Daily Scripture Meditation

In reading through the Old Testament, particularly the books of 1st and 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings, and 1st and 2nd Chronicles; one of the first things we notice is that there is a constant fluctuation between the worship of God and the worship of idols in Israel. In many cases this change took place in rather extreme ways within a single generation. One minute there would be a good king and the people would pursue God and then the next minute that leader would be gone and it would be right back to idolatry. Now obviously we know that God preserved for himself a remnant of those who were faithful to Him (1st Kings 19:18 for example0, but have you ever wondered why the people were so quick to switch back and forth between the worship of God and the worship of idols?

2 Chronicles 15:3-4 provides an explanation that has some important truth for us today as well.

“For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law; but when in their trouble they turned to The Lord God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them.”

Like most people, Israel turned back to God when the futility of their idolatry became clear and they had no where else to turn; and God, being gracious and abounding in mercy, responded to their repentance and prayer. That they had a long tradition of idolatrous ways (as does all post-Eden humanity) partially explains there constant back and forth, but the 2nd half of verse 3 shines some additional light on the subject. They had been a long time without a teaching priest and without law.

When the law departs from a people, when the priests fail to keep in constantly before them. They have no solid foundation on which to resist idolatry and wicked behavior. There commitment to The Lord is based on emotion, and upon what they need to receive from The Lord in that hour. When a political or cultural leader stands as the driving force to follow God, then they will. When that leader is gone, they won’t anymore. Without the sound teaching of scripture to provide a moral backbone, nations flounder in idolatry and sin.

We live in a day and age where idolatry is running rampant. Obviously we don’t put our trust in little statues of made up gods anymore, but instead we have turned to insurance policies, to political leaders, to economic systems, to money, television, and others. In the midst of all this idolatry, the Church, the “kingdom of priests” has allowed herself to be silenced by the need for “tolerance”. In an age of moral relativism, holding forth a bright light of absolute truth, right and wrong, is unpopular. People are more comfortable lurking in the gray haze of “it doesn’t really matter”, “don’t judge”, and “no one is really right”.

If this is allowed to continue that the pattern from Scripture is clear, we will see a back and forth vacillation between worship of God and worship of idols based solely on emotion. As that vacillation continues idolatry will become worse, up until the point that God chooses to pour out His wrath on our nation and punish the idolatry for the sake of His name, which on our account is now slandered among the nations. Ultimately responsibility for this will fall on the Church in this nation for failing to hold up the Scriptural commands as absolute and essential.

If you don’t want the blood of others on your hands, then don’t participate in this deliberate watering down of Scripture. Cling to the whole Word and beg others to do so as well.

Daily Scripture Meditation

Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of of the world makes himself and enemy of God. -James 4:4 NKJV

It would seem to me that we have largely forgotten that the Gospel is incompatible with the rest of the world. When we take on worldly behaviors or give in to worldly thoughts and activities we are moving away from God in doing so. We cannot continue in the normal, day to day activities of everyone else around us, as Christians, and please God.

Christian worship is rebellion against the world and all of its wicked ways. When we give our lives in worship each and every day, we press in to obedience to God and rebellion to this world.

We need to stop more often and ask ourselves questions like: Is my life to compatible with the lifestyle and culture I find myself in? Does the behavior of the world around me bother me, or have I become comfortable with it? Do I stand out from the world around me, or have I become so like the world that no one can tell the difference?

We are called to be set apart to holy behavior before a holy God, this requires that we reject sinful influences and patterns in our lives. While the rejection of sin is a daily battle, it is one that we ought to win more and more as we fight it and in so doing make it clear before the world that we serve a different king, Jesus!

Daily Scripture Meditation

All passages quoted from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted

Proverbs 1: 7 The Fear of The Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 1:20 Wisdom calls aloud outside; she raises her voice in the open squares

Proverbs 1:24-29 Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, Because you disdained all my counsel, And would have none of my rebuke, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, When terror comes like a storm, And your destruction like a whirlwind, When distress and anguish come upon you. Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me. Because they hated knowledge and did choose the fear of The Lord.

When a nation rejects the fear of God, and pursues instead its own course, it walks away also from all wisdom and understanding. As the moral fiber of the society begins to unravel, so also does all reason and sound thinking.

Wisdom will for a time call aloud for the nation to return to the fear of God, and to wise ways; but there is a tipping point at which point wisdom can no longer be found. Once this is crossed, destruction, the sure consequence of abandoning wisdom, comes in like a whirlwind; and there is no escaping destruction.

The only hope for our nation is to restore the fear of God. We cannot compel others to return to the fear and reverence of God that was once common in this land, but we can return ourselves. We can turn and repent of our sin and unfaithfulness, and seek to live holy lives before our righteous and sovereign God. As we do, I still hold out hope that the Holy Spirit will influence those around us by our actions and draw the nation back to Himself.

Daily Scripture Meditation

2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new.”

When our Lord Jesus died on the cross for the forgiveness and removal of your sins, they were as of yet all in the future. You hadn’t been born yet, you hadn’t committed a single sin and yet He knew, and made a path to salvation for you. When the Holy Spirit called you and you responded, you received through the cross for all of your sin, past and future. Nothing you had or would do remained a secret from God.

For this reason, you can walk out from under habitual and addictive sin. There is no need to feel the ongoing condemnation of sin your life. As Romans 8:33 says “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.” Only God is lawfully able to prosecute our transgressions against Him, and when you accepted grace through the cross He chose to pardon you of His own sovereign will.

For this reason, the old you – the flesh, actually died at the moment of salvation. Instead you became a new creation in Christ Jesus, and that new creation is completely freed from the sin that used to entangle you. It may feel like you can’t shake something, but the scripture says you can. In fact it says you already have.

All you have to do is recognize that the only way you can be entangled in sin is by giving in to a lie. Sin only has an ongoing grip on you if you believe it does. Repent, not only for your sin but for believing its lie, turn back to God, and then forget. God has already forgiven you, repent and move on!

Daily Scripture Meditation

1 Samuel 17: 45-47 NKJV “Then David said to the Philistine [Goliath], “You come to me with a a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of The Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied. This day The Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Then all this assembly shall know that The Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is Lord’s and He will give you into our hands.”

Frequently when we teach these Old Testament Bible stories, especially to children, we miss the most important part of the story. This story in particular is often used to demonstrate that God is with us or that we should have courage in facing adversity. While all of these things are true, they miss the biggest point.

David did not go after Goliath because Israel needed to be rescued, he went after Goliath because he perceived Goliath’s challenge as an affront and reproach against the name and glory of God. This zeal for the name and glory of God caused David to face down Goliath with total confidence that The Lord would deliver him into his hands, as is clear from David’s words just before he attacks Goliath.

Not only is David concerned about God’s reputation, but specifically he is concerned about God’s reputation to all the nations of the earth in demonstrating His power to save His people. The story isn’t just about God saving His people from an oppressor, it is about God’s name being glorified to the ends of the earth, which is ultimately what all of scripture is about.

The entire Bible is about God’s glory and salvation being proclaimed to all nations of the earth, make sure you don’t miss it. Look for this, the underlying theme of the whole Bible, in each and every passage you read and ask yourself two questions: 1. How does this story or teaching fit in with the big picture of God’s glory and worship going forth to every tribe, tongue, and nation? 2. What does this passage teach about my role in causing God’s glory and worship to go forth to every tribe, tongue, and nation?

Are you like David? Would you have taken an affront to God’s name and reputation seriously enough to go to battle with a giant? Or are you more worried about giving offense to the culture around you?