Tag: God is just

Abounding in Love

*Old Testament: Exodus 33 &34

Poetry: Psalm 33

New Testament: Matthew 28

As a child, I remember making an emergency run to the neighborhood store with my Mom for a box of cereal. It was the night before Valentine’s Day. Our teacher had told us to decorate a cereal box to transform it into our personal Valentine’s Day mail box. Of course, I had forgotten all about this class project until the night before it was due. Everyone in our class would buy a pack of cards. I liked opening my box of cards and reading through each one as I addressed and signed them. I was so excited to drop the cards in the other boxes for my classmates. The class card exchange has been a long-standing tradition and a fun way for kids to express fondness for classmates. Expressing fondness, admiration or appreciation for others is definitely a skill that I want to pass on to the next generation. And more importantly, I want all of us to be able to express our love to God and show the love of God to others. In fact, Jesus taught us that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and the second commandment is to love our neighbor as ourselves.(Mark 12:29-31)

The LORD has always shown human beings His love. He created us, cares for us, provides for us, sustains us…His interactions show His love because God is Love. The love that God shows us is perfect love, agape love. You know that perfect love of God: love that is patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not proud. Love that doesn’t dishonor others, is not self-seeking, is not easily angered, and doesn’t keep a record of wrongs. This love doesn’t delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. (1 Corinthians 13) You know. That kind of love. The love that never fails.

Moses had many opportunities to experience the LORD’s love through his own life and through the LORD’s interaction with the Hebrew people. But leading this rebellious group had Moses seeking God more than ever. He pleaded for His presence to go with them on their journey and he asked to see God’s glory. God grants his request. Early in the morning, Moses heads up Mount Sinai with the new stone tablets in his hands. We see Moses being rewarded for seeking a close, loving relationship with the LORD. The LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him. He passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.”  (Exodus 34:6 & 7)

Just like Moses, we are so thankful for who the LORD is-abounding in love and maintaining love to thousands. But the LORD also states that He is just. He does not leave the guilty unpunished. That is the part that might scare us. After all, every one of us has sinned and come short of the glory of God. But the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom and it is wise to realize that God is bigger than we are and has our lives in his hands. But as we grow closer to God, we realize that He wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. He truly wants only the best for us. What Jesus called abundant life. Our fear of the Lord should motivate us to repentance and acceptance of His Son.  As 1 John 4:18 states, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” His amazing love for the world was so great that He gave us His only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. In love God offers us the opportunity to believe in Jesus and receive eternal life. (John 3:16) So it is time to walk closely with the LORD allowing Him to fill us with His perfect love.

-Rebecca Dauksas

Reflection Questions

  1. How would you describe God’s abounding love? 
  2. How did Moses experience it?
  3. How have you experienced it?
  4. How can you express your love for God today?
  5. How can you show the love of God to others today?
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What’s in Your Future?

Old Testament: 2 Chronicles 3-5

Poetry: Psalm 1

New Testament: 2 Thessalonians 1

     Yesterday we read some of Paul’s words about the future, along with his instructions about preparing for the future through good conduct. In 2 Thessalonians 1 Paul chose to say more about coming events to the same audience. (Your Bible may have notes suggesting that only four to six months passed between the two letters.) Paul remains proud of the people’s conduct, and again mentions their shared status with him as persecuted believers (1 Thessalonians 2:2, 14; 2 Thessalonians 1:3-7). But here Paul emphasizes the coming of a “just” repayment for the poor treatment they have received: “when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” (7-8).

     Paul tells the Thessalonians that God intends to “repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted” at the appearance of Jesus (6-7). I think it is worth noting that God’s justice for those who mistreated the believers is not about providing ongoing torture, as some have imagined, but “the penalty of eternal destruction” (9). Paul used the same Greek word for “destruction” here and in 1 Thessalonians 5:3 (when he wrote of “sudden” destruction), but here he emphasized a link to the coming age. (To say “eternal” destruction, as the NASB chose to do, is not a great translation of the Greek. What Paul wrote conveys more “of the aion” or “of the age”.) But, to those who have believed, the Lord Jesus “comes to be glorified in His saints” and “to be marveled at among all who have believed” (10). That is a lovely image.

     In a way Paul repeats his theme of preparation for the future at the end of the chapter. Paul says he always prays for the people in Thessalonica that God will count them worthy of their calling, and “fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power” (11). So, he wants them to be able to be as good and as faithful as they are desiring to be, knowing that it is God’s power which permits that desire to be fulfilled.

     It feels like Paul is inviting the Thessalonians to think about their lives more in terms of the future. We don’t know what he has heard about them in the last few months, but he is concerned over them. They are afflicted, we don’t know how badly, perhaps they are very frustrated. But Paul wanted them to realize that what they were waiting for was more than worth all they were going through. Of faith, hope and love we know that love is the greatest (1 Corinthians 13:13), but it would never be enough on its own. As Paul also said, if Christ had not been resurrected we would be in an awful state (15:13-19). We would have no future to look forward to no matter how much God valued us, and no matter how much we valued God or each other. But we do have a future, a glorious future we can tell others about and seek for them to share with us, and a savior on whom to put our faith and our hope. Rejoice, brothers and sisters!

     Lord, please help me to desire greater goodness, and more works of faith in my life. Please also clear out of the way whatever would prevent me from serving you as I ought to do, so that I can be the servant you desire me to be. Knowing that the day will come when Jesus is glorified in his saints, and that I hope to be among those saints, help me not to hold back from any good thing that I know I ought to do. Relying on you, I pray these things, Amen.

-Daniel Smead

Reflection Questions

  1. How different do you think the New Testament would appear to us if we had not only the letters Paul sent, but also messages he received which prompted those letters, so we could better understand things like the situation in Thessalonica which prompted what he wrote? Do you think that not having the specific causes for the letters may help us to treat what Paul wrote as being more universal in its application? If so, is that sometimes a problem?
  2. How often do you find yourself dealing with frustrations or concerns about your daily life by looking to the hope you have in the return of Christ? What aspects of that return do you find the most compelling to your thoughts? Is there some particular passage of scripture that draws you, or an image, or a piece of a song? Have you ever shared your perspective with someone else?
  3. Paul reminds us that in large measure what our lives becomes is about what we decide to aim for. Words like “perseverance” and “desire for goodness” and “the work of faith”, these are about the choices we make, particularly the choices we make against external and internal opposition. When did you last examine your life to decide what you will seek?
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Covenant with the One True God

Theme Week: 1 God, 1 Messiah: Nehemiah 9

Old Testament Reading: Deuteronomy 3 & 4

Psalms Reading: Psalm 78

To read Nehemiah 9 after Deuteronomy 6 could make a jarring shift of perspective, as we are skipping almost to the end of Old Testament history. But certain elements remain the same. The group that has gathered in mourning is the Hebrew people, hearing Moses’ words from Deuteronomy (“the Book of the Law”). They have received a call to commitment, but not in preparation for the people’s history with God in the promised land. Rather, after looking back on many centuries of Israel’s history, leaders of the people (who at this point are not a nation but under the rule of Persia) are signing a pledge to serve God as they were always meant to.

     A poor understanding of God’s intentions from the Book of the Law was part of the problem. That book is meant to be read aloud to the nation every seventh year (31:9-11), but such readings rarely took place. In fact we are told more than once in Nehemiah that the people had forgotten about certain laws. Just before our chapter the people learned about the existence of the Feast of Booths, and they commemorated it for the first time since the days of Joshua (Nehemiah 8:14-18).

     Reading through the people’s history as the chapter describes it may make it difficult to understand why God did turn back in mercy so often, but God set the precedent at the very start. God “chose” Abram because of his faith and made a covenant with Abram which included blessings on Abram’s descendants; they had to survive (v. 7, NASB). And at the very base level God fulfills promises because God is righteous, not because anyone else is (v. 8). That is part of why God deserves and receives the praise He is given throughout the chapter. God is not like the idols, not only in being real, God is not like the selfish and inconsistent beings they were described as being.

     In jumping from Deuteronomy to Nehemiah we have skipped over centuries of difficult history, full of incomplete response to God’s direction. If you haven’t read the events of that history it might be unclear to you how idolatry maintained its presence in the promised land during those centuries. But even when reading those texts you may be left muttering “why?” at different points. God showed His power in judgment time and again, as well as demonstrating powerful mercy when the people called out to Him, but time and again the people turned away. The mourners did not intend to sugarcoat that history. They arrived at this balanced plea about their situation: “Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before you . . . However, You are just in all that has come upon us” (v. 32, 33). In effect they said ‘Please don’t decide that we should suffer more for our past failings, but we will not question what you have done.’

     Coming after all that pain, it would be nice to think that the people had finally ended the cycle of idolatry, and established a commitment to the Law, but it seems they had not. The “last straw” event for idolatry in the land was tied to the Maccabean Revolt (160s B.C.). So while the pledge of devotion was a heartfelt effort at a changed relationship with God, it was not permanent, or it did not sweep over the whole people. (The Bible does not record what happened, the events occurred in the 400-year gap between the Old Testament and the New Testament.)

     Lord, I think it can be easy for our own lives to resemble the history of Israel in Nehemiah 9, for you to choose to enter a covenant with us and bring great moments of rescue, and food and water as support in our personal deserts. But many of us have also been through some cycles where we turned stubborn shoulders and stiff necks and wouldn’t give you our ear. Thank you that you are patient and righteous. Thank you that you do not give up on what you know to be true. For myself, at least, thank you for putting me through enough hardship, at least in my heart, to keep me attentive to you and your will. In the name of your Son, Jesus. Amen.

-Daniel Smead

Reflection Questions:

  1. A covenant is a binding agreement between two parties. God chose to put Himself under a covenant with Abram and then reemphasized and clarified it with his descendants. Verse 32 describes God as “the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and lovingkindness” – how important do you think the fact of covenant is to God’s willingness to maintain patience with His people?
  2. Have you felt that you were caught in a cycle of struggles with God? Do you remember that God is in a covenant with you? Recall that God isn’t going anywhere.
  3. It can be striking how unthankful the Hebrews sometimes seemed. Looking through the chapter, find five or so good things God did for the Hebrews – do you think they gave God enough thanks for them?   With that in mind, can you identify items or events that are in any way comparable that God has done or promised for you? Do you think you have thanked God as much as you think the Hebrews should have done in your place? If you have not, what do you think causes the difference? (Is it one of perspective, in perceiving another person’s issues compared to yourself? Is it about thinking the Hebrews should have been more thankful because you know they were punished for their behavior?) How highly do you value the expression of thankfulness to God, in itself? How highly do you think God values it?

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More and More

2 thess 1 3

I love Paul’s prayers!  They are some of my favorite parts of his letters.  You don’t find him praying about the weather (you know, those ‘no rain so we have a nice picnic’ prayers) and not too often about health needs – but always about spiritual growth and Godly matters.   One example of Paul praying for the church is found in 2 Thessalonians 1:3-12.  He starts out thanking God that the Thessalonian’s faith is growing MORE AND MORE.  How could your pastor or a church member be able to gauge the growth of your faith – is yours growing or shrinking?  How can you tell?  How can others tell?  Next he thanks God that their love for one another is growing.  Can you say the same for your love for your brothers and sisters in Christ?  How can you tell?  How can others tell?

How many of you have heard people complain that God is not just – if he was He wouldn’t allow evil and trouble.  I love Paul’s answer.  “God IS just:  He will pay back…and give relief…This WILL HAPPEN when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven.”  (1:6,7) No need to question God’s justice.  His clock is better than ours anyways.  God IS Just.

In 1st Thessalonians Paul tells us to encourage one another with the message that Jesus is coming to earth again!  2nd Thessalonians reminds us to not be deceived, for the Man of Lawlessness – the Anti-God – will be coming too, and will deceive many who have refused to love the truth.  In order to stand firm for Jesus’s return – we must be loving the truth and prepared for evil and lawlessness and deception.  “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you.” (2:15)  Learn those teachings well – and cling to them – and pass them on to others.

Thank you God for your words through your servants.  Help me to hear, learn, live and pass along your words and your way.
Marcia Railton