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Today’s reading:  1 Samuel 15-16, 1 Chronicles 1, Psalm 39, Acts 11

On the window ledge in my office at work sit four die cast Caterpillar machine replicas – two track type tractors, a large mining truck and a motor grader.  Each of these was given to me by different groups of co-workers throughout my Caterpillar career.  They evoke fond memories.  To this day, it is not uncommon for my office visitors to ask me what the machines are for.  My response is always, “I spent some of the most formative years of my career at Caterpillar.  These machines remind me that in order to know where you are going, you often need to remember where you’ve been.”

Today, we start the book of 1 Chronicles.  The first chapter is a genealogy…53 verses of names. (Spoiler alert, the genealogy continues all the way though chapter 8.)  These names trace the lineage of God’s people all the way back to Adam.  Their purpose was to remind the Israelites of their spiritual heritage and inspire them to renew their relationship with God.  For the Israelites to know where they needed to go, they needed to remember where they’d been.

Some of these names represent stories of great faith, others represent tragic failure, and some of them aren’t known to us at all.  Whether we recognize the names or not, they are known by God.  He used them all to accomplish his purpose throughout history.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

What is your story of faith?  How is God using you to accomplish his purposes?  Are you open to his leading?  Today I challenge you to remember where you’ve come from, and make sure you are on the path of where God needs you to go.

 

 

Today’s Reading::  I Samuel 9-10; Acts 8

In both of these readings for today the main character has several encounters along their journey. These two journeys are very similar and at the same time complex. In I Samuel, Saul is on a journey to find himself as a king. In Acts, Philip is on a journey to relate Jesus as the risen Christ.  Both Saul and Phillip are guided by the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit is mentoring and guiding each of them on how to approach each situation that they come in contact with. Each individual at this point in their lives gives complete control over to the Holy Spirit as their guide and does not allow their human intentions to cloud their judgment or to cloud their mission.  In each of the journey’s they have: Encouragement, Adversity, and Resolution. 

 

Encouragement

In both of these journeys, each individual at the beginning of the journey is encouraged. Saul, the future King,  is encouraged about the loss of his donkeys and the potential of amazing blessings that God has in store for him if he follows the guidelines and requirements. Philip is escaping persecution from Saul (soon to be converted to Paul) and working to expand the new religion in the church of Christ. In The Old Testament, Saul is encouraged by Samuel and by the individuals who are taking the food to the celebration. For Philip, he is encouraged by speaking the gospel to the individuals.

 

Adversity

 

Each individual has some type of adversity that is presented to them along their journey.   Saul’s adversity is not a completely direct adversity, but we see in his response to his uncle when he returns from the search for the donkeys.   Lets see this as an example, when you were given a gift sometimes you cannot explain everything to everyone. Sometimes when you’re giving gifts, you have to use discretion when disclosing the blessings to individuals.  Sometimes others can be jealous of the blessings and may have malicious intent for you. So in the midst of your gifts and your blessings, we have to be on guard and listen to the Spirit to show others how we can present our blessings.

 

Philip’s adversity is seen through Simon, the magician. Simon was for himself. Simon was trying to get the best of the best. He was not thinking about the bigger picture, but how he can be seen as powerful. After Philip met Simon met, Simon was baptized.  The act of baptism could have created an existential change in Simon, but Simon did not not really change. This part of the adversary shows that some people may change on the outside, but not fully change inside. 

This encounter also shows that Peter and John when presented with Simon, were not hesitant to call out Simon for his selfishness. So as we are going on our journey, we have to be aware of the ones who may change on the outside, but not change on the inside. We have to be vigilant of the adversaries that will be with us, but not for us. We must ask the Holy Spirit to continue to strengthen us as we grow continuously in our journey.

 

Resolution

 

In both of these journeys, at the end of the journey, there’s a beautiful resolution that is marked by blessings. For Saul after he has followed the directions of Samuel, he is blessed as the king. Saul listens. Saul follows directions. Saul is under the Spirit. When we submit and allowed to be honored by the Spirit, we can do amazing things.

 

Philip also listens to the angel and the Spirit to see how to go forward. Philip listens. Phillip follows. Phillip grows. There are very few occurrences in the Bible, where the Spirit takes people away, and Philip is one of those individuals where the Spirit takes him to another place. It’s because of the connection and the relationship between these two individuals, Saul, the first king of Israel, and Philip, one of the first missionaries, that we can see the Spirit moving and growing and individuals who didn’t know that they were going to make an impact on the world.

 

In all these journeys, we have to understand that there is going to be encouragement, adversity, and resolution. These can be seen in our everyday life. We have to continue to grow and mature our relationship with God and with the spirit so that we can see God’s work in us.

 

What will the week have ahead for us? We will be in our journey this week? Can we see the encouragement, the adversity, and the resolution in all of our Works?

 

Be blessed.

“Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?”
Luke 24:38

The disciples had just witnessed Jesus being taken by the Roman guards. They watched as he had been beaten beyond recognition. As Jesus drug the cross through Jerusalem they followed Him helplessly. They stood and waited as Jesus bled out and life left His body on the cross. They saw the guards guarding his tomb. It had been 3 days.

As the disciples were gathering, Jesus appeared to them and asked, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?”

How would you respond in this situation? Did they have reason to doubt? I do admit that I probably would have questioned and doubted how Jesus, who I saw hang on that cross till life left His body, could now be standing in front of me.

But Jesus, sits with the disciples and breaks bread. He lets them touch Him. He opens their mind so they could understand the Scripture and what it says.

He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Luke 24:46-47

Because Jesus has not yet returned, we must walk by faith. We have His Word as a lamp for our feet and a light on our path (Psalm 119:105). We are not like the disciples in the fact that they got to dine with Jesus and touch Him, but we know that Jesus can be trusted. We  just experienced Easter and celebrated the fact that He indeed  rose from the dead. When doubts arise, we need only to continue to pour over His Word and renew our minds. Ask the Lord to open your mind so that you can understand the scripture. You might be amazed and what you then read.

For we live by faith, not by sight.
2 Corinthians 5:7

Today’s Readings:  Judges 7-8; Luke 22

We live our lives, plan for our future, hope for peace, and pray for health and safety of our friends and family.  We want to know everything will be ok, and that we will be able to manage life’s events.  We plan for certainty and by nature we yearn for self-preservation.

It doesn’t always work out that way.

Today we read Luke 22, which starts off with the “Plot to Kill Jesus.”   Jesus had twelve disciples who followed Him throughout the nearly three years of His ministry on Earth.  Their names were, according to Matthew 10:2-3, “Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother. Phillip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector, James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Jesus.”

These twelve men put aside their lives, left their families, and followed Jesus and His ministry for three years of travel, strife, and insecurity. During the time of Jesus’ life, the Jewish people had their own governance called the Sanhedrin, but they were under Roman law.  The Jews were persecuted and not able to control their people’s lives and resented Roman rule.

What seems likely is that the disciples thought Jesus would overthrow Roman authority and become the “King of the Jews,” and rule over the Romans. The disciples and followers were not focused on Jesus’ role toward eternity but what He could do for them on Earth.  Jesus would become king and their daily lives on Earth would become better.  They traveled, toiled, endured criticism and danger from the Jewish elite with the great hope that Jesus was their Earthly salvation.

Luke 22 walks us through Jesus telling His disciples that He was going to die, and one of them (the disciples), is His betrayer when He said in verse 21, “But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me at this table.”  This was not a part of the plan the disciples thought they “signed up” for.

That very night, Jesus was arrested, and He would be tried, convicted, and put to death in 24 hours. The twelve men that devoted three years of their lives now had no leader.  The “person” they put their lives and faith into just “died.”  What they planned and hoped for did not come true.  The “person” they committed every as aspect of their lives to was “gone.”

How does this relate to the trials and twists of our lives?  Do we have great hope to stay healthy?  Do we have great hope that our kids will make great decisions, thrive, and be happy?  Do we expect to lose our jobs or struggle with life events?

The Bible teaches us that with our faith in Christ, there is no promise of a life without trials, turmoil, and unfortunately uncertainty.  The disciples endured three days of suffering, pain, and likely deep sorrow that their Savior was “gone.”  They soon learned that Jesus was alive when He rose from the tomb and appeared to numerous eyewitnesses to prove that He was the Son of God and was alive.

The disciple’s faith was likely restored but now their lives would be even more challenging and different.  What they likely planned for in their mind dramatically changed. Their job now was to spread the Gospel of Christianity around the world and risk even more danger, criticism, and uncertainty, and eventually their own death.  The plan they hoped for dramatically changed.

We as Christians must have a keen focus on the purpose of our lives.  Our purpose is to bring glory to God, His Son Jesus, and bring others to Christ.  Our faith and resolve, to stay the course and commit to Christ during the worst of times, is when we make our mark.  Our resolve, strength, and assurance to follow Christ, even when it seems impossible to do so, strengthens our love and relationship with Christ.  The impossible becomes reasonable with our faith Jesus no matter how much “our plans change.”

May we have the resolve of the prophets and disciples before us to “stay the course” when it seems impossible to do so.

He is risen!  He is risen indeed!

Today’s reading:  Judges 1-3, Psalm 16, Luke 20

When the book of Joshua ends, God’s people are ready to experience all the blessings of the Promised Land.  But wait…flip the page to Judges 1 and you quickly figure out it didn’t end up this way.  Why?  Because the Israelites did not obey God’s orders to totally eliminate the existing inhabitants of the land.  And just like God said, the draw of a pagan, do whatever makes me feel good culture was ultimately too strong to resist.  Eventually God’s people became enslaved to the indigenous people and their sinful ways.  When they finally got to the point of desperation, they called out to God for help.  Out of his loving kindness, God rescued them by sending a series of different Judges to lead his people.  Thus, the name of the book!

It will not surprise you that God’s people continued to repeat the cycle of oppression and then deliverance.  Every time a judge died and the Israelites experienced a leadership void, they got sucked back into the practices of the pagan culture and pulled aways from God.  During the 325 year time period covered by the book of Judges, this happened 12 different times.

This book feels a little bit like a soap opera, and honestly, feels a lot like twenty first century America.  Our sinful culture is attractive and it is easy for us to become enslaved to it.  The book of Judges is a good reminder that the painful consequences of sin are certain.  Fortunately, God’s deliverance for those who repent is also certain.