God to the rescue

From 1 Samuel 7

³ And Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” ⁴ So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only.
⁵ Then Samuel said, “Assemble all Israel at Mizpah and I will intercede with the Lord for you.” ⁶ When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel was leader^[a] of Israel at Mizpah.
⁷ When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. And when the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. ⁸ They said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.” ⁹ Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it up as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him.
¹⁰ While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites. ¹¹ The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Car.

The incidents in these verses occurred just before Israel started asking God to let them have an earthly king. That is contrasted with Samuel's role as a judge over Israel, and a close observation of that contrast gives us a very important glimpse into the kind of man Samuel was. 

His role, in the light of the victorious achievements over the Philistines, was two-fold.  First, his message to Israel about returning to the lord and getting rid of their false Gods, denotes an act of rescue. Their response of committing themselves to serve only the Lord, was accompanied with the promise that they would be delivered out of the hands of the Philistines. 

In addition, the second role Samuel was playing here is to rescue Israel from themselves.  Just as they were saved from destruction at the hands of the Philistines for following God's instruction.  Likewise they were saved from their own apostasy in their repentance and confession of sin against God. 

This is an important lesson for us to learn, especially in our lives when we have a tendency to call out to God to rescue us from the predicaments we bring to ourselves.  God is always willing for us to return to him.  He has been and will be our rescuer just as he was for Israel. But don't forget, God is also in the business of saving us from ourselves.  The key, as Samuel was quick to point out, is in confession and a continual commitment to God and his ways. Just like Israel, we too, need a reminder from time to time to return to our covenant with God, and return to loving him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. 

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Making God real in messy places

I read somewhere recently about a suggestion for a sign to be placed at the entrance of a church.  Think about it for a moment and decide if the sign should be located on the doors of the church you attend. It reads simply, "Perfect People Not Allowed."

Keep the sign in your mind while I tell you the story of a lady who was raised in a Christian home, grew up attending church with her family, and attended a Christian college.  You might think this is a young lady who had it all together and was set for life in her Christian journey.  However, her story is somewhat different. 

She admitted that after all those years of forming a base of faith for her life, she turned away from the church and from Christianity,  all because of doubt. Part of that occurred during a summer mission trip to Kenya where she worked  with AIDS babies and spent time encouraging a massive number of orphans.  She could not get the image out of her mind of those children who seemed to be forsaken by God. It led to a deeper feeling of abandonment by God, a feeling which took over her heart. 

She had seen evil, and suffering, and disease, probably like none of us could imagine. Her constant question was simply, "Why does God let these things happen, especially to innocent children?"

After years of struggle, and years away from the church, she did find herself in a church pew one Sunday and made a decision. Her decision in her words, "I'll call this place home. I'll bring my doubt. I'll wait for God in this place," brought her some comfort in knowing that we don't have all the answers, but our duty is to be faithful to a faithful God who can make all things new. 

This story brought to my remembrance another story, this one of a man standing before God and demanding to know why God allowed so many starving children in our world. God had an answer that might hit close to home. He told the man, "I have given you two basic commands. Love me, and love one another. And now I ask you, why are there so many starving children in the world?"

I know we do not have resources to reach everyone who has a need. But our call to faithfulness demands that we do what we can.  The real biblical principle is that when we do what we can with what God has given us, the blessing is multiplied to reach countless others.  That is the way we should handle doubt, fears, evil surroundings, and other things that are wrong with this world. Be faithful and do what you can, and that blessing will be increased by God to the lives of others. 

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-47

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I delight in your commands

Psalm 119:41-48

May your unfailing love come to me, O Lord,
    your salvation according to your promise;
then I will answer the one who taunts me,
 Do not snatch the word of truth from my mouth,
    for I have put my hope in your laws.
I will always obey your law,
    forever and ever.
I will walk about in freedom,
    for I have sought out your precepts.
I will speak of your statutes before kings
    and will not be put to shame,
for I delight in your commands
    because I love them.
I lift up my hands to your commands, which I love,
    and I meditate on your decrees.

The primary emphasis of Psalm 119 is the delight which is brought through reading and obeying the Word of God. The Psalmist asks that the word of truth never be taken away from him, because of the hope he has in the laws and ways of God. 

This particular segment of the psalm makes plain the emphasis on knowing and obeying God, and in this reading it is made manifest in a couple of ways. 

1. The person who reads and obeys the Word of God experiences joy and happiness. It is through such an association and reverence for God's decrees that the Holy Spirit leads us into experiencing God's love and grace in deeper ways. We have greater comprehension of God's truths and receive greater joy in obedience. 

2.  Those people who develop such a relationship with God in the determination of reading and obeying his word, will likewise continue to grow in love for God's plans for their lives. God's character and purposes take on fullness and excitement. Then the beauty of brethren working in unity becomes an example to those around us. 

Some read the scriptures just so they can learn more. The psalmist encourages us to make God's word so vital to our existence, that we actually are motivated to grow into a deeper relationship with God and with others. 

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Since you have been raised with Christ

Colossians 3:1-4

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

These verses depict a paradox of the life of the Christian.  While he is living in this world and carrying out the responsibility of "going into all the world to preach the gospel," the apostle Paul is telling us here that our hearts and minds are to be focused on heavenly things.  Jesus, in the sermon on the mount was expressing similar sentiments when he said we should not store up treasures on the earth. Moths and rust can eat away at our treasure, and robbers can even steal them from us.  Instead, Jesus urges us to store up treasures in heaven, and goes so far as to say, "Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also."

The paradox is this. We are in the world, and have responsibilities to ourselves and our fellow man in addition to those we have to God. Evangelizing the world is no small task.  Loving our neighbor as we love ourselves isn't always easy.  Gathering for worship and praise doesn't always find us in the right mood.  Now consider the words of Jesus and Paul encouraging us to place our priorities on heaven, and not on the things of this world. 

I like how John MacArthur solves this paradox, and in his words, we already know the answer.  We know that physically we are in the sphere of earthly living. However, if we have been raised with Christ, as in dying to self and receiving the newness of life Christ brings, then we can set our hearts on things above. What a revelation!  We are in this world, yet experiencing heavenly blessings all because we have been raised with Christ. 

Notice again in the verses printed above, this involves setting our hearts on things above, in the very place where Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God. Not only are our hearts to be set on heaven, but our minds as well.  

While living in this life, in this world, we belong to Jesus because we have committed ourselves to following him and given ourselves to him. The blessing is this:  even while we are living here, we have a foretaste of our eternal destination.  That's the plan of a God who loves you. 

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Blessed are the meek

Matthew 5:5

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" 

Recently we have been looking about once a week into one of those verses we know as the Beatitudes.  Today we come to the third in the list, recorded in Matthew 5:5.

We have previously examined the first beatitude, concerning the poor in spirit and they are those receiving the kingdom of heaven.  Then, you will remember, when we started looking at the second, which mentioned those who mourn being comforted, we said there was a progression of understanding which must travel throughout all the beatitudes. These first three are closely related in that their purpose is commonly shared.

I hope it goes without saying that meekness does not mean some "sissy" lifestyle, always being walked on and talked into agreement with a stronger, more assertive person. If we learn one thing from all this, I hope we learn that it takes a spiritually strong person to be meek, strong in the strength of the Lord. 

I must admit when differences happen, I had rather discuss differences with someone who possesses the quality of meekness. Along with that I must confess the meekness that is talked about here in Matthew 5 has not been one of my strongest features. 

That's why God is giving us this teaching through his Son, meekly mentioning some attitudes that should become such a part of us, they are automatic and normal for us.  Just as in the first beatitude we are called upon to become poor in our spirits, realizing that only God can rescue us from that condition.  And in the second, we are called blessed when we realize our sinfulness and we mourn because of the damage done because of our sin. 

Now in this third beatitude we come to realize standing before God is not a place to demand our own way, nor is it a time for us to rely on our own strength. The truly meek person is he who is strong enough to know of his need for God to be in control, yielding himself to the Supreme Authority, our Heavenly Father. 

We are truly meek when we know we cannot save ourselves, and turn everything we are and have over to God in seeking him.  His loving kindness and grace comes with a supply of learning He is our strength and power. He is our victory.  Blessed are the meek. 

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