Do you use your tongue wisely? Psalm 51-53

Psalms 52:2-4 (NASBStr)

Your tongue devises destruction,

Like a sharp razor, O worker of deceit.

 You love evil more than good,

 Falsehood more than speaking what is right.

Selah.

 You love all words that devour,

O deceitful tongue.

The above passage is taken from a Psalm written by King David, about a time when he wasn't a king.   In fact, David was on the run when these events caused this Psalm to be written. In 1 Samuel 22 King Saul was ready to kill David so he fled.  He came the priest and the priest, not knowing any better, have him provisions and security.    However, one of Saul's loyalists was there narc out the priest.   That would eventually cost the priest his life.   That is the context for the above words.   David sees a man who uses his tongue and speech to have another man destroyed.   It is so easy to find ourselves using our tongues to damage others.   I have done it.   Many have done it.  Like a sharp razor we toss our words that cut and destroy.  Too many times we don't take the time to see how our mouths can be the destruction of another.   Saul had the priest killed as a result of this man's speech.   The man made it sound like the priest had done something evil.  Rather, the priest had simply taken care of a man in need.   The man happened to be David, a fugitive from Saul ... however, the priest didn't know it.   The "witness" could have told King Saul that the priest was simply helping out David and knew nothing of David's ref with Saul.  But, he didn't.  He misrepresented the priest to Saul.   David states above that these type of people love words that devour.   HIs entire Psalm warns us about our using our tongue to deceive and inflict harm.  We are to be careful with our tongues.  For such a little thing it can produce such large consequences.  

What do you say to God after He says no? 1 Samuel 5-9

2 Samuel 7:18-22 (NASBStr)

(David’s Prayer after God told him, "NO", you can't build the temple)

 Then David the king went in and sat before the Lord, and he said, “ Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far? And yet this was insignificant in Your eyes, O Lord God, for You have spoken also of the house of Your servant concerning the distant future. And this is the custom of man, O Lord God. Again what more can David say to You? For You know Your servant, O Lord God! For the sake of Your word, and according to Your own heart, You have done all this greatness to let Your servant know. For this reason You are great, O Lord God; for there is none like You, and there is no God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

The above prayer comes on the heels of David being told a solemn, but definite, NO, by God.  The character of the NO can only be truly understood when we understand the character of the request.   The NO came not as a result of David wanting to do evil.  It came on the heels of David being inspired to do something great for God.   Like Paul who wanted to go to Rome to preach the gospel and was hindered, or like Daniel who wanted to return home but was limited to only praying toward Jerusalem, David wanted to build a temple for God and the Ark.   He recognized his own comfort in a house of stone and gold and yet the Ark was dwelling in a tent.  You would think a good desire is always meant with an affirmative YES by God.   I have desired to be in full time ministry since the day I left that world 20 plus years ago.   God, in His grace, has given me some great rain drops of ministry in the past, but constantly said NO to a full return.  My past life failures as a husband and father, perhaps like David, have kept me on the sideline of full time vocational ministry. This is why I am truly amazed by David's heart here.    He was able to bless God and praise God in the midst of a NO.  This is why God can say that David was a man after His own heart.   David didn't care WHO built the temple - he just wanted it built.  He will later, in this section, simply get all the material ready for the temple to be built.  He did what he could.   God has used me in my own life more than I deserve.  He has me, like us all, doing "ministry."  It may not be what we imagined or expected or, like David, desired, but in His marvelous Grace, who is like our God.  He uses us where He will and how He wants.  Our responsibility is to yield to the Spirit in obedience and allow God to work in our lives and use us for His Kingdom the way He wants.  

Do you come to God in fear or do you come in full assurance of faith? Exodus 17-20

Exodus 19:20-21 (NASBStr)

The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break through to the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish.

After all the miracles in Egypt, the Red Sea crossing, the mana, the water from the rock and the victory over the Amelekites, the nation of Israel and Moses finally came to "The Mountain."   When God first talked to Moses in the burning bush it was at the foot of this mountain in Horeb.  It would be known as THE mountain because of the incident above and where Moses would ascend and descend with the Ten Commandments.  Smoke and fire would come from this mountain.   The mountain would quake.  It must have been a frightful experience.   The Nation of Israel had seen much but now they had been brought to the very foot of God's Mountain.   Notice the fear, the restrictions and the danger mentioned or alluded to in the above passage.   This is a scary time.   In fact, many of the times the Nation had encounters with God, it was scary.  And, indeed, the beginning of Wisdom IS the FEAR of The Lord.   However, this is not how God wants to be approached.  It was necessary under the economy of the Nation, but not when He sent HIs Son to remove those barriers and fearful approach.  In the above passage we are told to NOT break through to The Lord.    Read the following, however:

Hebrews 10:19-22 (NASBStr)

A New and Living Way

 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Before Christ Moses was told to "warn" the people to NOT break through to The Lord.  After Easter the writer of Hebrews tells us to COME BOLDLY to the throne of grace.   When Jesus was on the earth there was the story of the women who had a medical issue who came up and touched Jesus when He was walking through a crowd (Matthew 9:21).  The disciples were amazed that Jesus knew in a crowd of people that someone had "touched" Him.   But, she did and it healed her.   Jesus came to this earth so that we might touch God.   In Exodus they could not even look.  In the New Testament we can touch Him and we are told to come in CONFIDENCE to Him, in FULL assurance.    Our FEAR is not diminished as we still revere Him.   But, He has made a way that we can come to God and we need to come in full faith of assurance Jesus has made a way for us.  He broke down the restrictions and the barriers and the emotional fears.   He is not on the mountain now ... He is in our hearts.   

Where does your confidence come from? 2 Corinthians 1-3

2 Corinthians 3:4-6 (NASBStr)

Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Paul, when writing to the Church at Corinth, uses several words that are translated "confidence," as in the above passage.  Apparently there were some in the church who were questioning his ministry and methods.   In chapter one (See 2 Corinthians 1:12) he has already begun to to address this subject with his readers.   The key to catch is that when stressing that he DOES have confidence in his ministry and person, he NEVER takes credit for the confidence.   His conscious never claims a moral or righteous victory without first giving the real reason for the victory to God.  In the above passage we see that stated boldly.   His confidence is "through Christ toward God."    In our world today, if someone questioned the leader of an organization they would attack his/her credentials.   They would question their educational background, their references, and/or their job performance.    If the world today wants to establish credibility they often point to those things.   The world says, "You can trust me as the leader and I have confidence because ..." and the rest of the statement is: "I have won," or "I graduated from ...," and/or, "I hold degrees in ...!"   Paul does no such thing here.  He simply tells them that he has bold confidence and that confidence is found in and through Christ and in the ministry of the Holy Spirit in His life.  To many ministers today rely on their methods, results or circumstances to build their confidence.    Paul was NOT adequate in himself to consider being confident.   His adequacy was from God, in Christ and through the Spirit.   The Holy Trinity gave him confidence as he, by grace through faith, rested in the confidence They provide.   We are not confident in ourselves.  That is sin.   We are confident in what Christ has done for us and is doing in us through the ministry of the Spirit.   

Do you look for a miracle or simply go to the tomb and are surprised that it is empty? Mark 15-16

Mark 16:6 (NASBStr)

And he *said to them, “ Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.

If you are a believer in Christ this verse ought to be one of your favorite verses in Scripture.   Imagine the women this verse was spoken to and their state of mind.  Up to this point they were followers of Jesus, but not them, or the disciples were theologians.   They did not understand Jesus' words that the temple would be destroyed and rise again in three days; they did not get that those words were spoken about the temple of His body.   They were not prepared for, "He is risen."   Their mindset was formed based upon the belief we all have; that when you die you die.   Despite all the theological training there was no connection to a resurrection.   Even though they saw Jesus bring Lazarus back and a dead girl, the women (and later disciples) were not planning on it.  They were still looking at Jesus' death through the eyes of the flesh, not the eyes of faith.    Flesh says the body should be in the tomb.  Any reasonable flesh-powered-set-of-eyes would expect the body to be there.   But, to a person with a faith-powered-set-of-eyes would have looked for a ressurection.   Remember the story of Abraham when he took Isaac, his son of his old age and the son God promised that would produce grandchildren.  Abraham was told to crucify Isaac on an alter.   This was his only son.    Yet, Abraham didn't hesitate?   Why?  Because, according to the passage below, Abraham reasoned from the promise of God about Isaac that if God now wanted him to offer Isaac on an alter God would, out of need to keep the promise, raise Isaac from the dead.   

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.

The women did not have such a mindset.   They only assumed Jesus would be there.  The disciples did not have that mindset.   They ran tot he tomb to make sure the women weren't mislead.  Not one of them stopped and "considered" the possibility of a resurrection.  We probably wouldn't have either.   When fast with sin, temptation, struggle, crisis, persecution or any pressure from life we seldom, in faith, turn to the resurrection to "power" us through.  We first turn to the concept of "self-control"  and try to "work" through it.    We will even tell others, "I'm working through it."   We probably seldom say in our minds, or even less out loud, "I'm trusting the power of the resurrection in my life."   We need to change our mindset so that when it is time for a miracle we look for it rather than get surprised by it.   Why?   Because He has risen!!

Do make spiritual statements without recognizing and asking for Spiritual power? Mark 13-14

Mark 14:29 (NASBStr)

But Peter said to Him, “ Even though all may fall away, yet I will not.”

How many times have I said this to Christ?  We stand up after a church service, we call out at the end of our morning or evening devotional times, we make a pledge at a Christian concert, or we simply are convicted of our sin and call out to God, "Never again will I deny you!"   But, like Peter, within hours (maybe minutes) we fail to follow through.   The reason Peter failed (and we do as well) is that Peter's statement was based upon HIS ability to WILL his way to obedience and commitment.  WILLING ourselves to obey is like telling the dog not to eat the steak laying on the floor.  The nature will take over ... it always does.  Our nature is bent on sin.   Peter showed this in his character.   He made a bold statement.   It would make any preacher proud.   But, without the power of the Spirit, Peter was about to and destined to fail.   Remember when the disciples could not cast out the demon in the young child.   Jesus came down from the mountain and told them that casting out a demon of this kind took faith.  It was a spiritual act.   So, too, making a statement like Peter made.  He should have said, "As you empower me, I will never fall away."   We can't do what we don't yield to the power to do in us!!   

Do you get to know God in everything circumstances ... even the bad? Jeremiah 22-26

Jeremiah 24:7 (NASBStr)

I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.

We tend to think of a healthy walk with God as one that is at peace and peaceful in circumstances.  We would not think that turmoil or hardship is the place of walking with God and knowing God.  However, in the above verse we see that Jeremiah is speaking for God and telling those who were lead into captivity in Babylon that it was there, in captivity, that God would speak to their heart and enable their heart to know Him.   God is the initiator of anyone knowing Him and anyone having communion with Him.   AND, that communion is not dependent on circumstances, location, day, or situation.   Even in captivity they would be able to know God.   This might be the tragedy within the tragedy of the story of Job.   Job was being bragged about by God.   All was good with him.   But, God ALLOWED Satan to touch him.    It was within that pain and suffering that Job began to justify himself that since he was righteous (God did brag to Satan that Job WAS righteous) he didn't deserve the suffering.   Job failed to remember that no matter what the circumstances and no matter how righteous the life, if we were to get what we deserve we would all suffer even greater than Job.   Yet, in that "captivity" Job missed out on the opportunity to "know God."   Jeremiah is telling the captives to NOT use this captivity as an excuse to shrug off God.   This IS the time to grow your faith.   The example of such a captive is Daniel.   He didn't allow the captivity to be an excuse to walk with the world and away from God.   This was a time to serve God and KNOW Him.   Captivity is the time to KNOW God - don't wait for the good times to know Him.  Learn to know Him in every situation.  

Do you please God and are you pleased with God in bad circumstances? Job 33-35

Job 34:9 (NASBStr)

“For he has said, ‘ It profits a man nothing

When he is pleased with God. ’

Job 34:9 (NIV1984)

For he says, ‘It profits a man nothing

when he tries to please God. ’

Job, in his determination to defend himself to his accusing friends, has, inadvertently come up with some bad theology.   (Just a note: False acquisitions are often met with even worse false arguments in defense.  It might be wiser when accused wrongly to not defend than to utter bad theology.)  In Job 9:22 and Job 21:7 Job makes a sad claim that the wicked live successful with no knowledge of God and there is no reason, therefore, for anyone to fear God.  Personally I don't think Job meant to utter the bad theology.   I do think that in his desire to make himself righteous to his self-righteous friends he made statements that would lead someone to believe that our belief in God was useless.   In Psalm 73, Aspah, the poet and song writer for David, does the same thing.  Note his words here:

Psalms 73:13 (NASBStr)

Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure

And washed my hands in innocence;

We need to always be careful, in our difficult circumstances, that we don't think there is NO PROFIT in following hard after God.   Job had looked at his circumstances and simply thought, since he had lost all, that it was no longer profitable to serve God.   Elihu, in this chapter of Job, corrects that thinking for Job and for us.   The NASV and the NIV look different because one seems to emphasize there is no profit if we try to please God (NIV) and the other if we are pleased WITH God (NASV).   I'm not sure the correct version but believe the theme is the same in each.  Both versions are stressing the point Elihu is making to Job.  He is saying, "Job, you are wrong to say a relationship with God does not matter (either in your trying to please Him or in His pleasure of you)."   There is profit in faith.   Hebrews 11:6 tells us we CAN please God if we do so in faith.  We need to be careful that our circumstances in life don't dissuade us from our taking pleasure in God and assuring He is pleased with us. 

Do you give praise to God or "pomp" up yourself? Psalm 48-50

Psalms 49:16-20 (NASBStr)

Do not be afraid when a man becomes rich,

When the glory of his house is increased;

 For when he dies he will carry nothing away;

His glory will not descend after him.

 Though while he lives he congratulates himself —

And though men praise you when you do well for yourself—

 He shall go to the generation of his fathers;

They will never see the light.

 Man in his pomp, yet without understanding,

Is like the beasts that perish.

A "Man in his pomp, yet without understanding, is like the beasts that perish."  That sentence ought to run across the bottom of the television screen every time we hear an athlete boast about some catch, throw, stoke, or win they accomplished.   It should have been posted across the table at my own book signing.   It should be posted below every pulpit where the man of God is waxing eloquent, more to hear his voice than to declare His Voice.   People stack up money to garner praise for themselves.   They don't tell people how much money they have they just brag about trips, expenditures, and acquisitions.   While we live we like to "congratulate" ourselves.   We are called upon by this world to celebrate our bodies.  If we lose weight we love to receive praise about it, even though it was the Holy Spirit and prayer that actually accomplished weight lose in you.   But, we don't say that.   We simply parade our now thinner bodies around our community looking for praise.  We stand in front of the mirror and congratulate ourselves ... until we have to do it all over again!!   If we steal praise from God we are like the beasts that perish.   The above warning is for the believer not to act or be like that rich man who's only glory is on this side of death.   We ought never get caught up in the same emotions or directions.   Our praise and honor are to go the great God.  This Psalm might end, as above, talking about what happens when men think they are great, but it started with praise to God for HIs Greatness.   That is the contrast in life.  We either praise Him for His greatness or we praise ourselves for our greatness.   

How do you treat your enemies? 2 Samuel 1-4

2 Samuel 4:9-12 (NASBStr)

David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress, when one told me, saying, ‘Behold, Saul is dead, ’ and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him in Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood from your hand and destroy you from the earth?” Then David commanded the young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hung them up beside the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish- bosheth and buried it in the grave of Abner in Hebron.

Nothing demonstrates the quality of a man's character than what he does or feels about his enemies.   God's forbearance for evil and His restraining of their instant destruction ought to be a lesson to each of us as to what He wants us to live like and be like.   But God is God.  How can we be as equally patient, loving and kind?   David, in the first four chapters of 2 Samuel shows us the love and kindness a man can have for his enemies.  In the first chapter we see David weeping over Saul and Jonathan's death.  Make no mistake: Saul hotly pursued David to kill him.  David had two chances to kill Saul and didn't because he respected God's appointed leader.   He so respected that position of Saul that he killed a man who boasted of killing Saul.   David equally was frustrated when he best warrior, Joab, killed another one of his enemies, Abner.   David wouldn't eat or sleep because he felt Joab should not have taken revenge on Abner, even though Abner killed Joab's brother.  David wanted a kingdom of forgiveness and, instead, he got war.   Now in the end of chapter four we read of the two men above.  They sought Saul's son, Ishbotsheth, and killed him on his bed, while he slept.  It seems no one in David's kingdom knew of the desire in David's heart for peace.   Instead they sought revenge and bloodshed.   Again, David kills these two men for their lack of true justice.   David, later, will not be allowed to build the temple because his kingdom was established in bloodshed.   David, as the leader, was held responsible for these acts of revenge, even though he despised them.  Sometimes the leader's heart is not known and followed.  But, the leader is still responsible for the failure of those he leads.   We don't know if David had tolerance classes and anger management classes for his soldiers.  They each thought they were doing him a favor by taking the lives of men that David felt should have a different form of justice.   Whatever the reason David was grieved as the acts of evil on his enemies.  He was willing to forgive, even if his men didn't catch that theme.  How we feel about the fall of our enemies is something God is concerned about.  Perhaps this is why David's son, Solomon, would later right a great admonishment to us to remember:

Proverbs 24:17

Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,

And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles;

Do you believe in the power of God? Exodus 13-16

Exodus 13:9 (NASBStr)

And it shall serve as a sign to you on your hand, and as a reminder on your forehead, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth; for with a powerful hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt.

Throughout this chapter of Exodus and the next Moses, the writer, uses the phrase, "powerful hand" in reference to God's deliverance of the people from Egypt.  Six times we read the phrase and, yet, the nation continued to doubt and question the ability of The Lord to care for them.   God destroyed the entire Egyptian army to demonstrate His power and the very next breath the people would grumble they have no food to eat.    The picture we have in these chapters is that God saves us and we should never again fear sin in our lives and worry about either our salvation or our sanctification.   God is powerful enough to save us from sin and free us from the slavery to it AND He is powerful enough to keep us saved and give us victory over sin in our lives today.  It is NOT a matter of effort.  It is a matter of FAITH.   We didn't get saved by works and we don't stay saved by works.   We didn't get set from from sin by works and we won't overcome sin by works.   The people of Israel would constantly fall into a "whoa is me" attitude because they continually would fail to see God's mighty hand at work in their lives.   They kept looking to self and kept look at the Red Sea as simply a body of water and not a mechanism for a miracle.  God is powerful.   It is our faith that is weak.   God is powerful.  It is our eyes focused on the army of Egypt or the hunger in our belly, or the thirst in our mouth.   We don't see in front of us the opportunity for God to once again show us His power.   Each issue we have in life, even overcoming sin, is a change for God to once again show us His power.    Don't doubt His ability to save you from sin and keep you from sin.  

Do you do what you do in sacrificial love? 1 Corinthians 15-16

1 Corinthians 16:14 (NASBStr)

Let all that you do be done in love.

At the end of a long letter in which you covered a long lists of topics, it might be difficult to know how to summarize it.  How do you make a summary statement when you covered conduct in the church, spiritual gifts, giving, the Lord's Table, Salvation, sanctification and an assorted other great church topics?   Yet, Paul does so in the above statement.   You can sum it all up with one axiom:  Let all that you do be done in love.   You will recall that when Jesus was confronted by the lawyer who was sent to entrap Him and was asked which was the greatest commandment, Jesus summarized the entire Torah in two statements: Love God and Love your neighbor.   So, Paul follows that example and tells the Corinthian believers to do the same.   Paul had told them earlier that in the Christian faith their were three great truths centered around Hope, Faith and Love.   And, without explanation he simply stated that the greatest of those three was Love.   Therefore isn't out of the ordinary that he would summarize  everything he had just written to them in this exhaustive statement.  In his word choices for love, Paul uses the most powerful of Greek terms, agape.   The word means to love in sacrificial ways; laying your life down if necessary.   So, his admonition, in summary, of everything just read in the letter is to do whatever you do in sacrificial love.   Most of what we do in life is for ourselves.   Even acts of kindness and good works are often done in selfish motives; we tend to give to get!   Yet, true living for God is to live for Him and others and not for what we get out of it.   If we truly are followers of Christ we will do what we do like He did.  In love He lived and died for us.   

Do you honor God with the things that bear His image? Mark 11-12

Mark 12:13-17 (NASBStr)

 Then they *sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Him in order to trap Him in a statement. They *came and *said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay a poll- tax to Caesar, or not? Shall we pay or shall we not pay?” But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a denarius to look at.” They brought one. And He *said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” And they said to Him, “Caesar’s.” And Jesus said to them, “ Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were amazed at Him.

The religious leaders of the day spent most of their day, during Jesus' walk on the earth, trying to figure out how to trap Him rather than how to follow Him.  In the above passage we have an example of such an attempt.   Thinking they could get Jesus to say something about the government they would be able to bring Him up on charges, as well as possibly turn the hearts of the people against Him.   However, trying to trap Jesus, the Son of God, isn't possible.   His response to them shows He respected the government system ... He did, after all, ordain it.   The question might be asked, however, did these religious leaders catch His teaching in the midst of defending His relationship with the current regime?   Notice that Jesus asks them the "image" on the coin.   Using that phrase we should be shot back to Genesis 1:27 where Moses told us we are all creating in the image of God.   As Jesus tells them to honor Caesar with something that has his image stamped on it, He is also telling them to honor God with something that His image stamped on it.   Since we are "stamped" in the image of God we are to honor God with our body and lives.   We are not here to live for ourselves, but for Him.  We do not own our bodies, they belong to Him.    We are not to think of our lives as something we have control over and that we are put here for personal comfort or enjoyment.  It is true that God wants us, and, indeed, enables us to have enjoyment.  But, that is not the point of our lives.  We have been made in the image of God and that stamp not only sets us apart from every other creature in God's creative world, it obligates us to live for Him and like Him.   So, when Jesus says render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, He is not just talking about taxes.   He is telling us (and the religious leaders of the day) to honor God with the things that bear His image.  

Did you know Jeremiah preached the gospel in 800 B.C.?

Jeremiah 17:1 (NASBSt)

With a diamond point it is engraved upon the tablet of their heart

And on the horns of their altars,

Jeremiah has been sent to the nation of Israel as the deliverer of some very bad material and messages.  The above passage being a strong case and point to that end.   He is telling them that their sins are not mere clouds in the sky, passing by and notice ever so briefly.  He is telling them that their sins are not being looked over.   They are, in fact, being tattooed on their hearts, not in ink but with a diamond pointed stylus ... permanent marker!!  The phrase "tablet of the heart" is no doubt a reference to cause them to think of the tablets of the Law written by God's finger on stone through Moses.   (Solomon is the only other author in Scripture to use the phrase "tablets of the heart;" no doubt for the same message in Proverbs 3:3 and 7:3.  There, however, we are told to write the words of the father (our Divine appointed guide of life) on our hearts.)   Jeremiah, on the other hand, is telling them that their sins are permanent and can't simply be washed away.   He further causes strife for the average Israelite who hears this but referring to the sins being written permanently on the "horns of the altar."   This is a scared place for all the people of God.   The horns of the altar were a safe place.   They were where the sins of the nation were washed away by the blood of the sacrifice.   The priest was to place the blood on the horns of the altar (Exodus 29:12).   When Solomon was purifying the kingdom after the death of his father David, Adonijah, fearing Solomon, ran to the temple and took hold of the horns of the altar in hope of deliverance (1 Kings 1:50, 51).   For Jeremiah to deliver this bad news about the nation's sins being engraved on both their hearts and on the place they could get absolution, was a double-pronged death warrant.  Sin was in their lives to stay and there was NO place to find relief.   This is NOT a good message for anyone.   Had you only read, however, up to Jeremiah 17 you would have been left with nothing but bad news.   That would be like reading on to Romans 3:23 and stopping.   But, just like Romans 3:23 makes way for Romans 8:1, so Jeremiah 17 makes way for Jeremiah 31.   You can't read Jeremiah 17:1 without also reading Jeremiah 31:33, 34 (and vice versa).  Note the good news Jeremiah will finally get to declare:

Jeremiah 31:33-34 (NASBStr)

“But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “ I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord, ’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

God did write their sins on their hearts with a diamond stylus.   Which is why only He could do the necessary heart transplant and remove the old heart and put a new heart within them.   He did so by taking the sins on the horns of the altar and having His Son crucified there.   Jesus became the final sacrifice and the ONLY sacrifice that could once for all remove the sin and allow the heart transplant to be done.  He gave us His new heart and He took the sins of our old heart.   This is the good news of the gospel.   Jeremiah did have bad news to deliver.  But, he also was delivering the good news of the gospel in 800 B.C. to a nation whose heart had grown hard with sin.  

Do you have a covenant with your eyes? Job 31

Job 31:1 (NASBStr)

 “I have made a covenant with my eyes;

How then could I gaze at a virgin?

The word in the above verse, covenant, is used almost 300 times in the Old Testament.   It is first used by God when He established a covenant with Noah after the flood.   In that covenant God told Noah He would never again destroy the world with a flood.   The word conjures up an agreement between two or more parties that cannot be broken.   It is sometimes translated "league."   When the men of Gibeon heard about the power of Israel as they came out of Egypt they made themselves look like they had traveled miles and asked Joshua to forma a "league" with them.   After Joshua agreed and subsequently discovered their deception he still keep the "agreement."   That is because a "berit" is a "berit" (the Hebrew word for covenant),   In this section of Job the suffering man is trying to justify himself one last time.   He is telling his friends of all the ways he DID NOT sin (remember, even God tells us that he was an upright man who shunned evil ... Job 1:8).   One of the reasons such a claim could be made, Job begins to argue, is because he had previously made a "berit" with his eyes.   This league or covenant was like any other covenant.   Treating his eyes as though they were another party in his life, Job makes an agreement with his eyes that he would not look upon a maid to lust after her.  In so doing Job did what the Pharisees never could: He internalized the Law.   Jesus told us that whoever looks on a women to lust has already committed adultery.   David started his adultery with a look.   Job knew that a look was all that was needed.   Therefore, like making an agreement with a trusted friend he and his eyes struck up a berit.   Most men would never have a physical adulterous affair but would do so hundreds of times throughout the day with most of the women they see.   It is, however, first and foremost a sin of the heart.   But, the heart is often lead into sin by the members of the body (eyes, ears, tongue, etc).   Paul told us to no longer allow our "members" to be used by sin but to yield them to become instruments of righteousness.  Paul might have been reading this passage when he wrote those words in Romans 6.   Job is saying, in his covenant, that he no longer wants his members (in this case, his eyes) to yield to the impulses of the heart and he no longer wants his heart to convert the visions of the eye into lustful sin.   So, that was the covenant.   In a typical covenant both parities have an obligation.   In this case Job was saying his heart would not take the simply act of seeing and convert it to sin.   He would not allow the eyes, however, to take looks it should not take.   That was the covenant.   It was between the eyes, the heart, the will and the mind.   

Do you know God's top ten earmarks of great leadership? Psalm 45-47

Psalms 45:1 (NASBStr)

 My heart overflows with a good theme;

I address my verses to the King;

My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

As an executive leadership coach I am often asked, "What does good leadership look like?"   I have had, in the past, both a pithy definition (for those who want it fast and concise) and a rather long and elaborate thesis (for those who actually have the time to listen).   I should, however, simply memorize Psalm 45 and make that my answer.  For when God tells us what good leadership looks like, here is what he says:

1.  Great leadership is someone who has grace on their lips and a sword on their side.  They are  "fairer" than the sons of men because of their ability to balance these both:

Psalms 45:2-3 (NASBStr)

You are fairer than the sons of men;

 Grace is poured upon Your lips;

Therefore God has blessed You forever.

 Gird Your sword on Your thigh, O Mighty One,

In Your splendor and Your majesty!

2.  Great leadership is someone who describes victory as standing for what is right in the right way:

Psalms 45:4a (NASBStr)

And in Your majesty ride on victoriously,

For the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness;

3.  Great leadership  is someone who can still learn ... even in the midst of victory as defined in #2:

Psalm 45:4b

Let Your right hand teach You awesome things.

4. Great leadership defines and defeats the appropriate enemies (those opposed to God and His plan):

Psalms 45:5 (NASBStr)

Your arrows are sharp;

The peoples fall under You;

Your arrows are in the heart of the King’s enemies.

5.  Great leadership is distinguished above others not for how much, how long, or how many; but, rather how they lead:

Psalms 45:6-7 (NASBStr)

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;

A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;

Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You

With the oil of joy above Your fellows.

6.  Great leadership is attractive and joyful to others (not burdensome):

Psalms 45:8-9 (NASBStr)

All Your garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;

Out of ivory palaces stringed instruments have made You glad.

 Kings’ daughters are among Your noble ladies;

At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.

7.  Great leadership inspires sacrificial living:

Psalms 45:10 (NASBStr)

Listen, O daughter, give attention and incline your ear:

 Forget your people and your father’s house;

8.  Great leadership inspires respect and loyalty and a following:

Psalms 45:11-15 (NASBStr)

Then the King will desire your beauty.

Because He is your Lord, bow down to Him.

 The daughter of Tyre will come with a gift;

The rich among the people will seek your favor.

 The King’s daughter is all glorious within;

Her clothing is interwoven with gold.

 She will be led to the King in embroidered work;

The virgins, her companions who follow her,

Will be brought to You.

 They will be led forth with gladness and rejoicing;

They will enter into the King’s palace.

9.  Great leadership assures continuity in transition: 

Psalms 45:16 (NASBStr)

In place of your fathers will be your sons;

You shall make them princes in all the earth.

10.  Great leadership will ultimately leave a great legacy:

Psalms 45:17 (NASBStr)

I will cause Your name to be remembered in all generations;

Therefore the peoples will give You thanks forever and ever.

We don't need to turn to Harvard, Yale, University of Michigan or any place of higher eduction to define great leadership.   Psalm 45 takes care of it for us!!

Do you rejoice when your enemy falls? 2 Samuel 1-4

2 Samuel 4:9-12 (NASBStr)

David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress, when one told me, saying, ‘Behold, Saul is dead, ’ and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him in Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood from your hand and destroy you from the earth?” Then David commanded the young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hung them up beside the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish- bosheth and buried it in the grave of Abner in Hebron.

Nothing demonstrates the quality of a man's character than what he does or feels about his enemies.   God's forbearance for evil and His restraining of their instant destruction ought to be a lesson to each of us as to what He wants us to live like and be like.   But God is God.  How can we be as equally patient, loving and kind?   David, in the first four chapters of 2 Samuel shows us the love and kindness a man can have for his enemies.  In the first chapter we see David weeping over Saul and Jonathan's death.  Make no mistake: Saul hotly pursued David to kill him.  David had two chances to kill Saul and didn't because he respected God's appointed leader.   He so respected that position of Saul that he killed a man who boasted of killing Saul.   David equally was frustrated when he best warrior, Joab, killed another one of his enemies, Abner.   David wouldn't eat or sleep because he felt Joab should not have taken revenge on Abner, even though Abner killed Joab's brother.  David wanted a kingdom of forgiveness and, instead, he got war.   Now in the end of chapter four we read of the two men above.  They sought Saul's son, Ishbotsheth, and killed him on his bed, while he slept.  It seems no one in David's kingdom knew of the desire in David's heart for peace.   Instead they sought revenge and bloodshed.   Again, David kills these two men for their lack of true justice.   David, later, will not be allowed to build the temple because his kingdom was established in bloodshed.   David, as the leader, was held responsible for these acts of revenge, even though he despised them.  Sometimes the leader's heart is not known and followed.  But, the leader is still responsible for the failure of those he leads.   We don't know if David had tolerance classes and anger management classes for his soldiers.  They each thought they were doing him a favor by taking the lives of men that David felt should have a different form of justice.   Whatever the reason David was grieved as the acts of evil on his enemies.  He was willing to forgive, even if his men didn't catch that theme.  How we feel about the fall of our enemies is something God is concerned about.  Perhaps this is why David's son, Solomon, would later right a great admonishment to us to remember:

Proverbs 24:17

Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,

And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles;

Do you do good to others to get good from others? 1 Samuel 26-31

1 Samuel 26:24 (NASBStr)

Now behold, as your life was highly valued in my sight this day, so may my life be highly valued in the sight of the Lord, and may He deliver me from all distress.”

David, in the above passage, has just resisted, for a second time, to kill Saul, even though the circumstances were set that he might do so.   God had once again given David a chance by circumstances and public approval to kill Saul.  But David, like Daniel, was not governed by circumstances.  He was governed by the principles of God's Word.   The men around David believed it was an opportunity presented by God.  David believed God's Word trumped even the most favored circumstance.   As a result he has a conversation with Saul and pleads for his life.   What would we have said?  What would we have bargained for in light of the mercy we just showed Saull?   We would have struct a deal with Saul.   But, David isn't like us, or most men.  He is a Godly man.   He doesn't say, "Now that I have showed you favor 'you' should show me favor."    Instead he says, "Now that I have showed you favor may 'God' show me favor.   David knew that it was God who would change and direct his life.    David is the perfect example of Romans 12 were Paul instructs the Romans Christians to not seek revenge but to trust God and do good to their enemies.   We sometimes get caught doing good to others for the hope they will do good to us.   That is a normal human spirit.   But, the person of faith, who is walking in the Spirit, does good to others and, by faith, waits for God to direct them and honor them.   Note in the above verses that David prays, "may He deliver me from all distress."   David knew that obedience didn't guarantee blessing, only that obedience, by faith, would allow God show even more grace and bless him.   That was his hope in Christ.   He believed that by honoring God through honoring God's anointed, he would be highly valued in God's sight and God would deliver him from the distress of running from Saul.  Doing things the right way doesn't simply eliminate the distress we find ourselves in with others.  It does, however, put us in great favor with God.     

Do you remember, repeat and react to the old, old stories? Exodus 9-12

Exodus 10:1-2 (NASBStr)

 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may perform these signs of Mine among them, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your grandson, how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I performed My signs among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.”

There is, in the story of the plagues, a contemporary component.   God, in Moses' day, used the plagues and the hardness of Pharaoh's heart to get the attention of the Egyptians, the surrounding nations and even the Israelites.   But, another reason for these plagues was to teach the Israelites' children and grandchildren and those that would follow.   God wanted to use these events to turn many hearts to Him.   But, keeping them preserved in Scripture every generation has been reminded of how God brought the most powerful nation in thew world to its knees.   The Israelites would tell of this story throughout every generation.     That was God's intent.   We would do well to heed this story and others like it.   They have been given to us so that we might heed their warnings and help others see the greatness of God.     Note what the Apostle Paul as to say to the church at Corinth about the same things:

1 Corinthians 10:6-11 (NASBStr)

Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, “ The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.” Nor let us act immorally, as some of them did, and twenty- three thousand fell in one day. Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.

Many in the Corinth church were Gentiles.  So, we can't claim national privilege or ignorance of these things.  Note what the Psalmist says about remembering and telling the stories of old:

Psalms 79:13

So we Your people and the sheep of Your pasture

Will give thanks to You forever;

To all generations we will tell of Your praise.

Our responsibility is to tell the old, old stories.   We believe them and respond to them in faithful obedience.   We then tell them to others, especially our children.  

Do you know the importance of each member in the Body of Christ? 1 Corinthians 12-14

1 Corinthians 12:22-25 (NASBStr)

On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.

The above passages are written to the church at Corinth to emphasize the importance of every person in the body.  This church body in particular were hooked on some worldly thoughts about wisdom, privilege and position.  These disputes even brought Paul into the mix.  Note what Paul said earlier:

1 Corinthians 1:11-12 (NASBStr)

For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.”

Like it was then, so it is now.   We have churches full of members who think the Body of Christ like the Corporate Structure:  Position equals privilege. Yet, in the above verse Paul corrects them and us.   God has put the body together so that every part is of equal value in Christ.   Paul's own argument states we ought not think that the gift of administration is less than the gift of prophecy.   We ought not to think that the gift of hospitality is less than the gift of his own apostleship.  Each gift in the body needs to be honored.   But, Paul states that those who have gifts that "lack" (meaning not as important in our human eyes) should have "abundant honor."   The reason for this is that so there would be NO division in the body.   Today's church administration needs to be careful to not create a tiered "business model."    The body is not to mirror the corporate model.   There is hierarchy in the Church, but only for authority to be exacted.   Every member is to be treated with honor and with care so that we might care for the body the way Christ intended.   

Is your life on fire? Mark 9-10

Mark 9:49-50 (NASBStr)

“For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

"For everyone will be salted with fire."   What does that mean?  Who is He talking to?  Who is Jesus referring to?  The answer to interpretation issues is typically found in the context.   Here, in Mark 9, Jesus was asked about some who were casting out demons, but were NOT followers of Jesus and the twelve.   Jesus tells the disciples that those who are not against Him are with Him and begins to teach them about their own sanctification issues.   He tells them to cut off a hand, or a foot if they hand and foot were causing you to sin.   He had just told them to pluck out an eye if the eye is leading you into sin.   On the heels of this discourse He begins with the preposition, "for" to start the next teaching.   He had told them that those who fail to purify themselves (in the context of the Gospel He would mean, "come to Christ") will end up in certain peril of fire and brimstone.   He appears to be talking to the disciples about all men and the context seems to indicate that our fruits must demonstrate the root of our faith.   As He finishes His teaching He adds the line that "everyone" is to be salted with fire.    In the OT we read that every sacrifice was to offered "with salt."   It was not to preserve the sacrifice, as the offering was to be consumed immediately by fire.   The addition of salt is a condiment of God.  It is the "curing" of the offering.  It was to make a sweet savor to The Lord and the salt added to that sanctification process to prepare the meat for offering.   Salt was the picture of further making the offering holy to The Lord.   Salt is the sanctification process.   Notice that John the Baptist told us that believers would be purified with fire of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11).   John's reference probably comes from Malachi 3:2-3 below:

"But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, till they present right offerings to the Lord."

We are told in the above verses to have "salt" in ourselves. We are to be purified by the gospel and the process of sanctification.   The sanctification process, however, is not easy.   It might call for the loss of hands, feet and eye.   It will be done through fire.   Jesus doesn't say we will be salted with salt, but rather with fire.   Those who are not purified by the Gospel and the Holy Spirit's ministry will be salt that has "become unsalty."  Can it be salty again?  Men will have either the fire of purification or of destruction.   But, both fires will come.  To the believer it is the process of the mortification of sin in their lives ... best done in the fire of life.   Sanctification takes place for the purpose of curing our sacrifice.  In Romans 12:1-2 we are told to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice and renew our mind for that to happen.   Purifying the sacrifice makes it worthy.   God does that through the salt of fire.    

Do you come to God hoping for relief only to hear things will be tougher yet? Jeremiah 12-16

Jeremiah 12:5 (NASBStr)

“If you have run with footmen and they have tired you out,

Then how can you compete with horses?

If you fall down in a land of peace,

How will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?

Have you ever looked around you and thought, "This just sucks!!" and wondered where you would go or what you would do as a result?   Jeremiah was in such a place.  In chapter twelve he comes to God with his "complaint" about the prosperity of the wicked (see Psalm 73 for a similar issue with another man of God).   He is overwhelmed by the conduct of his countryman for their lack of spiritual sensitivity and their obvious hypocrisy.   He has been ill treated by them and, informing God, didn't think this was fair or right.   His "prayer" to God is to take this compliant to the "righteous" Judge who will vindicate Him.   There has not been a minister of God that, if he is doing what he is told in God's Word, has not felt this way before.    Jeremiah has had it "up to here" with their ungodly treatment of him and is taking his "cares" to The Lord, as we are ALL instructed.   God's response, however, is surprising to us ... imagine what Jeremiah must have thought.   God doesn't send immediate comfort.   God doesn't affirm his thoughts.  God doesn't wrap His big arms around him and give him a squeeze.   Well, maybe, HE does squeeze Jeremiah; but, not how you think.   He speaks to Jeremiah and states, "If you can't handle this, how will you handle what I am about to allow you to go through!"     God asks Jeremiah, "If you can't run with footmen (these who are currently hurting you and are minor players in the first act), how will you run with horses (those who will be BIG players in the second act)?"   He goes on with a second picture for Jeremiah to consider: If you can't handle the land when it is at peace how can you handle the Jordan when the banks are overflowing?   Things were about to get rough for Jeremiah (see Jeremiah 20:2; 32:2).   All ministers of God (and all believers) make the mistake that because they follow God things should be "comfortable" for them.   They believe if they obey God, He will give them blessing upon blessing.   Ask Joseph how that worked out.  Ask Daniel how that thought played out as he served four kings in a foreign land and only wanted to go home ever day.   Ask the three Hebrew "slaves" who were tossed into the fire.   Ask Paul as he was beaten and tossed into jail after jail and run out of city after city.  For the ultimate, ask Job!!   His story should have told us about looking for blessings in this life.   Yes, they all ULTIMATELY received blessing.   Note what the writer of Hebrews wrote after he talked about many of God's great people in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11:

Hebrews 11:37-40 (NASBStr)

They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill- treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.

 And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.

Our obedience is based upon God's grace.   God's grace, given to us, makes any situation possible.  God didn't tell Jeremiah as a result of his great obedience he was going to bless him.  God told him to sit down, shut up and hang on ... it was about to get rough.   Yes, blessings come.  But, not in this life.  Getting peace, comfort, money, prosperity, notoriety, a life of ease, or whatever else you want to use to describe the "blessing" that follows obedience, simply pales to what God will give us and is not remotely what God is talking about in His Word about blessings.   God only promises that we will be complete IN HIM.  We don't obey to be blessed, we obey because we ARE blessed.  Jeremiah had to learn that simply because he obeyed, life was not going to be easy.   It never is when we are in a strange and foreign land where we are simply passing through.   

Do you view those who are suffering like Job's friends viewed him? Job 29-30

Job 30:8-10 (NASBStr)

“ Fools, even those without a name,

They were scourged from the land.

 “And now I have become their taunt,

I have even become a byword to them.

 “They abhor me and stand aloof from me,

And they do not refrain from spitting at my face.

How quickly fortunes and lives can change.  Where once a person was large and in charge, with just one event (usually foolishness) he/she is reduced to a punch line of the nightly comic.   We don't cherish our good places in life, nor do we adequately prepare for the bad.   In the above verse we pick up Job's lament about his current situation.   We really can't fully grasp the meaning of these few verses unless we completely digest chapter twenty-nine of this book.   In that chapter Job is talking about when he was at the top of his game.   He was highly respected, trusted, counted upon and honored.   People would come to him for help, counsel and intervention.   Yet, due this current issue, he was reduced to a mere byword.   And, as stated in the above, even those who were fools in his previous life are now taunting him. These "fools" now are positioned (at least in their minds) higher than Job and stand "aloof."  This suffering in Job's life has seen him deal with spittle rather than praise.   Yet, this suffering, as we know, was not his fault and was, in fact, due to his righteousness.    These "fools" would not know that, of course.  Had they known that they would have taken a different route and made sure Job kept his honor.  Today, in our minds, Job has high honor.  But, had we lived there at that time, we, too, might have reduced our honor for feigned pity.    Too many times we see someone suffer and think it MUST be deserved and therefore we change our respect for them.   These people in Job's life didn't see the hand of God in Job's life.   They only saw the suffering and equated that with sin, selfishness, and/or a deserved recompense for his hypocritical life style.  We would do well to refrain from becoming fools in the lives of others when we observe their life unfold.  The suffering we see may very well be BECAUSE of their deep character,  not the lack of it.   Be careful who you mock.   They may be a child of God, under the hand of God, experiencing the grace of God in a way you may never know.   

Does your worship of the past cause you to desire more in the future? Psalm 42-44

Psalms 42:4 (NASBStr)

These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me.

For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God,

With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.

Perhaps the worst memories are those that recall the best times of your life when you were involved in worship and that is no longer available to you.   We talk a lot about memories and the past accomplishments we have had.  We call to mind those things with found memories and great delight.   But, the height of memory awareness is when you can call to mind the act of worship you had in the past with other believers.   In the above passage the Psalmist recalls a time when he not only worshipped at a great level but also was part of the leadership of that throng.   Leading others in worship is the ultimate in leadership.   Encouraging others to praise God the extreme in true leadership.   The writer here, however, bemoans this memory.   He states that he pours out his soul within himself.   He speaks of this as a past event.   We are not told why he no longer leads them.   Perhaps his age as caused the world to pass him by.  Or, maybe, we it is the fact that he has disqualified himself and is allowed to serve in this capacity.   All we know is that this is a past memory.  One that seems to be causing some hunger, desire or panting (Note he uses the words, "These things" at the beginning of this section).   In the first three verses of the chapter the writer states he has a hunger, desire and a panting frantic for God.   In the end of this verse, above, he states that the worship he and others were involved in was full of joy and thanksgiving.   His memory brings to mind a "multitude keeping festival."   It is both wonderful and wondering to bring to mind the worship of the past.   In this passage it is motivating the writer to want more of it.   True, Biblical and Christlike worship ought to leave you wanting more.   Leadership or follower-ship, you want more of God once you taste Him in true, humble worship.  

Do you know why God wants to do revenge and not us? 1 Samuel 21-25

1 Samuel 25:39 (NASBStr)

 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal and has kept back His servant from evil. The Lord has also returned the evildoing of Nabal on his own head.” Then David sent a proposal to Abigail, to take her as his wife.

The story of David, Nabal and his wife, Abigail, is a great story to emphasize Paul's teaching in Romans 12:18,19.   In that New Testament book Paul is telling the Roman believers that since they have been justified by grace through faith they should not seek vengeance on others, but they should trust in God and allow God do vengeance.   Note the Romans passage:

Romans 12:18-21 (NASBStr)

If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “ Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. “ But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him A drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

When Nabel, was a wicked man, rejected David's offering for peace and David's request for food and supplies, David had purposed in his heart to kill the man.   David's reaction was not Biblical.  He was reacting as any ungodly man might act.   When Nabel's wife hears of her husband's rejection of David's offer, she quickly gathers supplies and takes them to David, intervening on behalf of her husband.   David recognizes this and repents of his evil intent, while at the same time thanking Abigail for being God's messenger and preventing him from doing something he would later regret (God often sends us such messengers, but we don't always see them or listen to them).  When Nabel hears of Abigail's intervention, however, he dies of a heart attack.   This is where the above verse comes into play and how it mixes with the Romans' passage.   When David backed away and let God work, simply trying to live at peace with a man who would not listen, God brought about justice and vengeance.   David, in God's grace, ends up marrying Abigail.   This is the ultimate justice.  David married the wife of the man who had done him wrong.   Is there any sweeter revenge?   God orchestrated all of this to show us if we allow God to work great things will happen.    We should not try to work our own justice.    

Do you know what it means for God to "harden" a heart? Exodus 8-11

Exodus 7:3 (NASBStr)

But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.

Unbelievers may have a little trouble with this verse.  They might have a lot of trouble with this verse.   They might ask, "How can God expect Pharaoh to repent and give in IF God is going to harden his heart.   Paul answers this objection in Romans 9 when he uses this very passage to make and explain his case for God's sovereign election.    What can we learn from this passage about God and how He works with the unsaved world?  

1.  When the text says that God will harden Pharaoh's heart we need to remember that Pharaoh's heart was already hardened.    Man is born into sin and has a heart that is completely hard against God (Romans 3:23; 8:5-8).   If we believe these passages we have to believe that absent God showing us His grace we all have a hard heart toward God.    That means this is our normal state.   The only ANYONE does not have a hard heart is because God intervenes in their life and gives them grace.    That means for Pharaoh to have a hard heart, God needs to do nothing.   If God does not intervene Pharaoh will simply be Pharaoh.   That is what God does to "harden Pharaoh's heart."   God simply doesn't intervene and give Pharaoh grace.   

2.  The reason God is not going to intervene and give Pharaoh grace is because He wishes to show His grace throughout the land.   He is about to do multiple signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.   That means He has to have a platform for those signs and wonders.  In this case, the platform is the disbelief and the hard heart of Pharaoh and his people.   God uses them as the back drop to show His grace and wonder.   Signs and wonders are simply the manifestation of God's grace.   

God wants to show man His grace.   But, to show that grace, He sometimes allows unbelievers to simply be who they are ... unbelievers.  God is not obligated to make us believe.   With that said, Pharaoh, throughout this book, demonstrates, proves and fulfills his own depravity.  He continues to be a man of unbelief and won't bow his knee to the sovereign rule of God.   God removes His grace because Pharaoh doesn't want it.  His depravity won't allow it.  

Do you spend much time in front of the mirror ... examining your spiritual life? 1 Corinthians 11

1 Corinthians 11:28 (NASBStr)

But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

We are all familiar with the concept of an exam.   It starts early in our lives when our mothers or fathers tell us that she is going to come in to check if we actually cleaned our room.   That first mindset about what an examination looks like is crucial for our lives.   If we view the exam as positive or negative is so important to how we view future examinations.   For instance, the next person in our lives to exam us would be teachers.  If we view the exam as stressful and unnecessary, we may miss the beauty about the context of exam.  Later in life we will come to a state of maturity to realize that self-examination is vital to personal growth.     So, too, in the above text.  Paul is not trying to place us in a negative environment and make the Lord's supper an event that comes with self-inflicted angst.  Paul wants us to realize that the beauty of self-examination.   Note the following texts from Paul's pen as written to this same church later and to other churches:

2 Corinthians 13:5 (NASBStr)

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?

Galatians 6:4 (NASBStr)

But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another.

Paul wants us each to know the value of self-examination in view of God's salvation, giving to us by grace.   We have a Biblical responsibility to know where our walk with God is and what needs to be corrected.  We have the Biblical responsibility to, by faith, allow God to work in our lives so that we can correct those areas we have since examined.   We don't spend much time in our lives doing this "mirror" work.  We would rather do "window" work and look at the problems of others.   But, if we can yield to the Spirit's examination in our lives we will discover where we lack in regard to our walk with Christ and what areas need to be shaped and molded by the Spirit of God so that we are walking in the image of Christ.   Do do that work we must step back and examine ourselves.   We do it each morning as we look in the mirror to see if we look alright to others.  Shouldn't we do the same thing spiritually in regard to how we look to Christ? 

Do you take your issues to Christ in faith? Mark 7-8

Mark 7:27-30 (NASBStr)

And He was saying to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered and *said to Him, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children’s crumbs.” And He said to her, “Because of this answer go; the demon has gone out of your daughter.” And going back to her home, she found the child lying on the bed, the demon having left.

Sandwiched between Christ's revelation about the dangerous teaching of the Pharisees and the feeding of the 4,000, we have this story about the Syrophoenician woman, who had a daughter possessed by a demon.  The passage tells us that when she "heard" about Jesus she went to Him, without her daughter, to seek a healing for her.  We don't know why she didn't take the daughter with her, like others in the stories we read about Jesus and His healing.  Perhaps she was embarrassed, or the daughter was so possessed she couldn't control her, or any other of plausible reasons.   With this story, no matter the background, we can learn some great lessons about Christ and our trials and suffering in life:

1).  Know who to bring your problems/trials/suffering.  In another passage someone brought someone possessed of a demon to the disciples (while Jesus was on the Mount with Peter, James and John) they could not cast out the demon (Matthew 17).  This women didn't do that.  She took her struggle and problem directly to the Son of God.   If we hope to have healing and miracles in our life, we need to bring out issues to Christ.  He not only CAN heal them and care for every need, He WANTS to heal them and take care of every need.  

2).  We need to get over who we are and focus on WHO He is.   This women was not a Jewish women.  She is a Gentile.   In today's world, Jesus' statement inferring her as "dog" would not be politically correct (and, in fact, this passage is often sighted by unbelievers as demonstration of Christ's intolerance of others ... or, His prejudice).   Christ her is a Jew.  The Women knew that.  The two didn't like each other.  In fact, the Gentiles had much more intolerance for the Jews of the day, more than the Jews toward the Gentiles.  The point of the lesson is to remember, that Christ is the Son of God and we have to humble ourselves and be willing to go to Him if we want healing.   If she would have been a normal Gentile she would never have humbled herself to ask for help from a Jewish man.   Before any helping we have to come to a position of humility to know who we are and WHO He is.  

3).  Our faith only needs to be small to see great things.   Jesus' response to the women is that He was sent, first to the Jews.  She recognized this truth and only wanted a "crumb" of God's grace.   God's grace, even in crumb form, is more powerful than any demon.   She knew that.  Christ rewards her faith and heals her daughter as a result.  We need to remember that any portion of God's grace is enough for our healing and our blessing.   Christ is so full of grace and truth.   As we pray and search for salvation from our struggles, we can have faith that just a droplet of God's grace will heal our lives and our struggles.  Jesus told the disciple, after they failed to casts out the demon in Matthew 17, that if they but had a small amount of faith, they could move mountains.  Our faith is not sized by what we have but by what we believe He can do.   She, apparently, knew that and Christ rewarded her.  

Did you know that God directs every man's steps? Jeremiah 7-11

Jeremiah 10:23-24 (NASBStr)

I know, O Lord, that a man’s way is not in himself,

 Nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps.

 Correct me, O Lord, but with justice;

Not with Your anger, or You will bring me to nothing.

Note also the following proverbs in light of the above passage of Jeremiah:

Proverbs 16:1 (NASBStr)

 The plans of the heart belong to man,

But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

Proverbs 20:24 (NASBStr)

Man’s steps are ordained by the Lord,

How then can man understand his way?

When you talk to man about God's sovereign control over the affairs of man you will get a lot of objection.  Man is so convinced of their free will they react, sometimes violently, to the thought or belief that God directs their every step in life.  As if the story of Job is just that, a story, the forsake the fact that God can and does intervene in their lives to cause them to walk where He wants them to walk.  Jeremiah tells the nation that they are not in charge of their own steps and that God will correct them and administrate justice to them.  But, it is not in man to "direct his steps."   Man, without God's common grace and elective grace would kill one another, without measure.  It is only the sustaining grace of God that prevents man's sin to consume him.   God directs his steps to assure that man can be given grace ... redemptive grace.   God does make man do evil.  But, God can direct man by simply removing HIs grace and allow man to do what he does naturally ... sin.   It is God's intervening grace that directs man's steps that prevents him from destroying himself and others.   Our plans are nice, but they are only accomplished because of God sustaining grace in our lives.   

Do you know the value of wisdom? Job 27-28

Job 28:12-18 (NASBStr)

The Search for Wisdom Is Harder

 “But where can wisdom be found?

And where is the place of understanding?

 “ Man does not know its value,

Nor is it found in the land of the living.

 “The deep says, ‘It is not in me’;

And the sea says, ‘It is not with me. ’

 “ Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it,

Nor can silver be weighed as its price.

 “It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,

In precious onyx, or sapphire.

 “ Gold or glass cannot equal it,

Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.

 “Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned;

And the acquisition of wisdom is above that of pearls.

Man spends his life looking for what Job is describing in the above passage.  His conclusion at the end of this chapter is that wisdom comes from fearing The Lord.  In the above words Job tells us how bad man misses the value of wisdom.  We think we can purchase wisdom like a new car or new house.  Yet, there are not any values equivalent to the value of Wisdom.  Those who "purchase" an education mistakingly think they are also purchasing wisdom.  That is not the case.  As we read Job's words we can see that wisdom is not to be found, compared or sought like anything else we pursue or which to purchase. However, there is one mistake man makes that we can purchase wisdom or even value it.  But, Job states further in the above verses that man doesn't even know the value of wisdom.  Man thinks wisdom is on the same level as a text book lesson.   Wisdom was there when God made the universe (Proverbs 9).   Wisdom is Christ (1 Corinthians 2).   Wisdom is more valuable than a finite mind can comprehend.   The acquisition of wisdom is above the value of pearls.  Yet, if you gave the average man on the street the choice between a bag a pearls or a book of Proverbs, you know what they would choose.  Solomon didn't do that when he was young.  He choose wisdom.   Perhaps he had already read this chapter of Job.   

Do you know God's plan for highly success people? Psalm 39-41

Psalms 41:1-3 (NASBStr)

 How blessed is he who considers the helpless;

The Lord will deliver him in a day of trouble.

 The Lord will protect him and keep him alive,

And he shall be called blessed upon the earth;

And do not give him over to the desire of his enemies.

 The Lord will sustain him upon his sickbed;

In his illness, You restore him to health.

How many books have been written that could be entitled, "A formula for success?"   We are often told what successful people do and encouraged to repeat their habits, antics or platitudes.   Supposedly the world knows what it means to be successful and, if we want success, their patterns and formula's ought to be embraced and followed.   We might here from them about work ethic, integrity, healthy habits and focused missions.   There have been few, however, who have ever written a book on the subject of the above Psalm of David.   David, through the Spirit's ministry, gives us a formula for success that would not match any Harvard Business School philosophy.   David tells us that a "blessed" person, one who will have deliverance in the day of trouble; a protection program from God; a reputation on the earth; an overcomer of his enemies; and a person who is in excellent health, is one who considers the helpless.   Those who are gracious to those in need will find that God will be gracious to them.   That is David's formula for success.  He doesn't talk about getting up early to exercise, or getting a great education, or accumulating wealth (although none of those things are bad in and of themselves).   He tells us that those who are blessed by God with those gifts, are those who have a thought and plan to help the needy.   The next time you see that the world around you is not as successful as you planned, see how you align with God's plan.   Are you so focused on your own success that you fail to consider God's plan.  Be gracious to others and God will be gracious to you.