Tag: daily devotion

The Unfortunate Separation of Books

Old Testament: 1 Samuel 29-31

Poetry: Psalm 69

New Testament: Galatians 5:1-15

1 Samuel and 2 Samuel are, in your Bible and maybe in your mind, two different books. 

However, they are one story. We should not really end 1 Samuel without going on to 2 Samuel, the same way ending your movie marathon of the Lord of the Rings after just watching “The Fellowship” is lacking. 

1 Samuel ends with Saul and Jonathan and the other sons of Saul dead on Mount Gilboa, their bodies first desecrated and then given a proper burial by the men of Jabesh-gilead. 

But it is David’s response that is striking, and that comes in 2 Samuel. Forgive me for reading ahead, but look at what David does in 2 Samuel 1. 

He kills the man who claimed to kill Saul (even though we know Saul killed himself) because this man did not respect the Lord’s anointed. 

He laments, not only over Jonathan, but over Saul his enemy. 

His heart is broken because of this man who really and truly hated him. 

1 Samuel has been a journey, and I am glad you have allowed me to go on it with you over the last two weeks. Here has been my take-away:

Be David and do not be Saul. 

Saul did not start off wrong. He began as a shy, possibly humble, man who was given the gift of kingship. But instead of living up to that role, he first consistently and then later constantly rejected the will of God. He offered sacrifices on his own, he directly disobeyed the commands of God so the people would be impressed by his power. He lifted his hands against the Lord’s anointed constantly. When he couldn’t get an answer from God, he turned to demons. As a friend of mine said, Saul is the cautionary tale. 

David started off right. A humble young man who worked the field, he was also given kingship. He was found to be a man after God’s heart, who obeyed God. He made mistakes, but he sought God’s forgiveness. He sought to do God’s will, to bless those who blessed him, but to let God give justice to those who cursed him. He gave compassion to the Lord’s anointed, but fought against the enemies of God. At his best, he is a model king, a model disciple, and a model man. Even in his failings, he repents and turns towards God. 

My brothers and sisters, 

May you start off from this moment right. God can and will forgive you for everything in your past and start you off with the salvation offered through the death of Christ. By “putting on” Christ in baptism, you become a son or daughter of God, a child of the King of the Universe. You are given a type of kingship, and the power of God, the spirit of God, to do all that this kingship requires. You are training to reign with Christ in his Kingdom, and so you are to show love to all people, to show justice to sinners (telling them of God’s justice), to show compassion to all repentant (expressing God’s mercy), and to show honor to God’s anointed, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Bless you as you become “Davids”, following the son of David. Amen

-Jake Ballard

Reflection Questions

  1. In what ways or times have you had a touch of Saul in you? What did it look like? What did God want to see instead? Have you confessed and repented?
  2. How do you treat God’s anointed?
  3. What does it take to become a David? What will you do today to make is so?

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Jake Ballard is pastor at Timberland Bible Church. If you’d like to hear more from him, you can find Timberland on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TimberlandBibleChurch/ ) and on Instagram (https://instagram.com/timberlandbiblechurch?igshid=t52xoq9esc7e). The church streams the Worship Gathering every Sunday at 10:30. Besides studying and teaching God’s word, he is raising three beautiful children with the love of his life, plays board games and RPGs, and believes it was fine that Tom Bombadil was not in the LotR movies. If you’d like to reach out to talk Bible, talk faith, or talk about how the LotR movies might be an improvement on the books, look Jacob Ballard up on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/jacob.ballard.336) or email him at jakea.ballard@yahoo.com. 
God bless you all!

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“Marley was dead: to begin with.”

Old Testament: 1 Samuel 26-28

Poetry: Psalm 69

New Testament: Galatians 4

“Marley was dead: to begin with.”

Sometime in the Advent season, my family gathers round and we read out these words. There is a familiarity to this “scary ghost story”; who hasn’t seen, or watched, or read, or heard some version of *A Christmas Carol*. There are dozens, scores, of different versions: stages plays, to ballets, to movies, to the MUPPETS. Seriously, if you haven’t seen a Muppet’s Christmas Carol, what are you doing in the Holiday season?

As I was saying, my family reads these words every year, and I particularly love Dickens’s dry humor and wit, which is somewhat lessened by the theatrical productions of his creation. 

But he also makes very clear why he begins his illustrious novel with a death of a character we know nothing about : “The mention of Marley’s Funeral brings me back to the point I started from. There is no doubt that Marley was dead. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate.”

It is in the exact same vein that the author of 1 Samuel 28 reminds us, “Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in his own town of Ramah.” We already knew that from 25:1, but the author wants to be really sure. Absolutely positive that we get it. 

Saul is going to attack the Philistines but the Lord doesn’t answer him. And so Saul, in stupidity and desperation, decides to go to Endor, looking for a witch. The witch, in fear and trepidation, speaks as and for Samuel whom she “brought up”. Up from the dead, speaking to Saul. “Samuel was dead to begin with.” This was a big deal. This was massive. We are expecting something wonderful, or maybe in this case, something awful to come of the story which the author is going to relate.

There are some great questions that come to mind when we read this story (see below), but I want us to pick up on what Samuel says to Saul : “Why do you consult me, now that the Lord has departed from you and become your enemy?” 

When Saul drags him up, Samuel says “What do you want me to do about it?” Like I said, I expected wonderful or awful; I did not expect grumpy and sassy. 

Sometimes, when we find ourselves in sin, and our lives start going poorly, we think, in stupidity and desperation, “more sin will fix this.” Of course, we never say those exact words. Saul didn’t either, but he also didn’t listen to the commands of the Lord. A little compromise here, a little not following the will of God there. “I didn’t kill the sheep so they could be sacrificed!” God stops listening to his prayers, and so he turns his inward sin of rebellion into the outward sin of divination. He does fulfill the prophecy of Samuel in 1 Samuel 15:23. 

We tend to do the same. We tell a lie, and to cover up that lie we have to tell more. (Like Junior Asparagus covering up breaking the Art Bigotti Plate.) Instead of dealing with our lust and desires of the flesh head on, we heap false prophecy onto it and say “God told me we should be together.” We lump pride onto sloth: “Sure I was mentally checked out when I was physically clocked in on the job, but I just need some self care. I deserve it! Treat yo self!” 

You might think the words used (pride, sloth, lust) in those examples (“stuff that everybody does”) is a bit extreme. Maybe, but sin is usually insidious. Saul didn’t start off thinking he was going to be cavorting with witches in the middle of the night. David didn’t think that avoiding his duty of going to war would end up with him murdering his companion. 

Maybe, through you reading the story, you can begin to see that nothing good comes from heaping one sin on top of another. If you find yourself walking down the road of sin, I know how hard it is to change; still, confess your sins, seek the help of pastors and friends who want the best for you, change your ways. Only in turning from sin to the God who wants the best for us will we be able to seek his forgiveness, and not find him as an enemy, but relate to him as a Father who loves his children. Christ will empower us, advocate for us, give us his spirit and put us in a place where God can change us and bless us. 

“And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!”

-Jake Ballard

Reflection Questions

  1. Do you need to confess and stop sinning?: Start off by focusing on the thrust of the devotion; are there any sins in your life that need confession? Where you need help to get out of addictive patterns or habits that are hard to break? Stop the sin as soon as possible so the healing can begin. Only then should we think about the rest of these questions.
  2. Did the magic work?: I have heard some people say the witch was scared *because the magic worked.* As in, she wasn’t expecting a real appearing. But the text indicates that she was scared because she recognized Saul while doing her magic. Saul had killed all the diviners. Why was she scared? The ancient people believed magic worked : The witch in Endor, like the slave girl of Acts 16, make us ask do *we* believe that magic works? Should we be more afraid of participating in the occult and magic than merely saying “that’s make believe”? 
  3. Are ghosts real?: Samuel seems to be a ghost. Are ghosts real? What is the Biblical picture of the afterlife? Jesus compared it to sleep, Ecclesiastes talks about the dead knowing nothing and not praising God, but the disciples thought Jesus was a ghost. Does the Bible teach that people can become ghosts? If it doesn’t (and I think it doesn’t), then why did the disciples think people could become ghosts?
  4. Coming *up*?: Where was Samuel coming from? It says Samuel was coming up? If the dead keep on living, we should expect him coming down out of heaven; Samuel seems grumpy, like a man awoken untimely from his sleep. What did the Israelites believe about Sheol?
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Two Kings among the Sheep

Old Testament: 1 Samuel 15 & 16

Poetry: Psalm 68 (day 1 of 4)

New Testament: 2 Corinthians 12

We read it yesterday: “If you had obeyed…” 

Saul committed disobedience. But was the kingdom taken from Saul because of one act of disobedience? 

In 1 Samuel 15, God commands Saul, through Samuel, to kill and destroy everything of King Amalek. That is gruesome, but it is the command of God; you will kill all the people and destroy all their stuff. In warfare of the ancient world, after an enemy army was defeated you would take their survivors as slaves, their flocks as property, and their land as your own. To win a war was to become wealthy. But that is not the reason God desires the Israelites to go to war; they go to war because they are listening to the Lord, because he is creating a people for himself, not for their gain and profit. 

Saul disobeys God because he spares a man and the best animals. What our world, our culture might consider “mercy” is considered an act of disobedience. Samuel comes to Saul at Gilgal, and after the Lord told Saul to explicitly kill the sheep, the bleating carries across the hills of the region. After the Lord told Saul to explicitly kill the oxen, their lowing can be heard. Saul had set up a monument for himself (15:12) and even declares that he had completed the will of the Lord! Samuel has to clue him in that in declaring that he intended to sacrifice these animals, he was in fact disobeying God’s direct orders.  

To obey is better than sacrifice. 

To heed is better than the fat of rams. 

The Lord regretted he had made Saul king over Israel. 

However, in the town of Bethlehem, a young boy, ruddy, beautiful, and handsome, also stands among sheep. A young boy who has been slinging stones at predators, not knowing he would need to fell giants. A young boy who is learning obedience, learning hearing and obeying the word of the Lord. A boy, a man, after God’s own heart. 

David. 

Imagine you are Samuel. The last time you smelled lanolin, you had a king crying at your feet, ripping your robes, and it breaks your heart. You had anointed this tall man while he was chasing donkeys, through the desert, but he never truly learned how to be king, how to follow the commands of God. And you grieve.

And now, the boy covered in the smell of sheep walks in through the front door and the Lord speaks to your spirit “Arise, anoint him; for this is he.”

With a sense of irony you realize that you have seen the Lord change the times and the ages. 

He took the kingdom of a king, and he gave the kingdom to another. 

Two Kings among the sheep…

-Jake Ballard

Reflection Questions

  1. Worship and Obedience: Because it is Sunday, there is just one difficult question for you. Today will be or was a day of worship. In Christ, our sacrifice is our heart and our praise to God. (Romans 12, Hebrews 13) However, have you been obedient to God? Have you done all that he has commanded? Are there any broken relationships that need to be mended? Are there any hurts for which you should ask for forgiveness? How can you be obedient to the prompting of the spirit, or to the commands of scripture? Or are you simply “worshipping” God, content that you are giving him something subpar, something less than the obedience he demands? 
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Your Kingdom Forever

Old Testament: 1 Samuel 13 & 14

Poetry: Psalm 67

New Testament: 2 Corinthians 11

Saul fails as a King. 

Sorry for the lack of “spoiler warnings”. He doesn’t make it. 

What’s more sad and more of a shocker, is that he *could* have succeeded at being king. At building a dynasty for himself and his children. The language of 1 Samuel 13:13-14 is pretty clear. 

“You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.” (ESV)

The foolish action of Saul was… sacrifice. Worship. How can that be wrong? Because it was not in accord with the commands of God. Saul was not supposed to do the sacrifice; he was supposed to wait for Samuel. Saul’s impatience and his presumptuous attitude caused him to fall into sin, because he did not obey the word of the Lord. He was keeping the “outward” signs of the law (the sacrifice) but not the details (who, how, when). He wanted the armies to see the sacrifice, rather than keeping it the way God wanted. This impatience and presumption becomes worse later in the story (chapter 15). 

Saul is told that another is rising up in his kingdom. A man after God’s own heart, who would obey the word of the Lord. That is who will replace Saul. 

But notice the end of verse 13 : “For then (if you had kept his commands), the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.” I don’t think Samuel is stating his own personal opinion here nor do I think he is speaking falsely. God was willing to allow Saul to have a kingdom dynasty. He would have allowed him and his children to sit upon the throne… if Saul had obeyed. 

Far too often, we think all things are set in stone, that our days are done, that the story of our life is written. Before all time, before all actions, either God has claimed us or rejected us. 

In glorious praise and holy fear, that is not true. 

God would like to allow you to reign with Christ in God’s Kingdom. However, you have choices to make. Will you obey? Will you heed the word of the Lord? 

If you do, then all your sins can be forgiven. God will forgive, God will restore, God will empower. 

But, if you do not obey… “he would have established your kingdom”? More “he would have established you in his kingdom.”

You have choices to make. Rather a choice: will you obey the Word of the Lord.

-Jake Ballard

Reflection Questions

  1. The Law We Obey: 1 John 3:23 tells us the commandment that we are called to obey now. What is new about this commandment? What is ancient about this commandment? How can you live out the commandment today?
  2. The Perseverance We Have: In John 10:29, we are promised protection by the Father and that we, as sheep, are not going to be stolen away. How does this promise of protection relate to the story of Saul and the removal of his Kingdom? How does it relate to the choices we are called to make and the salvation we are called to have?
  3. Once Saved, Always Saved?: While some people find comfort in phrases like “there is nothing you did to earn your salvation, so there is nothing you could do to lose it,” is that phrase true? Can people who have “seen the light” reject the salvation of God? (Check out  Hebrews 6:4-6.) It seems obedient relationship with Christ through the power of the spirit is necessary for salvation! (1 John 5:2) Have you asked God to give you his spirit, so that you can obey the commands of Jesus?
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By Choice, By Prophecy, By Lot

Old Testament: 1 Samuel 9 & 10

Poetry: Psalm 66

New Testament: 2 Corinthians 9

Before David, Saul becomes king of Israel. 

How does a person become king? 

Romulus, the “first king” of Rome, supposedly built Rome with his followers and then asked for the consent of the people who lived in the city. I guess being raised by wolves is helpful in courtly duties. 

Arthur Pendragon pulls a sword from a stone, whether his horse was simply two halves of a coconut or Merlin’s owl spoke. 

T’Challa took a heart-shaped herb and fought a Panther I think? I don’t quite remember that movie. 

“Charles the Third, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of His other Realms and Territories, King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith”, boringly, inherited it from his mother. 

At least one of those kings is fake, the historicity of two others are greatly debated, and personally, I still have my doubts about Charles. 

How does someone become king?

In 1 Samuel 8:19-20, the people cried out for a king. 

In 1 Samuel 9, Saul is chosen by Samuel. 

In 1 Samuel 10:20-24, Saul is chosen by lot. 

In 1 Samuel 11:14-15, *Saul* is chosen by the people.

So, how did he become King? 

People’s choice award? 

Pulling the short straw?

One old guy’s decision?

Saul’s reign is not because the people demanded it, or because Saul got lucky at dice (or pot shards). God is involved in the process. In 1 Samuel 9:17 is was not Samuel but GOD who chose Saul. 

In every authority, in every government, this is true. “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.” (Rom. 13:1) It is clear that God does not approve of every leader and certainly not of their actions. God lets humans make their bad and destructive choices (including, in democracies, choosing bad leaders). Then he works with, and in spite of, those choices. God works to bring about glory for himself; he works toward the coming of the Messiah and his Kingdom. 

Saul was given an opportunity by God to be a person who would bring God’s plan into fruition. God took Saul from chasing donkeys to ruling a nation. God gave Saul every opportunity to be a ruler “after God’s own heart” and yet Saul chose to disobey. 

Kings, rulers, presidents, emperors are only ruling because God has given them the opportunity; the opportunity to obey or disobey, to listen to his voice and to his commands. The same choice he gives to each of us.

Remember, no matter who sits upon any throne, any seat, or behind any desk…

God is on his throne and in control.

-Jake Ballard

Reflection Questions

  1. Preempting “Godwin’s Law”: “What about Hitler?” “What about Mao?” “What about Pol Pot?” Yes those leaders were truly awful. Still, Paul wrote Roman’s to the people who were in the heart of one of the most powerful, most militaristic empires the world has ever known. Paul died by beheading in Rome, and yet he still was inspired by God to write Romans. What is the Christian response to wicked leaders? How much should we obey leaders who are acting against our values? (Maybe check Acts 5:27-32 to compare to Romans 13)
  2. The Lion from Benjamin?: From prophecy in Genesis (Gen. 49:10), it seems like a Benjaminite should never have been king. We see God chose Saul. Now a question for you to chew on for a long time, why Saul? David was a man after God’s own heart and a descendant of Judah. Was Saul always destined to failure? Why THIS choice? (There is not a clear cut reason in scripture, but having read through this chapter, what do you make of it?)
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A Tale of Two “PKs”

*Old Testament: 1 Samuel 7-8

Poetry: Psalm 66

New Testament: 2 Corinthians 8

As a preacher with kids, married to the daughter of a preacher, who was the son of a preacher, I know a fair share of PKs. You’ve heard the term, or maybe something like it : preacher’s kid, pastor’s kid. It is at once a purely descriptive term and a stereotype; his father is a pastor, so he must have problems. I think any such stereotypes are untrue; again I am married to a pastor’s daughter and have my own! But, the stereotype comes from somewhere. Often kids of prominent figures must do more than the average kid to “find themself” and feel like they are being defined by their family of origin. This can lead to precocious behavior and rebellion. I have also heard sad stories of men and women who “gave everything to the church,” to the work they were called to do, forget that their first calling was to their home, to love and raise their children first. 

The sad truth is that, whatever the reason, Samuel’s faith didn’t make it to his sons. Preacher’s kids (prophet’s kids?) through and through, they fit the unfortunate stereotype. They did not follow the ways of their father. We can’t know if Samuel did everything he could and they rebelled or Samuel was absent and they didn’t have the chance to learn. But they were dishonest and greedy. They were being set up to be the next leaders (judges) of Israel, but Israel did not want them. 

Remember the pattern of Israel through Judges. The nation of Israel is oppressed and cries out to the Lord. The Lord provides a judge to crush their enemies and guide them well. Israel thanks God but over time loses sight of his ways. They disobey God and turn away from him and he causes a nation to go in and remind them to follow him. So a nation goes in to oppress Israel and the nation of Israel cries out… and the cycle repeats. The time had come however, when the Israelites didn’t want to rely on the Lord for their deliverance. They want to have a king, a Powerful King (PK) to rule over them. 

Why? Because, though the people of Israel might think they are avoiding those who are greedy and rebellious, the greedy rebellion is happening as they speak: they are rebelling against God by asking for a Powerful King over them. How? Didn’t God want them to have a king? Maybe, in his own time and in his own way, he would bring about a king after his own heart without the elders asking for it, but it was the motive of the elders that was terrible. The elders say “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.” (1 Samuel 8:5) They say “God, we don’t want to rely on you. God, we don’t want you to be our king and to speak to us through prophets. God, we want to have a king like everyone else!”

We don’t want to be special. To be different. To stick out. We want to be like everyone else. And God hears their hearts “They have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.” Samuel warns them kings are powerful, kings are harsh… “Davids” will be the exception; “Sauls” will be the rule. But they say “There shall be a king over us, that we may be like all the nations, that our king may rule us and go out and fight our battles.”

Why talk about prophet’s kids and powerful kings? Both are a rejection of the best God has for us; the sons of Samuel rejected the words of their father and lived lives that were corrupt and evil and despised. They had the opportunity to lead the people of Israel, to be remembered as a judge over God’s people, and they squandered it. But the elders fared no better. Rather than asking for a word from the Lord, they want to get away from God being their only king and have a king like everyone else, to be like everyone else. 

May you today accept that you are called to be different, and accept Jesus Christ as the King who rules over you, to make you different, unique, and not like everyone else.

May you not rebel against the good things taught to you by your parents or parents in the faith. When you learn true thing about the Lord, from whatever source, may you honor it, and not reject the good things that come to you from those who came before. 

May rebellion and rejecting God be far from *us* today. 

The Lord help us, judge us and lead us. Amen.

-Jake Ballard

Reflection Questions

  1. Faithful Kids: Who were your parents in the faith? Was it your mom and dad? An aunt or uncle? A friend or pastor or youth worker? What did they teach you that stuck with you? If they are still alive, do they know the impact they had on you? Reach out and let them know how their life impacted your own!
  2. Not like Everyone Else: How many times have you wished to be like everyone else? That your clothes, your hair, your face, your nose, didn’t make you stick out? That the way you walked or talked or believed didn’t make you weird? The message from scripture is to embrace the weird way Jesus calls us to because normal doesn’t seem to be working! It’s weird to have a full life, a hopeful life, a passionate life. That’s weird… and it’s what Jesus offers!
  3. A Good King: Jesus has the right and ability to take everything, but I have found that the more I give to Jesus, the more he gives back to me. I give him my home for his use, but I have been given the home of every believer who shows hospitality. I give him my money for his use, but I know that if I need support, I will find It. I give him my very life, and he gives me a life worth living. Will you let the good king have all that he demands? Will you be ready to receive the blessings that he will give in return?
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“My God is Bigger than Your God!”

Old Testament: 1 Samuel 5-6

Poetry: Psalm 65

New Testament: 2 Corinthians 7

Did you know Marduk had fifty names? 

It’s OK if you don’t, because most people wouldn’t because we don’t normally know the number of names of ancient gods of dead civilizations. 

But Marduk had fifty!

Two of my kids have four names, and sometimes that feels like three too many!

Why did he have that many?

Because scholars rarely agree on anything, there are many different reasons for this, but there was a common idea in the ancient world that what happened in the physical world was merely an echo of what was happening in the spiritual world. When Babylon took over other cities, they would claim that the god of Babylon, that is, Marduk, had defeated the god or gods of the city or tribe they just defeated. Marduk got a lot of name because Babylon overcame many enemies and they merged together the defeated gods with the great god so that he supplanted even their chief deity by the end of the poem of creation of the Babylonians. 

The school-yard-like taunt between the ancient nations was “My god is bigger than your god!”

This is where we make it to our story today. The Philistines worship a god named Dagon/Dagan, and so when they defeat the Israelites, they wheel the Ark into the temple of Dagon. Because he is bigger, better and stronger than YHWH; right? At least, that’s what the Philistines think. But the destroyed, worshipping statue of their god boasts different things. 

The Old Testament is full of imagery of the great power of God over other “gods.” In the Exodus, God is powerful over the Egyptian deities; he turns off Ra and brings low Pharaoh, among others. In the exile, God is shown to be powerful over his foes in both the last part of Job (where YHWH is subtlety compared to many gods) and in the return from exile, where his people walk free in the year he declared he would bring them back. Here in 1 Samuel, Dagan “worships” God by falling prostrate before him, and the Philistines, while trying to taunt and control God, decide the ark is more trouble than it’s worth.

Some ancient gods have no reality at all; the power of other gods seem to come from demons. (1 Corinthians 10:20) But no matter their reality, their falsehood, their existence or the lack thereof, 

Our God is greater. 

Our God is better. 

“My God is better than your god!” And he actually is!

-Jake Ballard

Reflection Questions:

  1. Marduk. Enlil. Baal. Zeus. Jupiter. There are many gods of the ancient world that claim the title of top God. How can we know there can be only one true God? How would you talk to a friend who is open to the existence of multiple gods or even multiple pantheons of gods? How would you tailor your message to speak to them.
  2. We shouldn’t ignore the two different plagues. Why did the Philistines have a plague affect them? Why did the people of Beth Shemesh have a plague affect them? What do these two plagues teach us about God?
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God on Call?

Old Testament: 1 Samuel 3-4

Poetry: Psalm 64

New Testament: 2 Corinthians 6

I want to be very clear from the outset: YHWH, the God who created everything, who spoke the universe into existence, who watches the explosions of supernovas and the random dance of  each of the electrons in the subatomic particles, THIS God is *on your side*. YHWH (usually written as LORD in the Bible) is a *someone* who has relationships, not just a power or a force; he loves you and wants to be with you in the Kingdom, the eternal life after death on the Earth made new. To that end, God gave us his son Jesus of Nazareth, to die in our place and for our sins so that we could be forgiven and live eternally. God did not have to do that but he did because he is on our side, even when we haven’t been on his. 

BUT…

God is not “on call”. 

Have you ever wondered why witchcraft was banned in Israel? (Ex. 22:17, Lev. 19:26) Part of it is that God wanted the Israelites to have a clean break with everything that was in the land of Canaan before them. But there was an ancient belief that by practicing witchcraft, humans could control the supernatural. When God revealed that he is the only God, then witchcraft was a presumption that humans can control God, that we can make demands on the Almighty. This was still the assumption of the culture all the way to the time of the early church (see Simon the Sorcerer in Acts 8:9-24).

Read 1 Samuel 4:2-4 again. The Israelites are defeated by the Philistines. At that point, they probably should have prayed to know the will of the Lord. They could have sacrificed and cast the urim and thummim to discern the wise solution. But what they actually did was to try and control God. “Let’s take the Ark, and it will deliver us!” Or, said another way, “God certainly won’t let us lose if we carry his Ark into battle; he’ll have to let us win!” They don’t look to the God who would deliver them; they were looking to the tools that were used to remind them of God. 

We don’t have the Ark today; maybe it was melted down by the Babylonians, or maybe it was taken to Ethiopia, or maybe it’s on Oak Island. No one knows, and it doesn’t really matter. We don’t want to fall into the same trap that the Israelites did. We shouldn’t presume that God will do what we desire, even though he is on our side. 

Today, we don’t march with the ark, but we think of God in wrong ways. Some of the WRONG ways to think about God are:

  • God is a loving grandfather, who dotes upon his grandkids and makes sure to sneak them candy or a crisp $5 bill when mom and dad aren’t looking. The grandkids may not ask, but they do expect. 
  • God is a genie, who will grant our wishes when we believe hard enough and pray long enough. 
  • God is a vending machine; we put in the “belief” and “prayer” coins and God spits out the requested deliverance. At this point, God has lost all personality.  

What happens to those who presume to demand God show up when and how they desire? Death, destruction, pain, and despair. (1 Samuel 4 is a depressing chapter!)

But there is a better word for you. God is on your side, and you approach him as a father that has the best plans for you, even though that may be painful work to make you full and complete. You must approach him as God, believing that he will work all things for good and knowing that the ultimate good of the universe is His glory and our worship, not our happiness or comfort.  You must approach him as God, that hears and responds to the prayers of his people, but not beholden to us to work like a machine at his request. 

May we honor the God who is not controlled by us, but is on our side!

Questions

  1. If you do not know the saving power and love of God, seek that out today. God REALLY is on your side. He loves you deeply, he wants the best for you, and he knows what you need better than even you do. Will you trust in him to bring you to life and salvation?
  2. How have you treated God in ways other than God deserves to be treated? Have you thought of God as your grandfather, or your genie, or your vending machine? Maybe some other way that you make demands of God? If you have, how can you repent, and trust in God without demanding anything of him?
  3. “God’s ultimate goal is his glory, not your happiness.” This is one of the hardest truths to accept when pride and the flesh is still being worked out of us. How can we give God the glory and worship he deserves, and not get hung up on our own desires, preferences, and pleasures?

Jake Ballard

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All-Surpassing Power

Old Testament: Ruth 4

Poetry: Psalms 62

New Testament: 2 Corinthians 4

2 Corinthians 4 teaches us that we have the ability to endure hardship. We are able to endure hardships because we have God’s help. As Christians we have to remember that since God has the ability to raise the dead, he also has the ability to give us the strength to handle hard situations or remove us from those situations altogether. 2 Corinthians 4:7 states:

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”

Paul refers to the power that can save us as “treasure in jars of clay”. This treasure cannot be found from worldly things. There is no amount of podcasts or self-help books that will save you the way only God’s power can save us. Paul goes on to remind us that even when we feel the pressure of our problems, we are not broken.

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).

2 Corinthians 4 leaves us with an important reminder. The problems we have to deal with now are only temporary and it is an opportunity for God to work within us. If we remain faithful, we will one day live eternally without worldly troubles.

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)

-Brooke Cisneros

Reflection Questions

  1. What have you done that could only be done with God’s power? Are you using God’s power to the fullest?
  2. When have you felt “hard pressed…but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed”? What makes the difference and gives you hope even in difficult situations?
  3. What temporary or “light and momentary” troubles has God already seen you through?
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Turn to Forgive

Old Testament: Ruth 2

Poetry: Psalms 62 (again-what do you notice, today?)

New Testament: 2 Corinthians 2

In 2 Corinthians 2 Paul teaches us how we should forgive as Christians. Paul expresses the idea that the people who grieved him should not be met with revenge, but instead with reconciliation.

“Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him.”

Unfortunately, some Christians today have a false definition of forgiveness. We have all heard the saying “I can forgive, but I can’t forget”. When you forgive someone, you don’t keep track of their wrongdoings. This is a way we show love as Christians. 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 states:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs”

Why is Paul so willing to practice forgiveness? It’s because he has been forgiven by God through Jesus. When we feel it’s “too hard” to forgive someone we have to remember how often we are forgiven ourselves.

Forgiveness needs to become part of our new nature. As image bearers of God, we need to become forgiving like God is. We need to recognize that forgiveness is part of God’s nature (Exodus 34:6-7), just as many people in the Bible recognized that God’s nature was forgiving (Numbers 14:17-19). If God is forgiveness we need to be forgiving. Forgiveness was the mission of Jesus Christ, let that be our mission as well.

-Brooke Cisneros

Reflection Questions

  1. When have you forgiven someone else? How did that make you feel?
  2. What is the problem with unforgiveness? What is the connection between unforgiveness and being “outwitted by Satan”? (see verse 11)
  3. Explain how God has forgiven. Have you accepted His forgiveness through accepting His Son? If so, how can you pass forgiveness on to others? If not, why not?
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