-8

As this passage of Scripture opens, we seem to have entered a courtroom of sorts.  God has raised a complaint against His people.  Why have they turned their back on Him, and gone after the false gods of the surrounding nations?  Though He has been a faithful God, caring for His people, they have been faithless, as the mountains that He calls on to witness can tell.  Those mountains have been there all along, and have seen the people turn repeatedly to false gods.

The people can reply that they bring offerings and sacrifices to the Temple on a regular basis.  Won’t God be pleased with that?  The Prophet Micah responds, does God really want multitudes of animal sacrifices?

Verse 8 is the key.  God has shown us what He wants from us - a changed heart, a changed life.  He wants us to act justly, show mercy, and humbly walk in a life that is pleasing to Him.

How does that apply to us today?  The people in Micah’s day were depending on empty religious rituals and traditions, but their hearts were far from God.  Many were even worshipping other gods in addition to Yahweh.  Today there are some people who might wear the name tag of “Christian”, but who try to embrace all religions, a type of Universalism, saying that all religions are valid.  They do not follow God, and Him alone, with their whole heart.  If God didn't accept and okay the worship of Baal and other Canaanite gods, do you really think He accepts it today, just because society has advanced over the centuries, and we are now more tolerant and accepting?

Are our dealings with others just and right, or do we cheat others in our business dealings?  Do we extend mercy to others to the same degree of mercy we would want extended to ourselves?  Do we walk humbly with God, or is our spiritual chest puffed out - “Well, look at me!  Aren't I someone holy and special?”

Religious rituals don’t amount for anything if our hearts aren't right with God.  Several times in this passage God calls us to hear Him in His Word.  Are we listening?

Fishers of Men

Matthew 4:12-23

Today’s meditation is from the Gospel reading of last Sunday’s Lectionary readings.

Fishing is a pastime that many people take part in.  It can be quite relaxing, and also gets one outside and into nature.  In verse 19, the Lord Jesus compared fishing with witnessing, telling the Gospel, and bringing others to salvation.

There are many different ways to fish.  One can fish with a rod and reel, sitting on the edge of the water or in a rowboat.  Then there is fly fishing, where one dons waders and wades out into the river.  Ice fishing is in mid-winter, cutting a hole in the ice of a lake, and sitting by the hole fishing.  Professional fishermen are out on the open seas.  Fishermen use different means - hooks, lures, bait, nets.  Some people around the world still spearfish.   Each is a different way of fishing, but none is better than the other.  It depends on what type of fish you are after, what one’s certain skills are, where you live, etc.

Likewise, there are different ways to be fishers of men.  Like fishing, none is inherently better than the other.  It depends on the audience or person one is trying to reach, and also on one’s gifts or abilities.  There are some who are gifted in public speaking, and as preachers and evangelists, spread the Gospel.  Others are better talking to people one on one.  Some people have a gift for music, and can spread the Gospel in song, either writing, singing, or playing an instrument.  Others can write, and spread God’s Word that way.  I knew some people who gave a silent witness by passing out tracts wherever they went.  Everyone can pray for the lost.

Just as no one can catch any fish if they don’t go fishing, no one can win someone for Christ if they don’t give a witness.  Jesus made the statement that we are to be fisher’s of men.  If He tells us to do that , then He will give us one or another ability to proclaim the Gospel.  Let’s be fishers of men for the Lord!

Unity Among Believers

I Corinthians 1:10-17

Disunity - what damage it can do to families, companies and workplaces, and as many of us have seen, to churches.  This was one of several problems Paul was needing to deal with in the church of Corinth.

What are some of the causes of church squabbles?  Here in Corinth they were dividing over preachers, and who each person felt was the best preacher.  Today many people get up in arms over several issues.  One argument is frequently over music.  One group likes more contemporary music.  Another group prefers older, familiar hymns.  Church members and boards get in squabbles over this.  Then there are the squabbles over things as insignificant as carpeting, fund raisers, or how the sign in the church yard should read and look.  

How does this look to the world, to unbelievers?  “There go those Christians, fighting over seats, carpeting and decorations!”  That is a very poor testimony.  Jesus, Himself, prayed for unity among His followers in John 17:20-23.

There are some things, though, that are definitely worth standing for - the fundamentals of the faith, such as the divinity of Jesus, His virgin birth, His substitutionary death on the cross for sin, inerrancy of the Scriptures, etc.  If the church one attends starts straying from these fundamentals, that is worth defending.  This was not the case here in these verses.  This was “My preacher is better than yours!”  Today it could be “My favorite Christian author is better than your favorite one!”

We, as believers, are the Body of Christ.  When a body starts fighting within itself it quickly gets sick.  The same is true with the Body of Christ.  This was only one problem Paul had to deal with in the Corinthian church, and he was hoping that his words would settle it.

I Corinthians 1:10-17

A Spiritual Pick Me Up

Psalm 139:1-18

This is one of my favorite Psalms, for many reasons.  Just about every verse is filled with a love message from God to us.  When I am feeling down and depressed, feeling like there is no one who truly cares about me, reading Psalm 139 is sure to pick me up.

Have you ever felt like no one really understands you?  Teenagers and young adults frequently say that, but no matter the age, we all do at some time, and it can be very frustrating.  There is One, though, who knows everything about us, all of our thoughts, words, and everything we do.  We read that in verse 1-6.  God is the Omniscient One.  For some of us, the thought that God knows everything about us might be frightening or embarrassing.  There are some things about myself I don’t want anyone to know - things I’ve said, things I’ve done when I thought no one was looking, and certainly things I’ve thought!  We never want others to know those!  God knows them all, and the wondrous thing of all is, knowing all of that about each of us, He still loves us so much!

Do you ever feel really lonely?  For many of us, loneliness is a chronic problem.  We can feel so alone even when there are people around us.  God, the one who knows everything about us and still loves us, is always with us.  Always.  There is no place we can ever go to escape from His presence, as verses 7-12 tell us.  The highest mountain - He’s there.  The lowest parts of the ocean - He’s there, too.  I think of those Chilean miners who were trapped deep in a mine for over 2 months back in 2010.  Even down there the Lord was present with them.  God is the Omnipresent One, always, everywhere with us.  If we are His children, we are never truly alone.

Another part of my depression can center around feelings of low self-esteem.  Verses 13-16 tell how God especially fashioned each of us.  We are not merely a chance of nature or an accidental coming together of certain molecules.  During the nine months while we are in our mother’s womb, God is specifically fashioning us into a unique person.  Even if we were not planned by our parents, even if they were not looking forward to our birth, we are not an accident in God’s eyes.  I sure may not look like much, but as verse 14 says, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made”.  That’s God’s Word talking, not my own.  And if He says that about me, then why should I care what anyone else says about my looks or abilities!

Psalm 139:1-18

Lastly, I’d like to focus a moment on verses 17 and 18.  These two verses are very special.  Have you ever worked with a young woman who is in love?  She can’t keep her mind on her work at all!  Constantly thinking of her boyfriend.  He’s all she talks about, too!  Even so, I doubt that she is thinking of him literally every second.  That would be 3,600 times an hour.  For a full day it would be 86,400.  It’s not likely she thinks of him that much, no matter how much she loves him.   God, though, has said that He thinks of us more times than the number of grains of sand on the earth.  It has been estimated that there are approximately seven quintillion, five hundred quadrillion grains of sand on the earth.  God loves each of His children so much that He thinks of us more than that!  Now that should lift anyone’s spirits!

The Responsibilities of Being God's People

Amos 3:1-8

Welcome to another week of Lectionary meditations!  Today we will look into the Prophet Amos.

Once in awhile a teacher may have to leave the room for a short while, and she will pick a student to keep order in the class.  A supervisor at work may need to be gone for a day, which may lead him to pick a worker to take over the responsibilities for the day.  If that teacher or supervisor doesn’t want any problems the ones they pick will not be selected just because they are special “pets”.  They will be picked because the teacher or supervisor respects the student or worker, and importantly feels they are capable of handling the responsibility and job.

Now what if, when the teacher stepped out, the child joined the class in causing trouble; or perhaps the worker acted wrongly, or mistreated co-workers.  There will be trouble for them when the bosses get back!

Focusing on verse 2, many of the Jewish people felt they were God’s special pets, feeling they were chosen because of how wonderful they were.  Many felt that God only loved them, and hated all of the Gentiles.  They would not accept that God had chosen them for a purpose, and that was to bring His message to the Gentiles, and to be His light to the world.  The Jewish people had basically failed in this, and God stated that they would be punished.

Not only had they failed to spread His love and message to the Gentiles, but many had embraced the false gods of the neighboring nations, and were worshipping them.

In verses 3 thru 6 we see some examples of cause and effect.  Certain activities will bring certain results.  If God’s people fail to obey His Word, He will send warnings through His prophets, and in modern times His Word and preachers. Then if there is no repentance and turning back to Him, He will bring judgment.

What Do You Seek?

John 1:29-41

Standing on the river bank is the fiery preacher dressed in the strange clothes of camel hair, eating the strange diet of locusts and honey, but preaching a message that has attracted disciples and crowds.  Then one day he points his disciples and those who have come to hear him preach to another one.

Two thoughts came to my mind with this passage, the first of which pertains to verse 29.  When John the Baptist, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, said “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”, the “world” he was referring to is humanity in general, not every individual person specifically.  The sins of everyone aren’t just automatically wiped away without their having to turn in faith to the Savior.  Jesus was to die, and later did die, for the sins of everyone.  Each individual person, though, has to personally accept Jesus as their Savior.  The Blood of Jesus does cleanse from all sin, but only for those who receive Him as Savior.  He offers that to everyone, but like a gift, it must be received.  Receive His forgiveness today if you haven’t already.

The second thought that came to my mind comes from verse 38.  There were two men who had formerly been disciples of John the Baptist, and who now start to follow Jesus.  Jesus turns to them and asks them “what do you seek?”  These men had heard what John the Baptist had said about Jesus, and He wished to know what was drawing them to Him?  That is a question He is asking us as well.  

What is drawing me to Jesus?  What am I seeking?  Am I seeking Him only to try and get something from Him, whether that might be healing or some financial gain?  There are some preachers today who promote just that - follow Jesus and He will give you a nice house, a new car, and a bigger bank account.

These former disciples of John the Baptist had heard John’s proclamation that here was the Lamb of God.  They were seeking the Messiah that John had talked about, and now they wanted to know if Jesus might be Him.  Are we seeking to know more about Jesus and His Word?  Are we seeking to know more of His will for me?  And if you haven’t already, are you seeking the forgiveness and salvation He offers?  If so, come and follow Him.