The Most Important Family
In my younger years, Father, I knew people who loved studying through the psalms, but I have struggled with them. I think I should reconsider that!
God arms me with strength,
….and he makes my way perfect.
He makes me as surefooted as a deer,
….enabling me to stand on mountain heights. Psalm 18:32-33 (NLT)
Luke 11:27-28 (<<click to read the passage)
We are just a little past Mother’s Day and Father’s Day is almost upon us. It is a great blessing that Karen and I both have our mom and dad still with us. We are in our mid-50s and they are all in their 80s now.
I have friends my age who have had to deal with losing a parent or in some cases both of their parents. I realize that many people throughout the world don’t have the benefit of both parents being a part of their lives. Many are fortunate to have had one faithful parent.
Whole family units are maybe a bit more rare in today’s world but they are just as important as they have ever been. That is another reason why those who choose to follow Jesus should be diligent in taking note of families around them who struggle as single parents, both moms, and dads. It is a challenge to parent alongside another parent…I can hardly imagine how single parents keep everything going. As followers of Jesus, we need to be active and on our knees in prayer concerning those flying solo with everything on their plate, and no one really able to help shoulder the responsibilities of life.
Families were equally important in Jesus’ day. Genealogies were cherished. The Jewish people could trace their family back for hundreds of years – actually, back to the very beginning! They were reminders – guarantees if you will – that they were part of God’s chosen people. A man’s value came from his ancestors, and a woman’s value came from the sons she bore. *
There are examples throughout the Bible. There were women, unable to have children, and their lives were miserable – Rachel (Jacob’s wife – Genesis 30), Hannah (Elkanah’s wife – 1 Samuel 1), and Elizabeth (Zechariah’s wife – Luke 1). The Apostle Paul shared his lineage in a couple of his letters (Philippians 3:5, Romans 11:1). The family was a big deal.
Luke 11:27 says,
As [Jesus] was speaking, a woman in the crowd called out, “God bless your mother—the womb from which you came, and the breasts that nursed you!”
Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.” Luke 11:27-28 (NLT)
Family is important, but absolutely nothing is more important than being a part of God’s family. And we all know that honoring our family by listening and respecting guidance that is given is important but, again, it is “even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.”
Pray for your family. Pray for my family. Pray for every family you can think of. But when all is said and done, pray that they all find themselves in the family of God!
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
June 18th, 2020, Thurs, 7:46 pm
Mosquitos, the Scourge of the Earth!
God’s way is perfect.
….All the Lord’s promises prove true.
….He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.
For who is God except the Lord?
….Who but our God is a solid rock? Psalm 18:30-31 (NLT)
Luke 11:24-26 (<<click to read the passage)
Mosquitos, the scourge of the earth! Do you know anyone who would argue with that statement! Now they are a beneficial source of nutrition for animals on the lower levels of the food chain, such as fish, bats, and birds but for human beings, they are an irritant at best and a carrier of death for some, at worst!
(A little side note: only a few hundred of the 3,500 species of mosquitoes, from various parts of the world, bite or bother humans. In fact, only female mosquitoes bite humans. Males lack the parts to penetrate human skin.)
Because we have had an excessively wet last few months, our mosquito population – at least around my house – has exploded! As soon as the sun starts to go down, we head indoors…either that or become unwilling blood donors! Part of our problem is that a good part of our lot is low lying with an underlying layer of clay. Water does not dissipate very quickly. It would take an exorbitant amount of landfill and drainage tile to dry us out.
We have a drainage ditch that cuts into our lot from the field across the road. That ditch is almost impossible to keep under control and is a battle all summer long.
A couple of years ago we paid a young man to clear all the vegetation out of it, hoping the water would flow through and or evaporate to eliminate it from collecting in stagnant pools – the perfect breeding ground for mosquitos!
If I had kept up with it, it might have worked but, alas, I did not and it is as bad as ever! The front portion of the ditch is cut down as of yesterday but there is nothing to keep the water from pooling…it is just a long breeding ground!
My study Bible* had this to say about these two verses from Luke 11,
Jesus was illustrating an unfortunate human tendency: Our desire to reform often does not last long. In Israel’s history, almost as soon as a good king would pull down idols, a bad king would set them up again. It is not enough to be emptied of evil; we must then be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish God’s new purpose in our life
When we ask Jesus to forgive us, the sin in our souls is irradicated. The Holy Spirit comes to take up residence to help and guide us along our way. But part of our responsibility is to listen to His guidance and keep our souls clear of the debris that the things of this world leave behind. If we don’t take care, them “skeeters” will come back with a vengeance…and those “skeeters” all carry death!
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God [that is, His remarkable, overwhelming gift of grace to believers] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 (AMP)
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
June 17th, 2020, Wed, 7:36 pm
The Good Guy Wins
You light a lamp for me.
….The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness. Psalm 18:28
Luke 11:21-23(<<click to read the passage)
For some reason, I am drawn to action movies where the main character is greatly outnumbered but despite the cards being stacked against him, he comes out the victor – bloodied and beaten, mind you – but victorious.
At the core of the plot, there is usually someone powerful and strong, who no one can stand against. The “bad guy” rules with an iron fist and everyone does his bidding – there is no choice, for it is obedience or death.
Then unbeknownst to all enters the “good guy”. In the movies, he is not perfect and is not always a man with scruples, but he takes a stand against the “bad guy’s” henchmen and against all odds defeats them. Eventually, He defeats the “bad guy”, too.
Reading yesterday’s passage, where Jesus spoke of the ludicrous idea that He was driving out demons in Satan’s power, these two verses jumped out at me.
Satan is the “bad guy” supreme. He is a “strong man” who rules this earth with an iron fist. And, just about everyone does his bidding. He is in control. He is the one who runs things. And regardless of following him willingly or unwittingly, death is guaranteed in the end – there is no other choice.
But then the “Good Guy” supreme enters the scene. Against all odds, he takes His stand. And in this case, even after defeat, after defeat of the “bad guy’s” henchmen, the “bad guy” gets his way, and the “Good Guy” is taken out – He is executed for all to see. And the “bad guy” thinks, “The end! I won!”
But he did not win! He played right into the hands of the Eternal Father. What he thought was his greatest victory instead became his eternal defeat! Jesus alone is the uncontested champion of eternity!
Read this passage with those thoughts in mind.
When the strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his belongings are undisturbed and secure. But when someone stronger than he attacks and overpowers him, he robs him of all his armor on which he had relied and divides his [goods as] spoil. Luke 11:21-23 (AMP)
The devil is defeated – he still rules but his fate is sealed. Revelation 20:2, 10 (NLT) speaks of his destiny.
2 He seized the dragon—that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan—and bound him in chains for a thousand years.
10 Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
As is the norm with me, a hymn came to mind. Martin Luther wrote A Mighty Fortress Is Our God in 1529 and the first three stanzas of its text set it all before us.
A mighty fortress is our God,
a bulwark never failing;
our helper he, amid the flood
of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe
does seek to work us woe;
his craft and power are great,
and armed with cruel hate,
on earth is not his equal.
Did we in our own strength confide,
our striving would be losing,
were not the right Man on our side,
the Man of God’s own choosing.
You ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is he;
Lord Sabaoth his name,
from age to age the same;
and he must win the battle.
And though this world, with devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God has willed
his truth to triumph through us.
The prince of darkness grim,
we tremble not for him;
his rage we can endure,
for lo! his doom is sure;
one little word shall fell him.
June 16th, 2020, Tues, 8:41 pm
Writing on the Wall
Father, I think I overdid it today. It’s work that needed to be done but my body isn’t happy I did it! Help my mind to be sharper than my body is as we come together this evening. Amen.
Luke 11:14-23(<<click to read the passage)
The Finger…of…God!
Just reading those words sounds ominous, doesn’t it?
Those words are used three times in the Old Testament.
In Exodus 8:16–19, Moses and Aaron stood before Pharaoh demanding the release of the Israelites. When Pharaoh declined…again, God commanded Moses to tell Aaron to strike the ground with his staff and the dust – and that is just about all there was in the desert climate of Egypt – turned “into swarms of gnats throughout the land” v16
Interestingly enough Pharaoh’s magicians had been able to replicate the first two plagues – water to blood and causing frogs to come upon the land. But…that wasn’t what happened this time. They couldn’t pull it off and were scared and exclaimed, “This is the finger of God!” v19 It didn’t faze Pharaoh though.
Later in Exodus, the words are recorded in Exodus 31:18 and Deuteronomy 9:10 referring to the way God wrote the Ten Commandments on tablets of stone that were given to Moses.
The only time the phrase is used in the New Testament is here in Luke 11:20. Jesus is rebuking those accusing Him of driving out demons by the power of satan.
He speaks of the inability of a divided kingdom to stand. If satan’s power is driving out satan’s minions -his demons – then his kingdom will fall. So, Jesus proclaims,
“…if I drive out the demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has already come upon you.” v20
Ominous, indeed…for that is exactly what was happening. God’s kingdom had already come upon them! And they refused to acknowledge its coming!
There is one more instance of an ominous finger in the Bible. It doesn’t specifically say that it was God’s but the pronouncement of judgment upon Belshazzar, the wicked king of Babylon, was God, loud and clear.
Belshazzar had literally been partying with the sacred utensils from God’s holy temple in Jerusalem. In the middle of the “festivities”,
Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall… The king watched [and] His face turned pale…he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking. Daniel 5:5-6 (NLT)
The writing on the wall freaked everyone out but no one understood what it meant…until they called in God’s faithful servant, in exile, Daniel. And he explained it all.
“This is the inscription that was written, ‘mene, mene, tekel, upharsin’… This is the interpretation of the message: ‘mene’ – God has numbered the days of your kingdom and put an end to it; ‘tekel’ – you have been weighed on the scales [of righteousness] and found deficient; ‘peres’ – your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and Persians.” Daniel 5:25-28 (AMP)
The “writing on the wall” was plain for Jesus’ accusers to see – though they didn’t admit it and it is plain for us, as well. Our world is a mess. It has been for some time but with everything going on in our country alone, I would say that undoubtedly, the writing is clearly on the wall for us, too.
God’s kingdom is here and whether we like to admit it or not…our days are numbered. Each one of us must take a close look at ourselves and see if we were weighed on the scales of righteousness, would we be found righteous -because we acknowledge Jesus’ offer of salvation – or would be found deficient. A division is coming, again – whether we will admit it or not.
Upon which side of the division will you be found?
June 15th, 2020, Mon, 7:57 pm
Persistence Prevails!
A beautiful day of companionship today, Father. You have blessed me abundantly! I would pray that You would continue to bless the union that You ordained between Karen and myself, that we may continue to impact lives for Your kingdom, both together and as individuals. Amen.
Luke 11:5-13 (<<click to read the passage)
At times, there are things in life that just seem insurmountable. Goals and aspirations that at one point seemed attainable with a lot of hard work and a substantial amount of elbow grease, over time, become behemoths of anguishing frustration that drain us dry to the very core of our being. It is excruciating!
Some collapse beneath the load and turn their backs on all the lofty hopes and dreams to which they had aspired.
But for others? Persistence prevails.
Thoughts of giving up, of throwing in the towel, of backing down, of hoisting up a flag of surrender may pass through their minds but…persistence prevails. No matter how difficult, no matter how taunt their minds and hearts are…they refuse to capitulate. They will not cede to the enemy of defeat! Persistence prevails!
And in doing so they become the victors! They will be the conquerors receiving the wreath of laurels signifying their triumph over their adversaries!
Maybe you’ve been there. Maybe you know someone who has been or is there. It’s tough…but along that arduous journey, we don’t just benefit from reaching our desired destination, we also benefit from the journey itself.
In today’s passage, Jesus speaks of two friends. Friend number one has received an unexpected visitor and in desperation pleads with friend number two for help. It is late and number two is already in bed, his children with him. At first number two refuses to help but eventually – due to the persistence and boldness of number one’s pleas – he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
Jesus’ lesson was pressing for our persistence and boldness in prayer with God.
A note from my Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation states,
Persistence, or boldness, in prayer, overcomes our insensitivity, not God’s. To practice persistence does more to change our heart and mind than his, and it helps us understand and express the intensity of our need. Persistence in prayer helps us recognize God’s work.
“So I say to you, ask and keep on asking, and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking, and you will find; knock and keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking [persistently], receives; and he who keeps on seeking [persistently], finds; and to him who keeps on knocking [persistently], the door will be opened.” vs9-10 (AMP)
We dare not give up! We must not throw in the towel! We cannot back down! How can we even think of hoisting up a flag of surrender?!
…ask and keep on asking, and it will be given to you…
…seek and keep on seeking, and you will find…
…knock and keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.
Persistence prevails!
God knows what we need…but often we really have no idea. We think we do but God doesn’t just want shallow, lightweight prayers – He wants to hear from us, sure! – but if we are seeking to draw close to Him in everything we are, we need to dig deeper. We need to strain. We need to put all we are into the endeavor. And in the end, we will do more than reach our destination. For our end will only be the beginning and the journey will be all the richer!
June 14th, 2020, Sun, 6:29 pm