Tag: following God

Hearts Far from God

Isaiah 28-30

July 11, 2025

              Within the contents of Isaiah 28-30, there are a few verses that stick out to me that I think are worth dwelling on. The first of those is Isaiah 29:13 which reads:

 [13] And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men, – Isaiah 29:13 (ESV)

I think this verse describes what is happening a lot in the Church today. Many of us, me included, are guilty of claiming with our mouth that we are living holy and righteous while not giving up the areas we need to improve. I don’t want to be someone always ready to give a good answer, something that sounds intelligent, ready to glorify God, but do not live out what my mouth claims. I don’t want to be someone who is ready to sing a worship song but not ready to forgive the person who has wronged me.

The next verse I wish for us to dwell on is Isaiah 29:19.

 [19] The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel. – Isaiah 29:19 (ESV)

              This verse can act as an encouragement for some and a warning to others. Whether you are rich or poor, strong or weak, short or tall, educated or uneducated, I think this verse tells us to adopt a mindset of being humble. Throughout the Bible, over and over, God helps those in need and sympathizes with the struggling. Especially in America, it is so easy to live in comfort and the mindset of self-reliance. We blind ourselves with the things we possess or the abilities we have and try to forget how much we depend on God. Let us remember that God will make great the meek and lift up the lowly.

The last verse that I want to cover is Isaiah 30:18.

 [18] Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. – Isaiah 30:18 (ESV)

When we receive God’s grace it is freeing to know that despite all that we have done that is evil, God still chooses us and extends forgiveness toward us. Sometimes it is hard to see that God is gracious with us. We constantly need to be reminded of the fact that God will be gracious with us if only we would turn to him and allow his grace to change us.

Application Questions:

If you have received grace from God, how does your life reflect that?

Who is someone who needs to hear about God’s grace today?

Will you be a talker or a doer of following God?

-Jeremiah Grable

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Dealing with Disappointment

1 Kings 20-21

In First Kings 21 we find the account of King Ahab in his attempt to gain ownership of a vineyard owned by a man named Naboth.  After the king makes his appeal to Naboth, Naboth declines his offer.  King Ahab’s response is recorded in First Kings 21:4 where it says, “So Ahab went home, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said, ‘I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.’  He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat.” 

What a response to the disappointment of not getting what he wanted!  He’s acting like a spoiled toddler.  He doesn’t get his way so he sulks, gets angry, lays on his bed, and refuses to eat.  It’s easy to see why King Ahab is known as one of the evil kings of Israel.  However, might there be something in this account that hits a bit close to home for us as well?

Has there ever been anything in your life that you really wanted and did not get?  How did you respond?  Have you ever played or watched a sport in which you really wanted your team to win but they didn’t?  How did you respond?  Have you ever worked hard and wanted to earn a promotion or a good grade but did not receive what you thought you deserved?  How did you respond?  In any of these situations, or others when you did not get what you wanted, did you sulk or become angry or refuse to eat?

We could certainly look to Jesus and see how he handled disappointments in life.  He weeps over Jerusalem in Matthew 23 but resolutely follows God’s leading to Jerusalem.  He prays God will allow a different path in the Garden of Gethsemane in Matthew 26 but resolutely follows God’s leading to the cross.  These are two of many examples in which Jesus affirms that he will follow God, no matter the disappointments he faces.

Another biblical example of appropriate responses to things not going their way is the account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3.  When threatened with the punishment of being thrown into a fiery furnace if they do not abandon God, they respond by saying that God would rescue them, “But even if He does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”  These three were also resolute that even if they did not get their way, they would follow God’s leading.

As we face times of disappointment in our lives, let’s commit to resolutely following God, no matter what.  The encouragement Paul gave in First Thessalonians 5:16-18 would be good encouragement for us in these times as well.  “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”  Even when we do not get our way we can choose to be joyful, to pray, and to give thanks.

-Michael Cisler

Reflection Questions

  1. Has there ever been anything in your life that you really wanted and did not get?  How did you respond?  What is your typical response to any sort of disappointment? Why do you think you respond this way?
  2. What could be some underlying thought processes of someone who regularly becomes angry or sullen when faced with disappointment (not getting what they want)?
  3. How can a better response to disappointment be a witness to your faith in God?
  4. What would you like to do next time you meet up with a disappointment?
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Alliances with Unbelievers

Old Testament: 2 Chronicles 17-19

Poetry: Psalm 6

New Testament: 1 Timothy 2

“Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?”  This is a pretty challenging question that comes straight from today’s reading from 2 Chronicles 19:2 NIV.  One of the questions that comes to mind for me is “help the wicked do what?”  The second question is, “Why shouldn’t I love those who hate the LORD?”  After all,  Didn’t Jesus tell us that we are supposed to love everyone, including our enemies? (Matthew 5:44) Shouldn’t godly people treat others with love, even unbelievers, even those who have rejected God? 

One of my ministry settings is as a hospital chaplain.  Recently I visited a patient who informed me as soon as I walked into their room that they were an atheist, but that they still wanted to talk to me, they were going through an emotional crisis and they needed help.  This was a person that didn’t simply hate the LORD but actually denies the existence of God.  As a Chaplain, as a pastor, and as a Christian should I have NOT helped the patient?  Should I have NOT loved the patient since they do not love God?  I’ll tell you the rest of the story at the end. Let’s look at the context of this quote in today’s reading and see what God reveals to us about himself.

The story is about Jehoshaphat (isn’t that a great name).  It literally means YHWH has judged.  At the time of today’s reading in 2 Chronicles 17-19 Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah.  Judah and Israel were at one time one nation comprised of 12 tribes that descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Israel was a strong and united nation during the reigns of kings David and Solomon, but after Solomon died the nation of Israel was divided by a civil war.  The Northern Kingdom of Israel, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah separated with Judah’s capital in Jerusalem where the temple of God was.  Jehoshaphat was the king of Judah and ruled from Jerusalem.  He was an heir of King David and was generally a good and faithful ruler who avoided the worship of idols.  Ahab was the King of Israel and he did not remain faithful to YHWH, the God of Israel, and led his people into the worship of idols which was strictly forbidden by God.

A common practice at the time for smaller nations was to enter into alliances with other nations against their enemies.  God had made it clear to his people that he did not want them entering into political alliances with nations that practiced idol worship.  In today’s reading, it says that Jehoshaphat entered into an alliance by marriage with Ahab and Israel.  This was a violation of God’s commands and led to all kinds of trouble for Jehoshaphat and the Kingdom of Judah.  Now that they were in an alliance Ahab wanted Jehoshaphat to go to war with him against their enemies.  The problem was that God was not in favor of this because of Ahab’s unfaithfulness.  Jehoshaphat was wise enough to ask one of the prophets to seek God on the question.  Of course, Jehoshaphat should have known the answer- God did not want him to enter into an alliance with Ahab to begin with, he certainly wouldn’t want Jehoshaphat to fight in battle alongside Ahab, a battle which Ahab was destined to lose and where he would be killed.

After Ahab was indeed killed in battle as the prophet warned, Jehoshaphat returned to his palace where another prophet of God, Jehu, came to him and asked our opening question-“Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?”  The answer here was clearly “no, you should not enter into a political alliance with a king and a nation that have rejected God and his teaching.  No, you should not give your son to be married to the idolatrous king’s daughter as the law clearly taught that God’s covenant people should not marry with idolatrous people who do not believe in God.

The prophet was not saying that God’s people should never help a non-believer or should never act in loving ways to people outside of the faith community.  The law taught that we should love our neighbor (Leviticus 19:18).  What the prophet was saying is you should never enter into a formal alliance with one who has rejected God and the teachings of God.  The Apostle Paul would express this to followers of Jesus in 2 Corinthians 6:14 “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common?”  One obvious example of this would be marriage.  If you are a Christian you should not enter into a committed relationship with one who has denied or rejected Jesus Christ as savior or God as our Father.  Believers should not marry unbelievers.  If you’re driving down the road and you see your non-believing neighbor with a flat tire, you can stop and help her change her tire, but you can’t marry her.  You might do a favor or otherwise show kindness and love to unbelievers, but it would be potentially very spiritually dangerous to enter into a business alliance with one who has rejected God and godly values.

Jehoshaphat was basically a good man and a good king, but he got into trouble when he violated the clear teaching of God’s law by entering into a political alliance by having his son marry the idolatrous, god-rejecting king Ahab’s daughter.  It might be the savvy and politically expedient thing to do, but it was spiritually deadly.

If you are committed to following God and God’s values, you can and should show love and kindness to everyone, including believers, but don’t join them or make commitments that will compromise your values and dedication to Jesus Christ.

Now for the rest of the story.  The atheist and I talked for an hour.  When I left they said, “I think I might want you to preach at my funeral.”  A week later they came back to the hospital and asked the nurse to have me come and visit. We talked for another hour.  Before I left they said, “I’m not so convinced that God doesn’t exist, is it okay if I visit your church?”  We can and should show kindness and grace and caring love to everyone, including unbelievers, just don’t enter into committed relationships with them, until they give their lives to Jesus too.

-Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1.  Beyond dating and marriage, what are some other potentially damaging ways a Christian today might bring themself spiritual harm by entering into an alliance with one who has rejected God?  How might this impact educational or career decisions?  Investment decisions? What political candidates we support?
  2. How would Jesus want you to love your non-Christian neighbor without entering into a dangerous commitment to one who does not share your values?
  3. As Christians, we are called to pray for and obey our governments unless they demand that we violate our commitment to God, how is that different from supporting a political candidate who clearly has rejected God’s teaching either by what they profess or how they live?

Bio- This week’s devotions are written by pastor Jeff Fletcher.  Pastor Jeff has been a participant at Fuel for over 40 years.  He is a pastor and hospital chaplain in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and is a doctoral candidate for Integrative Mental Health at Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville.   He is married to Karen, father of eleven, and grandpa/papa to 15.  He likes reading, watching baseball, and making delicious pulled pork in the smoker.

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Running to Do God’s Work

Old Testament: 1 Samuel 25 & 26

Poetry: Proverbs 14

*New Testament: Acts 8

Acts is quite possibly my favorite book of the Bible because of its emphasis on theological truths. Acts also shows us the amazing effects that occur when we are following God wholeheartedly and preaching to others sound theology. The book allows us to get an insider look on what the early church looked like and the rapid growth that occurred as the apostles preached the name of Jesus to the Jews in hopes of convincing them to accept him as the Messiah.

The story of Philip and the Ethiopian shows a beautiful example of how God places people in the right place at the right time. In this case, quite literally. God used Philip to come alongside the Ethiopian at the exact moment that his heart was ready to receive the truth.  We see a clear contrast from Simon the sorcerer whose heart was “not right before God”. Simon desired a profit for himself over the truth that God could give. On the other hand, the Ethiopian was reading the Scriptures and seeking to understand it.

The Ethiopian devoted his life to serve the king of Ethiopia by becoming a eunuch so that the king’s throne and family would not be threatened. He was a very high-ranking Ethiopian who was an important official in charge of all the treasury of the queen of the Ethiopians. This is an important piece of information since this high-ranking man, from a different country, made the decision to travel to Jerusalem to visit the temple and worship God. Therefore, he desired and even went out of his way to worship the true God, even though it was a different god than his people worshiped. This may indicate that he had even converted to Judaism. And somewhere along the way he got his hands on a precious copy of the book of Isaiah, which would have been much harder to acquire back then. And as many of us can relate to, he was having a hard time understanding what he was reading. He wanted to know more about the passage and who it was referring to because he could have related to it personally as a eunuch. At this point in the story, Philip listened to God and literally RAN to go do what God wanted him to do. This shows Philip’s heart in doing God’s will wherever God places him.

When it comes to theology, we can see how God took a gentile who feared God and gave him the opportunity to accept Jesus as the Messiah. I love what this says about God. The Ethiopian was not one of God’s chosen people in the definition of nationality. But God saw one of His children struggling to understand His word, so He sent Philip to help reveal the Messianic text of Isaiah the prophet to the Ethiopian so that he could accept the truth of the Messiah. Here we see the beginning of the Gentiles being grafted into the family of God when the Ethiopian accepts the message of Jesus and becomes baptized. This also shows how important the message of Jesus as the Messiah is to God.

-Makayla Railton

Application Points:

The spiritual health of our heart matters. (Be like the Ethiopian, not Simon the sorcerer!)

God desires us to be in His Kingdom and He desires us to help others get there. (Be like Philip!)

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What God Puts in My Mouth

Old Testament Reading: Numbers 22 & 23

Psalms Reading: Psalm 70

New Testament Reading: 2 Corinthians 7

Balaam is an interesting character – as is of course his famous articulate donkey. He must have been a very well-known and successful diviner – or pagan prophet – for Balak, the king of Moab, to send delegations twice to bring Balaam to curse the Israelites.

Balaam is not an Israelite. He does not serve the Lord Almighty. However, in these two chapter (Numbers 21 & 22) it appears he does a better job of listening to the Lord God and following his directions than most of the Israelites whom God had rescued from Egypt. From the Israelites who had experienced God’s mighty saving hand at work we have heard a whole lot of grumbling, complaining, and belly-aching as well as questioning God’s power and intent, His love and His faithfulness and His chosen leaders. In contrast, here we have the pagan prophet Balaam who (currently) seems to be following God’s every directive: Stay, Go, Speak. And Balaam does it. Perhaps Balaam has heard some of the stories coming out of the Israelite camp: the ground opening up to swallow the rebellious, the plagues of sickness and death, the water from the rock, the quail three feet deep, the sons of the priest burned to death by fire from heaven. As a sorcerer/diviner/soothsayer he has got to be more than a little curious about this God and all He can do. We do know Balaam heard his donkey speak to him (God truly can give His words to anyone, or anything) and God opened Balaam’s eyes. In response, Balaam speaks. And at this time, he speaks for God. It is as if he has no choice, just as his talking donkey had no choice. And so Balaam delivers God’s words:

“Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not do anything great or small to go beyond the command of the Lord my God.” (22:18)

“But I can’t say whatever I please. I must speak only what God puts in my mouth.” (22:38)

“Did I not tell you I must do whatever the Lord says?” (23:26)

How silent the world would be if we erased all the words spoken that were NOT what God put in our mouths. This thought has been going through my mind the past couple of days (perhaps making it harder to write this devotion). Who of us can say (for very long), “I must speak (type) only what God puts in my mouth”? How would my house and marriage and work and church be improved if every word from my mouth first was reviewed to see if it was worthy of God’s seal of approval – “These words were brought to you by God”? I have said some pretty stupid, wrong, hurtful words that were definitely NOT from God. And, they get me into trouble and further from where He wants me to be. I know there are also many times I have failed to say what God HAS wanted me to speak.

Unfortunately for Balaam, his story doesn’t end there. Unfortunately for Balaam, his heart and motives and ethics were not in line with his words from the Lord. It is not enough to speak what is right while doing what is wrong. As we continue reading in Numbers we will learn more about Balaam. In the meantime, you might be interested in also checking out what some New Testament writers had to say about Balaam: 2 Peter 2:15, Jude 11, Revelation 2:14.

Dear God, please open my eyes and give me the words you want me to say. THOSE are the words I want to speak. Help me live your words and show You to the world.

-Marcia Railton

Reflection Questions

  1. Re-read carefully the words that God put into Balaam’s mouth (23:7-10 & 18-24). What does God want to be made known about Him and His people? What do you think God wants you to tell others about Him? How? Where? When?
  2. How can you guard against saying the right thing but doing the wrong thing?
  3. What does God reveal about Himself in your Bible reading today? Why is that important?
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Generations

* Old Testament Reading: Numbers 20 & 21

Psalms Reading: Psalm 69

New Testament Reading: 2 Corinthians 6

In Numbers 20-21 we encounter the Israelites at the end of their journey as they wrap up their years in the wilderness and prepare to enter the promised land of Canaan. Unfortunately, before they do that, we see a purging of a generation of people who had rebelled, distrusted, and quarreled with themselves and with the LORD. In Chapter 14 God had instructed them that only Joshua and Caleb would enter the promised land, and now we see God was serious. In Numbers 20:1 Miriam dies, in verse 12 Moses is told he will not be entering the promised land, and by the end of the chapter Aaron is dead. No special privileges here for being a priest, a leader, or related to a special someone who “was a really good person most of the time”.

In recent years I’ve heard more and more talk about generations.  Terms like X, Y, Z’s, Millennials, Zillennials, Baby Boomers. All have their strengths and weaknesses, and since I fall right in-between two, depending where I am or what is being said, I might want to associate with one more than another. That is because there are stereotypes of generations, but none are always accurate nor are they particularly important or beneficial. No matter what, as a body of Christ, we are an intergenerational people, and research continues to show the benefits of multigenerational worship and education. The year of your birth simply does not have anything to do with who we are in Christ. What does matter is our faith in Jesus and being a follower of him. In today’s reading, we see a generation dying out who knew God, yet had managed to waste the better part of 40 years not doing much to please Him, but doing a great job finding things to fight and complain about. We are currently living in a world where fights and complaints are the norm, and also one where our life expectancy is dropping. Many people born in recent generations have a lower life expectancy than their parents did. We are on this earth for a finite time, and unless we live until Jesus returns, we will “rest with our fathers” the same way people have been doing since the days of Numbers.

But, the story of Numbers doesn’t just end with death and burials, and ours doesn’t have to either. Joshua and Caleb (and crew) did get to the Promised Land. And we see more symbolism again in this idea since Yeshua can be translated as Joshua in Hebrew (our OT character leading them to the promised land) and when translated into Greek/from Greek can be translated as Jesus (our NT character through whom we have hope of our promised land in the kingdom). There is lots more out there to learn about as far as name studies if that interests you which I’ve learned a bit more about through a friend who has “Yeshua is my king” stickered across his back window. I couldn’t help ask about that one the first time I met him!

Another thing I found interesting as I read Numbers 20-21 is that a lot of the pagan enemies they are fighting on their way to the promised land are their “relatives”. The Edomites come from Esau (who was later named Edom), the Moabites and Ammonites come through incestuous relationships through Lot, and for that matter, all of them go back to Noah’s three sons! But, it didn’t matter if you were a descendant of Abraham or a relative of someone who once believed in the one true God. The people who entered the promised land were those who trusted and relied on Him, humbling themselves to allow Him to lead. Everyone else who didn’t worship the one true God as he instructed them to, set apart and holy according to his expectations. . . they were enemies. It didn’t matter if they had heard YHWH, the God of Israel, was powerful and real and they were a little scared of him. It mattered if they honored and obeyed him, and they certainly did not. While family trees can be interesting, that is about all they are good for when it comes to things of eternal perspective. The fact that your great grandpa was an elder who walked 10 miles uphill to go to church every Sunday doesn’t matter, and whether or not your relatives called themselves Christians or you attended church as a kid does not matter for your future. What matters is that in your present, regardless of which generation you are from or how much longer you may have left on this earth, you humble yourself before God and let Him lead.  The wilderness surrounds us, but the promised land to come is real.

Yesterday I ended with a verse I really liked about Jesus being the sacrifice for sins for all of us, for the whole world for all time. No more sacrifices required, and we are cleansed and forgiven. That is beautiful and true. But, the verse immediately following is too. It tells us how God expects us to respond to that gift and is a good way to wrap up our studies in Numbers this week I think.

“And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.” (I John 2:3, ESV)

-Jennifer Hall

Reflection Questions

  1. What did this Israelite generation have going for them? What were strikes against them? What most important thing did they keep forgetting?
  2. Right now, this week, have you been more like Joshua and Caleb – intent on trusting a great big God who saves and will lead you into the Promised Land – or the generation that will not survive the wilderness – losing sight of God’s greatness as you focus instead on complaining, arguing, living in fear and negativity and quarreling with the Lord? Are there any changes that need to be made starting today?
  3. What does God reveal about Himself in the passages we have read from His Holy Word today?
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Blessing or Curse?

Deuteronomy 11

February 20

Verse 26-27

See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse—the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today;  the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods.

Chapter 11 is a constant reminder for obedience. We see multiple reminders to be careful – which to me shows how easy it is mess up. If we are not paying attention we can easily fall. 

The Israelites are about to finally leave the wilderness and go into the land that was promised. Before entering they are given some instruction to help them not fall away like those before them. It was focused on obedience to the law and commands that were being given to them. 

We often think of obedience as a restriction from the things we would like to do. But here we are reminded that God desires blessing for us and those blessings are for those who make the choice of obedience.

Obedience isn’t just knowing God or about his commands. It is making the choice to follow them. Making the choice to have them be a priority in your life. Surrounding yourself with reminders to do what is right so you are not tempted to fall away. 

It is a choice! We are not forced to do anything. God did not create humans as robots. He gave us the choice to obey or not. We make a choice everyday and that choice is tied together with love. If we love God we will obey him! 

Those that love God will obey God. Those that obey God will be blessed by God. 

-John Wincapaw

Questions for Reflection and Discussion

  1. When have you experienced God’s blessings for obedience?
  2. Can you think of a time you may have experienced God’s punishment or curses because of a time of disobedience?
  3. What have you seen of God’s power and might with your own eyes? How can you pass this along to those younger than you who did not experience what you did? Why is that important to do?
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A New and Improved Covenant

Jeremiah 33 & 34 and Hebrews 8

Following God and obeying His will does not mean that we will have a life free of problems as we can see from so many of the stories in the Bible. It does mean that God is with us as we go through the hard times. Sometimes life is harder for us when we tell others what God wants them to hear.  As we read Jeremiah 33 & 34, we see that this is true for Jeremiah. Jeremiah is still imprisoned by King Zedekiah and Jeremiah is still obeying and trusting in God and telling them what God has told him to say. In Jeremiah 33:2-3a it says “This is what the Lord says, He who made the earth, the Lord who formed it to create it, He whose name is the Lord: ‘Call to Me and I will answer you,‘” Isn’t it amazing that the God who created the universe wants us to call out to Him, and it’s equally amazing that He WILL answer. We all have hard times that we go through, but we can call out to our Father and He will walk with us through the hard times. But He wants us (and the Israelites & Judeans) to know that there is a bright future when all the hardships will be over and we will live in joy and peace.

It says in Jeremiah 33:11b “Give thanks to the Lord of armies, for the Lord is good, for His mercy is everlasting,” God is a good God and His mercies are everlasting, and He has a great future in store for His children. God reminds them that a day is coming when His word will be fulfilled. In Jeremiah 33:14-16 we have a prophecy about Jesus and it says; “Behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch of David sprout; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety; and this is the name by which it will be called: the Lord is our righteousness.’”

In Chapter 34 God tells Jeremiah to tell King Zedekiah that Babylon will come in and take over and he will meet King Nebuchadnezzar face to face, but he says that the king would not die by the sword but that he would die in peace. As we learn in the rest of the chapter that is exactly what happened.

We have all seen commercials about something that is “New and Improved,” which means that something was not as good as it should have been or there would be no need for improvement. Hebrews 8 is all about a new covenant that has been established through Jesus, our sacrificial lamb, and now our high priest. The reason there had to be a new covenant was because the first one was not faultless, but the new covenant is. Hebrews 8:1 “Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, without fault.” Jesus was the perfect sacrificial lamb, without fault or blemish.  We have read some of these verses already because they were taken from Jeremiah 31:33. Anytime a verse is used in both the Old and New Testament, we should pay attention to what it says. Hebrews 8:10-11.  “For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, And write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.  And they will not teach, each one his fellow citizen, and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest of them.” God is constantly working in our lives because He is a God of love, He loves His children, and He wants to be our God, and for us to be His people.  

-Sherry Alcumbrack

Today’s Bible reading passages can be read or listened to at BibleGateway.com here – Jeremiah 33-34 and Hebrews 8

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The Joy of Overcoming

Philippians 3

Paul is one of the few people who can write “Finally” and continue on writing for the same length that he had just written! He writes two chapters, puts “finally” and writes two more. Inspired as he is, obviously Paul thinks of most of what he writes from Philippians 3:1-4:7 as all one idea. To be fair, as you are reading today, he uses “finally” in chapter 4 as well. It reminds me of a “midwestern goodbye;” he keeps trying to end his conversation but doesn’t want to say goodbye just yet.

While Paul starts his writing in verse one on the happy note of “rejoice” in the Lord, he quickly moves to talk of things that we need to beware of and, I think, overcome. That means we need to live differently, have victory over, and to not be defeated by. 

Overcoming Others

In two places in this chapter, Paul discusses two kinds of unfaithful people and the way they live. First, there are those whom he calls “dogs” and “evil workers”. These are both the Jews and the Judaizing Christians who believe they follow God because they are circumcised on the outside and think all must follow them. However, their pride and focus on the law is actually showing that they have a false circumcision (3:2). Paul says that we are the ones who truly follow God, who follow him with a “circumcised” (or pure) heart. 

Secondly, there are those who have never come to faith of any kind. Instead of even trying to honor God through false rules and regulations, they focus on fulfilling their own desires, whether that is food, drink, or sex. They worship those desires as their god. Even, (maybe especially) in our world there are those who glorify their appetites that they indulge as “healthy”, “not-repressed”, and “liberating”. However, Paul weeps knowing that their end is not life, not joy, but destruction. (3:18-19)

Overcoming Ourselves

We need to not be like either of those groups, but that means overcoming ourselves. True, we need to overcome the teachings of those who say following God is keeping a bunch of rules and regulations, but it is easy to feel good about ourselves because we did keep God’s word. It would be easy for Paul, for example, to glory in who he is. (3:4-6) He fulfilled all the credentials of what a successful Jew would be. But he considers it “dung” (skubala) if he might instead have Christ. He would count all these things rubbish in order to have the far greater, far surpassing righteousness of Christ. (3:7-9)

Once we know that our best attributes are only dung in comparison to Christ, we may say we might as well live terribly because we can never measure up. But Paul encourages us to strive to live rightly. Ever upward into the call of God in Christ. He says, though we will never be perfect, let us keep living by the same standard to which Christ has raised us. (3:12-16)

How to Hupernikao (Overcome)

How are we to overcome? How are we to not fall into the traps of being legalistic or being completely wild with our living? We need to live LIKE CHRIST! That should sound familiar! If we live like Christ, forgetting what lies behind and pressing on ahead (12-16) then we will be conformed to him. We will suffer the way he suffered, being mistreated on both sides. We will sound to0 gracious to the “judgmental” and too judgmental to the “gracious”. We won’t look like those who are legalistic and believe that rule following will save them. But we also won’t look like those who believe that everything is OK and permissible.

But this is the way Jesus lived. He was a friend of tax collectors and sinners and yet told them they needed to stop sinning. If we live like him, we will face the suffering he faced, we may even be conformed to him in death. (3:10) But the GLORIOUS news is that if we are connected to him, believe in him, and live like him, we will ALSO be raised with him. If we die with him, we will also live with him. (3:11, cf. 2 Tim. 2:11-13)

It is because we have a savior who will raise us up, and glorify us as he rules over all things that Paul can say, in Philippians 4:1 “Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.” Because we have a savior who will redeem us, we can rejoice in the Lord and we can be the joy of those who have trained us in the way we should go. 

May you, my brothers and sisters, overcome those who tell you to be more strictly following all the right rules that only they seem to know. 

May you overcome those who say live with abandon and do whatever it is that makes you happy and fulfills you. 

May you overcome the desires in yourself that push in you in those directions. 

May you instead be conformed to the life, suffering, death, and ultimately resurrection of Christ, as you seek to live like him. 

May you forget what lies behind, press on ahead, and retain the standard, while only trusting in Christ’s sacrifice to save you. 

Amen

-Jake Ballard

Read or listen to today’s Bible reading plan passages at BibleGateway.com here – Isaiah 13-14 and Philippians 4

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The Joy of Christlikeness

Philippians

In response to yesterday’s definition of joy, you may be asking, “how do I get joy?” As the example definition says, it comes from hearing the gospel message, responding in faith, and receiving the Holy Spirit. There is a truth to the fact that salvation is a one time event, being transferred from the domain of darkness to his Kingdom of marvelous light. (Col. 1:13, 1 Peter 2:9) But there is also the truth that we are called to continue to grow in faith. We bring joy to ourselves and others as we pursue faith and Christlikeness.  

Philippians 2 is known primarily for the “Christ Hymn” in verses 5-11. These verses contain a powerful, beautiful, early Christian hymn sung to the glory of God in honor of Christ. We could spend a long time discussing the theology, christology and soteriology, but that would miss the MAIN POINT for why Paul wrote this section. He is trying to teach the Philippians to “live like Jesus.” Jesus, who had every right to think of himself as great and wonderful, instead lowered himself and followed God’s will. Because Jesus did this, we should not be selfish, vain, or arrogant, but should regard others more important than ourselves. (2:3) 

Paul tells the Philippians that being like Christ is going to fill them with joy. Verse one shows that if we seek Christlikeness, we can have encouragement in Christ, the consolation of love, fellowship of the Spirit, affection and compassion. If we seek any of those things, we need to maintain love, be united, and intently serving God (2:2). Maintaining love, being united and intently serving are all descriptions of how Christ lived. If we want the joy that Christ had, the connection to God that allowed him to be joyful in the midst of what, by all accounts, was a tough life, then we need to live as Christ lived, obedient and following God. 

Which is why in verses 12-13, we are told to obey and work our salvation directly after the Christ hymn. Obedience leads to joy! So often we think rebellion, independence, being novel will lead to joy. But that may only be true if we are rebelling against wicked things and unjust systems. Rebelling against good and loving commands of God will only bring heart ache. God is working for our salvation, and we are to work alongside him. Along with the old hymn, we sing “trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey!”

One final note, I said in the first paragraph that we bring joy to ourselves and others when we pursue faith and Christlikeness. When we obey the commands of God like honoring others over ourselves and taking care of their needs, he will bless us with joy. But how does that bring joy to others. Of course, we can and should expect it to bring happiness, which is a fine emotion in itself, but it isn’t the lasting joy we are talking about. But it’s not often the recipients of our blessings that are filled with joy. When we live like Christ, those who led and taught us the faith see and rejoice that we are more like the one they love. Paul asks the Philippians to “make my joy complete” in 2:2 by living like Christ. If the Philippians lived blameless and innocent lives, which they could do by the power of the Holy Spirit, then Paul could rejoice in their faith. In like manner, as we live in faith by the power of Spirit, our parents, grandparents, or spiritual ancestors will react in joy, knowing that we are going to be rejoicing together one day in the Kingdom with Christ. 

May you, my brothers and sisters, live like Christ through the power of the spirit, and by living with that humility, focus on others, and blameless innocence, that you bring joy to yourself and others. 

-Jake Ballard

(I know the days are off, but I needed to define joy yesterday. I am gonna focus mainly on joy and that will take over the first couple days of Colossians, too.)

Read or listen to today’s Bible reading plan passages at BibleGateway.com here – Isaiah 11-12 and Philippians 3

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