Tuesday April 29

Judges 9:22-10:18

Luke 24:13-53

Psalm 100:1-5

Proverbs 14:11, 12

The Road to Emmaus

This passage from today's reading really struck me. Two of Jesus' followers were walking to Emmaus when He began walking with them. They were sad that Jesus had died, hoping that He would be the one to rescue Israel. Jesus (though they didn't know it was Him yet) reprimanded them for not knowing what the scriptures said about the Messiah. He proceeded to explain everything to them from the writings of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms regarding the Messiah. 

I had to wonder: this couldn't be the first time these men had heard about the Messiah. It definitely couldn't have been the first time they heard it from Jesus personally. He spent much of His ministry explaining who He was and what was going to happen to Him. But yet they still didn't get it, even after hearing it again from this "stranger." 

Once they recognized Him, they finally understood. But even though it took them awhile, God was still working in their hearts the whole time. I love verse 32 when they said, "Didn't our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?" Even though God was preventing them from recognizing Jesus, something deep in their spirits knew it was Him. 

Sometimes it can take me awhile to understand something. Sometimes I have to read or hear something over and over before it really sinks in. That's why it's important to read God's Word everyday. You never know what God may be trying to tell you.

April 28: I wish I could've seen that coming!

Judges 8:18-9:21

Luke 23:44-24:12

Psalm 99:1-9

Proverbs 14:9-10

I felt bad for Gideon today.  Called and empowered by God to do His will, to save Israel from its enemies, he returns victorious and they want to crown him king, which he refuses, insisting instead that they submit to the Lord.  so what happens?  Instead he asks for a tiny share of the plunder, and makes it into an ephod...which becomes a cause for Israel to sin, when they worship the ephod of Gideon rather than the Lord that carried Gideon to victory.  And not only does Israel sin, but so does his son - who turns and murders his seventy brothers.  Gideon was a good man...why did these tragedies happen - to the nation he served, to the sons he bore?  

In the New Testament reading, we come to the culmination of our Lord's suffering.  It is now three in the afternoon, and the sun has stopped shining.  Jesus cries out in a loud voice, and gives up His spirit.  In earthly eyes, this too was a good man.  He spent His life healing the sick, raising the dead, preaching good things.  Why did Have to die, and in such terrible fashion?  We get the answer 3 days later, when women come to His tomb and find that He has risen.  No one could have seen that answer coming.

I don't have the answer to Gideon's story.  Nor do I have the answer to so many of the troubles and worries I face in my life.  But there have been many times when God has taken my worry and suffering and given me an answer I would never have seen coming (ask me about the lost Jakarta house, or how the heartbreak of rejection by the one business school I'd aspired to attend all my life turned out).  It's just that more often I am like Peter - I look in, see the strips of linen, and walk away wondering what had happened.  I just wish I was as quick a study as Mary Magdalene and the other women who saw the answer they could not have expected, and believed.  

April 27

Judges 7

What is the greatest risk you have ever taken in your life? For Kathie and I it was getting married when we were only 19 and 20 years old. I was so young she had to rent the car on the honeymoon. But we were sure that God was leading us so we took the risk. I am so thankful that we did.

What do you prefer in life: stability or adventure? By definition, an adventure is a journey with an uncertain outcome. Adventure has no guarantees; the only guarantee is facing the unknown. But when we get to that spot in the adventure, we discover the mighty resources of God and his presence to see us through the day.

Gideon was a guy who preferred stability. He was the direct opposite of the "mighty warrior" nickname Jesus gave him. But Jesus called him to a great adventure.  He was to take 300 men into a battle against an army described as "thick as locusts." It was clear that God was calling him, yet to actually start the battle required taking a great risk.

What is clear about many Christians in 2014 is that we are much more anchored in stability than in risk taking. Let's be honest – the trend of our lives is that we want comfort, predictability and certain outcomes.

But God's people have always lived in the midst of adventure. To pick up and move to an unknown destination was the challenge given to Abraham. To pick up a staff and lead 5 million Jews into the desert was the challenge given to Moses. To pick up 5 stones and fight a giant was the challenge given to David. When Gideon picked up his trumpet and empty jar, he responded to the challenge given to him.

So what is the great adventure God has called you to today? The most adventurous place on earth should be the church. The church should be on the very forefront of what God is doing in the world as it pushes back the powers of darkness.

It's time to move, to cast off from the safe shore, and take the ship out to the high seas again! A church which prefers life in the harbor will never discover the amazing power of God Almighty.

--

"Multiplying leaders to change the world"

Saturday BlogPost (4/26/14)

Saturday, April 26, 2014

[by Keesha Sullivan]

I thoroughly enjoyed my very first year as a teacher. I loved everything about it. I found excitement in even what some veteran teachers would call "mundane tasks." I would smile from ear to ear when a student would ask me to write a pass to go to the bathroom or raise his or her hand to answer a question. I had a great group of students that were bright, engaged, and loving. There was only one thing that I hated doing when it came to teaching. I hated disciplining my students. If I even slightly scolded them, the tears would begin cascading down their cheeks. My heart would literally ache for them.

Eventually as I was doing my quiet time, God led me to a verse that made it easier to discipline these precious ones. Proverbs 3:11-12 says, " My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in." I had not looked at discipline as love. I had previously thought of it as "being mean." This verse opened my eyes to discipline actually being a true form of love. In fact the verse goes as far as to say that if a father delights in his son then he too will discipline him.  

In the passage we read today, Gideon is completely transparent with the angel of the Lord. He says, "But sir, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, 'Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?' But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian" (Judges 6:13). The reason all of this happened to the Israelites was due to God's incredible, unconditional love for them. God found delight in His children Israel, and He knew He needed to discipline them in order to help them.

In Psalm 94:12, it says, "Blessed is the man you discipline, O Lord, the man you teach from your law; you grant him relief from the days of trouble, till a pit is dug for the wicked." Gideon didn't understand why the Lord's hand was against them, and they were being impoverished by the Midianites. God had a plan for the Israelites. He had a plan that would prosper them and not harm them.

God thought and felt differently than Gideon. Isaiah 55:8 says, '"My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,' says the LORD. 'And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine."' By disciplining Israel God knew that when He saved them the Israelites would recognize that it was He who delivered them and no one else. The Israelites could not ride on the coattails of their fathers' faith. They could not reminisce about their fathers' deliverance from Egypt and truly understand the magnitude of God's power and love. They had to experience it for themselves. Gideon, who was part of the weakest clan in Manasseh, would lead the Israelites to freedom by God's power.

Lord, we thank you so much for giving us our own intimate experiences with You. We thank You that these experiences lead us into a greater understanding of Your awesome power and love. We thank You for Your discipline even when it hurts. We thank You that You love us enough that You discipline us. We pray that we would experience more of You and we would learn from the past. We love You so much Lord. We need You. Help us to become the great men and women of God that You desire us to be. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen

--

"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace" (Numbers 6:24-26)

Kenny Sullivan

(201) 218-0751

שלום

Thursday, April 24

THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2014

Judges 2:10–3:31

Luke 22:14–34

Psalm 92:1–93:5

Proverbs 14:1,2

 

 

Judges 2:10–23 provides an excellent overview of God’s sovereign intervention in Israel’s history under the time of the Judges.  We receive a fairly granular understanding of the cycles of human and divine action and the consequences of not seeking the Lord wholeheartedly.  While a secular historian might have highlighted the Israelites’ human problems, particularly that of the raiding nations, we understand through God’s Word that these issues were merely the proximate causes of their internal strife and external vulnerabilities.  Rather, God’s perspective on the matter suggests that the dividedness of the people’s hearts determined the course of this era.

 

I found it helpful to sketch out the cause-and-effect relationships in terms of human and divine actions described in this passage:

 

1.       (Human) Falling into ignorance of the Lord’s goodness (2:10)

2.       (Human) Prompting the Lord’s anger by doing “evil in the eyes of the Lord[,]… fors[aking] the Lord, and… serv[ing] the Baals” (2:11–13)

3.       (Divine) “Hand[ing] them over to raiders to plundered them… [and] sold them to their enemies all around” (2:14–15)

4.       (Human) Reaching “great distress” (2:15)

5.       (Divine) “Rais[ing] up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders” (2:16)

6.       (Human) Not “listen[ing] to these judges but prostitute[ing] themselves to other gods” (2:17)

7.       (Divine) Blessing the work of a judge, due to “compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them” (2:18)

8.       (Human) After a judge’s death, “return[ing ] to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers” (2:19)

9.       (Divine) In His anger, determining to “no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when they died” (2:20–23)

 

 

This pattern offers some helpful insights into the nature of God’s sovereign hand in history.  We understand from Romans 8:28,29 that God always works towards the purposes of His glory and the best for His people.  We also see that His holy anger and unquenchable love are always intermingled.  He is not a passive grandfather, ready to dote on His children.  Nor is He irrationally wrathful.  Instead, He balances His undying love with the just consequences for sin.  Yet, even in doling out these consequences, He is not casually leading history.  Rather, He is intentionally driving history towards His purposes and glory.  He is bringing forth holiness from His people and deserved praise for His Name.

 

Please note God’s reasoning for leaving these nations:  “I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their forefathers did.” (2:22)  Our interactions with those who trouble us reveal a great deal about our character.  This reality reminds me of an insightful, if challenging, passage from Proverbs:

 

“If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;

    if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.

In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head,

    and the Lord will reward you. “ (Proverbs 25:21,22)

 

 

Lord Jesus, thank You for Your sovereign hand in our world.  We ask that we might be attuned to Your movement in our world, that we might be a blessing to Your people and Your humble servants.  Reveal to us those shortcomings in our lives that restrain our full experience of Your presence and goodness in our lives.  Give us eyes to see the spiritual nature of day-to-day events so that we might become more aware of Your sovereignty, majesty, and power.  In Your powerful Name, amen.

________________________________________
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4/25/14

4/25/14

"The lord isn't looking," they say, "and besides, the God of Israel doesn't care." Think again, you fools! When will you finally catch on? Is he deaf—the one who made your ears? Is he blind—the one who formed your eyes? He punishes the nations—won't he also punish you? He knows everything—doesn't he also know what you are doing? The lord knows people's thoughts; he knows they are worthless! Joyful are those you discipline, lord, those you teach with your instructions. (Psalms 94:7-12 NLT)

Just because we think it is true, doesn't mean it's true. Impressions are not always based on fact. The "fools" in this passage thought they could do whatever they wanted, and God would let them get away with it. They thought that God didn't care anymore, or that God was not watching them. But the psalmist retorts back in such a mighty, truthful fashion. It feels like the "fools" of this passage lost sight of the greatness of God. Like they had God in this little box, and underestimated his power. They forgot about the fact that He created them, and He and He alone controlled the outcome of their lives. God is big. He is in control of everything. We need to remember to give over that control to the one to who it belongs!

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April 21 - It meant THAT MUCH to him...

Joshua 22:21-23:16

Luke 20:27-47

Psalm 89:14-37

Proverbs 13:17-19

Joshua is dying.  He is about to be gathered to his fathers.  And yet, even now, to his dying breath, he is pushing the Israelites to keep and to honor their relationship with God.  What does that tell us about Joshua?  Two things come to mind - that he loves God, and he loves the Israelites.  And so he keeps reminding the Israelites of what he knows to be of greatest, of singular importance - greater than the land they now occupy, and the peace and prosperity they now enjoy: their relationship with God, their obedience to Him.  It meant THAT MUCH to him.

What matters that much to us?  I know my kids do to me.  But when I look back, I realize that much of what I've tried to teach them has been about what the world tries to teach us - about effort and results, school and sport and other such things.  The funny thing is, I have struggled with so much frustration when my children have not learned, or have refused to learn, the lessons I try to teach them.  If I must suffer frustration, shouldn't it be for a much higher purpose?

I pray that God give me the wisdom He gave Joshua, that like Joshua I might focus my children on what is most important - their relationship with Him.  

Easter 2014

Easter April 20, 2014

Yesterday I officiated at my first funeral service held between Good Friday and Easter morning. While the passing of Freddie Velez is an unbearable grief and our hearts are broken with his loss, having the service between the cross and the empty tomb anchored our hope in the storm.

Christian hope is not wide-eyed optimism or emotionalism. Christian hope is based on the certainty of Jesus' promises and character. Our hope is evidenced by peace, joy, and endurance even in the worst of circumstances. We see no better example than the life of our Savior. 

In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus certainly had multiple reasons to lose hope. His closest friends couldn't stay awake in his greatest hour of need, one of them was betraying him, and his soul was overwhelmed to the point of death, yet he yielded his will to the Father's plan.

And why did Jesus do this? The writer of Hebrews tells us: "for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, despising its shame." 

When he was arrested, Jesus displayed hope's boldness. As His disciples reached for their swords, Jesus rebuked them saying, "Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?"  No one could press on like that without being anchored in hope.

We see hope again on the road to Emmaus. Jesus opened the minds of the dull disciples by going back to the Old Testament and proving to them that the Messiah had to suffer all of these things. Hope is squarely anchored on and in the Word of God. 

So, this Easter, where is your hope anchored?  As Christ followers we anchor not in the movable and shifting things of this world. They will all pass away. Our anchor points are in a rock that will not move. Jesus called it a capstone in Luke 20. The capstone of hope is that Jesus defeated sin and death on the cross. With His sacrifice Christ paid the price of the debt we owe to God. And just as had been foretold, on the third day Jesus did rise from the grave. He broke the chains of our captivity and set us free.

As we celebrate Easter I encourage you to strengthen and renew your hope today. Even though life can be extremely challenging, we are not like those who have no hope. Our hope is found in Good Friday and in an empty tomb on Easter morning.

 

--

"Multiplying leaders to change the world"

Saturday BlogPost (04/19/14)

Saturday, April 19, 2014 [by Keesha Sullivan]

"'I tell you,' he replied, 'if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." 

(Luke 19:40)

As I read this verse, I had to stop and reread it. My heart stood in awe of God. I felt as though Jesus was being quite literal with the Pharisees when He spoke this word. The rocks would indeed praise Him if the children of Israel did not give Him honor.

Colossians 1:16 sheds even more light on this profound verse. It says, "For by Him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible; whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him." Everything in this entire universe was created by God to serve God, even the rocks. God in all of his majesty and power designed a perfect world to serve a perfect and holy God.

When we, who were created in His own image disobey him, He can and will use other things that He created to do His perfect will. In Matthew Henry's commentary it talks about Jesus' word in Luke 19:40, "…the stones will cry out," coming to fruition when He was on the cross. The commentary says, "Upon men's reviling Christ upon the cross, instead of praising Him, and His own disciples' sinking into a profound silence, the earth did quake and the rocks rent."

"The heavens tell about the glory of God. The skies announce what his hands have made.  Each new day tells more of the story, and each night reveals more and more about God's power."  (Psalm 19:1-2) 

God not only used people to show His authority and power, but creation. We serve a God that is worthy of all praise, glory, and honor. Much like the song lyrics to "God of Wonder" says, "[He is the] God of wonders beyond our galaxy, [He is] Holy, Holy. The universe declares [His] Majesty, and [He is] Holy, Holy."

Lord, help us to worship You. Help us to bless Your Holy Name. Help us to love You and serve You in the way that You call all of creation to serve. Help us to be the men and women of God that You want us to be. We don't want the rocks crying out in our place. We love you Jesus. Amen!

--

"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace" (Numbers 6:24-26)

Kenny Sullivan

(201) 218-0751

שלום

4/18/14

4/18/14

When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. "Zacchaeus!" he said. "Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today." Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. But the people were displeased. "He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner," they grumbled. Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, "I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!" Jesus responded, "Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost." (Luke 19:5-10 NLT)

http://youtu.be/-9ipEE52i6o

Those of us who grew up going to Sunday school learned this song 🎶"Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he..."🎶 (for those who don't know it, I have attached a YouTube clip)

As I read this so very familiar passage today, I was struck by the heart of Jesus. The heart of Jesus did not lie with the popular, or even just the poor. Zacchaeus was immensely rich from cheating people. And he was so very much despised. But something happened that day. Zacchaeus sought out a savior. Now, we don't know Zacchaeus' motivation to try to be able to see Jesus, but we do know the result. The result was a severely damaged and corrupt heart became washed clean because of an encounter with his Savior. Zacchaeus is a prime example of how Jesus can transform hearts. The heart of Jesus lies in the transformation of the hearts of men. Jesus is about making things right, and whatever happened when Jesus ate a meal with Zacchaeus, his heart was transformed, and he made it right with those he stole from, those he cheated. Zacchaeus was lost, and now he was found. This is the heart of Jesus, and it applies to you, and to me. Today we remember and reflect on what Jesus did for us. We remember the nails, the thorns, the beating, and the death. We remember that it is our sin that caused Him to die that death. His death was because we were lost, and Jesus "came to seek and to save those who are lost."

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Thursday, April 17

THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2014

Joshua 15:1–63

Luke 18:18–43

Psalm 86:1–17

Proverbs 13:9,10

 

 

“Teach me your way, O Lord,

                and I will walk in your truth;

give me an undivided heart,

                that I may fear your name.

I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart;

I will glorify your name forever.

For great is your love toward me;

                you have delivered me from the depths of the grave.” (Psalm 86:11–13)

 

“Pride only breeds quarrels,

                but wisdom is found in those who take advice.” (Proverbs 13:10)

 

 

As I continue to study God’s Word, I marvel at its timeless applicability for our lives.  While the cultural mien of 21st-century Fairfield County differs from Biblical Israel, people’s hearts have fundamentally not changed.  As David urges, and Solomon observes, we need God’s grace to walk in humility and to avoid the shipwrecking ravages of pride.

 

Pride tells us to seek the best for ourselves before considering God’s truth or others’ interests.  While there is scope for protecting ourselves from hurtful people and situations, the Bible teaches that love requires a measure of vulnerability and openness to walk beside those who are struggling.

 

God demonstrates these principles most clearly through His Son, Jesus Christ, Who humbly departed from the right-hand throne in heaven to suffer rejection, a brutal physical death, and excruciating spiritual separation from God (during the time on the Cross).  We remember the physical death quite deeply on Good Friday, but we should not forget the darkness of Jesus’s spiritual abandonment by the Father.  This abandonment occurred so that, once for all, Jesus might take upon Himself the sin that the redeemed rightly deserved.

 

Fighting against pride in our lives seems a hopeless battle, as it often rears its ugly head.  Pastor Scott gave us a helpful warning about struggling with sin a few years ago:  HALT.  He explained that, when we are hungry, angry, lonely, or tired, we are more prone to give in to sinful tendencies.  These emotions stoke our self-seeking behavior and draw us away from God and other people.  Of course, we will always face bouts of these emotions, but I took away that we bear responsibility for seeking God (the right kind of self-care) and resting physically and spiritually in order to protect our hearts from pridefulness.

 

Even David, who walked closely with God, struggled with bringing God’s truth to bear in all aspects of His life.  For this reason, he calls upon His Father to “teach me your way,” “give me an undivided heart,” and “praise you… with all my heart.”  These three goals (achievable and God-focused) sound like a great blueprint for each day of our lives.  Were we to manage these three objectives each day – and only by God’s grace – we would have achieved blessed success!

As I am writing this entry from a Washington, D.C., hotel room, a picture of Abraham Lincoln from the Lincoln Memorial hangs over the desk.  Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address covers the humility of wound-healing together so beautifully and encapsulates the type of humble obedience that we are seeking to bring into our lives:

 

“Neither party [the North and South] expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained.  Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease.  Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding.  Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other.  It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged.  The prayers of both could not be answered.  That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes.  ‘Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh.’  If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him?  Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away.  Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said ‘the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.’

 

“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

 

 

Lord Jesus, help us to walk humbly with you and to be peacemakers and champions for both justice and mercy.  May we, in our pride, not turn away from Your Word.  Guide us in Your paths for Your honor and glory.  In Jesus’s Name, amen.

________________________________________
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Tuesday April 15

Joshua 11-12

Luke 17:11-37

Psalm 84:1-12

Proverbs 13:5-6

"You are my greener pastures,

You are my quiet waters."

~ David Crowder, The Heights

"For the Lord God is our sun and our shield. 

He gives us grace and glory. 

The Lord will withhold no good thing 

from those who do what is right."

~ Psalm 84:11

I've said before that I worry a lot. This has been a struggle for me my whole life. Today I was dwelling on several things and wondering how everything was going to work out and getting myself stressed out.

Then in the midst of my worry, I remembered Psalm 84 that I read this morning. What joy comes to those who find their strength in the Lord. He is our sun and shield. He gives grace and glory. He withholds no good thing from those who follow Him. Then I heard Him say to me, "Why are you holding onto all that worry? Why don't you let me take care of it?" 

I need constant reminders that I can't carry all the burdens of this life on my own. When I try, I only get stressed out and miserable. All I need to do is admit that I can't do it on my own and ask Him to help me. 

April 14: Belief - the duty of the unworthy servant

Joshua 9:3-10:43

Luke 16:19-17:10

Palm 83:1-18

Proverbs 13:4

At the end of the movie The Matrix Revolutions, when Neo had saved Zion by sacrificing his own life, two of Neo's supporters were reunited, and Seraph asked the Oracle if she had always known how things were going to turn out for the best.  The Oracle's answer was "Oh no.  But I believed."  When I remember the trilogy, I realize there were many occasions and opportunities for the Oracle to despair - but she didn't.  Instead, she believed.

In the Old Testament reading today, the Israelites are called many times to believe - to trust on, and depend upon, God and His strength, to go up against strong opponents.  And for the most part, they chose to believe - to good result.  In the New Testament we read about Lazarus and the rich man, and what struck me today had nothing to do with either of them, but with the rich man's family, to whom the rich man begs Abraham send Lazarus, that they might receive the testimony of one risen from the dead, and so avoid the rich man's terrible fate.  Abraham refuses, and points out that if the relatives have failed to choose to believe in the Moses and the prophets, they are likely to find reasons not to believe someone risen from the dead.

That's the thing, isn't it?  Belief is a choice.  There will always be arguments against the existence of God, reasons to believe either He does not exist, or does not care.  And yet we have the benefit of the testimony of not just Moses and the prophets, but Jesus and his apostles as well.  We have more than abundant reason to choose to believe.  Even better, while faith is essential to belief, Jesus points out that not much faith is needed at all.  

I know I struggle with belief.  Even worse, as much as I stumble over things myself, I have been cause for others to stumble as well, particularly those nearest and dearest to me, like my children.  I pray for the faith the size of the mustard seed, and the direction to be an instrument of God's love to those whom He brings to me.  Then I will be able to say "I am an unworthy servant, and have only done my duty."

Saturday BlogPost (4/12/14)

Saturday, April 12, 2014  [A Better Bus]

"But no, my people wouldn't listen.  Israel did not want me around. So I let them follow their own stubborn desires, living according to their own ideas."  (Psalm 81:11-12)

I grew up going to church with my family.  In 1984 at nine years old I asked Jesus to be the Lord of my life.  I knew what I was asking, but I struggled with being a young follower of Christ.  When dad died in '87 I really started to turn away from God.  By the time I was in college I had stopped attending any church, never read the Scriptures, and my favorite Sunday activity had become the afternoon football or basketball double-header.  I didn't want God around.  I just wanted to live according to my own ideas and agenda.

I remember a project that I had to do for an art class.  I needed to visit 2-3 gallery exhibits and write reflections on what I had observed.  A "still small voice" [the Holy Spirit] told me which exhibits I should go to.  They were relatively close to campus and early in the semester.  However, I ended up later in the semester.  I took a bus to an art gallery somewhere I had never been before almost 40 minutes away from campus.  I saw the exhibit, took notes and sought out my bus.  After standing outside waiting for what seemed to be at least an hour, I finally saw my bus coming.  But something was strange.  When I saw the flashing yellow lights I knew.  Somewhere en route the bus had broken down and had been picked up by a tow truck.  I spent the next few hours walking back to campus through the most desolate parts of Atlanta that I had ever seen.  It wasn't fun.  I thought briefly about that "still small voice." Looking back I remember how I didn't want God around.  I just wanted to live according to my own ideas.  But, it never got me where I wanted to be.

This is just one of many stories that I can remember when I didn't want God around.  Today, I know a lot of people that just don't want God around.  But listen to what God says in Psalm 81:

"Oh, that my people would listen to me!  Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths!  How quickly I would then subdue their enemies! How soon my hands would be upon their foes!  But I would feed you with the finest wheat.  I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock."  (Psalm 81:13,14,16)

It's amazing how we often think that God wants to ruin our lives, when all He really wants is to bless them.  We think that He wants to take our control away when He really wants to save us from our bad decision pattern.  But, sometimes we'd rather walk in desolate places than have Him carry us in His capable arms.

Lord, I confess that I can easily get caught up in doing my own thing.  It happens more often than I care to admit.  Help me to not turn Your love and care away.  I want to follow You today instead of turning You away.  

Questions:

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Think of a time when you simply didn't want God around.

How did that situation end up for you?

Do you struggle with giving Jesus control over your life?  Why or why not? 

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"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace" (Numbers 6:24-26)

Kenny Sullivan

(201) 218-0751

שלום

4/11/14 (Yesterday's blog post)

4/11/14 (Yesterday's blog post)

So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen—one from each of the tribes of Israel. He told them, "Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the lord your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder—twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, 'What do these stones mean?' Then you can tell them, 'They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the lord 's Covenant went across.' These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever." So the men did as Joshua had commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan River, one for each tribe, just as the lord had told Joshua. They carried them to the place where they camped for the night and constructed the memorial there. (Joshua 4:4-8 NLT)

People have all kinds of things dedicated to their memory. Heck, the small stained glass window in our church is dedicated in someone's name, and we buy Easter lilies and poinsettias in memory of loved ones at holidays. Why is this done? Because remembering is important. There are certain things in life that should never be forgotten. In his address in Gettysburg, President Abraham Lincoln, puts it very well.

"But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

See, it's not really about remembering old granny, it's about what granny stood for, it about never forgetting her sacrifice, or her dedication. It's about granny making this world a better place. That is something we can never forget.

This is the point of the memorial that Joshua had set up at Gilgal. The twelve stones mark a fulfillment of God's promise. Not that drying up the Jordan at flood stage wasn't something to be remembered, but memory only lasts a lifetime. Once the people who saw it are gone, the memory fades, and it's truth is often questioned. See, we easily forget, and without constant reminders of things that took place, the memories go away. This is the reason Joshua had this memorial built, to be a physical reminder that God did something great here, and it deserves remembrance.

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Thursday, April 10

THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 2014

Deuteronomy 34:1–Joshua 2:24

Luke 13:22–14:6

Psalm 79:1–13

Proverbs 12:16

 

 

“No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life.  As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.  Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them….  Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.  Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.  Then you will be prosperous and successful.  Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:5–9)

 

In today’s reading, we witness God’s anointing of His servant Joshua, passing the mantle of leadership from the now deceased Moses.  Joshua demonstrates himself to be a capable and humble leader, careful to follow God’s commands and to imitate his mentor Moses.  Crucially, we read here of the source of Joshua’s confidence and competence:  God Himself.  God commands Joshua to “be strong and courageous.”  By extension, it appears that God would have us to carry this strength and confidence because of His working in our lives.

 

Please notice the foundation for Joshua’s courage:  God’s constant presence and His Word.  Joshua understood and acted on the truth that God “will never leave you nor forsake you.”  If we trust this truth ourselves, no situation seems beyond control, for it lies in the hands of a loving and just Father.  Furthermore, we will never walk alone.  As David writes in Psalm 23:4, “even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,/ I will fear no evil, for you are with me;/ your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”  Elsewhere, David expresses the confidence of God’s imminence:  “The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear?/ The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1)  Like Joshua, King David would find lasting confidence in knowing that God walked with Him and fought the battle on Israel’s behalf.

 

In Chapter 2, we recognize the collateral impact that emerges when God’s people follow hard after their King:  the revelation of His glory brings forth reverent fear.  Rahab explains, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you.  We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed.  When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.”  In His grace, God had given Rahab a glimpse of His “chariots of fire” (2 Kings 6:17)

 

Our modern-day world often mixes up the proper source of confidence.  Most self-help literature encourages us to believe in ourselves, to have self-confidence.  This thinking may bring us temporary satisfaction, and it definitely makes sense to carry ourselves with confidence.  But where do we receive this confidence?

 

Paul urges us to “put no confidence in the flesh” – that is, by working to earn salvation.  But, in a similar manner, those who seek to build self-confidence are really after self-justification – perhaps not from sin, but rather to prove one’s worthiness.  Though I struggle to take hold of this message, I understand that any attempts to prove our worth or gain confidence are ultimately useless, apart from 1) God’s createdness in us; 2) His sovereign and perfect will; and 3) the gift of the promised Holy Spirit.

 

As David explains in Psalm 139:13.14, God “created my inmost being” as “fearfully and wonderfully made.”  Each human life has dignity and value because of God’s creative stamp.

 

God’s perfect will leads us to become more like His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ:  “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” (Romans 8:28,29)

 

Importantly, the Holy Spirit lives within each believer and His filling and power provides the New Testament parallel to the Presence described in Exodus through Joshua.  Starting with Pentecost, the Holy Spirit prompted bold faith and action from Peter, John, Paul, Silas, Barnabas, and others.  The early church received boldness through prayer (Acts 4:24–31) and spoke powerfully through the believers (Luke 12:11,12), even in challenging circumstances.

 

Let us take up Paul’s charge to Timothy, just as Joshua took up Moses’s charge to Joshua:  “For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.  For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.  So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner.  Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.  He has saved us and called us to a holy life – not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.  This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”  Amen!

 

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Tuesday April 8

Deuteronomy 32:28-52

Luke 12:35-59

Psalm 78:56-64

Proverbs 12:24

"When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required."

Luke 12:48

The summer after my first year of college, I had a full-time job working for the city. It was my first steady paycheck and I felt it was important to start giving back to God. It was easy, because I felt like I had enough to spare. When school started again in the fall, that job ended. I earned money by tutoring and by working in the records office at the college. I was making a lot less money and started to worry about having enough. So, I stopped giving to God.

A couple weeks later, I was called into the financial aid office and I was told that I could no longer work in the records office. This job was a part of my financial aid package and they said that I had been awarded too much by mistake. I was devastated. My already smaller income was getting much smaller. I spent quite a bit of time after this feeling very sorry for myself.

After this, I was in church on a Sunday morning and the pastor's sermon was all about being responsible with what God has given you. I was stunned and I knew God was speaking directly to me. In that moment I knew that the reason I lost my job was because I was not being responsible with the money that God gave me. I saw the job as mine and I treated the money I earned as mine and I looked to this income as my source of security. So God needed to teach me a lesson and the lesson was received. Immediately, I started giving to my church again. It only amounted to a couple of dollars a week, but that wasn't the point. God didn't want my money. He wanted me to be obedient and to rely fully on Him and to view everything I had as a gift from Him.

I think this experience would be pretty incredible even if it had stopped there. But it didn't. A couple weeks later, I was called into the financial aid office again and they told me that they had made a mistake. They were giving me my job back. I know without a shadow of a doubt that God gave me my job back because I had obeyed Him.

Reading the passage in Luke reminded me of this experience. Nothing we have is ours. Everything is God's and we are His servants and He has entrusted us with what He has given. It's our responsibility to use these gifts in the way He wants us to.

April 7: I don't handle prosperity very well

Deuteronomy 31:1-32:27

Luke 12:8-34

Psalm 78:32-55

Proverbs 12:21-23

Reading Deuteronomy 31 v16, v19-20, and then v29, I was astonished at the clarity of God's Word and Moses's prophecy - that the Israelites, having feasted on God's goodness, mercy and salvation, would reject Him, turn away, and turn to other gods, that "these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering.  They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them."  Not only that, God, through Moses, told them, warned them that they would.  And yet it made no difference.  They could not handle the prosperity; they lost sight of the giver because they focused their attention on the gift.

This happens a lot - certainly to me.  My faith does not handle prosperity well.  I start to think that whatever success I might enjoy was because of my work, my effort.  What hubris, from someone who, as he wrote this, could not even tell you for certain he was going to be alive to finish the sentence much less plan a future, plot a course that would guarantee the achievement of my heart's aspirations.   In that regard, I am like the fool who planned for a future of comfort assuming he still had long to live.  The truth, as I continually discover (helped in no part by raising a teenage daughter and knowing there are boys out there just like I was when I used to date teenage girls), there is NOTHING that is in my control - not my future, distant or near, and certainly not the future of the wife and children I so deeply love, for whom I only want what's best. 

Such uncertainty, such the opposite of prosperity, would seem like a recipe for despair.  Funny enough, it isn't - because it is precisely that inability to depend on myself that, hopefully, will disabuse me of any grandiose assumptions of my own abilities, and will redirect my focus from the gifts , back to the Giver.  And then, having reconnected with Him, I will realize that I need not "worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear."  I will know that, like the ravens, who "do not sow or reap...[who] have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them", God will provide for me, for my wife, and for our kids since, after all, "how much more valuable you are than birds!"

Dear God, we live in a world that instills in us the importance of self sufficiency, that puts great value on being able to depend on one's self.  Please do whatever it takes to remind us how false that premise is, and and to open our hearts and our minds to Your love, Your plans, and Your provision.  Teach us to know the plans You have for us, to prosper us and not to harm us, to give us hope and a future.

April 6

Psalm 78 April 6 2014

The saying “Hindsight is twenty-twenty” is attributed to Billy Wider, the journalist, filmmaker, screenwriter and producer. The phrase means that everyone has perfect understanding after an event happens. It is easy to look back at history and see how we could have made better decisions.

In my lifetime, if I could go back to do it all over again, here are a few of the changes I would make:

 

1. I would spend more time in God’s Word.

2. I would have spent more time with my wife and children. I would have scheduled more fun stuff.

3. I would have started devotions with my kids when they were very young and not stopped until the day I sent them off to college... regardless of how they protested. I would even endure hunger strikes.

4. I would have moved to a discipleship model of the church in 1983.

5. I would have invested in Wal-Mart and Goggle stocks and sold them in April of 2008. This last one is a joke... if I would have become a millionaire it is likely I wouldn’t be writing this blog and my life would be completely messed up.

 

In Psalm 78 Asaph is reviewing the history of the nation and he had “twenty-twenty” vision as he looks back.    Here are four of his conclusions:

 

1. If we could do it over again, we would make discipling young people the highest priority of church.

            “So the next generation would know them, even the children to be born.”

    There is nothing as important as passing our faith on to the next generation. So what is your plan to teach

     the next generation?  We all need to be engaged in this mission.

 

2. If we could do it over again, we would celebrate and appreciate God’s faithfulness every day.  

            “Time after time he restrained his anger ...”

     What did you do today to celebrate God’s faithfulness?

 

3. If we could do it over again, we would place all of our faith in the WORD of God.  

            “for they did not believe in God or trust in his deliverance.”

    The victorious life is only found as we live believing the WORD of God. It is our faith in his word that   

    supplies the deliverance. Set aside your unbelief and trust totally in the WORD of God.

 

4. If we could do it over again we would KILL sin in our lives before it killed us.  

            “Fire consumed their young men and their maidens had no wedding songs.”

God doesn’t expect sinless perfection, but He does expect us to sin less! We should be progressing in our holiness. We live in a day when we joke about sin. But sin kills people and unless we strike first it will kill us.

 

Take a moment and reflect on your life. If you could go back and do it all over again, what changes would you bring into your life? 

--

"Multiplying leaders to change the world"

Saturday BlogPost [April 5, 2014]

Saturday, April 5, 2014 [by Keesha Sullivan]

 

"If you [Israel] fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.  All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God…" (Deuteronomy 28: 1-2).

 

The key word in these two verses that I had underlined in my Bible was the word "If."  Some of the synonyms for the word "If" are "on the condition that," "provided that," "presuming that," "supposing that," "assuming that," "as long as," and "given that."  So in other words, God could have said, "[On the condition that] you [Israel] fully obey the Lord."

 

In Deuteronomy 28:1, the Lord is giving Israel a choice. It is the same choice that God gave to Cain. He said in Genesis 4:6-7, "'Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?  If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?  But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."  Again we can say that basically God said, "[As long as] you do what is right, will you not be accepted?"

 

We too have that choice.  God loves us enough that he gives us the opportunity to decide what we want to do. He is as I have heard many people call it a "Gentleman."  He doesn't force Himself on His people.  He asks for our hearts and our complete devotion, but in no way does he force us to give it to Him.

 

Unfortunately, if we look at the latter verses, we find that choosing to go against God's design and denying his offer leads to sin, captivity, excruciating heartache, and curses to fall upon us.  Fortunately, if we look at other verses in the same passage, we find that choosing to follow God's design and accepting his offer leads to holiness, freedom, relief/health, and blessings to fall upon us.

 

Joshua, the man of God that would lead the Israelites after Moses passed, understood this decision.  He said in Joshua 24:15, "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

 

I will follow Joshua's lead, and I declare today that, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord with all of our heart, our soul, and our mind.  Lord, thank You so much for giving us choice.  Thank You for giving us the privilege and the honor of choosing You as Lord over our lives.  Thank You that You bless us when we obey Your word. Thank You that through You we have holiness, freedom, relief/health, and blessings.  You are an amazing, wonderful God. We love You.   Amen

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"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace" (Numbers 6:24-26)

Kenny Sullivan

(201) 218-0751

שלום