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Today’s Reading: I Kings 19-21; II Chronicles 17; Psalms 129; Matthew 1

One of the best things that I love about summer is the fresh fruit. Just recently I was shopping with my kids and we picked up some nectarines. The kids had many questions about the different fruits. They wanted to know the difference between the nectarine, the peach, and the apricot. As I’m explaining it to them, they are confused, because each of these fruits seem similar in their taste and texture, except for the size. This gives me an opportunity to see what the fruit is that we have for each other and how we manifest the fruit in our spirit. 

If we bite into a peach and we taste an orange or an apple, that is confusing to the senses.  When we see a pear tree, we know that the tree will produce pears. When we see an apple tree, we know that tree will produce apples. So each tree is distinct by the fruit that it bears.

In today’s passages, we are going through the history and lineage of Christ. In Matthew, we are given the genealogy of Christ for 42 generations. This genealogy goes back from Abraham to David to Christ.  Each of these entries actually shows us the different tapestries that created Christ. It gives us a true understanding that could be connected from generation to generation. This was very important and established the family tree and lineage of Christ. As we are looking at history, we can see in different citations and publications of Christ and is validated and verified to be truly human and truly divine.

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬-‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah,”

In the Old Testament, the descendants of David, Asa, and Jehoshaphat and their workings with God and the fellowship they gave. 

‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭15‬:‭1‬-‭2‬, ‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“The Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. As soon as Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, he took courage and put away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities that he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the vestibule of the house of the Lord.”

‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭17‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place and strengthened himself against Israel. He placed forces in all the fortified cities of Judah and set garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim that Asa his father had captured. The Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals,”

Over the past couple weeks, my family has experienced several individuals who have transitioned to eternity. One of the most difficult farewells was for Jillian‘s grandmother, Elda Rose Koch. As we were celebrating her death and departure, we were in awe by the amount of visitors.  Jillian’s grandmother passed away at the age of 93. Many times when individuals pass away at such a great age, there could be a few Individuals to celebrate life. But for Jillian‘s grandmother, there were over 200 visitors for her. This shows what type of fruit she had on her tree. This shows how she led her life for God and others.  

So the question is, what is the fruit that you are producing? When people interact with you, will they see the fruit that God has given you to give? And if we do have fruit that God has given us, let us share it gracefully and gratefully. Because if we do not share that fruit, then we could end up like the tree that Christ spoke to on his way into Jerusalem at his last Passover. The tree was beautiful and it was Majestic. But when it did not give forth fruit, it withered the next day. How can we live a life that will be pleasing and for the glory of God?

Be Blessed

He saved us because of his mercy, not because of any good things we did. He saved us through the washing that made us new people. He saved us by making us new through the Holy Spirit.
Titus 3:5

I will never forget the shame I felt after hanging up the phone with a lady from a new church I attended. She asked me if I believed in Jesus and did I believe I would go to Heaven. I said Yes and she asked me why I believed this. The first words out of my mouth were, “because I am a good person and I do good things.” The woman immediately followed up with, “well, that is fine, but you only get to Heaven because Jesus died for your sins, not because of anything you do.” I was mortified. I had just graduated from a Christian College, I had spent years in the Church…why wasn’t that my first answer??? As hard as it was to realize that I had answered in the wrong way, it has been one of the greatest lessons and reminders in my life. Jesus died for ME because He Loves Me! Not because of ANYTHING I have done or will do!

This is the message from Titus 3:5. Not because of any good things I did, but He saved me because of His mercy. There is nothing we can do to become righteous. It is the Holy Spirit’s job to transform us. It is our job to ask and allow the Holy Spirit to transform us. It is up to us how much we want to submit to Jesus on a daily basis. It is an everyday decision to draw close to Jesus and allow Him to transform us.

The devil wants nothing more than to make us feel like a failure. Just as I did when I hung up the phone with the lady from the church I visited (my stomach still churns when I reflect on it). I could have easily turned into myself and got wrapped up in my bad answer…BUT…that is where His mercy shines through. It is only because of Jesus that I can mess up and start again. He loves me and You that much! Jesus always has mercy for us and our slip ups. He continually calls us back to Him. We just have to be open and turn back to Him time and time again.

Today’s reading: 1 Kings 12, 2 Chronicles 10-11, Titus 1

Paul, the most prolific author of the New Testament, was a consistent purveyor of the Gospel and truth of Jesus Christ.  Throughout his ministry and evangelism, he was criticized, imprisoned, physically beaten, and nearly lost his life. Paul remained steadfast to his faith, regardless of the challenges, and stayed the course.

I would like to congratulate and thank our parents today on their 52^nd wedding anniversary.  I am reminded to maintain a marriage union for that length of time, there must be a commitment to values and principles.  Our parents raised my brother and I in a home where Christian faith was the center of our family.  We were so fortunate that they continued the example of their parents to raise my brother and I in a Christian home.  Here are a few areas that stand out that I value and appreciate our parents for.

1. 1. Marriage takes commitment – There is nothing easy about marriage. My parents have been committed to each other’s careers, their hobbies, community of friends, and have supported each other over the years.  I know there have been many challenges and struggles throughout this journey, but they have remained steadfast to each other throughout the difficult times.  They did not quit. At the center of our family over all the years was a commitment to our faith.
   2. Commit your life to purpose – Our parents were educated as teachers, committing the early years of their lives to teaching and helping students. They devoted their time to make an impact on students’ lives, which I think impacted my brother and I in our lives. They shared common values and mission in their careers, always focused on helping others. Their lives have modeled purpose which I think can be pointed back to their faith in Jesus Christ.
   3. Love the sinner, hate the sin – Our parents taught us to seek to understand others, and treat everyone with fairness and love. We may not agree with someone’s choices but we were taught to treat everyone with respect and love.  They have treated each other with respect and love. They have espoused and demonstrated Biblical values in the way they live their lives.
   4. Life is difficult, rely on God – There have been challenges throughout their marriage. No matter the struggles that have been thrown at them, they have always relied on their faith in Jesus Christ.  They know no matter the struggle, God has a plan for them.  Taking care of numerous family and people in their community, health struggles, and navigating the impacts on their marriage, they have consistently relied on their faith when life was most difficult.

Our parents’ faith has provided consistency and a solid foundation for our family.  My brother and I have known throughout our lives that we can count on our parents to remain consistent and focused on their faith. That has provided great comfort and direction in a sinful world that constantly attempts to pull us away from God’s purpose.  Our parents may not always agree, but they love each other.  Love does not mean agreeing on everything, but it meant seeking to understand each other and not reacting in anger or contempt with the big issues or even the small ones.  I believe this has carried them through 52 years of marriage.

Paul was the led by conviction in his steadfast faith, which is exalted to Titus in the New Testament.  Remain convicted and faithful during life’s journey.  I am grateful that the union of our parents, July 3, 1971, identifies with many of the same values, commitment, and foundation professed by the Apostle Paul.

Today’s reading: Ecclesiastes 7-9, Psalm 46, 2 Timothy 3

I’ve spent the last twenty years of my career in some type of risk management role.  I know that different types of risk manifest themselves in different ways, have different impacts on people and organizations, and can be appropriately treated in many different ways.  Yet, options for treating risk can always be summarized into four basic actions – avoid, transfer, mitigate or accept the risk.  What action is the best choice in each situation depends on your risk appetite.  How likely is the event to actually occur, and how much of the downside impact (or consequences) can you handle?

Paul begins 2 Timothy 3 by describing the last days.  Things are going to be bad.  People are going to be bad.  This badness greatly increases the risk that we, as Christfollowers, won’t achieve our goal of living a life that glorifies God.  The more ungodly the world gets, and the more we are surrounded by people who love themselves more than they love God, the greater our risk of adopting their ways and turning from God.

Paul’s recommended treatment for this risk is to avoid it all together.  Remember back in Deuteronomy when God was guiding his people how they were to take over the land he had promised to their ancestors?  When they took over a city, they were to eliminate everyone and everything.  Why?  So the pagan culture didn’t influence their practices and pull them away from God.

Same theory here.  If you surround yourself with people who love themselves more than they love God and others, love money, are proud, ungrateful, and lack self-control, their practices will start to infiltrate your life.   Eventually you will look and sounds just like them.

If Paul’s guidance is to avoid these people, you know the likelihood of them influencing you must be high.  The consequences of this type of behavior that separates us from God is also severe.  The downside risk is just too great for us to handle.

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

Today’s Reading : I Kings 10-11; II Chronicles 9; I Timothy 6

I have forgotten to give my background in many stories. The many times that I am re-reading through the Bible,  I have had exposure to these stories several times over in my lifetime. My grandmother was a preacher’s wife. So many of these stories that I am reading in the Bible I have experienced through word, song, and text hundreds of times.  I forget that sometimes this may be the first time many of the readers have access to the stories. 

The passages that we have today actually complement each other so well. The stories in the passage that we recount today are the one with Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, in both Kings and the Chronicles, and Paul’s letter to Timothy.

“But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”

‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭6‬:‭6‬-‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Yesterday, after church, I was sitting with my children and recalling “The Big Idea”. It is really interesting how they are able to understand and receive understanding about the Bible and about the different miracles that are happening in the Bible. But one question I asked was “do you know who King Solomon and King David were?“ And to my surprise, they did not know. 

In Kings and the Chronicles, we are given a glimpse into the power and the magnitude of King Solomon and his wealth. We are also given a glimpse into how others can influence us or be detrimental to us. In the first part of both of these passages King Solomon is introduced to the Queen of Sheba. The Queen of Sheba is a well-known and very influential person in the historical biblical setting.  She is also very wise,  similar to that of king Solomon. In both of these accounts, she gives praise to God for the wisdom He has given to Solomon, and for the bounty and the abundance that Solomon has been given.  Then the Queen of Sheba returns to her home and kingdom. 

For many years that I have read this, I assumed that Solomon and Sheba were married, but they were just great friends, and held each other up to a higher standard. These are the people that we need to have in our lives. Ones who are there to acknowledge what we have done, but also to give us support to grow stronger in our faith and in our life.

In each of these passages in Kings and Chronicles, after the Queen of Sheba leaves, Solomon does not find contentment in what he has. 

“Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, besides that which came from the explorers and from the business of the merchants, and from all the kings of the west and from the governors of the land.”

‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭10‬:‭14‬-‭15‬ ‭ESV‬‬

To put this in perspective, a talent of gold was roughly 75lbs,  so approximately 4,950 lbs of gold per year, not including other gold that he received.  This is calculated at $112,988,904 per year.  Solomon reigned for  40 years, which would have been equivalent wealth minimum of $4,519,000,000.  This can easily be calculated to be more than any person before or after accounting for the conversion factors.    

But even with all of the wealth and wisdom of God, Solomon allows others to influence him and to change his heart. His relationship with God decreases as he gives his heart to other gods. How many times have we given our thoughts and energy to other gods(health, goods, status, fame, and time)? 

Being content is not about having things, but having a relationship with God who provides the things that we are in need and some of the desire of our hearts.  Contentment is about the relationship with God.  King David understood this… “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭23‬:‭1‬ ‭ESV‬‬

God wants us to be content. God wants us to have the desires of the heart. But he also wants our relationship with him. Where we continually work on our relationship with him, we will find our contentment. There’s no amount of wealth of wisdom that can replace God’s connection and God‘s relationship with us. We have to renew our relationship with Him daily. It’s not a one and done. It’s a continual commitment even through the highs and lows that we connect with God. When we do that we are truly content.