Deuteronomy 5:6-21
This week’s Old Testament reading from the Lectionary of The Book of Common Prayer contains Moses going over the Ten Commandments a second time with the people of Israel, right before they would enter the Promised Land. Rather than just briefly touch on each commandment, I will focus more on just one, the commandment to honor your father and your mother (vs 16). As we look across society today all around the world, we see that this is one commandment that is frequently neither followed nor respected by people of any age.
When we are children we need to obey our parents, except if what they said to do was in direct violation of a command of God. As adults we are to honor our parents. That should continue even after their death. Adult children honor their parents by showing respect, both face-to-face, and when speaking of them to others. They also honor their parents by providing for them financially if they need the help, and by caring for them when they are ill and unable to care for themselves.
Another way we can honor our parents is by respecting them for the wisdom and education many of them have gotten throughout their life. By doing so we can benefit from learning from their mistakes, and not repeating them. If you are fortunate enough to have parents who are believers, you honor them by passing on their faith and godly values to their grandchildren and further generations.
This commandment is the first commandment that comes with a promise. Honoring one’s parents is God’s way to build strong families. This command is also repeated in the New Testament by Paul in his letter to the Ephesians (Ephesians 6:1-3). The honor we show our parents should be an overflow of our love for Christ.
Scattered throughout the Scriptures are a number of unfortunate examples of children who neither honored nor respected their parents. One example are the two sons of Eli the priest, Hophni and Phinehas, who disobeyed and dishonored their father (I Samuel 2:12-17, 22-25). Another example was King David’s son, Absalom. He dishonored his father, tried to turn the people against him, and attempted to overthrow his throne (II Samuel 15:1-6, 10-12). Each of these men came to a very sad ending, which would have been avoided if they had only honored their parents.
Jesus, on the other hand, showed honor to His parents. Even from the cross, as He was dying, Jesus made sure His mother was provided for. Jesus entrusted her into the care of the Apostle John (John 19:26-27).
What about the many people who do not have godly, or even good parents? There are millions of people around the world who have parents who physically, emotionally, and/or sexually abused them. Or they had parents who were criminals or did other degenerate behavior. How are they supposed to honor their parents? God certainly does not want us to follow their path or their example. Sometimes one must even completely separate from those parents in order to keep that behavior from affecting your Christian life. However, that doesn’t mean we need to go around and speak ill of them to everyone. Instead, we speak of them to the Lord in prayer, and He sees our grieving heart for our parents. One can also find a godly older mentor who has helped and influenced our Christian walk, and show them parental honor.
If we want to be true followers of Jesus, we cannot pick and choose what commands we want to obey. The Ten Commandments are God’s clear will for us to obey. Let us find it in our hearts to obey the Lord our God.
Mark 2:18-22
Fasting and gloominess at a wedding, along with broken wine bottles. That doesn’t sound like a pretty picture, does it? Jesus uses both of these scenarios in our Scripture reading today from Mark’s Gospel to teach His disciples some spiritual lessons. Let’s take a look and see what Jesus would like to teach us here.
As our passage opens, two groups of people approach Jesus with a question (vs 18). They are some disciples of both John the Baptist and of the Pharisees. At this time John the Baptist had been thrown in prison for speaking out against King Herod’s marriage. When the Holy Spirit had revealed to John who Jesus was, he had urged many of his disciples to follow Jesus, as He was the Messiah, and John was only the messenger. Peter, James, John, and Andrew were a few that listened to John the Baptist’s words and now were following Jesus. These disciples today were some who had decided to remain with John, and were unsure, at least as of now, about Jesus. They were more in line with the Pharisees’ thinking and traditions.
These men came to Jesus with a question, wondering why His disciples don’t fast, but they and the Pharisees fast twice a week. The disciples didn’t need to fast for the coming Messiah. He was there. Jesus is the Bridegroom, and His people, the Church, is the Bride.
Jesus taught about fasting for the right motives. Fasting can be an outward sign of humility and repentance of sin. It is often used during times of intense prayer, or an inner discipline to keep our spirit alert to God’s Spirit. The Pharisees fasted twice a week in order to be seen, and thought of as super-spiritual (Matthew 6:16-18). The Old Testament Law only prescribed fasting on one day - the Day of Atonement. The Pharisees had again made man-made rules. True spiritual reasons were last in their thoughts. Jesus condemned this.
Jesus then proceeded to use a common, everyday item in those days to explain a spiritual lesson (vs 21-22). Wineskins in Biblical days were made of goatskins, sewn together. As wine ferments, carbon dioxide CO2 is produced. If the wine were put into old wineskins that had already been stretched and were taut they would burst. The new wine, in the fermenting process, would make the skins burst. New wine was only safely put into new wineskins.
The Pharisees were the old wineskins. They would not repent and change their life and way of thinking. The Pharisees would not accept anything but their man-made rules and religion. The newness of the Gospel message cannot be held in the old wineskins of tradition. The Holy Spirit sometimes wishes us to change our thinking and the way we do things.
Nothing in our life - friends, loves, job, hobby, habits, etc., is worth our soul. To repent is to change. Changing is to purge our heart of anything that cannot abide with Jesus Christ. A new life cannot be put back into an old lifestyle. The new life will be lost. The new life must be put under the leading of the Holy Spirit. New wine into new wineskins.
II Corinthians 3:17-4:2
Who do you look like? Do you have your father’s eyes, or your mother’s hair? When a baby is born, everyone is quick to look for similarities in the child with relatives. As we get older, there are some characteristics we hope we may have inherited - father’s intelligence, or uncle’s athletic ability, but hopefully not our maternal relatives weight problems! As believers who have given our life to Jesus, we are to start looking like the Savior. Our passage today from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthian church gives us encouragement as we seek to become more like Jesus.
Many wonderful things occur when we accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, one of which is liberty and freedom (vs 17). What are we set free from? For one, we are set free from the power and control of Satan and the kingdom of darkness. We are free from sin, and also the futile attempts to keep the Law as a means of earning righteousness. So many people try so hard to follow and keep all sorts of religious rules and rituals, thinking that if they are good enough they can make it to heaven. The fact is, no one will ever be good enough. By accepting Jesus’s sacrifice on our behalf, we are released from that overwhelming burden of trying to earn heaven on our own through our own works and efforts. It is the Holy Spirit who works that in our life the moment we accept the Lord Jesus as Savior. He is the 3rd Person of the Trinity, and though not spoken of as often as the Father or the Son, He is equally important.
What else happens to believers after they have accepted Jesus as Savior, and been given liberty from trying to earn salvation by keeping the Old Testament Law or other religious rituals? Paul continues on in our passage by saying that we believers are being transformed into the image of Jesus (vs 18). We are continually and progressively transformed into the image of Christ (Romans 8:29; Romans 12:2). Can someone as rotten, selfish, and sinful like me start to look and act like Jesus?! Yes! As we continually focus on Jesus the Holy Spirit will transform us to conform to His image. This doesn’t happen all at once, but progressively as we yield to Him.
As followers of Jesus, we have nothing obstructing our vision of Jesus Christ as revealed in Scripture (vs 18). During the days when the people of Israel were wandering in the wilderness, whenever Moses went and conversed with God, his face would then glow with the glory of God’s presence. This frightened the people, and they insisted Moses wear a veil until the glowing disappeared (Exodus 34:30). They did not want to see it. Now we come to God with an unveiled face through Jesus. We reflect His glory and are transformed into His image. Mirrors in Paul’s day were polished metal, and gave a far from perfect reflection. Even though our vision is unobstructed, we do not see a perfect sight of God’s glory now, but we will one day.
Paul finishes up this passage with an encouraging word for his readers to not lose heart or surrender, despite attacks from enemies or their own personal failings (vs 1). Our task is too important for that. God called Paul for his task and us for ours. He is not going to abandon it. As believers we are to renounce all of our hidden sins, immoralities, and hypocrisies hidden deep in our life (vs 2).
There were false teachers both then and now who twist and pervert the Word of God. Paul warns us to not distort the message of the Gospel to please our audience! Proclaim the truth!
In closing, we see the truth of Jesus in the Gospels, and it will transform us as we believe and apply it. If we are saved we have freedom. We are free, but we have to choose to accept it. We have to choose to believe it.
Psalm 85
Revival. That is a word that many Christians, particularly those who are serious about the Lord and their relationship with Him, like to hear. It is something many Christians pray for. Our psalm today speaks a prayer to God for revival. Let’s take a brief look at this psalm to see what we can learn and apply to our life.
This psalm was written by the Sons of Korah. They were a branch of the descendants of Levi, and were gatekeepers and musicians in the Temple. The Sons of Korah were also descended from the rebel Korah, who was swallowed up alive in the earth with Dathan and Abiram (Numbers 16). These descendants, though, loved the Lord, and were by no means rebels like their ancestor. We may have some unsavory people in our lineage, but God does not hold their sins against us, and we should never hesitate to serve Him because of family background. The Sons of Korah didn’t, and they wrote eleven psalms.
Spiritual revival is restoring a right relationship with God (vs 6). It is returning to a place where He is our chief delight, and where we celebrate His goodness, love, and mercy. Revival begins with restored and renewed believers, and then spreads to the lost coming to salvation. When Christians start taking their spiritual life seriously, and start obeying His Word, the world starts to notice, and the revival spreads to them. Souls are drawn to the Lord and are saved.
The Sons of Korah remind us in the first three verses that we need to always remember God’s mercies to us (vs 1-3). Remembering what God has done, and then thanking and praising Him for it is an important step for revival. Another thing is that, contrary to what some may say, God is angry with sin and those who persistently follow sinful ways, including believers (vs 4-7). There are some who believe God winks at our failings (they won’t even call them sins), and treats us like an indulgent grandpa. That is not how God is. When God’s people turn from any persistent sin in their life, return to Him, He will forgive and restore (vs 8-13). The way for revival is open.
In verse 10 we read that mercy and truth have met, righteousness and peace have kissed. Mercy is God withholding the just punishment we deserve. We have peace with God. Truth, on the other hand, states that we are sinners, and deserving of any wrath from God because of His righteousness. There have been preachers, particularly in the past, who would solely emphasize the one side, truth and righteousness, while rarely mentioning God’s mercy and peace. Today the pendulum has swung to the other extreme, where they only speak of God’s love and mercy, and say nothing of God’s righteous judgment of sin. Both are equally wrong.
How can the truth of our sinfulness, and God’s righteous anger at that sin be reconciled with His mercy and peace? That can only be accomplished through the sacrificial death of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. He, who had no sin, took the punishment for our sins. His sinless Blood satisfied the righteous judgment for truth of our sins. God could no bestow His mercy and peace on all who have accepted Jesus sacrifice on their behalf.
How about you? Have you accepted Jesus as your Savior? There isn’t a better moment than now to do so! If you are a believer, let’s join together and pray for revival in the church. Christians need to be woken up from their slumber. Revival will come and spread across our countries, and lost souls will be won for God’s Kingdom.
Hosea 2:14-23
An adulterous wife leaves her husband to run off with her many lovers. She then finds herself in a mess of trouble and is sold on the open slave market. Who comes to buy her back, but her forsaken and estranged husband. While you might think I am describing an episode on a soap opera or a Hollywood movie, this is in fact the background story of the book of Hosea the prophet.
Hosea had married a woman named Gomer, who was unfaithful to him from the start. She leaves him, and is eventually sold as a slave. God used the tragic events in Hosea’s life to picture what was happening spiritually with the nation of Israel and their relationship with God. Throughout Scriptures God frequently pictured His relationship with His people to that of a husband and wife. The people were “married” to Him, and they were to be faithful, just as He is faithful. Instead, the people of Israel continued repeatedly to forsake God and run after the other false gods of the nations around them. God called this spiritual adultery.
Gomer was not unfaithful to Hosea just once or twice, but repeatedly. Most husbands would have divorced their unfaithful wife after this. However, Hosea deeply loved his wife, despite the pain and heartbreak she caused. Again this is a picture of God’s love for His straying and unfaithful people. Hosea tried repeatedly to woo his wife back, just like the Lord does. This is where we pick up our passage today from the Book of Hosea.
When a man tries to woo a woman to himself he doesn’t use harsh or critical words. Instead, he speaks words of love. That is how God is with us (vs 14). He wishes to restore His people to Himself. Sometimes, though, He must take us into the wilderness to lead us back to Him. God will use our negative experiences to help draw us to Him.
When Hosea came across his unfaithful wife now upon the slave auction block to be sold, and he bought her, he was now technically also her master. That was not what he wanted, though. He wanted to be her husband. A husband should be loving, caring, and tender, whereas a master often rules harshly. That’s the way God wants to be with us - loving, caring, and tender (vs 16).
Israel had forgotten her true God (vs 17). Now God says they will forget the false gods that they have been running after. He will give them a new, regenerated heart with the New Covenant, through Jesus. What false gods, whether literal or figurative, have lured us away from Yahweh? He wants us to forget their names, return to Him, and be faithful.
A “betrothal” is another word for wedding engagement. In Biblical days, and actually until just a century or two ago, betrothals were much more serious than today. In most cases they were just as binding as a marriage. God has betrothed us to Himself forever (vs 19-20). This shows the intensity of His restoring love for His people. No longer is she an adulterous prostitute, she is restored to her marriage. God provides her dowry and all she needs. When we turn away from God, He doesn’t wait for us to decide to return to Him. He eagerly pursues us to be reunited to Him.
When we think of what the unfaithful wife deserves, we may think she deserves to be sold into slavery. We may think Hosea deserves a better, more loving wife. By the same token, what do we deserve from God? We are all wretched sinners who deserve hell. What did God do, though? He bought us back from the slavery to sin with the Blood of Jesus. He bought us, cleaned us up, and we are His forever. Have you accepted Jesus as your Savior, and gone from being a slave into His loving arms? Do not hesitate a moment longer!
John 7:37-39
Have you ever been really, really thirsty? Maybe while out working outside in the hot sun, or hiking a trail, and your water supply runs out. All you can think of is that next gulp of cold, refreshing water! Water is essential to life. Go without it for just a little while and your thinking starts getting confused. A little longer and your organs start to shut down. A person can survive several weeks without food, but only 3-4 days without water.
We’ve all been physically thirsty, but how about spiritually thirsty? Our soul and spirit needs a connection with God, and when that is not there we become spiritually dried and withered like a wasted corn husk on a hot day. The only way we can find refreshment is by coming to God through the Lord Jesus Christ.
As our Scripture reading today from the Gospel of John begins Jesus was in the capital city of Jerusalem for the Jewish festival of Tabernacles. This festival was held in the fall, generally in October, so the timing was about 6 or so months prior to the crucifixion. The Feast of Tabernacles commemorated when the Jewish people were wandering in the wilderness for forty years. One of the ceremonies performed during this festival was to commemorate God providing them with water from out of the rock. The people were so thirsty then they felt like they would die, and were even threatening Moses. Moses prayed to the Lord and He provided them water from a rock (Exodus 17:1-7). It was probably during these water ceremonies that Jesus stood up in front of the crowds and spoke the words of our passage.
Jesus stood in front of the crowds gathered that day and cried out to the people, saying that whoever was thirsty to come to Him and drink (vs 37). “Thirst” - “Come” - “Drink”. These words summarize the Gospel invitation. First we see and recognize that we have a need. We are lost and spiritually thirsty. The only one who can satisfy our thirst is Jesus. When we hear God’s call to our soul, we come and approach where we can be satisfied. We need to go to where we hear the Gospel message. We then receive what can quench our thirst. We accept the Savior. Come to the Savior and drink! Receive the salvation He offers!
Man was made to have a close and personal relationship with God. All of our deepest needs can only be met in God, and through no one else. Without Him our souls are wilted and will get beyond parched. We try to satisfy this desire with many other false thirst quenchers. Some of these activities aren’t particularly harmful, like hobbies, sports, etc. Others can be harmful, like drugs, alcohol, or false religions. Salt water will not quench one’s thirst. Instead it only makes it worse. These other activities, both good and bad ones, will not quench our spiritual thirst any more than salt water will. Jesus, and only Jesus can satisfy our spiritual thirst.
The living water Jesus spoke about here in verse 38 is referring to the Holy Spirit. Jesus used that term, living water, earlier in His ministry when He was speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well, where He was meaning eternal life (John 4:10). If we have the Holy Spirit we have eternal life. All who have been saved receive living water eternal life, as promised the Samaritan woman, and receive the Holy Spirit living water, which Jesus promised here.
Even though the religious establishment, and even His own family, opposed Jesus, He never faltered from His mission of bringing the Water of Life to thirsty souls. Are you thirsty today? Turn to Jesus and quench the thirst of your soul!
Romans 8:14-17, 22-27
Imagine your surprise if upon opening some mail you read that a huge inheritance was waiting for you! For most of us that is unlikely, as we have no surprise millionaire relatives or benefactors waiting to bequeath their riches on us. Or do we? In our Scripture passage from the Book of Romans today we read that for those who have accepted the Lord Jesus as Savior, they are now the children of God, and joint heirs with Jesus. Let’s look at this passage together, as this is exciting news!
Every one of us were physically born into one family or another. Some are kind, others not so kind, some richer, many not at all. Spiritually we are all lost and separated from God from the day of our birth. When we receive Jesus as Savior, we become children of God (John 1:12). We are the adopted children of God, with all the rights and privileges that go along with that! We are no longer cringing slaves, but the Master’s children!
Many of us had earthly fathers who were not all that pleasant. As adopted children of God, we can come before Him without fear. As verse 15 says, we call Him “father”, a term that implies tenderness, free from fear or anxiety. Just as adopted children become legally the real children of the family, God is not just a father-figure to us, but our real father. With God as our Father, we can come into His presence at any time, all because of the Blood of Jesus. Someone outside the family doesn’t have that close, privileged access.
A possible fear of an adopted child might be that the adoption is not real, and they really aren’t a part of the family. How do we know for sure that this adoption is valid? In verse 16 we see that the Holy Spirit confirms the validity of our adoption by the fruit He produces in us (Galatians 5:22-23), and the power He provides us with.
Not only have we been adopted, but we are also joint heirs with Jesus! (vs 17). What exactly is a joint heir? A joint heir receives the exact same inheritance as the other person. Whatever Jesus has through inheritance has become ours through the very same inheritance. He is pleased to share His inheritance with us! Unlike Jewish law where the first-born son received the vast majority of the inheritance, Roman law divided the inheritance equally between the children. The law protected what had been inherited. We are fellow heirs with Christ, and have access to God’s riches, including joy, love, and peace.
Another cause for rejoicing in our Scripture passage today is the promise that when we don’t know how, or what to pray for in a certain issue or need, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us (vs 26-27). Many of us might, at one time or another, just not know what to say in our prayers, especially in a crisis time, or when our heart is so crushed. As a child of God, with the Holy Spirit indwelling us, He prays for us when we have no words.
When we don’t know how to pray, the Holy Spirit leads us to communicate in a new way. He hears our inner cries, guides us by applying Scripture to our lives, and instructs us on how to do His will. We should be daily so filled with the Spirit that He is praying through us when we pray. Our prayer will be according to God’s will, as it is guided by the Holy Spirit. Even when we don’t know the right words to pray, the Holy Spirit prays with and for us, and God answers. No words are necessary, because the Father understands, and agrees with the Holy Spirit.
Joint heirs with Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to intercede - what wonderful blessings to those who have become children of God!
