Saturday BlogPost (5/17/14)

Saturday, May 17, 2014 [Praise]

 

1 Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord, you his servants; praise the name of the Lord.

2 Let the name of the Lord be praised, both now and forevermore.

3 From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,
the name of the Lord is to be praised.

 

I have friends that are die-hard basketball fans.  In conversations, on Facebook, or wherever, these folks can tell you everything about Griffin, Durant, or Carmelo.  Sometimes I just enjoy hearing them go back-and-forth in arguments about who is the best player of all-time (e.g.  LeBron or Jordan).  When I was younger I was a die-hard Knicks fan and could quote their statistics.  These amazing b-ball players are athletic heroes for so many people that many can go on-and-on about their exploits.  The same can be said for actors, singers, writers, etc.  There are people in our small world that we so admire for their great acts that we are almost always ready to boast in their greatness.  

 

Many of the psalms are written just for the purpose of bragging on the greatness of the Lord.  Psalm 113 has this very clear focus since it begins and ends with "Hallelu-Yah!"  The word for "praise" in Hebrew is "hallel," which means to "boast" or "brag." It's in verses 4-9 that we see what this bragging looks like:

 

(5) There is no one like Him

(6) Although He is enthroned on high He stoops down to see about heaven AND earth (everything, including us)

(7-8) He raises the poor and needy from low places to high places

(9) He gives the childless woman children

 

This is remembrance and rehearsal of the goodness and greatness of God!  It's keeping Who God is and What God does in the forefront of our minds.  It's boasting about how amazing the Lord is.  And, it's vital for our faith.  "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).  Our hope is in the faithful and unchanging character of a Good and All-Powerful God that has proven Himself over and over and over again throughout history and throughout our lives.  Praise fuels our faith that the Lord is still God OVER everything, able to do more than we can ask or think. 

 

I love basketball and I am amazed at what many of these great athletes can do.  However, they can't hold a candle to my God – the Lord, who created all things.  They pale in comparison to my Jesus, who conquered death and bought my freedom with His life.  I don't get much from boasting about my favorite basketball team, but when I boast about Our Lord I get strength.  When I talk about the power of God I'm encouraged.  My praise enlivens my faith to believe God will do "it" again; that He will stoop down to see what I'm going through and lift me up when I'm at my lowest. 

 

Questions:

1.     How do YOU praise God?

2.     What are three things for which you can brag on the Lord?

Here's a great song on praise...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvganA6nrf0&feature=kp

 

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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

I Samuel 15-16:23, John 8:1-20, Psalm 110:1-7, Proverbs 15:8-10

I Samuel 15-16:23, John 8:1-20, Psalm 110:1-7, Proverbs 15:8-10

Wed. May 14, 2014

 

            Obvious nikkie truth: I'm a people pleaser.  It can be one of my greatest strengths and greatest weakness at any given time.  It is one of the foundations of my job, creating the greatest experience for others by enriching their daily lives.  I say yes to just about everything: at work, in the many activities I'm involved in, to my friends, and to my family.  I have sacrificed sleep, time, energy, money, etc. to the point that I am so exhausted or overstretched that I have compromised the excellence and quality of another thing.  One of my greatest struggles in my life and walk with God is being that "Good (Christian) Girl" and keeping up that "image."  Just like I have struggled with pleasing others, I have always battled pleasing God.  I want Him to look at me with delight…that I am His Good Girl.  Last year, with a couple great girl friends, I read Emily Freeman's book, Grace for the Good Girl, and almost every page is marked up with underlines, marks, and "Nikkie!!" in the margin.  It's a book that helped me identify and work through how I can make God delight in me and how I thought I could "earn" his love and acceptance. 

 

            Proverbs 15:8-9 identifies two kind of people and the ways God reacts to both of them. "The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him.  The Lord detests the way of the wicked, but he loves those who pursue righteousness." There are "the wicked" who still sacrifice and give up offerings, but their way is not the right way.  They may be like Cain, giving a sacrifice that is not true or pleasing to God.  They are doing the acts and the external motions, but their hearts are not genuine, humble, or given to God.  They are wicked.  Solomon continues these verses by giving hope and truth.  It is the PRAYER of the "upright" that pleases him.  It's not the great sacrifices, not the money, not the millions of activities I'm involved in, but a true and humble heart of prayer.  He GIVES his love (free of charge) to those who "pursue righteousness." 

 

            These verses were reminders to me that I don't have to earn God's love.  I already have it…He first loved me.  These verses remind me about what Pastor Scott talked about on Sunday, what kind of faith so I have?  A thimble or a bucket full?  What path am I trying to walk down on: the path of the wicked or the other path?  I will never have enough check marks, never have enough highly satisfied customers, and no matter how many hours I work, I will never be able to fully please my coworkers.  But that is not going to change how God views and looks at me.  All he wants is me: my prayer, my company, my all.  Hebrews 11:6 reminds me, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."

May 16

May 16

The people said, "Now we know you are possessed by a demon. Even Abraham and the prophets died, but you say, 'Anyone who obeys my teaching will never die!' Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?" Jesus answered, "If I want glory for myself, it doesn't count. But it is my Father who will glorify me. You say, 'He is our God,' but you don't even know him. I know him. If I said otherwise, I would be as great a liar as you! But I do know him and obey him. Your father Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad." The people said, "You aren't even fifty years old. How can you say you have seen Abraham? " Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I AM! " At that point they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden from them and left the Temple. (John 8:52-59 NLT)

A lot of people trying to argue against the divinity of Christ will use the argument that Jesus never claimed to be God. Actually, there are even books written about how Jesus never made that claim. The Jews that Jesus was talking to evidently understood exactly what he was claiming, and what he was saying was the truth, for they picked up stones to kill him when they heard him describe himself as "I AM." This is the name that God himself gave to Moses when Moses asked Him His name at the burning bush. (Ex 3:14) It is a name that the Israelite people knew, and knew well. And this passage in John 8 is not the only example in the Bible that the people, the teachers and religious elite of Israel, tried to kill Jesus for this exact "blasphemy." In John 10, Jesus says the words, "I and the Father are one." These people were the most learned people in all of Israel. They studied God, and Jewish history, and they knew what Jesus' claim that "I AM" meant. C.S. Lewis says this in his book Mere Christianity: "Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. ... Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God." So the conclusion that Lewis came up with, if we believe the Bible as truth, should be the same conclusion that we come up with. Jesus was not a mere moral teacher, He Himself claimed that He was God. I AM.

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Thursday, May 15

THURSDAY, MAY 15, 2014

1 Samuel 17:1–18:4

John 8:21–30

Psalm 111:1–10

Proverbs 15:11

 

 

David’s confrontation with Goliath certainly falls on a “top” list of well-known Bible stories.  It defines the underdog-find-success genre.  Many times, we may avoid considering the God-ordained purpose of this event and David’s concentration on bringing glory to God before himself.

 

I would like to offer a few encouraging takeaways from the passage that may have meaningful application in our daily lives:

 

1.       Fight just battles.  David takes the challenge of fighting Goliath, knowing that God would support his mission.  He explains to Saul:  “Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.”  Indeed, Goliath’s defiant, arrogant attitude shows his rebellion against God’s chosen people, thereby insulting God’s sovereign will.  David’s intervention against Goliath therefore serves to protect God’s holiness and to increase His glory.  David displays little pride or seeking of his own glory in the passage.

 

2.       Arrive prepared, but don’t trust in your preparation more than God’s provision.  David brings five smooth stones to the battle and significant confidence in his slinging abilities.  I chuckle at considering the ill-fitting, bulky armor on David, who then quickly decides to fight the battle with much less elaborate weaponry.  David’s vulnerability would actually serve as a strength here, as he would be free to launch the stone without encumbrance.

 

3.       Clarify your mission, from beginning to end.  In delivering the truth to Goliath, David reiterated:  “… I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied….  All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”  David understood his purpose this day and Who had given him that purpose.  His words echo Zechariah 4:6:  “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit…. ”  Or also Psalm 20:7:  “Some trust in chariots and some in horses,/ but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”

 

4.       Focus on the eternal, not the temporal, to stave off complacency.  David could easily have allowed success to rush to his head.  Instead, he pointed to God’s work in this great victory rather than his own.  David’s sin with Bathsheba arrived at a time when David had become comfortable in his success and the confines of the conquered Jerusalem.

 

5.       Build alliances with supportive, God-honoring friends.  Instead of isolating himself as Goliath’s champion, he sought out Jonathan, whose lovingkindness mirrored God’s favor towards David.  David and Jonathan’s covenant would act as a vessel of God’s faithfulness and protection to David in the challenging years to come.

 

 

Lord Jesus, we praise You for the strength that You supply for each day’s victory through Your Holy Spirit.  We recognize that we may achieve very little on our own, but, by Your Spirit, You provide a victorious life – in communion with You and to the blessing and nourishment of our souls and other people.  There are many giants that we face today:  sinful attitudes, depression, addiction, mourning, and unfulfilled promises.  Lord, I pray that You would give us wisdom to choose battles worthy of our calling as Your children and the courage to fight them vigorously.  Help us not to become conceited or complacent, but ever-vigilant to remember Your first love for us and the greatness of Your character.  To You be all glory, honor, and praise forever.  Amen.

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Tuesday May 13

1 Samuel 14

John 7:31-53

Psalm 109:1-31

Proverbs 15:5-7

Saul's Foolish Oath

In today's reading, this part of 1 Samuel 14 stood out to me. Saul was so concerned with making oaths and with following them exactly and with making sure his men were following the letter of the law. But yet something was wrong. He asked God whether or not they should continue pursuing the Philistines and there was no response. Saul was quick to blame this on someone else. Someone had to have sinned in order for God to remain silent. He discovered that his son Jonathan had eaten some honey during a time when Saul had placed them under oath to not eat anything. In Saul's mind this had to be the reason for God's silence. He was prepared to kill his own son and he would have. But the people intervened and protected Jonathan from his father. 

I find it hard to believe that the real reason God was not responding to Saul was because Jonathan ate some honey when he wasn't suppose to. At the time, Jonathan was not even aware of the oath, so he broke it unintentionally. 

Based on what we have read of Saul, I think God's silence was because of the condition of Saul's heart. Saul believed in God. Saul followed God's rules. Saul made vows to God. But did he really surrender his whole life to God? Were these vows for God's glory or for his own? Did he really allow God to have complete control? Did he really love God with all his heart and soul and mind?

I think God was silent when Saul asked him about the Philistines because Saul was still trying to run his own life.

If you feel distant from God or if you feel like He's not working in the way you want Him to, don't be quick to blame someone else or even to blame God Himself. Look at yourself and ask God to reveal the areas that you need to surrender.

May 12 - in God's time

1 Samuel 12:1-13:22

John 7:1-30

Psalm 108:1-13

Proverbs 15:4

Many who know me know that I season my impatience with the misguided belief I know better, that I leaven my desire for instant gratification with misplaced good intentions.  And so, rather than wait upon the Lord, I convince myself I have the knowledge needed to make the decision I think is urgently required...often to sad, avoidable results, to outcomes other than those I'd hoped to achieve.

The Israelites thought they knew better as well - rather than listen to the man of God in Samuel, they demanded a king...and the king they got immediately demonstrated his inadequacy by immediately disobeying God's first command - "wait".  Saul thought he knew better, thought the situation - his men beginning to scatter in fear the face of the Philistine threat - required immediate action.  And his intentions were good - he wasn't going out to face the enemy on his own, he was seeking God's help with a burnt offering.  

The thing is, God wasn't asking for sacrifice, He was asking for obedience.  And Saul, despite his good intentions, demonstrated just how much of a stranger God was to him.  

In the New Testament reading, we see something completely different.  Jesus knows His Father well, and so He knows that it is not yet time for Him to reveal Himself.  He knows God well enough, is in a close enough relationship with His Father that He knows when to wait and when to act.  And so he refuses to go to the festival, "because my time has not yet fully come".  And He was able to preach in the temple despite the threat to Him because although "[the people of Jerusalem] tried to seize Him///no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come."

I would like to get to know God so well as to be able to wait confidently upon Him, however urgently I might feel compelled to act, however good my intentions might seem.  For those like myself who have been such good students of earthly thinking, it is impossible.  Thankfully, nothing is impossible with God.

Saturday BlogPost (5/11/14)

Saturday, May 10, 2014 [In Search of A King]

 

 "The elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah.  They said to him, 'You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now give us a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.'" (1 Samuel 8:5)

 

It had been a long rough road for Israel during the time of the judges.  "In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit" (Judges 21:25).  When Samuel became priest and judge over Israel there was a time of peace.  However, as he got older and allowed his sons to serve the people discovered that they were virtually right back where they had started.  Samuel's sons stole, took bribes, and perverted justice.  The elders of Israel asked for Samuel to give them a king, like the kings of other nations.  This didn't sit well with Samuel.  If ever there was to be a king it should have been the Lord.  Of course, this is what Samuel believed.  Yahweh affirms Samuel when during Samuel's prayer time He speaks, saying, "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king" (1 Sam. 1:6). 

 

What was the big deal?  Every other nation had an earthly king, why not Israel? 

"For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession" (Deut. 7:6, 14:2).

Yahweh was supposed to be their King!  God intended for Israel to be different, not like all of the other nations.  However, Israel wanted someone that they could touch, hear, and see right in front of their faces.  They wanted a king on their terms. 

 

It's not always a good thing for us to get what we want.  Like the elders of Israel, we often think that we know what's best for us.  We see people around us doing well with their plans and we think that if we conjured up a plan of our own everything would be just fine.  I mean, isn't this is normal?  What is the harm in being like everyone else?  I want something so I go out and get what I want no matter what it takes. 

Here's the issue.  It's not that we have the desire to have things, achieve/succeed, have relationships, etc.  The issue for us is daily answering the question, "Who's the King?"  Are we the kings or do we serve and worship a King far greater than us, with more insight, wisdom, and vision for our lives than we have?  This can be a difficult question to answer emotionally because we don't always FEEL like following King Jesus.  That's why this question always has to be answered by FAITH.  What I believe and build my life upon must take priority to my feelings.

 

Questions

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1.     When in your life have you chosen to go the way of your feelings rather than trust the King by faith?  How did that turn out for you?

2.     Do you find yourself wanting Jesus to rule over certain areas of your life and not others?  What are they?

3.     What do you need to hear from God in order to follow Him by faith?  Ask Him to speak to You.

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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