Obedience is Our Sacrifice (2 Kings 5-8) – June 16

“I want to serve God my way1”  This is the cry of many in the church today. And it was the cry of Naaman the leper.  He was asked to do a simple thing, and he did not want to do it.  His own way was better.  “Why should I have to bathe in the Jordan River?  Aren’t the rivers in my own land greater than these?”  It doesnl;t matter if the other rivers are better, or clearer, or where they are placed.  God gave His instruction, and God expects those instructions to be followed.  Plain and simpler.  Dip seven times in the Jordan River.  Naaman was said to be an honorable and great man.  These things had also made him proud.  And his pride almost cost him his blessing!

We would do well to always remember the story of Naaman.  God is not impressed with anything we do or say. He is only impressed by obedience.  Look at the four lepers sitting at the gate.  ‘Why sit we here until we die?’  OH, how I love those words.  They show four men who were at their weakest, depend on God and bring a great victory..  They did not lift a si  ANd the victory was shared not onlyt with them, but with the whole army of Israel.ngle weapon of war in their hands.  They merely went by the Holy Spirit and relied on God.  Obedience was rewarded with victory and a great spoil.  I need to come to the place that, when I come to God, I come  humbly , and allow God to show me my salvation.  He may bring that victory in a strange way, but will bring it.

Gehazi also went after his pride. He caught up with Naaman and asked for a gift under false pretenses.  He just flat out lied.  But Naaman believed him because he had seen Gehazi with Nathan.  When we are seen as men and women of God,  We must make sure we present ourselves in a good and honorable way.  Gehazi did not. He lied to Naaman about the reason he wanted the money, and that cost him his life, in a way.  The leprosy of Naaman was now on Gehazi, and it would remain there for life.  Pride causes us to do things we should not do, but when we repent and do as told, we are restored, just as the leper that came back to Jesus, was made whole.  Obedience rather than sacrifice.  A broken heart is God’s delight, and we cannot be broken if we maintain our prideful ways. May we each make obedience our sacrifice!

Obedience Brings Victory (Joshua 2-6) – March 23

Water is a relentless force.  It is very hard to completely stop a flow of water, especially during flood stage. I have seen videos of cars being swept away by flood waters.  I can only imagine what the priests must have been thinking when Joshua told them they had to walk into Jordan with the ark before the waters would stop. The ark had to be carried by the poles that went through thane hoops on the side of the ark.  These poles were about 15 feet long.  So the priests in the front of the procession had to walk in at least 15 feet before the waters would stop.  They had no idea how fast the waters were moving, how far they would have to go in, or how deep the water might be.  They only needed to walk in until all of their wolves were in the water.  So they started walking and the whole nation of Israel watched from a distance – over a half mile away (2000 cubits)!  

I can only imagine the sight when all of a sudden, once the priest’s feet were in the water, Jordan stopped running.  Just stopped running completely.  The Bible says iot stopped at Adam, which is 20 miles north of Jericho.  The river just stopped running, the ground dried up, and 2 million of=r so Israelites crossed on dry ground.  This was completely different then what hap[penedd at the Red Sea.  In the Sea, a path was made through the middle of it.  The Jordan just stopped running – at flood stage.  It is estimated the river is about 100 feet wide at flood stage.  For it to just stop running was quite a miracle, and the popoel of the land knew it.  They were much more afraid of the Israelites when they heard about this amazing thing! It is important for us to remember this story, because it teaches us that no obstacle is too big for God to just stop it from being in our way.  God basically removed a river completely for enough time for the Israelites to cross where it had been, and God will do the same for us. He can stop an obstacle from being in our way until we are through that area.

Once they crossed, they took 12 stones from where the priests were standing and set up a memorial, which is still there today.  It is good for us to remember what God has brought us through, and tell our children and our grandchildren about the amazing things God has done in our lives.  This is our testimony, and these stories at what helps uis overcome the things that will come in the future.  They are faith builders.  We heap one victory and one miracle upon another because each raises our level of faith in God just a little bit more.  We must always remember that our sins are gone away, but we should also keep in mind just what God has delivered us from!  This helps us to trust the Lord with all our hearts (Proverbs 3:5)

I was circumcised when I was forty years old.  Unless you have been circumcised at a later time in life, you have no idea of the pain, and the weakness, this brings upon a man.  There is nothing you can do but lay there in utter agony.  The Israelites were completely and totally vulnerable to the attack of the enemies on this die of Jordan for three days.  If they had been attacked, they could have been annihilated very quickly.  But God kept them safe.  He put such fear into the hearts of the residents of the land, that they had no idea the Israelites were so vulnerable once they crossed the river.  I can almost see them, ready to attack the Israelites once they crossed the river, only to run away from them when the river stopped running.  This made it possible for the circumcision to take place.  OUCH!

The victory at Jericho is probably one of the best known bible stories in the Old Testament.  Can you picture yourself on the walls of Jericho ready to fight these Israelites if they attacked the city?  They had to think they were ready to attack the first day, only to watch the Israelites walk around the camp, some 600,000 of them,armed for battle, blowing trumpets but otherwise completely silent.  What was this? they had to wonder..  The second day, the men on the wall prepared for  battle, only to see them do the same thing again.  I can see them walking around the walls of the city, watching all these people just march in silence.  Three days, four days, five days, six days went by, each time Israel just marched in silence, except for the horns blowing.  The guys on the all had to be laughing by this time.  They must have thought the army was a little chicken, and afraid to come and fight.  If we just pray for our enemy, we will befuddle them.  They expect a fight when they come out against us, but we should hold our peace, and allow the Lord to deal with them.  He will  take care of our enemies in due time.

So when the Israekite s started out the seventh day, the men of Jerichpo that stood on the walls were probably quite complacent.  “Here they go again” was the retort.  But this time, when they had gone around, they went around again.  “Oh, this is different ” they must have thought as they watcheds them, marching around the city, blowing their silly little trumpets. They watched as Israel walked around the city two, three, four, five, six  seven times.  They had to be laughing by now!  “I love a parade” they must have thought.  Then the people stopped and shouted with a loud shout.  I have been to football games with 60,000 screaming fans – it is amazingly loud.  I can’t imagine how loud this shout was, but once they shouted the walls of Jericho just crumbled before them, and the men on the walls were flabbergasted.  The wall just gave way beneath them, and the Isrealites had no problem taking the city.  If we do as God asks us to, no matter how difficult the situation, God will make a way for us to gain victory.  He may tell us to do some strange things, but we must just obey.  I’m sure even Israel wondered what good it was doing just marching around. But now the victory was theirs.

This story teaches us that obedience will bring victory.  If our enemies are having their way with us, we must ask ourselves if we are walking in obedience.  We can go to church every Sunday, pay our tithes, do the work of the ministry and seem like a great Christian to everyone else.  But if we are disobedient to what God has asked us to do, it means nothing.  To obey is better than all then sacrifices we can give.  We have read this in Deuteronomy, and now we can see the result of obedience in the first month the people are under Joshua’s command.  Remember the words of Joshua 1:8?  This Book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein. For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.  I want my way to be prosperous. I desire good success.  Here is the key to that, demonstrated quite clearly.

Never Walk Alone (Deuteronomy 33-Joshua 2) March 22

Moses blesses the people before He is gathered away to God.  For forty years, he has led the people and now he will be gone.  I cna;t begin to imagine what must have been going through the Israelites minds.  So many times they have seen miracles happen through the hands of Moses.  So many times they have rebelled against Moses and complained, yet he remained faithful to the people and faithful to God.  He was like a shining beacon in the midst of the wilderness, leading them all the way with the words the Lord spoke to him.  And now he is gone.  They had seen him anoint Joshua to take his place, but it wouldn’t be the same..  They had watched him walk up Mount Nebo, but had not seen him return.  Now they were stuck with Joshua.

And how about Joshua?  He was now the leader of these 2 or 3 million people.  He had seen the good of the promised land 40 years earlier, and had declared the people could take the land. But the people wou;d  not believe him.  They rebelled against the Lord in disp=belief, and many died because of it.  In fact, all the men over 20, except Caleb and Joshua, were now gone.  Moses had commissioned Joshua to lead this unruly people, and Joshua took up that charge. He told them to be strong and courageous three times, and they said they would be.  In fact, they made the statement that, as they had obeyed Moses, so they would obey him.  If I were Joshua, this would not bring me comfort.  The people had rebelled against Moses’ word over and over again.  If this was the way they would follow Joshua, it would not go well.

But Joshua had learned his lesson.  He only sent two spies to survey the land., not twelve.  Only two spies came back with a positive report the first time, so I think Joshua figured he would not take a chance on sending one from each tribe again.  The Bible does not tell us who these two spies are, or what tribe they were from.  They just happened to stop at a harlot’s house.  I wonder if they knew she was a harlot.  I wonder if they stopped because she was a harlot!  In any case, it was a wise decision, because this harlot, rahab, had the fear of the Lord welled up inside her. She told them all of Jericho feared God, and were afraid of the coming trouble they would have with the nation of israel.  The fear of them had sepot through the city because of all the miracles God had done for them.  Rahab demanded that the spies promise her safety if she keeps them safe.  And that is exactly what happens.

This portion of scripture shows us that God will always watch over us and protect us. He is the one who Moses and Joshua followed, and He is the one who Rahab feared.  He is the same God who has our backs today.  We do not have to fear when we walk into new territory, or new situations.  If it is in His plan, He will cause it to happen. He will lead us and guide us through men whom He will raise up before us.  There will always be someone we need to look up in order to find help to accomplish our journey.  We are never to walk alone.  I am glad I have had strong pastors to lead me in the past.  I am blessed to have two good friends to help lead me through the valleys I go through, adn to celebrate with me when I find the mountaintops.  God has brought me through so far, and I have no doubt he will continue to lead me in the right path.  I just have to make sure I never walk alone!

Write out then Word (Deuteronomy 26-28) March 19

I noticed something I had never seen before in this portion of scripture.  When the nati\on of Israel crossed the Jordan, they were to take whole stones, whitewash them with lime, and write the law on them.  Then they were to take these stones whole, without using any cutting tool on them, and build an altar to the Lord on Mount Ebal.  Then they were to offer sacrifices on that altar and have a feast before they proclaimed all the blessings from that place on the mountain.  I knew about the altar, the stones not being cut, the offering and the pronouncement of blessing from Mount Ebal. I never saw that they were to write out the law on the stones of the altar.  Yesterday we read that every king they appointed was supposed to write out a copy of the law.  The importance of the Word of God in our lives cannot be overstated!

I have often thought about writing out the Bible, but have never done it.  I write plenty, or should I say I type on my computer.  I have heard it said that the more of our senses we use when taking something in, the better we will remember it.  Seeing it with our eyes is one thing.  This is what happens when we just sit and read the words of the Bible.  If we were to read it out loud, or listen to a recording of someone reading, that would employ our hearing as well.  This would be especially effective if we read along while listening.  But when we write it out, we employ our sense of touch also.  This is using three of our senses to take in the word of God.  How much more of an indelible mark would this make on our lives?

In our times today, the Word of God is taken too lightly.  People pick and choose what they want to adhere to, and most don’t even open up their Bibles.  Their Bible is a preacher on the radio, or a podcast, or a devotional book written by someone they admire.  Most would not know false teaching from the real word of God because they never actually open up their Bibles to see what God has to say.  If you told them of their curses of these chapters, they would tell you that God is a God of love, and He would never do any of these things.  That makes God a liar in their eyes.  When that happens, they can ignore anything they want in the Word of God.  They can ignore the story of creation and make up their own version.  They can ignore the fact that God made man and woman – only two sexes.  They can ignore the law of marriage between a man and a woman.  They can ignore the thought of original sin.  They can ignore anything they want.  And many do.

I need to be sure, in my life, that I do all I can to adhere to the Word of God.  It is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.  It is perfect, true and righteous.  it converts my soul.  It makes the simple wise.  It is full of justice for all.  These words should be desired more than gold.  They are sweeter than honey to my lips.  This is what sets the Chritian apart from the world.  If we do not adhere to these words, we blend in and no one knows that we are Christians.  We are just scattered around, living through the curses instead of the blessing.  We are not salt and light to a lost and dying world, as we are supposed to be.  The Word of God is written on our heart already.  It is time we help others to write it on their heart as well.

Have you ever considered writing out the laws of God by hand?  What portion would God have us write out?  This is what I am not sure of.  What are your thoughts on this?

Obeying to Perfection

Hebrews 5:7-9

⁷ Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

⁸ Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

⁹ And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

The Garden must have been a gruesome ordeal for Jesus.  All His life, He had done what His Father had wanted Him to do.  He said so on numerous occasions.  His mission was to show us the father and He did so with compassion and grace.  For three years, he healed every sick, lame, blind, dumb and deaf person that came to Him.  Constantly “He healed them all” appears in the word.  He taught us great lessons that have and will endure the test of time.  He was loved and followed by thousands everywhere He went.  He got away to pray several times on His own, and this strengthened Him for ministry.

But now He was really alone.  In the Garden of Gethsemane, early in the morning (it is guessed around 1 am) He went there to pray, knowing the fate that lay ahead of Him.  He knew that Isaiah said he would be like a sheep taken to the slaughter and that He would be wounded and would take stripes.  He knew that they would mock Him, gamble for His garments and nail Him to a cross.  He knew this road awaited Him.  He desperately wanted His closes friends, Peter, James and John, to pray with Him during this troubling time.  But they could not stay awake.  They slept each time he woke them up.  He was alone.  Terribly alone in prayer.

It was a simple prayer.  “Not my will, but thine be done.”  But it was a big battle for Jesus.  All his life He had done the fathers will, never questioning.  But now, he really wanted this cup to pass from Him.  He really, in His flesh, did not want to go through the agony that lay ahead.  He knew he must, but he asked the father if there was any other way, to make it happen.  But there was no other way.  The father’s will would prevail.  He would do whatever He needed to do.  He would be obedient through the suffering.

I can’t help but think of another Garden experience so prominent in the Bible.  In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve are in the garden and they are faced with the same dilemma.  Should they obey God or listen to their flesh.  The enemy made giving in to the flesh real tempting to them.  But they knew what God had told them – they should not eat of that fruit.  It was the only thing they were told not to do.   They had to make a decision, and they made the opposite decision that Jesus made.   They decided to listen to the flesh instead of listening to God. Because of that decision sin entered the world.  Sin was passed on from Adam to all me through His seed.  It was a real bad decision.

But Jesus made the right decision.  “Not my will, but thine be done.”.  What a different world we would live in if Adam and Eve had made that decision.  Because of Jesus decision, he suffered unbelievable torture and pain, all for us.  But he was also perfected, and became salvation to all who will believe in Him.  He affected the lives of every person who every lived by making that one decision.  I’m so glad he chose obedience in the midst of the most difficult trial a man has every faced.  He saved us all!

What a different world we would live in if we would make that decision every time.  To do the will of the Father above our own will.  To obey no matter what the outcome might be.  Those of you who read my writing all the time know that I live by a verse and do my best to abide by that verse all the time, in good and bad. It is Proverbs 3:5-6, which says “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and he will direct your path.”  This verse has saved me from worry, sorry, storms, trials, troubles and all manner of things the enemy has put in my way.  It has also saved me during times when I have been the master of my own disasters.  I know that no matter what comes my way, no matter what trouble or storm, I can trust in Him.  I don’t try to understand why I made that dumb decision, or why this test has come to me, I just trust Him.  I acknowledge that he is working in my life even when I can’t see Him working.  I acknowledge He is there, somewhere, working on a better plan for me – His plan. I can praise Him in the midst of the storm because he will show me the way out of that storm.  In fact, I would not be surprised if this verse was in Jesus mind that night. James 1:2-4 tells us that we are made perfect by the troubles and temptations that come our way.  These verses have also become central to my philosophy.  Paul says that for the joy that was set before Him, Jesus endured the cross.  We must look at our troubles that way as well.  He works all things for our God – always.  Romans 8:26 tells us that we must know this.  When we know this, we will see our obedience to Him through our suffering will perfect us in the end.  And he will be exalted which is just as it should be.