Do you know who creates calamity? Isaiah 45-50

Isaiah 45:7 (NASBStr)

The One forming light and creating darkness,

Causing well- being and creating calamity;

I am the Lord who does all these.

Isaiah 45:7 (NIV1984)

I form the light and create darkness,

I bring prosperity and create disaster;

I, the Lord, do all these things.

Isaiah 45:7 (NIV1984)

I form the light and create darkness,

I bring prosperity and create disaster;

I, the Lord, do all these things.

The passage above (in three different versions) is an amazing verse for us to mediate upon. When disaster or calamity come into our world, or lives, we have a tendency to distance ourselves from it.   We tend, if not always, credit the disaster to Satan and attribute him will all things bad.   In fact, we almost have a dualistic theology, attributing all good to God and all evil to Satan; as if they are both Gods and have equal power and equal sway on the world.  The only difference, we tend to believe, is that God uses His sovereign rule for doing good and Satan is allowed to do what he wants for evil.  We tend to want to distance God from all calamities in the word.  When a hurricane wipes out the eastern seaboard of the country we make sure all our friends and neighbors know that God didn't do this.  We tell them with full assurance that this was just evil (through Satan's hand) doing what he does.  We say to them: Don't blame God.  Yet, read the above passage in Isaiah again?   In fact, read the entire chapter.   God is speaking through Isaiah that He is going to bring calamity onto Jerusalem and HE is going to use wicked countries to do so (this, by the way, was Habakkuk's complaint in his little book of prophecy ... why can a good God use bad people to punish HIS people?).    This passage teaches us that God IS TOTALITY SOVEREIGN - even over the bad.   God "creates" the calamity.  God doesn't say He monitors calamity. He doesn't say He allows calamity.  He says He creates it.   Ask Job about this (See Job 16:11).   We have to remember that IF we believe God is sovereign, than we have to allow God TO BE sovereign.   God creates calamity, as in this chapter, to purify His people (see also Hebrews 10).   God creates calamity to punish the wicked (see the book of Nahum as God destroys the Ninevites).  God creates calamity to glorify Himself (see John 9).   God creates calamity so that we know HE IS SOVEREIGN.   Don't try to distance calamity from God.   He wants the glory from it.   Notice that the above verse also says that God creates peace and well-being.   Why if we prosper and can give God glory we can't also praise Him for the creation of the calamity.  If we are declared righteous by God we will never have to worry that we will be punished by God's creation of calamity (Romans 5:1; 8:1).   But, we can know that God is totally and always sovereign.  Even when creates calamity to foster glory for Himself through it.  

Have you ever felt like you were all alone and everyone abandoned you? Job 18-19

Job 19:14-20 (NASBStr)

“My relatives have failed,

And my intimate friends have forgotten me.

 “Those who live in my house and my maids consider me a stranger.

I am a foreigner in their sight.

 “I call to my servant, but he does not answer;

I have to implore him with my mouth.

 “My breath is offensive to my wife,

And I am loathsome to my own brothers.

 “Even young children despise me;

I rise up and they speak against me.

 “All my associates abhor me,

And those I love have turned against me.

 “My bone clings to my skin and my flesh,

And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.

Ever feel like that?  Job, in his pain and suffering, believes he is all alone.   In the previous chapter (Job 18) he is attacked once again by the merciless Bildad who believes that any suffering is reserved for only the wicked.  Therefore, in Bildad's mind, if Job is suffering it is because he is wicked.  Notice the loneliness and the feelings of desertion on Job's lips.   NO ONE respects him.   NO ONE is there for him.   Even his own wife despises his very breath ... the only thing he has left!   Where do you go from here?  Where do you turn.  His circumstances all show him to be the walking (or sitting) dead.  In the next verse in the series of complaints he pleads for pity by these, his friends who have deserted him.  Notice how this looks a lot like how Jesus was abandoned by all those who claimed loyalty and love for Him.   And, like Jesus who turned to His Father on the cross ("Into thy hands I commend my spirit"), notice Job's conclusion (below) after taking a survey that there was NO ONE left to comfort him or love him.  Oh, that we would stop looking at our circumstances and be able to say these same words:

Job 19:25-26 (NASBStr)

“As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,

And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.

 “Even after my skin is destroyed,

Yet from my flesh I shall see God;

Do you know how God teaches us? Psalm 24-26

Psalms 25:4-5 (NASBStr)

Make me know Your ways, O Lord;

Teach me Your paths.

 Lead me in Your truth and teach me,

For You are the God of my salvation;

For You I wait all the day.

When we think of learning or teaching in our society we tend to put the whole thing into the concept of a classroom.  We tend to think of books, desks, and study as the way we "know" or how someone is to "teach" us.   That certainly is one way to learn.   Yet, it is doubtful David had that thought in mind when he penned the above words.   He is in the middle of a Psalm on the praise and goodness of God.   In the midst of that prayer he asks God to "teach" him.   If we were to utter the same words we would be best not to think of sitting in a comfortable classroom and hitting the books while we watch television.   God did answer David prayer and taught him and lead him in the His truth and about His salvation.  But, it was seldom in a classroom.   God used the bear and lion that attacked the lambs David was watching over to teach David how to use the instruments of war.   God used the issue with Bathsheba to teach David about repentance.   God used the hot pursuit of Saul on David's life to teach David trust and grace.    God used a man cursing him when he was run out of town by his son to learn forgiveness.   And, he used his son to teach him humility.   When we ask God to "teach" us His ways we ought to make sure to get a good vision of what that looks like.   God uses suffering, triumph, defeat and others to teach us.   Although the curriculum to learn about God is mostly His Word, the heavens declare the glory of God.    When we see a lighting storm we are being instructed by God.   If we ask, like David above, for God to "make me know Your ways, O Lord," we need to be ready to learn in a variety of ways.   

Do you know why there are is corruption in our country? Judges 17-21

Judges 19:1 (NASBStr)

A Levite’s Concubine Degraded

 Now it came about in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite staying in the remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, who took a concubine for himself from Bethlehem in Judah.

The story that is told in the remaining chapters of Judges is evidence number one as to the lack of character and spiritual sensitivity in Israel.  The writer of Judges brings special attention to the fact that there was NO KING in Israel.  The implication is that if there were a king nothing like what you are about to read would possibly happen; the point being, in the absence of moral authority there is moral corruption.   The moral corruption in the story in chapter nineteen is that this Levite loses his concubine (probably simply a term for his second wife), she is raped and murdered by the men of a certain city.   He then cuts her in twelve pieces and sends a piece to the twelve tribes in protest of the cities behavior.   Perhaps this story is here to prepare us for what we will read in 1 Samuel when the country asks for a king.  It is apparent that the lack of spiritual leadership throughout the book of Judges shows what can happen when we lose sight of God's authority and live every man for himself.    When we lack a spiritual compass we will find ourselves on the fleshy rocks of life doing all types of hideous sins.  It is hard to choose which is worse in this story: What they did to the concubine when she was alive or what he did to her when she was dead?   What is degraded in the story is the treatment of men by men.   Thousands of soldiers lose their lives in what will follow.   Since the city was from the tribe of Benjamin, almost an entire tribe is wiped out from the nation of Israel.   In the earlier chapter of this book a judge is raised up to defeat the oppression of the enemies Israel had become enslaved to as a result of their sin. In these chapters the enemy is their own countrymen.  The lack of spiritual authority in the live of men not only allow others to dominate you but also makes you succumb to sins against your own people.   When God is not King there is no control over sin.  When there is no control over sin, moral fiber is replaced by corrupt stories as found in this chapter.   It all begins when the King of Kings is not recognized as the authority.  

Do you see how God is using your circumstances as a rudder in your life? Genesis 32-35

Genesis 34:30 - 35:1 (NASBStr)

Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble on me by making me odious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and my men being few in number, they will gather together against me and attack me and I will be destroyed, I and my household.” But they said, “Should he treat our sister as a harlot?”

CHAPTER 35

Jacob Moves to Bethel

 Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and live there, and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.”

In chapter 34 of Genesis we read the story about Jacob's daughter, Dinah, who was raped and defiled by the men of Schechem.  Jacob took a "let's see what will happen" approach and did nothing to avenge the treatment of Dinah.   Simeon and Levi were Dinah's brothers and took matters into their own hands.   Although they told the men of Schechem if they simply became circumcised like they were, they would give Dinah to them.   When the men of Schechem were in pain from the circumcision, Simeon and Levi entered the city and killed every male.   This brought shame to Jacob and he now felt as though his reputation in the land would be of certain disaster.  We have all had times in our lives with family, friend, or acquaintance have done something that puts us in calamity.   Yet, notice what happens in the next chapter around this story.   The chapter begins with the word, "then."   As a result of this calamity, God speaks to Jacob and moves him to Bethel.  Bethel is where God met Jacob years prior when he was running away from the anger of his brother Esau instead of, as here, back toward Esau.  Jacob had many chances to go to Bethel prior to this, but for reasons we are not told, does not.   Yet, that is where God said He would bless him.   In this case, God uses the difficulty Jacob has with those around him to move him where He originally wanted him to go.   God often uses crisis and calamity in our lives as rudders to move us where he wants us to be.    God certainly would prefer to work in our hearts rather than our circumstances, but never-the-less He tends to need circumstances to get to our hearts.   When we are in the middle of a hardship, difficult moment, or dire plight, we need to know that God is going to use that circumstance to steer us where He wants us.   Don't get so fogged by the events to see the compass they provide.   God is working all the time.   The set of circumstances you are experiencing is just another tool God is using to get you to move closer to where He wants you to be.  

Do you know why we can persevere in our faith? Romans 15-16

Romans 15:4-6 (NASBStr)

For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Hope" is a key fundamental doctrine of the early church and an often mentioned thought in Paul's writings.  In this same chapter, Paul will write the following, as well:

Romans 15:13 (NASBStr)

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

As believers we have a hope that is sure and steadfast.  The hope is that Jesus will culminate our salvation and bring us to be with Him for eternity.   This "hope" means we are to to "persevere" as we wait for His final redemption and our glorification.   The above passage(s) are intended to make we don't fade away or fall back.   Paul wants the Roman Christians to continue on in their faith, knowing persecution is coming.  By 70 A.D. the entire church will be attacked and Nero, the Romans empire, will attempt to annihilate all believers.   Paul tells them that their perseverance can be strengthened by their constant faith and reassurance from the things that have been previously written ... the Scriptures.   Although the two clauses ("perseverance" and the "encouragement" above) are independent in the Greek (meaning they are not dependent on each other for success), it is obvious that for us to persevere in our hope, God has supplied the Scriptures for us to draw strength.    God has written the Word of God so that we can know His promises and see that He keeps His promises.  That is what the entire Old Testament is about.   That is why it was so important for Paul to write Romans chapter ten and eleven.   The thought in the Roman church with the Gentile believers is that God was done with the Jews and cast them away because they failed to believe in His Son, Jesus, their Messiah.   If that were true, then the promises of God to the Jews would have failed.  If those promises failed that so TOO could the promise of our complete redemption: Our glorification.    But, God's promises DID and ARE coming to fruition.   We can trust God's Word and therefore persevere in our walk with Him.  We can maintain our hope in Him because He does not break His promises.   If you doubt that, read His Word and it will demonstrate His faithfulness.  

If Jesus showed you mercy, what would you do? Matthew 20-22

Matthew 20:29-34 (NASBStr)

Sight for the Blind

 As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Him. And two blind men sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, cried out, “Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!” The crowd sternly told them to be quiet, but they cried out all the more, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!” And Jesus stopped and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” They *said to Him, “Lord, we want our eyes to be opened.” Moved with compassion, Jesus touched their eyes; and immediately they regained their sight and followed Him.

The above passage is one of those, "you get one wish ... what would you like it to be?" stories.   As Jesus was leaving town these two blind men were sitting where blind men sit: At a high traffic zone.  Being blind, they only way they could make a living to pay for the needs of life would be to beg.   There were probably sitting at the entrance/exit of Jericho.    Although the crowd (embarrassed by them? annoyed?) told them to be quiet, but they kept up their cries.  No doubt they were used to others to tell them to move, be quiet, go away.   Needs are always ugly and always inconvenient.  Their cry, however, was not for money, for clothing, for position, or for pride.  It was for mercy.  They realized that their blight was only going to be changed of the God of the Universe had mercy on them. Jesus hears them and asks what they would like Him to do for them.   Here is the real moment of truth.  The God who hung the stars in the universe is asking them what they would like Him to do for them.   Their immediate need was the most important thing on their mind at the time.  They assumed if they could only see, all of their issues would be solved.   It is note worthy that Jesus did not rebuke them and tell them they should have asked for spiritual sight, rather than mere physical sight (like the man who hung with Jesus on the cross ... he knew he needed mercy and didn't ask for a reprieve from the cross but, rather, salvation).    Jesus touches their eyes and the immediately regain their sight.   But, the story doesn't end there.   They don't start seeing and begin living for themselves.   They could have.   It would have been a normal human response.   But, rather than think of ways they could use their new skill set for their own glory, in praise and adoration they begin to follow Jesus.   Like the other disciples, they will scatter just a few chapters from now as Jesus is hung on the cross, but for now, they follow.    Perhaps when we read about some of the "miscellaneous" disciples in Acts and the Epistles, these two men are named.  We don't know.   We discover from the story that these two men might have been short-sighted by thinking healing of their eyes was what was needed.  Never-the-less they were willing to use that sight to follow Jesus and become His disciples.  Sometimes God provides healing for us and that should encourage us to follow Him.  When God takes care of one the problems we have (shows us mercy) we ought to seek Him more and follow Him in deeper admiration.  

Do you know how silly your idol worship appears to God? Isaiah 40-44

Isaiah 44:15-17 (NASBStr)

Then it becomes something for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself; he also makes a fire to bake bread. He also makes a god and worships it; he makes it a graven image and falls down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he eats meat as he roasts a roast and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire.” But the rest of it he makes into a god, his graven image. He falls down before it and worships; he also prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god.”

Imagine how ridiculous we must be to God in regard to what we idol and worship.   We behold metal, fiberglass and chrome and it attracts our eye like bees see honey (well, it attracts my eye).     There are those who see thread put together in a unique design and cut to the correct size they can't wait to have it.   They stand in the mirror and gaze as the garment covers their sinful flesh.   But, they must admit, "I look good!"     Some can't wait until the next tech gadget comes out and will wait in long lines to simply have it, hold it and report back to others the trauma they endured just to be the first to have one.   Some will wait in cold, long lines to purchase a ticket that gives them standing room to worship at the feet of their latest band or musical artist.   They will spend a fortunate to hear someone or some group sing songs that have the same subject and same lines and same cords, simply done differently than the past.   They will worship them.   Yet, there are those who can't wait to gather the fiberglass and metal once it becomes old and useless.  Second hand shops flourish with garments seldom worn or no longer something that catches the eye of the buyer.   Tech gadgets are soon replaced by a new model that whistles rather than purrs.   Bands and artist appear and disappear like fireflies at night.   Burnout before they can actually be seen.  Hence Isaiah's words above.   The nation of Israel, like us, worshipped in such silly ways.   They would cut down a tree and use a part of it to keep warm and bake bread while using another part to worship and pray to and over.   Such is the state of idolatry.   Some worship the body and others the thing the body produces.   Only God is worthy of our worship and adoration.  Only He is sustainable and full of substance.   Only He is eternal and worthy of praise.   Don't worship the log when you have the One who made the log longing for and providing you a way to worship Him. 

What do you do when you feel all alone? Job 18-19

Job 19:14-20 (NASBStr)

“My relatives have failed,

And my intimate friends have forgotten me.

 “Those who live in my house and my maids consider me a stranger.

I am a foreigner in their sight.

 “I call to my servant, but he does not answer;

I have to implore him with my mouth.

 “My breath is offensive to my wife,

And I am loathsome to my own brothers.

 “Even young children despise me;

I rise up and they speak against me.

 “All my associates abhor me,

And those I love have turned against me.

 “My bone clings to my skin and my flesh,

And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.

Ever feel like that?  Job, in his pain and suffering, believes he is all alone.   In the previous chapter (Job 18) he is attacked once again by the merciless Bildad who believes that any suffering is reserved for only the wicked.  Therefore, in Bildad's mind, if Job is suffering it is because he is wicked.  Notice the loneliness and the feelings of desertion on Job's lips.   NO ONE respects him.   NO ONE is there for him.   Even his own wife despises his very breath ... the only thing he has left!   Where do you go from here?  Where do you turn.  His circumstances all show him to be the walking (or sitting) dead.  In the next verse in the series of complaints he pleads for pity by these, his friends who have deserted him.  Notice how this looks a lot like how Jesus was abandoned by all those who claimed loyalty and love for Him.   And, like Jesus who turned to His Father on the cross ("Into thy hands I commend my spirit"), notice Job's conclusion (below) after taking a survey that there was NO ONE left to comfort him or love him.  Oh, that we would stop looking at our circumstances and be able to say these same words:

Job 19:25-26 (NASBStr)

“As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,

And at the last He will take His stand on the earth.

 “Even after my skin is destroyed,

Yet from my flesh I shall see God;

Do you try to distance God from calamity? Job 15-17

Job 16:11-12 (NASBStr)

“God hands me over to ruffians

And tosses me into the hands of the wicked.

 “I was at ease, but He shattered me,

And He has grasped me by the neck and shaken me to pieces;

He has also set me up as His target.

If you read the story correctly, what Job states in the above passage, he is technically right ... God did hand him over to "ruffians" - Satan!  When it comes to suffering, people who believe in God try to distance Him from the suffering so as to not incriminate Him and maintain their false impression that since God is Good, He can't possibly be involved in calamities in our lives.   This is an amazing to structure our view point of suffering because it is NEVER good to distance God from us, especially in a time of need.   Job's friends did not understand the real story here so they simply stated God IS involved in this but the cause is entirely related to Job's sinning.  Yet, we read in the first verses of the book that is not the case.  God actually put Job out as a representative of what He was looking for in His children.   Job is close enough to God, however, to know the truth about God.  Job believed God was sovereign and since He was sovereign He was sovereign over EVERYTHING and not just somethings.   Job knew if he was suffering and had pain than God had to allow it.  Note what the prophet Isaiah says about God and the sufferings and difficulty of mankind:     

Isaiah 45:7 (NASBStr)

The One forming light and creating darkness,

Causing well- being and creating calamity;

I am the Lord who does all these.

God is not bashful.  He tells Isaiah that it is HE who creates calamity.   We give entirely too much power to Satan when we believe he is in charge of the bad and God is in charge of the good.  We act as though Satan is a god, too.   The truth is God creates calamity and uses it for His purpose and allows Satan and man's fallen stated to do what it does, which naturally creates calamity.   God simply removes His grace and calamity comes about.  He doesn't make sin, but when He removes His grace it creates calamity because their is nothing left to hold sin's penalty and power back.   Rejoice in calamity it that God is still in it.   As He removes HIs sovereign grace and rule to allow it (as He did for Job ... Satan needed God's permission), He will and can allow His grace and rule to bring healing as we wait in faith for Him.  

Do you ever feel like God has abandoned you? Psalm 21-23

Psalms 22:1 (NASBStr)

 My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?

 Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning.

In the above verse David is crying out to God and seemingly not finding any relief or an answer to his prayer.    This entire Psalm (22), of course, is the Psalm that highlights Christ's crucifixion.    Since hanging others on the cross did not happen until the Roman world, this entire Psalm is a prophetic Psalm and David speaks of a crucifixion he didn't and wouldn't actually experience.   Yet, David did "feel" the pains he addresses in this Psalm.   He speaks in this first verse about being in a place where he doesn't sense God's presence.   He of course knows God is omnipresent and will actually write about that in another Psalm (Psalm 139).    Yet, here he has a feeling of abandonment.     We should note that in Psalms 21:2 he just wrote and boasted that God hears the King and hears in a blessed way.    He will also confess to a similar good thought in Psalms 22:24, later in this Psalm.    Yet, he begins in the place of abandonment.   This is a place we all find ourselves at some point and time in our lives.   God is not gone, obviously.  Yet, if "feels" that way at times.   God is the God who is always there.  We don't always feel what we should, and do, by faith know.   God hears us, even when we can't sense it.  Of course, later Jesus will utter these same words on the cross and, for Him and only Him, they will be true.  God will forsake His Son on the cross to death.  But, so that we don't have to experience that state of loss ourselves, as believers, God is always present with us.  Christ made that possible.  He told his disciples to go out into the world and he would be with them "always" (Matthew 28:20).    Our faith should not be bent by feelings.   Our feelings should always be bent by our faith in an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God.    We might feel like God has forsaken us but as we seek Him out in prayer we will be brought back to the place of faith and renewed sense that He is still there and never left ... just as David does as he travels from verse one to verse twenty-four of this passage.  

Do you know that that gifts you have were given to you by God for God? Judges 12-16

Judges 16:28-30 (NASBStr)

Samson Is Avenged

 Then Samson called to the Lord and said, “O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me just this time, O God, that I may at once be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.” Samson grasped the two middle pillars on which the house rested, and braced himself against them, the one with his right hand and the other with his left. And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he bent with all his might so that the house fell on the lords and all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed in his life.

Like many men God uses, in the later years of his life, Samson had become a disgrace both for God and for himself.  His wanton desire for joking and jesting and sexual play had finally caught up to him.   His last love affair, Delilah, had seduced him on four occasions.   On the fourth she discovered that his Nazarite vow and not cutting his hair was the reason for his strength.   She cuts it off and he is humiliated.   The only think left now is for him to be a sport for the Philistines, the very people he had battled all of his life (again, because of his first wife who the Philistines gave to another after his marriage).   In is in this final act we read above that Samson gets his vengeance.    However, it didn't have to be that way.   In his life he refused to give God the glory and therefore he was left to do so in his death.   Samson didn't realize the fullness of his strength until the end.  This is the only recorded prayer of Samson.   In all the battles he engaged in prior it was never for God, it was for his vengeance and for his sport.   He never sought God in life and therefore was left to find Him in his death.   Here is a man who had a Nazarite Vow, a sacred commitment that carried specific details (Numbers 6).   Despite the vow to God, however, Samson never realized it in his heart until he is humiliated and brought to the place of destruction.   Sometimes we can be given extreme gifts by God and never really experience how to use them for God.  We tend to take the gifts and use them for our own good.  It is only in the last breaths of life that some come to this realization.  Some never do.  

Do you know why some families are bent on a life of deception? Genesis 28-31

Genesis 30:1-4 (NASBStr)

 Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob, “ Give me children, or else I die.” Then Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” She said, “ Here is my maid Bilhah, go in to her that she may bear on my knees, that through her I too may have children.” So she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her.

We have before us the story of how Jacob fell in love with Rachel; how Laban (Rachel's father) deceived Jacob to marry Leah first; and, now how Rachel used her maid to produce children in her stead.    The family before us is a dysfunctional as any you might meet.   To put this story in full context you have to remember that Jacob's mom was Laban's brother.    After Jacob stole the birthright from his brother Esau, Rebekah assisted Jacob to deceive his father, Isaac, to steal the blessing also.   So, in the family you have the mother assisting the son in deceiving the father; the uncle deceiving the nephew; and now the wife using the maid to obtain a child.   The main dysfunction of this family was that they were not a family of faith.  This was a family that operated and gained what they wanted by acts of the flesh.  We might think that this is unique to this family, but we would be wrong.   Deception of each other based upon the flesh is apparent and affluent in all families.   We love to deceive to gain some advantage.  It is our nature.   God gives us some great understanding in this story about "how not to do it."   This family failed to believe in the promises of God and rather tried to manipulate their way to success and excess.   Jacob was named as a deceiver.   Properly the name fit and represented the entire family.   The only relief from this behavior is found in faith in Christ and, by faith, the walk in the Spirit.   We are all bent to be like this absent God's work in our lives through grace through faith.   Trusting God rather than our own conniving maneuvers is the life of faith.   We all try to change the stimuli to produce something that favors us.   God says no to this type of living and commands us to trust Him.   The life of the flesh is only replaced by the life of faith in Christ. 

Do you think God is a vegetarian or a meat eater? Romans 13-14

Romans 14:23 (NASBStr)

But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.

Chapter fourteen of the Book of Romans is, perhaps, one of them of the most practical chapters in all the Bible.  In the Roman church there were a number of Jewish believers.   The entire first portion (chapters 1-11) of the book is to lay to rest, for mainly the Jews, that the Gentile believers were second class believers in the church.  The Jews had the thought that since they were the chosen people of God, they had privileges in the Christian faith that Gentiles could not and would not experience.   Paul debunks this, while at the same time teaching the Roman Christians (Gentiles) that national Israel was still precious in God's sight and they were not second class believers, simply because the nation had rejected their Messiah.   With all that written and established Paul turns to what must have been a difficult issue in the church.   Apparently, as we read chapter fourteen, there were some in the church (probably of Jewish descent) who would not eat the meat sold in the local market place and became vegetarians as a result.   The meat in the market place  was sold, most of the time, after it had been offered to idols in the gentile false-worship systems.   The Jewish-Believer was offended by such consumption of idol meat and "judged" the Roman-Believer, who had no issue with the meat.   The Roman-Believer was offended by the lack of eating meat by the Jewish-Believer and their vegetarian ways and, apparently, ate their meat in front of the Jewish-Believer, with no regard for their offense.   Paul writes the entire chapter to bring both groups to the above and final passage.  There is much written before these words that bend the heart to understand what Paul says here, but, in the final stroke of his pen, Paul tells them whatever you do (eat meat or avoid the meat), do it in faith.   There are many reasons for both groups to do what they do.  Being pure in their own eyes is not a reason to make either choice.   Being proud and trying to demonstrate your holiness in front of others is not a reason to make either choice.   Judging the other for their choice is not a good choice.   Paul tells them to focus on the reason they have made their choice.  In the immediate proceeding verses he tells them to make sure they are doing it to honor and bring glory to God.  Prior to that he tells them to make sure they don't do something to cause an offense to the other group and thus void the command to love.   In the above verse Paul brings in the element of faith in their choice.   They might have some historical, political, ethnic, or personal reason to choose to eat meat or not.   But, Paul tells them that whatever the choice is it ought to be driven by faith.   He tells them that making a decision of what to eat is first and foremost faith based.   If God leads you to do one thing or another it ought to have its catalyst in faith.   Paul seems to indicate that both groups had missed the point.   They had fallen into ethnic and cultural arguments about a very practical aspect of human life: What to eat?   He is telling them whether you eat meat, drink wine, wear lipstick, wear particular clothes, is all a matter of faith.   If we can't first believe God lead us to such a decision; and if we can't show how God lead us to this matter by faith, we are fooling ourselves that the choice is honoring to God.  In Hebrews 11:6 we read that without faith we can't please God.   So, making a choice that is personal or cultural and absent faith is not honoring to God, no matter the choice.   Are your daily choices a matter of faith? 

Do you know what you need to do to inherit eternal life? Matthew 17-19

Matthew 19:18-22 (NASBStr)

Then he *said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “ You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man *said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.

Jesus was the master at having a conversation with others and using their own words to expose the fault in their argument, belief or intrenched position.   In the above passage we read about the young lawyer who came to Jesus wondering how he could inherit eternal life.   We know little about him but from his inquire we at least know that he was either a spiritual man who sincerely wanted to know his eternal fate, or was simply a hack sent once again by the Pharisees in a useless attempt to trap Him.   Never-the-less Jesus responds to the man by telling him if he wants to go to heaven upon death he needs to simply keep the commandments.   In fact that is Jesus' words in the proceeding verse.   Salvation has always been a salvation of works.   God established that in the Garden of Eden when He told Adam and Even to not do something (a Law).  If they would have kept that one law they would have been perfect (teleios in the Greek).   But, they didn't.   Now Jesus tells this man that if he wants eternal life he, too, must keep the law.   He can't and that really is the end of it.   The reason Christ came and lived a sinless life was to "keep all of the commandments" and thus fulfill the law.   Yet, despite His fulfillment He died on the cross.   So, He fulfilled the requirements of the works based salvation and the requirements of the death if you don't keep the Law.   By faith we believe that and that Jesus did the "work" for us.  That gives us assurance of our salvation.  Note in the above passage that the lawyer tells Jesus that he has kept all the commandments that Jesus listed out (six of the Ten Commandments).  However, he adds the question, "What am I still lacking?"   When we attempt to keep the Law ourselves and try to do the "work" of salvation ourselves we will have the feeling of "what am I lacking?"   This man was rich and therefore Jesus tells him to simply sell everything he has and that would be the final act of works he needed to do for salvation.   Yet, the man was rich and he "coveted" the riches he had.   Since the Law says, "Thou shalt not covet," and he did, he was lacking.   Knowing this he went away grieving.   The two worse words in these verses are "lacking" and "grieving."   Jesus can take care of each of these.   Jesus told him how to be "complete" (teleios in the Greek).   If he would have simply bowed at the feet of Jesus and confessed his in ability to keep the Law and his need for someone to do it for him, he would no longer be lacking or grieving.   Jesus paid it all.   There is no longer reason to grieve or lack.  

Do you know what gets stronger with age? Isaiah 34-39

Isaiah 39:1-2 (NASBStr)

Hezekiah Shows His Treasures

 At that time Merodach- baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. Hezekiah was pleased, and showed them all his treasure house, the silver and the gold and the spices and the precious oil and his whole armory and all that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.

Old age does something to us all.   As we approach the final days of our lives the mirror reminds us of the terminal disease we all suffer from: Death.   God has sent His son to conquer death and remove the sting but the body is still under the pains of death.    Things begin to change and old age begins to show itself real and alive, despite the scent of death in the future for us all.   So, in the view of those depressing thoughts we see Hezekiah at a similar place in his life.  In the proceeding chapter we are told that as The Lord told him he as was about to die, he prayed to God and God gave him 15 more years.   Knowing you have a certain amount of time left must have been frightening and calming at the same time.    He knew he had ONLY 15 more years, but he also knew he HAD 15 more years.   The second half of that statement must have been where we find Hezekiah in the above verses.   When the visiting kings came to see Hezekiah (kings God would eventually use to defeat Judah after Hezekiah's death), Hezekiah's heart was filled with pride and his mind with his legacy.   He wanted to show of what his life work had accumulated.  Rather than give God the glory and be humble, the king was filled with pride and boasting.   Old age might diminish your strength.  You eyes might grow weak.   Your ability to run long distances, or run at all, might be slowed or stopped.  But, one that continues into old age in full vigor, and perhaps more strength than ever, is  your pride.   Whereas almost everything else in the human experience deteriorates with age, pride blossoms.   The older we are the more we think we know and others should listen.  The older we are the less we have to listen and submit to others and, at times we think, to God.    As we grow older let's not follow Hezekiah's example.  There are so many examples in God's Word of those, who in the twilight years of their lives, diminished in capacity and excelled in pride.   Humility should come with age.   But, it often stays in infancy despite our chronological age.  

Do you know the pain of death? Job 14

Job 14:20-21 (NASBStr)

“You forever overpower him and he departs;

You change his appearance and send him away.

 “His sons achieve honor, but he does not know it;

Or they become insignificant, but he does not perceive it.

Death eventually overpowers all of us.  In the story of Job, he has seen death first-hand.  Everyone of Job's children have been taken from this world; something we are often, should never happen to a parent.  In chapter fourteen of Job we see him unfold many aspects of death and the termination of a man's life.   Specifically, in the above verse we see that Job attributes the death of man kind to God's activity.   Paul would later tell us that the wages of man's sin is death (Romans 3:23), so what we see is that God simply "pays" man for what he has earned in life: Death.   Outside of God's intervention in our life and providing salvation, man will, without hesitation, received his wages in the form of death.   But, in the above passage we see even more in regard to the end of mankind.   Death not only is at the very end of our lives it is affecting us now.  The "aging" we experience is all part of the death process.   What Job reminds us in these two verses is that as we approach the final steps of death, climbing stairway to the abyss takes its toll on us.  Not only will we eventually draw our last breath someday, but from the day we are born we begin to die.   The older we become the more that "beginning" to die shows itself.   God has ordained that the process of death will show itself on our face and in our body.   If this were not all, it would be drastic.  However, Job also tells us that when our children outlive us, we are left with the thought that we will not know what becomes of them.  Those that receive the wages of their sin in the way of death have no assurance that their children will receive honor or become completely insignificant in their lives.   That is the plight of all mankind; believers and non-believers alike.   Believers can be assured that God's grace will be watching over their children as they have been sanctified by the believing parent (1Corinthians 7).    Death is a certain and right payment for our sin.   However, we can ward-off some of the pain of death and certainly the victory of death as we put faith in Jesus Christ.   Death has no sting and no victory when we put our faith in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:55-56).   Job, in chapter fourteen, is confessing that his pain is bringing him close to death. He is warning us that death is real and painful.  We can escaped the eternality of death by faith in Christ.  Now is the time to fight death through faith. 

Do you boast in God or in yourself? Psalm 18-20

Psalms 20:6-9 (NASBStr)

Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed;

He will answer him from His holy heaven

With the saving strength of His right hand.

 Some boast in chariots and some in horses,

But we will boast in the name of the Lord, our God.

 They have bowed down and fallen,

But we have risen and stood upright.

 Save, O Lord;

May the King answer us in the day we call.

The above four verses of Psalms 20 capsulize chapters 18-20 of this great praise book.   In these three Psalms David is acknowledging his need for a Savior and boasting of the God who saves.   Despite the sin within and the enemies without, David knows the "Lord saves His anointed."   God has His eye on David and, despite David's sin, saves Him.   Without that salvation David cannot boast of anything worthy in his life.   David had great victories recorded in history for us.  He had great wealth.  He had many horses and chariots to fight for him.  David even had mighty men who would risk their very lives for him.   He had foreign nations submit to him and follow him.   He could have easily, in his day, boast of many things.   Yet, David did not.   He confesses his emptiness and empty hands before God and declares he has nothing to boast about personally.  All of David's boasting will be summed up in what God has done for him.   Those that boast in themselves and in their wealth, power and position will be brought low.  But, those who bow low in humility to God will rise and stand upright.  The world's system is to get to the top and claim how great you are.   God's system is to bow low and allow God to make you great.   David declares that God will answer him when he calls.   That is the greatest assurance we can have in our walk with God.  He has restored our relationship with Him through the salvation of His Son (Romans 5:1).  

Do you find yourself always looking for a sign from God? Judges 6-11

Judges 6:36-38 (NASBStr)

Sign of the Fleece

 Then Gideon said to God, “ If You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken, behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken.” And it was so. When he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, he drained the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water.

The time of the Judges was a dark time in Israel's history.   The nation had rejected God and sought after the gods of the people around them.   Those nations would then put Israel to servitude and they would cry out to God for deliverance.   This is where the problem would develop: Who was available that followed God to deliver them?   When a nation is absent moral and Godly character they are typically absent moral and Godly leaders, as well.  Here is the issue in the above verse.  God called Gideon earlier in chapter six.   When He did, Gideon demanded some sort of sign that God was, indeed, God.   God granted his request and barbecued his offering on a flat rock right in front of him.   Now, once again, Gideon needs another sign to know that God would be with him.   Gideon is like you and me.   Gideon always needs affirmation.   He always wants God to let him know he is in the right place.    We might not lay out a fleece and ask God to make it either dry or wet, but we often ask God to indicate to us that He is there.  This is despite the fact that God says He is there.   Faith is seeing God through the promises of His Word.   Many people today don't want to follow God because they can't see Him or hear Him speak.  Yet, we have a more sure Word than even those who heard and audible voice, via God's Word; the Bible.   Despite the fact that Peter was on the mountain when Jesus was transfigured and he saw the glory of God in Jesus, note what Peter tells us:

2 Peter 1:19

So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.

He is telling us that we don't need a sign.  We only need to put faith in God's Word and that is the "sure word."   Don't always look for a sign.   Look into God's Word, listen to what it says and put your faith in that word.  That is your fleece.  

Do you know how to stop manipulating the situation?

Genesis 27:6-8 (NASBStr)

Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “Behold, I heard your father speak to your brother Esau, saying, ‘Bring me some game and prepare a savory dish for me, that I may eat, and bless you in the presence of the Lord before my death. ’ Now therefore, my son, listen to me as I command you.

Sometimes, many times, we like to take things into our own hands.   We like to control situations to guarantee an outcome that is favorable to us or is the one that we think best for us or others.   Parents are very in tune to what is "best" for their children and often manipulate the situation to get an outcome favorable to their dreams and aspirations.  Such is the story above.   Rebekah was afraid that Isaac would bless Esau and not Jacob.    So, she put in motion a plan to make sure that didn't happen.   Like most mothers she wanted the best for her son.   But, since she forgot the promise God made her earlier in the pregnancy of Esau and Jacob, she decided to make things happen on her own.  God had promised her that Esau would serve Jacob.  God had promised her that Jacob would be the head.     Yet, she tried to do things on her own.   It is that simple.   We tend to try things on our own when we forget the promises and principles of God's Word.   God's word is sure.  When we accept them by faith we should expect results that are different than what our our eyes of flesh see.   Faith vision is different than flesh vision.    We will never stop manipulating the outcome until we first have complete faith in the promises of God.   When that happens we wills see we don't have to manipulate like Rebekah.  

Do you know what your part in conflict might be? Romans 12

Romans 12:18 (NASBStr)

If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.

In A.D. 70 the Roman government turned its wrath on Christians living in the city of Rome and within the Roman Empire.   Nero would light the streets with the live bodies of the saints by taring them and putting on fire.   Jesus predicted that Jerusalem would fall in this time frame.   Christians became the sought and the focus of all evil things a man can do to another.   The book of Romans was written to Christian living in Rome just prior to this persecution.   Paul's emphasis in the book was to encourage the Roman Christians to not think of themselves too much higher than Jewish Christians.  He wanted them to know that they were all in Christ and saved through Christ.   In the above verse Paul gives them a command, that as believers living in an ungodly world, do what you can to live at peace with others.   In fact, when Jesus predicted the fall of Jerusalem he told them to "flee to the mountains" and desert the city.   Many Christians were saved as a result of Jesus' prophetic utterances and instructions.   Here, Paul is telling the believers that in regard to conflict, our responsibility is to do our part.   The part that depends on us is to remain at peace with others.  It does not mean that we won't be in conflict.  It does not mean that others won't be in conflict with us.   But, it does say, when you are in conflict, make sure it is not YOU who is the catalyst or the fuel.    In a sinful world conflict is a matter of fact.   Paul is telling his audience that when it comes to those who become your enemies, by their choice, don't be the fuel to make it continue.   When Jesus was reviled He did not revile back.   When Jesus was ridiculed He did not rely on His wit and sarcasm to belittle others.   He did show righteous anger when He turned the money tables over in the temple.  He did show righteous criticism when He called the religious leaders of the day "white washed tombs."    But, if you study His life, Jesus conveyed a desire to live at peace with others.   The God of Peace who gives us peace (Romans 5:1) asks that we remain in peace with others as much as it depends on us.  

Do you know where you get your insight and knowledge? Mattew 14-16

Matthew 16:13-17 (NASBStr)

 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.

We tend to think we are so, so smart.   We hang pieces of paper on our office walls to make sure everyone knows we have degrees that measured how smart we are.   We love to tell people the latest book we have digested and even carry quotes around in our head to demonstrate what we have gathered through our rigorous training and discipline.   We reward smartness with letters we put before and after our names.   It is interesting that people in the past, often didn't have such "paper-work" to demonstrate their intellectual prowess.   Abraham Lincoln, if judged upon his formal education alone, would not be able to teach in any elementary school today, much less qualify to be the school superintendent.   Yet, he is revered as one of the smartest presidents and leaders we know.  We love to claim knowledge is power in our country.  However, we ought to take stock in the reason we know anything.   In the above passage The Lord asked the disciples what the people were saying about Him.  He didn't suddenly have an ego meltdown but He did want to teach them something about ego.   When asked who they think Jesus was, Peter blasts out the perfect answer.   You get the picture that Peter was that kid who sat in the front of the class and constantly had his hand up to answer the teacher's question.   Jesus commends Peter - he gets a star on the refrigerator.   But, then comes the line for our lesson today.  Jesus says the following to Peter:  Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.   Peter must have been on cloud nine when Jesus started this commendation.   Jesus saying "blessed are you" (especially after Peter just acknowledge that Jesus was the Son of God) must have been awesome.  You can see Peter quickly looking at the others in the group and making sure they didn't miss that not only did he get the answer right, he was about to get a blessing from The Lord.   However, Jesus tells him that any special revelation (knowledge) he has has didn't come from his own training, schooling, observations, intellect or graduation ceremony.  The reason Peter knows this is because the God of the Universe choose to reveal it to him.   We know what we know about God and all other aspects of life because God grants us this knowledge.   We know nothing except that God reveals it.   We should be praising God for what He gives us in the way of intellect and especially in the knowledge of who He is and what He has done.   Wisdom is granted to those who fear The Lord by The Lord.   Don't stick your chest out when you discover something about God in His Word.   Bow your head and give praise if you even stumble across the piece of truth off the table of God's abundant wisdom and knowledge.   He simply shared with you a crumb.   

Did you know Jesus was a Rock in a Weary Land? Isaiah 29-33

Isaiah 32:1-2 (NASBStr)

 Behold, a king will reign righteously

And princes will rule justly.

 Each will be like a refuge from the wind

And a shelter from the storm,

Like streams of water in a dry country,

Like the shade of a huge rock in a parched land.

In 1885, the great gospel song writer Ira Sankey came across a song written in the local paper that was often song by fishermen returning from the sea.   After he composed a new tune for the words it was published and it became one of the most famous and refreshing songs of the church in the 1900s.   A portion is laid out below.  The name of the song is, "Jesus is a rock in a weary land."   

The Lord’s our Rock, in Him we hide,

A Shelter in the time of storm;

Secure whatever ill betide,

A Shelter in the time of storm.

Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land,

A weary land, a weary land;

Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land,

A Shelter in the time of storm.

A shade by day, defense by night,

A Shelter in the time of storm;

No fears alarm, no foes afright,

A Shelter in the time of storm.

In the above passage in Isaiah we read that God will, despite the siege and punishment of Jerusalem, restore them again.   He will do so by establishing Godly leadership.   God will assure that those leaders are protected.   Isaiah was probably referring to the leadership of Hezekiah and/or Josiah.   God is the only one who can establish Godly leadership and then provide them with refuge in a weary land.   When we understand the Gospel it is the picture of Water in a Weary land.   Jesus told the women at the well He would be the Living Water and she would never have to go to the well to draw again.   God is the refuge to us in the times of trouble.  He, through Christ, is the shade of a huge rock in a parched land.   Through faith we rest in His great care despite the collapse of the world around us.   

Do you know why you are not innocent before God? Job 12-13

Job 13:15 (NASBStr)

“ Though He slay me,

I will hope in Him.

Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him.

To many, this famous verse is one of comfort and resolve.  It is often quoted in the midst of difficulty and tragedy as an example of ultimate rest in God, despite life's circumstances.   And, although just thoughts are noble and taught in many passages of God's Word, this is not the state of Job in the above context.   When one studies deeper into the text and the actual phrase Job states we see that his words are not actually utterances of praise and resolve but rather self reliance and, perhaps, defiance.   Job is not where most think he is as this stage in the argument.  In the later chapters of the book we will see that Job comes around with resolve and deep faith.  But not here; not yet.  In the above passage (and those that follow this great verse) Job is indicating that he will defend himself before God ... proving his innocence and unfair treatment.  This is more of a claim of a student stating that even if the teacher want to continue to fail him in the class he will maintain to the end he did the work and didn't deserve it.   The "hope" he offers does't seem to be expressed in God's salvation but in the fact that God will listen to Job's defense of his innocence.  Most commentators are perplexed by the language and the use of the terms.  If job were only to say the first two lines of the verse and it were in the context of hope and seeking God's salvation, one could believe that these are words that bear both repeating and words of encouragement.   But, they are not left alone.   Job maintains in the second line that his hope is not in God but in his own ways.   When Isaiah was in God's presence he thought he was "undone" and a man of "unclean lips."  Isaiah no longer had a defense of his "ways" before God.   Job hasn't reached that point.   His hope, at this point, was that he would trust God to hear his case.  Again, this isn't to say that Job had that thought in other passages of this book or that that thought is not taught in other portions of the Bible.  But, here, we have a pain in great pain wanting to justify himself before his three friends and before God.   Before his friends, Job might have been innocent.  In human terms he may have passed that test.  But, before God he has nothing to argue.   We all need to come to that point.  We often use this same argument for ourselves.  We often say, "God will hear my case, I trust Him to listen, because I am innocent of these charges."   But, later in the book we will Job come to his senses and he and his friends will realize that no man is just before God and innocent.  Our arguments before Him are useless since we are all guilty before God.   Job had failed to remember that even though he couldn't recollect sining before God he was still a sinner.   For we are not sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners.   Quit arguing your innocence with God.  That's where real hope comes from. 

Does God speak to you while you sleep? Psalm 15-17

Psalms 16:7 (NASBStr)

I will bless the Lord who has counseled me;

Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.

Psalms 16:7 (NIV1984)

I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;

even at night my heart instructs me.

If you are going to bless God and praise God what would be the subject of your praise?   Would it be for possessions?  Would it be for wealth He has allowed you to accumulate?  Would it be for the family He has given you?  In this Psalm David has just written about how God has drawn out for him pleasent lines (boundaries) for an inheritance (Psalms 16:6).    He could continue to praise God for these possessions God has given in the form of the land.   But, in the above passages he talks about how God has blessed him by giving him counsel as God speaks to him at night in his heart/mind.   The word for heart/mind is the seat of emotion and will for the individual.  David is praising God that at the end of the day and in the solace and solitary moments of night, God continues to speak to David.   It should be noted that God does not speak to us in our heart/minds contrary to His established Word.  He won't tell us to love and forgive in the Scripture and hate and seek revenge in our senses.   What David is saying is that God's Word (His principles and promises) continue to seep into his life through his heart and mind, while he is at rest.   God's Word is not limited to our efforts of reading and study.  God will continue to work in our life, even when we are at rest.    David praises God for that.    To the unbeliever that might be an awful thought.   To the believer who is running from God (think Jonah) the fact that God's Word continues to speak to him/her in their heart might be unsettling.   But, to David it is a blessed thought.  God's Word continues to instruct us.    God speaks to our hearts/minds even when we might be trying to escape the world under the covers.   That is frightful to some, but comforting and praise worthy to the one who seeks God and seeks to hear Him.   Samuel, as a young boy, heard God's word in his sleep call to him for service.   He responded.   Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar heard God's Word in a dream and it scared them.   How does God's Word in the night settle with you? 

Does God know your name and your role in the Kingdom? Judges 1-5

Judges 3:31 (NASBStr)

Shamgar Delivers from Philistines

 After him came Shamgar the son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad; and he also saved Israel.

In the NIV Study notes the authors of the notes breakdown the "major judges" in this book as follows: 

(1) Ehud (3:12–30), a lone hero from the tribe of Benjamin who delivers Israel from oppression from the east.

(2) Deborah (chs. 4–5), a woman from one of the Joseph tribes (Ephraim), who judges at a time when Israel is being overrun by a coalition of Canaanites under Sisera.

(3) Gideon and his son Abimelek (chs. 6–9), whose story forms the central account. In many ways Gideon is the ideal judge, evoking memory of Moses, while his son is the very antithesis of a responsible and faithful judge.

(4) Jephthah (10:6–12:7), a social outcast from the other Joseph tribe (Manasseh, east of the Jordan), who judges at a time when Israel is being threatened by a coalition of powers under the king of Ammon.

(5) Samson (chs. 13–16), a lone hero from the tribe of Dan who delivers Israel from oppression from the west.

You will note that "Shamgar," mentioned in the above verse, is not included in the list.  In fact the reference Judges 3:31 is simply skipped.   Again, the NIV is noted the "major" players in the book and have not done harm by omitting Shamgar, but, never-the-less, he was omitted because he apparently was insignificant as compared to Deborah, Gideon and Samson.   Shamgar apparently didn't rise to the level of popularity as most Judges.   Yet, he didn't escape Deborah's notice when she would later compose a poem to glorify God after her time of delivering Israel.   In Judges 5:6 we see her refer to Shamgar as a legend and legitimate Judge.   In the time of the Judges there was a certain cycle the nation would fall into.  The would fall away from God (apostasy); fall under the rule of a foreign king (oppression); cry out for God's help because of the suffering (oppression); and God would send a deliver (deliverance).  This cycle repeats itself seven times in the book.  Shamgar, like the major judges, was one of those God used to deliver the nation.  Although we might simply skip over his name, God doesn't.   I have personally read the book of Judges probably close to fifty times in my life.  I can honestly say this is the first time I remember seeing his name.   He is tagged on the end of a chapter on Ehud the left-handed Judge and sandwiched between him and Deborah, the only female judge.    Shamgar is not noticed by man but highlighted by God.  Little is know of his life, but God knew him.   The lesson is easy: We might play an insignificant role in our church and few will know your name, but God does.   We might the little toe in the Body of Christ, but God knows our name.   We might only be the size of a mustard seed in the Kingdom of God, but, through obedience in faith, we can do great things for God.   God will know our name and make it known to others when and where He pleases.  

Do you know how great acts of faith are accomplished? Genesis 20-23

Genesis 22:7-10 (NASBStr)

Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” And he said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

 Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

The story of Abraham offering his son Isaac on the alter is one of the most powerful stories of faith in the Bible.   Many people struggle with the fact that a father would even dare do such an act to a young boy.  The human mind can't understand it.    In our flesh we debate how any father could attempt to offer his son on a alter.  In today's world it would be reported on the news networks and the world would recoil in disgust with such a person.   And, today they should.   Because today no one is given the same promises as Abraham.   The reason Abraham was able to do such a thing is because he had a unique promise from God that God was going to bless his family and all of mankind, through Isaac.   Note what the writer of Hebrews says about this story:

Hebrews 11:17-19 (NASBStr)

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; it was he to whom it was said, “ IN Isaac your descendants shall be called.” He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.

Abraham, in the flesh, must have struggled like most of us had struggled.  And, in the past, his fear had many times caused him to act without God, failing to believe God.   Yet, this time Abraham would live not by flesh but by faith.   Abraham believed God's promise that through Isaac the world would be blessed. Therefore he calculated that if that was the promise of God and God was asking him to offer his son on the alter, then God must be going to raise him from the dead ... that would be the only logical conclusion.   Faith, here, in this story, is used to calculate a response towards God's plan.   Faith is not simply a feeling of fatality.   Faith is know the promises of God and the character of God and adding up the two to realize God can not go back on His promises.  That means their is only something special left.   Faith is taking God at His Word and believing it and realizing that God will do something quite different than we expect in our flesh.   

What would happen if God removed all of HIs mercy in the world? Romans 9-11

Romans 9:16-18 (NASBStr)

So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “ For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate MY power in you, and that MY name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.” So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.

Have you ever wondered what would happen to man or mankind if there was no mercy in the world?   We have already been told by Paul in this book of Romans that man is totally depraved (Romans 3:23).  He has told us, that based upon God's Word, there is NO good in man.   If that were true, what doesn't man just kill one another?   Why doesn't man just devour one another?   Well, the fact is, man is doing that at this very hour.  A war in his country over dirt, possessions and power; a shooting in this mall over anger, or pride, or territory; a beating in this home just because one person is bigger than the other are all examples of what man would do and is doing without mercy.   Paul's point in his argument for election is that were it not for God's mercy man's heart would be hardened completely.  Yet, that is exactly how God works His doctrine of election in salvation out in the world.  The fact that God saves some and not others is easily established and understood in Romans 9 and in the above verses specifically.   Most people can see that and believe that.  What they struggle with is how God goes about that process; how does it do it?  Most believe God chooses some for salvation but then assume He must "choose" others for destruction.   This, for some reason (as though the clay can say to the potter, "That's not fair!" how you made me) makes them irritated and they then do theological gymnastics to make their doctrine fit their thoughts.    But, note the last sentences in the above set of verses:  "So, then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires."  On the surface someone might think that God goes around and makes peoples hearts hard out of a sense of unfairness.  The thought that He makes some soft and some hard, is not Paul's doctrine.   Man is already hard (Romans 8:5-10).   Man is already waring against God.   So, the only way God hardens them is to allow them to be what they already are.  They reject God and God allows them to be hard.   But, when God allows His mercy to enter their hearts they become soft and hear the gospel message.  God did not make Pharaoh hard in the sense that God made his heart hard.  Pharaoh's heart was already hard.  God simply didn't show him mercy, which is what the line says.  God will have mercy on those He desires.  On others He doesn't show mercy.   That is the will of a sovereign God.  If God did not show any mercy we would remain hard in our hearts and destroy one another and ourselves.   But, the reason man doesn't simply wipe out each other is that God is constantly allowing His mercy to enter into the world through His Spirit and then through communities through the lives of believers in the church.  God is the God of mercy.  Without it we would all be hard and be complete destroying and destroyed.  Praise God for His abundant mercy!!

Do you know what your assumed contraints are? Matthew 11-13

Matthew 13:53-58 (NASBStr)

 When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “ A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.

In leadership training there is a phrase that was originated years ago:  Assumed Constraints.   A leadership trainer coined the phrase to demonstrate what happens to people when they learn something that holds them back, but it really doesn't hold them back ... they just "assume" it does.  The phrase is illustrated by what happens when a baby elephant is born.  The small little thing has a rope attached to it front leg with the other end of the rope staked to the ground.  The small beast tries to pull away from the rope and out of the ground but can't because he/she is too small.   However, as the weeks and months go by and the small elephant grows in size and develops the power to pull away from the leash, he/she has already stopped trying.   The growing elephant now has an "assumed constraint" tied to his/her leg.   Because the animal couldn't pull it out before, it can't now.   The animal makes the assumption that something that was can't be something different.   In the above passage we see the people of Nazareth who had the same faulty reasoning going on in their spiritual life and belief about Jesus.   Since he was but a carpenter's son, he could not be the Son of God.   Since he had a brother and sister and a mom he could not be the Messiah.   We all have assumed constraints.   We all believe their are things that hold us back.  These things are "learned helplessness."   When Jesus turned the water into wine it was supposed He couldn't   When God had water come out of a rock in the desert it was assumed it couldn't.   When Peter walked on water he began to sink because he assumed he couldn't (yet, he was).  Our assumed constraints diminish our beliefs.   We only think how we learned.   Reading God's Word and mixing it with faith changes our learned helplessness and we begin to see what God can do.  The should embolden our faith and set us free from the ropes staked in the ground designed to prevent us from growing in grace.