“Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.”Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him.And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”” John‬ ‭9‬:‭35‬-‭37‬, ‭39‬

The account of the man born blind shows the clear difference between natural eyes and spiritual eyes, those who claim to see spiritual things and those who are supernaturally enabled to actually see. The man born blind had never physically seen Jesus nor physically heard Jesus preach about the Kingdom of God. The blind man received a healing miracle for his blind eyes and more importantly, he received a miracle of sight for his spiritual eyes that he was ready for this moment when he would gain a fuller spiritual understanding of what happened to him.  

This one of the rare incidents where the Holy Spirit has Jesus actively seek out someone rather than a divine appointment in the course of his journey. It's still a supernatural encounter because Jerusalem is filled with travelers for the Passover where an estimated 150,000 people converge on about 30,000 residents and the formerly blind man is thoroughly engaged by the Pharisees' indictment and curious friends. The Pharisees excommunicated the blind man for challenging their assertion that Jesus was a sinner as they searched for a hidden catch, some kind of deception that would enable them to condemn this notable miracle. It is important to understand that the Lord will always include some kind of obstacle, a hurdle that only those who have spiritual eyes of faith can walk over but will make those who are spiritually blind stumble. It doesn't take much to physically stumble, a pebble in the right spot will do; it's the same in the spiritual.  

In this case, the obstacle is that Jesus healed the blind man on the sabbath, something He had a habit of doing (7 recorded times in the gospels). Jesus tells us these obstacles are part of God's judgment baked into the gospel "that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind” (v39). The moment Jesus reveals Himself, the formerly blind man believes and confesses him as Messiah. Every time someone accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior it is a miracle that was prearranged and preordained. The Elect have the privilege to share the simple gospel and the Holy Spirit performs the miracle of new birth. There's no need for intense debate.  I usually just verbally kick the pebble aside by identifying their objection and then invite people to get past it to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.  A simple reveal is all that's needed and an invitation to release their faith.  May the Lord open the eyes of the blind amongst our family and friends today.

“And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”” John‬ ‭9‬:‭3‬-‭5‬  

There is something within man that seeks meaning in his suffering. We seek meaning in our own suffering and we are apt to make judgments on the meaning of suffering in others.  Victor Frankl, the Jewish survivor of Nazi prison camps, suggests a reason in his book Man's Search For Meaning: “Suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds meaning.”  So man relentlessly searches for meaning in his suffering in order to find value in the midst of the pain and loss. The problem arises when man comes to the wrong conclusion about suffering. The disciples expressed a judgment about a man born blind based on the prevailing cultural attitude that besetting diseases like congenital blindness were divine punishment for personal sin.  

Note the "either or" statement which implies the only possible cause would be found with human sin. The disciples were right in some sense in that all sickness and disease is the result of Adam's sin in the garden which released millennia of devastation in God's perfect created order. And it also true that personal sin can lead to devastating diseases, including congenital diseases (e.g.  STD, parental drug abuse, negligent pre-natal care). Jesus redirects the disciples' focus away from cause and onto the underlying motivation for their curiosity which is man's search for meaning. Cause and meaning are not the same thing.  The glory of God was not the cause of the blindness but the glory of God was the hidden meaning and purpose behind the blindness. The healing of the man born blind was preordained to be an important sign pointing to Jesus as Messiah. The ensuing ruckus amongst the religious leaders is an indicator of the importance of this seemingly insignificant man's healing. The value is further amplified by the benefit to hundreds of millions of people who will be further convinced about the claims of Christ because of his healing miracle.  

Naomi in the book of Ruth makes the all too common mistake of conflating cause with meaning as she struggled to process the death of her husband and two sons. “Don’t call me Naomi, [pleasant]” she told them. “Call me Mara, [bitter] because the Almighty [Shaddai, the all-sufficient one] has made my life very bitter. I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? The Lord has afflicted [the Hebrew means testified against] me; the Almighty has brought misfortune upon me."  (Ruth 1:20-21). We know God didn't testify against Naomi but the works of God would soon be manifest in her tragedy and she too would be privileged to be an important part of the story of Jesus the Messiah. We all have tragedies that we struggle to understand as we deal with the pain and loss. The Elect, like Naomi and the man born blind, can always find meaning in their suffering because their lives are inextricably linked to Jesus the Messiah. Our story is His story. Nothing that happens to one of God's chosen is wasted or forgotten or meaningless.  

Our lives are meant to glorify Him by being a platform to display the Lord’s marvelous works. Romans 8:28 gives us great comfort in the midst of our suffering "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."  Not all things are good in the moment; some things are downright horrible and seemingly senseless like premature death and congenital disease.   But the Lord is able to "work all things together (with his divine power) for good to those who love God and to those who are called according to His purpose".  His purpose becomes our purpose and His meaning becomes our meaning. May the Lord comfort our hearts in the midst of our suffering today that our lives might show forth the glory of God.

“But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.” From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”” ‭‭John‬ ‭6‬:‭64‬-‭69‬

John 6 describes how the Lord uses "hard sayings” which are one of the key ways the Lord winnows out the true believers from the rest of the disciples (disciplined followers). "Hard sayings" (John 6:60) are not just Bible truths that are difficult to understand but those that have an element that offends our religious and human sensibilities.  

The Holy Spirit purposefully had Christ say "unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink HIs blood, you have no life in you" (John 6:53) which is deeply offensive to the Jew who correctly understood from the Law that all blood is sacred (Genesis 9:4), especially human blood. Why would Jesus say such an impossibly hard saying without immediately qualifying it by saying it was figurative, not literal? God offends the mind to test the heart so only those with true faith can survive the harsh testing. The reason is that faith is not in the mind based on understanding of Bible teachings but faith is in the heart based on revelation from God. Jesus asked HIs (twelve) disciples, "Do you also want to go away?" and Peter answers by faith: "Lord, to whom shall we go? you have the words of eternal life...we have come to believe (faith) that you are the Christ, Son of the living God."  Peter didn't say, 'we totally get what you're saying about eating flesh and drinking blood’. He said 'we believe in you' despite being offended and not understanding.
 
Those with true faith can struggle, sometimes greatly struggle, with Biblical truth or a difficult personal command from the Lord, and their faith will help them reach a place where they can accept the hard saying even when it's distasteful or they don't fully understand it just yet. The American Church largely teaches a gospel that is easy to believe by leaving out all the things that can offend thereby inoculating everyone to the true Gospel and the true Christian life that the Lord purposefully made offensive. The American gospel isn't “we're rebellious sinners who cannot possibly please God by our good works”, it's “we're basically good people who've made a few wrong decisions  in our past and 'we'll get by with a little help from our friends.'"  The true gospel doesn't have a few hard sayings, it is filled with impossible sayings for sinful man to achieve so that we understand just how amazing God's grace actually is.  

In the same way, the End Times has been purposefully designed to be filled with difficult things that will offend human sensibilities. It will look like the good guys are losing and the bad guys are winning, at least on the outside, in the natural.  But on the inside, in the spiritual, the Elect will be going from glory to glory and will come through the fire of testing with a faith more precious than gold refined in the fire (1 Peter 1:7). No fire, no refined gold.   May the Lord strengthen our hearts that we may walk by faith through hard sayings and the hard circumstances in all that we do today.

“The inheritance of the children of Simeon was included in the share of the children of Judah, for the share of the children of Judah was too much for them. Therefore the children of Simeon had their inheritance within the inheritance of that people.” ‭‭Joshua‬ ‭19‬:‭9‬ 
Israel assembled together at Shiloh which became the new center for worship where they set up the tabernacle of meeting, the ark of the covenant and the sacrificial altar. Shiloh in Joshua 18-19 refers to a location, but Jacob also prophetically uses Shiloh as the name for the coming messiah (Genesis 49:10), and Shiloh literally means rest. Only in a place of God's rest can we receive our true inheritance, least greed, envy and jealousy arise. "You shall not covet...anything that is your neighbor’s" (Exodus 20:17), the 10th commandment, is similar to the first commandment "You shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3) because covetousness (greed) is idolatry, making material things a god that meets our needs.

Paul commands the Elect, “Therefore, (because you have been raised with Christ verse 1) put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry" (Colossians 3:5). Paul places covetousness in pretty evil company in this text, because it is far worse, and far more prevalent than most realize. There is not much preaching on the 10th commandment because the American economic engine is based on using sophisticated marketing to stir envy and covetousness. We call it consumerism which is an economic theory that says progressively greater consumption of goods is economically beneficial. Consumerism and it's evil twin sister, materialism, values material possessions above all. It's motto of "He who dies with the most toys wins" is deadly to a vibrant spiritual life. Jesus sternly warned His disciples "...Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (Luke 12:15).

It is interesting that the tribe of Simeon's inheritance was completely surrounded by the larger and stronger tribe of Judah. This symbiotic relationship between stronger and weaker tribes is a spiritual metaphor for unity and support within the community of believers. Just as Simeonites were surrounded and protected by the larger tribe of Judah, believers find their identity and strength in the greater body of Christ, emphasizing the importance of community and shared resources in faith. The entire purpose of our spiritual inheritance given by sovereign decree (casting of the lot) is to build up the body of Christ. Romans 15:1, "We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples (infirmities, failings, lack) of the weak, and not to please ourselves." The Bible uses the term spiritual gifts to describe our inheritance (Ephesians 4:7-11, 1 Corinthians 12:1-27) because they are meant to serve the receivers of the gifts, not to please the giver. Romans 12:10 ESV "...Outdo one another in showing honor (loving, giving)” is the opposite of consumerism in the world. May the Lord stir our hearts to generous giving and serving of the Elect today.

Despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him. Hebrews 12:5

"Am I prepared to let God grip me by His power and do a work in me that is worthy of Himself? Sanctification is not my idea of what I want God to do for me; sanctification is God’s idea of what He wants to do for me, and He has to get me into the attitude of mind and spirit where at any cost I will let Him sanctify me wholly.” (My Utmost for His Highest, August 14) Oswald Chambers gives us keen insights into God's work of sanctification.  The method, means and goals of sanctification are God's idea and His plan, not ours. Sanctification is easier when the focus is the sins of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21) that are obviously not godly. We can accept "Stop doing that sinful action entirely".  It may be difficult, and take time to break a habit, but we despise it so we submit to His fiery discipline. We know it's what's wrong about us. The hardest areas of sanctification, by far the most painful and bewildering, is when God is sanctifying what is right about us, the core strengths of how God has made us or the calling of God in our lives. The world celebrates our strengths; our gifts have made a way for us in our chosen endeavors.

God comes to temper and mold those gifts and callings. It can be disorienting at first because we think God's work must be in the first category of "stop doing that sinful action" but it's not. God’s work is in a deeper category of self-control and submission. It's about degrees, attitudes, and constraints, less about the action. When hit with sudden challenges, I've asked the Lord many times if He wants me to stop some planned course of action and He tells me to continue but with this new constraint. It's like the coach giving his team a familiar drill but now with added weight or challenge in order to strengthen skill and endurance. The Apostle Paul experienced four shipwrecks in total: three mentioned in 2 Corinthians 11:25 and a fourth detailed in Acts 27.  He was not sailing daily as a crew member so surviving four shipwrecks is an extraordinary number, way beyond happenstance. Every one of these shipwrecks were easily avoided through the power of the Lord and we can be sure that Paul was praying His heart out not to be shipwrecked.  We would think that the Lord would help Paul avoid these seemingly senseless catastrophes but it was all part of the "many things he [Paul] must suffer for My name’s sake" (Acts 9:16).  

Refining scrap silver from its many commercial applications in circuit boards, chips and membranes requires multiple processes with different temperatures and different chemicals. It's a fascinating science and scrap seekers are even more willing to endure the laborious process when the price of silver is higher. God sees great value in each of HIs Elect and he uses a myriad of means to refine us. "In this you [should] greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold [or silver] that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:6-7). May the Lord encourage our hearts today in the midst of His sanctifying work that He finds us worthy of His personal attention and care.

“Now Joshua was old, advanced in years. And the Lord said to him: “You are old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed.” ‭‭Joshua‬ ‭13‬:‭1‬  

Joshua was probably between 90 and 95 years old when God spoke to him about the remaining land to be possessed in Joshua 13. He lived to be 110 years old. Even while acknowledging Joshua’s advanced years, God still told him about work that had to be done. Even in advanced years, God has work for His people to do. There is natural work for the Elect at every age and there is spiritual work. The promise land is a  metaphor of spiritual territory that God has given to us that have yet to be possessed. Christians should press on to continually possess more of Christ, to remain active in all seasons of life as they grow in their relationship with Christ.  

Retirement is an American ideal where we stop our natural occupation in favor of preferred activities, often leisure, but it is also an extraordinarily precarious time because it may cause us to be inactive and unproductive in our lives. Growing older should cause us to shift gears, adjust our effort and focus but we should never be out of gear, especially spiritually. Our body, mind and spirit were designed by God for activity and productivity. Activity is how we grow. Productivity is how we serve others. We neglect this to our own detriment and the result is inevitable deterioration. Our attitude should be like the Apostle Paul who was 60 years old when He wrote to the Philippians, "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me" (Philippians 3:12). May we "press on to know the LORD; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth” (Hosea 6:3, ESV).

“When the whirlwind passes by, the wicked is no more, But the righteous has an everlasting foundation.” Proverbs 10:25

The whirlwind in scripture represents the judgment of God that comes directly out of the sin of man. God’s retributive justice comes in many forms but the whirlwind comes from a small sin that grows into a massive force that brings destruction. The Semites were nomads who traveled in tents so they developed a great fear for fierce winds that would destroy their tents held by pegs and cords. Whirlwinds (tornadoes) would be the most destructive of the strong winds they would encounter. Hosea prophetically declared “They [the wicked] sow the wind, And reap the whirlwind” (Hosea 8:7). Actions have reactions, often severe ones. Hosea warns that those who engage in reckless or sinful behavior will face significant judgment.

The Lord delivers the righteous out or in the midst of these times of divine judgment when the wickedness sown by previous generations reaches its full measure. We always desire to be delivered out of divine judgment (e.g. Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah) but many times the Lord sovereignly decrees we are to be delivered through judgment (10 Egyptian plagues). The Lord gives the righteous an everlasting foundation which is able to withstand times when the whirlwind ravages the land. We live in a time when a great whirlwind is arising and the righteous must stand on the everlasting foundations. May we stand today with the Church who is "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone" (Eph 2:20) and like Abraham, walk by faith towards "the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Heb 11:10) and we will not be moved (Ps 46:2)!

“Yet for Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭44‬:‭22‬‬‬  

Psalm 44 is a communal lament expressing sorrow and confusion over suffering and perceived abandonment by God. The first part of Psalm 44 recalls the glory days of Israel where God brought about great deliverance and prosperity.  In contrast, the second part of the Psalm laments Israel's current broken condition beginning at verse 9, "But now you have rejected and humbled us; you no longer go out with our armies."  The Psalms of Lament (Psalms 3, 13, 22, 42, 44, 51, 54–57, 59...) are written to help the reader grieve in times of sorrow. It can be helpful to read and pray through the Psalms of Lament when we are feeling discouraged or disillusioned. We realize as we read that we are not alone in our emotional struggles as we walk by faith before the Lord. We live in a sin infested world that is contrary to God's Law and His ways. Sometimes it feels like the Elect are the ones who are off because those who ignore God seem happy and carefree (Psalm 73:2-3).  It takes great endurance to walk by faith when things don't appear to be going our way and the rebellious continue to evade justice. We are finite trying to grasp the infinite which can cause a nagging sense of insecurity because we can’t fathom what God is up to. We can visit the Psalms of Lament  to work through our emotions but we dare not stay there.

The Apostle Paul freely acknowledges the sorrow of the faithful by quoting verse 22 in Romans 8:36 and then writes one of most triumphant declarations in all of scripture “Yet in all these things [ALL!] we are more than conquerors through Him [Christ] who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” Romans 8:36-39. Although we experience sorrow and loss in the world and at times it looks like we are losing, the reality is that we are always on the path to total victory as "more than conquerers". “More than conquerors" means going beyond simply winning to gaining all the benefits from the victory we have in Christ. May the Lord strengthen our hearts that we might walk by faith as more than conquerers today.

“Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; For I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.”‭‭ Psalms‬ 43:5

The heart is a God-given source of power, guidance and strength in every season of life.  We both listen to our hearts and speak to our hearts. It is a life long pursuit to know when to listen and when to speak. "Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, But a man of understanding will draw it out." (Prov 20:5, Prov 25:2, Eccl 7:25).  We have the ability in our heart to perceive from the Lord wisdom and guidance that goes beyond the logical, emotional and sensory capabilities of our mind.  We must learn to be quiet and reflect in order to listen to our heart.  This sounds easy but it takes continual diligence to quiet ourselves each day and patiently practice habits of reflection in order to draw out wisdom and insight. Clarity most often comes in small pieces like a puzzle fitting together.

It is helpful to ask ourselves reflective questions like "What am I sensing right now?" or What am I experiencing here?"  I find prayer and writing both help facilitate this internal conversation. But there are times when we must stop listening to our heart and begin speaking. The dividing line is found in the phrase "cast down" (shachat meaning despair, dejected) and the word disquieted (mehumah meaning turmoil agitation). The Psalmist is asking a rhetorical not a reflective question. Our heart runs on hope and it is no use trying to move forward when it's out of gas.  It's time to speak to our heart the promises of God, to force feed ourselves on hope if necessary, ("hope in God for I will yet praise Him") until we are filled and functioning again. The phrase "help (aid, support, or come to the assistance of another) of my countenance (literally means face which the Bible often uses symbolically as a window to the heart) is the diagnostic clue. God asked Cain "Why has your face fallen?" (Gen 4:6) because he was dejected and without hope. Cain was in a dangerous place. He needed an epipen of hope stat. Sadly, Cain didn't act quickly and destruction soon followed.  

When we are struggling with discouragement and dejection is not time for diagnostics as to how or why we got here, it's time to practice the habits that build hope: Speak out loud the promises of God, sing hope filled songs, recall your amazing salvation and the many personal deliverances from the past. Feed on the faithfulness of God (Ps 37:3). May the Lord strengthen our hearts today as we wait for the blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. (Titus 2:13).

“Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭42‬:‭5‬ ‭NKJV‬‬. 

Sometimes we have a troubled heart and we are uncertain of the cause. We cannot say from moment to moment why we think the things we do. The source of some thoughts are obvious as we interact with people and places. We are thinking about the current conversation or about the task at hand. But in the quiet moments of the day when we are alone, why certain thoughts from the past come to mind remains a mystery to us. Recent research suggests that we have less control over our conscious thoughts than previously assumed, with many thoughts entering our minds through subconscious processes influenced involuntarily, often making it difficult to suppress them. Sometimes a happy time pops into our mind, but more often than not, we are unexpectedly thinking about a painful time from the past.

A failure, a rejection, an unkind word, or a missed opportunity rushes into our mind and it can be distracting or downright debilitating if we don't know what to do. Here the psalmist gives us a good question to ask ourselves in these unexpected painful moments and even better counsel on what to do in these moments. Asking ourselves "Why are you downcast. oh my soul. Why are you disquieted within me?" is useful because there are times when an unresolved root of pain from the past needs to be processed properly. The Lord may be prompting us to seek comfort and healing. But many times we simply don't know why we are (re)thinking a past issue because we have dealt with it extensively.

The older I get, the more frequently these already processed negative thoughts come to mind and they're more a hassle than a help. While it is important to ask ourselves questions, it is far more important to speak to ourselves the truth from God's word. The Psalmist encourages us to speak to ourselves, "Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance." We can let an unwanted memory from a painful past, prompt us to enjoy a scriptural memory of our even more glorious future. It is wise to have a cache of confirmation and a accumulation of affirmation to displace any condemnation from the past. "My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness And Your salvation all the day, For I do not know their limits." (Psalms 71:15)

“‘Rise, take your journey, and cross over the River Arnon. Look, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to possess it, and engage him in battle." “And I sent messengers from the Wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying, ‘Let me pass through your land; I will keep strictly to the road, and I will turn neither to the right nor to the left.” Deuteronomy‬ ‭2‬:‭24‬, ‭26‬-‭27‬ 

It seems odd for Moses to offer terms of peace to Sihon when the Lord told Moses that He had “given Sihon into your hand." This is an OT Biblical picture of how the Lord will sovereignly harden the hearts of an adversary to pursue conflict in order to glorify His name and  promote His people. There are numerous Biblical examples of the Lord using creative conflict to further his kingdom: hardening of Pharoah's heart to resist releasing Israel (Exodus 7-8), causing the Philistines to unknowingly pick a fight with Samson regarding his betrothed wife (Judges 14:4), rebuking King Asa for forming a military alliance with Syria when the Lord wanted to defeat them (2 Chron 16:7).

The Lord caused Sihon to gather into an army outside the protection of their fortified cities in order to make it easier for Israel to defeat them. Romans 12:18 gives the Elect their default strategy, "If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” We must recognize that conflict and persecution is part of the sovereign plan: "These things [regarding coming trials] I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world [for you and through you].” (John 16:33, see also John 15:18-25). Pursing peace should never devolve into pursuing passivity out of fear of conflict. We can walk in the Lord's victory when men rise up against us despite our best efforts to live in peace because the Lord is sovereign over both peace and conflict. “If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing [to defeat you]; whoever attacks you will surrender to you.” (Isaiah 54:17 NIV) "No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord. (Is 54:17). "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all." (Ps 34:19).  May we walk in HIs peace today as the Lord uses creative conflict to build His kingdom.

“The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, Before His works of old. I have been established from everlasting, From the beginning, before there was ever an earth.” Proverbs‬ ‭8‬:‭22‬-‭23‬

Wisdom is described as something that existed from the beginning and is the prized possession of the Lord. We know that the Lord Jesus Christ was the Word of God from the beginning. (John 1:1-2) Wisdom is part of the Word of God and it something that we can possess, indeed that we are encouraged to possess. Most people confuse the accumulation of knowledge (even Bible knowledge) and human experience (even Christian experience) with God's wisdom. God's wisdom is infinite, timeless and perfect, while human wisdom is limited, situational and flawed, which is why we need divine guidance in each of life's complexities. We may have encountered a circumstance many times in the past and know at a human level how to handle that circumstance. We have human wisdom based on human experience.

We perceive God's wisdom by the Holy Spirit and often (although not always) it is the opposite of what human wisdom and experience would say is right. We are actually in a stronger position to make wise decisions when we lack experience precisely because we must seek the Lord and wise counsel rather than rely on human wisdom. The Elect are designed to walk by faith in the wisdom of God by the power of the Holy Spirit in every circumstance regardless of our past experiences. The reason for caution is that human wisdom often feels right in the moment, but many times will create huge unforeseen problems in the future. God's wisdom often feels like a loss in the moment, but will yield huge unforeseen blessings in the future. The Lord purposefully conceals HIs wisdom in a package that looks unpleasant as a means to test our submission to His divine will.

Proverbs 3:5-6 perfectly describes our strategy: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding [based on experience]; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”  Verse 7 is not as well known, and carries a direct warning:  "Do not be wise  in your own eyes [with human wisdom]; Fear the Lord and depart from evil. Verse 8 contains a promise: "It [God's wisdom] will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones."  Health and strong bones are a long term result of a pattern of good decisions and right behaviors. James 3:14-17 describes the evil which we must depart from: “But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy." Human wisdom is based on pride, envy, and self-seeking which is the devil's playground. May the Lord help us to grow in wisdom through the power of the Holy Spirit in all we do today.

Ask and it will be given to you. . . . How much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! — Matthew 7:7, 11  

Awareness of God’s presence is a key part of developing spiritual receptivity; the supernatural ability to interact with and receive from God by faith. Every child of God is endued with spiritual awareness when they are born again. We are born again by fixing our eyes on Jesus as our Lord and Savior. But few develop this awareness toward a growing spiritual receptivity.  Oswald Chambers shows us how to make progress: "Fix your mind on the idea that God is there. Once your thoughts are settled on this line, it becomes as easy as breathing to recall that your heavenly Father is behind everything that happens. Even when perplexities and difficulties press in on you, remembering the “much more” of your Father comes naturally and without effort."  

The heart leads the mind to pursue thoughts, ideas, and desires in the direction it is looking. Since the mind has a habit of thinking this way, changing means a change in the eyes. The goal is to train the eyes of our heart to be looking at Christ to meet every need. We can receive all that we need when the eyes of our heart [faith] are looking at Christ. It is helpful to reflect in each circumstance where we are looking with the eyes of our heart.  Our emotions are a clue (although not definitive) as to where the eyes of our heart are looking. If the eyes of our heart are looking to ourselves and our resources (money, property, effort, relationships) then anxiety and fear of their loss or failure will be our lot. If perhaps we are convinced that our resources are sufficient, then pride in our resources will be the result. Isaiah 26:3 teaches what happens when the eyes of heart are fixed up the Lord:  "You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed [steadfast] on You, Because he trusts in You."  The causal relationship is clear: heart trusts, is looking to the Lord, then the mind naturally is fixed upon and rests in Him.
May the Lord help us to keep our eyes upon the Lord in everything we do today.

“Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, “This Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.”” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭7‬:‭39‬ 

We have an inner voice: the thoughts of our mind and the expressions of our heart and we have an outer voice with which we communicate with others. The Lord is interested in sanctifying both our inner voice and our outer public voice but it is the inner voice that is far more important. Kindness, gentleness and etiquette will ensure there is always some gap between our inner voice and outer voice. It is not wrong to notice or be aware of brokenness; Jesus is keenly aware of the sin of both the Pharisee and the woman, it's what we do with these insights that matters. When there is a large gap between our inner world and our outer world, the Bible calls it hypocrisy. Jesus says in Luke 12:1 "...“Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” Leaven is a metaphor of sin, something that elevates and puffs up with pride. "“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish (actions people see in our public world), but inside (what people do not see in our private world) they are full of extortion and self-indulgence." (Mat 23:25) 

The work of the Holy Spirit reveals these inner thoughts and motivations so that we can be cleansed on the inside of the cup and dish, a metaphor of repentance in our inner, private world. Jesus is revealing in a very public manner the Pharisee’s inner world, his lack of love, respect and compassion. The Pharisee disrespected Jesus by not offering water for His feet, a kiss (on both cheeks) for a greeting, and anointing oil for his head, which were common acts of Middle Eastern hospitality for an honored guest. The Pharisee was saying something by these omissions, both to Jesus, his other guests and likely to his fellow Pharisees not in attendance, about his real feelings. His message: Jesus is not loved or respected; he's being surveilled to find a fault.

The Lord arranged a perfect fault for the Pharisee to find but it was in his own heart and not in Jesus or this woman who was a well-known sinner. We should not despair when we experience these corrections, rather we should rejoice because it is a sign of Fatherly love. We know what the Lord reveals, he heals, if we are willing to repent. The mature saint will have more in common with the Pharisee than the notorious sinner so we will experience many a "Simon (to hear), I have something to say to you" moments. May we rejoice today as the Lord bids us to cleanse our cup and dish that we might be vessels of honor “useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.” (2 Tim 2:21)

“‘But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person shall be cut off from among the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water of purification has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean. Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the person who touches it shall be unclean until evening.’ ””Numbers‬ ‭19‬:‭20‬, ‭22‬ 

The laws for purification are so exacting and the penalty so severe (capital punishment) to show the incredible holiness of God and the holiness of His tabernacle. No one unclean may even enter his presence on pain of death. Only a clean priest can cleanse others to enable them to enter the presence of God. What happens to the nation of Israel when there is not one priest who is clean who can administer the rite of cleansing?  Israel would be forever lost. This is the cause for prophet Isaiah's cry of horror when he saw the holiness of God, “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.”  (Isaiah 6:5) Only a holy angel cleansing his mouth with a red hot coal from heaven's altar could take away his sin. (Isaiah 6:7)

Purification is also the cause for the devout Jew separating himself from gentiles who had no knowledge of the purification laws so would most certainly be unclean. Even a touch from something that a gentile or non-practicing Jew had touched would make Israel unclean and unable to come to the Temple.  How could they possibly eat together or visit an unclean person's house?  "And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him (Jesus) eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?” (Mark 2:16) The religious leaders were right regarding the purification laws and wrong by not recognizing the only clean high priest God had sent to cleanse Israel from their sin. "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water."  Hebrews 10:22

“And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.” Luke‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭3‬

I love being reminded in this text that the Lord sovereignly uses a political decree from the Roman emperor to create the necessity for Mary and Joseph to travel to their ancestral homeland at the perfect time for Jesus to be born. It wasn't a perfect time in regards to comfort or convenience for Mary and Joseph, given her advanced stage of pregnancy. The timing couldn't be worse for Mary and modern medicine would strongly recommend against such exertion to ensure the safety of mother and baby. Yet this arduous journey was the Lord's will as captured in ancient prophecy hundreds of years earlier. (Isaiah 7:14, Micah 4:2) Surely the Lord cares about the safety of His only begotten Son, the incarnate Christ. Jesus was even from the womb "a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”. (Isaiah 53:3)

Jesus clearly states the path to salvation, “Enter by the narrow ( gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." (Matthew 7:13-14) “Narrow" and "difficult" refers to a gate that is difficult to enter, a way constrained by pressure, symbolizing the challenging path of discipleship and righteousness that leads to life, in contrast to the wide and easy path that leads to destruction. It’s pretty clear what path most of the American church is on. Many of the Elect, though, are currently experiencing the opposite of comfortable and easy as the Lord prepares them for the difficult days ahead. It's not that the Elect seek out hardship but, like Mary and Joseph, it is sovereignly woven into the fabric of God's plan for their lives. The Lord regularly asks His Elect to do the hard thing, the risky thing, the inconvenient thing in order to fulfill His perfect will. May the Lord be our comfort, and encouragement and strength today as He prepares us for the difficult days ahead.

“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”‭‭ Psalms‬ ‭34‬:‭8‬ ‭

Here is an open invitation to experience the Lord's goodness in the midst of the seasons of life. If we are drained by life's challenges, we can taste the goodness of God to refresh our weary hearts least we faint along the way. If we are excited by life's successes, we can taste the joys of heaven through praise and thanksgiving least our soul become intoxicated with the pleasures of this world. We can taste and see the Lord is good every day, all day and so learn to abide in Christ all the time. John 15:4 says "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me." The branch doesn't say "the sun is shining today so I don't need to abide in the vine or I'm bearing much fruit so I don't need to abide in the vine. I've got this figured out". The branch just stays connected to the vine, receiving vital support, no matter the season. We learn the secrets, develop the skills, to learn to abide through life's many twists and turns. It is helpful to identify the circumstances where we find it hard to abide and ask the Lord for a strategy, a plan to help us abide in that circumstance. May the Lord help us grow in our ability to taste and see that the Lord is good in everything we do today.

“The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.” Psalms‬ ‭34‬:‭18‬

Here we see the most valuable thing in the Kingdom--a broken and contrite heart. The world values a proud and self-exalting heart. The world says pride is good and we see it everywhere in sports, business, politics and academia. The proud boast in their accomplishments and seek to draw attention to themselves The famous boxer Muhammed Ali known for his bravado captures the world's philosophy perfectly when he said "It's not bragging if you can back it up." Another famous boast from Ali "I am the greatest". No qualifier to narrow the range; just in-your-face, unreserved self-exaltation. The world loved it and showered Ali with fame and fortune. Psalm 10:4 points to the problem with human pride "The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts." Pride is the deadly enemy to the spiritual life because it takes the focus off of Christ. Pride makes us always think about ourselves. Pride is not limited to success but it can also be found in an intense focus on our failures and short-comings. The goal is think less about ourselves and more on Christ and His people. The one who truly is the greatest, the Lord Jesus Christ, never boasted in Himself or made attempts to draw attention to Himself. Jesus always pointed to the Father (John 5:19, John 12:49). The Holy Spirit always pointed to and testified about Christ (John 15:26). Psalm 34:18 describes the work of the Holy Spirit to move someone from brokenness to contribution. A broken heart doesn't automatically lead to humility. it can easily lead to anger, resentment and pride. Contrite means "Feeling regret and sorrow for one's sins or offenses; penitent." The Lord goes to great lengths to produce a contrite, humble heart in His Elect. Much of our testing has elements that produce humility and we would be wise to yield to it. May we "...humble yourselves (don't fight against the humiliation) under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time (let God be our defender and vindication)" (1 Peter 5:6) in all we do today.

“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a sabbath to the Lord.” ‭‭Leviticus‬ ‭25‬:‭2‬

To give the promise land a sabbath rest every 50 years required great faith and trust in Yahweh. It was to show the absolute sovereignty of the Lord over His land in whom the Israelites were tenants. ‘"The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me." Lev 25:23 In the natural, the Sabbath year would have profound economic and social consequences. Crops would not be sold for income, farm laborers would not earn a wage, contracts to sell crops could not be fulfilled, the priest would receive no tithe, and the king no tax. The nation could become vulnerable to enemies because of economic weakness. It takes faith to follow God in this full stop. The Lord's commands are impossible to accomplish in our flesh. Many times God's commands don't make sense to us until much later. Sometimes we never understand the reasons for God's commands. It's easy to forget that the Lord promises to help us to obey, to make the impossible possible.

During the time of the Babylonian exile, the prophet Jeremiah proclaimed the exile would last 70 years. (Jeremiah 25:11-12) The seventy years was meant as discipline corresponding to the number of times that the tribes of Judah and Benjamin had neglected to obey the "Sabbath year”. This commandment had apparently gone unobserved for 490 years (from the time of Israel's occupancy of Canaan following the exodus from Egypt, to the beginning of the Babylonian exile), so the Lord sovereignly gave the land seventy years of rest during the exile. (2 Chronicles 36:20-21) Even the good kings (David, the early years of Solomon, Uzziah, Josiah, Hezekiah, Jotham…) as well as the evil kings disobeyed the sabbath year command. The pressure must have been incredible to ignore this very clear and detailed command by the predominantly agricultural kingdom of Judah. 490 years is a long time and it's easy to think that the Lord wasn't serious about this particularly onerous command. It appeared as if it didn't matter - until judgment fell. We live in a time where in our society we see the effects of long term disobedience at every level.

The world has reached the tipping point and judgment is falling. The false prophets are proclaiming all is well; "just keep being patriotic, just keep supporting the right political candidates, just keep being compliant church goers. They tell us that God is merciful and will overlook the generations of rampant rebellion. 'They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no peace. ' (Jeremiah 6:14) May the Elect arise by faith today to obey the Lord even when it doesn't make sense and when it is not popular.

“And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.” Mark‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬ 

You can tell a lot about a person by what makes them angry. It reveals their values and priorities. Anger is a natural response to something that offends our values and sense of justice. There were at least five times when the Bible explicitly says Jesus was angry
1. Let the Little Children Come to Me (Mark 10:14–16) 
2. The “Cleansing” of the Temple (Matthew 21; Mark 11; Luke 21) 
3. Sickness (Mark 1:41) 
4. Death (John 11:33) 
and in this text over the hardness of the religious leaders' hearts. The Bible doesn't say we can't ever be angry, which would be quite impossible because anger is an emotion built into us all who are made like God who can be angry.

The Bible says deal with your anger quickly and with wisdom. Quoting Psalms 4:4-5, Paul writes, “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath.” Ephesians 4:26 In others words, it's ok to be angry but don't sin in the midst of your anger by staying angry. We've all met people who are constantly angry with everyone, even at strangers who have done them no harm. It's not just that we tend to act rashly and harshly when we are angry, it's that it affects our relationship with the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:30 warns us about the fruits of unguarded anger which include physical fighting, verbal fighting (quarreling), malice (harboring a desire to do harm), bitterness (long term resentments) and clamor (noisy uproar). Apostle Paul warns of the inevitable result "And do not grieve (causing distress or emotional pain) the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Mark 3 shows that hardness of heart grieves Jesus, and Ephesians 4 tells us that the fruits of unguarded and unbounded anger grieve the Holy Spirit. May the Lord give us His wisdom and strength today to guard our hearts in world full of evil and injustice.

What are you dreading? You are not a coward; whatever it is, you’re going to face it. Yet you still have a feeling of dread. Build on God’s promise. Say with confidence, “In this moment, in my present mind- set, the Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.” 
Oswald Chambers. 

The opposite of faith is fear, the opposite of hope is dread. Dread is a type of low-grade, deep-seated fear because it is amorphous, without specific shape. It is a feeling of impending doom. The great danger of living in the end times is that we know that there will be cataclysmic events, both man-made, devil-made and God-made. We thus can have a sense of dread instead of a sense of hope and faith. Hope by definition means a future expectation of God's favor which is the opposite of a sense of impending doom. Fear left unattended is debilitating because we are quite literally not in our right mind.

Fear takes us out of our logical and analytical mind (cerebral cortex) and puts us into our more primitive mind that thinks emotionally, fight or flight (limbic/amygdala). Fear prevents analytical processing so we can't make logical decisions. Fear also wars against our inner peace that is essential in order to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and we are unable to make Spirit-led decisions. Most people just try to push dread out of their minds through diversions like entertainment and vacations (think happy thoughts) but Chambers gives the Biblical way to combat dread. Focus on the promises of God to never leave us nor forsake us (think Biblical thoughts). Our great Keeper will see us through every trial and every tribulation, including the Great Tribulation. May we join with the Psalmist today to boldly declare "The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" (Psalms 118:6)

“Then He said, 'To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.'” ‭‭Mark‬ ‭4‬:‭30‬-‭32‬. 

Sometimes we see the great gap between where we are and where the Bible says we ought to be and it can feel overwhelming. We think "how can I ever produce that kind of fruit in my life?" We want to throw out everything and start fresh. And yes, there are times where we just need make big efforts to throw out actions and mindsets that are rotten fruit but most times we shouldn't throw it out, we should take little actions to grow it out. The mustard seed parable shows us the way to start with some small action based on faith, start doing it, and then let it grow over time and repetition.

If, for example, we have an antagonist who troubles us to such a degree that we struggle to not despise them, then we can start with a little act of kindness, a little prayer for their progress toward righteousness, a little private praise that the Lord has created them for a purpose. Or we can take a little step toward a more disciplined life or victory over an unproductive habit and trust the Lord to help us grow in tue fruit of self-control. That little mustard seed of faith, once planted, can now grow into the largest plant in our garden. "Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin..." Zechariah 4:10 NLT. May the Lord help us plant mustard seeds of faith in little acts of obedience today.

“Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.””Exodus‬ ‭20‬:‭18‬-‭20‬

This text describes the challenges of the presence of God - it is awesome and produces a fear of God. We so desperately need the fear of God yet it is...fearful. We don't like fear and seek to avoid it or at least experience fear in controlled doses (rollercoasters, sky diving, horror movies/novels, apocalyptic information). We don't get to control the dose when we engage with God. We never know what He will say and how we will experience Him.

Chambers had a great quote a while back that puts is succinctly, "Certainty is the mark of the commonsense life– gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life." Gracious is the right adjective for uncertainty with God because we must trust that God's only goal is our growth and progress. He never wants to inflict needless terror for a sadistic reason. The devil is the terrorist who uses fear as a weapon of control and destruction. The thunderings, the lighting, sound of the trumpet, smoke and earthquakes are all tools to instruct Israel about the holiness and power of God. Humans are visual and experiential learners when it comes to spiritual things. Most people have difficultiy with abstract concepts and need tangible demonstrations to truly grasp spiritual things. "For the kingdom of God is not in word but in [demonstration of] power." 1 Corinthians 4:20 Sadly, only a few actually push past the need for control to experience God. May the Lord help us walk in the gracious uncertainty of the Holy Spirit in all we do today.

“And it shall be, if they do not believe even these two signs, or listen to your voice, that you shall take water from the river and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take from the river will become blood on the dry land.” Exodus‬ ‭4‬:‭9‬ 

The two signs given to Moses for the Israelites symbolized God's power and authority to deliver them from slavery. The first sign, where Moses' staff turned into a serpent, represented God's control over evil, while the second sign, involving Moses' leprous hand, symbolized healing and redemption from sin and affliction. The third sign (and every subsequent plague) was meant to show the Lord's superiority over all the gods of Egypt.

The public relations firm working with the Egyptian pharaohs had successfully built up a god-like mystique. The core of the Egyptian propaganda campaign was that Pharaoh is a god-man with the divine right of kings to rule all of Egypt, including the people of Israel. What's worse, most of Israel had grown up in this Egyptian culture and completely believed in their gods and their god-man leader Pharaoh. When Moses was confronted about his credentials to be a ruler and judge over Israel ("Who made you ruler and judge over us?" Exodus 2:14), it wasn't just a rhetorical question, "Who are you?" but a question of whether he had the legitimacy of the Egyptian divine right of kings to rule because Moses was Hebrew and not Egyptian.

We see the prophet, Isaiah, many years later directly attack the wrong perceptions that the Jews had about Egypt: "The Egyptians are man, and not God, and their horses are flesh, and not spirit. (Isaiah 31:3 ESV). The Lord gave Moses three supernatural signs to boldly authenticate that "I AM" is who has sent Moses and has given him legitimacy. We likewise have been sent by the great I AM and have all the power and resources of heaven to give us legitimacy to preach the gospel of the Kingdom (Matthew 28:16-20). May we walk with boldness today knowing the Lord has sent us to preach a message of deliverance from the slavery of sin and to set the captives free.

“But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”” ‭‭Exodus‬ ‭3‬:‭11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Moses said, "Who am I?" because he realizes that he does not have the ability to fulfill the great calling as Israel's deliverer. God responds with "I AM who" will go before you and cause you to succeed where you have failed in the past. The Lord is the great initiator, the great pursuer of His people and His purpose. It was the Lord who arranged the encounter at the burning bush. It was the Lord who had already spoken to Aaron, Moses' older brother to begin the journey to find Moses in Midian. It was the Lord who had prepared Israel's hearts to now be ready to follower their deliverer when prior to they were resistant ("Who made you ruler and judge over us?” Exodus 2:14). When we say, "Who am I?”, The Lord says "I AM who." May we rejoice today that the great "I AM" has gone before us to enable us to succeed in every good work.