Saturday, March 14, 2009

Today’s Passage: Matthew 14

I’ve always wondered what it would have been like to been one of the people in the crowds that always seemed to follow Jesus. Would I have been a Jesus fanatic and followed Him everywhere? I do know this, that if I was able to, I definitely would not have had any doubt that he is in fact the son of God. In today’s passage, we read of a three major events: the beheading of John the Baptist, Jesus feeding over 5,000 people, and Jesus and Peter walking on water.

It has been a while since I have heard a sermon on Peter walking on water, so that is what stuck out to me in today’s passage. Typically the sermon is directed toward Peter’s radical side of asking to walk on water with Jesus and his quick loss of faith when on the water or in the midst of doing what He asked Jesus if He could do. These facts have many lessons for practical Christian living today. I think, how many times that I have prayed for something to happen, and when some “door” opened for the purpose of making that prayer a reality, I only had more doubt about how things were going to play out. And to think that Peter had Jesus right there in front of him! Oh how we can be a people of little faith.

 

But, I would like to focus our attention on Jesus. This entire chapter seems to point to Jesus actions. Whether this be in his praying for John the Baptist’s loss of life, feeding the five thousand, or walking on water; the entire chapter is focusing on Him. Take a look with me at verse 31, “Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" While Peter was denying the laws of gravity and walking on water, he turned his attention off of Jesus onto the more imminent wind that probably was fiercely beating on him. Now I had to think, Jesus probably was well aware of the fact that the wind was blowing before He invited Peter to come out there with Him. So even to transport this lesson into today’s happenings, we can be sure of the fact that Jesus knows what’s going on and even knows what we will face ahead of time. We also can rest assured that He is not going to send us into something that we cannot handle, so long as we keep our focus on Him. The main point I wanted to point out though, is Christ’s first action when Peter cried out for help. Christ immediately reached out His hand. It does not say Christ rebuked Peter, or any other thing. Rather, Jesus acted to save Him.

It is a reassuring thing to know that the God of the universe is looking out for me and that He reaches out His hand in my times of little faith. Challenge for today: Where is your focus? Has it left Jesus to the trials and issues that come about every day?

Friday, March 13, 2009

Today's Passage: Exodus 2-3

The first two chapters of Exodus tell the story of God's great provision for Moses. Three times his life could have ended...the faith of the Hebrew midwives changes history, the faith of his mother and sister keep him alive, and God's protection as he fled Egypt. You can talk all you want about "luck", but Moses had something so much greater: the hand of God was on his life.

That's what makes chapter 3 so amazing to me. Moses has been protected by God his entire life...never mind the fact he's talking to a burning bush that will not be consumed...AND hearing the voice of the Lord come from the bush explaining who He is and what He wants to do...and still argues with God. You can make it sound better by saying Moses wasn't confident or doubted his leadership ability, but the bottom line is this is a man who had been protected for this moment and is arguing with God in a face-to face meeting. That, my friends, is a bold move.

We might think to ourselves, "I would never argue with God! I know my place." But how many times have we heard God say "Go!" and we try to tell him all the reasons it won't work? How many times has God said, "I want to spend time with you!" and we answer with all the reasons we are too busy? How many times have we heard God say "Give!" and we tell him all the ways we can't afford to give right now? That, my friends, is just as bold a move as what Moses has done here.

Lucky for Moses (and for us), God is so patient. God answers his questions and encourages him in his weakness. I pray that God will be as patient with us, but more than that, I pray that we would have the courage to follow where God would lead without hesitation!

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Today's Passage: Exodus 1

First let me say how excited I am about us finishing our first book together. I hope you got as much out of the book of Genesis as I did. I have found it so helpful to study together and get someone else’s view on the chapters of Genesis.

Today’s passage in Exodus reminded me that what God has planned, no man can destroy. God knows that Moses is the man he wants to use to lead his people out of Israel, and He will not let Pharaoh stop that from happening. Pharaoh tries on three separate occasions to stop the growing nation of Israel from multiplying, and on all three attempts he fails.

I think we have all heard the phrase, “A little hard work never hurt anyone.” The Israelites show that could not be truer. The Pharaoh thinks that he can simply labor them to death and that will stop the nation and God’s plan, but he is mistaken. In fact the Bible says the harder that they were worked, the more they multiplied.

Pharaoh gets more and more cruel as the chapter moves along. He talks to the midwives who help with the birth Israelite children and tells them to kill all the boys that are born. These midwives fear God more than man and do what is right in the eyes of the Lord. I think it is important to point out that God removed them from their position to protect them. They were faithful to God and not to Pharaoh and He saw it fit to give them households of their own.

Pharaoh tried to labor them into submission, then he tries to scare a small group of women into doing a terrible thing, and when that does not work he finally puts the decree into all the Israelite nation that if a son is born he must be thrown into the Nile. As we will see in the coming chapters this plan is unsuccessful as well.

When I look back at this chapter, I want to be like the Hebrew midwives. I want to look whatever is trying to get in the way of God’s plan in the face and tell it to get out of the way...and sometimes that may even mean that I have to tell myself to get out of the way. But I wonder how many times have I been Pharaoh? How many times have I seen what God was doing and wanted to do and tried to stop it? Ask yourself today what God is doing in your midst, and then ask are you being like Pharaoh and putting up walls to slow it down, or are you being like the midwives and jumping on the bandwagon. God will succeed, it is just a question of will we get to be apart of the success or will we look back and say I wish I would have done things differently. My prayer for us at BCCC is to be like the midwives.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Today's Passage: Genesis 49-50

This month during "252" (children's Sunday Bible study), we are learning about the virtue of hope. The definition we are using for hope is "believing that something good can come out of something bad." Last week we were discussing some different situations that might seem bad at first, but then God makes it into something good. I threw out some examples that I thought they could relate to and invited them to think of some examples also. Well, these kids never cease to amaze me and last week was no exception. One of your children raises his hand and proceeds to describe why Joseph's life was a story of hope. He elaborated by explaining how God had made something amazing of Joseph's life even after he'd been so wronged by so many people. There is so much to learn from the insight of kids!

As Genesis comes to an end, so does the life of Joseph. He leaves behind quite a legacy of integrity, forgiveness, and hope. I can't imagine experiencing even a portion of the hardships Joseph endured and yet he continued to trust that God had a plan. He continued to extend grace upon the undeserving and he continued to maintain a life of integrity even when it went punished. How in the world was he able to do this?! I think it came down to his perspective on God's plan for his life:

20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

I encourage you to ask yourself how your attitude and maybe even behavior might change if you constantly considered the truth that God can make something good come out of something bad. And ask yourself what lessons you can learn from your kids!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Today's Passage: Matthew 13

When you come to Matthew 13, you realize there is a lot of information there, and some of it can be quite confusing. Just in this one chapter there are 9 parables. Jesus taught during most of his ministry using parables. He did this for several reasons. The most important is that only the ones whom Jesus wanted to understand his teaching could do so. For example, often crowds and some religious people could not handle the truth of Jesus' teachings, so he would use parables. But for those whom Jesus wanted them to understand, he would then explain the meaning of the parable.

That is where we find ourselves in the beginning of Matthew 13. Here we have one of the few recorded parables that Jesus gives, and then interprets it for his, seemingly dull, disciples. How great would it be to hear Jesus teach this parable of the Sower, and then turn around and listen to Him explain it! The parable of the Sower is one of the more famous parables in Scripture. It is an encouraging and realistic look into the spiritual nature of human beings. Often the application point is that the people of God should always be the 'good soil,' so that we may be receptive to God's Word. While this is a true and significant application, this is not what I walked away with today. Rather, I saw the reality of ministry and evangelism in Jesus' day, as well as ours. Meaning that we cannot change the way people handle the truth. To be sure, we definitely come with love, and then present the truth (which Jesus' calls the Word of God, i.e. the Bible).

Everyday there are people who fit into these four categories of soil (path with birds, rocky soil, thorny soil, and good soil). Confidently, I realize that if people responded to Jesus and his ministry that way, why should we expect any different. Every believer is called to minister to this lost and dying world. When this happens we can be sure that some people will understand, some people will get excited and lose heart, some will give up when trouble comes, and others will accept the Word and live it out all of their days. We at Bear Creek cannot force anyone to be 'good soil.' All we can do is present the Good News, day in and day out. Our results will not be any different than Jesus' ministry. May we all continue to minister to those around us in the same way Jesus Christ did, with love and truth, and leave the rest to God!

Monday, March 9, 2009

Today's Passage: Genesis 47-48

I am just drawn to the first twelve verses of chapter forty-seven. The character of Joseph has always impressed me and this story just adds to it. When I read about him basically use his position to bless the brothers who sold him into slavery, it challenges me.

When I compare myself to Joseph, in the way that he dealt with people that treated him badly, I realize I don't even come close. In the past I have been known to say and think this about people that treat me badly: "they will have to come back by me one more time." As you might have guessed I did not intend for the next interaction with those people to be one where I showed much grace or forgiveness. We all have done this to some degree, whether it is ignoring that person in public, telling everyone we know about how awful that person is or worse retaliating in some other way. Yet the story of Joseph calls our attention to the fact that we should always be far more concerned with the well fare of others than seeking "justice" for our selves.

In the end justice should be left for God to decide. What the scriptures tell us we are called to do is to lookout for one and other and to share the love of Christ with everyone. So I challenge you this week if there is someone that you have resentment or hostility toward, maybe it's a family member, an old friend, a co-worker, an ex, whoever it is forgive them and release the hard feelings you have for them. God receives much glory when his word compels us to take these kind of actions.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Today's Passage: Genesis 45-46

Out of the entire two chapters we read today, I want to pick out two verses and talk about their significance. Let's look in chapter 45 verses 7-8...

Like Brandon talked about yesterday, we can see God at work in Joseph's life. He seemed to have every right to do harm to his brothers, but what we see is God's plan being set forth. It's as if there are two things being done here...God is continuing to grow Joseph personally, and also accomplishing His own appointed plan for history. We've seen it with Abraham, Jacob, and now Joseph.

This is a major theological point in scripture. God never ceases to be at work in the lives of His people. It was God who provided for Jacob and his children during the famine. It was God who sent Joseph to Egypt! Consider these words from a book titled "Knowing God" written by J.I. Packer. He's writing about what the point of these stories in the Old Testament are..."These things are written for our learning, for the same wisdom that ordered the paths which God's saints trod in Bible times orders the Christian's life today. We should not, therefore, be too taken aback when unexpected and upsetting and discouraging things happen to us now. What do they mean? Simply that God in his wisdom means to make something of us which we have not attained yet, and he is dealing with us accordingly."

Take comfort in knowing that God, the same God that was written about in the Bible, is actively working in the lives of His people. He does not take naps or vacation or make mistakes, but rather He is constantly desiring to know you!