Sermons From My Heart

(An audio version of this sermon can be found at https://www.spreaker.com/user/sermonsfrommyheart/exodus-33-verses-12-23-the-presence-of-g)

The events in Exodus 33:12-23 occurred just after Moses discovered that while he was talking with God on Mount Sinai, the Israelites built a golden calf and were worshipping it. They wanted a god that they could see in person. They did not want a god that was with them in spirit. When Moses saw what they did, he became so angry that he broke the two tablets on which were written the Ten Commandments.

What happened to Moses? He forgot three very important things:

1. The promise of God’s presence.
2. God’s plan for His life.
3. God’s power to deliver whatever Moses and the people needed.

When we become angry or depressed, we should remember that God is with us. He has unique plans and purposes for our lives, and He has the power to provide everything we need to fulfill those plans and purposes.

When Moses came down from the mountain and saw what happened, he recognized that the spiritual foundation of the people and the leadership of Aaron were not grounded enough for Moses to have an extended absence. God’s presence had left the people. Having God’s presence return was the only way they could proceed and have success.

In response to the golden calf, God decided not to be with the Israelites. He planned on sending an angel to accompany them. He did not want to go with them because He might consume them with His wrath. Moses pleaded with God to change His mind. Moses understood that without God’s presence they would not be a people set apart from other nations, so why travel any further? Moses’ favoured standing before God comes out in the positive response to his intercession. God told Moses that He would be present among them because He was pleased with them.

If we are to be effective in anything we do for God, He must be in the midst of it. Unless God’s power is seen among us, we will be just another person who has religion. Unless we show His life to others, they will see only good behaviour that is easily counterfeited by moral people. Moving out in presumption will end in failure and frustration.

Moses was in the business of nation-building. He wanted to create a nation that was guided by divine principles, but in the wilderness, he had no clarity about where he was going. He wanted God’s assurance that that He (God) would be with the people on their journey to the promised land.

Moses came to a point of boldness. God answered his petitions. God relented of His anger against His people. He renewed His covenant with the people to take them to the Promised Land, and to also go with them. Moses was at a new place. All along, he was willing to go on the promise God gave him at the burning bush. Something had happened. The people worshipping the golden calf, God’s anger against them, and God’s refusal to allow Moses to make atonement created a new situation. Moses felt that he needed to know more of what God was like if he was going to continue to lead people who sinned.

Moses saw God’s astounding acts during the Exodus, but now he wanted to see more-God’s glory. God granted this bold request, passing His goodness before Moses and proclaiming His own name-the expression of His character. The Lord speaks of His manner as being gracious and showing compassion, words Paul used in Romans 9:15-18.

Sometimes people put unreasonable expectations on God. We expect things that He never promised and then get frustrated when we don’t have them right now. God does not give us everything that we want. He gives us what we need. God knew that Moses’ request reflected a real need. The people did need His presence for their mission, so God said He would do it. He provided for their needs.

God revealed His glory to Moses, but it is more than we as humans can handle. We have to shield our eyes, minds, and spirits in the presence of God, just like we have to shield our eyes when we look at an eclipse. We can only see part of God. We can’t limit God’s revelation to what we have experienced. God is more than we can contain or understand.

Although God did go with the Israelites, and He does go with His people today, He is still holy, separate from us and unapproachable. He is holy and we are sinners, and there is a distance between us. Jesus provided us with a mediator between us and God.  When Jesus died on the cross, the curtain in the temple was torn in two. We are welcome into God’s presence, any day and at any time. The barrier of sin is down. No more curtain.

God’s presence does give us rest, but there are times when His presence disturbs us. It can reveal our sinfulness. It reveals our failure to be who God wants us to be. How often in prayer are we visited by the presence of God and find ourselves keenly aware of our failure in discipleship?

There were limits to what Moses would see, for no one can look upon the Lord and live. God placed Moses in a cleft in the rock, and He then caused His glory to pass by. The glory of God refers to the sheer weight of the reality of His presence. It means seeing God without veiling. Seeing His face would be more glory than even Moses could handle. The presence of God would come near Moses in spatial terms.

God is not limited, but we are. No one could know all about God-not even Moses. God is Spirit-with no physical features whatsoever-so the use of the imagery of His face and His back is simply a means to help humans understand what cannot be understood otherwise. Moses’ passing view of the Lord’s back was still more than ever had been seen-until Jesus, in whom the transcendent God was revealed in human flesh. Even though God has revealed Himself fully in Jesus, there is the sense in which God remains hidden.

Moses’ glimpse of God answers the question of the ages: Who is God, and what is God like? It was left for Jesus to become the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and bounding in goodness in truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression for sin. It was left for Jesus to become the Incarnation of these words so people might forever believe that what God said He was, He was.

Moses got more than a glimpse. He had heard God’s word, and in the depth of his soul, he knew what the apostle John knew centuries later after being taught by Christ: God is love. We will never know all God is, and whenever some fresh insight and meaning comes to us, like they did for Moses on the mountainside, hopefully we will bow our heads in humility and awe and worship.

As children of God, we have received His unmerited and unending favour. As we get to know Him better through such things as prayer, fasting, and study of His Word, He extends us even more favour. God consistently reveals Himself as a God of grace and compassion-something that greatly comforts us during difficult times or when we make mistakes. This is a promise we can always count on.

The holiness of God is God’s inward character of perfect goodness. One of the primary meanings of the tabernacle is its reflection of a holy God, a God set apart, unique, utterly unstained by the sin of the world. God specified rules of cleanliness for those who worshipped there because in every possible way people were to be clean, set apart, holy as they entered the place where the holy God actually lived. As perfect goodness, God’s purpose is to produce that goodness in us. He takes sides against sin, against all badness, against all evil, against our not being that holy people He called us to be.

God wants to us see Him with spiritual eyes. He wants us to fix our eyes on Him so that our decisions and choices may be pleasing in His sight. We have already found grace because we know Jesus, but we also need to live a life that is pleasing in His sight.

God wants to meet with us and go with us into the unknown. God created us in His own image because He wanted a relationship with us from the beginning. If we look throughout the Bible, we see that God’s desire has always been to dwell with His people. God draws His people to a deeper closeness with Him.

Life is full of choices and all the decisions we have to make. Which way do I go, when do I go, how do I get there? There is one question that we need to keep in mind: Do we go by ourselves or with God? Jesus said to the disciples in Matthew 28:20, “I am with you always.” He is in every move we make, and He sent the Holy Spirit to help us make the right decisions. We can either listen to Him or ignore Him.

We are encouraged to be like Moses. No matter how much of Jesus we have already experienced, we are encouraged to live from a place of wanting more. When we elevate our desire for His glorious presence above everything else, everything we are concerned about will find a new source of inspiration and power in Him.

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; p. 118)
2. Dunnam, M.D., & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 2: Exodus (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1987; pp. 340-347)
3. Stanley, C.F: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)
4. MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
5. “In Your Sight.” Retrieved from Christianity.com@crosswalkmail.com
6. Pete Briscoe, “The God Paradox.” Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
7. Pete Briscoe, “Your Perfect Provision, NOW.” Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
8. Max Lucado, “No More Curtain.” Retrieved from www.maxlucado.com
9. Mike Slay, “Loving God.” Retrieved from noreply@ailbe.org.
10. Dr. Ed Young, “Anger and Depression.” Retrieved from ministry@winningwalk.org.
11. Os Hillman, “Unless the Lord Goes With Us.” Retrieved from tgif@markeetplaceleaders.org
12. Jill Southern, “Knowing the Presence of God.” Retrieved from  info@seedsofthekingdom.net
13. Ron Scurfield, “If You Don’t Come With Me I’m Not Going.” Retrieved from info@seedsofthekingdom.net
14. Bruce Epperly, “The Adventurous Lectionary-Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost-October 22, 2023.” Retrieved from www.patheos.com/blogs/livingaholyadventure/author/BruceEpperly/

Have you ever noticed that sometimes people have short memories? We see a good example of this in Exodus 16:2-15. Gone from Egypt for only a month, the people accused Moses and Aaron of deliberately leading them into the wilderness to kill them. They forgot the parting of the Red Sea. They had struck their timbrels and sung their lyrics of praise there in their triumph over Pharoah as they looked back and saw his army drowned on the seashore-but now, they were hungry. They could not believe that God could satisfy their hunger even after He delivered them from the hands of death. The need for bread in this early stage of the journey out of Egypt provides both God and God’s people with an opportunity to understand and trust each other.

The lack of faith has a short memory, and discontent changes our perspective. The Israelites longed for the good food they enjoyed in Egypt. They could remember the security of food, shelter, and clothing, but they conveniently forgot one thing-the affliction of slavery. They complained all the time, their faith was shallow, their trust was superficial, they were selfish, their stomachs prevailed over their minds and hearts.

We are the same. How many of us long for “the good old days?” How many of us often claim that things were better in the past? Most of you know that I have recently moved to a new apartment. I still think about my old apartment. While I moved out of my mother’s house several years ago, I often remember what things were like when I lived there. The present often seems worse than the past. We often romanticize “the good old days” and think of them as better than now, especially in the church. When churches deal with declining membership and people’s apathy towards the Christian faith, they often think back to when everyone just went to church because it was “what you did.” We assume that this was better. Maybe it was better, maybe not. The main reason why we romanticize the past is that we know we can get through the past whereas the present and future are still undecided.

It’s easy to blame our problems on others like the Hebrews blamed their hunger on Moses and Aaron. That’s the same thing we do whenever we grumble and complain. This is a picture of human nature. When the Hebrews were in Egypt, they longed for freedom and were willing to give up everything to get it. When they were free, they were ready to face oppression if it meant that their stomachs would be filled. They must have been shocked when God led them with a cloud by day and a fire by night. They might have even trembled in their souls. Here the heart of God was revealed. It came in the sweet gentleness of God. In order that they would know that He is the Lord, He performed the miracle of manna.

It’s easy to criticize the Israelites for their lack of faith, but how often do we react in the same way when faced with problems in life? Too often we do what they did: argue and grumble. In reality, the problem is that we don’t trust God. Although God has never promised to remove obstacles from our path. He has promised to be with us through whatever we encounter in life.

For them to survive without food from any natural source required the Lord to do only what He could do: for five days each week, He delivered daily portions of bread from heaven for each individual; on the sixth day, there was a double provision; and on the seventh, there was none. What anyone needs to get through the “wilderness” of their lives is not available except from God Himself.

Moses showed that that peoples’ complaints, leveled at their human leaders, were actually against the Lord. This is true anytime a child of God complains. The people had experienced the word of the Lord and had been under the word of the Lord; now they were to experience the wonder of the Lord. The revelation of His glory in the cloud was designed to instill confidence and to compel faithfulness.

The meal of quail was a miracle, but the manna was the greater surprise. The word manna comes from the question the Hebrews people asked that first morning: “What is it?”  Manna would be their food for the next 40 years, until the new generation entered the Promised Land. The amount of food the Lord provided was staggering: one day’s “delivery” for more than 2 million people for nearly 40 years!

The manna became a test. It was delivered daily, and only enough for the day’s needs could be gathered. Any that was left over became full of worms. The only exception was the day before the Sabbath, when enough could be gathered for two days. The lesson here is that God’s provisions are fresh every day. Jesus said the same thing when He taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Of course the people did not obey, and their lack of obedience tested the patience of both Moses and God. Their disobedience was not only stubbornness: they did not know God enough to trust God. This problem was foreshadowed by their song pf praise when the Egyptian army drowned. They acknowledged that the Lord is a God like no other, but they did not fully understand who the Lord is, or what God is able to do. Even if they remembered that God is their deliverer, they have not yet experienced again and again that God is also their provider.

The manna as a test teaches us about habitual dependence. God could have provided it once and given the Israelites everything they needed for their wilderness wandering, but He didn’t. He gave them only enough for the day. Every demand God makes of us is a test of faith. When God asks us to do something that stretches us, we have to decide: Are we going to trust a gut feeling that says it’s just too much for us to handle, or are we going to trust what God says is the right thing to do? God often asks us to do the impossible so we’re forced to depend on Him.

There are some things that can’t be stored up for tomorrow. Yesterday’s manna can’t be used as food for today. It can’t be hoarded. It is there in the morning, and we can use it until evening, but tomorrow we’ll have to gather it again. There is no laying in of a supply, then sleeping late the rest of the week. Some things are a daily affair. When we come to Christian experience, yesterday’s manna won’t keep. Faith can’t coast. It’s a daily thing.

The manna speaks God’s eternal word. The God who sent manna sends our daily bread and we are dependent upon Him. That daily bread can’t be stored up and hoarded. It is fresh every morning, but equally deep in the meaning of this truth is the explanation Jesus gave in His wilderness hunger in Matthew 4:4: “It is written ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.’”

The manna from heaven is a vivid picture of Jesus Christ, who is “the bread that came down from heaven.”

1. The sweetness. Manna was sweet to the taste. It was described in Numbers 16:31 as wafers with honey. Jesus Christ is sweet.
2. The life. Manna was essential for life. If the people did not eat it, they would die. Jesus is essential to life. There is no life apart from Him.
3. The longing. Manna whetted the appetite for more. It was designed to satisfy and sustain until the people arrived in the Promised Land, that long awaited land that flowed with milk and honey. Jesus is sweet and wonderful, but knowing Christ in this life just whets the appetite for what lies ahead.

God wants to give us good gifts, but He does so in order to be better known and loved. When we begin to desire the gifts more than the giver of the gift, it may be time for us to be led out into the barren terrain of the wilderness. The character of God’s people is hammered out on the anvil of this fierce landscape.

God often tests us by giving us specific instructions to follow. He wants to know whether we’ll obey Him in faith, or just do things the way we always have. We need to remember that because the Lord has our best in mind, He is always trustworthy.

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013, pp. 95-96)
2. Dunnam, M., & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 2: Exodus (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1987; pp. 175-189)
3. Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)
4. MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
5. Lucado, M.: The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson; 2010)
6. Callie Plunket-Brewton, “Commentary on Exodus 16:2-15.” Retrieved from www.workingpreacher.org
7. Sara M. Koenig, “Commentary on Exodus 16:2-4,9-15.” Retrieved from www.workingpreacher.org
8. Rick Warren, “When God Tests You, He’s Stretching You.” Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com
9. Dr. David Jeremiah, “New Year’s Resolutions-Resolve to Complain Less.” Retrieved from www.DavidJeremiah.org
10. Pastor Jeff Schreve, “Got Manna?” Retrieved from www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/fromhisheart/

In 1 Kings 3:16-28, we see an illustration of the supernatural wisdom with which King Solomon was blessed. In Israel, the king was the ultimate “judge” of the land, and any citizen, even the basest prostitute, could petition him for a verdict.

Solomon carefully lived by God’s rules at the start of his reign, and God gave him success. Solomon asked God for wisdom, and with it, God gave him economic prosperity and fame. God expects everyone to use their gifts to do His will. When they do, everyone else benefits.

Two prostitutes who were roommates approached him with a delicate and complicated legal problem: namely, the true identity of a newborn baby. Both women claimed the baby as theirs. One woman accused the other of intentionally switching her dead baby for the live one, and the other countered that the first woman was lying and that the living baby belonged to the second woman.

In ordering his servants to cut the child in two, he knew the liar would not object, but out of maternal compassion the real mother would. Solomon, now tested, solved the dispute by appealing to maternal instincts and human compassion, knowing that the real mother would rather give her child to another than watch him die. The people’s response to Solomon’s judgment further proved that wisdom of God was on Solomon; this was an unusual, supernaturally supplied gift. The people feared Solomon because he operated with the wisdom of God, and they knew that they could not fool him or make false accusations against someone.

There is a similar situation in our modern democracy. Democracy is a give-and-take enterprise. Every eligible citizen has a vote and a voice, but none of us get everything we want in any given contest. In all our disagreements, we must be mindful to know what we might forfeit with wanton hostility. Winning our claims at the cost of losing democracy is a loss for everyone-because democracy gives even the losers a chance to live to fight another day.

Solomon had confidence in the wisdom bestowed upon him by God. He must have known no other power could enable him to make better decisions than by his using God’s gift. He was truly blessed to be wise. Solomon was probably the second wisest person to ever walk the face of the earth-the wisest person being Jesus. The wisdom that can only come from God is a tremendous thing to possess. Sometimes it is hard to make the right choice. Godly wisdom directs us in the way God desires. There are many gifts one can receive from God. Wisdom is definitely one that will help guide our way through life.

It’s apparent when we meet someone who possess wisdom. They are quick to listen, and when they speak, it’s with words of truth that can only come from being in tune with God. We should follow Solomon’s example and simply ask God for the gift of wisdom. The Bible says He gives it to anyone who asks without judgment. If we ask for wisdom, we will be counted among the wise.

Wisdom is necessary as we decide what’s fair and moral, right and wrong. If we truly value wisdom, we can ask God for a discerning heart, like Solomon did. God may answer our request by helping us balance our needs and desires with the interests of others. He may also help us weigh short-term benefits against long-term (sometimes eternal) gains so we can honour Him in how we live. Our God is not only a perfectly wise judge, but He is also a personal counselor who is willing to give us godly wisdom in great amounts.

There is a lesson here for all relationships. We must not let our love for someone else stifle that person’s life and spiritual growth by holding that person too close to ourselves. Genuine love is willing to give up the beloved. Acting in love often requires self-sacrifice. As one of my former girlfriends once told me, true love means caring for someone else more than you care for yourself. If we strive to be free of impure motives in our dealings with others, we will honour God and receive the reward of His pleasure.

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; p.446)
2. Dilday, R., & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 9:1,2 Kings (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1987; pp. 65-67)
3. MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
4. Lucado, M.: The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson; 2010)
5. Kenneth Samuel, “Keep the Child Alive.” Retrieved from dailydevotional@ucc.org
6. Jennifer Benson Schuldt, “Wisdom’s Source.” Retrieved from donotreply@email.rbc.org
7. “Jane Austen Devotional.” Retrieved from Crosswalk@crosswalkmail.com

It is an exciting thing to experience God as the living God. Too often we are so caught up in the routine of life, even church life, that we miss the drama of calling out to Him and knowing that He hears us and answers us. Biblical life is intensely personal. God has opened Himself up to us and we now enjoy a living relationship with Him. Since He is our King, He intervenes on our behalf with mighty acts of deliverance. He does not abandon us to the grinding laws of nature or to our foes.

Theoretically, if not historically, Psalms 123 and 124 go together. Psalm 123 is a prayer for God to act. Psalm 124 is Israel’s response to His action. The psalmist tells us that the enemies of Israel rose up against Israel with fury. Nevertheless, God was for His people, and He delivered them. As a result, He was blessed by Israel, and as we experience His deliverance we will join in that blessing.

In Psalm 124:1-8, we see an affirmation of God’s eternal vigilance for His people. The danger was so great, their helplessness so obvious, and deliverance so unlikely that if God had not intervened, utter ruin would have been inevitable.  Israel would have been devoured, drowned, and vanished. Her existence in this world was determined, not by economic and political strength, but by the God who called her into being and whom she worships. Similarly, we should not seek strength in weapons, economic might, or political strength. Real power comes from God.  

Some people see themselves as self-made men or self-made women. They brag about their hard work and their cleverness. They exalt themselves. King David was different. He understood that it was God who had given him gifts as a leader. His victories and escapes were not just luck or due to his skill, but God himself looking out for King David.

There is a danger of assuming that God is on our side. History is full of leaders who have wrapped their cause in the cloak of religion as a pretext to annihilate armies of other Christian nations. We as humans have an ugly way of justifying our sins. It is much better to ask, “Am I on God’s side?”

People often quote the proverb, “The Lord helps those who help themselves,” as if it were in the Bible. It isn’t. God helps those who look to Him in trust for deliverance and then are obedient to do as He shows them. He is our Helper, our Protector, our Deliverer, but not our servant. Rather, we are His servants, and because of that He takes responsibility to look out for us.

In his anti-war anthem, “With God on Our Side,” singer/songwriter Bob Dylan emphasized how often God is invoked to sanction the most ungodly of human causes and wars. King David reminded the Israelites of what would have happened to them if God had not been on their side when their enemies attacked, and the outcomes would not have been good. It is not always obvious to us what our lives would be like if God was not on our side. We may not realize it when He protects us from evil people, or accidents, or temptations, or poor choices, but God is always on our side.

Today we have to learn the same lesson. We assume that the existence of the church and its ministry depends on us. This is true in appeals for funds and in recruiting workers. We hear that if we don’t give money, the gospel won’t go out. We hear that if we don’t work, the job will not be accomplished. This is not true. God does not depend on us to accomplish His purposes. He is not sitting in heaven, biting His nails, wondering if we will give and go. If we do not praise Him, the rocks will cry out. The ministry is not ours; it is His. It is not accomplished by human effort, but by divine effort and through us.

There are times in all of our lives when our faith is tested. We come under attack. When everyone is against us and there seems to be a ‘torrent’ of ‘raging waters’-temptations, doubts, fears, and so on, these things can overwhelm us, but for the fact that the Maker of heaven and earth is on our side.

Psalm 124:7-8 says, “Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth!” Just as an animal caught in a trap must have help in order to escape, so to do we need help from Heaven to set us free from Satan’s grasp, That help is always available to us, and it is found in the name of Jesus. We can call on Him even when we are in the midst of desperate times, and He will answer us. He will pick us up out of trouble and place us under the shadow of His wings where His peace reigns.

We do not want to fight this battle alone. The enemy is too strong, too powerful, too cunning, too evil. If we go into the battle alone, we will be swallowed up, engulfed, swept over, and swept away. We are not up for the fight. If we go into combat alone, we will be defeated. Not “if”, not “When?”, but “For Sure!” Unless our help is in the name of the Lord, we must be ready for a shellacking.

It is not simply a lack of strategy but a lack of sense to fight without the Lord. The battle belongs to Him. The Maker of heaven and earth is more than capable of handling the enemy. The wise warrior, the winning warrior has this written on his heart: “My help is in the name of the Lord!”

God has not allowed our enemies to devour us. We have escaped the traps they have set for us. It doesn’t matter if the trap has been broken by God or by us. The point is that God is on our side, and it is only because of this that we are free. God teaches us in His Word to encourage each other by verbally reminding one another of how He has acted on our behalf in the past. We are not called to “go it alone” in our walk of faith.

Someone once wrote to Dr. Billy Graham and asked, “Often I’ll find myself sincerely wishing that God would do something about a problem I’m having, but is that the same as praying about it? Is hoping something will happen the same as praying that it will?” In his reply, Dr. Graham wrote, “No, simply wishing things will change, or hoping that God will do something about a difficult situation we’re facing isn’t the same thing as praying about it. Hoping our problems will get better is only an inner emotion: prayer is actually talking to God about them.  True prayer requires at least three things: First, it requires our helplessness. Then true prayer also requires actually talking to God. Finally, true prayer involves trust-trust that God loves us and knows what is best for us, and trust also that He hears us and will answer us when we pray.”

The God who designed our world is the God we pray to. When we face difficulties for which we see no solution, we must take time to reflect on all that He has created. If He can create our world and all that exists in it, He can solve the problems we face.

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; p. 793)
2. Williams, D., & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 14: Psalms 73-150 (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1989; pp. 400-403)
3. Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)
4. Lucado, M.: The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson; 2010; pp. 828-829)
5. Pastor Allen Jackson, “He Takes Sides.” Retrieved from contact@allenjacksonministries.com
6. Vikki Burke, “God Will Protect and Deliver You.” Retrieved from paul@ncmcanada.com
7. Ron Moore, “Our Help is in the Name of the Lord.: Retrieved from www.ronmoore.org
8. Tony Robinson, “God On Our Side.” Retrieved from dailydevotional@ucc.org
9. “Three Ways You Can Exercise Faith.” Retrieved from bibleinoneyear@htb.org.uk
10. Dr. Ralph F. Wilson, “Psalm 124. God is Our Help in Trouble.” Retrieved from jh@joyfulheart.com
11. Dr. Harold Sala, “Find Out How to Make Your Problem Look Smaller.” Retrieved from info@guidelines.org
12. The Rev. Dr. Billy Graham, “Is Hoping Something Will Happen the Same as Praying That it Will?” Retrieved from www.arcamax.com/healthandspirit/religion/billygraham/

2 Samuel 15:1-18 depicts one of the most painful experiences in the life of David, and one of the critical times in the life of Isreal: the conflict between David and his son Absalom for the throne. After Absalom returned to the court and his father’s favour, Absalom seemed to be in line to eventually inherit the throne. We are not told why he decided not to wait. The decisions people make are usually the result of many influences. We are told, however, exactly how he went about stealing the hearts of the people.

Sometime after his father returned him to favour, Absalom created for himself the air of a ruler with chariots, horses, and a group of men who made up the equivalent of a private army. While this princely show of status was not normal, it could have been excused as the way in which Absalom was compensating for having to wait for two years before his father would even see him. This was Absalom’s way of indicating how he saw himself—as the heir apparent of the throne.

Absalom comes across as cunning, cold, and ruthless. In the vacuum created by David’s family problems, David’s declining health, and the fractures within the kingdom, a prideful Absalom exalted himself, unlike David, who waited to be exalted by God. Absalom stole the hearts of the people of Israel by ingratiating himself to the people.

The most damaging thing Absalom did with great success, and the thing that explains his popularity, was his politicking with the ordinary people. His was a familiar pattern. He sought first to undermine the people’s confidence in his father. Then he put himself forward as the solution to their situation. Each day he would rise early and stand where the people were waiting to get a judgment on some grievance or another. He showed an interest in people, who they were, what city they came from, and the nature of their complaint. Then he would suggest that were he to be given authority to judge their case, they would have an advocate at the king’s court. By using this approach over a period of four years, Absalom was able to create allies to his cause in every village in the land, and he was able to do it, not by actually helping them, but by leaving the impression that he would help them if he could.

If this pattern is familiar, it is because it is used constantly by politicians who are running for offices that other people hold. They create a base of support for themselves by making their opponents responsible for all the flaws in society and presenting themselves as the hope for change. A person can accumulate a following in any organization, whether a club, a business, or a church, by whispering in the ear of the unhappy what he or she would do if he or she was in charge.

Absalom’s success might also indicate that there was sufficient neglect of the people and delay in justice that his words touched a sore spot with the people. Although David still saw people, these delays became longer as the kingdom grew and became more complex. If there was no real problem, Absalom created one; if the problem was real, he magnified it.

The saddest part of his routine is that there is no indication that he was really interested in justice or that he cared for the people. He was a murderer of his own brother who had not been punished and nothing in his life, except for his relationship to his sister Tamar, indicated that he cared for anyone but himself. He is a classic example of a person without ideals who uses the talking of lofty ideals as a means of manipulating people and getting power for himself. It has always been possible to steal the hearts of the people through empty promises and a fake concern for justice.

Throughout history many terrible things have been done by individuals who were motivated by a lust for power. Especially despicable are those who dressed their ambitions in the clothing of religion.

Rather than falling into the hands of his son who was rebelling and willing to kill to have the kingdom, David knew it would be better to let God do what seemed best, for David knew that God has mercy and compassion, but man tends not to show those things. David learned many lessons from the sins he had committed. The consequences of wrongdoing can be very painful on all sides. Instead of making things worse, we can turn to God and ask for forgiveness, and we can work to forgive as the Lord forgives us.

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; pp. 425-426)
2. Chafin, K.L., & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 8: 1,2 Samuel (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.: 1989; pp. 301-304)
3. Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)
4. MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)

Genesis 37:1-4,12-28 gives us a glimpse of Joseph’s early life. He had been put to work at an early age, as was customary in his culture. Joseph’s responsibility was to work with the sons of Jacob’s concubines. Like many people before him, Joseph had problems at work. He brought a bad report of his brothers to his father, which did not please his brothers. He had a commitment to the truth which overrode the natural hesitancy a young man would have against bearing tales about his brothers to their father. Perhaps he learned that “honesty is the best policy” from watching the own messes his father got into with Laban and Esau. Commitment to the principles of truth, good, right, faith, and work were deeply entrenched in Joseph’s life by the time he had reached seventeen years of age. These attributes would serve him well in later events in his life.

Like Jacob, sometimes our past sins reappear just when we think we have begun to settle and grow in our lives before God. Perhaps we thought we had left behind our marriage struggles, our angry exchanges with a coworker, or our struggles with addiction. We have been encouraged with the work of God’s Spirit in our lives. Yet we discover that we still have moments of struggle and temptation, and we sometimes return to the same old sins in our lives. The Bible is not a story about spiritual superheroes who have “arrived” in their walk with God. It is God’s story of working in people’s lives, redeeming them, and restoring them to wholeness for the sake of Christ.

One day Joseph announced to his brothers that he had dreamed that they were all working together in a field when the sheaves of corn started to bow down to each other. They were upset when Joseph suggested that their sheaves were bowing to his. They asked, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” As we will see later on in Genesis, they were right. Joseph was given a dream through which he believed that God was speaking to him. This principle of faith was nurtured in his young life but was underlined when his father took the whole family back to Bethel.  This action by his father was noticed by Joseph, who was close to his father.

The measure of hatred that his brothers had for him became clear when at his father’s request he journeyed to meet his brothers in Dothan. Because it was the dry season, Jacob’s 10 older sons traveled from Hebron to find grasslands and water for their flocks. Joseph’s obedience to his father was courageous (considering the hostility of his siblings) and complete. When he did not find his brothers near Shechem as expected, he continued to Dothan, about 12 miles away by the roads of the day. When they saw him in the distance, their early hatred and envy became obsessive and the cold, calculated plan to commit premeditated murder was put into operation.

The brothers plotted to kill Joseph and throw him into a pit. Reuben, the oldest brother, convinced them to cast Joseph into a pit alive instead, with the secret hope that he might rescue Joseph later. This move saved Joseph’s life. Pits were dug as reservoirs for water, sloping downward and outward with a narrow opening at the top. A person thrown into one would be unable to escape because there were no handholds or footholds.

There was another reason why his brothers were jealous of Joseph. Jacob made no secret that he loved Joseph more than all his children, because Joseph was the son of his old age. Jacob made Joseph a coat of many colours. The Hebrew phrase for “a tunic of many colours” describes a coat with “long sleeves and skirts” rather than varied hues. Although Joseph’s coat was definitely an ornamental, distinctive garment, the coat was significant for its symbolism, not its beauty: Joseph would be the heir of his father. Joseph’s 10 brothers had coats too. Their tunics were short-sleeved and short-waisted, making it easier for them to do their work. Jacob had not learned that favouritism is not only out of place in a family, but it is also fatal to family harmony and well-being.

Envy had entered the hearts of Joseph’s brothers and even as envy moved the Jewish leaders to crucify Christ, so envy against their own brother led the sons of Jacob to want to kill Joseph. That is why the Bible warns us against envy, jealousy, lust, and other spiritual problems, because they will lead us to do things we never imagined we would do.

Joseph didn’t wear that coat because he wanted to make his brothers jealous. He wore that coat because he wasn’t embarrassed at his father’s affection. It was a symbol of something deeper in Joseph’s life. Whatever good gifts God gave him, Joseph accepted. Joseph serves as a good example for us to follow. Whatever good gifts God gives us because He loves us, we should accept them.

Joseph’s brothers didn’t realize that their actions would put a knife through the heart of Jacob, just like our sins put a knife through God’s heart. Jacob would not be comforted, no matter how hard everyone tried. Every day the ruthless sons of Jacob had to see their father’s sorrow. Every day they were reminded of their act of treachery. Every day the guilt of ruining an innocent life rained down on them like a flood.

The Lord was heavily involved in the making of Joseph and the significance of the story of Joseph. God promised the land of Canaan to Abraham but he added that Abraham’s descendants would be strangers in a land that was not theirs. God told Abraham that in the fourth generation they would return to Abraham’s land. Before the people would return they had to live somewhere. God chose Egypt for the people to live in, but He also planned a great deliverance for them which made it necessary to get them into Egypt before He could get them out. To get them in God chose Joseph.

Joseph stood out from his brothers. He dared to be different, There is a great contrast between the life of Joseph and the lives of his brothers. The beautiful coat that he wore symbolized his distinctiveness and was the kind of coat royalty would wear. It was the sign of noble birth.

If there is anyone who should stand out for distinctiveness, it is those of us who are children of God. When we display our nobility, not arrogantly, but boldly, the world will resent our nobility, and the world will try to squeeze us back into its mold. That’s what Joseph’s brothers tried to do to him. They tried to make him conform, but he had been transformed, and he would not conform. God had a plan for him. God said, “Joseph, you’re going to be different. You’re distinct.” God says the same thing to us today. We are different, We are distinct.

Joseph was a man who knew his worth in the Lord. That deep, inward esteem came from an undying dream from God. Earthly adversities could not override the power of the dream and the unmerited favour of a father. Joseph didn’t crack and cave in like so many others. When we know our worth in Christ, it changes everything!

We can learn a few lessons from Jacob’s family and Joseph’s adversity:

1. No enemy is more subtle than passivity. When parents are passive, they may eventually discipline their children, but by then the delayed reaction is often carried out in anger.
2. No response is more cruel than jealousy. If it is allowed to fester, it leads to devastating consequences.
3. Anyone who is indulging in the poison of envy should consider the damage it caused in Jacob’s sons.
4. Joseph’s brothers fell into the trap of believing that a lesser evil was justified if it was done instead of a greater evil. They thought highly of themselves for committing a lesser sin. That was a big mistake, and it is a mistake we as Christians must avoid. Sin is sin regardless of the self-righteousness with which it is committed.
5. Joseph was separated from his family and spent time in prison in Egypt. Jacob grieved over the loss of Joseph for over 30 years. Even his brothers suffered the defilement of their consciences and the hardening of their hearts against further sin.
6. God rules over all sin. God worked above the sin of Joseph’s brothers and through it to accomplish His purposes. This does not give us a license to sin. Instead, we must depend on God’s grace to prevent sin.

Like Joseph, we are guaranteed to experience some failure on the road to fulfilling God’s plans for our lives. That’s why we need to prepare ourselves for the times of testing that are certain to come our way. If we have God-given dreams as Joseph did, our dreams will be challenged.

If we look at the rest of Joseph’s life, we can see that God was with him and gave him success in everything he did. Joseph’s life of hardship led to him becoming second in command over Egypt. God used Joseph to save people from a terrible famine, including his whole family and people from surrounding nations.

It was a long and winding road for Joseph from being a young dreamer to becoming the chief administrator of Egypt. Why did he have to go through such a long and painful process? Why did it take years of suffering to prepare him for living the dream he had in his youth? The answer lies in the nature of what it means to commit yourself to a dream. It’s how the dream gets inside us. Until that happens, we’re in no position to try to go out and see that vision realized in life. We can’t hope to bring compassion to the world if we don’t have compassion in our hearts for other people-all of them. We can’t hope to bring peace to the world if we haven’t yet become peace-toward everyone.

Jesus came to suffer and die for our sake, and through that path of many hardships He rose in victory over death and ascended to heaven, where He now rules over all the earth. His path through suffering has led to blessings for all of us.

No one deserves the pit. But if we are in one, Joseph wants us to know that God is there with us. Because that is true, its awfulness may become the stuff of better days. We might not become a great leader like Joseph was, but we will have our own miracles. We will breathe again, love again, forgive, and be forgiven.

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; pp. 32-33)
2. Briscoe, D.S., & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 1: Genesis (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson; 1987; pp. 293-297)
3. MacArthur, J.F. Jr: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
4. Lucado, M.: The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson; 2010; pp. 50-52)
5. Adrian Rogers, “Pray Over This.” Retrieved form devotions@lwf.org
6. “Favouritism in Overdrive.” Retrieved from Oneplace@crosswalkmail.com
7. Alan Wright, “Wear the Robe Your Father Gives You (Part 1).” Retrieved from www.sharingthelight.org
8. Alan Wright, “The Man Who Knew His Worth (Part 2).” Retrieved from www.sharingthelight.org
9. Joel Vande Werken, “Favoritism.” Retrieved from info@todaydevotional.com
10. Charles R. Swindoll, “Lessons in Adversity.” Retrieved from info@insightforliving.ca
11. Jack Graham, “Heart of a Champion.” Retrieved from jgraham@powerpoint.org
12. Jang Ho Park, “Struggles That Lead to Blessing.” Retrieved from info@todaydevotional.com
13. Mary Luti, “Prayer at the Pit.” Retrieved from dailydevotional@ucc.org
14. Jeremiah, David: God Meant it For Good: The Life of Joseph, Vol. 1 (San Diego, CA: Turning Point for God; 2006;2014; pp. 43-50)
15. Bruce Epperly, “The Adventurous Lectionary-The Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost-August 13, 2023.” Retrieved from www.patheos.com/blogs/livingaholyadventure

Daniel 7:9-14 is a vision of the divine throne from which judgment will come. God gave Daniel the ability to prophesy which empires would rise and which would fall because world powers are under God’s control. Through this vision, God told Daniel about the coming of the Messiah and the final judgment. Daniel didn’t understand everything he saw, because some of the events would not take place until five hundred years later.

The vision of the one like a human being offered hope to Jews who had been subject to foreign rule for over four centuries and now were victims of state terror and persecution. Even as they saw their houses burned, their loved ones tortured and slaughtered and their temple prophaned, Daniel’s vision allowed them to see something else: the end of empires, the sovereign power of God, and their own future kingdom.

The description of a great throne room is common in prophetic and apocalyptic literature. In Isaiah 6:1-5, Isaiah had a vision of the Lord, “high and exalted, seated on His throne,” surrounded by angelic creatures. Daniel’s vision described the glory of God as a glowing otherworldly man seated on a throne accompanied by strange “living creatures.”

Verses 9-10 are the only places in the Bible that refer to God the Father as “The Ancient of Days”-a picture of Him in human form. The term literally means “the elderly One, the One who has been around forever, the One who never had a beginning.” Identifying the one on the throne is complicated by the description of the ancient one giving his authority to the young son of man. That young son of man was Jesus Christ.

If Daniel is consistent with earlier apocalyptic throne room scenes then the one on the throne is God. It is His kingdom which will subdue the kingdoms of men. People of all ages will worship the son of man and the kingdom of the Most High will be everlasting.

As one part of the vision faded into another, Daniel stood and watched. Several scenes followed in rapid succession. In the first scene, all was calm and orderly in the presence of God. The heavenly court was assembled and God sat in judgment. God wore a garment that was as white as snow. He has never compromised His righteous dealings in establishing His kingdom, as humans have in gaining their kingdoms. Human kingdoms are always caught up in feverish activity, but God was seated. He is never taken by surprise, never undecided, never in a panic about His world. He reigns. In the face of the terrible havoc that people are able to cause, Daniel is reminded that the ultimate authority does not reside in earthly kingdoms. It is in the hands of God. True world dominion belongs exclusively to God. All others who seek true world dominion will be cut short in their path.

Adam was made to rule as God’s vice-regent and obediently exercise his God-given dominion. He sinned, lost his dominion, and fell short of God’s glory. Since then, man has sought to recover that lost dominion without letting go of sin. When the Son of Man came, He became the servant Adam had failed to be. He reflected the glory of God in His obedience to Him. He has consequently been highly exalted.

When we remember that just before He was taken up in the clouds to the throne of God Jesus said in Matthew 28:18, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth,” we are left in no doubt as to the identity of this One like the Son of Man in Daniel. It is all the more significant that this title is used in the New Testament almost exclusively by Jesus in referring to Himself.

The beastly kingdoms of the world are now replaced by a just and righteous kingdom ruled by a human-like figure, the Son of Man, who is none other than Jesus Christ. Christ first came to earth as the Son of Man to suffer and die; He will come a second time as the Son of Man to defeat His enemies and set up His eternal kingdom on earth.

Christians who have the same vision of God and His throne will never feel alone and isolated. They will find their point of orientation not on earth but in heaven. Their view of history will not arise from below but from above, from the throne of God. Others may claim to see things realistically rather than idealistically. Christians will try to gain God’s perspective in order to see things as they really are.

In the days when all overseas travel was by ship, a missionary returned to the United States. He found himself arriving on the same ship as an acclaimed national hero. Crowds waited on the dock to greet the hero. The missionary could not help but feel the contrast. He had been labouring for the treasure that does not perish, pouring his life’s blood into sowing the seed of the gospel. As he scanned the faces on the dock, he realized that no one had come to welcome him home. As he began to submerge in a wave of self-pity, he realized the truth as clearly as if a voice had spoken to him from heaven: “Do not be discouraged, you have not yet reached home.” This was a new perspective for Daniel too. It is the perspective to which we are all exhorted.

Where do we put our allegiance? What is our vision for the community of peoples? How will we live with other people? Whose rule will enable us to live out our vision? If our view is that of the reign of Christ, the peaceful and equitable living together of diverse peoples eschewing violence and caring for those most vulnerable in our midst, we really can celebrate the heavenly kingdom.

The One given dominion, glory, and kingship is not arrogant or rude, jealous or boastful, but full of mercy and compassion. Is it necessary then, or even helpful, to speculate as to the future applications of Daniel’s dream of kingdoms and talking horns? When we focus on the end times we often forget to provide in the present for the very people the King of Kings came to serve, which makes us more like an arrogant horn than the King we seek to serve.

Just as Jesus came to serve, we are called to the same duty. The world is ruled not by beastly authority but by those who get in the trenches and do His work. It is a law in the Kingdom of heaven that if you want power, you serve, and Jesus was the ultimate example. As we rest in the sufficiency and authority of the Son of Man, we are free to let go of the need to prove ourselves, because Jesus has already proven Himself, and He welcomes us to share in His glory.

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; p. 1132)
2. Ferguson, S.B., & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 21: Daniel (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1988; pp. 141-146)
3. MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
4. Lucado, M.: The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible (Nashville, TN; Thomas Nelson; 2010; pp. 1187-1188)
5. Jude Siciliano, OP, “First Impressions, Christ the King, November 25, 2018.” Retrieved from firstimpressions@lists.opsouth.org
6. Pastor Bobby Schuller, “The Radical Paradox of the Son of Man.” Retrieved from hourofpower@hourofpower.org
7. Anathea Portier-Young, “Commentary on Daniel 7:9-10,13-14.” Retrieved from www.workingpreacher.org

There is a beautiful celestial object that glimmers in the night sky. It is called the Orion Nebula. It is the nearest “star factory” to Earth and is a bright, stellar nursery where hundreds of new stars are being born. It is visible with the naked eye unless there is light pollution, cloudy weather, or a problem with our eyes. No matter what the weather is like, no matter at what point in the earth’s rotation we are positioned, and no matter at what point in the revolution around the sun we are coasting, the nebula remains there.

According to Psalm 139:7-10, that is how it is with the Holy Spirit. God’s abiding presence is not determined by the weather in our hearts that may obscure or reveal His loving activities in our lives. His presence is not determined by how we are feeling on a particular day of the year, or how we are faring during a particular season of our lives. The Holy Spirit is always present, active, and in reach. 

In Psalm 139:1 David established his thesis: “O Lord, You have searched me and known me.” God is like a doctor giving us a physical. He is like a psychiatrist exploring our inner depths. He is like an intimate friend who probes us until we reveal everything to Him. As a result, He knows us. He lays his hands upon us. His hand guides us. He holds us fast. He does this whether we know it or not and whether we like it or not. If we love God, we are right where we are supposed to be.

The phrase, “My sitting down and…rising up” is an Old Testament expression depicting the routines of life. Whether a person is at rest or at work, God sees and knows. The phrase “you understand my thoughts” probably overwhelmed David. God cares about every detail of every person’s life. He is not distant in glory. God is near. What’s more, He is immediately accessible wherever His children go. God sent His Son into this world as a living picture of who He is and how present He is—Immanuel, God with us. There is no place where we can go where we won’t be near His Spirit. If we go up into heaven, God is there. If we go to hell, He is there. We are guided and protected, held by God, wherever we go. We can’t even hide in the darkness.

Once we are known by God we can’t flee His presence. He is everywhere, and He will pursue us wherever we go.  We will run into Him at every turn. We can’t escape Him in the darkness, even the darkness of our own souls. The word translated as “hell” refers to “the grave” or “the place of the dead” rather than the place of eternal punishment for unbelievers. David asserts that God is, in fact, everywhere. Death cannot separate the believer from Him. When His people worship Him, they have an incredible sense of His manifest presence.

Every person who runs away from God eventually runs into God. That’s because there is no place we can go away from His presence. For example, when Jonah ran from God, he found that God will use anything-the wind, the waves, a storm, a fish-to declare His presence and His intent to restore. In times of overwhelming shame, when our natural instinct is to hide from everyone, we can be sure that God never needs or wants us to hide. He is always with us in self-imposed prisons.

No place is without God’s presence. Even when we run away from God, we run into God’s hands. In the heights, God is there; in the depths, God is also present. God knows each of us fully, but God’s knowledge of us is liberating, not judging.

People who have images of a mean and punishing God may never find comfort in hearing that God is as close to them as their every breath at every moment of the day. In that case, God’s promised absence would be sweet relief, as it offers a respite from the anxiety of always being watched and judged.

One of the most important pieces of spending time with God is encountering His presence. His presence is meant to be at the core of all that we do. God so hated separation from us that Jesus was sent to pay the ultimate price.

God selected our personalities before we were born. God didn’t drop us into the world defenseless and empty-handed. We arrived fully equipped. We were sculpted from nothing into something. God wants to be involved in every decision we make. How does this work?

1. We have to stop talking to ourselves and start talking to the Lord.
2. We have to go to the Bible and ask God to give us verses to guide us in our decisions. If some verse or verses pop out to us, we have to pray over it and ask God to make His message clearer through that verse.

How do we encounter the presence of God? How do we experience His nearness? Encountering God is similar to encountering another person. We don’t seek an experience with a friend. We simply seek to know God by spending time with Him and gain an experience as a result. We don’t want to seek the voice of a friend. We simply engage in conversation with Him as an act of wanting to know Him and hear His voice as a result.

When we yield our lives to Him and submit to His ways, it is no longer unnerving that God knows us so intimately. Instead, it is a great comfort that God knows all about us and loves us regardless. There is great peace in knowing that He is always present with us. We are fully known and never alone.

When Adam and Eve sinned, why did God curse them with an emptiness that nothing would be able to fulfill? Life was going to be hard enough out there in the world, banished from the Garden of Eden. It seems unkind, even cruel.

He did it to save them. Their hearts shifted at the Fall. Something sent its roots down deep into their souls-that mistrust of God’s heart and resolution to find life on their own terms, so God thwarted them. In love, He blocked their attempts until, wounded and aching, they turned to Him for their rescue. Jesus has to thwart us too-our controlling and our hiding, the ways we seek to fill the ache within us. Otherwise, we would never fully turn to Him for our rescue.

When a storm hits, it will reveal whether our lives are built on a solid foundation or on sand. Storms give us an opportunity to honour God in a better way than at any other time. We don’t invite storms, but we can face them because we know that God’s grace will be sufficient.

In business, corporations have long recognized the value of an independent audit. Any financial wrongdoing is brought to light, and all assets and liabilities are clearly identified. This kind of honest, rigorous assessment makes positive change possible. In the same way, through the process of confession, God “independently audits” our souls. When our wrong doing is revealed, we are pierced to the heart with our sin, and keenly conscious of our need for forgiveness in specific areas.

We can ask God to audit our lives and show us the results. We can start by reading the Ten Commandments and asking the Holy Spirit to convict us of specific sins. We can also consider the seven deadly sins-laziness, gluttony, greed, lust, envy, anger, and pride-and ask God to show us how we have allowed them to take root in our heart. When the audit is complete, we can agree with God concerning our sin.

Our purpose in life is chosen by God. It is not negotiable. It is like calling water wet. There is no changing that fact, and there’s no changing God’s purpose for our lives. While we may not fulfill the purpose for which God made us, we still have a purpose that God intends for us to fulfill. That doesn’t mean that there is one highly specific niche for us to fulfill and that if we miss it, too bad. We can achieve our purpose in many different and creative ways.

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; pp. 798-799)
2. Williams, D., & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 14: Psalm 73-150 (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1989; pp. 470-472)
3. Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)
4. MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
5. Lucado, M.: The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson; 2010; pp. 837-840)
6. “Stop Talking to Yourself.” Retrieved from Christianity.com@crosswalkmail.com
7. Dr. Ed Young, “Can’t Find God?” Retrieved from ministry@winningwalk.org
8. Dr. Ed Young, “An Independent Audit.” Retrieved from ministry@winningwalk.org
9. “From Shoots to Leaves-Attention to Attunement.” Retrieved from wakeupcall@seedbed.com
10. “God Knows You.” Retrieved from Oneplace@crosswalkmail.com
11. “Hemmed In.” Retrieved from dailyreadings@randomesheart.com
12. Dr. Ed Young, “Morning is Coming.” Retrieved from ministry@winningwalk.org
13. Os Hillman, “Fulfilling Your Purpose.” Retrieved from tgif@marketplaceleaders.org
14. Libby Howe, “Three Musings on Psalm 139.” Retrieved from newsletter@christiancentury.org
15. Bruce Epperly, “The Eighth Sunday in Pentecost-July 23, 2023.” Retrieved from www.patheos.com/blogs/livingaholyadaventure

In Mark 12:13-17, we see another attempt by Jesus’ enemies to trap Him. This time there is an “unholy alliance.” The members of the Sanhedrin combined with the Pharisees and Herodians to snare Jesus in a trap. The Herodians were Jews who let it be known that political expediency overruled religious convictions when survival is at stake. Hate flashes back and forth over the wide differences between the two groups. It led to the point where the Sanhedrin convinced the Herodians and Pharisees that their enmity would be better spent against their common enemy, Jesus. They were a good example of the old saying that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”

The Sanhedrin informed the Pharisees and Herodians that they would have to exercise two precautions:

1. The people must be appeased.
2. Jesus has to be forced to answer their charge.

The Pharisees and Herodians needed an issue that demanded an “either-or” answer. The political issue that divided them met the criteria. No Jew stood neutral on the question of resistance or accommodation to Roman rule. Anger and antagonism divided political parties, religious orders, families, and friends over the question. It went back to the year 6 A.D. when the emperor Caesar put the rebellious Jews in Southern Palestine directly under his control. The people paid for the military occupation with a poll tax that went directly into the emperor’s coffers in Rome.

When the Pharisees and Herodians asked, “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?,” they really meant “Is it right or wrong?” If Jesus answered “yes” He would alienate the masses and give the Pharisees evidence for their charge of blasphemy. If He answered, “No,” the Herodians would spread the news to Roman authorities about the insurrectionist in their midst.

Jesus saw through their trap and called their bluff. They were guilty of tempting Jesus and siding with Satan. The question is not just about taxes, but it is also about territory. How do the realm and rule of Caesar relate to the realm and rule of God? Jesus’ answer set lasting principles for Caesar-God, state-church relationships:

1. Caesar has a legitimate realm. He got his authority from God. His legitimate function is to preserve peace. His legitimate demand is citizen responsibility, including the payment of taxes to support the peacekeeping function.
2. God has a legitimate realm. He has legitimate authority, function, and demand which define His kingdom. God’s authority is sovereign. His function is redemption. His demand is the tribute of total obedience to His will.
3. The realms of Caesar and God cannot be confused. In between these two extremes, Jesus leaves room for Christians to enjoy or tolerate human systems of government. If the government stays within the boundaries of its legitimacy and allows freedom for the church to proclaim God’s sovereignty, minister for human redemption, and expect full obedience to God’s will from its members, the two realms will not be in conflict. Jesus implies that they can be mutually supportive.
4. In the event of conflict between the two realms, God rules over Caesar, redemption transcends peace, and allegiance to God takes precedence over secular citizenship. The standards for Christian conscience are set. If Caesar must be worshipped, if redemptive witness must be forfeited for peace, and if the will of the state is imposed over the will of God, believers must obey the words of the apostle Peter in Acts 5:20. They must obey God rather than men.

Jesus’ answer delighted the people: the coin only has Caesar’s image, but man bears God’s image; therefore, the believer’s life belongs to God. We have duties and responsibilities to civil authorities that our faith does not negate. Jesus never advocated rebellion against the occupying Romans, despite their brutality and godlessness. Both Caesar and God, like justice and mercy, are compatible from His eternal viewpoint if they stay within the boundaries of His sovereign authority, His redemptive purpose, and His holy will.

Submission is not always the same as obedience. Our ultimate loyalty belongs to God. We are to render unto the government the things that belong to the government and unto God the things that belong to God. Our ultimate authority is God and we must always submit to Him above any other.

There are people today who use the same tactics. Many come with questions to trick Jesus’ followers. Their questions are just as insincere as the Herodians. The inquiries are a smokescreen hiding their pride. We will never trust Jesus until we set aside our pride and humble ourselves before Jesus.

Someone once wrote to Billy Graham and said, “I am a Christian but I think it is wrong for the government to set taxes so high. Wy should I be so content to pay them?” In his reply, Dr. Graham wrote:

“The Bible teaches that Christians should be law-abiding. The Bible also teaches loyalty to country. This doesn’t mean that we cannot criticize unjust laws or debate policies. The government of God should be our model, and we should do all we can to uphold the government that God can bless.”

“The Bible also teaches that we are to cooperate with the government in every way possible without violating Scripture. Jesus was asked about paying taxes. He set the example by doing so. It takes money to run a government and maintain law and order. Dodging taxes is no different than being a thief.”

In response to another question, Dr. Graham also wrote the following:

“God’s desire is to bless nations who reverence and obey Him. Nations rise, flourish for a time, and then they decline. Why? Because of the sins of the human race. There is no doubt that nations come to an end when they have ceased to fulfill the function that God meant for them. As long as mankind lives on earth, people possess dual citizenship: owing national allegiance as good citizens; but supreme loyalty is to God alone who says in Exodus 20:3, ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.’ When nations defy God, there is a price to pay.”

What Jesus said to the leaders, He says to us today: give to God what belongs to God. We have to give ourselves, because God has created us in His image and has placed His Name upon us in baptism. We are not on our own. We belong to God.

If we have chosen to follow Jesus, we are stamped with His image. We belong to Him, and our enemies should say about us what they said about Jesus. God’s truth means everything to us, and we don’t lie or con for what we think are ultimate ends.

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013, p. 1365)
2. McKenna, D.L., & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 25: Mark (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1982; pp. 233-238)
3. Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)
4. MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Version (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
5. Adrian Rogers, “Submission and Obedience are Not the Same.” Retrieved from devotions@lwf.org
6. The Rev. Dr. Billy Graham, “Why Should I be so Content to Pay Taxes?” Retrieved from www.arcamax.com/healthandspirit/religion/billygraham/
7. The Rev. Dr. Billy Graham, “Should Citizens be Loyal to Their National Leaders to Avoid Persecution?” Retrieved from www.arcamax.com/healthandspirit/religion/billygraham/
8. The Rev. Ken Klaus, “The Image on a Coin.” Retrieved from www.lhm.org
9. Dave Wyrtzen, “Tricky Interviews.” Retrieved from www.truthencounter.com
10. Ron Moore, “Insincere Questions.” Retrieved from www.ronmoore.org

Luca looked up from his job of pulling dandelions as his friend Roman pedaled his bike up the driveway. “Hey,” called Roman. “Let’s go swimming at the park.”

“Can’t,” Luca replied. “My mom says she’s sick of seeing yellow dandelions instead of green grass, and I have to get rid of them.” He held up the tool he was using. “I work around the plant with this so I can pull out the whole root–and they sure go deep!” He wiped his brow with a dirty hand. “It’s really hot too.”

“Yeah,” said Roman. “Too hot to do it that way. Why not just cut the tops off? Here, I’ll help you. We’ll be done sooner, and then we can go swimming.”

“Okay,” Luca said. The boys soon finished the job and were off to the park.

Several times in the next few weeks, the dandelions sprouted back up and Mom sent Luca out to pull them again. Each time, he simply cut off the tops.

One day Mom came out to talk to him. “I didn’t understand why we kept getting so many dandelions, but now I see the problem. You aren’t pulling them up by the roots the way I showed you.”

“Oh,” said Luca, looking at the weeds in his hand. “I didn’t think it mattered so much, as long as you couldn’t see them.”

“But it does matter,” said Mom. “If the roots are still in the ground, the dandelions grow right back. You have to get rid of the whole thing–roots and all.”

That evening, Dad heard about the returning dandelions. “That’s a good example of the way we sometimes treat sin in our lives,” he said thoughtfully. “If it isn’t seen by other people, we often think it doesn’t matter. But just because it isn’t visible to everyone else doesn’t mean it isn’t harmful. No matter how much we try to cover it up, it will keep popping back up in our lives, hurting us and others.” Dad looked at Luca. “Do you know how to root out sin instead of just trying to hide it?”

Luca nodded. “We need to know Jesus. Then instead of trying to hide our sin, we can ask Him to forgive us.”

Dad nodded. “And set our minds on the new life we have in Him.

In Romans 6:1-11, Paul addresses people who were baptized or preparing for baptism. He talks about the purpose, function, and goal of baptism, in relation to all human beings who are held under the grip of sin and the reign of death. Through baptism, humanity can make the transition from sin into grace.

Paul talks about the believer’s death to sin. He reminds believers of the historical facts of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Paul goes on to explain that through baptism believers are united to Christ and are therefore participants in the experience of Christ. The believer through baptism has died, been buried, and raised again with Jesus. In other words, baptism transforms people by giving them a way to share the death and resurrection of Jesus. Paul believes that the new life of a Christian would be evident in two ways:

1. Those who are baptized into Christ will celebrate His victory over death. They will live with Him forever.
2. Those who are baptized into Christ will celebrate His conquest of sin. They will live true and holy lives right now.

As Christian theology has developed, one section of the church has seen baptism as a sacrament while a second section regards it as a symbol. For the first group baptism conveys grace to the baptized person. Taken to its extreme, this approach removes the necessity for repentance and faith and elevates baptism to the lofty status of the means of salvation. Those who see baptism as a symbol of spiritual reality may decide that as rites are relatively unimportant when compared to reality, the rite can be dispensed with without losing any spiritual benefit. This position has been adopted by groups such as The Salvation Army.

Our need for redemption surfaces immediately in the biblical story. In following the serpent’s wishes, Adam and Eve found themselves captive to the power of the knowledge of good and evil. This set in motion the drama of redemption-God’s plan to set humanity free from the power of sin through the perfect obedience of His Son, who would stand in for the human race as both sacrifice and Redeemer.

The first revelation of the good news appears in Genesis 3:14-15: “So the Lord God said to the serpent…you are cursed…and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” But with that announcement came word of a conflict between the Serpent and the Seed of Eve, or Christ. The Serpent would bruise His heel, but the Seed would crush the head of the Serpent. This complete and utter defeat of Satan will open the doors of sin’s prison and allow its captives to be set free.

The descendants of Abraham were given a foretaste of that ultimate redemption when they were released from slavery in Egypt. Indeed, they may have even thought their redemption was the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15. They were being promised a land of milk and honey and the permanent presence of God with them. But it did not take long for them to see that although they had been physically redeemed from slavery, they were still captives to the power of sin. They would need a more powerful deliverer than Moses to set them totally free.

Jesus of Nazareth came some 1,500 years later, applying the words of Isaiah 61 to Himself: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed me…to proclaim liberty to the captives…to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” Jesus announced Himself to be Israel’s Deliverer in a synagogue in Nazareth at the beginning of His ministry—not long after making it clear to the serpent, in a face-to-face confrontation, that He would not repeat the mistakes of Adam and Eve. By Christ’s obedience to God, He would stand in for the fallen race of Adam and redeem His descendants.

Therefore, Paul called Jesus “the last Adam” in 1 Corinthians 15:45. As soon as God announced His approval of Jesus and His baptism, the Spirit led Him into the wilderness to be confronted by the Serpent. With every advantage and provision in the Garden of Eden, the first Adam had succumbed. With no provisions except faith and the words of God for 40 days in the wilderness, Jesus remained resolute in the face of temptation. Redemption was clearly drawing near.

When Christ came into the world He came from the glory of heaven sinless, spotless, undefiled, and separated from sin. When He entered human society, He was met with sin’s power and presence. He lived among the carnage and wreckage of sin. When He went to the Cross, He assumed our sin and bore the wrath of God against our sin. Having come from an environment where sinlessness was normative to a situation where sin is pervasive and having taken on His sinless self the load of a race’s sin, it is no surprise that He cried from the Cross at the end of His ministry, “It is finished” and died. The nightmare of sin, the horrors of death and hell, the tyranny of sin’s hold on people had been dealt with, and He could go to the grave anticipating His Resurrection with joy and delight.

Jesus taught that redemption from the power of sin was humanity’s greatest need. In John 8:34, Jesus says that “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.” Because death is the wages of sin, there was only one proof that man could be redeemed from sin’s penalty and power: the Redeemer would have to submit to death in order to be released from its grasp, which is what Jesus did. And all who believe in Jesus’ redemptive work can go down into death and be raised with Him by faith, free from the power and penalty of sin.

The past tense of the verbs in this passage are worth noting, especially the one that says, “We were buried.” The baptized person is given an assurance of the death of the former life and that sin no longer has power over his/her life. How can anyone die to sin? Paul is talking about something already done by another—namely Christ—not something people do. In the Greek language, the verb form of “died” often signifies summarizing a past event from an eternal perspective—an event that is already past, not an ongoing process.

The apostle Paul wrote of the ultimate consummation of God’s redemptive drama and the fulfillment of the promise of Genesis 3:15. Though Satan is still alive and active, creation and the Christian live in expectation of the day when Christ returns to permanently seal the Serpent’s fate. Our victory is certain; indeed, it has already been won.

In verses 3 and 4, Paul’s fundamental meaning is the identification of the believer with Christ as pictured through baptism into the body of Christ at the moment of conversion. Water baptism, the public mark of faith in God, is symbolic of personal, vital identification with Christ.

Christ’s death was the believer’s death; His burial the believer’s burial; His resurrection the believer’s resurrection. He not only died for them, but He died as them. Believers are united in Him in His death and burial and in His resurrection.

The phrase “old man” refers to the believer’s old self, the unregenerate sons of Adam. The phrase “body of sin” does not mean “a mass of sin,” or sin that resides in the body but that the body is the seat, or instrument, of sin. The phrase “done away with” does not mean “annihilated” but “reduced to a state of inaction or impotence.” It means defeated, disabled, deprived of power.

Only the most corrupt mind using the most perverted logic could argue that continuing in sin somehow honours the God who sacrificed His Son to save people in the first place. From Genesis to Revelation, a scarlet thread runs through Scripture. This idea of setting free or releasing from bondage is both the prevalent thesis of God’s Word and the reason why the Living Word, Jesus Christ, came to earth. The word “reckon” has to do with reality. It means acknowledging or acting on what is already true or has already happened. Christians need to reckon, conclude, and accept that they are no longer slaves to sin but have been set free.

Believers should no longer serve sin. Now that the “man of old” has been dealt with in Christ and the new man has been shown that the sin which previously controlled his physical body has been dealt with, he should recognize that he is no longer a slave to sin. Although our old selves are dead, sin retains a foothold in our temporal flesh or our unredeemed humanness, with its corrupted desires. The believer does not have two competing natures, the old and the new, but one new nature that is still in prison in unredeemed flesh, but the term “flesh” is not the same as the physical body, which can be an instrument of holiness.

Think of it this way. Sin put us in prison. Sin locked us behind the bars of guilt, shame, deception, and fear. Sin chained us to the wall of misery. Jesus came and paid our bail. He paid the penalty and set us free. Christ died, and when we cast our lot with Him, our old selves died too.

The only way to be set free from the prison of sin is to serve its penalty. In this case the penalty is death. Someone has to die-either us or a heaven-sent substitute. We can’t leave prison unless there is a death. That death happened at Calvary. When Jesus died, sin’s claim to our lives died. We are free.

Is there a sin in your life you’re trying to keep covered so others won’t see it? No matter how you try to hide a sin, it will keep popping back up. It needs to be pulled up by the roots, and the only way to do that is to confess it to Jesus. Even though you may continue to struggle with that sin, don’t let it stay covered up. Remember that Jesus has freed you from the power of sin and will always forgive you.

Bibliography

1. Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; pp. 1551-1552)
2. Briscoe, D.S., & Ogilvie, L.J.: The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Vol. 29: Romans (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.; 1982; pp. 128-133)
3. Stanley, C.F.: The Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible: New King James Version (Nashville, TN: Nelson Bibles; 2005)
4. MacArthur, J.F. Jr.: The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers; 2006)
5. Lucado, M.: The Lucado Life Lessons Study Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson; 2010; pp. 1567-1568)
6. A.W. Smith, “Roots and All.” Retrieved from info@keysforkids.org
7. Israel Kamudzandu, “Commentary on Romans 6:1b-11.” Retrieved from www.workingpreacher.com
8. Carla Pratt Keyes, “Romans 6:1b-11.” Retrieved from www.asermonforeverysunday.com