Tall Tale Two

Today's passage:  II Samuel 21:15-22
     David is not a young man anymore.  I have to respect that he still goes out to battle with his men.  Maybe after the incident with Bathsheba, he determined that he would never stay home for a battle again.  Only nowadays, David's age is starting to show.  His sword feels heavier, difficult to wield.  His steps more uncertain, wobbly even.  He is not agile as he was in his youth.  He has to sit down to rest more.  But when do you have a chance to rest during a battle?  As much as his men probably appreciate having their king willing to lay down his own life in these attempts, he's slowing them down.  He has become more of a hindrance than an asset.
     In this passage, the Philistines continue to harass the Israelites.  They will never believe that Israel has a right to all that land.  They will never believe that Israel has a more powerful God.  He may have been more powerful on the day Goliath was killed, but that was only one day.  Goliath's brother and I assume a few of his sons (they are referred to as the sons of the giant) have a personal vendetta against David.  Goliath's brother would not forget that day.  I don't know how old Goliath's sons may have been at the time, but if they were not old enough to see their father fall, they had heard their uncle's version numerous times.  Here, they had the opportunity to personally see their dreams of destroying David realized.  And Ishbi-benob, the one son, nearly accomplishes it.  It says he was "girded with a new sword" and I'm not sure if that means this is his first arena of battle or if he had his weapon freshened for this occasion. Venom is flowing from this man.  He blames David for the years without his father.  He had no more learned the lesson than Goliath had.  The problems the Philistines had were not Israel's fault (See A Truly Tall Tale).  Now it would have made a great movie reel if David destroyed all these enemies.  But I think his fighting days are over.  He has mighty men to do that job for him.  And they do an excellent job.

David faces Goliath with his sling--Taken from Standard Bible Story Reader, Book Three
By Lillie A. Faris, Illustrated by O.A. Stemler and Bess Bruce Cleaveland
The Standard Publishing Company, 1926 

     But it makes me wonder.  How must David have felt?  There he is, back against the rocks, unable to really defend himself anymore.  He braces himself for the blow of the sword when the giant topples over.  One of David's mighty men has rescued him.  In his younger days, David would have been the rescuer.  He had been Israel's hero.  Being king seemed infinitely more significant, but people did not always love kings.  They always loved heroes.  Perhaps knowing Goliath's kin would be in this fight is all the more reason David decided to show up.  Maybe he thought he could recapture the glory days when he had first become a national figure.  When the country was singing about his killing Saul's ten thousands.  Now somebody was killing David's ten thousands.  Did it make him sympathize with Saul a little bit?  Did he understand Saul's jealousy of a younger warrior?
     David was beginning to understand that God had already used his past, he would not get that back.  His present was a little messed up.  Failures had caused complications for him.  But there was still his future.  Could an old man do anything for God?  Any man (or woman) no matter the age can do something for God, if they are yielded to Him.  I started to realize I was getting older as a counselor in the youth group when I was grumpy after overnight lock-ins.  I used to love that kind of thing (when I was younger).  I know I'm getting older when make-up doesn't hide the laugh lines anymore, when plucking gray hairs now takes longer than if I would just cover them up, when amusement park rides give me more vertigo than butterflies.
     David's future is a question mark.  It doesn't mean he is finished.  It doesn't mean his best years are behind him, it just means his youngest years are.  Realizing youth is past is not a pleasant discovery.  I'm still reconciling myself to the fact that I'm middle-aged.  I feel younger than I look.  But I wouldn't trade the maturity and wisdom I have gained as I have gotten older.  And though David has had a lot of regret, I'm guessing he has learned a lot and wouldn't trade those experiences either.

Risk-y

Today's passage:  II Samuel 17
     A great amount of military strategy is trying to get into the enemy's head and predict his next move.  This is probably why I never enjoyed the game Risk.  I have never been a very strategic person.  Most men love that game.  In college, a few people tried to teach me how to play, but gave up after the first five minutes.  I was hopelessly clueless.  My logic and reasoning skills have only kicked in since being an adult--at least I would like to think I have some now.
     This whole passage is Absalom's determining what his father might do next.  Everyone understands that Absalom is staking his claim as king.  He made it quite clear at the end of the last chapter when before all of Israel, he treats King David's concubines as his own.  So what next?  Absalom knows he needs to secure his kingdom.  He knows that there will always be those loyal to his father unless his father is dead.  He needs to know how best to achieve that objective.  The advice from Ahithophel is to take some troops out to pursue David.  He will kill David himself, and all of David's followers will somehow come following him back to the palace, Pied-Piper-of-Hamlin style.  That is not exactly the picture Ahithophel paints, but pretty close.  Of course, the hero in this little narrative would be Ahithophel.  Absalom would have sat around the palace waiting for his return, cheering his general's wise military genius.  This is the cartoon dream bubble I see above Ahithophel's head.
     Surprisingly, although Absalom thinks it is a brilliant plan, he wants to hear another choice.  He summons Hushai, who he doesn't realize is working as a double agent for David.  This is because Hushai understood that the way to Absalom's heart was to appeal to his pride.  He does this at the end of the last chapter, when asked wasn't he one of David's men, by saying, "Nay; but whom the LORD, and this people, and all the men of Israel, choose, his will I be, and with him will I abide."  He uses the same technique in this passage.  When asked how they should go after David, Hushai shoots down Ahithophel's idea.  He reminds Absalom that his father is a valiant warrior, and that his men are too.  Wouldn't it be better if brawny, strapping, mighty Absalom should go after his father himself?  In one respect, Hushai is taunting Absalom by touting his father's military abilities, and in the other respect is suggesting that Absalom is the only one who could defeat him.  Hushai has a real understanding of his enemy, and uses the wisest method to gain the upper hand.  The rest of Absalom's counselors agree, and don't they kind of have to, because otherwise they are telling Absalom that Ahithophel would be far better suited to battle the enemy, that he would be a much better match for David.  These guys are not dummies.  They know that you don't tell your new king he is not strong enough to take down his father.

Young Knight, the Armor of God--Taken from Standard Bible Story Readers, Book Four
By Lillie A. Faris, Illustrated by O.A. Stemler and Bess Bruce Cleaveland
Standard Publishing Company, 1927

Now here is something that I have to wonder about, because the Bible does not use quotations marks the way we do today.  Verse 14 says,

"And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel.  For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom."  

Is the second sentence something the counselors said?  Or is it what God wrote to explain why Hushai's advice was taken over Ahithophel's?  Was it the counselors saying that they thought God preferred Hushai's advice over Ahithophel's because the latter would bring harm to Absalom?  Or is God telling us He persuaded these counselors so that He could bring evil upon Absalom?  It might seem like a small detail,  but if you read it all together, it just sounds like the counselors are reasoning this together.  When I take a second look, it almost seems this is not a quotation, but God explaining that the reason those counselors took hold of Hushai's plan was His exact design.  If this is the case, and I am persuaded that it is, Absalom is doomed.  No military strategy he develops is going to win him this war.  God is working behind the scenes.  He is giving Hushai the wisdom to sway Absalom, he is putting foolish words into Ahithophel's mouth (which is exactly what David prayed for in Chapter 15).  It really doesn't matter what Absalom decides, because if God is against him, he will not succeed.
     Things do start to fall apart.  Hushai has already sent word to David about Absalom's plans,  the surrounding countries are supplying David and his men with food, and Ahithophel commits suicide after his humiliating rejection.  Absalom can not yet see that his time on the throne will be very short-lived.
     I think that if I ever got to the place in my life where God had to bring evil upon me, I would be devastated.  And it could happen so easily.  If I start by taking little steps away from Him, maybe skipping my Bible reading a day or two, perhaps forgetting to pray here or there, finding excuses to not be in His House (or grabbing hold of excuses the devil hands me) I can drift farther and farther away from God.  If I were to let down my guard with things I watch, what I listen to, places I go, I could slip out of His service and onto His watchlist.  I don't ever want to be aiding the Enemy.  I don't ever want to cultivate negative things in my life that might cause Him to eliminate me.  Oh, I'm not worried about my Home in Heaven.  That was secured long ago, and had nothing to do with me, but my fellowship with God could be easily compromised if I slowly start to aid the other side. This is why I need to be a strategist, myself.  I always need to anticipate Satan's next move to bring me down.  He is always trying.  He would like nothing better than to recruit someone to work for his team.  And as tempting as he tries to make his recruitment package sound, that is a move that is way too risky.

Provoked

Today's passage:  II Samuel 10
     The new king of Ammon had a lot to learn about foreign policy.  His father had died, and now he is suddenly leading his country.  As is custom today, and apparently at that time, King David of Israel sends dignitaries to pay their respects for the old king's death.  Only Hanun, the new king, listens to bad advice.  His counsellors are certain that David only means to send spies into the land, so that they can get some kind of advantage if they choose to make war on them.  Hanun could have sent David's emissaries away.  Instead, he chooses to insult them in the worst way possible.  You can read about his actions in verses 4-5.  What he does brings great humiliation to these ambassadors.  And it was unnecessary.  If he was concerned about war with Israel before, he should be doubly concerned now.  Was he trying to entice David into battle?  I don't know.  David and Hanun's father had mutual peace since the whole reason David sent these men was because "his father shewed kindness unto me."
     Hanun knows what will happen when David's men return to Israel.  He is expecting a war.  So he hires Syrian soldiers to aid them in battle.  All the countries know what a formidable warrior David and his men have proven to be.  Hanun is not foolish enough to think that Ammon can fight this war alone.  He knows he needs an ally.  Syria is willing to help, with payment for their services of course.  So when David's military leaders, Joab and Abishai arrive, they strategize as to the best way to take out these two countries.  Syria is stationed on the front lines, which I guess is a pretty good plan since their motivation to fight would be a lot less than Ammon's.  The Ammonites are guarding the castle, they are the last line of defense.
     Joab is a clever strategist.  He takes on the Syrian front, while Abishai, his brother, leads the front against Ammon.  Joab's battle is going pretty well.  He even returns to Jerusalem.  This gives Syria time to send for reinforcements.  With this news, David decides to lead his men.  He crosses over the Jordan River and destroys the Syrians at Helam.  Those remaining, surrender and agree to be David's servants from this time forward.  Syria also decides that they will never assist Ammon in battle again.  Apparently, Hanun did not make a great military leader.
     When I read this passage, it shows me that when provoked, it is necessary to show our might.  So many people protest that we are fighting a war across the world.  But we were provoked into that war.  Maybe in the past we have gone into countries without provocation, but this was not the case with this last war we have been involved.  Like David's emissaries, we were disgraced, and on our own land.  We had not given any reason for enemies to attack us.  Except that we stood for something they were envious of, except that we are despised for what we believe.  Our country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, and we have been able to maintain freedom for over 200 years.  The Judeo part is what really disturbs many countries of the world.  We were propagators for establishing Israel as a nation, and we continue (at least in part) to be Israel's friend.  When we do those things, we are naturally going to have and keep enemies.  And there will be times we will have to display our strength to assure our enemies that we will not back down on those principles.  I worry about those who do not understand this.  I am concerned for people who preach against war and say "Thou shalt not kill" forgetting the entire Old Testament, where war was a very necessary option exercised to maintain Jehovah worship.  And what about Revelation?  I mean, it is not exactly a peaceful book.

United States of America flag waving in wind--Taken from Standard Bible Story Readers, Book Four
By Lillie A. Faris, Illustrated by O. A. Stemler and Bess Bruce Cleaveland
The Standard Publishing Company, 1927

     Do not misunderstand me, I am not a fan of war.  I have three boys.  I do not look forward to the day when they might decide to join the military and serve our country in a battle overseas (although I would be proud if they did).   I know that the toil war takes on our young men and women is psychologically and emotionally devastating.  But I also know that if we don't show our might, if we kowtow to every dignitary, proclaim a pacifist approach to every situation, we will not be sending our men and women overseas to fight a battle, they will have to protect us here on our own soil.  Sometimes we have to take the defensive, and I know that is something that is very controversial.  But I think this passage is proof that when provoked, we have to take action.  We cannot sit and wait for the war to come to us.  We have too much at stake to risk that.  We have freedoms that the world envies.  We have a country with opportunities that other countries can only dream of.  Might does not always make right, but might does make other countries think twice about challenging us.  With an upcoming election, and more and more candidates jumping onto an isolationist bandwagon--leave the world to itself, let's only worry about us approach--it concerns me.  The minute we say we are going to do that  is the minute our enemies (and yes, it is good versus evil in this wicked world) will up the ante.  Not going to retaliate?  Let's just see about that.  Hijacked airplanes flown into buildings was just the beginning.  There is no end to their evil imaginings.  And at some point we will have to retaliate because we will have enemies in our own country declaring war on us.  We will live in a state of fear, all because of misapplying "Thou shalt not kill".  All because we do not want to be politically incorrect.  Well, we can take that path, but it will be our destruction.  David went on the offensive.  He destroyed the Ammonites and Syrians before they had a chance to cross over the river and take him down.  He did not invite war, he was provoked.  And it was necessary to combat the evil that would try to destroy him.  Peace on earth is a nice saying, but trying to keep to ourselves will never achieve that.  Peace on earth will only happen when the Prince of Peace returns.  Until then, unless there is Peace in people's hearts, there will always be war.  And guess which country has the most Peace to offer?  Ours.  We can offer Peace, we can offer Freedom, but if we are no longer a nation with the liberties we have, we will never be able to offer anything again.  We cannot keep to ourselves.  We have too much to offer.

Standing Fast

Today's passage:  I Corinthians 16
     Paul says farewell to the Corinth church in this chapter.  He addresses some individually and the church as a whole.  He gives them a few last words of encouragement and advice.  Some of this encouragement is found in verse 13:  "Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong."
     Standing fast.  In this verse, that probably means, be firm, don't give up, defend what you believe.  Can I make a parenting analogy?  As a parent, when I think of standing fast with my kids, I always have to stay a step ahead of them.  This means I have to think through each stage in their life, and prepare myself for the challenges they present.  I need to have ready answers and planned reactions.  When Paul says to stand fast, I'm sure he means all the definitions I already mentioned, but what if he also means to be quick?  Shouldn't we, as Christians, be a step ahead of Satan and his attacks?  Shouldn't we be watching for what the world will hurl at us, to knock us off balance? 
     How can I stand fast, when standing indicates not moving, but fast indicates movement?  It seems a little contradictory.  Going back to parenting, I have certain values and principles I want my children to learn.  They will test these and question these things in various phases of their lives.  I never relinquish them, I never abandon them, but I rush ahead and plant my feet again, so they understand that when they needed to obey Mommy and Daddy as a toddler, they still need to heed Mom and Dad as a teenager.  So how do I do that with God's Word?  I think the other phrases in the verse help me to see what I need to do.  First, I need to watch.  I know many people are not keen on current events.  Personally, I only watch the news because my husband is a news hound.  It forces me to pay better attention.  I think it is important that we watch worldly trends, not so we can participate, but so we can defend against them.  When we see something, we ought to gauge it by the Bible, and see what His Word has to say about particular activities.  A few years ago, I kept hearing teenagers talking about a particular celebrity who had burst onto the music scene.  I wondered why the sudden hoopla.  I decided to check it out and oh my!  Did I get an eye and earful!  This particular singer was so ungodly in her lyrics and videos, I was just stunned.  That is what is influencing our teenagers!  I was seriously appalled.  Now, I don't recommend turning on MTV on a regular basis.  But I think sometimes to stay a step ahead, we need to be aware of what is out there.  We need to watch and pay attention to the trends, because those are the snares Satan has set for our kids.

Courtesy of http://breadsite.org

     This verse also says to "quit you like men".  Quitting doesn't seem like it belongs in this verse, since he is talking about standing firm and being watchful.  The definition by Webster I particularly like is "To carry through; to do or perform something to the end, so that nothing remains; to discharge or perform completely."  When I think of doing this like men, I think of the military.  Soldiers follow through with an order given by their commander.  It is what they are trained to do.  Sometimes they have to quit a station to move ahead of the enemy and not allow them to advance further.  Sometimes they are engaged in combat.  As a woman, that does not appeal to me.  At all.  I am generally a peacemaker and do not like to engage in conflict.  There are those occasions when my husband hands me the phone when a political party calls for donations.  He chuckles when I won't back down from my conservative views and advise them that if they want my money they better get on the right track.  He lets me answer the door when religious organizations preaching heresy try to give us their literature.  When it comes to defending God's Word, I can be tenacious.  Now, I don't try to engage in debate, I never find that works.  But I am determined to let them know my resolve will not weaken on these issues.  If I am going to stand fast, I need to be studying God's Word, and praying that God will give me the words to say when I am engaged in battle.
     The last phrase in this verse says to "be strong".  Physically, I am not all that strong.  I know women with more muscle and are stronger.  Emotionally, I am often a weakling.  My heart is easily touched and I get all feminine and woman-like, crying at weddings, at sappy songs, at chick flicks, at people in need.  How strong am I spiritually?  I hope in that area, I have the strength to fight the good fight.  I could do a much better job memorizing Scripture.  I know a lot of parts of verses, but don't ask me where to find them.  I'm horrible at references.  Yet, if I want to stay a step ahead of my attacker, if I want to stand fast, I better be able to point out where I can support my position.  Satan will challenge me on this.  Just as he tempted Jesus in the wilderness by presenting Scripture, he will try to twist and distort God's Words so that I am convinced they say what he wants me to believe.  Its also important to know the context of verses.  Anybody can take a verse out of a passage and make it say what they want it to say.  I try so very carefully here, not to do that.  Sometimes I will do that by way of application, but hopefully never by way of interpretation or doctrine.  How many cults have been founded on a verse taken out of a passage that did not mean anything that they were trying to make it say?  Satan is a master at this.  If I want to stand fast, and stay that step ahead of him, I need to know what all of my Bible says.  Reading the whole passage is a really good way to defend against this.
     As a parent, as a soldier, as a Christian, God wants me to stand fast.  He wants me to watch the signs of the times, He wants me to defend His Word, He wants to give me spiritual strength to fight the Wicked One.  He wants me to stay a step ahead of the devil so I can defend against him properly.  God says His Word is quick and powerful.  Using it can make me the same.

Bearing and Believing, Hoping and Enduring

Today's passage:  I Corinthians 13:7
     Charity..."Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."
I remember a preacher in my Bible college chapel preaching on this passage and saying that this verse was a progression.  In us, it probably is.  It would be hard to endure if I didn't hope, believe, or bear first.  But with God, who has perfect charity, it can not be.  He doesn't ever need improvement, His love doesn't have to build.  Here is what I have learned from these four characteristics about the Trinity.
     Beareth all things...God is strong enough to bear all of our problems.  He doesn't whine or complain about the weight. For Him, the lifting is easy.  Jesus bore the weight of the cross, the weight of rejection, the weight of our sin.  Bearing these things not because He was forced, but because of His love for us.  The Holy Spirit bears with being pushed away, with being grieved, with being ignored.  He puts up with a lot.
     Believeth all things...God believes me to be righteous and holy when I am not.  He believes it because of the debt His Son paid to make me righteous and holy.  Jesus believed in my worth and value by dying for me.  The Holy Spirit believes in His ability to transform me.  He believes in the power God has given Him to make me a different person from what I am naturally.
   Hopeth all things...God hopes every sinner will come to repentance.  He hopes all of His Creation will realize He is the Creator and He deserves our worship.  He hopes that if He allows this earth to remain one more day, then one more soul will be saved.  The Lord Jesus hopes people will recognize that His sacrifice is enough.  Nothing more needs to be done, nothing added.  His substitutionary death on the Cross of Calvary paid it all, and He hopes that every person trying to work their way to Heaven will someday realize that.  The Holy Spirit hopes that the tapping on the heart will open wide to Him.  He hopes the call to the mission field will be answered.  He hopes the nudge to talk to the person in the grocery store about Christ will prompt action.

Jesus stands at the door knocking
Taken from Standard Bible Story Readers, Book Six
By Lillie A. Faris
Illustrated by O.A. Stemler and Bess Bruce Cleaveland
The Standard Publishing Company, 1929

     Endureth all things...God endures His name being used in vain.  He endures people who claim He doesn't exist.  He endures us transgressing His laws and explaining why they shouldn't be there.  He endures people tossing His Words in the trash or burning them. He endures His Words being twisted, simplified, changed.  Jesus endured over thirty years in a human body.  He endured limiting His power.  He endured questioning, ridicule, unbelief, semi-belief in the form of being made a mere historical figure and not the Son of God.  He endured betrayal, beatings, crucifixion, burial.  He endured separation from His Father.  The Holy Spirit endures living in a Christian heart that is cold, indifferent, unresponsive.  He endures getting too much glory for the work in our lives, and sometimes, not enough glory for the work in our lives.  He endures having His gifts squandered or exaggerated. 
     When I see these traits of love, and I think of how marriages are entered into so quickly, thrown away so lightly, exited so frequently, it is clear that we don't understand God's love.  If we did, we would put up with a lot more to make marriage work.  If we understood God's love better, we would never walk past a person without asking about their eternal destination.  We would sacrifice and tolerate more if it would make a difference in a person's eternal soul.  If I loved God like He loves me, I would spend more time with Him, listen to Him better, do more for Him.  He has given so much for me.  He has given so much to me. I am amazed that anyone's love for me could be so perfect.  I can never get into an argument with Him about not loving me enough, about not understanding me, about not doing enough for me.  I might think those things about my family and friends at times, but God can never be accused of it.  Can I ever love like He loves?  I can only attempt.  And even though my attempts will fall short, it is better than not trying at all.

The Whole Truth

Today's passage:  I Corinthians 13:6
     Often I am so busy learning about myself, that I forget it is not the only reason to read the Bible.  It is also to learn about God.  The things God has been reminding me about Himself has renewed me.  Not that He has ever needed me to have confidence in Him, I have always been confident of His love for me, of His watchfulness, of His provision.  I have always been sure of His infallible Word, of Holy Spirit conviction, of the law of sowing and reaping.  I am certain that He wants me to lean on Him, worship Him, serve Him, in that order.  Yet, even though I stand firm on all these, God still shows me more about Himself, not because He needs to instill that confidence, but because when I am confident in who He is, I am confident in who I am.  And honestly, I've needed that a little the last couple of weeks.  I have had inner wrestlings in my spirit.  I have been bearing  weights when I should be allowing God to flex His muscles.
     This has little to do with the verse today, but this chapter has reminded me so much about my loving God.  It has been refreshing to dwell on Him, and not on me.
    "{Charity}Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;"  Brackets are mine.  This seems like an obvious characteristic of God's love.  It is not ground-breaking revelation that God is not joyful about our sin.  In my prayer time this morning I thanked Him for having this quality because it was what prompted Him to plan our salvation.  As much as the Lord Jesus loathed sin, He was willing to come close to it, to have it put upon Him, so that it could be taken from me.  That is true love.  He took hateful, despicable, detestable sin upon Himself.  The Holy Spirit does not rejoice in sin. He does not hurrah every time He has to point it out in my life.  He isn't cheering when the sin I didn't know was there is revealed to me.  He doesn't wave each transgression in my face.  Sometimes it hits me hard, unveiled like a rabbit in a magician's hat, but He doesn't say "I told you so".  Sometimes He shows me in a quiet way, quivering my calm, off-balance steps, which provokes me to see the cause. 
     God also rejoices in the truth.  He is The Truth.  So does He rejoice in Himself?  I know He rejoices in His Son.  Remember at Christ's baptism and at the Transfiguration when God says, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."?  He rejoices in His Son, who is the Truth.  In Roman 13:17, Paul says, "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."  He is also referred to by Christ in John 17 as the Spirit of truth.  Very little here on earth or in man is truthful.  Which would leave only one answer as to what truth would cause rejoicing.  Him.  I should rejoice in Him here, but when everything points away from Him, away from the Truth, it gets very difficult.  How marvelous it will be in Heaven when everyone will rejoice in the Truth.  None of us will have hidden motives or secret agendas.  God says charity is rejoicing in the truth, and the only real truth exists in Him. When I rejoice over every sinner who has been found by Christ, I am rejoicing in the truth. 

Courtesy of http://breadsite.org

     I may give my money to many "charities" but true charity is found when I give that money to organizations that give out the truth.  Since there is only one truth, it would be better to invest my money not in humanitarian causes, but in spiritual ones.  Giving money to fight cancer, to save children in the Sudan, to political candidates is fine.  Will we ever find the solution through those?  Will there ever be a day when cancer is cured, children are no longer hungry, politics solves our problems?  I know the answer to the last two.  And while I don't condemn anyone for donating to these needs, if truth is not being revealed through all of these fine and noble organizations, it isn't true charity.  If God allows the doctors to eradicate cancer from the body, but the soul has never been touched, I don't see the cause for rejoicing.  Trust me, I want to see a cure, I'm just saying we call them "charity", but unless it somehow points to God, it is not.  Should Africa conquer malnourishment in every child on that continent, unless each little life is presented with the gospel of Jesus Christ, we have only prolonged the inevitable.  I'm not heartless.  I don't want to see those children die.  But I know that they are hungry for something more substantial.  They need to be filled with the truth.  If all the political bickering subsided, if our nation were to somehow fix unemployment, education, the deficit, foreign policy etc., etc., etc., we might think it time to celebrate.  But in our material health, our spiritual selves would lean less on Him, and more on us.  We would seek our own truth instead of the real Truth.  So as much as I would like to see members in my church family gainfully employed, as much as I would like to see the housing market rise again, I know that sponsoring a candidate to deliver us from these woes will not deliver us from our eternal ones.  I would never discourage anyone from giving to these needs, but we label them wrong.  They are not true charity unless with the earthly cure they are giving out the spiritual one. 
     God does not rejoice in iniquity, and did something about it.  He rejoices in the Truth that was sent long ago to deliver me from my iniquity.  He rejoices in every wayward sinner, trudging with Bunyan's burden, eyes opened at the Cross for the first time.  He rejoices when that burden falls from our backs and He gives us a scroll of Truth to exchange in that Celestial City.  I love God's way, when I sorrow for people in sin, and I give out the Truth of God.  I love the way God loves when I give my money to disease fighting physicians who also tell about the Great Physician, when with the morsel of bread they give out the Bread of Life, when in the political debate they offer The Way, The Truth and the Life.  Charity is God's love in action.  His actions tell the whole story, a story of the whole truth.

The Gold Medal Standard

Today's passage:  I Corinthians 9:19-27
      The Olympics.  How I love to watch the Olympics.  My husband dreads them because I will watch every event possible.  Seriously.  I think the first time I watched them was the summer they were in Los Angeles.  I remember wanting to stay up every night to see women's volleyball, swimming, and of course gymnastics.  I loved hearing the life stories of these athletes who had given up so much to train for their event, to train to represent our country, to train to win that gold medal.  I love that they stagger the Winter and Summer Olympics so that one is viewable every two years.  Now I only have to wait half as long to see an Olympics. 
     Last year, my son watched speed skating with me and we both rooted for Apollo Anton Ohno.  He decided he wanted to take up speed skating and go to the Olympics to win a gold medal.  I explained to him that it takes years of training.  You don't just show up at the Olympics and participate.  You have to become the best at your sport, which means school in a different way, not a lot of play time, hours and hours of drills and skating.  I was not trying to discourage him, but I knew he had no idea what it would take to achieve that level of competition.  After listening to the amount of dedication it would take to get to the Olympics, he decided maybe he would just watch it on TV.
     I am astounded at the discipline these athletes exercise to vie for that gold medal, once, maybe twice in their lifetimes.  It means pushing your body to unbelievable limits.  It means dying to self in many facets of life.  It means pushing through injuries and adversities.  We glorify the athlete (I think disproportionately) because we know the effort it takes to subject our bodies to those physical demands.  We know the difficulty of exercising such will power when chocolate cake is calling out to us, and think, well maybe just this once, when a trained athlete will say, not even this once.  We know when we want to skip a workout because we have had a draining week, and the competitor says, I will workout twice today.  There must be a drive in them that compels them to keep going.  And we've seen it.  Who can forget Keri Strug's memorable vault which secured a gymnastics team gold medal?  After spraining her ankle to record a lukewarm score, she vaulted into the hearts of America by braving a second attempt.  Furthermore, she sacrificed her chances at the All-Arounds with this endeavor.  She took one for the team.  Had she not pushed her ankle, giving it a chance to mend before the Individual events, she might have had opportunity to take more than one medal home.

Courtesy of--http://breadsite.org

     How much am I willing to sacrifice to give out the gospel?  Missionaries do it.  They represent us in all parts of the world, giving up the daily comforts we take for granted.  They eat foods we would not even taste, let alone eat.  They learn difficult languages that require years of study.  In some places, they travel dusty terrain to reach the outlying villages.  They encounter incurable disease, unsanitary conditions, untamed wildlife, government regime changes, inflation that alters their financial support.  These seem like big things, but they also deal with daily nuisances.  Insects, electricity blackouts, water shortages, rodents, corrupt officials, homesickness and a host of other things.  Paul gives quite a lengthy list in II Corinthians 11 about just a few of the things that had happened to him as a missionary.  He wasn't complaining, he was just explaining that the missionary life is not always easy.  He was willing to go through all that because he knew that people who die without Christ will go through a lot more. 
     Athletes punish their bodies to achieve a gold medal.  Sure, it looks great on the mantelpiece, the gold reflecting in the homefires.  Yes, it brings international fame and recognition at every breakfast table chowing down on Wheaties.  Surely, there is satisfaction knowing that those years of intense training had been rewarded.
     Missionaries leave previous (sometimes lucrative) occupations to go to an unfamiliar culture.  They raise their children far away from grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who deem them strangers when they return for furloughs.  They make difficult decisions about how those children will be schooled, abroad or at home.  They will not bring home a gold medal at the end of their tenure, but they will have something far more precious at the end of this life.
     Is it a lot to ask for me to give a little time to pray for them?  And not just a "Please bless the missionaries" but praying specifically for each family, for each field, for each need.  Is it too much to give a little of my money to support missionaries?  Maybe to even give a little more for special missionary projects?  I'll admit it.  I am embarrassed when I don't know who our missionaries are.  I may not always recognize each face, because I don't have a missionary card for each of them, but I should at least recognize each name.  Just yesterday, I was reading some of the missionary letters on the church bulletin board (something I should do far more often) and saw a name I did not recognize.  Have I prayed for that family before?  I didn't see it on our regular prayer sheet, so I'm not sure what the situation is, but now that I know it, I will do my best to pray for them regularly.
     If athletes and missionaries can discipline themselves to give their all, can't I discipline myself to give just a little?  In the Olympics, they are competing for a temporary reward, and I never see a one of them giving up even though the first three cross the finish line.  Every competitor finishes that race, even it means pushing a broken luge across by foot.  They do not want to let their country down.  They want to finish their race with pride.  Shouldn't I want to do the same for my God?  I know I will never be Olympics material, but shouldn't I be a gold medalist on God's team?  It might take a little work, and a little dedication, but a gold crown will last longer than a gold medal.

A Truly Tall Tale

Today's passage:  I Samuel 17:1-30
     Every villain has a story to tell.  Every bad guy has a reason for resorting to villainy.  I don't say this so that I can sympathize with wickedness or excuse evil, I just find it interesting to think about what motivates a person (besides our sin natures) to act the way they do.  Most people are motivated by something in their past history that determines their future actions.  I think if we forget that Goliath was an actual person, not just some story-book giant like the ogres and trolls in fairy-tales, he becomes one-dimensional and we forget that if he made different choices, his story would be much different.  A villain in a movie can only behave a certain way because that is how he was written.  He is not a real person.  Goliath was real, as real as David, and as real as Saul.  He was not just this fictional character to appear so that David could be the hero of the story.
     Remember when the Philistines carried the Ark of the Covenant back to their land after defeating the Israelites (see post: A Comedy of Errors)?  Remember the turmoil it caused among the people of the land?  I don't think it is a far stretch to imagine that Goliath had been a boy, although a rather large boy given that he was a giant, when the Ark arrived in the city of Gath.  This was the second city of the Ark of the Covenant tour.  Not too long after it arrived, all the people in the city (Goliath too?) became covered with these boils.  Itching, smelling, no relief boils.  Goliath probably runs to his mom and pleads with her to give him some relief.  She is helpless.  Herbs don't work.  Potions don't help.  Praying in the temples to their gods, bringing those gods offerings, scraping at these tumors, nothing seems to bring relief.  Goliath is miserable.  Perhaps he had even seen people die from this malady.  The men of the village conference together and determine that this is the fault of the Israelites' God.  The only way to appease this God they did not worship was to send that wretched box out of their town.  Let their fellow Philistines deal with it.  Goliath may have remembered the gold box being hoisted into an ox cart and disappearing down the dusty road towards Ekron.  Slowly, the boils start to scab over and heal.  Relief at last.  Goliath would remember this curse upon their city by Israel's God.  Instead of recognizing His power, he would let it fester and attempt to prove that the gods of his country were stronger.  He could have made a different choice.  He could have tried to find out more about this God he didn't understand.  He could have sought out an Israelite in a nearby town and asked questions.  But to do this would be to turn his back on everything he had been trained to believe.  It would mean he would have to not look at the Israelites as his enemy.  It would mean admitting that his family had been teaching him wrong all these years.  Not many people are willing to make that leap.  Not many people today are willing to look at their circumstances in that way, why should Goliath be any different?  Goliath resolved that one day, he would show the world that his people were the bravest, that his gods were the strongest.
     He must have been well on his way to proving this because the fourth verse of this chapter says that Goliath was a champion.  He was not just a giant, he was a warrior.  His height was intimidating, but his fighting record was more intimidating.  When he challenges Israel to fight him, day after day, it is more than wanting to show his might, it is to show that Israel's God is weak.  This is why he flings insults at them.  This is why he taunts them.  All the anger he has had is spewing forth like an erupting volcano.  This God who had made him, his family, and his townspeople so miserable so many years ago would be shown to be nothing.  Goliath hates Israel's God. 
     How do the Israelites respond to this rage that is hurled at them from across the valley?  Goliath was already a formidable figure, but standing on a mountain across the way, he must have resembled a stone monument.  His armor would have been blinding as it reflected the hot sun.  His booming voice would have shook the ground, causing pebbles to tumble down the mountain that the Israelites were encamped upon.  Every word Goliath spoke threatened to cause an avalanche on the Israelite hillside.  No wonder they were cowering.  It is not surprising that each time Goliath issued the challenge, Saul's soldiers went scrambling for cover.  Until young David arrives.  For days, Goliath had been seeking a fight.  For days, the Philistine giant enjoyed that nobody dared to fight him.  David has no knowledge of this.  He brings his soldier brothers food from home, oblivious as to why everyone seems to be running for their tents.  Maybe Goliath came out at the same time each day, and the Israelites had learned to run and hide before he appeared.  Perhaps David was surprised to feel the earth beneath him move until the voice from across the valley echoed in his ears.  The voice of one who hated David's God.  This was unacceptable to David.  Call them weaklings.  Call them cowards, but don't dare insult Jehovah.  David was not afraid because the moment Goliath claimed that Israel's God was worthless, David knew who would win the battle.  He knew that God would not stand for that kind of disrespect.  David had spent a lot of time with God.  His time in the fields was time spent with the Lord.  David understood God's nature.  And he knew that God would show Himself to be strong.  Saul's soldiers (including David's brothers) would have had a lot of down time.  Sure, there would be times of preparing artillery, making sure the arsenal was stocked, training for battle, but soldiers often have a lot of time to do nothing but wait.  This was time that many of those soldiers could have spent with God.  They could have been reading and memorizing God's Word.  They could have been praying.  And maybe some of them were.  But if some of them were, some of them should have realized that this giant was God's enemy and he could not win.  David could have spent his time in the fields napping.  He could have been lazy, he had a lazy type of job.  He also did a lot of waiting.  He spent it waiting on the Lord. 

David slaying Goliath--Taken from Religion in the Home (Part 4)
By Charlotte M. Yonge, Illustrated by Julius Schnorr Von Karolsfeld
Published by George W. Bertron, 1913

     How we spend our time is what will determine if we are victorious.  Aren't we all guilty of wasting time?  God has convicted me more and more of this.  If I'm going to slay any giants in my life, I need to be prepared.  I can't be prepared if I don't spend any time with God.  David did not go to the battlefield that day, expecting to fight any battles.  But God prepared him, because David allowed himself to be prepared.  I have no idea what God has in store for me today, but I should be prepared for anything.
     Goliath would laugh when he saw this man-child armed with only a slingshot prepared to do battle with him.  What Goliath did not know is that David had already fought some fierce battles protecting his sheep.  In David's mind, he was in the pasture, ready to defend his flock.  And just as Jehovah God had been with him then, He would be with him now.  Goliath thought he could challenge Israel's God and win, possibly because others had challenged Israel in recent years and won.  He thought he could make Israel's God look small, and with Saul as king, he might have won the battle.  Goliath didn't know that God had a secret weapon, and Goliath will fall.  Hard.  Goliath could have chosen to search out Israel's God, but instead he chose bitterness and resentment.  Those things would obstruct him from ever embracing the truth, they would lead to his demise, and they would label him as one of the world's most menacing villains.  Every villain has a story, some villains didn't have to be villains at all.

A Comedy of Errors

Today's passage:  I Samuel 5
     After a sad chapter before this, God seems to give a little comic relief.  At least, I find it humorous.  The Philistines have brought the ark back to their territories.  They place it in their fish god's (Dagon) temple.  Their whole purpose for this is to show the superiority of their god over Israel's God.  God has other plans.  The next morning they find their merman face first on the floor before God's ark.  Dagon's priests probably assumed he somehow fell over during the night. They set him upright. The next morning, God leaves them no doubts as to what actually happened.  This time fish god is headless, handless and his stumpy torso are all groundward, giving obeisance to the Ark of the Covenant.  The priests decide maybe they should just leave it alone.  But God doesn't leave the priests alone, or any of the other people in Ashdod's city.  He strikes them with boils, or in one place I read, hemorrhoids.  Sorry, there is really no delicate way to put that.  Either one would be highly uncomfortable.  The Ashdodians (is that a word?) realize it is Israel's God doing this, so they decide to be generous to their fellow Philistines and push the Ark off on them.  They transport the box to Gath.  Clueless, the Gathites agree to house the Ark.  They are cursed with the emerods (boils/tumors/hemorrhoids) too.  After figuring out this is because of the Ark dwelling in their city, they decide they shouldn't be greedy.  Wouldn't their neighboring city, Ekron, want to display the Ark for a while?  I can see the pitch.  Gathites (while itching all over):  "We, in Philistia, have decided each major city should take turns putting the Ark of the Covenant on display.  Like a traveling exhibit at a museum.  We've had a turn, wouldn't your people like to proudly display it?  Yes?  We'll have it there tonight.  Oh no, problem at all.  We want to make sure you have access to it immediately.  They are on their way now."  I love how loyal these Philistines are to each other.  I'm wondering if they don't divulge that the ark comes with boils attached would be to admit that their city's god was inferior to another city and to another country.  Perhaps there is a little god rivalry going on between the five major cities of Philistia.  None of them wants to admit they have been beaten, so they craftily think of a way to get rid of the Ark without admitting to their god's weakness.  They are secretly afraid that the next city will not have these problems, therefore showing one god's superiority. 
     After a heavy dose of emerods, Ekron decides to send the curs-ed box back to Israel.  I'm wondering how they pitched this proposal?  I mean, how do they send it back without admitting that Israel's God is superior?  They must have found some convenient excuse to get rid of it and still save face.  What would they tell the Israelites?  "You know, we think you've been on pretty good behavior, we're going to give your toy back."  or "We will return your Ark to you if you agree to the following conditions."  See, now that would be the smart thing to do.  The Israelites already felt as if their God had gone with the Ark, which was part of the problem, they were viewing God as their enemies viewed Him.  If they wanted their God back, they wanted the box back, agreeing to any terms.  The Philistines would also think that the Israelite God was attached to the Ark.  It was the physical representation of their God.  Just as their idols were physical representations of their gods.  It makes sense that the Philistines think Israel is powerless without the Ark, because they worshipped gods who were one-note.  They only had power in certain aspects of life, like harvest, or fertility, or weather.  They couldn't comprehend that Israel's God was not like any of theirs, and the fact that they were struck with boils as soon as God's Ark landed in their city seemed proof of this.  Chapter 6 goes into a little more detail about how the Philistines scheme to get rid of this thing, and hopefully all of the side effects that go with it, so I guess I'm just going to have to wonder until tomorrow.
     One thing is for certain.  My God is not like any other god.  He is superior.  The old saying, "My dad is bigger than your dad"?  Well, my dad may not have been bigger than other kids' dads, but my God is bigger than your god.  I never have to wonder about that.

Soldiering

Today's passage:  Isaiah 52
     In military movies, when a group of soldiers has to cross an open field, they often assign one or two men to go out front and draw out the enemy and station one or two men in the back of the group to "watch their back".  I would not volunteer for either of these jobs.  I would prefer to stay in the middle.  That is because I am a chicken and am not brave like the men and women who fight for us every day.  God volunteers for both positions.  He tells Israel, "...for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward."  My Bible defines that last word as a being a rear guard. 

Persian nobleman with soldier
Courtesy<a href="http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wpclipart.com%2Fworld_history%2Fattire%2Fmiddle_east%2FPersian_nobleman_w_soldier.png.html"><img src="http://www.wpclipart.com/world_history/attire/middle_east/Persian_nobleman_w_soldier.png"></a> of

     If I were a soldier, it would be very important to be able to trust the men I fight with. If I am putting someone out ahead of me, I would hope he would be giving his all to protect me.  If I have soldiers behind me, I would hope they weren't trying to sneak out ahead of me, leaving me exposed.  There is nobody I could trust more than God.  If He sent His own Son to die for me, I'm certain that He cares enough to protect me in dangerous situations.  It's not like I have done anything to deserve it.  Neither had Israel.  The Lord also tells Israel at the start of this verse, "For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight..."  They would not have to throw their belongings together in the middle of the night and try to creep past the enemy in order to escape.  They would leave boldly and confidently because God would be their leader and their last defense.  When I am fearful, I need to remember that God is already ahead of me in the situation.  He has already assessed what needs to be done, and He can give me the strength to carry out the operation.  He also will be the last man on the field and will not leave me behind.  He is my Commander and I can trust every order that He gives.  A good soldier will say "Yes, sir."

Unsearchable Understanding

I have always enjoyed journaling the things I learn from God's Word.  But I started to think that perhaps it would be fun to have an electronic journal of sorts.  So every few days, I plan to post the different things God is teaching me.  Mostly through His Word, but also through different circumstances.
        I am over halfway through the book of Isaiah.  It is a very long book, and I don't always have the opportunity to read a whole chapter.  That is always my goal but with three young boys, it is not always achievable.  Today I was finishing Chapter 40.  I love the fact that God is never weary.  I wish I could say the same.  It seems that I am always searching for renewed energy.  His understanding is unsearchable.  I realized that if I had the same discernment, I could be the perfect parent.  Think about it.  I would always know when my children were lying to me.  I would always be able to determine their motives for doing something, and therefore, could come up with the appropriate response. 
     Verse 31 is probably the most quoted verse from this chapter, but I was intrigued by verses 29 and 30.  Youth does not guarantee strength.  The sheer might that a young person has will eventually fail him.  But the strength that God gives is everlasting.  It may not always be a physical strength, it may be only be spiritual strength that He will give. In either case, His strength is what we seek.  It will not fail us.

White Headed Eagle--Taken from Birds of Prey, Prang's Natural History Series for Children
By Norman Allison Calkins, Illustrator Unknown
L. Prang & Co., Boston, 1878