Do Good Works - 1 Chronicles 25-29

1 Chronicles 29:19 (ESV)

Grant to Solomon my son a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all, and that he may build the palace for which I have made provision.”

If you wanted to pray something over your children, spouse, friend, church leader, etc. the above would be the prayer to pray.   The above words are the secret for all mankind to walk in blessing and honor before God.  That does not mean with no harm or suffering.  It simply means that God wants to grant to us the power to walk in His ways and commands and statues.  God has created us for good works:

Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

God want us to live our lives doing these good works to bring Him glory and draw others to Him:

Matthew 5:16 (ESV)

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

God wants us to be like David and to be zealous for good works:

Titus 2:14 (ESV)

who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Pray this verse over yourself and others.  

Keeping Pure - Numbers 18-20

Numbers 19:11-13 (ESV)

“Whoever touches the dead body of any person shall be unclean seven days. He shall cleanse himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so be clean. But if he does not cleanse himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not become clean. Whoever touches a dead person, the body of anyone who has died, and does not cleanse himself, defiles the tabernacle of the LORD, and that person shall be cut off from Israel; because the water for impurity was not thrown on him, he shall be unclean. His uncleanness is still on him.

The above is found in the context of purification for the nation of Israel.   There are at least three aspects that should be noted.  There first is that death in a camp of a million plus people, traveling in a desert for 40 years, was not healthy.   Remember, there was no refrigeration for them.  There were no Yeti coolers.  They had to be careful everyday of disease.   Not purifying yourself after touching a dead body could bring diseases into the camp and more people would die.  In this case, God’s command was for their personal safety.  

A second reason for the command requires us to remember that they are traveling in the wilderness for 40-years because they had disobeyed God.   All those who did disobey had to die before their children could come into the promise land.   So, over 40-years over one million people had to die.   That means there was going to be 50-70 people die every day.   That is a lot of possible diseases coming into the community.  Purification was necessary to keep the next generation safe.   

The last reason for the purification was to keep the Tabernacle holy.  Death is the ultimate sign of unholiness.  Jesus would come and defeat death by dying.  He would be laid in the tomb and the women and friends would cover Him with herbs and spices to cover up the smell of the decay. But there would still be decay.  The reason for the purification was to symbolize victory over death. It was a shadow of what Jesus would do.   Jesus purified us from death by dying for us.  The Tabernacle in the nation was the symbol and shadow of Jesus’ presence.   It had to be kept holy.  

There are reasons for God’s commands in the Old Testament. Some for us simply to be safe. But all for us to see the glory of God.  

Beware of People Carry False Teaching - 2 Timothy 3-4

2 Timothy 3:6 (ESV)

For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions,

2 Timothy 3:8 (ESV)

Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.

2 Timothy 3:2 (ESV)

For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,

2 Timothy 3:13 (ESV)

while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

Sin has no respect for gender or age or group.   As Paul writes to young pastor Timothy, he outlines what Timothy is up against.   He does not rule out anyone as someone who will turn away from God.   Children (disobedient to parents), woman, evil men, evil people, will all turn away from God.  As a pastor, Timothy must be aware that there are those in the church and in the world around him that will attempt to lead others astray.   We are to be on guard about them.   Part of 2 Timothy 3:5 adds this statement to this thought:

2 Timothy 3:5b (ESV) 

Avoid such people.  

Timothy is to be warned.  So, too, are we.  

Denying Christ - John 13-15

John 13:36-38 (ESV)

Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.

Simon Peter is all in for Jesus, but does not, yet, know his internal weakness.  That is so true for all of us. Until tested we are not guaranteed we can still do what we thought we could do.  There is no doubt the Peter is sincere in the above commitment.  He just lacks the understanding about his own, true nature.    Paul would say it this way in his letter to the Romans:

Romans 7:14-18 (ESV)

For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.

Like Peter we want to say we would follow Jesus, even to our death.   But the flesh is not as strong as the spirit in us.  This is why we must rely completely in God’s grace.   

1 Corinthians 15:10 (ESV)

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

James 4:13-17 (ESV)

Boasting About Tomorrow

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

We do not succeed because we boast with our mouth to succeed.  We succeed by believing in our hearts that God will produce within us, by His grace, what He needs from us. 

Hebrews 13:20-21 (ESV)

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Distraction to Restoration - Joel

Joel 2:24-25 (ESV)

“The threshing floors shall be full of grain;

the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

I will restore to you the years

that the swarming locust has eaten,

the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,

my great army, which I sent among you.

Before we can understand the above, we have to remember what God sent to the nation recorded in chapter one:

Joel 1:4 (ESV)

What the cutting locust left,

the swarming locust has eaten.

What the swarming locust left,

the hopping locust has eaten,

and what the hopping locust left,

the destroying locust has eaten.

God sent the locust to destroy everything. That was the discipline for their disobedience.    Joel is announcing this destruction on them, but then gives them the restoration message as well.  This is how God works in discipline.  There may be destruction in God’s discipline for His children, but there is always restoration.   We can’t pretend to disobey God and then walk the way we walk.  God will interrupt that walk and cause us to take stock in our walk with Him.  When we repent and return to Him we have His restoration, which is the replacement of what was devastate by the discipline.    God will always restore us to Himself.  

What Do We Do With Traditions? Proverbs 22

Proverbs 22:28 (ESV)

Do not move the ancient landmark

that your fathers have set.

This proverb is a summary of the command of God in the giving of the Law to Moses in Deut 19:14.  Solomon repeats it here and gives no reason.   In Proverbs 15:25 we read that God protects the land of the poor and/or widow.

Proverbs 15:25 (ESV)

The LORD tears down the house of the proud

but maintains the widow's boundaries.

God is concerned that greed and power are kept in check.  He tells us here that wisdom includes our following His basic laws and is reflected in how we treat the property of others.   God knows when we don't show mercy.   We can remove the boundary lines and secure more for ourselves but that would not be in the character of God.   We can move away from what our father's taught us and we can literally move the boundary of the culture of our homes, families, churches and communities.  God wants us to remember important, traditional and historical events, times, laws and property.   Foolish people attempt to move these things; or, at times, simply ignore them.   Holding too much onto tradition for the wrong person can make you Pharisaical.   However, leaving the ancient boundaries for the wrong reason or out of ignorance suicidal.  Hold on to what God gave us and keep the traditions He has established and the boundary lines He has ordained.

God Delivers Us! (Psalm 105-107)

Psalms 107:23-32 (ESV)

Some went down to the sea in ships,

doing business on the great waters;

they saw the deeds of the LORD,

his wondrous works in the deep.

For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,

which lifted up the waves of the sea.

They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;

their courage melted away in their evil plight;

they reeled and staggered like drunken men

and were at their wits’ end.

Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress.

He made the storm be still,

and the waves of the sea were hushed.

Then they were glad that the waters were quiet,

and he brought them to their desired haven.

Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,

for his wondrous works to the children of man!

Let them extol him in the congregation of the people,

and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

Psalm 107 is a song to praise God for how He rescues those in need.   He speaks of four different type of people in need:

1. Those who are lost and wandering. (107:4-9)

2. Those who rebelled against God are in the shadow of death and in prison. (107:10-16)

3. Those who, because of their foolish and sinful ways are in affliction. (107:17-22)

4. And, as above, those who are simply out in life, doing business, and get caught up in a storm. (107:23-32)

It is often our own situation and choices that put us in the place of pain and suffering.   That is the reason for #1, #2 and #3, above.   When we wander, rebel and make foolish choices we are left to the suffering that follows.  Yet, in each of those cases, we read this:

Psalms 107:6 (ESV)

Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress.

That verse appears in all four examples.   God knows that we are but dust and that we will fail, fall and flounder in our humanity.   But God is there to rescues us and deliver us.   He hears our suffering and He delivers us from our distress.  Even if the distress is, as above, simply by going about and doing our business and a storm appears.   God can turn darkness into light no matter the reason the darkness comes.