Considering the Bible

Philippian Bits – 4:5

2024-05-19

For this series in Philippians, I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.

4:5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;

Reasonableness. Yes, this is a clear command from the apostle to be nice, agreeable, non-confrontational, and malleable in the hands of those in and out of the church. To be compliant even with those who are against the gospel?

Is this Paul’s instruction? Are we to go along with everyone in order to be considered reasonable?

The Greek word is ἐπιεικής epieikḗs and describes one who is equitable, fair, patient, mild. The ESV typically translates this term as gentle. Given the many passages where we as believers are commanded to stand strong in the Lord and to fight for the faith, how does this “reasonableness” work itself into the equation?

It seems to make sense to me in that when we are fighting for the faith, or standing strong in the Lord, holding onto our convictions of how good and loving our God is and of the sacrifice of our Savior for our sake – in the midst of all of what He means to us, we are to have a gentle spirit.

A gentle spirit in front of everyone. Not just in Sunday School when it may be easy to put this front on, but in the workplace, where we are to be peacemakers, gracious and gentle when it comes to our relations with our co-workers, peers and those who are responsible to us in their duties.

Reasonable (gentle) when we have been attacked verbally by a neighbor, when we have been a victim of a crime, or have suffered a loss.

How can Paul expect this of believers? He provides the reason for the reasonableness.

The Lord is at hand. He is near. Paul may be referring to the Lord’s location or of the Lord’s imminent return from heaven. The term “near” can have either intent, yet for Philippians 4:5, Paul seems to be referring to the immanency of His return.

But hold up. If that is correct, how could Paul say that to the Philippians in the first century? He was writing to believers around 62 AD, and over 1,960 years have passed since, with no return. Was Paul wrong? Was he simply mistaken?

Or do we as modern believers sometimes think it is all about ourselves, that the Word was written 2000 years ago just for our generation? That is surely how I read the Word for many decades as a believer, yet Paul was writing to a local church, trying to encourage them in the Christian life.

What could “the Lord is at hand” mean for those believers?

One teaching that has made sense to me is that during this time after the resurrection, that first few decades, much upheaval was going on in the nations. The Roman government was going through civil wars, the land was experiencing many climate phenomenon’s, (the occurrence of earthquakes in the region had increased) and many false prophets had been opposing the gospel message. Our very next verse speaks of the church’s anxiousness. Things were in upheaval, and yet the Lord is at hand, He would be returning.

Yet the church is still on earth! So does that mean He did not return?

His specific return for the church may not be referred to here. There are times when the Word speaks of His return, of His coming in response to a churches relationship to Him. Consider the book of Revelation.

2:5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

2:16 Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth.

2:25 Only hold fast what you have until I come.

3:3 Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.

With all this content speaking of the Lord’s coming to His church, many of these verses speak of a judgement, or a return to clean house, to put the church in order or even to “close it down”

This coming in Philippians 4:5 is most likely not the nature of Paul’s reference in our passage today, I am of the opinion Paul is speaking of the Lord’s coming to the nation of Israel in the form of the Roman army’s annihilation of the nation of Israel. This act of the most powerful nation doing the bidding of the Lord in taking the nation of Israel out of commission, would confirm the church’s status as the voice of God in the world.

This short study has definitely become a bit longer than anticipated, so I will close for now. If there are some out there who may have questions on this understanding, I would love to discuss further.

For now though, let us have a reasonable spirit as we live amongst everyone we come in contact with, while we stand for the Lord, and declare His goodness to all.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion

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Psalms for Psome – Ps 60.04

2024-05-18

My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.

This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.

I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.

Psalm 60:9 Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?
Psalm 60:10 Have you not rejected us, O God? You do not go forth, O God, with our armies.
Psalm 60:11 Oh, grant us help against the foe, for vain is the salvation of man!
Psalm 60:12 With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.

Our last portion of Psalm 60. I always love the last portion of a psalm, for the body of the typical psalm provides a struggle, a failure, a disappointment, even a question of faith, and the author is struggling with a topic in each psalm, but when we get to the last portion, I do not recall a psalm yet that ends without a time of encouragement and hope in the Lord.

Psalm 60 is no different!

Yes verse 10 reminds us that the nation is feeling the loss of God’s help, that there is something going on that reminds the people of their state of weakness. They have been rejected in some manner and David reminds the people of this fact, yet he doesn’t sit there. He doesn’t remain in a defeated, woe is me state, for he immediately begins his plea with God for help, for his admission of his utter need of help.

No where is there any help in the efforts of men, for where could he go – God is the strength of the nation.

I can hear echoes of Peter in David’s writing here, of when Peter was asked if he would leave after a period of testing. What was Peter’s response in John 6:68?

“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

To whom shall we go? What great reminder for each of us. David spoke of the vanity of the salvation of man. Peter takes the flip side and states the lack of any effective source to rely on other than the Lord.

We have a choice.

With God we shall do valiantly, for in the end, it is He who will tread down our foes!

Seeking help from man will lead us to empty results. No one reading this short post wants empty results!

Seek the Lord for His help!

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Names of God – CHOSEN ONE – 75

2024-05-17

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

75

CHOSEN ONE

Luke 23:35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”

It is amazing the amount of truth that came from the rulers mouths during the time of Jesus being on the earth!
Yet the truth that came from the rulers mouths, that Jesus was the Chosen One, was filled with contempt and vitriol. The rulers scoffed at Him at His weakest moments, but as the Chosen One He was delivering them from the very hatred they poured forth.
For Jesus to be called the Chosen One at this time was not an isolated event. Back in Luke 9:35, as Jesus was transfigured in front of three of His disciples, Jesus was called out as God’s Chosen One.

And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!”

What a stark contrast for those three disciples who saw the transfiguration, where they witnessed the Lord in His glory, and were told of God’s choice of Him as His King.

Now the disciples were witnessing His utter rejection and humiliation. And to hear the rulers use the same title while He hung on a cruel cross!

He is the Chosen One. We have the witness of the Word, and though the rulers rejected Him, the truth stands.

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Conditional Security – John 15:1-6 – A

2024-05-16

John 15:1-6

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.

2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.

4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.

Looking over my list of future Bible passages that speak to our topic of conditional security, I have come across the very passage that was one of the big ones that made me reconsider OSAS (Once Saved Always Saved) may not be without debate.

John 15, along with a passage in Colossians and a smattering of verses in Hebrews and Revelation all were instrumental in turning my eyes to this topic. After having worked through over 100 passages or verses in the Word in relation to conditional security, I was amazed that I had never addressed this particular passage.

Let’s consider the audience. Jesus is speaking to 12 men, men who have been following him for close to 3 years. Men who have committed to Him their lives, as much as they knew how to. Little did they understand the future revelations that would come to them, but at this time, these men showed every evidence of being true and faithful to Jesus.

Well – maybe one may show some lack of faithfulness in the near future, but that is an unknown to the group as we find them in this passage.

This passage centers around the picture of a vine, and the upkeep of the vine by the Father. Jesus begins by likening Himself to the vine, yet He qualifies the type of vine He speaks of. He describes Himself as the True Vine. This must surely have raised the eyebrows of the disciples, for they knew from their childhood teachings, that Israel was the vine of God. For Jesus to describe Himself as the true vine had some serious implications.

Israel the nation was not the true vine. This truth may have been predominant in the apostles minds. The second implication may have been that Israel the nation was simply a symbol of a reality. Now, this symbiology of Jesus being the reality of a shadow in the Old Testament would be fleshed out in future experiences with the disciples, but this is a typical teaching from the Lord while He walked with us on earth. Jesus is the True Vine, the True Shepherd, the True Temple, the True Israel. He is the fulfillment of all of the Old Testament pictures provided.

Let’s take a moment to gain some knowledge of how Israel was described as a vine in the Old Testament. God had brought the people of Abraham, Jacob and Joseph out of Egypt and planted them in the land as a vine in a vineyard. He prepared the land for the vine to grow and eventually it filled the land.

Psalm 80:8-9

8 You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. 9 You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land.

Sadly, even under the care of the Master Vinedresser, after hundreds of years of testing and failure, Israel had proven that they, the vine, had turned wild, producing wild grapes instead of cultivated, fruit.

Isaiah 5:1-2

1 Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.

2 He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.

Further into Israel’s history, God spoke of Israel as a choice vine, a vine of good stock, yet it had become degenerate.

Jeremiah 2:21

21 Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine?

Surely there was a Vine that would not fail, that was of pure seed and that would be fruitful. Jesus is claiming this calling, and by that claim, knocked the nation of Israel out of contention for this title. But let us not forget the history of the image of the vine in the Old Testament, for Jesus is using this knowledge base when teaching His men at this time.

With Jesus establishing Himself as the True Vine, He continues with this image, describing the Father as the vinedresser. This should not be shocking to the disciples, for the Old Testament speaks of God as the One who planted the vine, cultivated it and watched over it.

Jesus then takes the picture of the vine and extrapolates the image to include branches, and begins to speak of two types of fruit. This is where is gets very interesting.

Fruit Bearing

Let’s consider the fruit bearing branch first. With this type of branch, He prunes it. To prune the branch is to kathairō. It speaks of cleansing, and when used in relation to vines, speaks of clipping useless shoots off the branch.

What I find interesting is that Jesus speaks of the disciples as already pruned, for the term for “clean” in our very next verse is katharos. Can you see a similarity of this word to the Greek word used previously?

The disciples had been pruned (cleaned) because of His teaching that He provided earlier. A pruning action had been performed on the disciples, through His teaching, that had born fruit in the disciples lives.

A question for my reader. How would you describe the fruit that was produced? What is it in the disciples lives that exhibited a fruitfulness?

Non Fruit Bearing

For those branches that are non fruit bearing, the Father will “take away”. Now it would be easy to associate this “taking away” with judgement, loss of life and condemnation, but after a bit of review, I found that this term can refer to two actions.

The first action would refer to moving something from it’s place, to take away, to remove, or to carry off. The translators use of “take away” fits this description.

A secondary interpretation of this Greek term is to lift up, to elevate or to raise upwards. As the vinedresser, the picture is that of God lifting up branches from the dirt of the field, in order to give them opportunity to thrive. This is appealing to consider yet for the sake of our discussion, it would be wise to consider both meanings as we venture through Jesus’ teaching.

With that, I will let my reader ruminate on the two different meaning of “take away” in this passage and we shall close, for this post has become a bit longer than I expected. Let’s get together again to finish up this passage. Until then, may the Lord bless you and make you a fruitful believer.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you would like to receive daily posts from Considering the Bible, click on the “Follow” link below

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Life of David – 7.02

2024-05-15

Saul’s Jealousy of David

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

1 Samuel 18:8-9

8 And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?”
9 And Saul eyed David from that day on.

As we ventured in our last post through David’s victory march and Saul’s development of a nasty case of envy, we made note that envy was not a possession thing, it was a character/skill thing. To be envious is to experience, even to feed a resentful awareness of someone else’s superiority.

With that understanding, we can see that Saul could do two things. Admit this envy as the sin it is, or succumb to it. As we know, Saul was not a man of self control, and he will seek to solve his problem through the use of his power as king.

Let’s remember that if Saul was simply jealous, he could take the possession from David that was causing the jealousy. But remember – Saul wasn’t jealous – he was growing envious, which in my opinion is a much bigger foe.

Envy is such a terrible foe. Envy’s victims are twofold, for the obvious victim in this case is David, but the real victim is Saul, for as we will see in future posts, Saul is driven crazy with envy, and never finds satisfaction, never attains his goal of obeying the dictates of this unsatiable envy. David the future king of Israel was entering into a trial based on Saul’s envy, a trial that would bring him to the edge of his grave.

I cannot resist reminding my reader that there was another King that was delivered up to the Romans by the chief priests out of envy.

Mark 15:10 For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up.

With the Lord, we know that the chief priests were successful in quieting the voice of the Lord initially, seemingly satisfying the demands of their envy, only to have the Savior rise from the grave, and forcing a greater decision upon the priests. Repent or destruction. Thankfully many of the sect of the Pharisees converted, yet some would live to see the fruits of their decision on the nation of Israel, and personally suffer their own destruction.

Back to David in our last verse, when the author stated that Saul eyed David from then on, it is fully understood that he has it in for this young shepherd warrior, this young man who has served him, this young man who delivered the nation from it’s greatest threat.

Yes, this envy would cause David much pain. But for Saul, like the chief priests in Jesus day, would cost him mounting frustration, and eventually his life!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Jesus in the Old Testament – Absalom 4

2024-05-14

Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

SEEING JESUS IN

Absalom

Hung on a tree

2 Samuel 18:9
And Absalom happened to meet the servants of David. Absalom was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick branches of a great oak, and his head caught fast in the oak, and he was suspended between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him went on.

Acts 5:30
The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.

Acts 10:39
And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree,

What a humiliating death for the mighty Absalom. After realizing the revolt had failed, Absalom took off through the forest of Ephraim, a heavily wooded forest, on his mule. As he was fleeing, his head caught in the tree, and the mule continued on. He must have experienced at least a concussion, or possibly a broken neck, with his head stuck in some nook of a branch, since it appears he didn’t seek to escape the situation.

Yes he was as good as dead, hanging from the tree. It was just a matter of time before good old Joab came by and thrust him through with 3 javelins. Talk about overkill!

There was a period of time for Absalom to be helpless, without the power to escape and yet realizing what he had sough to do to his own father. What a horrible condition to be in, and to know that it was just a matter of time before one of his father’s soldiers came by to finish him off. Yes – just a matter of time!

We know another who hung between heaven and earth, and the time he spent hanging there must have been horrific. Absalom hung between heaven and earth by a fluke accident, a situation he would most surely have wanted to avoid, to continue his battle against his father.

Jesus fought to get on the tree, for He knew this was His Father’s will. Jesus, in order to please His Father, fought to hang between heaven and earth.

Again, we see a glimmer of Jesus, at least by accident, in Absalom’s story, and yet when we compare the shadow with the reality, there really is no comparison.

Jesus on the tree was the gateway for His resurrection and our salvation. Absalom was simply an evil man who died alone.

May we consider Jesus act of sacrifice this day as we go about our business, as we seek to represent such a loving, giving and caring God.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Names of God – CHOSEN OF GOD – 74

2024-05-13

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

74

CHOSEN OF GOD

1 Peter 2:4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious,

There have been men chosen of God for special callings, such as Moses, or Samson, David or Samuel. Each man chosen of God for a specific purpose. Moses as the lawgiver. David as the King. Samuel as a prophet.

Yes they were all chosen by God.

Jesus was chosen of God as a living stone in this verse, and we shall get to this description of our Savior in due course. But for this post, let us consider the description of our Lord as the chosen of God.

We often here of being chosen as a unilateral act of the chooser (God) on the basis of nothing other than the chooser’s choice. More commonly, when “chosen of God” is spoken of in our theological circles the idea of unconditional election rises to the top of our minds. Calvinism teaches that God’s election, or choice, is based solely on His sovereign will, and it (God’s choice) is not dependent on any merit or worthiness on the part of the individual being chosen.

Can we understand this teaching in relation to the One who was chosen to fulfill the greatest mission ever assigned, and to occupy the highest honor in God’s Kingdom?

Certainly we cannot assume that Jesus was chosen after having entered the human story through His miraculous birth. His choosing was prior to the foundation of the ages, in eternity past, amongst the Godhead. Yet each of the persons of the Godhead is perfection. Pure holiness. Without any defect or deficiency.

One of the Godhead was chosen, prior to creation, to provide salvation to a people who would reject Him.

The concept that Calvinism seeks to provide seems to fit the situation with the Son being chosen. Yet in the midst of this choosing, each of the Godhead realized the tremendous cost it would take from them all.

But He was chosen, sent to bear our sins, break the Father’s heart and provide a Helper that is too often ignored, or frustrated.

May we spend the time we have left on earth honoring our Savior, pleasing our Father and agreeing with the Spirit.

That is our choice. Give us strength O Lord!

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Philippian Bits – 4:4

2024-05-12

For this series in Philippians, I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.

4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.

A key verse of the letter. While Paul is in prison, addressing what may be considered a silly argument amongst those in his favorite church, he breaks forth with this reiteration of joy.

He says we are to rejoice always!

Come on Paul. I have a hangnail, and it is super irritating, my car had a flat last night and I have no diet coke in the fridge. How can you expect me to experience joy in the midst of these trials?

Oh the trials of the modern believer. Oh the heavy weight of the modern believer. In the midst of a life where we get distracted from our greater purpose by insignificant and inconsequential troubles, we are robbed of a joy that is offered to us.

Yet let us look at Paul’s statement once more.

He does not say “Experience joy” or “You shall enjoy life without condition”. His statement is a command. This is life changing, for as soon as I realized this was not simply a statement of my current condition, but a command to obey, much of the uncertainty of my faith fell away.

We are to rejoice! It is within our scope of obedience, and we are to enter into rejoicing by a decision we make in our lives. Paul gives us the focus of the joy, and that is in the Lord, He is our joy, and when our eyes focus on diet coke or flat tires, we have walked away from this command.

Yes diet coke and flat tires are distractions, some more powerful than others, but as we walk this pilgrimage, we are to focus on the Lord and rejoice.

As Paul said, I also will remind us and again say – Rejoice!

What a privilege to follow after Him, and to follow after Him in the midst of joy, not in a drudgery or complaining mood, which will suffocate your faith.

Rejoice. Decide to look to the Lord, realize who our Great Savior is, and rejoice!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion

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Psalms for Psome – Ps 60.03

2024-05-11

My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.

This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.

I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.

Psalm 60:6 God has spoken in his holiness: “With exultation I will divide up Shechem and portion out the Vale of Succoth.
Psalm 60:7 Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet; Judah is my scepter.
Psalm 60:8 Moab is my washbasin; upon Edom I cast my shoe; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”

After assuring his reader in the last portion of Psalm 60 that there is a place of refuge to run to; that God is a banner for those who seek Him, David then goes on to state God’s actions.

David was a big picture guy, having his eye on the future of God’s plan and did not let the current set back hold him back. This is a difficult lesson, for as we are pressing forward, we will always have setbacks, disappointments, discouragements, and delays. In our battles, we should not be surprised by difficult times entering our lives, even understanding that the Lord Himself is allowing these difficulties. During those times of difficulties, we must be big picture people, looking to the end game, the purpose for which He has brought us into the game.

The regions David refers to in our verses start in the northern portion of Israel, with each region zigzagging back and forth over the Jordan as the author moves his finger south down the map of Israel.

Each of these regions are described as God’s possessions. This fact that David reminds us of is instructive for it reminds us that we are not the owners, but only stewards, and that as the Owner, God will have his way of working His plan with those people in the regions He speaks of.

It is God’s land. Military setbacks are inevitable, but by remembering the land is the Lord’s and the big picture of God’s victory, David finds solace and relief to continue another day. Please understand – David’s current struggle is not being minimized, but in relation to the goal of God, David has found the perspective He needs.

Are you going through a valley, a difficult time, where it appears you have lost major gains in the Christian walk? Consider the big picture, and understand that God has an end purpose for our lives.

Love God and His Son, be patient, look to the big picture and hang on!

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Names of God – CHOSEN CORNERSTONE – 73

2024-05-10

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

73

CHOSEN CORNERSTONE

1 Peter 2:6-7 For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”

Throughout the Word, Jesus is described as the Chosen One, Chosen of God and even a believers Chosen Portion, but for our study this morning, let us consider that Peter refers to the Master as the Chosen Cornerstone.

To be chosen speaks of a decision outside of the intended chosen ones influence. It is to be picked, or to be elected by someone to an office, to a position or to a responsibility. To be chosen also speaks of selection and or an appointment to a situation.

Peter speaks of Jesus as the Chosen Cornerstone. The Cornerstone, upon which all other development, or construction refers to and is based upon. Of course Peter is not referring to the physical buildings we think of when we speak of when we mention “church”. Nothing so crass and insignificant in relation to the truth Peter is getting at. Peter is speaking of the Cornerstone upon which the entire Christian church, of all the ages, and throughout the entire globe is built upon. This Chosen Cornerstone is the lynchpin, the foundation, the Builder and Maker of the church.

Without the cornerstone, there is no building, there is no church, no body, no fellowship, no life, no salvation, no hope, no future.

He is the only reason the church exists in the world today, and as the Chosen Cornerstone, He is to be elevated as the only One to whom we look to.

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Conditional Security – 2 Corinthians 13:5-9

2024-05-09

5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?–unless indeed you fail to meet the test!
6 I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test.
7 But we pray to God that you may not do wrong–not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed.
8 For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.
9 For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for.

Who is Paul writing to? Believers or professors? If professors, he is certainly giving them much encouragement in thier status with God by calling them out as saints (1:1), brothers (1:8), having the seal (1:22) and the Spirit (1:22). Yes, for Paul to consider those he addresses as brothers in chapter 1 as professors in chapter 13 causes me a discontinuity that I cannot find justification for.

Given that Paul is addressing his brothers in chapter 13, let us consider what Paul is about to say. Ok, so let us ead it one more time.

Examine yourselves, to see if you go to church enough, tithe enough, read the bible enough, or pray enough.

That is not the message at all. The question is – Are you “in” the faith or “out” of the faith. That is the challenge!

This is one of the rare instances where two words for testing used by the Greeks is used in the same verse. Kinda interesting!

The first word (Examine) is peirazō, πειράζω to test (objectively). As we say at the office – It is what it is! No intentions, emotions or subjective rational during this testing. A fact is a fact!

The second word (Test) is dokimazō, δοκιμάζω, to test if genuine, also to approve, or deem worthy after testing. This word, when I come across it in the New Testament, always brings to mind the intent that the testing is for the sake of approval, the test is given hoping that the test is passed.

For both of these words to be used, I imagine, is Paul’s way of saying the truth is harsh, relentless, unforgiving (as to the conclusions arrived by seeking it) and possibly shocking. Yet in the midst of exhorting the Corinthians to face the facts, he also has the heart of a pastor, seeking for good results, for success after the time of self testing for the believers.

Yet the topic of this blog is the possibility of these believers having fallen away, left their Savior, walked away. Unless this is a very real possibility, the test seems to be an exercise of futility, and possibly may cause more damage than intended.

Let’s say that after some self examination, I find I am out of the faith, but are still being encouraged by outside forces that “things will be alright”, “there is nothing to worry about”, and reminded that “50 yrs ago you said a prayer”. The test becomes fruitless. There is no reason to repent from your current situation.

Let’s say instead I understand that the security I have is conditional, and that I may have slipped away. This testing could save my life, bringing me back under the Lord and in the church.

These are not light teachings, and we cannot judge Paul’s intent of message based on my simple logic, but let us be careful with blanket encouragement of those who may be undergoing a self examination with bad results.

Encourage them “in the Lord”, and not with empty platitudes or distant prayers. The focus is always the Lord, our relationship with Him.

Do you know Him? As a “Christian”, do you know Him?

Paul would pray for the believers restoration. Is there a restoration for you?

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Life of David – 7.01

2024-05-08

Saul’s Jealousy of David

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

1 Samuel 18:6-7
6 As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.
7 And the women sang to one another as they celebrated, “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.”

Ok, we have three participants in this short story. We have David, who had struck down the Philistines, King Saul who was “with” David, and the women.

Yes – the women.

They meant well, but it did cause a problem. Were the women trying to cause difficulty for David, trying to “stir the pot”? Absolutely not, if I read this properly. They were rejoicing that Israel was victorious and they knew that young shepherd soldier, who was all the rage in Israel, was the reason Israel was so successful. Yes, the women were simply rejoicing, with seemingly good motives, seeking to receive the victorious back to the land!

Yet, for David, this seemingly awesome reception and acknowledgement by the some of the nations women, set up a situation that would lead to attempts on his life, for there was a wee little man, (though head and shoulders above all his subjects), that could not accept the praise being given to David.

But that may not be entirely accurate.

It might not be that the praise given to David was the problem, but that Saul wasn’t receiving top billing, that King Saul was not the most important man in the parade.

It is not that King Saul was jealous, for that emotion is typically associated with possessions, or of a third party in a relationship. I suppose jealousy may apply here, but I think a more accurate word to describe Saul’s emotional constitution would be envy.

Envy and jealousy are sometimes thought of as synonymous, but I would submit to my reader that envy speaks to a resentful awareness of someone else’s superiority. It isn’t so much a possession thing but a character/skill that allows the nasty emotion to rise to the surface!

David was a skilled warrior. King Saul was one who sent men out to battle. Poor Saul wasn’t quite happy with his lot in life.

And the women, in all their innocent exuberance, brought out the envy residing in Saul, with force. It would become all controlling!

There were times when the Lord was praised by someone in the gospels, and He commanded them to be quiet. I never understood that for many years, thinking that everyone should know, that everyone should hear of all His works. That was until I settled down in my mind and thought of situations like we are looking at in this passage.

Good intentions of truthful witness can have dire circumstances. Of course Jesus was aiming for the cross, but it would be on His time schedule, and not someone else’s.

He was in control of every element of His ministry, the good, the bad and the innocent exuberance! Jesus was in control of His revealing at every moment. Jesus understood the heart of man like no other, and orchestrated His own crucifixion through the reactions of men’s dark hearts.

What an amazing Savior!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Jesus in the Old Testament – Absalom 3

2024-05-07

Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

SEEING JESUS IN

Absalom

Son longing to come home

2 Samuel 14:32 32 Absalom answered Joab, “Behold, I sent word to you, ‘Come here, that I may send you to the king, to ask, “Why have I come from Geshur? It would be better for me to be there still.” Now therefore let me go into the presence of the king, and if there is guilt in me, let him put me to death.’”

John 20:17 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

Absalom had killed his brother Amnon, based on a convenient moral rage that he hid behind to gain advantage (I believe) to ascend to the throne of Israel. Yes Amnon performed a vile act of rape on his sister, and yes he should suffer the consequences of that wicked decision. But the judgement was not to be performed by his brother Absalom. But as we reviewed in our last post in this series, that is exactly what happened.

David’s third son killed David’s first son, heir apparent to the throne. It appears the children were watching when David took Bathsheba! David’s attitude toward women filtered down into Amnon, and began the dissolution of David’s family.

Yet, when in the darkness, as David must surely have been during these difficult days, a ray of hope is usually grasped without too much discernment. Such is the case here, when the self exiled Absalom calls unto Joab to request a return to the City of David, even to be presented before the King.

How audacious of a man this Absalom must be. Yet his very desire, though the evil intent may be cloaked with the appearance of family loyalty, indicates a normal healthy relationship between son and father. It is normal, yes even worth much for the relationship to be maintained.

For Absalom, he stated he would chance death for the opportunity to return to the King’s palace. Surely he must have been hedging his bets, but on the surface this statement is informative.

For our Lord, His desire was without mixed motives, for He left behind an eternal connection with the Father, a continual, deep, interactive and consistent relationship of holiness, love, peace and joy. At no time was there a point of friction, a discussion of differing opinions, a misunderstanding or a loss of connectedness between the Father and the Son.

Even while walking amongst us, the connection with the Father was never broken, never strained, never diminished. That is until that day when spike were driven into His hands and feet, and a sword was shoved into His chest. There was a time when the Father looked away. When Jesus was alone, all alone.

At that time, the desire to go home must have been heart crushing. Although Absalom spoke of this desire, Jesus experienced this longing like no one else.

May we be a thankful people, for a Savior such as He!

Jesus is such a Savior!

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Names of God – CHILD FROM THE HOLY GHOST – 72

2024-05-06

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

72

CHILD FROM THE HOLY GHOST

Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

Matthew speaks of our Lord as a child from the Holy Spirit. We do not have much in the bible record of Jesus as a child but Matthew does supply a few tidbits of information.

After providing Jesus genealogy, Matthew cuts to the chase and informs his readers that this One was not merely a King of the line of David, but from the Holy Spirit. Of course this phrase may simply speak of His origin and not His very nature of God.

Joseph, two verses later, was also informed that this baby was from the Holy Spirit, in order to calm Joseph’s fears and suspicions. Matthew further reminds us that all that was occurring with Joseph and Mary was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken in Isaiah, identifying this unborn baby as a boy, and that He will be “God with us”.

Jesus was from the Holy Spirit, and is God with us. From the womb!

There may be some who may think He attained the status of God through His obedience in His ministry to the Father, or that He received His identity by the baptism He underwent. Matthew would argue against any effort to reduce the person of Christ from being God to becoming God, right from the start of his gospel.

We might be wise to do the same, for He is the Child from the Holy Ghost, the very nature of God!

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Philippian Bits – 4:3

2024-05-05

For this series in Philippians, I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.

4:3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

What to do with arguing women? A question for the ages!

As we noticed in the previous verse Paul called out two women who were struggling with unity between themselves. And as we all have come to realize, when there are two who struggle with unity in a church, this typically causes two camps to form behind each opinion.

This is naughty! Not beneficial in any way! Divisive!

Yet what is Paul’s exhortation? Kick ’em out of the church! At least get rid of the one who brings less tithes into the coffers!

Duh – read the passage once more. Paul is requesting a third party to intervene in this strife. To help these women. Not to eject them. To bring about a spirit of cooperation between them, to unite them under one purpose.

Is this third party a known brother to us? Is Paul describing this one as a true yoke fellow, or might he be calling on one in the church named Syzygos. It is interesting to say the least that if there was a worker in the church whose name was Syzygos, Paul calls on him to act as his name describes him, as one who unites under a yoke. Might it be that it is his strength or gift to bring people together under one yoke? Under one Savior?

As we ended the last post, we see that Paul continues with the theme of unity, of peacemaking. He is seeking to bring together those who have the same Master, to have believers be peacemakers. Again we see relationship within the body as being a paramount concern in the apostles heart.

Book of Life

Having said that, let us consider the topic of the book of life. Paul brings up this term seemingly out of nowhere. There are a number of possible links in the Old Testament that Paul may be referencing, and bringing into the New Covenant thought.

Our first passage in Isaiah designates a characteristic of those whose name is recorded for life. Holiness. A chief characteristic of the saint, of the follower of God is the desire of holiness, of being set apart for God. Isaiah speaks of a time when Zion will be cleansed of filth, with those left behind being the very same as those who are in the book of life, recorded for life.

Isaiah 4:3 ESV – And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem,

Our next verse is in Daniel. Notice that Daniel links citizenship in the nation of Israel with the names written in the book. When referring to “your people” Daniel is speaking of those who would be delivered from a time of trouble. Those whose name was found in the book would be protected.

Daniel 12:1 ESV – “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.

Ezekiel brings to our attention the idea on non inclusion, that is that the names should not be in the register of the nation. Those false prophets were not to be enrolled in the national register, the record of citizenship for the nation. Ezekiel speaks of keeping the register clean by not allowing any false prophets to be considered of the nation of Israel.

Ezekiel 13:9 ESV – My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who give lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.

One time in the Old Covenant, the idea of being blotted out of the book of the living is considered. David speaks of his foes, and by referring to them as being blotted out, links them with the nation of Israel. These foes were to be stricken from the rolls of citizenship!

Psalm 69:28 ESV – Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; let them not be enrolled among the righteous.

You know, when Paul brings up the topic of the book of life, right after his reference to our citizenship in heaven, it may not be as out of the blue as I first thought. May Paul be bringing this common thread of Old Testament record keeping of citizenship into Christian thinking? What thinkest thou?

Of course Paul is not the only apostle who speaks of the book of life. But the phrase is not used in the New Testament again until the apostle John refers to it in the book of Revelation six more times.

And that is for another time!

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Psalms for Psome – Ps 60.02

2024-05-04

My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.

This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.

I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.

Psalm 60:4 You have set up a banner for those who fear you, that they may flee to it from the bow. Selah
Psalm 60:5 That your beloved ones may be delivered, give salvation by your right hand and answer us!

David is recounting the goodness of God and it is instructive to recognize, that he was experiencing setbacks militarily. Not only military setbacks, but he calls out God in the earlier passage, stating God had been very harsh, making the land quake, tearing it open, making the nation stagger with what they had experienced. Let’s read the previous verses once more and consider what David was going through. Remember – he was claiming God was the One who brought about the following difficulties.

Psalm 60:2-3 You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open; repair its breaches, for it totters. You have made your people see hard things; you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger.

David was definitely in a low point, a struggle that was not merely a military issue, but a God issue.

A difficult passage to understand, yet as David ponders the goodness of God, I sense he is speaking of a remnant that will look to God, that a banner has been set up for, for those who fear God and will flee to. Yes the nation (physical) has experienced great trial here, but in the midst of this trial, those who fear God recognize the banner set out in front of them, that they can appeal to, that they can flee to, and hide under the Shadow of the Almighty.

Will all seek out the banner of God? David does not answer this, yet in the midst of difficult time, even times brought about by the Father, He is still our cover, our refuge, our banner to gather about.

Let us remember that in no difficulty or trial, God is not there for us.

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Names of God – CHIEF SHEPHERD – 71

2024-05-03

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

71

CHIEF SHEPHERD

1 Peter 5:4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

Peter is addressing the elders of the church. For brevities sake, I shall not enter into a discussion on my understanding of leadership in the New Testament church, suffice it to say that it comprises of two types of men. One of these type of men are called elders, and we can safely state that an elder is one of many primary spiritual leaders in the local body.

Peter provides one command for these men.

Shepherd the flock they know. There are defining phrases that describe this command that follows, but this is the principle truth Peter wants to communicate to the elders. Shepherd the flock of God that they know.

How to do this?

Exercise oversight. Watch your flock. I understand this to include some discretion in the watching, for I sense Peter is not looking for an elder to be involved in every member’s decision making process, or to directly and constantly seek to influence each member to their way of thinking.

In this oversight, the desire of the elder is positive. It is not to be a drudgery attending to the members business, but a joy to assist the member as required, to have the patience to stand still for the member to reach out.

In this oversight, money is not to be a motivator. Peter has spoken of the elders willingness previously, and here he speaks of an eagerness.

Now you may think I am describing an elder to be stand offish, out of touch, or without the ability to create and maintain relationships with their flock. Please do not read me that way. Yet the next phrase in Peters description of the proper elder is that they are not to be domineering.

This is the kick in the gut, for how many have been in a body where the “accepted elder” is the one with the most education, the highest paycheck, the most demanding of his people and yet rarely allows those of his flock to see him with his family, with the struggles he experiences. He feels he has to be the perfect one as an example, and yet I would suggest this is an act of pride and domination.

The shepherd is to be one who is visibly in need of God’s grace, humbled by his failures and faithful in allowing his flock to experience his life, warts and all.

A shepherd is to be fully human, dependent upon the Lord, in humility providing a hand to those who feel comfortable to approach him.

I may have been off topic a bit, but this is the one who is the true leader, the one who understands his weakness, allows others to see their weakness and their need for God, and that is approachable, a servant to those who need to see Jesus.

For was it not characteristic of the Chief Shepherd to self humble, to come down, to be a friend of sinners and prostitutes, to be approachable (unless you were a bit too religious!). This is the character of Christ, and per the self humbling, He has become the highest of all, and the Chief Shepherd.

Our Chief Shepherd!

And when Jesus appears, these men of service and humility will gain a crown of glory, due to their not seeking it while on earth.

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Paradoxical Passages – Titus 1:12

2024-05-02

Titus 1:12 ESV – One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”

Ok Paul. If Cretans are always liars, why should we trust the saying of a Cretan?

It just didn’t make sense for me, and, as a paradox is wont to do, it took me outside of my usual way of thinking.

Paul refers to this Cretan prophet twice in the New Testament, with this passage being the second occurence.

The first occurrence was when Paul preached to the men of Athens in Acts 17:28, when Paul stated

In him we live and move and have our being.

The Cretan prophet that Paul quotes in both of these passages is a greek philosopher by the name of Epimenides of Crete.

It is instructive to note that Paul’s method of connecting with the men of Athens was to bring a part of their experience into his preaching, finding a point where the men could identify somewhat with Paul’s message. Of course that is slim pickings, since the greek philosopher had little in common with Christian thought, but the effort was there!

In the Titus passage, we see Paul again quoting Epimenides, but in this verse he makes what seems to be a absolute claim – that is that all Cretans – every single last Cretan that has ever sucked breath, every one of them is a liar.

Now of course this verse includes what is famously referred to a the liars paradox. If Epimenides is telling the truth, then the statement is a lie, for he is a Cretan. If Epimenides is lying, then the statement is true, which debunks the statement. This is an unwinnable unsolvable paradox IF we are woodenly literal and apply it without any common sense.

When Epimenides makes this statement, it is assumed that his claim is based on truth. We cannot take the “always” with a literal constant and permanent application to the statement for it becomes incoherent.

Let us read the Word with a sense of wonder and not apply a constriction that only serves to frustrate the message. Let us be reasonable in our understanding of the Word, and seek out the intentions of the message, the application of the message and the motivations of the message that has been provided and safe guarded for His people for millennium.

He is True, and not a liar!

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Life of David – 6.01

2024-05-01

David and Jonathan’s Friendship

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses. .

1 Samuel 18:1-5
1 As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
2 And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house.
3 Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul.
4 And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt.
5 And David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.

David has just vanquished the giant, having come out of nowhere to fight Israel’s battle.

A king, who was a literally a giant of a man amongst his people wasn’t taking the challenge. He didn’t seem to be affected by the slurs against the nation of Israel’s God. Politically, he sought someone to rescue him from this national embarrassment through the provision of gifts, his daughter and tax relief.

So a young shepherd shows up, simply being obedient to his father’s wishes, bringing sustenance to his brothers. After hearing the circumstances of the battle the Israelites were in the midst of, David takes action. Having conquered the enemy, the King asks again about David, but specifically about whose son this young man is.

As an aside, it is interesting to note that Saul was sending out a boy to battle, not concerned about his family, or who he was. This is the nature of a ruling class. Subjects are to be used for the needs of those in charge. After the victory, when Saul asks whose son this warrior is, was it to fulfill his commitment to grant tax free status to the family, or to find a resource he could take advantage of for future battles? I will leave it to my reader to decide.

Nevertheless, David was summoned and presented before the king. And a new character in David’s life appears. An Israeli prince by the name of Jonathon.

Let’s consider Jonathon for a moment. He has already established himself as a victorious, faithful soldier of the nation, a man who is a leader, as seen in his conquest of the philistine garrison is 1 Samuel 14. Not only did he take on a challenge due to opportunity and not by command – for you see Jonathon wasn’t commanded by the king to take on the garrison, but he saw opportunity and trusted God for a victory. As a matter of fact, Jonathon didn’t let his father know of his escapade.

1 Samuel 14:1 One day Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side.” But he did not tell his father.

Also, take note of Jonathon’s attitude as he spoke to his armor bearer in 1 Samuel 14:6

…It may be that the LORD will work for us, for nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few.”

It must seem obvious that when these two men met for the first time, a bond of fellowship was recognized between them. They were of kindred spirits, both men who sought ways to see God at work, who had faith in the Living God, and who risked their lives to exhibit this faith.

Surely Jonathon had heard of David, for David had been in the royal court for short periods of time prior to this, trying to satisfy both the king and his father with his presence. This was about to end, for the king was looking to take this young man from his family for his own service. David was to be in the kings court permanently.

Verses 3 & 4 speak of Jonathon and David’s connection, of Jonathon’s commitment to David, of his being bound together with David. The soul’s of these two men were “tied together” at this time, and we do not need to make any crazy assumptions beyond a friendship based on a “knitting together” of their souls.

Jonathon’s gift of supplying the robe to David was an act of the highest honor for a prince to perform. Not only did Jonathon provide this honor of supplying his robe, he went so far as to give David his armor his sword his bow and his belt.

The robe, it seems represents the royal status of the prince, and the remaining items the equipment of the soldier being sent out for the nation. Jonathon provided David the equipment he needed. For the king was keeping David near, to send him out representing the nation in battle. And as can be expected, David was successful where ever he went for the king.

And the people loved him.

The servants of Saul loved him.

Jonathon loved him.

But as we will find out, a small man like Saul began to hate him.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Jesus in the Old Testament – Absalom 2

2024-04-30

Jesus in the Old Testament is a series of posts that will offer my readers a chance to consider pictures or shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament. As mentioned in the introduction to this series, some may be obvious, some may be not so obvious, and some may simply be a facet of the Lord those reading may not have considered previously.

I hope as we venture through this series, we will see the Lord in many wonderful pictures throughout the Old Testament.

SEEING JESUS IN

Absalom

Judge

2 Samuel 13:32
But Jonadab the son of Shimeah, David’s brother, said, “Let not my lord suppose that they have killed all the young men, the king’s sons, for Amnon alone is dead. For by the command of Absalom this has been determined from the day he violated his sister Tamar.

Acts 10:42
And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead..

Absalom commanded judgement upon his brother Amnon for a dastardly deed he performed years earlier. Amnon had deceived his sister Tamar into providing a meal in his room, forcing her sexually and then rejecting her after having raped her.

Absalom had no right to exercise this execution but for the sake of his seeming sense of justice, or his love for his sister, or for his desire for the kingdom, – for whatever motivation that drove Absalom – he planned, prepared and with premeditation, had his brother murdered at his command.

Absalom judged his brother. Absalom, at this point in his life appeared to be taking vengeance on Amnon for his sister Tamar. What follows in the story of Absalom is a tale of deceit and rebellion that may provide the motivation of Absalom in the murder, for Amnon was next in line for the kingdom, and though what Amnon did to Tamar was vile and wicked, I see Absalom as an opportunist. This evil of Amnon provided Absalom an opportunity to rid the family of a contender for the throne! All under the guise of justice!

Absalom took the position of judge in this early part of the story, looking all pious and righteous in defending his sister, yet the true Absalom shone through later on.

With Jesus, there is a complete contrast, for are not his intentions purer than Absalom’s, in that His motivations were of love, and the hurt was self inflicted. Yes – Jesus is the Judge of all living and the dead, and we can be confident his judgement will be true, right and proper.

And remember – with Jesus we can be confident that His motivations are pure, true, right and proper.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Names of God – CARPENTER’S SON – 70

2024-04-29

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

70

CARPENTER’S SON

Matthew 13:55
Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?

Jesus was a carpenter. Jesus was the son of a carpenter. He followed in the footsteps of his earthly father, choosing the very occupation his father worked in.

Jesus was also recognizable as the carpenter’s son. Even his enemies referred to Him as the carpenter’s son. He learned His trade from His father, and pursued gainful employment as a carpenter.

The local townsfolk knew Joseph and recognized Jesus as Joseph’s son. He was influenced by Joseph greatly as He grew up, learned a trade, watched His father, and increased in skill and ability with physical tools and materials.

It is sad that the same people who recognized Jesus as Joseph’s son did not know the Father in Heaven, for if they did, they would have recognized Jesus as His Father’s Son. Though His earthly father provided physical skills and abilities, the Son gained spiritual skills and abilities through His watching His Father in Heaven.

John 14:10
Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.

The Father worked and the Son worked. Jesus was dependent on the Father for the works that He did, and in watching His Father, He performed works that reflected His Father.

Jesus earthly father trained Jesus in the physical.
Jesus Heavenly Father trained Jesus in the spiritual.

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Philippian Bits – 4:2

2024-04-28

For this series in Philippians, I am going to limit each post to one verse, and hopefully produce a short, succinct read for my friends who follow.

With this passage we begin a portion of exhortation, encouragement and prayer.

4:2 I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord.

Dang if Paul wasn’t breaching the topic of unity in the previous passage, and lo and behold, we have an example of division within the Philippian church.

It seems Euodia and Syntyche, two women in the church were having a disagreement. Do we know the extent of the disagreement, the theological division these women were struggling with, or was it simply the color of the pew cushions for the new worship center?

We don’t know what the topic was, but if it had been a theological topic, I am fairly certain Paul would have provided the corrective teaching, as he does in all the other epistles he wrote. No, I think the disagreement may have been of personal preferences, possibly not unlike that of a minor decision, such as the color of pew cushions or the order of service. I speak as a fool, for I do not see either of those topics as being applicable in the first century. But I think you may get my point, right?

Story time

A few years back, I was in a church where two women were in disagreement over a similar level of concern, and I suggested the leadership call them out in order to resolve the friction. To get it out in the open. To seek to open discussion instead of simply bear the damage being caused.

In requesting this action, you would have thought I was the divisive person. How can we call them out. This would be a humbling exercise for these women, and the fall out might be damaging to the church. Yet Paul called them out, by name, in a book that has survived for two thousand years! I think Paul esteemed peace and unity in the church far greater than we do. I also think Paul had greater faith in his converts than we sometimes do, since he called these ladies out as he did, initiating a resolution process.

These women are introduced to us a portion of this book that holds such great truths, and these truths come from a possible personality conflict. There is potential growth in conflict. Potential, but it sometimes has to go through a humbling, painful process, and I think this is by design! Remember that Jesus chose a tax collector to walk with a zealot. Two opposites if there ever was!

My friends, if you have conflict with one in the body of Christ, remember the words of the Lord, when He taught us.

Matthew 5:23-25

So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison.

We are to be peacemakers, and not simply peacekeepers. There will be strife in the church, but it is up to each of us what we do with that strife!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion

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Psalms for Psome – Ps 60.01

2024-04-27

My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.

This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.

I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.

Psalm 60:1 To the choirmaster: according to Shushan Eduth. A Miktam of David; for instruction; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return struck down twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.

O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses; you have been angry; oh, restore us.
Psalm 60:2 You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open; repair its breaches, for it totters.
Psalm 60:3 You have made your people see hard things; you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger.

Many place this psalm in the early years of King David’s reign. 2 Samuel 8:1-8, 2 Samuel 10:1-19 and 1 Chronicles 18:11-13 describe many of the battles referred to in the first verse, and how David and his army conquered vast areas of geography and multiple kingdoms in the area.

And yet, this psalm speaks of rejection, of God’s anger with His people, of the lands quaking and the people seeing hard things. How can this be? Was not King David’s battles against the neighboring nations successful during his early days? Militarily, he dominated the region, expanding the kingdom to the boundaries never experienced by the nation before.

And yet we have this psalm, where it appears God is angry with the nation, that there are setbacks to the victory march. The first verse speaks of their defenses being broken. Defenses? David was on the march, acting offensively in battles. For his defenses to be broken, speaks of loss in battle, of a set back.

The people of God have been made to see hard things, they are staggering about, as if a drunken stupor. And in all this description, David is assigning blame to none else but God. Over and over again in this first three verses, David assigns the actions his military are experiencing to God.

For God is angry. The reason for His anger is not clear but David is in trouble and is begging for restoration.

We sometimes succumb to the thought that the fight of faith is a walk in the park. That we go from victory to victory, with nary a scratch being suffered.

This Psalm reminds us that though the arc of the believers life is of victory, and we may be assured that the church wins in the end, during our pilgrimage, we must be prepared for setbacks, disappointments and losses. There will be times of intense battles, where we not only do not gain ground, but actually are set back on our heels, losing ground, becoming disillusioned, disappointed, and discouraged.

These are times of vulnerability, where we need to be prepared, steeled against the emotional blast of failure. Fellowship with faithful brothers is a strength that we have been provided and we need to take advantage of, not only for ourselves, but to provide to those we know and love.

Yet, there are times when we are alone with God, when it is a battle with Him, seeking to find His will, His desire and to bend the knee to His direction. This time of isolated struggle with God, even as pictured by Jacob in his wrestling with God, brings us out of it, possibly crippled but stronger.

Are you experiencing a wrestling match with God? A time of apparent defeat in your relation with the Master? Does it seem God is angry and you are confused with the reaction of God to your decisions and life choices?

The only thing I can suggest is that you do not let go. Do not walk away from the One who is challenging you, pruning you, wrestling with you. He is expanding your relationship with Him, extending your impact and preparing you for bigger battles. Ensure your approach to Him is without any known sin in your life (You know if there is sin going on!) and keep chasing in the midst of confusion

He truly is good, and if there is some doubt, hang on, until the clouds disperse!

For He is always there, and He is always good!

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Names of God – CARPENTER – 69

2024-04-26

My hope is that this series will offer my readers a chance to consider the names, characteristics and descriptions of our God in the Word.

The remaining Names of God in this series might be considered descriptors, or characteristics of the Lord. We have reviewed the three primary Names of God, along with nineteen compound Names of God in our previous posts. As we venture through these descriptors of our God, I hope we will recognize all the many characteristics of our God that we tend to take for granted.

The Word is truly rich with descriptions of the Living God, and this effort of searching in the Word was quite illuminating. He truly is the ultimate subject of the Word, and His revelation of self-descriptions, or the accolades offered Him by His priests, prophets, kings apostles and faithful truly is a blessing.

May the Name of the Lord be praised, and by thinking on His name, may you have a blessed day.

69

CARPENTER

Mark 6:3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

The Carpenter. A lowly position in the social strata.

This name is assigned to the Lord by those who would smear His name, by those who would desire to see His influence diminish. The very ones who reminded the audience of the Lord’s skill set for bringing in funds for His family, are revealing the very problem that will cause their stumbling.

These men who sought to defame the Master do so out of “offence”. The very idea that a prophet of God could be a mere carpenter was beyond their comprehension. (How soon they forget their history of God’s call on the “regular” man for greater service?) Surely they thought they were deserving of a Savior with greater status in this world, with greater “name recognition”?

But alas, with this very assumption, or expectation, they missed the boat. They were in the presence of the builder of all things and assigned the very name of carpenter to Him, revealing their proud heart, yet assigning an appropriate name for Him nonetheless.

You see, to be called “the carpenter” is so appropriate, for He is the builder of all things, and while on earth, though He knew how to join beams with columns, and columns with rafters, He had greater things in mind. He was building, that is for sure, but He was not building a physical enclosure that would remain for a short period of time, but a spiritual house, with living souls as the material to build the house, to remain for ever.

1 Peter 2:5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Yes those who first called Him a carpenter were taking offence at His position in life, but now that we see He truly is a carpenter, a builder, we can stand back and praise Him for His skill at bringing together a people who are not worthy, who had enmity with God and with each other, who were of no account until He found us.

Praise the name of the Carpenter, for He is truly worthy!

I would love to hear of your favorite name, characteristic or description of the Living God. Please leave me a comment, and I will include it in the list!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

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Fruit Bearing

Non Fruit Bearing

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Book of Life

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Story time

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