Another lesson from the story of blind Bartimaeus...51 And Jesus said to him, "What do you want me to do for you?" And the blind man said to him, "Rabbi, let me recover my sight." [Mar 10:51 ESV]
This whole story is a picture of salvation.  Bartimaeus recognized his need, he recognized that Jesus could supply that need, someone told him that Jesus was right there, and so he cried out for Jesus to help him.  Jesus hears Bartimaeus and he stops and calls him over, and asks what he wants.  Bartimaeus makes his way over to Jesus, and tells Jesus that he is blind, and he wants to see.  Upon hearing this, Jesus says his faith has healed him already.  It was his faith, already exercised, that restored his sight.  Salvation is just like that.  By the time you ask for it in faith, you already have it.  So I am telling you, like someone told Bartimaeus, that Jesus is right there.  I am telling you that Jesus is close enough to hear you call.  When he hears, he will stop, and will ask what you need.  And all you have to do is tell him you are broken and you want to be fixed.  It is as easy for you today as it was for Bartimaeus way back then.

47 And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" [Mar 10:47 ESV]  Blind Bartimaeus is bold enough to call out for Jesus though rebuked by the crowd as he does it.  They keep telling him to shut up, he keeps shouting for Jesus' attention.  He doesn't care how the crowd wants him to behave.  To them, Bartimaeus was just a beggar, wasting his time trying to get attention from Jesus.  We are all as blind as Bartimaeus, as needy as he was, and as undeserving as he was.  Question is, can we see as clearly as this blind man that help is within shouting distance?  Will we stand up and walk right out there, no matter what people are going to think, the way he did?  Bartimaeus walked through that disdaining, skeptical, judgmental crowd, right to the feet of Jesus, and made his request.  He walked away with his eyesight.  May we all be as bold as Bartimaeus, as focused on the true source of our help.

20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. [Luk 2:20 ESV]
These shepherds had seen the Messiah with their own eyes.  Their lives were forever changed.  May we be as thrilled and as hopeful as we celebrate the birth of Jesus this Christmas as those shepherds were on that very first Christmas.

11 "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."   Luk 2:11, 12  This was the message from angels to the shepherds.  They were given a specific sign for identifying the right baby, the long awaited Messiah.  This was the one they expected to free his people, make Israel a great nation again, and rule on the throne of David for eternity.  You can see how with those expectations they might have looked for him in the wrong place.  You would expect to find royalty surrounded by the trappings of power, not by livestock.  Yet there was no golden cradle lined with silk in that stable.  The shepherds may have expected a King, but they found a Savior.  Jesus came into this world that first time not to rule but to serve.  During his life he fed people, he healed people, he taught people, and in the end he sacrificed his own life to pay our debts.  His humble beginning matched his intended end.  

Paul has told us how to be helpful, how to be humble, and now in this third section, he tells us how to be holy:
19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. [1Th 5:14-22 NKJV]
We live in an imperfect world, influenced at all times by forces that promote selfishness, greed, and abuse of others.  We have to navigate that world in a way that pleases God and sets us apart from the world.  Where should we look for advice and direction about the complicated decisions we have to make?  Sadly, we can get bad advice from well-meaning people or sources that we trust - because there is just so much bad advice out there!  These verses encourage us to use only God's revelation of right and wrong as found in the Bible as the sole standard we use to judge our choices.  We "test all things" by reading His word, applying what we read, and testing any advice from anywhere else against that word.  When in doubt about whether we have it right, abstain.  Never split hairs when it comes to right and wrong.  The more we read His word, the more obvious the line between "do" and "do not" will become.  This whole section, 1 Thess 5: 14-22, is easy to memorize, and well worth the effort if we want to be helpful, humble, and holy.

Paul has told us how to be helpful, how to be humble, and now in this third section, he tells us how to be holy:
19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. [1Th 5:14-22 NKJV]
We live in an imperfect world, influenced at all times by forces that promote selfishness, greed, and abuse of others.  We have to navigate that world in a way that pleases God and sets us apart from the world.  Where should we look for advice and direction about the complicated decisions we have to make?  Sadly, we can get bad advice from well-meaning people or sources that we trust - because there is just so much bad advice out there!  These verses encourage us to use only God's revelation of right and wrong as found in the Bible as the sole standard we use to judge our choices.  We "test all things" by reading His word, applying what we read, and testing any advice from anywhere else against that word.  When in doubt about whether we have it right, abstain.  Never split hairs when it comes to right and wrong.  The more we read His word, the more obvious the line between "do" and "do not" will become.  This whole section, 1 Thess 5: 14-22, is easy to memorize, and well worth the effort if we want to be helpful, humble, and holy.

Moving on from last Thursday's post about being helpful, Paul's second point about how Christians should live tells us how we keep ourselves humble:
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.   [1Th 5:16-18 NKJV]
These verses remind us to look upward in whatever our circumstances may be.  Whatever life may bring us, we are living out God's will for our lives, and accomplishing His purpose.  Instead of patting ourselves on the back when good things happen to us, we should thank God for the blessings He's sent.  Instead of pounding the desk about how unfair things are when bad things come our way, we should pray for insight about what God is trying to teach us through trials he sends our way.  If we rejoice and thank God for both blessings and trials, we will keep God's supreme place in our lives always before us.  And that will keep us humble.

In 1 Thess 5 Paul talks about how Christians should live.  He makes three points.  In the first, he tells us how to be helpful: 
14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. 15 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. [1Th 5:14-15 NKJV]  
This is how we as Christians make the world a better place.  This is how we open doors, open ears, open hearts to the gospel.  We use our time, our efforts, our selves to put a little "good" in the world that wouldn't be there otherwise.  This starts in our own homes, then moves to the neighbors, then the neighborhood and so on.  It can be so very easy to pray for others, call that good for our part, and then let God take care of the rest.  But these verses say that "doing" is our responsibility.  That part about pursuing good for all?  That covers a LOT of ground.  We won't have to look very far to find something we can - something we should - do.

"I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever."  Psa 86:12
Happy Thanksgiving!

Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’  Nehemiah 1:8‭-‬9 ESV.
Nehemiah is praying on behalf of the nation of Israel.  In the prayer, he is quoting God's promises to Israel back to Him.  These promises are not from a verse somewhere, but from at least three different places in Deuteronomy, (Deut. 4:25-31, Deut 18:63-65, Deut 30:1-5) an old book written by Moses that Nehemiah seems very familiar with.  This is a good example of why we should read the whole Bible.  Sometimes, the picture of God's will for us, of how He works in the world, is like a puzzle, with pieces found in various places, but only complete if we put in the effort and find all the pieces.

33 Wisdom rests in the heart of a man of understanding, but it makes itself known even in the midst of fools. [Pro 14:33 ESV]
This is universal morality.  This is why we all agree that murder is a crime, hatred is a bad thing, theft should be against the law.  This didn't "evolve" as we learned to cooperate with each other while coming down out of the trees.  God built morality into us when he created us.  One of the consequences of this is that no one has an excuse for doing it wrong.   We choose to do it wrong though we know it is wrong, and this is why we are all guilty.  It is fair for God to hold us accountable for this guilt because He also provided the remedy for it.  "because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.  Romans 10:9‭-11"

5 Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. 6 You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes. [Hag 1:5-6 ESV]
Haggai is explaining cause and effect to those who have come back to Israel from the Babylonian captivity.  He points out that they are making no real progress in rebuilding their lives now that they are home.  In the next few verses, he points out that the temple of God and the nation in general are still in ruins, and no one is interested in working on that, even though God told them specifically to do so.  They were not connecting these two dots so Haggai draws the line for them.  It's still the same line today.  When we are not following God's plan for our lives, we will start to notice that we never seem to get ahead, never make progress, never feel content, never have peace in our lives, and on and on like this.  The verse tells us what we need to do if we notice our lives going this way.  We consider our ways!  We ask ourselves if we are giving God His due.  Has he opened a door we won't go through?  Is reading His word the last thing on our list each day, and we just never get to it?  Is prayer time two minutes at the stop light on the way to work?  Or maybe He wants something bigger.  Maybe He wants us in a different place - like Jonah.  Maybe He wants us to fight a battle - like Gideon.  Maybe he wants us to speak His truth even at great risk - like John the Baptist.  God's way of doing things never changes.  Cause and effect for Israel in 500 BC is cause and effect for us in 2020 AD.  Take inventory.  Consider well.  Act on what you discover.  You might find that you sleep a whole lot better at night.

This is fast becoming a favorite verse of mine:
29 The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their gray hair. [Pro 20:29 ESV]  We can all use a little splendor in our lives!

6 A fool's lips walk into a fight, and his mouth invites a beating. [Pro 18:6 ESV]  Always good advice, but an especially appropriate verse to memorize and keep in mind over the next few weeks and months.  We shouldn't let our mouths start something that we shouldn't finish.  Furthermore, I think this verse is a warning that rash talk can make us look the fool when maybe we really aren't.  Being judged a fool - even once - can permanently destroy our witness.
Also, I am traveling today and would appreciate your prayers!

1 The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will. [Pro 21:1 ESV]
Doesn't matter who wins, or how long it takes.  In the end, nothing has really changed.

35 you say, 'I am innocent; surely his anger has turned from me.' Behold, I will bring you to judgment for saying, 'I have not sinned.' [Jer 2:35 ESV]  It is not my intention to beat a dead horse, it is that some things are worth repeating.  We cannot pretend to be innocent if we vote for a party that proclaims as virtue the killing of unborn children.  When we vote for the candidate, we vote for ALL that he stands for, and while we might fool ourselves with our rationalizations, we will not fool God.

In all the gospel accounts where Pilate questions Jesus, Pilate finds him not guilty.  Pilate knows what is right, and what is wrong, and still lets the crowd – the mob – have their way. An innocent man dies horribly at the hands of people more guilty than he is.  How could Pilate sleep after that?  Well, there is this verse:  24 So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves." [Mat 27:24 ESV]
So there you have it.  Pilate found it “better” to be complicit in murder than to take an unpopular stand for justice.  He found it better to agree to killing an innocent man than to deal with the potential violence that could follow a correct moral choice.  And make no mistake, Pilate knew Jesus was innocent, and he knew justice demanded Jesus' release.  So when we find ourselves trying to deal with the guilt that follows taking the easy way out, we need only remember Pilate's example.  All we have to do is wash our hands and declare ourselves innocent.   Done!  I think this is important to believers who have decided to vote Democrat next week.  This is important because these believers are "joining themselves" not just to the Democratic candidates, but to the Democratic platform.  Three times in their 2020 National Platform, the Democratic party endorses abortion.  In the name of "Reproductive Health" they promise to fund Planned Parenthood.  In the name of women's rights, they will guarantee access to "safe" abortion.  In the name of democracy and human rights, they promise to fund worldwide abortion through the United Nations.  A vote for Democrats is a vote for these things.  It is a vote for the worldwide legal slaughter of unborn children.  Even if you are a believing, Christ professing, church going Christian, a vote for the Democrats is a vote for these things.  They are inseparable.  I am sure that Christians who plan to vote Democrat have reasons that are as well thought out and logically derived as were Pilate’s reasons for having Jesus killed.  But please realize when you vote Democrat you are voting for all those logical reasons of yours, AND for aborting innocent children still in the womb.  Like Pilate, you are giving top place in your priorities to something besides the spilling of innocent blood.  I didn't introduce this post as political because it is not about politics.  This post is religious because it is about moral choice, not political choice.  And if you don’t care about religion, then it is about the most basic human right of all – the right to be born - and so is STILL a moral choice.  My prayer is that no one who reads this post got a new perspective from it.  My prayer is that I’m just preaching to the choir.  But if not…please think about what you are planning to do on election day.  On that day, you will either vote for life, or you will need to wash your hands.  A lot.

16 Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. [Jdg 2:16 ESV]  In the time of the Judges, Israel had no King or even a central government, so God empowered various men and women to “rescue” Israel when things got really bad.  One of those he used was Gideon.  During his time Gideon killed two captive kings with his own hands, beat the elders of Succoth because he was mad at them, and outright killed all the men in the city of Penuel because he was really really mad at them.  Gideon was a vengeful, angry man.  Another God used was Jephthah.  Jephthah was a bastard son who’s mother was a prostitute.  In a time of great trouble, Jephthah was chosen as military commander of all Israel.  He made a poorly informed promise based on his poor theology that resulted in the death of his only daughter.  If that wasn’t enough, he later led a civil war against a neighboring country and 42,000 men ended up executed.  Not killed in battle, executed.  Another was a guy named Samson.  This man ran amok, killed people who got it in  his way - and some who didn't, slept with whomever he liked and was shown to be a complete idiot when it came to women.  He burned crops, murdered for his own gain, and after being captured because he is such a rube, he ultimately pulled a house down on top of his enemies, taking hundreds of people with him when  he died.  These three men, each one awful and despicable, brutal and ignorant in his own way, and each terminally flawed, were used by God to rescue Israel from her oppressors and bring peace back to her lands.  We have an election coming up.  I am not calling Trump a Gideon or a Jephthah or a Samson.  But he might be.  If the primary reason for not backing him is because he is crude, arrogant, brutish, and mouthy then realize he is in some very good company!  Biden is no peach either, come to that.  I’m the first to agree that it’s been a long time since either party fielded a candidate I could get even a little bit "rah-rah" about.  But we should not let the fact that someone rubs us the wrong way be the criteria for how we vote.  We need to look beyond the men and at the agendas.  Read the party platforms and vote FOR something.  Vote FOR the country you want, not AGAINST the one you perceive as the greater evil, knowing that God can use anyone to accomplish His will, just as He did in the days of the judges.

21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand. [Pro 19:21 ESV]  The election is two weeks from tomorrow.  But guess what?  The votes are already counted, the outcome determined.   Worrying about it today won't change what happens in two weeks.  Best thing we can do is forget about plans, and just make the most of today.

1 Righteous are you, O LORD, when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?  [Jer 12:1 ESV]
Jeremiah is asking God how long it will be until He destroys the wicked in Judah and Jerusalem as He said He was going to do.  Jeremiah thinks everything is bad as can be already, and that it is high time to visit some wrath of God stuff on the wicked and get the good people back on top.  There's been a lot of that kind of thinking around here this year, too.  God's answer to Jeremiah a few verses later applies just as well to us:  5 "If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses? And if in a safe land you are so trusting, what will you do in the thicket of the Jordan? [Jer 12:5 ESV]  God says He is letting these things happen to prepare Jeremiah for the really big things still to come.  Another way to put it is that if Jeremiah was having trouble with the testing God was already putting him through, how could he expect to pass when things get really difficult later?  And make no mistake...God's message was that things around Jeremiah were going to get much worse!  Could be that things around us are going to get much worse, too.  So God's message to Jeremiah, and to us, is to stop viewing our circumstances as the storm before the calm, and see them instead as preparation, as practice, as conditioning for what still lies ahead.  If the testing God is putting us through is difficult, it is because what is coming is seriously more difficult.  We need to practice praying - so we do it more effectively.  We need to practice unloading our "little" problems on God so the really big burdens ahead won't crush us.   And we need to build up our faith, lest it prove too small in the critical times to come.

9 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, 'We are delivered!'--only to go on doing all these abominations? 11 Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the LORD. [Jer 7:9-11 ESV]
Jesus quotes this verse in the NT.  The people he was talking about were the worst kind of hypocrites.  These were people that knew "about" Him, but did not know Him.  People just like some of us.  These were "Sunday only Christians".  And like them, for a lot of my life I didn't even bother to show up on Sunday yet I considered myself a Christian, saved by grace, and exempt from hell no matter what I did.  This is a very dangerous attitude to have.  It might make us feel pretty smug when things are going well but as things start to go off the rails we will suddenly recognize the contradictions between our sense of security and our actions.  This will become particularly acute when we decide to pray our way out of our troubles and it becomes obvious that no one is listening.  This realization is the critical moment.  This moment is when we should realize that God wants our hearts, not just our occasional appearance at church.  This moment is our opportunity for real security.  The moment won't last long, and if we wait, events will overcome our good intentions, and we may never again have that quiet, reflective, moment to repent of all those sins we've let ourselves indulge in because we convinced ourselves we were "safe".  We have all been the people these verses are talking about, but we don't have to keep on being like them if we will only believe.

12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, "Because you despise this word and trust in oppression and perverseness and rely on them, 13 therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach in a high wall, bulging out and about to collapse, whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant; 14 and its breaking is like that of a potter's vessel that is smashed so ruthlessly that among its fragments not a shard is found with which to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern." [Isa 30:12-14 ESV]
Isn't this a great word picture?  A high wall around an ancient city, bulging out, looking like it will crumble and crash down any second.  Some days the news makes me feel like I'm standing right under the bulge, aware and watching but helpless to stop it.  The bulge represents the growing sinfulness of a nation turned away from God.  The miracles, the conquests of other nations against all odds, the preservation through disease and famine that marked Israel's history are now labeled myths and happenstance.  They have rewritten their history so that God is left out of it, and so relieved themselves of any obligation to Him.   They are heading for a disaster - a collapse of the protecting wall God has maintained for them.  A few verses later God tells them how to avert that disaster:  15 For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, "In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength." But you were unwilling, [Isa 30:15 ESV]   Israel, in Isaiah's time, refused instruction.  They enjoyed their sins too much, and their nation fell.  I hope we, as a nation, honor the One who has maintained us for so long, and hold to His principles in all that we do.

27 Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it. 28 Do not say to your neighbor, "Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it"--when you have it with you. 29 Do not plan evil against your neighbor, who dwells trustingly beside you. 30 Do not contend with a man for no reason, when he has done you no harm. 31 Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways, [Pro 3:27-31 ESV]
A quiet peaceful life is not achieved by pleasing people far away.  If you want to sleep well at night, these verses say treat your neighbors well, and behave yourself.  Don't complicate everything with guidelines from far away, just treat the people you see every day as you want them to treat you.  Be honest and helpful to those close by and don't be causing trouble where there wasn't any before!  Just focus on your neighbors, and let God worry about all those far away people you don't even know! 

26 Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked. [Pro 25:26 ESV]  We are supposed to stand firm, but we don't always do so.  Why don't we always?  Because this:
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. [Psa 34:19 ESV]
Because when we do, we don't just get trouble, we get a lot of trouble.  But the promise is here too, of God's deliverance.  We can stand if we focus on where we're going, on where we know this is going to end, rather than focusing on the afflictions of today that standing firm is going to bring us!

3 Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well; the prince and the judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; thus they weave it together. [Mic 7:3 ESV]
The prophet Micah says this about Judah, and its capitol city, Jerusalem, in about the 7th century BC.  But it sounds like it could be on the news about us, today.  The people were focused on "doing evil well".  With the rest of the verse for context, I think this means they were getting much better at not getting caught.  The government is mostly corrupt.  The justice system is rigged to protect the guilty.  "Great men" - which in our time would be celebrities, pro athletes, the ultra-rich - are free to indulge their basest desires without condemnation.  Basest desires might have included things like pedophilia, drug use, illegal hair styling, private islands, and financing anarchist to name just a few obvious ones.  And note that last phrase...this is not just "everywhere", this is all "connected".  These things were pervasive, and no one condemned others lest they be accused themselves.  Which means they all know their actions are wrong but they have chosen to do them anyway.  They have chosen to pursue, even to embrace their basest desires.  What was Micah's solution to this?  Founding a new political party?  Appointing a special prosecutor?  Organizing a people's militia to take action against the worst of the worse?  No.  When it is all connected, none of these things will work.  Here is what Micah did: 7 But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. [Mic 7:7 ESV]  Micah prayed because it is the only thing that will work in this kind of situation.  He prayed for God to step in and bring it all crashing down on them.  Following Micah's example, I've been praying for this lately myself.  I hope a lot of other people are praying this way also.

6 Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid? Does disaster come to a city, unless the LORD has done it? [Amo 3:6 ESV]
Amos is telling us that God is sovereign over all human events.
7 I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things. [Isa 45:7 ESV]
This is Isaiah telling us that God says He is sovereign over all human events.
9 "Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, 'What are you making?' or 'Your work has no handles'? [Isa 45:9 ESV]
This is Isaiah telling us that we have no standing to question what God does.  This is because:
12 I made the earth and created man on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host. [Isa 45:12 ESV]
So if all that is going on around us is by the command and design of God, what is there for us to do?  This verse:
9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the LORD are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them. [Hos 14:9 ESV]
If we want to understand what is happening around us we have only to read our Bibles, because it is all in there.  We have seen many verses over the last few weeks that clearly explain current events.  Understanding should dampen our anxiety even as we see the rule of law disintegrating around us and our country turning against itself as we face crisis after crisis after crisis.  Surely there is some peace in knowing what the cure for our situation truly is.  As a nation, we must walk in the ways of the Lord, we must direct our appeal - our prayer - to the One who controls all these things, and we must put ourselves in His hands, and His only.  He alone determines where this goes.

12 "Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. 13 But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. [Isa 8:12, 13 ESV]
The Northern Kingdom of Israel was in a bad way.  We've seen several verses lately that talk about how there were factions, splintering the people into groups, that corruption was rampant in business and government, and not only the rich and powerful, but the lowliest of citizens lived for a chance to cheat each other.  Cities were burning, and violence was becoming common.  On top of all that, the aggressive nation of Assyria was growing every stronger and threatened to invade.  We've compared Israel's daily realities to our own times and seen many similarities.  To those, add one more.  Rumors were everywhere!  Fortune tellers, false prophets, and necromancers were making all kinds of predictions, some of gloom and doom, and some saying all would be well, predictions of plots and counter-plots and deceptions and strategies.  Their predictions were not based on any direct knowledge of events but on who was paying them to make the predictions or what predictions they could use to make the most profit.  That sound anything like...fake news, YouTube conspiracy theories, or Facebook "experts" on current events?  I've never really thought of any of these as fortune tellers but what they are doing is oh so similar.  They are all predicting the future with almost no real information.  They are doing it to increase their TV ratings, to get more likes, or to monetize their channels.  They are NOT doing it to save us or the country or the world!  So Israel had the same problem we do.  No idea what to believe.  This made it a very unsettled time for those living through it.  We can identify!  Then Isaiah gives us vs 13, the core of truth that is the reliable information we crave.  Everything going on in Israel at that time was the result of God's justice poured out on a disobedient nation.  It was not Assyrian armies they needed to fear, but God's wrath.  And it is not BLM, Antifa, "spiked" vaccines, or government overreach that we need to fear, but God's wrath!  The "fix" for Israel's problems was to change their ways, stop doing evil, and turn back to following God's rules and plans for their nation.  If we are having so many of the same problems that Israel had, doesn't it make sense that we would need the same solution?

5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6 I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. [Isa 5:5-6 ESV]
These verses give us God's plan for this vineyard that he had so carefully planted, protected, tended.  The vineyard in these verses is Israel, and the plan is God's plan for nations that despise him.  Notice that it does not say that He will directly destroy the vineyard.  That's not what He does at all.  Instead, he removes its hedge and breaks down its wall, so that animals, pests, foot traffic, evil men who have no respect for it - even hate it because of the one who owns it - will trample it down.  The vineyard is defenseless at this point.  God will no longer tend it, no longer "corral it" towards the ends that he has in mind for it.  Things get worse...briars and the thorns grow and thrive within the cultured vineyard, choking out the good, stealing the resources.  And there will be no water.  The vineyard will be systematically and progressively weakened until it is just part of the landscape, no longer really a vineyard at all.  Evil flourished in Israel in Isaiah's day, and the day came when God just stepped away and let the corrupt nature of man take its course.  Israel never recovered.  Neither will we, unless we "16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil...", and the rest from Monday's verse.

16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause. [Isa 1:16-17 ESV].  Is there anything in this passage that seems like a bad idea?  What problems do we have in this country that one or more of these things would not cure?  Couldn't anyone in either political party get behind every one of these?  Living by these standards was the route to redemption for the nation of Israel, and it will also work for us!  It works for any country.  All we have to do is work towards God's standard instead of seemingly using it as a guide for what NOT to do!  We have to stop working against each other and work for what is right - together!  The answer is not in politics.  The answer is not in elections.  The answer is in cleaning ourselves up, and then dedicating ourselves to doing good for others.

Long post I'm afraid...I am reading Isaiah,and some of his contemporaries now. These Old Testament prophets lived in a dark time for Israel and Judah, and their writings aimed to show people just how dark things were, and to warn them that God was running out of patience. A lot of what they were saying seems as descriptive of our country as it was of Israel in those dark times. I'll be posting several passages from these prophets over the next weeks, starting with the verses below from Isaiah 1. This whole first chapter is a list of charges against the Northern Kingdom of Israel A few specifics:
4 Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly... [Isa 1:4a ESV] Bad people who were descended from bad people. Their nation was permeated with corruption.
6 From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds; they are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil. [Isa 1:6 ESV] Israel is "beat up", bleeding all over the place...yet they don't recognize the injuries so they don't treat the wounds. They are so far gone they aren't even feeling the pain anymore...
7 Your country lies desolate; your cities are burned with fire; in your very presence foreigners devour your land; it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners. [Isa 1:7 ESV] This sounds likes rioting and violence and looting by those who have no love of country, no vested interest in law and order. Too familiar.
9 If the LORD of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we should have been like Sodom, and become like Gomorrah. [Isa 1:9 ESV] Remember that in Sodom and Gomorrah there weren't even 10 good men. Israel was almost as bad. Where do we fall compared to this very low standard? How many truly good men can we claim to have in a country of 330 million?
23 Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow's cause does not come to them. [Isa 1:23 ESV] These charges are against the government, the rulers, the corrupt justice system that favors the powerful and abuses the helpless. Their leaders were partying with the guilty instead of arresting them. They were supporting, defending, and encouraging lawlessness. Sound familiar? In this same chapter, God gives them a way out. Saving that for the next post.

2 When a land transgresses, it has many rulers, but with a man of understanding and knowledge, its stability will long continue. [Pro 28:2 ESV]
This says that as a nation begins to deteriorate, many vie for power, unity is destroyed, and factions begin to form, each under it's own leader.  Factions like Antifa, BLM, Democrats, Republicans - and many others.  Each opposes the others so utterly that negotiation and compromise become impossible.  The country becomes more and more splintered, and countless organizations and factions rise to appease the growing unrest.  The process of dividing the nation against itself continues, even accelerates.  Note what begins this disastrous process.  "...a land transgresses...".  Transgression is a purposeful, intentional movement against all authority - that of both God and man.  Transgression is a knowing, even aggressive rejection of the rule of law.  When a nation reaches this point, it is no longer about bringing change through a peaceful political process.  More radical means are employed instead.  It seems to me that this is where we are in this country right now.  This verse also tells us how to reverse the process.  We should be praying that God will send us the leadership we need - at all levels, from local to national - to re-unite us as one nation under God.  We need to pray for wisdom in recognizing those with understanding and knowledge so that we can do our part in God's plan for this nation.

4 But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. 5 ...But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. [Jon 1:4, 5b ESV]
God calls Jonah to Ninevah, but instead, Jonah pays the fare on a boat to Tarshish, and climbs aboard. Jonah has made a significant investment in a destination he knows is wrong. He is so committed to his choice that when the consequences begin he sleeps right through them. His sensitivity to correction is muted by his growing comfort about his previous choice. The further he goes in the wrong direction, the more comfortable he becomes. This lets him sleep well, but it does not stop the correction. Jonah's spiritual senses have grown dull. He is no longer processing incoming information designed to save his life. Wholly embracing a direction other than God chooses for us - and devoting ourselves to shutting out any contrary information about that choice - leads to a false level of comfort that can be dangerous, even life threatening. It may not threaten us only, but all those on the boat with us, as it did in Jonah's case. We can get so comfortable that we don't even feel guilty about embracing things that once made us cringe. But here's the thing. If we stay comfortable with bad choices, and just keep piling one atop the other, eventually life will throw us overboard. When that cold water hits us and we see clearly where our choices have brought us, praying for simple directions home will no longer save us. The only thing that can save us at this point is a bona fide miracle, and those don't grow on trees. God sent a miracle for Jonah, but that does not obligate Him to send one for you or me! Far, far better to pray for guidance right now, today, while we are still on the boat and before anything truly bad happens.

11 But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, "Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. [2Ki 5:11 ESV]
Naaman is an important man, the commander of the army of Syria, but is a leper.  A captured girl tells him about Elisha, in Samaria, who could heal him of his disease.  Naaman gathers gifts for this prophet and sets out to buy his cure for leprosy.  He envisions how the healing will go, with much drama and carrying on.  But all Elisha says he has to do is wash in the Jordan river seven times.  Rather than a big ceremony, Elisha sends instructions out by messenger, and doesn't even talk with Naaman personally.  When Naaman gets the message, we get vs 11 above.
Isn't it funny how we sometimes have expectations of how exactly God should answer our prayers and petitions.  Like Naaman we have a grand scenario in mind.  We know how we would fix this problem, and it would be a big deal with an audience and people crying for joy, and maybe trumpets!  But then God answers in a completely different way that depends only on simple faith and not on ceremonies and fanfare.  Despite his attitude, Naaman's servants convince him to wash in the Jordan and he is cured.  No matter how "insufficient" the procedure may seem to us, remember that it is God, not the procedure, that cures. 

17 Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace, 18 that they may know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth. [Psa 83:17, 18 ESV]
The rioting, the violence, the angry mobs that we see on the news almost every day now are appalling to me.  I want them to stop, and I struggle with how to pray for them to stop.  "God keep my family and I safe" seems too limited since it does not address those who are committing the violence.  I want them to leave me and mine alone, but further, I want them to stop the violence.  I can (and do) pray "God change their hearts" and surely this is a "right" prayer.  Yet it does not address those who are so set on violence that they will never change.  What do I pray about them? A couple of weeks ago, I posted a prayer of David asking God to destroy his enemies.  I struggled (and still do) with whether such a prayer would be consistent with New Testament teaching.  I have noticed since then that this kind of prayer, once you start to look for it, shows up a lot in the Bible.  The ones who pray like this never ask to be appointed as avengers themselves, but ask God to judge their enemies directly.  For instance, David often prayed like this about those who were trying to kill him during King Saul's reign.  But given the opportunity two different times, David refused to take matters into his own hands.  He leaves vengeance - retaliation - to God alone because only God knows which ones will change.  In today's verse, Asaph also prays for the destruction of enemies.  Asaph is praying about the enemies of Jerusalem, and by extension, the enemies of his country, Israel.  He goes beyond praying that God will keep he and his family safe and beyond praying for a change of heart on a massive scale.  Like David, his prayer petitions God for destruction of those who would harm Asaph and his way of life.  Therefore, it seems to me that we also should be able to pray aggressively for God's intervention in current events.

4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. 5 They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. 6 They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. 7 They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. 8 Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them. [Psa 115:4-8 ESV]
Look what this says!  Idols - the things that get worshiped as substitutes for God - are completely impotent.  They can't hear our prayers much less act on them, they have no influence on the events or outcomes in our daily lives.  Furthermore, if we trust these "idols", we become just as useless as they are.  If we find ourselves feeling lost, directionless, with no identifiable purpose...it is very likely because we are too busy worshiping the wrong thing.  We can fix this if we dig deep in ourselves and discover that "special thing" that we are willing to sacrifice time, energy, and leisure to obtain.  Social status?  Job title?  Home on an acreage?  More money, and more, and still more with no end in sight?  What we "sacrifice" to obtain is what we worship.  And only God is worthy of that worship.  Worship Him and the rest falls into place.

2 It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. [Ecc 9:2 ESV]
Solomon is talking our timeless, deeply held truths:  Truths like "If you work hard, you will be successful, and get promoted and make lots of money".  Or we can look at them the other way around:  "Bad guys always lose," or "Crime doesn't pay."  Our "behavior compass" is generally based on these beliefs.  But Solomon says that NONE OF THESE TRUTHS ARE UNIVERSAL!
Next verse:
3 This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all... [Ecc 9:3a ESV]
It seems unfair to Solomon that good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people.  Think of a tornado that destroys every house in its path, not just the "bad people's" houses.  Our gut tells us there should some difference but experience says no and the Bible says no.  Sin has corrupted the cause and effect principle that we all know should be the way of things.  So how are we to live?  We are to realize that all have sinned, all will die, and all will be judged in eternity. Justice is promised then, not today.  Even us "good people" will have plenty of sins to answer for at that judgement.  So let's not spend too much time fretting when the bad guys win, the corrupt get elected, or the violent are released from jail today.  Instead, let's focus on avoiding sin in our own lives, embracing God's commands and living as balanced and harmonious a life as we can.  Not only is this the best we can expect in this world, but it will stand us in good stead at the judgement to come.

38 Yet he, being compassionate, atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them; he restrained his anger often and did not stir up all his wrath. 39 He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again. [Psa 78:38-39 ESV]
This verse is the one we want for ourselves and those we love.  We want God to forgive often and not get mad enough to chastise us, no matter our sin.
11 Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed speedily, the heart of the children of man is fully set to do evil. [Ecc 8:11 ESV]
And here is what we want for everyone else.  We want justice, hard justice, and we want it yesterday.  We want this because Solomon says slow justice is not only ineffective against evil, but in fact encourages further evil.
I am so very glad that it is God and not man making the decisions about which verse to apply, when to apply it, and in what measure.  It seems to me that the line between them is very fine indeed!  For our part, the thing to remember is that whether justice happens now, or justice happens when we die, we will all ultimately face justice.  We should live our lives with that in mind, leave the details to God, and not get too focused on who is getting the benefit of the first verse, or the swift justice of the second one!

10 Make them bear their guilt, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out, for they have rebelled against you. [Psa 5:10 ESV]
This is an Old Testament prayer of David from Psalms.  This is most certainly NOT a defensive prayer.  David is asking God to bring about the destruction of unrighteous people in his kingdom.  Does that mean I can go on the offensive also and pray like this about the violent, the lawbreakers, and the looters?  About those who incite or even pay others to do violence?  Can I pray it even though I am not a King?  I struggled with these questions in view of the New Testament injunction that we love our enemies.  As I dug into this, I found a commentary saying that David's prayer is in parallel with God's revealed standard, which those he is talking about were violating.  I think that means that as long as we are praying for God to judge the lawless according to His standard of right, and praying that He take the action to bring them down rather than doing it ourselves, we can absolutely pray for the destruction of the unjust, here, now, today, in this world, just as David did.

I found several prayers like this in the Bible.  Far too many for a Facebook Post.  They can be found on this site, under Bible Study -  Prayers Against Enemies.

A Psalm:
7 You, O LORD, will keep them; you will guard us from this generation forever. 8 On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man. [Psa 12:7-8 ESV]
And a Proverb:
24 Whoever says to the wicked, "You are in the right," will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations, 25 but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing will come upon them. [Pro 24:24-25 ESV]
Think things have changed?  Think this country at this time is experiencing something unique and new in history?  Not even close.  God has seen it all before, and he has brought the world through it before.  We just need to keep our eyes on Him.

25 Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. 26 Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. 27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil. [Pro 4:25-27 ESV]
This seems to be one of those verses that has many possible applications, and is likely to say something different to everyone that reads it, and something different every time you read it.  To me, today, it says do not be distracted from God's work by the virus, by the fearmongering conspiracy theories spawned by the virus, by civil disobedience and pure violence in the cities, by the hate and division spawned by the violence, by the rhetoric of the upcoming election cycle, nor by ANYTHING ELSE that gets in the way of God's plans for us today!  We are to keep praying like we've always prayed, keep reading the Bible every day, and to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and our neighbors as ourselves.  Straight ahead, folks, because we know what road we're on, no matter the trouble that rages around us!
What it said back in February can be found if you just scroll down a bit.

25 Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered. [Pro 11:25 ESV]
Here is another verse, this one from Proverbs, about living our lives in a fulfilling way, no matter what is happening around us.  This is a verse to lean on when we are feeling isolated and agitated because we lack even the tiniest influence on events that carry us along.  The common theme in all these verses has been to stop focusing on ourselves and instead take on the burdens of others.  If we will direct our efforts to blessing others instead of ourselves, we will find ourselves far more connected to - and fulfilled by - those closest to us both geographically and personally.

6 For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. 7 He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD. 8 His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries. 9 He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honor. [Psa 112:6-9 ESV]
This goes well with Monday's verse from Psa 27.  While we wait for answers to our prayers, we are to live righteously, trust firmly, and put away fear.  We are to focus on others and not ourselves, giving freely.

8 You have said, "Seek my face." My heart says to you, "Your face, LORD, do I seek." [Psa 27:8 ESV]
I think this verse says that we sometimes still doubt, though we are seeking God's face every day. Sometimes, our faith is just not enough to be confident about the future though we are looking to God for His help. Maybe David is saying "I'm doing what you said but I am still afraid, because my worries overwhelm my faith". He is praying the promise, looking for peace, for calm, and for increasing faith. We are often like David in this. We know we shouldn't fear, yet sometimes we still do. Such times can be trying for us, they can make us doubt. So David ends the psalm with this advice:
14 Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! [Psa 27:14 ESV] Patience in adversity builds faith, and faith builds courage.

1 A Song of Ascents. Of David. O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. [Psa 131:1 ESV]
We need to content ourselves that God is in control always.  We need to humble ourselves and admit that we aren't even capable of understanding God's ways, plans, workings.  What we need to do is this:
2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. [Psa 131:2 ESV]
Is there a better picture of security in a higher authority than the trust a young child has in his mother?

26 "With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless; 27 with the purified you deal purely, and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous. 28 You save a humble people, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down. [2Sa 22:26-28 ESV]
These verses are David's description of how God operates.  To apply these verses, we ask ourselves this question:  "Hmm...how is God dealing with me?"  If it seems He is playing bait and switch with me, perhaps it is because I am devious, and I need to work on that.  If He seems unyielding in His requirements for me, then perhaps I am harsh and unyielding towards others.  If it seems that He is constantly punishing me, perhaps I am unforgiving.  These verses tell us that we get back from God what we give to others.  And if you read that last phrase - a humble people - I think it means the verse applies also to nations, not just to individuals.

Three translations of this one verse, so that we can see the nuances of what it really says:
18 Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law. [Pro 29:18 ESV]
18 Where [there is] no revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy [is] he who keeps the law. [Pro 29:18 NKJV]
18 When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful. [Pro 29:18 NLT]
I may be reading too much into it, but this concept of "casting off restraint" seems to describe what is going on in this country.  I believe that the churches of this country, meeting weekly, worshiping, singing, and proclaiming God's word - churches of all kinds and denominations - exerted a restraining force against violent, greedy, corrupt, and most of all Godless people.  When churches stopped meeting because of the virus, this restraining force was removed - or at the very least significantly weakened - and the nation erupted in violence.  Anything symbolizing authority - police, statues, the affluent, and just plain old white people - became a target for those "running wild".  This virus shut down the churches for just a few weeks, and the nation seems to be coming apart at the seams.  Who can believe that this progression of events is coincidence?  Who can believe this is just about rights, or fairness, or equality?  Who can believe this is orchestrated by the Deep State, or the Democratic Party, or some unknown, unnamed, organization intent on making cattle of us all?  That isn't what this is about!
This internal self-mutilation didn't happen in Wuhan, it didn't happen in Italy, or Germany, or the UK.  They have the virus, too, and some of them had it far worse than we do.  But they didn't implode.  Only here did a virus morph into national suicide.  Why here?  Why ONLY here?  Because this is where the churches live, this is where restraint has existed for centuries, and this place is the primary target of the real forces that are behind this violence.  They are not human forces.  Stop worrying about masks, and socialists, and racists and start praying for God to turn back the attack that has been unleashed, not against us at all, but against Him.  What we should worry about is whether or not God thinks this nation is worth saving...

16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. 17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses. 18 Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins. [Psa 25:16-18 ESV]
I know that I really have it pretty good, yet sometimes I feel the way David felt when he prayed this prayer. I think we all feel this way now and then.  We let external things oppress our thinking, or we are overcome with concern for those we love who seem to be going the wrong way on a one way street.  And we feel like we have been left to bear the load alone, or that we are the only ones concerned enough to pray for God's help.  And our prayers can seem so very small in relation to the situation we're praying about.  In these verses, David is asking God to take note of how isolated he feels, to note the problems and difficulties he's praying about, and to forgive him for feeling so helpless and alone when God is right there with him, through his troubles.  We are never overwhelmed when He is there, and our prayers are never so small that He does not hear.

13 But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness. [Psa 69:13 ESV]
God hears every prayer that we pray, including those that we continually pray though they are unanswered year after year.  This reminds us that God's timing is what matters, and it is up to us to have faith as we pray, and to remember that He loves us, and that we are to trust His timing.

11 I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. [Psa 50:11 ESV]
God is revealing something about Himself in this verse.  He is telling us that He is not a lumper.  God doesn't see a flock of birds, a herd of cattle, a race of men.  God sees individuals.  He knows each bird, each cow, each person.  We should be like that.  Don't see political parties, don't see black or white or brown, see individual people, each unique, each needing kindness and love.  Pray for the people, not the party, pray for the person, not the race.  Forgive the individual, not the violence.  It is easy to condemn a mob.  It is much more difficult to condemn someone when you're looking them in the eyes.  God looks each of us in the eyes.  God forgives.  We should, too

9 I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. 10 For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.  Psa 50:9, 10 ESV]
God doesn't ask us for the things He already owns.  There is nothing tangible that we can sacrifice to Him that isn't his. So what does God want from us?
14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, 15 and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me." [Psa 50:14-15 ESV]
God wants the things that are ours to give.  He wants our thanks for what we have and He wants our prayers when we or those we care about are in trouble.  These things - love, devotion, faith, dependence - are what He wants from us, and He created in us the free will to direct these to the end that we choose.  He doesn't want our stuff, He wants our hearts.

I read the 89th Psalm this week.  It's good reading.  I apologize for how long this post is...but reading it is voluntary, so I'm posting it anyway!  In Psalm 89 the writer describes the promises of peace, prosperity and happiness that God had made to Israel via Sinai, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham.  Great promises, with lots of milk and honey and such!
But then, that same writer sort of lays the "reality" of the times he is living in at the base of that tower of promises.  At the time he's writing, his nation is in a demoralized state with strong enemies all around, and David's crown is in the dust. The psalmist is asking God for an explanation of how reality can be so different from the promises, and he adds this verse: "Remember how short my time is! For what vanity you have created all the children of man!, Psalms 89:47 ESV".  He wants an answer quickly, because men don't live forever.
Isn't this an interesting point...God's timing of a single event can cover many lifetimes, many generations even.  If we happen to live in a time when God's justice demands that a nation be punished for unrighteousness, then we could live our whole lives with no evidence of the mercy and grace and providence of God.  This question comes next:  "49 Lord, where is your steadfast love of old, which by your faithfulness you swore to David? [Psa 89:49 ESV]"   This is a plea for understanding of current events which do not seem to match up with God's promises to David and to Israel.
Sure has a familiar feel about it, doesn't it?  Here's the thing though. The psalm ends without an answer, with no resolution of the question.  The "tension" of this obvious contrast between the promises and the psalmist's reality is left hanging in the air.  So what do we do when we have good questions and God doesn't answer them?  The psalmist closes with this:  "52 Blessed be the LORD forever! Amen and Amen. [Psa 89:52 ESV]"  We must remember our place in God's plan.  Our lives are short and our "wisdom" severely limited by the few years we are given.  But God is forever.  We trust in his promises because the Bible is full of evidence that he always keeps them.  Is the U.S. being punished now for our unrighteousness?  Is that what this is all about?  Like that psalmist, I have no idea.  What I know is that God is forever, and He knows what this is all about.  Amen and Amen!

11 "But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. 12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels. [Psa 81:11-12 ESV]
God doesn't always punish us directly when we ignore His directions for our lives. Sometimes he just steps away and leaves us to our own devices, knowing that the random horrors of this sin-polluted world and our own self-interest will eventually be our undoing. That, and trying to make it without Him to lean on, will overcome us in short order. Without God, we cannot help choosing directions He would never have chosen for us. Without God, we cannot help but make decisions that accumulate to our own harm. In this verse, God is talking about a whole nation that has left off listening to Him. He is stepping away from that nation, and leaving them to the end that awaits any nation that spurns Him. It still works this way today. God will protect us and our nation from our own bad instincts, but only if we listen and follow His leading. Pray for this nation, pray for its leaders, and most of all, pray for those who are not listening!

14 They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, 15 to declare that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. [Psa 92:14-15 ESV]
This is a great encouragement to me and I hope to all who are getting on up there in years.  Even though the world seems to be changing into an unrecognizable, even a frightening place, we should not be discouraged.  This is not a time to hide and wait to see what happens.  Nor is it a time to "retire" from what God has given us to do.  This is a time to bear fruit.  A time to speak up, because the gospel needs to be heard.  It falls to us to remind people that it is not God's truth that is crumbling all around us.  God's truth is our rock, forever unchanged and unchanging, the solid ground on which to build, even in these chaotic times.  

5 They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind. 6 Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment. [Psa 73:5-6 ESV]....12 Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches. 13 All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. [Psa 73:12-13 ESV]
Ever feel like this?  Ever think the bad people are getting away with everything, and not only are they not getting into trouble, but they're getting fat, happy, and wealthy by being bad people?  And all the while, we try to do everything right, and never seem to make any progress.  We know it isn't supposed to be that way, so we wonder what's going on.  The writer of this psalm wondered too:
16 But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, 17 until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. [Psa 73:16-17 ESV]
This writer wore himself smooth trying to figure out how it was fair for the wicked to prosper while good people like him suffered.  When he stopped trying to figure it out himself, and turned to the right source, he learned a few things.  He learned that it isn't really success in this world that is going to count.  We aren't promised a reward for being successful by the worlds standards nor for how much we accumulate in this life.  God doesn't need or want what this world offers, so why would he reward us for getting it?  He wants obedience to his commandments.  That is what God values, and that is what He will reward.  So those who focus on accumulation by evil means may seem to be thwarting justice, but they are gaining nothing at all in the kingdom.  The writer of this same psalm puts it this way:
27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. [Psa 73:27 ESV]
We should never envy the evil for the things that they have, or for their seeming immunity to consequences.  Those things may seem worthwhile now, but we don't want to trade futures with them.  Not one minute of it.

Here is how it works:
47 Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything. And he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you. [Deu 28:47-48 ESV]
These verses were part of God's covenant with Israel.  God intends to bless them in all that they do, but He warns them against forgetting the source of their affluence.  While this covenant does not apply directly to us today, surely the basic principle is still in effect.  We live in an affluent country.  Yet if we despise God's blessings and instead pat ourselves on the back for them, if we reject God's morality and substitute a man-made morality, and if we abandon God's command to love one another and instead set about "correcting" each other, then the consequences in the last part of this verse describe our future.  Without Him, we will end up as slaves to a far less benevolent master.  Slaves to jobs, to alcohol, to drugs, and worst of all, slaves to a secular morality that tells us what we can think, what we can say, and how we should feel about everything in our lives.  And because it is man-made, it is fickle and its provisions change almost daily.  There is no peace, no security, no affluence along this path.  The cult mentality so apparent these days demands instead that we proudly goose step to the march of the most woke.  This is the road we are on.  The end of this road is destruction, just like the verse says.

9 Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous-- you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God! [Psa 7:9 ESV]
David prayed this after being falsely accused of wrongdoing.  I think it is a good prayer for us as we pray for peace in our country.  God already knows who is right and who is wrong in all these conflicts, accusations, and counter-accusations.  It is not beyond His wisdom, though much of it is beyond ours.  This prayer asks God to take over and sort it all out, leaving those who pass His test, not ours, in charge.

23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you, and I will instruct you in the good and the right way. [1Sa 12:23 ESV]
Samuel says this to the Israelites after they have made Saul King of Israel, against his advice.  Despite their political differences, look how Samuel phrases this.  It would be a sin for him to stop praying for those he disagrees with!  If we pray for the "other" side, rather than call them names, we stay on the same side, though we disagree.  If we leave off the prayer, we divide ourselves.  If we should pray and do not, we sin and the division is on us, not on the other side.

20 And Samuel said to the people, "Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. [1Sa 12:20 ESV]
Israel has asked for a king to rule them because all the nations around them have kings.  Samuel, their prophet and priest, advises against it.  But God tells him to go ahead and give them what they want.  Samuel does.  And once they actually have a king, they realize just how wrong they are, and how profoundly their request has offended God.  They are afraid of what the consequences will be for their nation, and they appeal to Samuel for instruction on where they should go from here.  Samuel gives them the formula for national repentance.  The sequence is the same for us now as it was for Israel.  We must acknowledge our sins, and accept responsibility for them, and repent of them.  We must turn back to God and not run and hide from Him in fear.  We cannot serve God while we are in hiding.  We are to keep serving the Lord even after terrible failure.  We are to get up, turn to God, and serve Him as best we can from here forward, first as individuals, and also as a nation.

Just before the verse below, Israel has crossed the Jordan, finally, and entered the promised land.  The walls of mighty Jericho have collapsed to the ground and Israel has conquered it without losing a man.  They moved on and attacked the tiny village of Ai where they are defeated and some 36 Israelites are killed.   Then Joshua, now leading the nation, prays this prayer:
7 And Joshua said, "Alas, O Lord GOD, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we had been content to dwell beyond the Jordan! [Jos 7:7 ESV]
Joshua's prayer expresses his worry that when word of this defeat gets out, the Canaanites will be encouraged, and mobilize against them, surround them, and wipe out the people of God entirely.  He is focused on the future, and on what may happen as a result of the present circumstances.  He has forgotten the bigger picture.  He has forgotten his meeting with the Commander of the Army of the Lord before Jericho fell.  He has forgotten the Jordan drying up so Israel could cross.  He has forgotten the Red Sea parting, and he has forgotten the destruction of Egypt and its military.  Instead of remembering these things and how they bear on the present, Joshua is paralyzed with fear about the future.  He is not looking to God for reasons, for answers or for direction.  Sometimes - especially lately - we also interpret difficult times in terms of our own understanding, rather than trying to see God's purpose in our circumstances.  We should remember the previous difficulties that God has brought us through, the blessings that resulted, and His assurance that we are precious to Him.  We need to avoid Joshua's kind of tunnel vision.  We should always look for answer from God first, rather than focusing on what may happen.  We need to evaluate our circumstances - good or bad - in terms of the message God is sending, not based our own fearful speculation about what comes next.  We should focus on what we should do now, today, and let God worry about what comes next.

6 May you see your children's children! Peace be upon Israel! [Psa 128:6 ESV]
We have our grands for a few days this week. Makes me think of the verse above, the last verse of this Psalm. It is kind of an ultimate in "best wishes", because nothing could be better than living long enough to see your grandchildren. It is my wish to all who read this today.

11 And the LORD will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. [Deu 28:11 ESV]
When God promised Israel prosperity, He didn't mention gold, silver, or diamonds.  He didn't promise them vacation homes and recreational vehicles.  But He did promise them "plenty".  Plenty of children (and I think grandchildren are clearly implied here!), plenty of meat, and plenty of veggies.  Maybe if we focused more on these fundamentals, we would discover that we are a lot more "prosperous" than we realized.

12 And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them." [Num 20:12 ESV]
This one has always bothered me.  God told Moses to speak to the rock and it would supply water for Israel.  Instead, Moses hit the rock, once, and then again, with his staff.  Why was this such a big a deal.  But both Moses and Aaron were prevented from entering Canaan over this.  Since Aaron is included, this must have been about attitudes more than it was about actions.  Imagine the scene...God clearly told Moses to speak to the rock.  But somehow, standing there in front of all Israel, Moses decides that just speaking to that rock won't be sufficient, and that he should strike the rock instead.  So he hits it once...and nothing happens.  Moses hesitates.  He looks around.  All can see that he is not sure God will act.  He surely realizes he has made a mistake.  Even so, instead of speaking to the rock, as he knows he should, he strikes the rock a second time.  God obliges, and water starts to flow, but God knows and Moses knows and all the people know that Moses' faith had faltered.  They all also know that a whole generation of Israel lies dead in the desert because their faith had also faltered at a critical time.  This was no small sin, and its consequences were severe.  We need to always remember that God does not need our help.  We need only do what he says, and He is more than capable of taking care of the rest, and prefers it that way.  So when we decide to "intervene", all we really do is cut ourselves off from the best that God has for us.

23 At the command of the LORD they camped, and at the command of the LORD they set out. They kept the charge of the LORD, at the command of the LORD by Moses. [Num 9:23 ESV]
If you read Numbers 9:16-23 (it only takes a couple minutes) it seems like it just repeats itself over and over.  Seems like about six times!  Made me wonder what was so important that it needed to be repeated so many times.  Verse 23 is the conclusion of all the repetitions.  The point being made is that no matter how repetitive  - or inconvenient - it sometimes seemed, at this time in her history Israel was obeying God right down to being ready to move anytime He commanded, or to stop and stay for months, whatever He determined for them.  No matter what, whether they understood the reason for the delay or the reason to hurry up and get moving again after only a few hours, they just followed God's leading.  They just trusted that He knew the reason, and that was enough for them.  This is a good lesson for us all when we're frustrated about things moving too fast, or to slow.  It's not about our timing, but about God's plan for us. 

17 Thus says the LORD, "By this you shall know that I am the LORD: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. [Exo 7:17 ESV]  This was the first plague on Egypt.  All the water in Egypt turned to blood.  Pharoah saw himself as the mightiest ruler of the mightiest nation, answering to none, submissive to none  The water was turned to blood as proof that there was One far greater than any Pharoah.  But the magicians of Egypt could also turn water into blood.  But they could not turn blood back into water.  They could mimic what God had done, but they could not undo what God had done.  Pharoah ignores this part of the proof and chooses instead to put his confidence in his magicians, who kind of did something partially similar to what God did.  This gives Pharoah the confidence to say no to Moses and to God.  The result?  His nation was devastated, his oldest son died, and his military was wiped out.  We do the same kind of thing today.  We choose to believe whatever makes us masters of our own domain and to ignore anything - or anyone - that says otherwise.  Instead of magicians, we choose politicians to bring us peace and safety, science to explain where it all came from and what it is all for, and our own vast knowledge and brilliance to distinguish facts from fiction.  In each case, we make man bigger than God and ourselves the biggest man of all.  Surely recent events are clear evidence that man is not in charge.  Ignoring that evidence won't work any better for us than it did for Pharoah.

Following up on Monday's post about Moses' excuse of not being a skilled orator, in Matthew 13:18-23, we find Jesus' explanation of the Parable of the Sower.  This is an interesting name for the parable, since it isn't really about the sower at all.  The parable is about the seeds he plants.  Three quarters of what he plants fails to mature - no fruit is produced.  Yet the parable is not about how to do a better job of planting, either.  The point of the parable is that the skill of the sower is incidental to the yield of the seed.  Note this verse at the end of the parable:  23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty." [Mat 13:23 ESV]  If you do the math - and I do enjoy the math - this says that even if 75% of the seed sown doesn't reproduce, the 25% that does can easily bring the overall yield up to 750% (30 seeds from the 4 that were sown).  The point of the parable is that we don't have to be accomplished and skilled preachers to plant the gospel.  We only need to plant as many seeds as we can, where ever we can, and leave the final yield to God.

11 Then the LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? [Exo 4:11 ESV]
Surely this has been preached many times to those of us who are timid about witnessing, about confessing that Jesus is Lord right out loud and so on.  How many times have we made the excuse that "I'm just not good at talking to people about that."  But here is God's own first hand response to Moses, the first person ever to try out this excuse, in about 1500 BC.  It didn't work then, it won't work now!  God asks "Who made your mouth?"  The idea is that we shouldn't be depending on our own resources in this situation, but on the one who made the resources in the first place.  This is a moment to rest on our faith, and the object of our faith, and not depend on ourselves at all.

105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. [Psa 119:105 ESV]
This little verse is buried way out near the middle of the longest chapter in the Bible.  You have to want to get there to read all the way to this verse.  This is very appropriate since this little verse gives us directions for how to find our way through life.  A lamp is carried down at our side, near the ground, and makes a little pool of light right around our feet.  With the lamp, we can see the next spot our foot is going to land.  We can see one step ahead.  That next step should always be our priority.  We need to get the next step right so our journey can continue on course and on time.  Even so, there is also light along the path ahead, so we can see the overall direction we are going.  This reminds us of the reasons we're on this journey in the first place.  The light along the path is dim though.  So dim we can only see our direction and not the potholes, distractions, and barricades thrown up to block our progress.  Only the lamp will reveal those, and not until it is time to deal with them.  The lamp comes first, because we are to focus most on what comes next.  The light is for the times when we look up, and remember why we are going this way.  Reading our Bibles turns on both lights.

3 They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, "You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?" [Num 16:3 ESV]
A man named Korah had convinced 250 of Israel's prominent leaders that Moses and Aaron were exceeding their authority. They are trying to legitimize their accusation by quoting God's own words in Exodus 19:6b back at Moses. Based on this one little part of one little verse, Korah and his followers believed they were as qualified as Moses and Aaron to be prophets, priests, and representatives of the people. Their intent was to depose Moses and Aaron and insert themselves. This shows just how badly we can misinterpret the Bible if we focus only on one little part that says what we want it to say instead of looking broadly at what it really does say. Korah started at the answer he wanted and worked backward. His interpretation was guided by his ambition, not by prayer. Still worse, he was intentionally ignoring other things God said setting Moses apart as unique among men in his relationship with God (Num 12:6-8). Korah's approach makes it clear that his desire was not to understand and obey God's will. His real desire was to "spin" what God had said in order to promote himself in the eyes of men. Here is the result: 33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive into Sheol, and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. [Num 16:33 ESV]. The point is that the high ground is always God's ground, and it is unwise to try and appropriate it for ourselves! If we ever feel solidly on the high ground in a dispute, red lights and sirens should go off. The corollary is that if you follow someone who's doing this, you may well share his fate!

30 But the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is native or a sojourner, reviles the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from among his people. 31 Because he has despised the word of the LORD and has broken his commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be on him." [Num 15:30-31 ESV]
The Mosaic Law was very specific about what sacrifices were required to cover unintentional sins.  For instance, if a person had dinner with someone, and was served a food the law prohibited but didn't know about it until later, that was unintentional sin.  Once one learned they had sinned this way, the law required certain sacrifices.  In God's eyes, this sacrifice removed the guilt of the accidental sin from a person.  But the verses above say that if the sin was committed with full knowledge that it was a sin, and the person did it anyway, there was no provision in the law to remove that kind of guilt.  Intentional sin separated a person from God and Mosaic Law provided no remedy.  While guilt for such a sin could not be removed with an animal sacrifice, the annual atonement by the high priest put off God's punishment for that sin for a year.  This, then, was the point the Mosaic Law was designed to make.  Intentional sins - which none of us could ever avoid completely and which no animal sacrifice could ever cover - could only be forgiven after the offering of a perfect sacrifice.  In this way, the law was sent to condemn all men, and Jesus - the perfect sacrifice - was sent to save all men!  His death on the cross paid the price and removed the guilt of intentional sin for all who believe in Him.  In all of history, only Jesus was qualified to be the perfect sacrifice.  The Law and Jesus are connected and inseparable.  The Law both required and prophesied the coming of the perfect sacrifice.  Jesus ties the Old Covenant to the New.  Only God could make such a plan!

At the end of Numbers 10, the cloud lifts from over the tabernacle, indicating that it is time to begin the journey to Canaan.  God said Canaan was a land flowing with milk and honey - a highly desirable place to be.  At Mt. Sinai, God has fed the people, given them water, and kept them safe from their enemies for over a year.  In that time, it has become "home" to them.  It is their new "normal" after leaving Egypt.  But objectively, this camp is out in the wilderness.  It is hot, and dry, and inhospitable, though God's provision has made it bearable.  Now, He wants them to move to a much better place.  This is their response:
1 And the people complained in the hearing of the LORD about their misfortunes, and when the LORD heard it, his anger was kindled, and the fire of the LORD burned among them and consumed some outlying parts of the camp. [Num 11:1 ESV]
We can get used to some pretty awful things if God protects us through them.  With enough time, we can get so comfortable in a bad place that we lose our perspective.  Our routines, our ways of coping can give us tunnel vision and keep us from seeing that God has something better for us.  All we have to do is move on to the next step in His plan.  We should always be ready to leave "here" and go where God sends us, knowing that He has some better thing for us.

3 The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it. [Pro 22:3 ESV]
There are several verses like this in Proverbs that say anticipating danger and problems and taking action to avoid them is a wise thing to do.  This is always contrasted with being foolish which is characterized by plunging ahead despite obvious danger which leads to harm and grief.  Jesus refused to adopt this foolish attitude during his own temptation (Mat 4:7) by quoting from Deut 6:16, and saying "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test".  If Jesus had jumped off that high place, it would have been bad judgement, though if anyone ever could expect God to save Him, it was Jesus.  In the same way, God could have made the house built on the sand stand forever, but the point of that parable is that it was unwise to build on sand.    Trusting God in times of trouble or danger and accepting whatever comes is not at all the same thing as doing something foolish and believing God is "obligated" to protect us from our own bad judgement.  Jesus didn't do that.  Neither should we.

1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. [Rom 13:1-2 ESV]
I find it very difficult to find a loophole in this verse. Unless we can find a loophole, it seems to me we better restrict ourselves to necessary travel, shelter in place as much as we can, and wear a mask on that rare but wondrous trip to the grocery store. (We are all going to be cheap dates when this is over!) If these things seem too difficult, then just think about the more serious implications of these verses. Like paying our taxes, even if the government uses some of our money to subsidize abortions. Or what if the government says private ownership of guns is no longer allowed? This verse says we are to give them up and put our trust in God, not guns. In comparison to these things, sheltering in place for two more weeks seems pretty easy. So come on. We can make it two more weeks

21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand. [Pro 19:21 ESV]
I guess the last few weeks have made it pretty clear that our plans are not nearly as concrete as we thought they were.  We've learned that we really don't "control" very much at all, not even where we'll go out to eat this weekend.  Our sense of continuity feels broken, possibly beyond repair.  It can feel like we've been "cut loose" in the middle of the ocean.  There are no landmarks so we don't know where we are much less which direction we're going.  We feel lost, without a plan, and without a paddle to move us around if we did have a plan!  Now is the time to remember this little verse that reminds us it was never our plan the world was following anyway.  We were all following the plan God put into place long before we were born, even before the world was created.  We were part of that plan, and we still are.  These unique events are also part of God's plan for our lives - they always were.  We only feel lost when we focus on our own plans.  If we focus on His plans, and our place in them, we will find ourselves right at home, with that sense of security, purpose, and continuity that we crave.

2 "See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, 3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, ... 6 And behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. And I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you: [Exo 31:2-3, 6 ESV]
In the preceding chapters, God has given detailed plans for construction of  the Tabernacle and its furnishings.  Now someone is needed to execute those plans.  Oholiab and Bezalel are given special abilities and knowledge to do the work.  God doesn't come up with a plan and then hope someone can be found who knows how to carry it out.  If God wants it done, He always calls someone to do it, and then He enables that person for the work ahead.  Those called in this way have a God-given understanding of what needs to be done.  Remember this about preachers,missionaries, your Sunday School teacher, and so on.  Remember also that God has gifted each of us to do something.  This is true even in the middle of a worldwide pandemic.  Maybe especially during a worldwide pandemic!  We need to identify the work God has assigned to us and get started, even though we may feel incapable.  He didn't call us and then leave us hanging out to dry.  Start, and God will provide what is needed for today.  And tomorrow, He will give us enough for tomorrow...

11 Then He said, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, [but] the LORD [was] not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, [but] the LORD [was] not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, [but] the LORD [was] not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. [1Ki 19:11-12 NKJV]
Elijah the prophet is on the run from Jezebel the Queen.  She wants him dead.  Elijah is hiding in a cave, trying to stay safe and unnoticed.  He feels desperate and completely alone, and says as much to God.  These verses are God's response.  He says that the winds may blow violently, the earth shake itself to pieces, and fires rage uncontrollably, but through it all, whether or not we see Him or hear Him, He is quietly at work accomplishing His will.  God says not to look for Him in the chaos all around us.  God is not "in" this virus.  But His plans for us continue despite the virus.  We can find security in that.

8 And Moses said, "When the LORD gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the LORD has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him--what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the LORD." [Exo 16:8 ESV]
This says that when we complain and whine about things, we are in fact complaining against God.  All that happens is either by Him, for Him, or by His leave.  So if a bad driver gets in our way, and we yell at him - or worse - guess who we're really yelling at?  If we find ourselves griping about how slow the service is at the restaurant (those were the days!!!), guess who we are really griping about?  Instead, when we find ourselves tempted to gripe or complain, we should look for the lesson we're supposed to learn.  Patience maybe, or empathy, or meekness?  ALL that happens, good or bad, is in His will.  Now try to imagine what He is teaching us with the worldwide upheavals currently going on and changing so many things about our day to day lives and relationships.  We have a whole new seemingly endless supply of things to complain about.  But there are lessons here that will make us better Christians, that will test our faith and so strengthen it, and will teach us how to better serve one another.  We should work hard to learn these lessons, lest we have to repeat this grade!

2 "Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. [Exo 14:2 ESV]
Israel has finally escaped Egypt, and then God tells them to turn back and camp between Migdol and the sea - militarily a bad idea.  It seems like God has made a mistake and sent His people to a place they could not defend, and from which there was no escape.  Pharoah saw this "mistake" as opportunity, and sent his armies to destroy the Israelites.  When the people saw them coming they were fearful to the point of panic.  Kind of like many people today with this unseen virus from which we cannot really hide. In Israel's case, God already knew how things would turn out.  In Israel's case, God did the impossible and they not only escaped but their enemy was defeated and would never again threaten them.  This was Israel's first lesson in practical faith.  Perhaps for many of us, the virus is a lesson in practical, every day faith, too.  Let's do what worked for Israel, and remember that "14 The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent." [Exo 14:14 ESV]". 

17 You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go. [Exo 9:17 ESV]
These were God's words to Pharoah when Pharoah once again refused to obey God's command.  It is obvious to us that Pharoah is in the wrong.  But what we rarely consider is that when we decide to overlook the clear words of our Bibles, we are doing the same thing Pharoah did.  We are promoting ourselves to equality with God.  We do this mostly in cutting ourselves a little slack for a little sin or when we decide to reinterpret scripture to fit our lifestyle or our politics.  What we are really saying is that God isn't quite correct (same as saying He is wrong) and that we are qualified to judge Him.  Doing this didn't work out very well for Pharoah, and it will not work out well for us.

10 In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. ...12 Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days. ... ...23 He makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away. [Job 12:10, 12, 23 ESV]
These are all things Job says about the greatness of God after he has lost everything.  Job's premise is that with great age, with experience, comes wisdom.  God's wisdom is beyond what any man can attain since God has been here from before the beginning.  Based on this, Job knows that God's ways are right, whether he can discern them or not.  We can watch a physicists write equations on the board, know that he understands them, but try as we might, we never can.  We don't resent the physicist for having more understanding than us.  Why then should we resent God when we don't understand His ways?

14 "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. [Mat 5:14-15 ESV]
If our lights don't shine in times like these there is something wrong with our lights.  Opportunities to shine are all around us.  Doors long closed are open now.  We need to be doing things those around us will remember when this time passes.  Genuine things that will keep those doors open to us.  We have a unique chance here to begin things that we can build on for a lifetime.  We've prayed many times for God to open this door or that door, and look at his answer!  Time to shine some light!

10 Do not forsake your friend and your father's friend, and do not go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away. [Pro 27:10 ESV]
Doesn't really need any explanation.

12 "What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? 13 "If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. [Mat 18:12-13 NASB]
These are Jesus' own words.  This is about one of the shepherd's flock that was previously with the flock but has gotten lost.  The Shepherd obviously still considers it a part of the flock.  But think about it from the lost sheep's perspective.  I think there are two stages to being a lost sheep.  The first is the adventure of being out there on your own - freedom to go your own way, try new things, experiment a little.  Good stuff.  But time passes and the novelty wears off.  In the second stage, the sheep realizes that things aren't quite right.  Maybe this sheep considers going back to the flock, then realizes it doesn't really remember the way.  Time comes when this sheep lies shivering in the cold and the dark, trying to keep fear in check and hoping that rescue in some form, any form, is not far away.  I'm pretty sure about these stages, because I was a lost sheep.  I can also tell you that If you're the lost sheep, you might be shocked to realize the Shepherd is out in the dark and cold looking for you.  But if you were once part of the flock, you can be sure that is EXACTLY what He is doing.  He wants you back, and your return will be celebrated!!!  Just make a noise!  Let him know you want to be found and He'll pick you up and bring you home!!

It's like the corona virus has switched on the lights, and all of a sudden we can see just how close to the edge we've been walking all this time - complacently, nonchalantly, and care-free. But now, we can see the cliff we're so close to and we see that just a puff of wind can push us right off, and all of a sudden, things are a lot more serious. Life seems more precious, and at the same time more fragile. Here's a thought: Whether we are "religious" or not, the One that kept us from stumbling off the edge in the dark is still right where He was before, now that the lights are on. This is a good time to say thank you.
6 Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you." [Deu 31:6 ESV]

21 He made Him who knew no sin [to be] sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. [2Co 5:21 NASB]
This sort of seems like an answer in search of a question. The question is, how is it fair for God to judge us and send us to hell for sins He knew we would commit before He created us in the first place? It is fair if the same plan that judges us also includes a provision to save us from that judgement, at no cost to us. He judges us for our sins but instead of making us pay for our sins, He transfers our sins to Jesus, and with them the penalty for those sins is also transferred. He judges Jesus for the sins He knew we would commit. He doesn't ask us to die for our own sins but He insists that the only way we can avoid it is to believe in the One He sent to die for our sins. This "escape clause" is also included in the plan. All this together is fair.
Come on. Don't make it harder than it is.

Continuing from Monday...
then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
[Genesis 2:7 ESV]
Man was created from what was previously created - the dust of the earth - but with God's own breath.  Only man received God's own breath.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
[Genesis 2:15 ESV]
Man had work to do before the fall.  Work is not a punishment, but a part of the created order.
Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens...
[Genesis 2:19a ESV]
Animals and birds also created of what was already created - the dust.
Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."
[Genesis 2:23 ESV]
Woman created of what was created from what was created - from the man who was created from the dust.  Only women were created this way.  People, male and female, were uniquely created, different from everything else.
I found these things from Genesis 1 and 2 very interesting.  If these two chapters form the lenses through which we see the world, is it any surprise that we would interpret things differently?

3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. [Gen 1:3 ESV]
Light before the sun or stars.  Light everywhere.
And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth." And it was so.
Genesis 1:11 ESV
Plants before any animals.  Seeds before there was anything to spread them, fruit before there was anything to eat it.
And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.
Genesis 1:16 ESV
Earth and light and plants before the sun, moon, and stars.
And God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens."
Genesis 1:20 ESV
Sea creatures and birds before land animals.  Get that?  Birds before land animals.  They are also to multiply, so God didn't fill the earth with them.  There was room everywhere.  No competition for resources.
24 And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds--livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so. [Gen 1:24 ESV]
Then land animals, after everything else, but everything in a week. Essentially, everything was created at the same time.  Genesis was not written to be a science book.  Historical geology is not trying to tell the creation story.  The two have different priorities as to what they want to communicate.  But it is interesting to note the differences.  It is important to see that there are differences.

Our culture is upside down:
23 One's pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor. [Pro 29:23 ESV]
We cheer for the big talkers, the braggarts, and the "in your face" competitors.  Our heroes are the ones shouting about what they are going to do to the competition.  We ignore those who work behind the scenes and never ask for credit.  We don't think twice about cheering for the husband who takes care of a dying wife with no help.  We give no credit to a single mom working two jobs to keep her children fed.  How many other heroes are all around us that we don't even glance at.  We need to stop looking at those in the limelight and look to those around us for our inspiration.

Our culture is inside out:
16 ...Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. [2Co 4:16b ESV]
We are obsessed with making the outer self younger, newer, stronger, and better dressed.  We spend endless money and energy attempting to reverse the natural process.  And yet what is on the inside seems never to age.  We enjoy the same things we always have, we laugh at the same jokes, we have the same hopes.  Inside, we still wan to "run and play" because the inside doesn't age.  Maintaining the inside is free, and the inside is where we should focus.  Because:
18 ...the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. [2Co 4:18b ESV]

15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. [Jhn 17:15 ESV]
Jesus prayed this for his disciples the night he was arrested, knowing what lay in store for each of them.  I think it also applies to us today.  We must live IN the world but we are not protected FROM the world.  God doesn't promise us an easy life on earth, He promises to help us with the life we have.  And He promises us an eternity in His presence, far from the evil one.

This morning it occurred to me that I daily ask God to give me good things I haven't earned and don't deserve and to take away the bad things I have earned and do deserve.  Why does God put up with this day after day?  This verse:
If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!   Matthew 7:11 ESV
Because it's not about me, it's about Him.

1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. [Col 3:1-2 ESV]
Interesting that in Monday's verse Solomon urged looking down at our feet to keep us away from evil, but Paul says to look up to heaven.  Why would that be?  In Solomon's time, obedience centered on the Law, which required physical, visible, material action - offering sacrifices, circumcision, keeping the Sabbath, dietary restrictions and so on.  Rules, rules, rules!  To ignore the rules was to separate yourself from God.  The rules were the path, and you look down at your feet to stay on that path.  This was the Old Covenant.  But Jesus' resurrection did away with all those rules, and raised the bar on obedience to include what is inside - how we think, how we love others, and the object of our hope.  The New Covenant is about a spiritual path, not a physical path.  And the end of our spiritual path is always upward, and so that is where we should be looking now.

25 Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. 26 Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. 27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil. [Pro 4:25-27 ESV]
While I am pretty sure this proverb written by King Solomon is not about Republicans and Democrats specifically or conservatives and liberals in general, I do think politics is one of many distractions it really is about. We shouldn't focus so intently on secular things that we end up neglecting eternal things. I think it is interesting that we are to ponder our own feet - our own direction - not the direction of our nation, our state, or our city. The point seems to be that if we get ourselves right, and focus on what lasts, God will take care of the rest.

12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13 God judges those outside. "Purge the evil person from among you." [1Co 5:12-13 ESV]
In Mark, we saw that we were to let those doing good works keep doing them and not interfere.  In Matthew, we were to evaluate the work not the worker, and then in Acts, we were to privately come alongside and teach those with incomplete doctrine.  Today's verses say that if we are part of the church, then our 'judgement" of others is restricted to those also in the church.  A very specific protocol for how that is to be done is laid out elsewhere in Scripture (Matt. 18:15-17).  Our only directive toward those outside the church is to preach the gospel to them.  We are to turn outsiders into insiders.  Anything else is for God to deal with - without our help!

This might be a good example of the proper way to deal with "one who is not against us" and who is doing the good work of God in a way that leaves us feeling skeptical:
24 Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. ... 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. [Act 18:24, 26 ESV]
Apollos was debating Jews in the synagogue in Ephesus about whether Jesus was the Messiah.   And he was winning.  Every time.  But Apollos knew only the Old Testament, and had no idea of the significance of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, nor of the role of the church as God's people.  His understanding of Christian truth was incomplete.  Rather than tell him to shut up because of what he didn't know, Priscilla and Aquila gave him "the rest of the story".  Apollos goes on to figure very prominently in the church in Corinth as a leader and a teacher.  So if the work seems to be from God, listen to what the worker says, and take him aside and help him - rather than call him out.  Be part of turning good into better, rather than of shutting down the good because it doesn't fit our formula.

Here's another quote where Jesus talks about the work being bigger than the worker.
24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons." 25 Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. 26 And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. [Mat 12:24-27 ESV]
He was accused of doing God's work by Satan's power. He shows what nonsense that idea is, and then he asks them how they can tell who's behind the work? Point is, it's the result, and not the worker, that show who's work this is! If the work is good, God is the One behind it. We shouldn't let our opinions of the worker blind us to the good of the work.

38 John said to him, "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us."  [Mar 9:38 ESV]
There are a lot of ways to finish this sentence, and what they all have in common is that they are all equally mistaken.  How about "because he was not Baptist", or "because he never goes to church"?  Or maybe "because he was not white"?  Or even "because I know he gets drunk every night"?  The next verse is Jesus' own response to this attitude:
39 But Jesus said, "Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40 For the one who is not against us is for us.  [Mar 9:39, 40 ESV]  Doesn't that say the work is far more important than the worker?

23 Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble. [Pro 21:23 ESV]
No comment...

12 A scoffer does not like to be reproved; he will not go to the wise. [Pro 15:12 ESV]
This is another of those "character evaluations" from Proverbs.  We don't really use that word "scoffer" very much so it's easy to just slide right past a verse like this.  When I think of scoffers I think of a politician from one party talking about a proposal made by the other party, but Proverbs provides its own definition:  24 "Scoffer" is the name of the arrogant, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride. [Pro 21:24 ESV]  Turns out the word "scoffer" is used 10 times in Proverbs, and it is never a good thing.  Here are a couple of others worth reading to get the big picture of these guys...
10 Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out, and quarreling and abuse will cease. [Pro 22:10 ESV]
9 The devising of folly is sin, and the scoffer is an abomination to mankind. [Pro 24:9 ESV]
This is not the kind of person you want to have lunch with!!!  In fact, you don't want one of these guys around at all.  You DO want to be able to recognize one when you see him...or more likely hear him...so you can avoid him, and the grief that will be all around him.  I think it is worth our time to review the 10 "Scoffer Proverbs" regularly!

15 When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers. [Pro 21:15 ESV]
There are many Proverbs telling us how to evaluate the actions or reactions of others to reach a conclusion about their character.  Seems to me these only work for events and people within our own circle.  We need pretty intimate knowledge of events and reactions to apply these principles.  I have enough trouble figuring out if my neighbor thinks recycling is a good idea without trying to figure out what our national leaders are really thinking about international events!  Best bet is to apply such Proverbs only to those we can look in the eye.

11 "But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. [Mat 22:11 ESV]
The scene here is a continuation of the Parable of the Wedding Feast. This man accepted an invitation to a wedding he would not normally have been invited to attend. He was not a friend or associate of the king, yet he recognized the importance of the wedding and decided to go. Maybe he thought he could widen his network of contacts, or recruit some new customers to his business by going. Whatever the reason, it had nothing to do with the wedding. He refused even to change his clothes and identify himself as a wedding guest. If he wouldn't change clothes, it is doubtful he changed anything else. While at the wedding this man dressed and acted as he always had. He missed that his host was not just a host, but was in fact THE king. This man's actions showed blatant disrespect for the king by putting his own standards ahead of the king's. Doing so leads to a confrontation: 12 And he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. [Mat 22:12 ESV] Even in the face of such blatant disrespect, the king wants to be generous. After all, it is a wedding. Does this man have a good reason for his actions? Does he not own any wedding clothes? Will he at least fall on his knees before the king and apologize for his mistake? Not this man. He has no excuse, and he reaps the consequences of his actions: 13 Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' [Mat 22:13 ESV]. The man is thrown out and he can never return. His fate is worse than the fate of those who were invited but refused to come. The wedding is the kingdom of heaven, and its King is God. We may think we're pretty important. We may think our view of justice is how justice ought to be. But the fact of it is that the King is still going to be the King. As such, He has the authority to question our views, to judge them by His own standards, and dispense justice according to His own rules.  This man was not evicted for the clothes he was wearing.  He was evicted for disrespecting the king.  We will all be held to this same standard.

9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.' 10 And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. [Mat 22:9-10 ESV]
This is from the Parable of the Wedding Feast.  It tells us how God's plan is progressing right along and gives us context for the way the plan is working today.  Up to Jesus' time, the plan was for Israel to be God's exclusive people, with only a few of us Gentiles thrown in now and then by association.  The plan did not include us then so in the parable, we were not on the original guest list.  But when those who were on the original list refused to come, others were invited to take their place.  God does not want ANY empty seats at the wedding.  So anyone not on the original guest list is now invited.  The ones who accept this invitation are called "the church".  The church is made up of "accidental guests" who are very lucky to find themselves at such a wedding.  No wonder we sometimes feel out of place there!  No wonder those passing by don't really feel like there's a place for them in there.  And no wonder those passing by don't see what's so special about this wedding.  After all, they know some of those guests pretty well, and they wouldn't invite them to their own wedding!  This is why the people at this wedding so often look just like the people outside.  Because they ARE just like them!  So stop thinking you don't belong "in church".  Neither do those already there.  But think about this...the doors only stay open until all the seats are filled, and this is a first come first served wedding.  There's no getting in once the seats are all full.  Hurry up, before someone takes the last seat!

The verse on Monday was about the proper mindset for those who would serve God.  We should serve God as indentured servants without expectation of reward.  This theme is repeated in other verses, confirming that we are on the right track here:
11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. [Phl 4:11 ESV]
8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. [1Ti 6:8 ESV]
This is not to say that true service requires us to live in poverty, but that if God only provides us with bare minimum, we should be content with that.  However, even though God is under no obligation to us, He has a different relationship with us than earthly masters do with their slaves.  He sees us as far more than just servants: "15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" [Rom 8:15 ESV]".  We are His adopted children, not His slaves.  And as His children, we have this verse on our side: "11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! [Mat 7:11 ESV]"  So while we should always be content with what we have, understanding that we work as servants and not as paid employees, we should certainly ask in faith for the good things our heavenly Father is anxious to give us.  Extreme focus on only one side of this coin - only on poverty or only on plenty - always leads to an antagonistic relationship with God.

7 "Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? 8 Won't he rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? 9 Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? [Luk 17:7-9 NIV]
Jesus asked his disciples about this in the context of the times they were living in, when indentured servants were common.  No master would fix dinner for a servant after a hard day's work, even though the master had been home all day being rich.  That's not how it worked.  Servants worked all day, then prepared and served their master's dinner.  Only then did they eat food provided by the master and sleep in a bed provided by the master.  There was no question about this setup.  Masters were not obligated to go beyond a basic provision of food, lodging, and clothing to their servants.  Likewise, we shouldn't think God unfair when our daily service to Him fails to earn us an early supper in the form of financial blessings, great health, or advancement at the office.  We are to serve Him because that is what servants do, and we are to be grateful for what he chooses to provide.

How to evaluate your next "invitation":
This is what an invitation from Wisdom looks like:
4 "Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!" To him who lacks sense she says, 5 "Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed. 6 Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight." [Pro 9:4-6 ESV]
And here is an invitation from Folly:
16 "Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!" And to him who lacks sense she says, 17 "Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant." 18 But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol. [Pro 9:16-18 ESV]
So next time you get invited to "turn in here", think about how these two are phrased, so you'll know who is really throwing the party!  It might change the rest of your life.

50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another." [Mar 9:50 ESV]
This is a verse that we mostly just cruise right over.  But this verse is in red, so we should dig a little deeper.  In the Old Testament, it says that salt was an indispensable part of sacrificial law:  13 You shall season all your grain offerings with salt...with all your offerings you shall offer salt. [Lev 2:13 ESV].
It was salt that gave "flavor" to the Mosaic covenant with Israel.  The laws and sacrifices were the "meat" of the old covenant, but true commitment and love for God, represented by the salt, was what gave it meaning, or flavor.  By Jesus' time, the religious elite had so formalized this covenant that it was no longer about worship at all.  It was just mechanical, unthinking, ritual.  People were still hungry, and they still ate, but what they were served was now bland and flavorless.  It was food without salt.  Jesus' arrival was to replace that old covenant of animal sacrifices with a covenant of his body and his blood.  He brought individual hope and faith back into worship.  He healed the sick, walked on water, and stilled the storm!  He preached that God wanted worship in truth and spirit, not rote and ritual, and that God's love was for the whole world, not just for Israel.  Jesus lit up the world, energized worship, and made our relationship with God a personal thing, not a building in Jerusalem!  He not only brought back the salt but he insisted it was salt that makes our worship acceptable to God.   The old covenant was built on the foundation of Mosaic Law - words on paper.  The new covenant is built on Jesus Christ - a living, breathing person.  Of course the new covenant has more flavor!
Christmas is a perfect reminder of the salt.  We must be very careful to make Jesus the salt in our Christmas celebrations or Christmas will become empty tradition instead of heartfelt celebration.

7 When a man's ways please the LORD, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. [Pro 16:7 ESV]
This is a good thing to remember when everything seems to be against us.  This is about those days when we end up in the "slow line" everywhere we go, we have to park a mile from the door at the mall, every light turns red at the last second so we have to sit and wait through the whole cycle, the store clerk is rude, the waiter is rude, and then, when we finally get home, our very own dog barks at us like we're strangers?  Well according to this verse, the problem is not with others, it's with us!  As Christmas gets closer, it seems to me that civility gets further away.  Everyone is in a hurry, and mostly, that means they're in my way, and they're doing it on purpose!  What I would really like is some Christmas spirit and some peace and quiet.  This verse says if I'll get "me" right, then God will make everything else right.  All that extra time in lines and at the red lights is a good time to sneak in an extra prayer or two.  Wouldn't hurt to pray for harried store clerks and unappreciated waiters either.  And just smile a lot!  This is the perfect time for us to give this verse a "test"!  That dog though...I don't think this verse works on dogs, so be real careful there...

14 Like clouds and wind without rain is a man who boasts of a gift he does not give. [Pro 25:14 ESV]
Somehow, this reminded me of politicians and campaign promises. More often than not, politicians promise us things that are not theirs to give.  Even an honest politician (if such a thing exists) is almost always offering to give us what belongs to someone else.  In contrast, we have this promise:  9 ...ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. [Luk 11:9 ESV]  The One who made these promises is the owner of all that is promised, and He has the authority to give it to whomever He wants.  The good part is that we get to choose who we will trust.

14 You have said, 'It is vain to serve God. What is the profit of our keeping his charge or of walking as in mourning before the LORD of hosts? [Mal 3:14 ESV]  Notice that this is about people who believe there is a God, or that He is at least a "possibility".  They ask "So what?  Even if He does exist, what do I get for following His rules?  After all, following Him means I have to behave like I'm in "mourning", and I won't have any fun!  So what's in it for me?"  Devaluing service to God in this way creates a vacuum of purpose.  If life's goal is not to serve God, then what should it be?  Turns out the world is full of ideas about that!  The world says make fame, wealth, or power our goals.  There are dozens or even hundreds of others, too.  Put in your current favorited.  But realize that all these are just attempts to give life meaning in the absence of God.  Even if these worked - which they do not - what they all have in common is that very few can achieve them.  To make these things our goals means we work ourselves into exhaustion even though almost everyone is doomed to end up a wretched failure at life by the world's standards.  No wonder there are so many miserable people in the world!!  Jesus said "28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." [Mat 11:28-30 ESV]".  Serving Him instead of the world gets us rest for our souls instead of exhaustion and disappointment.  Seems like a really good trade to me.

34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. [Luk 11:34 ESV]
If you don't see God all around you, the problem is with your eyesight. He is there, and His work is obvious to those with decent eyesight. Those who can see what God is doing will be more than happy to focus it for you! We all need regular eye exams. They are free on Sundays at a church near you!

31 And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain. 32 And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument, for they hear what you say, but they will not do it. [Eze 33:31-32 ESV]
Ezekiel did his preaching while a captive in Babylon.  Like most preachers, his message was that people need to worship God sincerely, and that worship should change their behavior.  So in these verses, God evaluates Ezekiel's effectiveness.  A current version might be phrased as "They come to church every Sunday, they exclaim about the choir and the insiteful sermon, and then on Monday...saints look just like sinners.  So if we remember last Sunday as entertaining instead of life changing, it's a good bet we did it wrong!

4 Now before this, Eliashib the priest, who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God, and who was related to Tobiah, 5 prepared for Tobiah a large chamber where they had previously put the grain offering, the frankincense, the vessels, and the tithes of grain, wine, and oil, which were given by commandment to the Levites, singers, and gatekeepers, and the contributions for the priests. [Neh 13:4-5 ESV]
A priest in charge of allocating space in God's Temple clears some things out so that a merchant, who is also a relative, can use the temple as his "business office".  Before we judge that priest, we ought to remember that we too tend to squeeze God out of our hearts, our minds, our plans - where He really ought to have exclusive use - and instead put in whatever is most urgent at that particular moment.

2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart. [Pro 21:2 ESV]
Today of all days, we should remember that almost everyone is trying to do "the right thing".  We are each convinced that we have distilled the perfect "truth" of things from the muddy water of our lives.  We are also convinced that those who disagree with us still have a few "impurities" in their thinking.  Or maybe we think they should just throw out the whole batch!  We rarely remember that our view of others - whether gentle or severe - will be almost exactly reflected back at us.  Today is a day for loving others, not judging them.  Today, I will be thankful for the people in my life, not in spite of who they are, but because of who they are.

1 The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will. [Pro 21:1 ESV]
Never doubt that God controls the politics in Washington DC.  And in Tel Aviv, Tehran, Moscow, Beijing...and any others we can think up.  Politicians are very often infatuated with their own perceived influence on and direction of unfolding history.  However, there is always a more powerful thread running through everything, directed by the One who's purpose and timing cannot be turned aside.  He is the One who set the end from the beginning.  We need to be careful about hating those who are carrying out God's plan.  Even if they don't know they are just playing a part, we should remember that they are.  Instead of raging about the actors, we should appeal to the director.

3 When a man's folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the LORD. [Pro 19:3 ESV]
We rarely say "folly" these days.  Today, Solomon might say bad decisions always lead to bad outcomes.    Blaming God for the bad decisions will never lead to good decisions.

23 In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty. [Pro 14:23 ESV]
So get out there and mow the yard, wash the car, wrap those faucets, and fix that leak.  There is profit to be made whether we can deposit it or not.  Sitting in the house and watching "The View" on TV would be "mere talk"!  Watching "Dirty Jobs" in moderation might just barely be ok!  Ties right in with the quote a few weeks back from 1 Thess 4:11 about working with your hands.  Seems like God appreciates and encourages us to do for ourselves.  Keeps us humble I think.

2 "Thus says the LORD: He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out to the Chaldeans shall live. He shall have his life as a prize of war, and live. [Jer 38:2 ESV]
At the time this advice was given, Jerusalem was under siege by Babylon - the Chaldeans.  The city was surrounded, but the city also had strong walls.  The final outcome of the siege was yet to be decided.  So why would God tell the people to just give up???  Because they were depending on their walls instead of on Him.  We do the same.  We build walls to insulate us from the will of God, because we prefer our own will.  We put our faith in our walls and we reject any thought of submission.  Our whole culture abhors surrender in any form - even surrender to God.  This is a fatal flaw.  And like Jerusalem in Jeremiah's day, submission to the will of God is the only way to survive.  The choice remains clear - trust the walls, hide behind them, and die or submit to God's will, whether we agree or not, and live.

6 Jeremiah said, "The word of the LORD came to me: 7 Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you and say, 'Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.' 8 Then Hanamel my cousin came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the LORD, and said to me, 'Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.' Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD. [Jer 32:6-8 ESV]
First, don't get hung up on those names!  This quote might seem a little obscure...but the very last phrase really jumped out at me - "Then I knew...".  This is interesting because Jeremiah began prophesying in 627 BC.  This "word" comes in 587 BC, forty years later.  In all that time, nothing he's heard from God has turned out to be wrong.  Even so, Jeremiah is still "testing" every "word" he is given to make sure it is from God.  Here, Jeremiah got a "word from God" to buy a piece of land.  I think he heard this "word" clear as a bell.  But Jeremiah didn't act on it until the specific person he was told about showed up and offered to sell him that very piece of land, and gave the same reason the "word" had given.  That's three confirmations!!!  Knowing only God could be that specific, Jeremiah buys the land.  When we pray about a decision we need to make, just what standards do we have about what we'll act on???  How do we know we're listening to God's answer and not our own "preferred" answer?  After reading this, I'm pretty sure my standards have been way too low!  In fact, I'm no longer sure I have ever had an answer I should have believed and that is frightening!  From here on, I'll be raising the bar and waiting waiting waiting until the standard is met!

11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.  [Jer 29:11 ESV]
Most people have heard this verse, but we rarely hear the context.  Jeremiah wrote these words from God in a letter to those taken prisoner by Nebuchadnezzar.  They had been dragged from their homes and were now slaves in a foreign country.  Earlier in the letter, God told them to treat this new location as home.  Instead of sitting around waiting to be released, God told them to plant crops, get married, and have kids right here where they were now because He - God - had put them there.  This upheaval in their lives wasn't about Nebuchadnezzar's plans, though I'm sure it looked that way.  But it was about God's plans.  And in verse 11, He tells them what those plans are.  This is a good chapter to read when we are faced with unexpected and unwanted change!

​5 Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. 6 He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. 7 "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. 8 He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat
comes, for its leaves....
remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit." [Jer 17:5-8 ESV]
This contrasts those who look to the world with those who look to God.  The picture is clear.  Choose to be a stunted, thirsty, isolated shrub barely hanging on or a perpetually green fruit producing tree, flush with water, and immune to heat and drought.  Not a tough call for most

In the last two posts, God asked only for obedience from willing hearts, not robotic compliance with some rules.  Why then did He give Israel all those rules?  The answer is stated here, among other places:
11 I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live. [Eze 20:11 ESV]
The rules He gave them were kind of like the rules that are handed out the first day of school these days.  The school rules don't make you a good student, but they keep you from incurring the teacher's anger.  If you break enough rules, then the teacher will escalate the discipline - according to those rules.  If you are constantly cross ways with the rules, constantly in the Principal's office being disciplined, then you are not making much progress as a student.  So rules were given to Israel when they left Egypt.  They no longer knew the rules because they had been in captivity for 400 years.  Despite what that movie "The Ten Commandments" may have indicated, Israel had pretty much forgotten about God.  They were worshiping as their masters the Egyptian's worshiped.  Egyptians worshiped idols.  (All this is Ezekiel 20)  That is why they asked Moses for the name of this God he was telling them about.  They had forgotten.  When Moses explained that God had heard their cries, and was keeping His promises to Abraham, it was all new to them!  After 400 years they no longer knew how to live, to worship, and to obey this God who called Himself "I AM".  They did not know the rules.  The important part of this story is not that they had forgotten Him, but that He remembered them!  So He gave them the rules so they could live in a way that kept them out of the Principal's office while they learned to love and trust and obey this God who had rescued them from slavery!

A little context to last Thursday's verses...At the time they were written, Jeremiah was preaching that God was about to punish His people because He was out of patience with their disobedience.  They countered that they were living under the law, which required all kinds of sacrifices and offerings and imposed hundreds of specific rules on their conduct.  They maintained that they were obeying all these rules so God was unjust to punish them.  God's answer was that it wasn't about the rules, it was about the heart.  Driving that point home, He adds this later in the chapter:
22 For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23 But this command I gave them: 'Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you.' [Jer 7:22-23 ESV]
God says nothing has really changed.  Before there was a law, before any sacrifice was required, He asked only for obedience.  Before there were rules to break, God wanted hearts in tune with His, people that obeyed because they believed God's way was the best way.  God says it wasn't about "rules" when you left Egypt because there were no rules then, and it is not about the "rules" now.

5 "For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, 6 if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, 7 then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever. [Jer 7:5-7 ESV]
These are the conditions God gave Israel if He was to protect them. There is nothing here about sacrificing bulls, donating money, perfect church attendance, or time in prayer. God does not care about the external show of religious fervor. God cares about the most basic, fundamental desires of the heart. He wants us to do good without expectation of payment, to do justice without need of a court, to cherish innocent blood even if the Supreme Court says we don't have to. He wants our hearts to be this way because His heart is this way. He just wants us to be as much like Him as we can be.

23 "Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD. [Jer 23:23-24 ESV]
This is always truth.  Believing this makes it very hard to sin on purpose.  It is hard to disappoint parents, or those we respect, while they're watching, yet we seem to think we can do things God won't find out about.  We think there are places He can't see us.  But there is no place so secret that God isn't there waiting for us when we arrive.  If we say hello to Him as we arrive in our "secret" spot, we might find that our plans change, and for the better!

4 And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. [Jer 18:4 ESV]
Since I am in Washington DC, this seemed a good one for today.  In context this was about a nation, not a person.  God goes on to say that if he plans disaster for a nation, and they repent, He will relent.  That nation may not be what was intended, but God can still use it.  Conversely, if He plans good for a nation, and they repent, He will also relent of the good He had planned.  Though this was written about nations, it seems it would also apply to individuals.  Past failure to be what we could have been doesn't mean we can't be anything.  We start from where we are and let God remake us. Just as nations can do.

This is the same verse as last Thursday:
24 Correct me, O LORD, but in justice; not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing. [Jer 10:24 ESV]  
Someone who refuses correction or scoffs or rebels is not really pushing back against the correction.  They are not denying that the correction was just or that they deserved correction for their action.  Rebellion is not about any of these things.  It is about challenging the authority of the one doing the correcting.  It is a denial of the corrector's authority to dispense justice.  The thought behind it is "Do your worst, I can take more than you can dish out."  With teachers, parents and so on we might occasionally have an argument.  Rarely, but we might.  If we challenge God in this way, we will never be right, we will always lose, and God has already prepared His answer to the "Do your worst" challenge.  I repeat, this prayer is a good one to keep handy!

Found this prayer in my reading a few days ago:
24 Correct me, O LORD, but in justice; not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing. [Jer 10:24 ESV]  
On our best day, we all need some divine correction.  God is there to do that.  His correction will exactly match the offense, and His intent is to lovingly shepherd us back on course.  We try to do the same, whether it be teachers and their students, parents and their children. and so on  But sometimes the one receiving correction ignores the lesson or escalates the behavior that brought it on, or scoffs at the correction.  Then we go beyond correction to something more severe.  That's how we do it.  If we ignore God's correction, He too intensifies the lesson.  Rebel too long and He gets angry.  When I was a kid, I knew I had pushed Dad past correction straight to anger when he started taking off his belt.  I also knew it was all over but the whoopin'.  Discussion and bargaining were at an end!  If God has to move beyond correction, we just might be all done.  That's because any offense to God deserves more severe correction in the first place than offending mom or dad!  So God's version of severe will make parental severe seem like a mere swat!  So...I'm all for taking my correction and trying harder next time!  And praying Jeremiah's prayer ever day is a real good reminder of that plan!  (More on this Monday).

There are only two ways to live:  Either we depend on secular guidance, or we depend on God's.  These verses make the results of our choice very clear:
If a man chooses the world's way...6 He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. [Jer 17:6 ESV]  Or if a man chooses God's way...8 He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes..." [Jer 17:8a ESV]  Live your life alone, isolated, in a place where nothing good ever happens, or live in a place where your most fundamental needs are so readily available that you can flourish under any adverse conditions.
These two verses are practically next to each other in the Bible.  God does this to make it easy for us...and to take away any excuse we might have about not understanding the choices.

31 And so in the matter of the envoys of the princes of Babylon...God left him to himself, in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart. [2Ch 32:31 ESV]
This verse is very near the end of the story of Hezekiah.  It starts in 2 Chron 29 if you want to read the background.  The interesting part in this verse is that God actually tells us He gave a test and He also tells us what it was about.  God stepped back to see what kind of person Hezekiah would be when left on his own.  But here's the thing...the results of this test were not for God to see, He already knew the answers.  The test was so Hezekiah would see himself!  So today, when we're trying to be good and something goes bad, remember this little verse.  The bad thing was probably a test, not for God to see how we're doing, but for us to see how we're doing!  And I hope I do better than Hezekiah did!!!

After comparing our country's current state to what Israel was like as it grew intolerable to God, I am thoroughly depressed.  Was there help for Israel?  Was there a way to turn back from the edge?  He always provides a way:
16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause. [Isa 1:16-17 ESV]
We have to fix ourselves first.  Then we help those who cannot help themselves.  Most of the abuse in a dying culture will be directed at those least able to resist and without resources to cope.  So we are to focus on correcting the injustice there.
I may be starting to sound like a broken record, but once again, there is nothing here about donating to political candidates or causes or parties.  We cannot fix Washington.  I believe that ship has sailed.  But we can help locally.  Locally, we have a chance to change lives and right wrongs.  Our list should be family, then neighborhood, then city.  Most of us will be over our heads with just that short little list!  We need to start now because if He got fed up with Israel, He will certainly get fed up with us.

Signs of a dying culture, Part 5.
12 My people--infants are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, your guides mislead you and they have swallowed up the course of your paths. [Isa 3:12 ESV]
Fifth sign, reversal of traditional, time-honored roles.  Young instead of old, female instead of male.  Poor leadership at all levels.  Therefore, the culture has no clear direction.  We are so far off course that turning back is no longer an option.  So what is it that we are supposed to do?

Signs of a dying culture, Part 4.
9 For the look on their faces bears witness against them; they proclaim their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! ... [Isa 3:9a ESV]
Fourth sign, no shame for personal behavior.  Behavior that used to be hidden and secreted away is proudly broadcast as an accomplishment instead of whispered about as devastating personal failure.  I wonder if they had parades to celebrate their sin?  And whether they made up t-shirts or arm bands or something like that identifying themselves as participants in what was shameful just a short time ago, like we do today?

Signs of a dying culture, Part 3.
4 And I will make boys their princes, and infants shall rule over them. 5 And the people will oppress one another, every one his fellow and every one his neighbor; the youth will be insolent to the elder, and the despised to the honorable. [Isa 3:4-5 ESV]
Third sign, the wisdom that comes with years is devalued.  Experience counts for little or nothing.  Internal oppression, hatred, and disrespect of everyone else, of every dissenting view, is the order of the day.  Those who dare to disagree are devalued and dehumanized.  The rhetoric is adversarial, rather than accommodating.  Dissenters are unworthy of persuasion and there is no middle ground.  Those who for decades preached that there was no black or white now see only black and white.  Can any good thing result from this situation?

Signs of a dying culture, Part 2.  Isaiah was writing these things from 739-686 BC, about Judah and Jerusalem.  So this pattern is not new.
7 Your country lies desolate; your cities are burned with fire; in your very presence foreigners devour your land; it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners. [Isa 1:7 ESV]
Second sign, they don't recognize that their culture is failing.  Rural areas are being abandoned and the cities are falling into ruin.  Civil services are breaking down.  Worse, they do not recognize that their enemies are already inside the walls, looting and spoiling.  They are being invaded, indeed they are being conquered as if by war, but do not recognize it as an aggression to be resisted.

Signs of a dying culture, Part 1.
The next few posts will be Isaiah's warnings to Jerusalem, given using his very direct and often non-politically correct language.  The warnings came 100 years before the prophesied conquest and fall of the city.  God gave them ample warning and ample time.  See if any of these warnings seem familiar:
Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: "Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand."
Isaiah 1:2‭-‬3 ESV
First sign, people are dumber than a donkey when it comes to understanding the source of their success and affluence.

But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
II Corinthians 4:3‭-‬4 NKJV
The battle to win the lost is spiritual.  Satan can successfully conceal the truth of the gospel from the lost.  Prayer for the lost should therefore invoke that spiritual battle, that the one who conceals would be pushed back, so eyes veiled can be unveiled.  Satan cannot be everywhere and his forces are not unlimited.  The battle for a soul can be won, but it is not a physical battle.  It won't be won by logic or force or apologetic.

22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, [1Co 1:22, 23 ESV]

What seems like the most obvious truth in the universe to the saved - the gospel of Christ crucified - is a contradictory mess to those who require flawless arguments to convince them, is inconsistent with the expectations of those who already know how God should do things, and is just silly to everyone else.  God did that on purpose so those in power couldn't claim that heaven was only for the elite.  The gospel is not logical.  It makes no sense to sentence your own son to death to pay for the sins of people who don't deserve to be helped, and do it before they even decide if they will accept any help.  Since it is not logical, it is not possible to debate someone into salvation.  What we can do is share the plain, unvarnished gospel, simple as it is, and leave the rest to God. 

3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: [1Co 15:3-4 KJV]

This verse is the gospel. Believe it and be saved, be free from hell, be assured of heaven. It cannot be unequivocally proven to be true so believing it requires faith. Faith is not blind. No one has faith in what they believe to be untrue. Faith is not about defending what we don't believe. It is about believing what we cannot prove. And we do it all the time. We believe Facebook most of the time. We believe our teachers at school, our doctors, and even used car salesmen! But not the Bible? Not a preacher? Not a friend who's bold enough to share the gospel? Not this verse? Stop overthinking it. Just believe it.

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. [Phl 4:8 ESV]

This is the last of three verses I found that give instructions for how Christians should live.  The first said be quiet, mind your own business, and work with your hands.  The second was about our relationships with other people and with God today and every day.  This one is about what should be on our minds as we go from A to B to C so we don't get bogged down with things we can't control anyway.  Let me just say that walls across Texas, tariffs on Chinese goods, and MAGA hats do not make this list.  They don't make any of the lists.  Zero out of three is not a Biblical oversight.  These things are not supposed to be our concern.  Pray about them and then let God handle them.  He gave us lists!  Let's work on those!

14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. 15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22 Abstain from every form of evil. [1Th 5:14-22 ESV]

One of several New Testament lists of how Christians ought to conduct themselves in the world.  There is nothing here even remotely addressing political parties, Supreme Court Justices, or the 2nd Amendment.  Verse 18 says give thanks no matter what happens in Washington.  Christian focus should be on people we know, people we see, those we talk to and have opportunity to serve and encourage, and on deepening our own relationship with God.  If we devote ourselves to the things in this list, we just plain won't have time to worry about what Congress is doing.  Our citizenship, our civic responsibilities, are to the coming kingdom, not to this one.

3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish... [Jon 1:3a ESV]

A very familiar and favorite Bible story.  Jonah took a ship from Joppa to Tarshish to avoid doing what God wanted him to do.  We often do the same.  What is the name of your ship to Tarshish?  Is it the "Promotion at Work"?  Maybe "The Best Shows are on Sunday Morning".  Or how about "I Don't Want to Teach A Class Every Sunday"?  Maybe you're on the "$20 is Enough Tithe".  Or are you on the "Alcohol", a very crowded ship?  (These are just some of the ships I've been on.)  Here's the thing.  If you're on the wrong ship, there will be a storm.  It may not be a hurricane but it will be enough to leave no doubt that it is about that ship you chose.  And here's another thing...There will always be a storm, but there will not always be a big fish.  Mostly, we don't get a miracle when we're off the boat and in the water.  Sometimes, choosing the ship we board is our last choice ever.  So double check the name of your current ride.  And if it's the wrong one, change boats!  That's what Jonah did.  This is Jonah's prayer, my favorite Bible verse, and a prayer I've prayed more times than I like to admit:

4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. [Jon 2:4 KJV]

11...aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands... 1 Thessalonian 4:11
This advice is from Paul to the Thessalonians as to how Christians should try to live, given nearly 2000 years ago.  I think our lives today would have a lot less drama if we would focus on these three things.
This is another verse I find much easier to say than to do!

7 One who is full loathes honey, but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet. [Pro 27:7 ESV]
Found this short little verse buried near the end of Proverbs.  The contrast applies to so many things.
It means that people who dine daily on champagne and caviar are not likely to be thrilled by the new mac and cheese offering from Chic-Fil-A!  Yet one who is starving will celebrate a few bites of edible bread salvaged from a moldy crust.  It means that those who are wildly popular go to great lengths to avoid meeting new people.  But how many lonely people are in that second group?  Their craving for a meaningful someone in their lives is so overpowering that they will grasp for almost any relationship, even one that is obviously harmful to them.  And they will stay with that relationship even after they know it has failed, because they just don't want to starve anymore.  The contrast also applies to wealthy vs poor, to healthy vs sick, and on and on and on.  How much insight is in this one little short verse?  Imagine what can be found if we read the whole book!

19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;
20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. [Jas 1:19-20 ESV]

Not sure I know how you can hear quickly, especially in the south, but I understand those other two.  I also understand that I'm terrible at both.  So probably bad at the first one, too!  Verse 20 is quite a challenge.  Pretty much says I should NEVER be angry.  Hard to imagine in my own case, and now I find out that it doesn't even work.  It never works!

By pride comes nothing but strife, But with the well-advised is wisdom.
Proverbs 13:10 NKJV
I don't think all pride is bad.  Having pride in your work is a good thing.  This is not about that kind of pride.  I found a dictionary definition that says pride is having an excessively high opinion of oneself or one's importance.  I think that's the pride this verse is about.  The excessive kind of pride.  When this kind of pride dominates our thinking, even the conversations in our own heads are confrontational.  We don't need anyone's input, and we even shout down our own common sense.  With this kind of pride, every day feels like "me vs the world".  It is an exhausting way to live.  I know, because I am frequently exhausted!

One more quote from Hudson Taylor:
There is a needs-be for us to give ourselves for the life of the world.  An easy, non-self-denying life will never be one of power.  Fruit-bearing involves cross-bearing.  There are not two Christs -- an easy-going one for the easy-going Christians, and a suffering, toiling one for exceptional believers.  There is only one Christ.  Are you willing to abide in Him, and thus to bear much fruit?

Sometimes I think 19th and 20th century American Christians will be very easy to spot in heaven.  We'll be the ones with the tiny little crowns living in those tiny little "mansions".

How few of the Lord's people have practically recognized the truth that Christ is either Lord OF all or He is not Lord AT all!  If we can judge God's Word, instead of being judged by it, if we can give God as much or as little as we like, then we are lords and He the indebted one, to be grateful for our dole and obliged by our compliance with His wishes.  If on the other hand He is Lord, let us treat Him as such.  "Why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?"

Another quote from Hudson Taylor.  This condenses it down to the basics.  This is not a negotiation.  It is not up to us to let Christ know what things we can maybe find time to do for him.  We either do whatever He asks, everything He asks, or we're just playing church.

​19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." [Mat 28:19-20 ESV]

How are we going to treat the Lord Jesus Christ with regard to this last command?  Shall we definitely drop the title "Lord" as applied to Him?  Shall we take the ground that we are quite willing to recognize Him as our Saviour, as far as the penalty of sin is concerned, but are not prepared to own ourselves "bought with a price," or Christ as having claim to our unquestioning obedience?

This quote is from a letter sent by Hudson Taylor, a missionary to China in the mid-1800's.  I had to read it over several times before his meaning started to sink in.  Once it did, it was very convicting.

20 Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by statute? [Psa 94:20 ESV]
I'm pretty sure the answer to this one is a big obvious "No".

A few verses later, we find out what God is going to do about them:
23 He will bring back on them their iniquity and wipe them out for their wickedness; the LORD our God will wipe them out. [Psa 94:23 ESV]

I wouldn't want to be them.  And it's nice to know that it's not up to me to clean up our government.  I pray that the One who is cleaning it up will do so very soon.  In the meantime, I can rest, I can wait, I can spend my time keeping my own house in order, because I know He's taking care of the big stuff in Washington.

67 Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, 68 saying, "Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?"  [Mat 26:67-68 ESV]
This happened right after Jesus told them who He was.  People behave this way when the moral restraint of their leaders is removed.  The Roman government of the time didn't really care what the Jews did to each other.  Now the religious leadership doesn't care what Jews do to each other.  Government and organized religion were making a point of looking the other way because their power was threatened by what Jesus taught.  No restraint remains, so this mob is free to engage in the basest of human behavior.  They are venting their hatred and frustration on a convenient target.  We recognize such behavior as ignorant, vicious, and cruel.  We recoil from this kind of pointless violence.

But here's the thing.  As long as we reject Jesus for who he was, we are as much a part of that mob as if we had been there.  We are doing the spitting, and the hitting, and the mocking.  God insists that we decide to either join the mob, or believe Jesus' words.  There is no safe place between these two positions.  We are either part of the mob, or we believe.

59 Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, 60 but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward...[Mat 26:59-60a ESV]
At Jesus' trial, in the middle of the night, they try to find evidence to condemn Jesus, but no two agree until some say Jesus claimed he could destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days.  This hardly seems a capital offense.  Then Jesus himself answers them that he is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. They pronounce this blasphemy, a crime punishable by death.
The assembled mob recognized that Jesus' own words had sentenced him to death.  But I wonder if they realized that ignoring what he said had sentenced them to something far worse?

Matt. 26:56b ESV says, "then all the disciples left him and fled".  This was in Gethsemane, as the mob came to take Jesus prisoner.  They all ran, leaving Jesus to face the mob alone.  Jesus was taken prisoner and ultimately died on a cross.  All eleven who ran away survived.  They had to live with that for the rest of their lives.
After his resurrection, Jesus came to see them.  He didn't show up yelling at them for abandoning him.  He had already forgiven them, though they were still in hiding, wallowing in their failure.
Many of us have something awful in our past that we live with.  Bad as our failures may seem, God sees sincere regret and those sins are already forgiven.  We should stop behaving as if we are no longer allowed to serve God openly because others know what we did or who we were.  Everyone knew the apostles ran like rabbits, but look what they accomplished once they embraced the forgiveness they'd had all along!


 

1 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." [Luke 13:1-5 ESV]

Jesus is not saying the murder of these Galileans inside the Temple was punishment sent from God because they were the worst of the worst. Neither is he saying that if we we're really bad a building will fall on us. The first event was Roman reprisal against men considered to be criminals, the second was just poor building construction. Jesus is saying we should see events like this as reminders that life is precarious in a fallen world. Bad things happen. They should urge us to keep our accounts current because we don't get two weeks notice of our demise to allow us to tie up our loose ends. Accidents, violence, premature death of all kinds should be viewed as wake up calls to us, not as punishment sent from God on others.

 

45 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why did you not bring him?" 46 The officers answered, "No one ever spoke like this man!" 47 The Pharisees answered them, "Have you also been deceived? 48 Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?  [John 7:45-48 ESV]
Those sent to arrest Jesus refuse to do so because they recognize that He is the real deal.  The Pharisees, the religious and political superstars of that day, chastise them for being so gullible and easily influenced by the ignorant crowd.  Same thing these days.  Our leaders - politicians, athletes, actors, and the media - belittle those who believe what their own hearts and minds tell them about Jesus.  Our self-appointed gurus are still blind as bats, and their only argument is that their opinions are better because, hey, they're in charge.
My advice is that we should look for the truth sincerely with our own ears, eyes, hearts, and minds.  God won't hold us accountable for what our leaders believe.  He will definitely hold us accountable for who we decide to follow.
 

30 I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving. 31 This will please the LORD more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs. [Psa 69:30-31 ESV]

David wrote this Psalm.  He knew that God was more interested in what is in our hearts than He is in the things we do.  It is true that the Bible urges us to do good things.  It also urges us to follow His laws.  But with a little effort, anyone can follow the rules, anyone can be nice, anyone can fit in to the group they want.  David knew that going through the motions would never fool God.  We don't get credit in heaven for the rules we follow.  David knew that God recognizes real praise, real faith, real commitment to Him even if we don't make a big show of it.

This is taken from the final paragraph of the Declaration of Independence, signed on this date in 1776:
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved;

Why does it seem more appropriate to replace "British Crown" and "State of Great Britain" with "Congress of the United States"?  Maybe it goes back to the reason the declaration was written in the first place.  In the second paragraph, it says this:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government,

This government is destructive to the unalienable right to life.

9 If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination. [Pro 28:9 ESV]

I don't think this verse is about atheists in foxholes who never expect to find themselves praying.  It could be about those who think God might really be up there and that it's at least worth a shot to send up a flare prayer looking for that next traffic light to be green.  Or it could be about those who are pretty sure no one is up there, but not positive of that, so they will resort to praying if they get in a really bad bind.  In any case, I am pretty sure it is about people who pray.  Occasionally.  Not every day, but they like to keep prayer in reserve in case they need just a little break or in case something goes terribly wrong.  They want the option to pray when they need something, but not the obligation to pray about every thing.  Oh, and they don't want all that other baggage that seems to go with prayer.  Like going to church and avoiding anything fun.

I bet some statistics would be a real eye opener here.  For instance, let's see here...I sent up 24 flare prayers yesterday for green lights and 12  times the light was green.  50%.  Same as random chance would predict.  Shouldn't take long to figure out if those prayers are doing any good at all.  And if we find out they are not, then comes the crucial step.  Does not getting a single prayer answered prove there's no one up there to hear them, or does it mean the problem is with the transmitter, not the receiver?

This is a bit facetious, of course.  God cannot be tested with red lights and green lights.  But I do think the sincere prayers of believers are far more likely to be answered than the sincere prayers offered by those who consider prayer something that "couldn't hurt".  And I do think that last question is one that should be asked if it seems that the only answer we ever get is "no".

8 When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts. [Mal 1:8 ESV]

Israel is just going through the motions.  Sure, they still show up at the appointed time with the required sacrifice, but they have lost all respect for God.  They have so little respect that they are offering blind and defective animals as sacrifices.  I don't know about governors, but try offering wilted roses to your wife and see how well they're received!  Sure, Israel was going to church on Sunday, but only out of habit, and they were trying to streamline it as much as possible so it wouldn't interfere with their lives.  And the last things they expected were consequences for their actions.

God gave Malachi that verse so the people of Israel would know that He was very aware of what they were doing individually and as a nation.  God knew they didn't really believe.  Their "worship" had become a purely social function.  In our time, God is also aware of what we do and of what we think when we do it.  There's no hiding reality from God.  "Church on Sunday" should be a lot bigger deal than just another item on the weekly To Do list, to be handled as quickly and efficiently as possible.  Neither should it be just a good place to make some new contacts.  If we don't believe any more than Israel did in the verse above, our consequences will be the same as theirs.

13 "Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it and break its supply of bread and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast, 14 even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord GOD. [Eze 14:13-14 ESV]

This verse is about God running out of patience with a whole nation.  A nation that no longer takes Him into account in its plans and policies.  A nation that behaves as if He does not exist.  A nation that acts without faith.  When God punishes nations, he punishes everyone there, not just the "bad people".  Any remaining good people - and there won't be many - will be swept up in the corporate punishment of the nation.  Unless the few good people remaining are exceptionally good.

So what was it about Noah, Daniel, and Job that would have prompted God to make an exception for them?  What standard did they set for being faithful enough to survive a national punishment?  We need to know so we can determine our own chances:

Noah was faithful in the face of worldwide ridicule as he built a giant land-locked boat in a place where it had never rained.
Daniel was faithful despite the ultimate personal danger - he was sentenced to death by lions for praying.
Job was faithful in the face of overwhelming personal loss - his children all died and he was ruined financially.

Hmm...pretty obvious where that leaves me.  It leaves me praying this nation turns around before things get much worse and God decides to punish us as a nation.

8 "When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand.  9 "But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life.  [Eze 33:8, 9 NASB]

God is telling Ezekiel, as a prophet, that he has an obligation to preach the things God tells him.  If he doesn't, he will be held responsible for those who might have turned to God, but missed the opportunity because of his silence.
It seems to me that this warning also applies to us.  If we are timid about warning people, timid about the gospel, then I think we too will be held responsible for their loss.  This should keep us up at night.

For I am the Lord . I speak, and the word which I speak will come to pass; it will no more be postponed; for in your days, O rebellious house, I will say the word and perform it,” says the Lord God .’ ”
Ezekiel 12:25 NKJV

In this verse, God is out of patience with Jerusalem.  The line has been crossed.  Prophesy is about to be fulfilled.  God is telling them the time is now.  This is not about some event in the nebulous future.  They were hearing the prophesy of imminent captivity... and laughing it off.  We shouldn't criticize them too much, though.  We dismiss prophecy of the second coming with about the same attitude.  We don't think it's for us.  We don't believe it will happen in our lifetime, if we believe it at all.

We sure don't behave as if it is happening this year. Or this month.  Or today.  How would it really be to get caught sleeping in next Sunday morning when Jesus came at 9 am?  Or sleeping in with a hangover?  Or with someone "new"?  Insert your own worst case here, and think it over.  In that situation, will Jesus just look at us sideways and then haul us on up with a shake of his head...or will he leave us behind because he knows we were just going through the motions anyway?

It's a good idea to know the answer to that question.  Because it might not be next Sunday when it comes up.  It might be a lot sooner.

2 A fool has no delight in understanding, But in expressing his own heart. [Pro 18:2 NKJV]
This is about basing our morality on our feelings instead of on well researched facts, reasoned arguments and tested historical standards.  It is about judging that something is right based on our own agreement with it rather than whether it agrees with Biblical principals.  Or even whether it agrees with the rule of law.  This makes personal feelings - emotions - the basis of decision making, and policy making.  In today's culture, such people are called social justice warriors.  The Bible just calls them fools.

14 "Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land."  [Jer 33:14-15 ESV]
This is a well known prophecy about the coming of Jesus.  It was made during some very dark times in Judah.   
I have noticed in my reading that true prophets tend to foretell doom when all seems well and foretell prosperity when all seems doomed. This makes true prophets somewhat unpopular.  In fact, the writer of this prophecy was in prison at the time.
Fake prophets always foretell prosperity.  Fake prophets are very popular.
A good thing to remember...

So truth fails, And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him That there  was no justice.
Isaiah 59:15 NKJV
Fifty chapters later, Isaiah is still talking about how bad things had gotten in Israel.  Not only had the whole society become corrupt, but this was now a culture where being honest, just, and kind made you a prey.  It didn't make you a person of integrity to be admired, but a misfit, a weak person to be consumed without a second thought.

This was a nation in the last stages of disintegration.  Years, decades, even centuries before, when corruption first emerged into public affairs, there would have been cries of outrage.  But the standard had gradually been lowered.  Good people would have stopped speaking up, deciding to keep out of anything that didn't directly concern them.  Courts would have begun ruling in favor of the guilty.  Over time, the courts and the law would have become a joke.  Speaking out against this would eventually be seen as trying to impose some narrow minded standards on everyone else.

It would have been better for Israel to halt the corruption from the very first.  But they didn't.  Eventually it was just too late to turn things around.  Which begs that question again.  Was this something that happened to Israel a long time ago that we can safely ignore, or is there a principal here that still applies today, to any nation?  The answer matters, because if it is a principal, it will eventually be too late for us to speak up, too.

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.
Isaiah 59:2 NKJV

This verse gives us one of the reasons that we can find ourselves feeling suddenly isolated and alone.  If we have "adopted" some little sin, some pet shortcoming and we've decided we can hang on to it with acceptable consequences, then the result may be a break in communication with God.  When this happens our prayers will seem to bounce off the ceiling, our days will seem chaotic and directionless, and our Bible reading like trying to decipher a foreign language.  We will feel like we did before we ever had a relationship with God.  We'll feel like most people do all day every day.

The other thing that can make us feel this way is when God tests our faith.  We will all have times when God doesn't seem to be there.  He does this in order to build our faith, to build our continued trust in Him when facing things that overwhelm us.  He does it to teach us He is there, even when we don't see Him in events.  He does this because it isn't really faith if you never need it.

The first instance will last until we give up the thing we know is wrong.  Could be a day or two, could be forever.  The second will just be temporary, until we've passed or failed the test.  The way to figure out which is which is to figure out if there's something new in our lives that shouldn't really be there.  If we have some new guilty pleasure, it won't be hidden from us, though we may hide it from others.   In fact, if we're hiding something from others, it's a good bet we've identified the problem!  Finding the cause won't be the hard part of the process.  Giving it up will be the hard part.  

The biggest danger here is in always assuming it's the second one.  It is not always the second one.

​He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8 NKJV

When I first read this I thought "Really?  How can anyone have a problem with these?"  But then it occurred to me that these things are not required just when they are the popular thing to do or when they are what anyone would do.  Those don't even count really.  It's when it would be awkward to speak up for someone that it matters what we do.  It's when we don't even like the person that's guilty that we have to love mercy, even if we think it's about time they got caught.  And walking humbly?  Do we even know what that looks like in this culture?  Try going out of turn at the four way stop and I'll show you some humble!
So after thinking about it, it's pretty clear that doing these things is not even a little bit easy, and doesn't come naturally to most of us.  Getting this right will take constant effort.  If we work hard enough and long enough, we should move a little closer to the standard.  And figuring out how poorly we're doing on the first two requirements goes a long way toward helping us get better at that third one.

For the leaders of this people cause them to err, And those who are led by them are destroyed.
Isaiah 9:16 NKJV

There it is in black and white.  Bad leaders don't just destroy themselves.  They take us good people down with them.  When I saw this my first thought was Yes!  This is all about those politicians the "other" side keeps electing!  If we don't get them out, they will be our downfall!  I suspect that no matter what party we support, we all read this that same way.

But then I looked at the rest of the chapter.  It's about Israel - the northern kingdom specifically - before they were conquered by Assyria, turned into slaves, and taken back to Assyria.  The northern 10 tribes were never again a nation - not to this day.  This was the end of them as a people.  So when you read it, you see that it is not really about the US in 2019.  It is neither about us nor is it meant for us in the literal sense.  So we could maybe consider just blowing the whole thing off as not our concern, not to mention that it's ancient history.

But if you read it anyway, you find out it wasn't just the leaders who were messed up.  It was everyone.  Elders, prophets, young men, orphans, and widows are all mentioned, and every one of them is called evil.  Evil orphans?  Things are really bad when even the orphans are evil.  It says they had turned against each other and against themselves.  Israel was destroying itself from within and they were individually and collectively responsible for the coming destruction.  All of them, from those at the bottom of the social ladder all the way to the very top

So even though Isaiah 9:8 - 10:4 was not written about the US in 2019, it sure has a familiar ring to it.  Sounds a lot like last night's news, in fact.  It wasn't written about us, but maybe we ought to pay attention to it as if it was.  You know, just in case what happened to Israel is based on some kind of principal that still applies instead of just being a unique historical event.

​During a severe famine, Elijah stays with a widow and her son.  While he is there, her flour sack never goes empty, and her oil jar never goes dry.  So there is this ongoing daily miracle providing bread for the three of them. The widow's son gets sick.  He gets worse and worse over a period of time, and then dies.  In the middle of an ongoing miracle, the son dies.  Elijah doesn't even try to cure the sickness.  He waits, then does a bigger miracle.  He brings the dead son back to life.  Why would he let the widow experience grief on that level if he was going to restore the son's life anyway?  Because when her son is revived, she says this:
Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is the truth.”
I Kings 17:24 NKJV
It took this kind of demonstration to convince her.  The miracle in progress with the flour and oil that kept her alive day to day was not enough.  That was just bread.  Are we ignoring miracles all around us to avoid the truth about the source of those miracles?

Ecclesiastes was written by Solomon, by tradition the wisest man who ever lived.  It contains his conclusion about life's purpose.  It can be quite depressing in that he says most of life is pointless, an exercise in feeding our own vanity.  He says that as time passes, all we've done, all we've accomplished in our lives, will be forgotten.  Still, I don't think he wrote the book to depress but to instruct us in how to live.

I think his real point is that in light of the above, we ought not to get too OCD about anything at all in life, but instead should enjoy our work, our relationships, and our leisure to the full, but not to the extreme.  We should enjoy these things for our own personal pleasure, not for what we may leave to posterity.  This life is our only opportunity to enjoy these things because the dead don't party, they don't build, and they don't marry.  The only thing common to this life and the next is that God is judge of all we do.  And that is what we should keep daily in mind.