Purpose and Fulfillment in Life - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Matthew 10:1,

"He [Jesus] called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness."
 
During his earthly ministry, Jesus delegated meaningful tasks, assignments to his disciples. Jesus involved them in a very visible and important way in his work of presenting the Kingdom of God that would eventually turn this world upside down.

He has delegated an assignment to us as well, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…", Matthew 28:19-20. 

While so many misunderstand the importance of what Jesus was doing in Matthew 10, I can't help but be amazed that my Lord would share such important responsibilities - opportunities to serve him. Think of the consequences of such an enterprise Jesus has commissioned us with! Think of the gravity of the outcome – the ultimate determination of the lives and souls of mankind! Something so far beyond the importance of any job or occupation this world has to offer. 

The primary objective of the great commission in Matthew 28 is not our own satisfaction and sense of purpose – it is all about others. However, the opportunity to serve the Lord should bring such fulfillment, meaning to life and a sense of purpose that we find our lives full, satisfying, meaningful and exciting. Everything connected to our Lord is like that!!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Need a Doctor? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Matthew 9:12,

"It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick."

On the day that Jesus called the writer of this gospel to follow him, he went to go eat at his home. There, Jesus reclined at table with Matthew and what the Pharisees called "tax collectors and sinners." The religious leaders wanted to know why a man who claimed to speak for God would sit down to eat with such people.

Jesus' response was to chastise them for engaging in their religious activities while not caring for sinners, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice" and to make clear why he had come. He came to save "sinners" not the righteous, and used the simile that it is a sick person, not a healthy person, who needs a doctor.

It should go without saying that if the underlying thesis of the simile is false, then it would have been a poor response. However, as always, it was a brilliant point which ended the matter.

This brings to mind my frustration with those "Christian" groups who reject the services of doctors in favor of "faith healing". They have their proof texts, such as Isaiah 53:5, James 5:13-16 as well as others. With these in hand, they accuse all others of denying faith in Jesus Christ when visiting the doctor.

As is often the case, there is so much more they fail to see, they fail to look at. Throwing a few "proof texts" at a theological argument does not suffice in studying a matter thoroughly. Show me the passage where Jesus tells us we don't need doctors when sick. This passage in Matthew says the opposite. Explain to me why those of the other persuasion get the flu like you and me, get cancer, have heart attacks... why is there a graveyard behind the church?

Why does Paul tell us our bodies are not yet redeemed, although we are? See Romans 8:23. What happens to our bodies when we embrace Jesus Christ in faith that we no longer require the services of a doctor?

Just musing out loud here. What do you think?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Jesus: Capable and Willing - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Matthew 8:2,

"A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, 'Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.'"

Following Jesus' sermon on the mount, many needy people came to him to seek relief. The above verse documents the plea of a leper. Also in this chapter a Roman centurion came to him for help because he had a servant paralyzed and suffering. Peter's mother-in-law was lying in bed with a fever and Jesus healed her. His disciples sought his deliverance of them from a furious storm as they crossed the lake in a boat. The chapter ends with Jesus healing two horribly demon possessed men.

If nothing else, what we learn from this chapter is that Jesus Christ is who to flee to when in need. He is capable, willing and able to help any one of us regardless of our need.

The greatest need we all have is that we all face the horrific judgment of God for our sins. We have all sinned and we all face God's eternal judgment of us for those sins. However, just as the folks experienced Jesus' deliverance of those we meet in Matthew 8, he can and will deliver us.

There are a lot of remedies out there that are promoted to meet whatever need we may have. There exists no greater need than that which Jesus can provide us relief for. He has the power to deliver us and he has within himself the willingness to deliver us.

He has the love within him that promises us he is willing to help us in our need.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Something We All Suffer From - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Matthew 7:3-5,

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

Isn't it amazing how we all ignore (or at least fail to recognize), our own shortcomings? How few are those of us who are willing to acknowledge faults and shortcomings in our own lives. How many of us readily see faults in others!

Jesus points out in this passage that we can certainly see faults - just not within ourselves. Following a great sermon we think if so-and-so would just listen to that message... while failing to see how it is something we should apply to our own lives. We listen to the message and then consider the others who need to hear it while often not including ourselves in that list. We very often violate the very message we think someone else needs to hear as we deem how appropriate it would be for them.

We all have blind spots! Me, you, all of us! The Son of God certainly knows us well.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

Virtue Signaling - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Matthew 6:1,

"Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven."

In this passage, Jesus points out that public religious expressions done for the purpose of highlighting one's own spirituality are rejected by God. He uses the examples of public displays of philanthropy and prayer.

There really are all kinds of examples of this about us. My favorite are the TV evangelists who provide little mini-eruptions of "talking in tongues", etc., that are designed to provide the "correct bona fides" for asking the public to empty their wallets for "the very important work of their ministry". I'm sure you have your favorite examples of like disgusting behavior by those who would pass themselves off as our spiritual betters.

I'm certain there are other, less obvious examples around us as well. But, nonetheless, designed to promote some distinction that a person or their church, or denomination, or whatever, is more spiritual than whatever it is you have. If you pay attention to the discourse in the public square these days (and I can't blame anyone who avoids it!), you have certainly heard the term, "virtue signaling".

Wikipedia defines it as "Virtue signalling is the conspicuous expression of moral values done primarily with the intent of enhancing standing within a social group. The term was first used in signalling theory, to describe any behavior that could be used to signal virtue—especially piety among the religious."

I think Wikipedia might have included the notion that there is intent to communicate "I am better than you". Surely this is at the heart of what Jesus was teaching. Do-gooders who ply their trade often do so to demonstrate just how wonderful they are.

I don't know about you, but I am not wonderful - Jesus Christ is. I really don't have anything to parade in front of others. If anything good ever came by my life, trust me, it would be in spite of me, not because of me. However, if I took pride in that fact publicly, might I not be condemning myself of being guilty of the very thing Jesus spoke against?

That conundrum is resolved by taking myself out of the equation all together. If I set my heart and mind on Jesus Christ, and off of myself, as Paul exhorts us to do in Colossians 3:1-4, I won't have to worry about who is better than who, who is more spiritual than who.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Throwing Myself at the Feet of God's Mercy - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Matthew 5:48,

"Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Here is a command from Jesus to his disciples as he taught them in his sermon on the mount.

"Be perfect. Therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." Where does that leave me?

I am not now perfect, I have never known myself to be perfect for more than a period of a few minutes, and I honestly don't see perfection in the near term for me here in this life. It is not that I don't want to be perfect, but I have a sinful nature within me that still abides, and, as a result, I can't claim perfection.

I look forward to a time when I will hopefully reach a degree of perfection in the resurrection of life, where my old sin nature will have been left behind. Until then I am a man who struggles at times. Because of this, I am wholly and entirely dependent upon the mercy of God. I need the salvation God provides because I simply cannot achieve that state of perfection on my own. Instead of receiving acknowledgement and reward for being a perfect person, I can only look to God for his forgiveness, his mercy, his kindness and his love, a love that I do not deserve.

I am convinced the reason Jesus told his followers to be as perfect as God in heaven was to help them recognize their shortcomings, their need of God's mercy, their need of God's provision for their sins in his courtroom. After all, why would a person reach out for a savior if they have no felt need for being saved? We have to be aware we have a need of God's forgiveness for our sins before we seek that forgiveness. When we realize our sinful condition we can but only cry out to God for his forgiveness, his mercy.

When it comes to God's commands, I am reminded of what Paul had to say, "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin." Romans 3:20.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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The Words of God - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Matthew 4:4,

"It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

This was Jesus' response to Satan in the wilderness as Satan tempted him to make bread out of stones at the end of his forty day fast.

The words were originally spoken by Moses in Deuteronomy 8:3 where he exhorted the people of Israel to keep the commands of God to enjoy the blessings of God.

There are a couple of observations not to be missed in Jesus' quotation of Moses here in Matthew 4. The first is that there are words that come from the mouth of God. God exists and our existence is entirely due to his. Not only does he exist, but he is not quiet. He has spoken to us. The words God has spoken have been spoken to us: they are intentional words and words he expects us to be aware of and to follow.

These words that God has spoken are for the benefit of our lives, our existence, our futures. They are words we are to order our lives by. We live by them to enjoy the blessings God provides and we ignore them to our peril.

Unfortunately, many who consider themselves wise by the world's standards have ridiculed and ignored the words of God, while many others have twisted and distorted what God has said. And, sadly, many have followed these "leaders" to their own destruction.

On the other hand, many have rightly understood the importance of listening to the words of God and have ordered their lives in light of them. These have had the best life has to offer and have placed themselves in a position to enjoy the many wonderful blessings that will come our way in the next age.

Where do you and I fit into this? It is my hope and prayer we all embrace the words of God and order our lives by them. Why follow Satan?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Where Do Religious Leaders Take Us? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Matthew 3:7-10,

"When he [John the baptist] saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: 'You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, "We have Abraham as our father." I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.'"

These Pharisees and Sadducees were the religious leaders of the day. In Acts 23:8 we read about them, "The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things."

From this we might categorize these two groups as the Pharisees being the more conservative and literal with the Scriptures and the Sadducees much like the churches today that have abandoned the Scriptures as representing the things of God accurately. I think you get the picture. In any event, the two groups taken together represent a spectrum of theological thought and practice.

As I say, they were the religious leaders of the day, and yet John castigates them here, as Jesus did later on. Why would there be religious leaders who bring condemnation on themselves from those sent from God himself?

Clearly, they didn't speak for the Lord.

These religious leaders represent so much of what we see in the church today. Abandoning the truths in Scripture, many, many "religious leaders" today do not speak for God. Where God condemns homosexuality, many of today's leaders embrace it. Where the Lord has provided us a gospel message of faith many of today's leaders advocate for a message of being a "do-gooder".  Where God defines justice in Scripture, many of today's leaders have replaced that with their own version of "social justice" (in order to advance a political agenda). You get the drift.

Clearly, many religious leaders lead people away from God, just as they did in John's day. If you are under anyone's leadership that does not place priority on God's revelation of himself and his perspective on the things of this life, go elsewhere! Why allow someone to lead you into disfavor with God? That kind of leadership leads in a bad direction!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

A Strategy Used by God - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Matthew 2:13, 19-20,

"When they [the Magi] had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. 'Get up,' he said, 'take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.'... After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, 'Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child's life are dead.'"

Following the visit of the Magi, an angel visited Joseph and told him to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt. The way in which the account is given provides the picture of a sudden flight from Bethlehem to Egypt: "Get up... escape to Egypt... stay there until I tell you..."

The account provides for some questions to an odd mind like mine. If Herod posed a threat to the baby Jesus, why didn't God just take Herod out? In Acts 12:23 we read about a later, different King Herod, "Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died." Why the intrigue of a flight in the middle of the night which was followed by the slaughter of the boys in Bethlehem?

Clearly God chose to remove Jesus from Herod's grasp at that time, rather than remove Herod (permanently) from the equation. Many people speculate (based on historical events) that the stay in Egypt was fairly short, maybe a couple of months to no more than a year or two. Then that same angel came back to tell Joseph to return (who then took the family to Nazareth because of the threat Archelaus presented).

There are certainly countless ways God could have resolved the danger Herold posed to the baby Jesus, but he chose this way. I'm sure there was a reason God chose this way, and I'm sure I don't know what it was. Nevertheless it doesn't preclude my wondering about it.

Possibly there were events taking place in the spiritual realm that provided for why God made his choice?

One observation I have is that while King Herod thought he might be protecting his rule and reign in the area, it was only in a very short time (the time Joseph, Mary and Jesus stayed in Egypt) that he lost it all anyway. Can you imagine what it was like for him to face God following his efforts to interfere with God's plan of redemption and the slaughter of innocent boys in Bethlehem???

What do you think?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

Predestination! - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Matthew 1:22-23,

"All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 'The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel' (which means 'God with us')."

The "All this" in the above verses refers to the miracle of an amazing thing God did. The first of it was that God the Son entered into the human race for the purpose of offering himself as a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of all mankind. Secondly, he was given birth by a virgin!

Here is the greatest watershed event to ever occur in human history. All of it miraculous and all of it foretold in a prophecy given to Isaiah some seven centuries earlier. God predestined it.

God determined long beforehand that he would enter into the human race, and that by a virgin. God willed it, God determined it, and nothing in the entire cosmos could prevent it from happening. I am reminded of Proverbs 21:30, "There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord."

Herod's pathetic attempt to neutralize what God was doing by slaughtering all male children Jesus' age in Bethlehem and its vicinity (we read about this in the next chapter) is an example of the spiritual forces of darkness working together with lost, pitiful and wretched little mankind scurrying about in a vain attempt to thwart what God had predestined.

What God has determined is going to happen no matter what.

So, as I say, God predestined his Son to enter the human race through a virgin. God has predestined all kinds of things! His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Israel entering Egypt, Israel exiting Egypt, the coming of John the Baptist, the second coming of Jesus Christ and the end of this age are a few examples of the very many things predestined by God.

Do I believe in predestination? Of course! God's revelation to us reveals many things he has predestined. Do I believe God has predestined only certain persons to enter into his family? No. What he predestined before the beginning of time was that he would imbue mankind, when he created them, with the ability of volition, a free will to accept or reject him. He had predetermined that all who embrace him in faith will enter into his family and all who will reject him will suffer his eternal judgment.

Leaving aside these theological considerations, the fulfillment of all God has predestined ought to stop all people in their tracks and consider where they fit into God's predestined plans. Maybe a decision needs to be made...

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

Life in the Face of Death - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Genesis 50:10,

"When they reached the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan, they lamented loudly and bitterly; and there Joseph observed a seven-day period of mourning for his father."

Upon Jacob's death, Joseph, his brothers and all of Pharaoh's officials took his body up to Canaan for burial. We are told that when they arrived at the threshing floor of Atad, near the Jordan, they stopped for a seven day period of mourning for Jacob. Such mourning took place that the folks in the area named the place as "Mourning of the Egyptians". At the beginning of the chapter we read that Joseph threw himself on his father when he died and wept over him and kissed him.

Many among us have experienced the bereavement that the death of a loved one has brought, certainly we all will at some point. It produces a separation from loved ones that is at times unbearable. God created mankind for life, not death and now that death has become the "end-date" stamped on each one of our lives, we will all be touched by it. It is the jarring reminder that we all belong to a race that lives under the condemnation of God for sin. As opposed to the intention God had for Adam and Eve, life in this world has become terminal and when we lose loved ones it brings a tremendous grief. Death is God's judgment for sin, but it was the sin of Adam and Eve that brought that judgment. When I think of the horror of death, I think of the sin that brought it to us.

But our God is not a God of justice and righteousness only. Our God is the God of love, compassion, kindness and mercy! He has made a way for each of us to attain what his original intent for us was: life! Eternal life! One day those of us who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith will be reunited with our loved ones and share in the Lord's love for us together!

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." Isaiah 9:2. This light brings us life and he has purchased it all by experiencing death himself for us. "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53:3-5.

What a wonderful Savior this is!!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Parting Words and Rachel's Burial Place? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Genesis 49:1,

"Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come."

Prior to his death Jacob had his sons gather around him and gave each one a "preview" as to what he saw coming their way, "so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come." I find the chapter absolutely fascinating. Among other things, when Jacob spoke of Judah, Jesus Christ is prefigured as the one to whom the ruler's staff belongs and to whom the obedience of the nations will be.

Some of the preview is fairly specific, as an example, Asher. "Asher's food will be rich; he will provide delicacies fit for a king." And, although Zebulun will be landlocked when the promised land is divided among the tribes, we read, "Zebulun will live by the seashore and become a haven for ships; his border will extend toward Sidon."

At the end of the chapter we find Jacob's parting words, asking his sons to make sure he is buried in the cave in the field of Machpelah. This is the cave where Abraham and his wife, Sarah, as well as Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried. Jacob points out that he had buried his wife, Leah, there as well. He does not mention his wife Rachel, the love of his life, as she was not buried there.

Jacob buried Rachel in Bethlehem. It causes me to wonder why Jacob did not bury her in the family burial place when she died giving birth to Benjamin. It would seem fitting, since the burial place was an important issue, that Jacob would have taken whatever pains necessary to bury her there. But, he didn't.

I have read several explanations why, and I have to say none very satisfying. Having his flocks and herds with him as he was moving when she passed away, or that there was no good way to preserve the body at that time are not compelling explanations to me. Perhaps it is a mystery that has no good explanation?

Maybe you have a good explanation. I'd love to hear it!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.

The Great Blessing - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Genesis 48:3-4,

"Jacob said to Joseph, 'God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me and said to me, "I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you."'"

Jacob had renamed the city of Luz to Bethel, Genesis 28:19. God actually appeared to Jacob twice there, the first time recorded in Genesis 28:10-22 and the second in Genesis 35:1-15.

In the Genesis 28 passage, Jacob dreamed of a stairway to heaven where angels went up and down between heaven and earth. At that time the Lord told him there, "I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." Genesis 28:13-15.

In the Genesis 35 passage Jacob had later settled in Bethel (Luz) and after returning from a trip to northwest Mesopotamia, God appeared to him a second time there and said, "I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants. The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you." Genesis 35:11-12.

Just as his father, Isaac, and his grandfather, Abraham, God promised Jacob a mighty nation from his offspring and land. The land was Canaan and the mighty nation is described as an "increase [of] your numbers", "a community of peoples". Descendants "like the dust of the earth".

God also told Jacob, "All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring." Today we have the Scriptures God gave to the offspring of Jacob who faithfully preserved them for us. We also see all peoples of the earth blessed through Jacob's offspring, because it was through this lineage the Son of God came to us and paid for our sins on that cross, making a way for us into God's family.

Talk about blessing!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.  

Our God Inspires Our Fatih into action - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Genesis 47:1,

"Joseph went and told Pharaoh, 'My father and brothers, with their flocks and herds and everything they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in Goshen.'"

In chapter 46 the Lord tells Jacob to go down to Egypt. From this verse in chapter 47 we see that Jacob packed up everything, "lock stock and barrel." With all of his faults, Jacob was a man of faith, of great faith. God said go and go he went! 

To me Jacob exemplifies all people of great faith. They all have their faults but they express their faith through the actions they take. As the account provides, Jacob is already en route to Egypt when God speaks to him about going, but clearly Jacob is taking the direction God wants him to take. Rather than arranging for periodic supplies of grain from Egypt to sustain his household in Canaan during the famine, Jacob heads to Egypt where God will make a great nation of him.

My perspective is not that these men of faith had special qualities about them, but that they had a special view of our wonderful God. Our faith is inspired by God himself because of who he is, what he is like and the wonderful things he does. His acts of kindness, mercy and love demonstrate his unique heart and the respect and reverence he engenders within us comes from his holiness, righteousness and justice.

Men and women of faith are moved to do great things for God – not because of something special about themselves but because of something special about God himself!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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God's Love Found in his Reassurances - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Genesis 46:2,

"God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, 'Jacob! Jacob!' 'Here I am,' he replied. 'I am God, the God of your father,' he said. 'Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again.'"

Being forced by famine to send his sons to Egypt to get grain to survive, Jacob is finally persuaded by them that his son Joseph is alive and is second in command only to Pharaoh in Egypt. Now that Jacob is en route to Egypt, leaving behind the land promised to him and his fathers by God, Jacob has a visit from God to assure him of this move. It is God's plan to move his chosen people to Egypt and he wanted Jacob to be reassured that in spite of promising him the land in Canaan, he would be with Jacob in Egypt and would bring him (his household) back to Canaan. God didn't just tell Jacob to go down to Egypt. He reassured him that there was nothing to be afraid of and that he would bless him by making a great nation of him in Egypt. He reassured Jacob he would go with him into Egypt.

As I reflect on this passage I am reminded of the many times God has provided reassurance. In my mind I don't know that anyone has any claim on God that God is indebted to reassure any of us of anything. Mankind has rebelled and sinned against God. Mankind has gone his own way, turning its collective back on God. God has reached out to us, he has provided his Son as a propitiation for our sins, he has imputed us with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. God has already done it all for us. And yet, having done it all he goes beyond his great acts of kindness, mercy, and forgiveness with expressions of love in the reassurance he provides us.

He provides us his indwelling Holy Spirit as a seal guaranteeing our inheritance in the resurrection, Ephesians 1:13-14. He ensures we know this inheritance is a certain hope for us that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for us, 1 Peter 1:4. In so many ways our loving heavenly Father has provided us reassurance of things to come, and for things present many of us have experienced those times of reassurance from our God, often with just a soft nudge on the shoulder letting us know he is with us - through the encouragement of some brother or sister or circumstance that we know in our hearts is from him just for us.

What a wonderful God this is!!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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God Moves a Family - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Genesis 45:4-9,

"Then Joseph said to his brothers, 'Come close to me.' When they had done so, he said, 'I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt.'"

We read in Genesis how God manipulated events so that Joseph would be in a position to move his family from Canaan down to Egypt.

Through resentment generated among his brothers against him, Joseph was sold to slave traders that took him down to Egypt where he eventually found himself as second in all of Egypt. Various dreams and circumstances provided by God brought these events about and here Joseph makes it clear his brothers understand that God was behind all that happened to him.

Joseph told his brothers that it was to "save lives" that God had "sent" Joseph to Egypt. Some have misunderstood this to mean that God put Joseph in place to save all the people everywhere from a coming famine. That misses the point of the account entirely.

God caused the famine himself. He didn't need Joseph in place to undo what he was doing. Joseph told Pharaoh that God decided to cause the famine. The lives saved specifically because Joseph was in place (put there by God) were the lives of Jacob and the family. "But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance."

This is the account of how God moved Abraham's descendants down to the womb of Egypt where they would grow into a large and thriving nation. The next chapter of this fascinating story will be how God moves the people of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob out of Egypt and back into Canaan, the "promised land".

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Who can God Use? - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Genesis 44:27-29,

"Your servant my father [Jacob] said to us [Jacob's sons], 'You know that my wife bore me two sons. One of them went away from me, and I said, "He has surely been torn to pieces." And I have not seen him since. If you take this one from me too and harm comes to him, you will bring my gray head down to the grave in misery.'"

Perhaps not so much in the context of the patriarchal society that Jacob and his family lived in, I wonder about the negative aspects of living in a family where two of twelve sons were elevated, loved, and thought more highly of than the others. It seems the other ten were treated as of less value or importance than Joseph and Benjamin.

The original family of God's chosen people just seems so dysfunctional to me. Certainly, with what we read of the oldest ten sons (Joseph and Benjamin were the youngest of the twelve sons of Jacob), there might have been cause for their father to not hold them in the highest regard, but might Jacob's attitude toward them have had some contributing factor with their shortcomings?

The two sons Jacob loved most were Joseph and Benjamin. Both were the only children of Rachel. The remaining sons were born to Jacob by Rachel's sister, Leah, and their two handmaidens (given Jacob when each appeared barren). Rachel was the woman Jacob loved, but was tricked into marrying her sister, Leah, first. I've always felt sorry for Leah as she was not as beautiful as her sister and was not treated the same by Jacob. She felt unloved.

Here is a family with four mothers, one treated better than the others, with twelve sons (and a daughter) who, likewise, were not all thought of and treated the same. Yet, it is this very family that God created his chosen nation from. An amazing nation that had all kinds of failures, yet was entrusted by God for important things. Paul enumerates some of these, "Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised!" Romans 9:4-5.

Since God can use what appears to me to be a dysfunctional family, might not he be able to use any of us, regardless of our background?

A corollary to that thought is, just because any of us might be used by God, it doesn't necessarily indicate we don't have some serious shortcomings in our own lives that need to be dealt with.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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While Us Not Knowing, God Works Good - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Genesis 43:1-2,

"Now the famine was still severe in the land. So when they had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, 'Go back and buy us a little more food.'"

Jacob and his family were experiencing the hardship of a severe famine. They were so desperate that despite "losing" a brother, Simeon, during their first visit to Egypt, they are now faced with the prospect of having to return.

These are the patriarchs of God's chosen people, Israel! These are the ones who were given promises of blessing by God and yet, look at the hardship they are going through. The dialog in the chapter mirrors what we might expect to hear within families today who experience desperate times. "Why did you…?" Accusations fly, defensiveness, and an eventual shrugging of the shoulders by Jacob, "If I am bereaved, I am bereaved."

With the perspective of 20-20 hindsight offered us in Moses' account we can see clearly that the Lord is manipulating events in order to bring about some very important things he wants to have happen. But Jacob and his family have no idea what is going on or why. 

I am reminded that in our lives any of us face the prospect of desperate times. As we endure those times we need to be mindful that we may not know why certain events occur as they do. 

During such times it is instructive to keep in mind that, "In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28. This is because our Lord has a tremendous love for us, such that to plumb the full dimension of it becomes a life-changing experience, as Paul prays, "I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Sin Catches Up with Us - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Genesis 42:22,

"Reuben replied, 'Didn't I tell you not to sin against the boy? But you wouldn't listen! Now we must give an accounting for his blood.'"

As Joseph puts his brothers through what they see as a very difficult circumstance, Reuben, the oldest, tells them they are in this hard place because of what they had done to Joseph. Although Reuben does not recognize his brother Joseph, he does recognize that sin has a way of catching up with us.

Something I would rather not have to face is the acknowledgment that sin, all sin, will be accounted for. As Moses told the Israelites, "you may be sure that your sin will find you out." Paul reminds us in Galatians 6:7, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows." And, the writer of Hebrews tells us, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."

This is sobering indeed. As I contemplate it I can't help but be tremendously appreciative, thankful and awestruck with what Jesus Christ has done. In God's accounting of sin for each one of us, Jesus has paid for it all on the cross! Luke quotes Peter as saying about our Lord, "All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." Acts 10:43. John tells us, "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One." 1 John 2:1. Can there be any better cause to celebrate Christmas than this?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Events Linked in a Chain - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Genesis 41:39-40,

"Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.'"

This was the outcome of Joseph interpreting Pharaoh's dreams. Pharaoh had two dreams one night and when his magicians and wise men could not interpret them he sent for Joseph. Pharaoh's chief cupbearer remembered an earlier incident when Joseph interpreted dreams the cupbearer and chief baker had when they were all in prison together. It is not difficult to see that the purpose of Joseph interpreting the dreams of the cupbearer and baker was God busy at work to bring about Pharaoh's selection of Joseph to manage Egypt's economy in preparation of and during a famine that hit a number of nations.

In following the account of Joseph in Genesis, we see a number of events that are linked and strung together by God in order to bring about a singular purpose: to bring the family of Jacob into Egypt. Egypt, acting as a womb for Israel to develop into a thriving and massive nation, also provided for the context that resulted in Israel's exodus which provides us a picture of God's redemption of mankind through Jesus Christ, our "Passover".

It begins all the way back to Genesis 37 where we read that Jacob loved Joseph more than his other sons (he was born in his old age). He made Joseph a special coat that represented this and caused animosity directed toward Joseph by his brothers. This was further exacerbated by dreams God gave Joseph that indicated he would rule over his brothers. As Joseph shared these dreams, the resentment became so great that his brothers sold him to slave traders that took Joseph down to Egypt.

Once in Egypt Joseph was bought by an official of Pharaoh, whose wife falsely accused him of attempted rape. This resulted in Joseph being imprisoned where he met the cupbearer and baker of Pharaoh. These two had dreams that Joseph provided the interpretation for and eventually resulted in Joseph interpreting Pharaoh's two dreams and his appointment as the second only to Pharaoh in all the land of Egypt.

Further things take place following this that eventuate into Jacob moving to Egypt where Joseph was instrumental in providing food for relief from the great famine that also affected Jacob and his family.

My point is that none of these things that God orchestrated were events unto themselves alone. It is fascinating to see how one event leads into the next with the purpose of that event leading to still another event. All purposeful and achieved by God as he "rolled out" this fascinating series of events to bring his covenant people to where he wanted them.

Just fascinating, isn't it? It causes me to wonder about events today. What might be a string of events in the world today, or even in any one of our lives that God is busy accomplishing? And, further, might it be short sighted to assume any one event we might observe really stands alone? Might it not be a part of a chain of events that brings about something much bigger, or more far reaching, as it did with Joseph and the events he was caught up in?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Hardship Is Never the End of the Story - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Genesis 40:23,

"The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him."

This comment is made by Moses after he tells us about the interpretation of the dreams the cupbearer and chief baker had. After Joseph had told these men the meaning of their dreams that God had given them, Joseph asked the cupbearer to remember him by letting Pharaoh know he was falsely accused. And, as we see, the cupbearer forgot all about Joseph (at least for the time being).

Things just seem to go from bad to worse for Joseph. His brothers planned to murder him, they threw him in a cistern and then sold him as a slave to Ishmaelites, who then sold him to an Egyptian official, Potiphar. He was falsely accused of attempting to take advantage of Potiphar's wife, thrown in prison and forgotten about.

But we read that the Lord was with Joseph, Genesis 39:21. I am reminded that the Lord is with us as well, as his children. Paul provides this wonderful truth to us in Romans 8:34b-39, "Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

This is not the end of the story for Joseph, as we shall see. And, no matter what hardship we face in this life, just as with Joseph, it will not be the end of the story for us. The Lord will never remove his love from us. He will see us through whatever we face and see us safely into the resurrection. I can't think of a more wonderful theme of worship than this! Our Lord's love for us will remain regardless of anything that comes our way!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Freedom From Bondage to Sin - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Genesis 39:11-12,

"One day he [Joseph] went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. She [Potiphar's wife] caught him by his cloak and said, 'Come to bed with me!' But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house."

I have to report that I have heard one too many sermons on how sin is festering just under the surface within the heart of each believer and that when it comes to temptation we need to follow Joseph's example and flee or we will simply drop into the cesspool of sin, as it is very thin ice we are all on.

While I in no way underestimate the pull of sin in my own life and recognize its ugly head when it has reared up in my life, I think we do a great disservice to both Joseph and the Lord when we define Joseph's account in this way. To me the account provides an entirely different picture of Joseph. Beyond that, what the Scriptures reveal to us about what the Lord has done for us relative to sin in each of our lives should be great cause for worship and praise for him: the Lord has not left us as spineless wimps relative to sin as some would have us believe. Perhaps it is because some are reluctant to "step up" when confronted with sin. I know I have at times.

Joseph did not flee Potiphar's wife because he was tottering on the brink of giving way to the enormous pull of sin's temptation. The account clearly tells us he was resolute in his dealings with Potiphar's wife. When she approached Joseph his response was a clear refusal, "How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?" Genesis 39:9. The account goes on to say that she spoke to Joseph "day after day" but he refused to go to bed with her. He ran out of the house, leaving his cloak in her hand because she grabbed him. He wasn't fleeing temptation at all, he was fleeing her grip! He defined would-be adultery with her as sin against God.

There is no question that the temptation to sin is great. God told Cain, "…sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you…" Genesis 4:7. Paul also tells us, as believers, our sin nature is in conflict with the Holy Spirit who resides in us. He tells us in Galatians 5:17, "For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want." But note what he tells us in the previous verse, "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature." We are no longer the slaves to sin we were before we embraced Jesus Christ in faith. In Romans 6:17-18 we read, "But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness." We have become a new creation in him, 2 Corinthians 5:17!

When it comes to the temptation to sin, our wonderful God provides for us. His Holy Spirit dwells within each of us and provides a way out, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." 1 Corinthians 10:13. For those of you who like to find a haven to sin in Romans 7:14-23, you need to read it a little more carefully. When you resolve what Paul is saying in Romans 7 with what he has to say in Romans 6 and 8 ("…if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God." Romans 8:13b-14) you will have a clearer understanding of what Paul is saying.

Will I sin? Unfortunately, I suspect so. I need look no further than my own track record as a believer. And so I rely on John's words in 1 John 2:1, "…if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One." It certainly won't be because God has left me, as his child, on thin ice, tottering on the brink of dropping through into the cesspool of sin. He has provided for all of us all we need for life and godliness, 2 Peter 1:3. Is not this a wonderful cause for our worship of God?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.