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Today’s Reading: Deuteronomy 31

The last chapters of Deuteronomy are a farewell letter from Moses to the children of Israel. They have gone through the exodus from Egypt, they have gone through the wilderness, and now they are at the break of coming into the promised land. This could be seen as a eulogy for Moses, but it actually is a word of encouragement to the people of Israel.

Whenever we lose someone close to us, we have a tendency to be saddened and then have a fear of what’s next. There is a fear of the unknown, there’s a fear of losing that person, and then a fear of failing God with the next chapter of your life. God understands that fear is a natural part of our emotional complex. God knows our innermost parts and he has these words of encouragement that come three times in this chapter of Deuteronomy.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” …..

Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. ….

And the Lord commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. I will be with you.”

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭31‬:‭6‬-‭7‬, ‭23‬ ‭ESV‬‬

In this chapter, we see that fear is the weakness in which God‘s faithfulness is able to shine. God shows us that in order for him to shine and to grow us we have to be exposed to outside stresses. The only way that a muscle is able to get strong is through applied stress in a controlled situation. This is how you become stronger.

God is not allowing us to experience these stresses alone or in isolation.  He shows this with the people of Israel and with us in our experiences, he will not allow the stresses without a controlled environment. He sets us up for success.

God wants us to try to accomplish many things. He is an amazing father. He also has a foresight and insight to set up insurances for us to succeed. Many times we think that God is not there or if he’s forgotten about us, but he has already seen the things to come and have backup methods for us.  In the passage below,  it shows how God sees what is to come and how to instruct his people on how to return to his open arms.

“And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them….

“Now therefore write this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel…

So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel.”

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭31‬:‭16‬, ‭19‬, ‭22‬ ‭ESV‬‬

This scenario is similar to a dad with a new driver. The dad will have the insurance and the AAA card and the connections to help out the new driver in the event that they will have an incident. It’s not saying that they are being set up for failure, but they have insurance to help them in the event that they need assistance.

Throughout our life, God has the best intentions for us, but he also has insurance policies for us. Even when we think that we’ve fallen so far from God‘s design and his purpose, God still has love and a plan for us.

Let us not hide from fear.  Let us acknowledge the unknown and be confident in God’s plan for us and that he has insurance policies on us to protect us when we are aligned and in relationship with him.  May you be blessed this week and be courageous in all that you do.

Be Blessed

Genesis 28

Where do we see God keeping His promises?

In this chapter of Genesis, Jacob is basically on the run.  Isaac tells him to get out of dodge and go marry one of his uncle Laban’s daughters, not a Canaanite woman.  On his way to Paddan-aram when the sun is going down he finds a good spot to close his eyes and a stone to rest his head.  Once asleep, he has a dream of a staircase that begins on earth and extends all the way up to heaven, with angels moving up and down.  God is at the top and speaks to him.  Most importantly, He says, “I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go.”

Notice, God promises His presence to Jacob, but doesn’t promise his life to be easy.  He says, “I will not leave you”.  You see, His main promise is not comfort and assurance throughout Jacob’s life, but instead, it’s companionship along the way.   Jacob wakes up and treats that encounter more like, ‘If God takes care of me, then the Lord will be my God’.  That isn’t the way God necessarily intended it, but I believe is more proof that God works with people who are still figuring things out.

What promise are we invited to trust today?

Genesis 28 is a perfect example of showing us how we are expected to be ‘perfect’ Christians and followers of God.  We can never be perfect.  We don’t have to always say the perfect prayer.  We shouldn’t worry that we never experience a divine encounter with God.  Any ordinary place can become a sacred place to us with Him.  God doesn’t have to meet us always in the steadiness of our faith, it could be in the evolution of it.  God’s presence is always with us, even when we don’t know where we are going.

This chapter shows that God shows up when we are uncertain.  He promises to walk with us rather than fix everything instantly.  Often, He turns ordinary, uncomfortable moments into turning points.  He promises to always be with us no matter what.  You can certainly trust that.

Genesis 17

Today’s reading is from the book of Genesis, chapter 17.

How does God’s steadfast love steady my fears?

In Genesis 17, God reveals Himself to Abram as “God Almighty” (El Shaddai) and reaffirms His covenant at a moment when fear, doubt, and human limitation would be entirely reasonable. Abram is ninety-nine years old, childless with Sarai, and decades removed from the original promise. God’s steadfast love steadies fear not by minimizing Abram’s circumstances, but by anchoring the promise in God’s character rather than Abram’s capacity.

God’s love is steady because it is initiated by Him, not earned. He unilaterally establishes an “everlasting covenant,” changes Abram’s name to Abraham, and declares fruitfulness before any evidence exists. Even Abram’s laughter—an honest response of doubt—is met not with rebuke, but with reassurance. God names Isaac in advance, signaling that the outcome is already secured. Fear is quieted because the future does not rest on human strength, timing, or perfection, but on a faithful God who keeps His word across generations.

What step of faith can I take?

Genesis 17 calls for a faith that is obedient, visible, and trusting, even when fulfillment feels improbable. Abraham’s step of faith was to accept the covenant sign and live as if God’s promise were already true.

A practical step of faith today may be to:

• Align behavior with belief—acting consistently with what God has promised rather than what circumstances suggest.
• Trust God with timing—releasing anxiety over delays and refusing to take control where God has already spoken.
• Publicly identify with God’s covenant—through obedience, integrity, and faithfulness, even when it is costly or uncomfortable.

In short, Genesis 17 invites us to move forward not because fear is gone, but because God’s steadfast love is greater than your fear.

Psalm 124

God is such a great help in time of need. In this psalm David is calling on Israel to think about what would have happened if God was not their defense. David uses imagery of a beast swallowing them alive or of a raging torrent overwhelming them. But blessed be the Lord who did not allow this to happen to His people! The psalm concludes saying “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

How often do you find yourself in need? I can speak for myself; it is nearly every single day. I’ll give you an example. I looked down at my wallet to pay for my emissions test this morning and my credit card wasn’t in its normal spot. This is seemingly a minor issue, but what was my first reaction? Where did I leave it? What time does that restaurant open so I can find it? What if it’s not there? How do I lock my card? I should have called on the name of my God. The One who created everything and is therefore the most powerful being, who is my defense. This is a minor incident where I need help.

Let’s take it up a notch. What do you do when you get that diagnosis, or worse when a loved one gets a diagnosis? Who do you call on when your spouse passes? Who do you call on when your boss calls you into the office and tells you to pack your things? I urge you to call on the name of your God. The One who is outside of space, time, and matter, yet He is within it at the same time.

Jesus Christ told His disciples that He had to go away so that he could send the Helper. The Helper is the Holy Spirit. He is the one who comes alongside us as individuals and works through the Church as a whole. Another way to translate the Greek word for helper (parakletos) is comforter. The Holy Spirit will be a comfort to you if you would just call on Him.

Did you know that in Romans 8 Paul is encouraging the believers that when you don’t know how to pray as you ought to, the Holy Spirit will intercede for you with groanings too deep for understanding? When you find yourself in times of trouble, don’t fall for the temptation to think that God caused this. Remember what His word says in Romans 8, “all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.”

When life gets messy and you need help, call on the name of Jesus. Don’t call on your earthly wisdom or knowledge, call on the One who gave you the wisdom and knowledge.

I’m reflecting on my day and taking inventory of the decisions I have made with my use of technology. Our phones, computers, TVs, video games, and other technological tools are used for personal or work-related purposes. Either purpose can leave you distracted at the end of the day. In my own research, I found that the average person spends 6.5-7 hours a day on some form of technology.  These hours add up to about 20+ years.  Wow!

Psalm 123 reminds me to set aside the distractions that keep my head down and to “look up”.  It helps me think about how the world’s negativity shows up in everything we do—discussing the news, weather, politics, comparisons, and our favorite judgment of everything and everyone.

Psalm 123 reminds me to look to Him. To be resilient in the face of the hard things and turn my focus to Him.

³ Show loving-kindness to us, O Lord. Show loving-kindness to us. For we have had our fill of hate. ⁴ The proud have laughed at us too long. We have had more than enough of their hate.

1. I lift up my eyes to You, O You Whose throne is in the heavens.

Let’s take the vertical view of this world, looking up, in all we do. Avoid the horizontal approach, which looks at everything wrong.

 

Today’s Reading : Psalms 122

Contrary to popular belief, peace is not the absence of chaos, but the relationship that you have for God in the midst of the chaos. 

Sanctuary can be a place or a time in our lives where we are at peace.  Sometimes we have to have a particular place or a time so that we are able to be grounded and have peace. David is using this passage to show us that we can have peace by where we are and what we are doing. 

“ I was glad when they said to me,

    “Let us go to the house of the Lord!”

Our feet have been standing

    within your gates, O Jerusalem!

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

    “May they be secure who love you!

7 Peace be within your walls

    and security within your towers!”

8 For my brothers and companions’ sake

    I will say, “Peace be within you!”

9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,

    I will seek your good.

Psalms 1-2;6-9

David is showing two things here:  The first thing that David is showing us he is standing. When you’re standing, you are still and you are not in motion. So many times in David’s life he was moving and he was continuously searching or escaping or evading. In this particular passage, he says that “ Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem” David is still. David is at rest. David is not running or moving. He has found peace in his body, and he has found peace in his person.

David is at a particular place, Jerusalem. Jerusalem was the epicenter of the Jewish faith. It is still the epicenter of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic faith. It is the city in which David ruled and the kings of Israel ruled. 

When you step into the gates, you are free from harm and danger. You are free from attacks. You are surrounded by protection. We are at a place where we can feel at peace. This is the sanctuary that many people searched for.

As we have completed our Advent season and are celebrating our Christmas season and beginning of a new year, many people will be in the state of flux and unrest.

Many people will have ideas of what they wanted and those ideas were not fulfilled. 

Many people will have memories of past hurts or past grief and are not at peace. 

But this passage shows us that when we have a relationship with God and we are able to be rested and be in a place of protection, we can find peace. Sometimes we don’t need these things to find peace, but it gives us a reassurance of peace in the midst of this chaos.

As we journey into this next year, let us ask God for his continuous relationship with us to grow and allow us to find peace within Him. In the Christmas story, the angels come upon the shepherds and say peace beyond to you.

At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God’s praises:Glory to God in the heavenly heights, Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.  – Luke 2:13-14

In a mist of the storms, Jesus told the waves “peace be still”

39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. – Mark 4:39

Allow our next year to give us a fraction of these proclamations of peace.

Be blessed.

Philemon 1

When my kids were young and had a cold, I would bring them cough syrup. It comes with that neat little cup that will deliver the perfect dose to make them feel better. But they wouldn’t drink it. Maybe it was the taste, maybe it was the burn, it was probably both. Despite the attempts of the manufacturer at a delicious cherry flavor, my daughter would grit her teeth and clench her lips tightly inside her teeth to avoid whatever unpleasantness would follow.  I had to develop a new technique to deliver this much needed elixir.  That method came in the form of a syringe.  The small plastic tip was small enough to pierce its way between her lips so that the medicine could be delivered into her mouth.  Once in, I had to cover her mouth so that she wouldn’t spit it back out.  It was a painful process, but a necessary one.

I think of that process as I read Philemon.  Paul, has someone, Onesimus, that would benefit Philemon. But, Onesimus was a bitter pill for Philemon.  A runaway slave that had already cost him time and money, not to mention his authority.  Convincing Philemon to take him back would not be easy. Even tougher is convincing Philemon to take him back, not to work, but to set him free.

Paul uses every persuasion tactic he can, challenging him with reciprocity, providing social proof, revealing scarcity and urgency.  Paul skillfully reframes the narrative and illustrates stark contrasts.  While those may be formal persuasion techniques, each one can be easily seen in this story.  No matter the technique, there is something bigger going on here.  What effect do Pauls efforts have on Philemon’s heart?

The Bible does not record Philemon’s response. But I know what mine would have been. In fact, it jumps out of my chest as I read this book.  

“Heck no! Why would I do that? And, thanks for the guilt trip, Paul!”

That response puts my pride and arrogance on full display. But, if I sit with it just a little longer,  I begin to see a bigger opportunity – an opportunity to participate in the redemption of Jesus. 

Paul was offering Philemon had an opportunity to welcome Onesimus back, despite the hurt and financial loss he caused. But, remember, Paul was asking for more.  He wanted Philemon to welcome him back, then free him. That would cost him even more!  I am hearing the footsteps of Jesus in that.

What about Jesus? Did Philemon remember that Christ gave up everything for him? That he welcomed him back and gave his life in the most costly and dreadful way, so that he could be free, so that he could live, so that he could share in the joy, peace, and love of God?  Do You?

It may have taken Philemon a minute to digest Paul’s letter. He had to overcome the bitter taste and make a hard swallow. I bet he was relieved after he did.  I bet we will be relieved too.  Yes, that hard swallow takes humility, and sometimes a forced feeding.  Thankfully, Jesus will do whatever it takes to get His sweet elixir grace and love into our soul.