Little Is Much.

Judges 7-8, Acts 21

The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’” ­– Judges 7:2 ESV

There is an old song in which the chorus begins, “Little is much when God is in it!” Those words aptly reflect the lesson given to Gideon and the people of Israel in chapter seven of Judges. As God's chosen deliverer, Gideon is about to lead the people of Israel into battle against the Midianites. According to chapter 8, there were more than 135,000 enemy soldiers camped in the valley by the hill of Moreh. When Gideon gathered his own troops, he could only muster 32,000 men. Then God did something rather unexpected and, from Gideon's perspective, a bit uncomfortable. He told Gideon to send home all those who were fearful and trembling. The result was that 22,000 men walked away, leaving Gideon with only 10,000 soldiers to do battle with 135,000 Midianites. But God was not done. He then told Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go” (Judges 7:4 ESV). God devised for Gideon a simple means of determining the men He wanted to take into battle. The test God devised had nothing to do with the caliber of the men chosen, but merely provided a means of trimming the number of men down to the bare minimum. Again, the result was that Gideon was left with only 300 men. From a human perspective, the odds were clearly against Gideon. His army was too small and his enemy was too great. But Gideon had God on his side.

What does this passage reveal about God?

God had told Gideon, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” (Judges 6:14 ESV). “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man” (Judges 6:16 ESV). God had clearly called Gideon and given him a mission to accomplish. He had also confirmed for Gideon that He would be with Him and fight for him. God did not need Gideon or Gideon's troops to accomplish His mission. But God chose to use them both. God allowed Gideon and his 300 men to witness an amazing victory that day, as God destroyed a superior army right in front of their eyes, as they stood, swords and torches in hand. God caused the enemy to attack themselves and all Gideon and his men had to do was stand and watch. When the time came, God allowed them to get in on the action. But the victory was His doing.

In reading the history of the spread of the church recorded by Luke in the book of Acts, it is amazing to consider just how rapidly and aggressively it all happened through the efforts of a relatively small number of individuals. We read of Peter, Paul, Barnabas, Timothy, Silas, John Mark and a handful of others who were used by God to spread the Good News around the known world at that time. In a relatively short period of time, thousands upon thousands of people came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ through the efforts of these men. Paul alone had a tremendous impact on the spread of the Gospel. He was one man traveling through enemy territory, taking the Good News of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles and facing constant opposition from pagans and Jews alike. But God accomplished the impossible through him. His faithfulness and God's power were no match for the enemy. What Paul brought to the table was his determination to do God's will at all costs. When warned by Agabus the prophet that he would face certain arrest and imprisonment if he returned to Jerusalem, Paul simply replied, “For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 21:13 ESV). He knew he was simply a vessel in the hands of God, and was willing to be used up in His service in order to accomplish God's will.

What does this passage reveal about man?

We are all about the numbers. If we had been in Gideon's sandals and been asked by God to do battle against a superior foe with a handful of soldiers, we would have thought the idea was crazy. It would have made no sense. We live in a society in which “little is much” makes no sense. We firmly hold to the idea that there is strength in numbers. More is better than less. Strength trumps weakness every time. But for the believer, victory doesn't come as a result of our effort or effectiveness. It has nothing to do with our numbers or the abundance of our resources. The battle is the Lord's. And the sooner we realize that the odds are always in our favor because God is always on our side, the quicker we will experience the peace that Paul had. And the sooner we will be able to say, “Let the will of the Lord be done” (Acts 21:14 ESV). Gideon had no idea how that day was going to turn out. Paul had no idea just how things were going to unfold when he arrived in Jerusalem. But both had the assurance that God was with them. They also knew that God was going to have the victory one way or the other – either with them or without them.

But even when God gives the victory, it is so easy for us to try and claim credit. After their amazing defeat of the Midianites, the people of Israel attempt to make Gideon king. They saw him as the source of their victory. They mistakenly thought that if they could make him king, future victories would be assured. But what they didn't realize was that their future success was based solely on their present faithfulness to God. And we read that “As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals nad made Baal-berith their god” (Judges 8:33 ESV). Even Gideon, before he died, was guilty of apostasy, worshiping an ephod he had made from the gold won in his God-given victory over the Midianites. Unlike Paul, Gideon proved to be unfaithful and unreliable. He lost his focus. He made it all about himself, rather than all about the will of God.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

Little is much when God is in it. God is able to do far more with far less. He is able to accomplish the impossible using the improbable. Paul wrote, “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us…” (Ephesians 3:20 ESV). He knew that God was far more capable than he was. He knew that God was able to what no man could have ever done. God wants to do the impossible in our lives today. He wants to give us victories over the greatest of enemies. He wants to provide us with inexplicable success over insurmountable foes. But we must trust Him. We must long for His will to be done. We must leave the outcome to Him, and give all the praise, glory and honor to Him when all is said and done.

Father, You don't need much to do great things. You can even use me and I find that amazing and humbling. Forgive me for thinking that more is better. Forgive me for thinking that numbers are the key to success. Help me learn to trust You more. Help me have the faith and focus of Paul. I want to watch You work in and around my life in ways that are beyond imagination and way outside human explanation. Amen

The Mystery of God’s Ways.

Judges 5-6, Acts 20

And Gideon said to him, “Please, sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” ­– Judges 6:13 ESV

It is sometimes difficult to understand how God works. Because of our limited perspective and somewhat myopic, self-centered viewpoint, we can find ourselves looking at the events taking place around us and come to the wrong conclusions. Gideon did. He was secretly threshing grain down in a wine press just to keep the Midianites from knowing about it. As he assessed the circumstances surrounding the people of God, he couldn't help but conclude that God had abandoned them. He had a hard time understanding why they were under constant attack from their enemies and living in fear for their lives. Of course, we know that it was because “the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian for seven years” (Judges 6:1 ESV). This was all part of the cycle of rebellion that marked the lives of the Israelites during the period of the judges. But for Gideon, it was all a mystery. He wanted to know where the great God his ancestors worshiped had gone to. From Gideon's perspective, it was God who had left them, not the other way around. But in spite of Gideon's faulty assumptions, God was going to use him to deliver His people. God even referred to Gideon as a “mighty man of valor” (Judges 6:12 ESV). Which I find interesting, because at that very moment, Gideon was hidden away in a wine press beating out grain and hoping the Midianites didn't discover him. But God had a job for Gideon that was going to be way out of his comfort zone. He was going to accomplish His will through Gideon and reveal that He had never really forsaken His people at all. But again, Gideon's limited perspective prevented him from seeing how any of this could work. His response to the angel of the Lord was, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house” (Judges 6:15 ESV). None of this made sense to Gideon. As far as he was concerned, he made a highly unlikely hero.

What does this passage reveal about God?

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord” (Isaiah 55:8 ESV). God rarely does things the way we think He should. And sometimes, like Gideon, we can misread God's actions and draw faulty conclusions regarding what it is He is doing. There was no doubt that God was punishing Israel for its unfaithfulness. But God had not abandoned them. He had already made plans to send a deliverer. But His choice for a deliverer was going to be a surprise for everyone, including Gideon himself. The presence of trouble wasn't proof of the absence of God. It was evidence of the unfaithfulness of men. But God had a plan. Unbeknownst to Gideon and the rest of the Israelites, the days of the Midianites were numbered. The suffering of the people of Israel was going to come to an end. How? No one had a clue. When? God had not yet revealed His timeline. But it was wrong for Gideon to assume that God was not at work and that He had no plan in place for the salvation of the people of Israel. It was also wrong for Gideon to conclude that he was the wrong man for the job. He was about to learn that God's ways were quite different than anything he could ever have imagined.

It's interesting to note that when Paul spoke to the elders in Ephesus, he revealed that there was much about God's plan for his life that he didn't know or understand. He told them, “And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained bythe Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there,except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me” (Acts 20:22-23 ESV). All Paul knew was that he was headed to Jerusalem, having been given clear direction to do so by the Holy Spirit. But he didn't have any idea what was going to happen to him when he got there. Except for the fact that the Holy Spirit seemed to let him know that imprisonment and afflictions were on the agenda. It would have been easy for Paul to ask God why. He could have questioned the wisdom behind God's plan. But rather than doubt, question and fear, Paul simply responded, “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24 ESV). Paul may not have completely understood what was going on, but he completely trusted that God's will for his life was best and could be trusted.

What does this passage reveal about man?

We have an insatiable desire to know and understand. We want to have an explanation for everything. But God is not obligated to explain Himself or His ways to us. He does not owe us an explanation. He is God. His ways are not our ways. His methodology does not always make sense to us, but He can always be trusted. Paul knew that. Gideon was going to learn it through personal experience. Every time Paul got on a ship, set out on a journey, walked into a new town or opened up his mouth to "testify to the gospel of the grace of God,” he was venturing into the unknown. He never knew how people would respond. In some cases, they gladly received his message and placed their faith in Christ. Other times, they responded in anger, hurling accusations and throwing stones. Paul's obedience to the will of God was not based on the response of his audience, but on his willingness to do what God had called him to do. He was content to trust God with the outcome whether he fully understood what was going to happen or not.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

So much about our life on this earth as followers of Christ is a mystery. We don't know what the day holds. We have no idea what is going to happen in the next half hour, let alone the next decade. There is much about God's will we know and understand, but there is also much of it hidden from our view. We suffer from a limited perspective and a distorted viewpoint. But we must constantly learn to trust God. He knows what He is doing. Paul told the elders at Ephesus, “And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32 ESV). Paul encouraged them to trust God. He wanted them to understand that it was God who would care for them, protect them, and ultimately, provide for them their future inheritance as His children. Their trust needed to remain in God. Their hope needed to based on the character of God. Circumstances change. God doesn't.

Father, thank You for this reassurance this morning. Forgive me for making snap judgments about You based on what I see happening around me. May I have the mind of Paul, that whatever mystery I may face in life, I keep moving forward, trusting in You and resting in Your faithfulness to me and love for me. Amen

Remorse Versus Repentance.

Judges 3-4, Acts 19

Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily. ­– Acts 19:18-20 ESV

The book of Judges paints a bleak picture of the spiritual condition of the people of Israel after the death of Joshua. They found themselves in the land, but they had failed to faithfully follow God's command and purge the Canaanites from their midst. “So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods” (Judges3:5-6 ESV). Their refusal or reluctance to do things God's way resulted in a lengthy period of testing at the hand of God. It began a cycle of rebellion, which resulted in their rejection by God, but also in their eventual rescue at the hands of the judges who God raised up on their behalf. What is interesting to note is that while the people showed remorse for their sin, there is never any evidence of repentance or true heart change. The punishment of God in the form of defeat at the hands of their enemies caused them to cry out to God for help, but they never seemed to make the connection that their rebellion required repentance, or a change of heart. They never seemed to really learn their lesson. So we continue to read, “And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord” (Judges 3:12 ESV). Their hearts remained unchanged. Their sins remained unconfessed. They wanted God to rescue them, but they were not truly interested in rejecting their sinful way of life.

What does this passage reveal about God?

It is clear from the passage that God was fully in control of the circumstances during the period of the judges. “Now these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before” (Judges 3:1-2 ESV). God always has a purpose for what He does, or what He allows. In the case of the Israelites, He seemed to have four different objectives in mind. First, was going to use the enemies left in the land to teach the Israelites how to fight. Most of the Israelites who were alive at this point had not participated in the battles to conquer the land and were inexperience at war. Plus, God wanted them to know how to fight according to His terms, not their own. Secondly, it is clear that God intended to punish Israel for her open rebellion against Him. So He made their enemies “thorns in their sides” and their gods would become "a snare.” Thirdly, God would use this period of time to expose within the people of Israel their lack of love and faithfulness. Finally, according to Deuteronomy 7:20-24, God actually preserved the land by allowing the Canaanites to remain in it until the Israelites were capable of taking it over and cultivating it themselves. Otherwise, if God had wiped out the Canaanites before the Israelites were ready to move in, the land would have gone wild. God had a purpose behind all of this, but the primary desire of His heart was that His people repent of their sins and return to Him. This is the primary message of the Old Testament. It is the central message that each of the prophets who would eventually be sent by God would proclaim over and over again. But in the book of Judges repentance seems to be missing.

What does this passage reveal about man?

Each and every time the people of God turned away from God, they suffered the consequences. And their suffering caused them to cry out to God for help. It is amazing just how powerful and robust our prayer lives can become when we find ourselves in trouble due to our own sin. When the Israelites found themselves in a jam, they cried out to God. It reminds me of the old adage: There are no atheists in fox holes. The Israelites clearly knew that their predicament was due to the discipline of God and they also knew that their only hope was going to found in Him. And God responded. He sent deliverers. He heard. He listened. He acted. But the saddest part of the story is that it just keeps repeating itself. They never seemed to learn. But in contrast, there is the story of the people of Ephesus recorded in Acts 19. These pagan people were exposed to the Good News about Jesus Christ through the ministry of Paul and many of them became believers. But what is amazing is how they changed. Their new-found relationship with Christ brought about a radical alteration in their behavior. We read, “…many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver.So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily” (Acts 19:18-20 ESV). The change in their lives was significant and far from superficial. It was internal, but showed up in tangible, external ways. And their behavior ended up impacting their community. It ends up that so many had come to faith in Christ and were repenting of their former way of life, that it was having a economic impact on the community. Those who made idols were feeling the pinch from the drop-off in sales. There was a growing fear that if something didn't happen soon, the entire economic infrastructure of the city and the Temple of Artemis were going to suffer irreparable harm. The Good News was turning out to be bad news for a lot of people, because of the transformative power of God in the lives of those who placed their faith in Jesus Christ.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

What God longs for in the life of His people is their unapologetic allegiance to and love for Him. He wants to reveal His power in their lives and help them live as the people of God in the midst of a world full of people who do not know Him. He is fully aware that, even as followers of Christ, believers still struggle with sin and are prone to rebellion. But what God desires is that we cry out to Him for help and be willing to repent or turn from our sin and return to Him. The people of Israel never really returned to Him. They cried out. They accepted His rescue. But they never truly turned away from their idols and returned to the worship of God. The were remorseful or sorry that they had been caught in sin by God and were more than willing to have Him bail them out, but they were unwilling to walk away from their sin and return in faithfulness to Him. In the New Testament, the Greek word for repent is metanoeó. It means “change my mind, change the inner man (particularly with reference to acceptance of the will of God), to repent.” Sometimes it is referred to "an about face.” You are headed one direction, then you stop and head the other way. But notice that it includes the mind. It is a change in the way you think. The people of Israel thought they could worship other gods and get away with it. They thought they could choose to disobey God's will and not suffer for it. They thought they knew what was best for their lives. But they were going to have to change their way of thinking. When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, He simply said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37 ESV). Those new believers in Ephesus knew that their behavior was change. Their way of thinking was radically altered by the presence of Christ in their lives and it showed up in the way they lived. They repented of their former way of life and turned to a radically new one – motivated by their new found relationship with Jesus Christ.

Father, may true repentance always be a recognizable part of my life. I want to constantly learn to change the way I think about You, about life, about my own sin, and about the way my faith shows up in my everyday life. Forgive me for the many times I have cried out to You for help or rescue, but have failed to really want to turn away from doing things my way and start living Your way. Amen

If God Be For Us.

Joshua 17-18, Acts 14

And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” ­– Acts 18:9-10 ESV

It is interesting to note the parallels between the history of the people of Israel as they attempted to conquer the land and the New Testament saints as they attempted to spread the Gospel around the world. Both represent the people of God, having been commissioned by God to accomplish His will in the world. Both faced intense opposition, but had experienced the power and presence of God in significant ways. They each knew that God was with them. He had proven time and again that He was on their side. But He fully expected obedience to His commands – in spite of the opposition they faced, the fears they may have felt, and the seeming impossibility of their assignments. But the similarities begin to fade as we compare the book of Judges and the events recorded in the book of Acts. After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel still found themselves facing countless enemies who still occupy the land given to them by God. We repeatedly read of the failure of the people of Israel to rid the land of its pagan inhabitants.

And the Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron. – Judges 1:19 ESV

But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem… – Judges 1:21 ESV

Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages, for the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land. – Judges 1:27 ESV

Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites… – Judges 1:29 ESV

Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them… – Judges 1:30 ESV

Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon or of Ahlab or of Achzib or of Helbah or of Aphik or of Rehob, so the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out… – Judges 1:31-32 ESV

Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, so they lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. – Judges 1:33 ESV

The Amorites persisted in dwelling in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim… – Judges 1:35 ESV

The people of God had failed to do what God had commanded them to do. Either out of fear, laziness, indifference or as a result of their own "better" judgment, they refused to do things God's way. And their disobedience brought God's discipline. He made it clear what they were to do, but they had refused to obey. And while they might have rationalized that their efforts were adequate because they had ended up enslaving the very groups they had failed to destroy, God knew their half-hearted obedience was going to whole-hearted rebellion against Him. “You shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars. But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you” (Judges 2:2-3 ESV). The book of Judges is a painful history of this prophecy played out. The failure of the people of God to obey the commands of God would result in their ultimate apostasy from God. “And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger. They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth” (Judges 2:11-13 ESV).

What does this passage reveal about God?

God had a perfectly good reason for His command that the people completely destroy the inhabitants of the land. He knew full well that their refusal to eradicate the land's occupants would lead to their abandonment of Him and their pursuit of other gods. They would end up turning their backs on God and, therefore, He would be forced to turn His back on them. “So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hands of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies” (Judges 2:14 ESV). God could not and would not tolerate their disobedience. So rather than God's presence and power going before them, the Israelites found themselves fighting without Him. Their efforts would prove futile. Their strength would be insufficient for the task. And rather than being able to enjoy the fruits of the land promised to them by God, they found themselves “in terrible distress” (Judges 2:15 ESV). The book of Judges records one of the saddest periods of time in the long history of the people of Israel. It contains a repetitive cycle of sin and rebellion, but it is also marked by the enduring patience and faithfulness of God. While He would give them over to their enemies as punishment for their open rebellion against Him, He would never fully give them up. “Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them” (Judges 2:18 ESV). The people would sin. God would give them over to their enemies. The people would cry out in despair. God would hear and send a judge who would deliver them. Then in time, the people would abandon God again, and the cycle would repeat itself. Rebellion – Remorse – Rescue – Restoration – Repeat. That is the pattern of the book of Judges. But God's faithfulness is in full view throughout the entirety of the book. He never gives up. He never fully abandons them – in spite of them.

What does this passage reveal about man?

Over in the book of Acts, we have recorded the early history of the spread of the Gospel as Paul and the other apostles make their way around the known world of their day. In obedience to Christ's commission, they had begun in Jerusalem, moved on to Judea and Samaria, and were now moving out to the ends of the earth. In chapter 18, we have Paul visiting Corinth, Caesarea, Syria, Antioch, Galatia and Phrygia. And in almost every city he visited, Paul found himself facing intense opposition and threats on his life. He was seeing tremendous response to the Gospel message, but with each conversion, the enemies of God seemed to increase in number and intensity. And yet God gave Paul a vision, telling him, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people” (Acts 19:9-10 ESV). God assured Paul of His presence and power. He let him know that obedience to His will was Paul's only concern. God would take care of the rest. Paul was still going to face opposition. He would still encounter threats on his life. But He would know that God was with Him. I am reminded of the words of the Psalmist, “The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6 ESV). Those same words are echoed in the book of Hebrews. “So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:6 ESV). The key was Paul's obedience. He was expected to faithfully carry out his God-given assignment, in the face of opposition and in spite of potential setbacks. He had to do His part. But he could rest in the knowledge that God was there with Him, doing His part, each step of the way.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

What an amazing contrast. What a powerful reminder of the need for obedience in the life of the follower of God. We all tend to want to enjoy the blessings of God, but too often we refuse to live in obedience to His will. At times we question it. Sometimes we rationalize reasons to ignore it. There are plenty of times we simply choose to twist it into something that is more palatable to our senses and appealing to our own desires. The Israelites were guilty of trying to do God's will in their own way, and their half-hearted obedience resulted in whole-hearted rebellion against Him. Paul's assignment was no less easier than theirs. He faced just as much opposition and potential danger to life and limb. But he obeyed. He persevered. He listened to the Word of God and obeyed. God did not remove the obstacles or eliminate the opposition. He simply assured Paul of His presence, protection and power. As long as Paul did the will of God, he could be confident to receive the help of God. It is far too easy to question God's will when things don't seem to go the way we think they should. Obstacles tend to come across to us as signs that we are somehow out of God's will. Difficulties are too often viewed as proof of God's absence, but God never promised us an absence of trouble. He simply promised us access to His abiding presence and power. After Paul's vision from God, his efforts did not become any easier and his opposition did not become any less intense. But he continued to do the will of God in full confidence that He had the full and abiding presence of God. Like Paul, I want to learn to trust God as I increasingly learn to obey Him. I want to say as he did, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31 ESV). Paul was able to speak those words because he had experienced their reality in his daily life. He had seen them proven true time and time again, in spite of death threats, stonings, beatings, imprisonments, setbacks, false accusations, fruitless sermons, unfaithful disciples, and physical infirmities. Paul was able to keep on keeping on because he knew that God was with him. As long as he remained obedient to the call of God on his life, he knew he would have the presence of God in his life.

Father, may I learn to live like Paul. But too often my life can be characterized by the repetitive cycle of rebellion, remorse and rescue found in the book of Judges. Help me to live in obedience to You, regardless of the circumstances. I don't want trouble, trials, opposition or difficulties to cause me to abandon my hope in You or fail to live in obedience to You. You are with me. And if You are with me, who can stand against me?

The One and Only God.

Joshua 23-24, Acts 17

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. ­– Acts 17:24-25 ESV

As Joshua prepared for his own death and departure from the people of Israel, he wanted to give them one last word of warning. He was determined that they understood fully that their entire existence as a people and their presence in the land had been completely God's doing and not their own. He went out of his way to make that point abundantly clear.

And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake, for it is the Lord your God who has fought for you. – Joshua 23:3 ESV

The Lord your God will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land, just as the Lord your God promised you. – Joshua 23:5 ESV

For the Lord has driven out before you great and strong nations. And as for you, no man has been able to stand before you to this day. – Joshua 23:9 ESV

One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the Lord your God who fights for you, just as he promised you. – Joshua 23:10 ESV

…not one word has failed of all the good things that the Lord your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. – Joshua 23:14 ESV

God had been intimately and powerfully involved in their lives since the day He had called Abram out of Ur. It had been God who made of Abram a mighty nation. He had rescued the descendants of Abram when they found themselves enslaved in Egypt. He had brought them through the wilderness, providing for their every need along the way. He had brought them to the land He had promised to Abram, and gave them victory after victory over their enemies. God confirmed His role in their existence by reminding them, “…it was not by your sword or by your bow. I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant” (Joshua 24:12-13 ESV). The whole point of Joshua's charge to the people was to remind them of the non-negotiable reality of God in their lives. They couldn't deny it. But they could certainly ignore it, and that was Joshua's greatest fear. He knew his people well. He was well aware of their tendency toward unfaithfulness. Which is why he warned them, “Now there fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness” (Joshua 24:14 ESV). He challenged them to “choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell” (Joshua 24:15 ESV). Even when the people swear their allegiance to God, Joshua had to warn them to “put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord, the God of Israel” (Joshua 24:23 ESV).

Joshua knew that idolatry and spiritual adultery were going to be a constant temptation to the people of Israel – in spite of all that He had done for them. And Joshua wanted them to know that faithfulness to God was going to be difficult. “You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins” (Joshua 24:19 ESV). This is not teaching that God is unforgiving, but that He cannot abide unfaithfulness. His holiness demands allegiance and requires that He punish unfaithfulness.

What does this passage reveal about God?

When it comes to idols, God is anything but tolerant. He is far from politically correct. As the sole creator of the universe and the sustainer of all life, God has no reason to put up with the worship of gods who do not even exist. And yet, false gods have been a part of human existence ever since the fall. Those gods have taken all kinds of forms. Some have been literal statues, totems, figures and man-made representations of various animals. Some have been more sophisticated god-replacements, such as money, power, entertainment, health, military force or political influence. Anything we turn to other than God for our protection, provision, peace of mind, sense of fulfillment, or cause for joy, is nothing less than a false god. These God replacements have always been around. When Paul arrived in Athens, he couldn't help but notice all the idols and religious shrines located all over the city. He even told the citizens of Athens, “I perceive that in every way you are very religious” (Acts 17:22 ESV). He noted that they even had an altar dedicated “to the unknown god.” And in the spirit of Joshua, Paul makes a clear and compelling argument that there really is only one God. “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for ‘In him we live and move and have our being’” (Acts 17:24-28 ESV).

What does this passage reveal about man?

For Paul, there was only one God. He may have been unknown to the people of Athens, but before Paul was done with them, they would have an undeniable understanding of just who He was. Men tend to make gods who exist for their own well being. Yes, we want gods who are powerful, but only when it comes to their ability to accomplish mighty acts on our behalf. We want gods who are powerful enough to protect us and provide for us. Our gods are where we turn in times of need. If the rain fails to come, there must be a god to go to for help. If the enemy shows up at our borders, there must be a god to ask for assistance. If our wife is unable to bear us a child, we must have a god who will intervene and do the seemingly impossible. If we are poor, we want a god who will make us rich. If we are rich, we want a god who will keep us that way. If we are sick, we want a god who will make us well. If our enemy is well, we prefer a god who will make them sick. But Paul told the people of Athens “we ought not to think the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art or imagination of man” (Acts 17:29 ESV). No, God is not the fabric of man's fertile imagination. He wasn't made up or manufactured. No, the one and only God “commands all people to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31 ESV). God doesn't exist for man's convenience or to accomplish man's will. It is the other way around. Man exists for God's glory and to do His will. Man exists by God's doing and is meant to live according to His divine standards.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

There are two constant temptations for all men. First, we can try and deny the very existence of God, but inevitably we will have to manufacture a replacement for Him. We have a God-shaped hole in our very being that demands to be filled. So we will come up with a substitute. We may end up placing someone or something else on the pedestal of our lives, or we may simply resort to worshiping ourselves. We can just as easily put ourselves at the center of our universe and make ourselves the sole arbiter of our fate. The second temptation will be to acknowledge the existence of God, but to try and shape Him into the mold we prefer. In other words, we try to make God look like what we want. So we form a version of God that is inconsistent with Scripture. We make Him all loving and refuse to accept the idea that God might have standards or prove to be intolerant. We manufacture a God who is little more than a doting grandfather in the sky, doling out gifts to his grand kids, oblivious to their sins and shortcomings. The temptation is to make of God a god of our own choosing, which is to have no god at all. If we refuse to see God as a judge or try to deny that His holiness demands a righteousness based on His standards and not ours, we end up having an unknown god. But God has made it possible for us to know Him intimately and completely, because of His Son's death on the cross. God is not far from us. He has made Himself known to us through His creation. But He has made Himself knowable and approachable through His Son's sacrificial, sin-cancelling death. I have a relationship with the God of the universe because the Son of God paid the penalty for my sins on the cross. He did what no false could ever do. He made possible what had been impossible for me and every other human being who has ever lived. It is in recognition of that fact that we should “put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord, the God of Israel” (Joshua 24:23 ESV).

Father, You are the only true God. There are no other gods. But I know that I attempt to worship other gods all the time. I can make money my idol. I can make power or position my savior. I can turn to someone other than You for my satisfaction or sense of worth. I can easily seek consolation or solace in something other than You. Help me to constantly remember that You alone are God. You have given me everything I need, from the very life I live to the salvation I so desperately needed. I am nothing without You. Amen

Misunderstood and Mistreated.

Joshua 21-22, Acts 16

Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, ‘What is this breach of faith that you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away this day from following the Lord by building yourselves an altar this day in rebellion against the Lord? ­– Joshua 22:16 ESV

One of the common characteristics of all men is their ability to misunderstand or misrepresent one another. Even people of God suffer from this very human quality. It seems that we have a certain amount of distrust built into our character that makes it hard for us to take one another at our word. We are too quick to judge from appearances and draw conclusions without having done our homework. That impetuous streak can lead to some seriously wrong conclusions. Such was the case with the tribes who had settled the land west of the Jordan. Not long after God had given them the land He had promised them and their major battles were over, the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh were allowed to return to the land that had been allotted to them on the east side of the Jordan. Upon arrival, they built an “altar of imposing size” (Joshua 22:10 ESV). When the other tribes got word of this, they immediately jumped to the worst possible conclusion, and “the whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war against them” (Joshua 22:12 ESV). In their eyes, there could only be one reason for the building of the alter: they intended to rebel against God and create their own place of worship to honor their own gods. Fortunately, the 10 triibes were wise enough to send a delegation to warn their brothers against this serious breach of the nation's covenant with God. They knew that if it was true, ALL the people of Israel would suffer the same fate, just as had happened when Achan had sinned at Ai. But their conclusions proved wrong. Their assumptions regarding their brothers were false. The tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh had no intention of turning their backs on God. In fact, they had built the altar as a witness to the tribes beyond the Jordan that “we do perform the service of the Lord in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings" (Joshua 22:27 ESV). The altar was not intended for sacrifice or offerings and was not built as another place of worship. It was a memorial and a reminder, designed to be “a witness between us that the Lord is God” (Joshua 22:34 ESV).

What does this passage reveal about God?

It's interesting that God is somewhat silent in this portion of the narrative. Surely, He knew the hearts of the the two and a half tribes who had built the altar. Joshua and his leadership team could have sought His will in the matter, but they chose to draw their own conclusions. They assumed the worst and took matters into their own hands. And while I appreciate their zeal to maintain the spiritual integrity of the people, it fascinates me that they never sought the Lord regarding the situation. I believe God prompted them to send the delegation, thereby protecting them from making an even greater mistake by going straight to war with their brothers. Misunderstandings can be dangerous. The need for open lines of communication with God and with one another are critical. The men of the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh, had faithfully kept their word and fought alongside their brothers until the land west of the Jordan had been given into their hands by God. All this in spite of the fact that their land already lie conquered and occupied on the other side. Their wives and children waited for them there. And when it came time to return home, and they wanted to honor God by the building of an altar, their actions were misinterpreted. Perhaps they would have been wise to tell the other tribes what they intended to do before the parted way. This might have spared everyone a great deal of trouble. Nowhere does it indicate that they sought God's will in the matter. They came up with an idea and implemented it, never stopping to consider how their actions might be taken by the tribes west of the Jordan. It was the hand of God that kept this whole affair from escalating into a sad and regrettable fiasco.

What does this passage reveal about man?

As believers, we must always be aware of our own propensity to misunderstand and to be misunderstood by one another. We are not immune to this trait. But we must also understand that we will be regularly misunderstood by the lost world around us. Paul and Silas knew that reality first hand. They were faithful servants of God, doing His will and spreading the Good News of His Son wherever they went. As we have seen already, on more than one occasion, the apostles found themselves in conflict with the culture around them, including the Jews and the Gentiles. They were constantly misunderstood and mistreated for their efforts. And when Paul and Silas made their way to Philippi, a Roman colony, they were confronted by a slave girl who was possessed by a spirit that gave her special powers to tell fortunes. Her owners made a great deal of money as a result of her special, albeit demonic, ability. So when Paul cast the demon out and left her normal for the first time in a long time, his actions didn't exactly come across as beneficial to the owners of the slave girl. In their eyes, Paul was a meddler who had just radically and irreversibly influenced their financial future.  So “they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers” (Acts 16:19 ESV). There they accused Paul and Silas of disturbing the city and of “advocating customs that are not lawful for as as Romans to accept and practice” (Acts 16:20 ESV). As a result, Paul and Silas were beaten with rods and thrown into prison. Talk about a major misunderstanding.

But God would use even this unfortunate circumstance for the good of Paul and Silas and the glory of His own name. He intervened in the situation, miraculously opening the gates of the prison and setting Paul and Silas free. But His real intention was not just to release two men from captivity in a cell, but to set an entire household free from captivity to sin and death. The release of Paul and Silas, witnessed by their jailer, was used by God to lead this man and his entire household to salvation in Christ. While their actions had been misunderstood and misrepresented by most, God had a purpose behind it all. He would use it for the good of man and for His own glory. And in a way, it may be that God was behind the whole scenario given to us in Joshua 22, because He knew the hearts of His own people. So did the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh. They knew that there was a high likelihood that, in time, the western tribes would view their brothers across the Jordan as separate and distinct from them. They feared that the Jordan would act as a natural barrier separating them from their brothers and leading the western tribes to wrongly conclude, “What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? For the Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you people of Reuben and people of God. You have no portion in the Lord. So your children might make our children cease to worship the Lord” (Joshua 22:24-25 ESV). They feared that the day would come when they would be refused access to the altar and, therefore, to God Himself. Perhaps God really did lay the idea of a replica altar on their hearts. Maybe this was all God's doing, in order to assure that all 12 of the tribes, on either side of the Jordan, remained united and at peace with one another.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

As the people of God, we will be misunderstood by the world around us. Jesus warned us of this. But how vital it is that we go out of our way to understand one another. The key seems to be communication and giving one another the benefit of the doubt. We must do our best to not jump to conclusions and assume the worst. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed that we would be one just as He and His Father are one. He desired that we have unity. Unity requires communication. We must openly discuss our thoughts and share out opinions in an atmosphere of love and acceptance. Unity does not mean an absence of disagreements. It simply conveys the need for resolution and loving compromise. It requires that we seek the will of God. What would He have us do? We must constantly remind ourselves that we each have the capacity to misunderstand and misinterpret one another's actions. We must give one another the benefit of the doubt and seek to understand the heart behind our words and conduct. It is one thing to have the lost world misread our actions, but how sad it is when brothers and sisters in Christ jump to the wrong conclusions about one another and do irreparable damage to the Kingdom of God and bring shame to the name of Christ. I know I have been guilty of this far more times than I would like to think about. I am far to quick to judge based on what I see or hear, rather than to take time to seek the facts. Our wrong conclusions can have some seriously wrong consequences. How well King David put it. “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (Psalm 133:1 ESV). Unity requires humility. It demands a listening ear, a receptive heart, a willingness to extend grace, to assume the best, to seek God's will, and to die to my own selfish preconceived notions.

Father, we live in a world filled with constant misunderstandings and misrepresentations. Help me to be less and less a contributor to the mess. Prevent me from jumping to the wrong conclusion regarding my brothers and sisters in Christ. And when I am wrongly misunderstood and misrepresented by them, allow me to show grace and kindness in return. AmeKen Miller Grow Pastor & Minister to Men kenm@christchapelbc.org

Debates and Differences.

Joshua 19-20, Acts 15

But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.” ­– Acts 15:5 ESV

We can never escape the reality that God has chosen to accomplish His plan through flawed and fallible men. The fall left the human race ill-equipped to accomplish the will of God. Sin entered into the world and created an atmosphere where rebellion and dissension flourished and every man tended to do what was right in his own eyes. Selfishness and self-centeredness reigned. Disagreements and disunity ran rampant. And even among the Jewish people, chosen by God as His special possession, the tendency was for them to live in a constant state of disagreement with one another and disloyalty to God. In spite of their special relationship with God, they would find themselves committing sins against Him and one another. Which is one of the reasons God commanded Moses to establish cities of refuge. These six designated cities were designed to provide sanctuary for those guilty of unpremeditated murder. The fact was that, even among the people of God, murder would be a sad reality. Disunity and disagreements would exist and, at times, they could end up in one brother taking the life of another. Sin was a constant reality among the people of God and it still is. Even during the early days of the church, there were disputes and disagreements. And while we might want to look back on those days with a certain sense of nostalgia, believing them to have been idyllic and trouble-free, the Scriptures reveal that, even then, the presence of man's selfishness and self-centeredness was readily apparent.

What does this passage reveal about God?

The spread of the gospel is all the more amazing when you consider that God accomplished it through the means of men. One of His primary instruments was a former professional bounty hunter who was well-known for his relentless persecution of the church. Another was a man who, on the night of Jesus' arrest, had denied that he even knew Him three different times. God used ordinary men and women to spread the message of salvation throughout the world. He used the educated and the uneducated, the rich and the poor. He even used the hatred of men in the form of persecution to force the dispersement of His people throughout the known world at that time. God knew that His messengers were flawed and, while filled with the Holy Spirit, were still going to continue to wrestle with their sin natures. The flaws, weaknesses, and self-centered natures of men don't surprise God. In fact, God's power is best displayed through man's weaknesses. God uses and blesses us in spite of us. And while we might long for a day when there are no more disputes and disagreements among us, God seems to want to use those inevitable moments of friction to force us to turn to Him and to seek His will. Our propensity toward conflict should always drive us to Him for wisdom and direction. Left to our own devices, we will always lean towards selfishness and allow sin to taint our decision making.

What does this passage reveal about man?

As God's divine plan for the spread of the gospel unfolded, it was inevitable that man's warped sense of understanding would get in the way. For generations, the Jews had seen themselves as the apple of God's eye. They were the chosen ones. Their special relationship with God had left them with an elitist mentality that caused them to look down on every other people group. And interestingly enough, during the early days of the church, because it was birthed in the city of Jerusalem, many of the early converts were Jews. These individuals would tend to see salvation through the lens of their Jewish heritage and religious system. They would see Jesus as their Messiah and as an extension of their existing faith in Yahweh. They were not prepared for the fact that the gospel of Jesus Christ was available to any and all, Jew and Gentile alike. And even when they began to realize that God was opening up His Kingdom to include Gentiles, they couldn't help but believe that the salvation of these outsiders would be incomplete and insufficient until they became fully practicing Jewish converts, following the rites and rituals of the Hebrew religion, including circumcision. It seemed that everywhere Paul went, he was confronted by Jewish believers who were demanding that all Gentile converts be circumcised according to the custom of Moses, or else they couldn't be saved. This stipulation was unacceptable to Paul. But there was enough backing among many of the Jewish Christians that it led to “no small dissension and debate” (Acts 15:2 ESV). So Paul and Barnabas had to make their way to the church in Jerusalem for a special conference at which this matter would be debated and discussed. There “some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, ‘It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses‘” (Acts 15:5 ESV). This was followed by much debate. Speeches were given. Opinions were shared. But ultimately, they looked for what God was doing in and among them. They searched the Scriptures for insight. And, in spite of their initial differences, they came to a God-honoring solution. They put their differences aside and sought what God would have them do.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

It is interesting to note that even after this special conference yielded a satisfactory solution, Paul and Barnabas ended up having a “sharp disagreement” over whether or not to include John Mark on their next missionary journey. Barnabas wanted to take him with them. Paul refused, noting that John Mark had abandoned them on their first missionary journey. Paul was unwilling to take John Mark along, and so he and Barnabas parted ways. There is no indication in the passage that one man was right and the other was wrong. In fact, they seemed to part amicably and God used both parties to accomplish great things for the Kingdom of God. Their disagreement and decision to part ways was actually used by God to further the spread of the gospel. And Paul's opinion of John Mark would change in time (Colossians 4:10; Philemon; 2 Timothy 4:11). Disagreement is not always sinful. The key seems to be that both Paul and Barnabas were seeking to do the will of God. Barnabas, a man known for his encouraging character, was willing to extend grace to John Mark. He did not deny John Mark's actions on that first missionary journey, but he was willing to offer him a second chance. Paul, ever zealous for the cause of Christ, was more prone to see things in a black and white manner, wanted John Mark to understand the magnitude of his actions. Interestingly enough, Paul's strong personality was the very thing that God used to spread the gospel so effectively in those early years. But over time, Paul's nature would soften and his zeal would become tempered by a growing understanding of God's mercy, grace and forgiveness. His later letters are evidence of the slow, steady maturing process that took place in his life over time.

As we live life on this planet, we must be prepared for the inevitable disagreements and disputes that will arise among us as believers. They are going to happen. But we must always seek to do what God would have us do. We must be willing to discuss them openly and honestly. We must seek God's will over our own. We must search His Word for what His will might be. And we must always remember that He is going to accomplish His plan with us, but also in spite of us. God longs for our unity. Jesus prayed for it in the garden the night before He was crucified. But God also knows that unity is impossible in the flesh. We must listen and submit to His Spirit. We must die to our own selfish desires and be willing to seek His will at all costs. Even if it means letting go of what we believe is best and allowing Him to do what He wants to do.

Father, give me a growing desire to see Your will done, not my own. Help me not let pride, selfishness and my own worldly views get in the way of what You are doing. I want to do what You would have me do. Give me the ability to let go of my own agenda at times and allow you to speak through others. May we always seek unity and allow You to guide our decision making. May Your will be our will. Amen

Taking the Land.

Joshua 17-18, Acts 14

So Joshua said to the people of Israel, “How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land, which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you?” ­– Joshua 18:3 ESV

As Joshua slowly began to divide up the land that had been conquered into portions for the various tribes of Israel, it became apparent that there was not enough land to go around. There were still seven tribes who had yet been given their allotments. But the problem wasn't a lack of land, it was that the Israelites had not yet completed their job of dispossessing the current occupants of the land. So Joshua had to confront the people about their lack of initiative and follow through. God had given them the land. He had promised to give them victory over the inhabitants of the land. But they were still going to have to do their part, and until the did, many of them would miss out of the intended blessings of God. Over the Psalms, we have a prophecy regarding the rule and reign of Jesus as Messiah or King. It reads, “The Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and i will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession’” (Psalm 2:7-8 ESV). God had promised to give an heir of David all the nations of the earth. That heir was Jesus, the rightful heir to the throne of David. When Jesus commissioned His disciples, He told them, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8 ESV). In essence, Jesus was telling His disciples to “take the land.” They were to enter into enemy territory and take possession of it for the Kingdom of God. He had warned them that they were going to be like sheep among wolves, finding themselves in a constant battle with the forces of evil in the world. They would be arrested, beaten, and dragged before the authorities, but Jesus encouraged them, “And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say” (Luke 12:11-12 ESV). They were in a war, but they would be backed by the power of God.

What does this passage reveal about God?

God had a job for His people to do. The Israelites were to take possession of the land, relying on the power of God and resting in the abiding presence of God. In the same way, the apostles were to take possession of the land in the name of the King, Jesus Christ, and claim it for His Kingdom. Jesus had commissioned them to go and spread the Good News to all the nations of the earth. They were to enter into enemy land and take possession of its inhabitants, making them citizens of the Kingdom of God. Paul, Barnabas, John Mark, Peter, and the others were soldiers in the army of God, doing battle with the powers of darkness and facing daily opposition to their cause. Their war wasn't metaphorical. It was real and there were actual casualties, like Stephen, who had been stoned to death for proclaiming the name of Christ. Paul was stoned and left for dead in Lystra. He and Barnabas had been forced to flee from Iconium because the unbelieving Jews and Gentiles threatened to stone them to death. But “they continued to preach the gospel” (Acts 14:7 ESV). Even after his stoning, the next day Paul was in the city of Derbe, where he “preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples” (Acts 14:21 ESV). These men viewed themselves as commissioned members of the army of God. They were fighting on behalf of the cause of Christ, and were willing to risk anything and everything for their King and His Kingdom. God had promised to give the nations as an inheritance to His Son. These men were simply doing their part to make that promise possible. They were going places Jesus had never been. They were taking the message of the Kingdom of God to parts of the world where Jesus had never had the opportunity to go. Jesus had told His disciples, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12 ESV). This promise from Jesus has less to do with the quality of the works than their quantity. The sheer number of disciples moving out and spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ, backed by the power of God and equipped with the Spirit of God, would result in many more miracles taking place. There were be even more conversions. The Gospel would spread to places it had never been before. But only as faithful men did as they were told to do.

What does this passage reveal about man?

We have our part to play. God has chosen to make the message of His Son and His Kingdom made known through us. God has promised to give the nations to His Son as His inheritance. But as citizens of His Kingdom, it is our job to go before Him and take possession of what is already rightfully His. We must act as ambassadors and emissaries of His Kingdom, increasing the size and scope of His Kingdom on earth. This world belongs to God and His Son. It is currently occupied by enemy forces, those who oppose God and who refuse to acknowledge His Son as the rightful heir to the throne of God and as their King. Our job is to make the King known. Our obligation is to do battle with the forces of darkness, in order to set free all those who are held captive by the power of the enemy. Paul reminds us, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12 ESV). We are in a battle. It will not be easy, but we know that the land belongs to our King. We know it has been promised to Him by our God. We fight on His behalf and have the full backing and authority of God behind us in the form of the Holy Spirit. But as Joshua said to the people of Israel, God asks us, “How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land…?” (Joshua 18:3 ESV). We must not become distracted by the cares of this world. We must not allow ourselves to fall prey to the lie that there are more important things for us to do. We have a commission. We have a job to do.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

It is amazing how easily I can allow living my life to take place of my true purpose as a child of God. I can make it all about me and my own comfort and happiness. But I have a job to do that has been given to me by God Himself. Paul, Barnabas, Stephen, and Peter were committed to the cause of Christ. It was the focus of their lives. It was their reason for being. They took their commission by Christ seriously and spent their days spreading the news of Christ's Kingdom anywhere and everywhere. They entered into enemy territory, taking possession of the land for the name of Christ. They faced constant opposition. They lived with a real threat of danger. They knew that their lives could end just as Stephen's had. But they didn't hold back. They didn't get distracted. They saw the size and scope of the need. They realized the vast nature of the task at hand. The land lay before them. It was theirs to take. And there is still territory that remains in enemy hands today. There are still those who are held captive and have yet to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. It is our job to continue what the apostles began.

Father, give me a passion for Your cause. Give me a heart to fight for the Kingdom of Your Son. May I live my life like Paul, Barnabas and Peter did. Forgive me for making it all about my kingdom instead of Christ's. Forgive me for getting distracted from the cause and allowing myself to put off what You have called me to do. Give Your church a renewed sense of calling and the courage to take the land in the name of Christ. Amen

The Plan of God.

Joshua 15-16, Acts 13

And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. ­– Acts 13:19 ESV

It would take almost 450 years, but the people of Israel would eventually find themselves the inhabitants of the land promised by God to Abraham. He would fully fulfill His promise to give them the land of Canaan as their inheritance. God would do His part, but the people of Israel never fully complied with His command to destroy all the nations dwelling in the land. He would prove faithful, but they would not. Yet, the occupation of the land and their unfaithfulness while living in it were all part of His divine plan. This was not a surprise to God. He was not caught off guard or panicked by their lack of faithfulness. In fact, Paul makes it clear that all of this was part of a well-conceived of plan devised by God long before He ever called Abram out of Ur. The people of Israel would be used by God to accomplish His will for the entire world. They would not only be the recipients of His grace, they would end up being the conduit of His grace and mercy to the entire world.

What does this passage reveal about God?

Speaking at the synagogue at Perga, Paul addressed a crowd made up of Jews and those who “feared God” – Gentiles who had converted to Judaism. He recounted God's choosing of Israel and His blessing of them while they lived in the land of Egypt. He reminded them how God had rescued them from their eventual slavery under the Egyptians and led them for 40 years in the wilderness as they made their way to the land He had promised to give them. Eventually they conquered that land, but it would take them 450 years to do so. And they would never fully follow God's command to eliminate all the nations that had occupied the land. This would end up in their worship of the gods of the very nations they refused to remove from their midst. Which Paul reminds them, is what led to God having to send judges. These men and women would “saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them” (Judges 2:16 ESV). The period of the judges marked a repetitive cycle of the people sinning against God by turning to other gods, then God having to bring judgment in the form of defeat at the hands of their enemies. This would eventually result in the people crying out to God for help, and His sending of a judge to rescue them. Then the cycle would repeat itself. In time, the people of Israel determined they wanted a king, just like all the other nations had. In doing so, they were rejecting God as their true King. But this was all part of God's plan as well. After giving the people Saul, a king just like all the other nations, God would place His king, David, on the throne – “a man after my heart, who will do all my will” (Acts 13:22 ESV). From the lineage of David would came Jesus, the Savior of the world and the legitimate heir to the throne of David. But the Jews would reject Him as their King and Lord. They would refuse to recognize Him as their Messiah, instead demanding that Pilate put Him to death. Which he did. But this was all part of God's plan. The death of Jesus was not unexpected or surprising to God. It was all in fulfillment of a long-standing plan for the redemption of mankind. Jesus had to die. But His death was followed by resurrection. He did not remain in the grave. God destroyed death's strangle hold on mankind by raising Jesus back to life. Elsewhere Paul reminds us, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11 ESV). Jesus' restoration to life from death is proof of God's promise to give men eternal life. Paul told his audience that day, “Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38-39 ESV).

What does this passage reveal about man?

The plans of men pale in comparison to the plan of God. The unfaithfulness of men cannot thwart or stop the faithfulness of God. The people of Israel never lived up to God's expectations for them. But He wasn't surprised. He knew they could never fully keep His commands or live up to His holy standards. His law was intended to reveal the depth of their sin and depravity. It made the reality of man's sin visible and undeniable. It also proved that no man could earn favor with God through his own efforts – “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 ESV). All men, both Jews and Gentiles, find themselves in the same dilemma – under the curse of the law and condemned to death for their sins. But God's plan was to send His Son as the payment for man's sin. His death was intended to satisfy the just and righteous demands of God, acting as a substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of mankind. But as in Paul's day, there are those who refuse to accept God's Son as the payment for their sins. They refuse to believe their need for a Savior. There will always be those who reject Jesus as Savior and Lord. But God's plan will accomplish its appointed goal: “And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48 ESV). Many will reject God's offer of forgiveness of sin and salvation made available through Jesus Christ. But others will believe. Because it is all part of God's incredible, unstoppable plan.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

It is so important that I view life from God's perspective and not from my own, limited viewpoint. I must constantly learn to see the world from a big-picture perspective. While the people of Israel were integral to God's plan, they were not the focus. Their inability to understand and embrace God's big-picture perspective prevented them from enjoying His blessings. They were short-term in their outlook, only thinking about the immediate impact on their personal lives. They didn't live for the future. They lived in the here and now, fulfilling their own personal desires and viewing themselves as the sole focus of God's attention. But God had bigger plans. He had a much larger outcome in mind. And while God still has His hand on the people of Israel and will fulfill every promise He has made to them, His real goal was to provide redemption and restoration to men of every tribe, tongue and nation. God's plan is not yet complete. I must remember that there is far more to this story than my own personal chapter. God is working a much greater storyline and, while it includes me, it does not focus on me. I am not the point. He is.

Father, thank You for the reminder and reassurance that Your plan is in place and You are working it to perfection. There is nothing that I need to worry about, because You are in full control. Help me to see life through Your eyes and not my own. Show me how to view all the circumstances of life as part of Your overall plan for the redemption and restoration of mankind to a right relationship with You. Amen

Faith in the Midst of the Storm.

Joshua 13-14, Acts 12

So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said. ­– Joshua 14:12 ESV

Caleb had waited a long time for this day. More than 40 years ago, he and Joshua had been two of the 12 men sent by Moses to spy out the land of Canaan before the Israelites were to begin their conquest. But 10 of the spies returned with a bad report. They had admitted that the land was bountiful and everything God had advertised it to be, but it was also full of powerful armies and formidable walled cities. Their words created doubt and fear among the people. Yet Caleb had encouraged the people to trust God. “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it” (Numbers 13:30 ESV). He had not glossed over or ignored the reality that there were enemies in the land, but had encouraged the people to trust God. In the end, the people listened to the words of the majority and chose not to trust God and do as He had commanded. They refused to enter into the land and, as a result, God banished them to wander in the wilderness until that generation died off. Now four decades later, at the age of 85, Caleb stepped forward to claim his reward. God had promised him, “Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the Lord” (Deuteronomy 1:35-36 ESV). For 40 long years, Caleb had faithfully waited to see the promise of God fulfilled. He had watched the other 10 spies die by a plague at the hand of God. He had been witness to the slow die off of his peers as they wandered aimlessly in the wilderness. But now he was ready to enjoy the promise for which he had long waited and eagerly anticipated.

There is always a temptation to do things our own way. Doing things God's way doesn't always make sense or seem logical. It isn't always easy. But Joshua learned that God's way is always best and produces the preferred outcome.

What does this passage reveal about God?

God had not forgotten about Caleb. And Caleb had not forgotten the promise of God. It is interesting that Caleb is the one who had to remind Joshua, his fellow spy, that there was a promise yet to be fulfilled. God didn't bring it up. It seems He waited for Caleb to claim it. God's promise stood. It was up to Caleb to stand on that promise and take what was rightfully his. He had waited a long time for this day to arrive. He had probably had his doubts along the way that he would live long enough to see it happen. But he had trusted God because he knew God to be trustworthy. In the face of adversity, he faithfully waited on God. Forty years is a long time to wait. It would give anyone a lot of time to think, doubt, fear, and question whether God was ever going to come through. But Caleb kept waiting and trusting. The writer of Hebrews tells us, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 ESV). Caleb's hope was in the promise of God. His assurance was in the faithfulness of God. He was not going to let time or adversity stand in his way or prevent him from believing.

It is interesting to note that when the church was launched by God on the day of Pentecost, it was characterized by amazing growth as well as intense persecution. It took off like a rocket, but its meteoric rise also attracted a lot of unwanted attention and resulted in strong opposition. Stephen was stoned. James was killed by Herod. Peter was imprisoned. And the believers were forced to pray and wait. As they sat behind closed doors calling on God, they had to have doubts and fears. The had to have wondered why all of this was happening. How could the deaths of James and Stephen be the will of God? How could anything good come of Peter's imprisonment? What if he ended up the same way? What would they do? “But earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church” (Acts 12:5 ESV). They prayed and waited. And God moved. He moved miraculously, releasing Peter from prison and sending him to tell the news of his release to those who had been earnestly praying for him.

What does this passage reveal about man?

When Peter showed up at the door of the home where the others were praying on his behalf, they refused to believe it was him. While they had been praying earnestly, they had evidently been doubting as well. Their expectations didn't seem to include Peter's miraculous release by God. We are not told what they prayed. Perhaps they had simply prayed that Peter's life would be spared by Herod. Maybe they had prayed that Peter would simply be imprisoned but not executed. But we do know that when Peter showed up, they had a hard time accepting the fact that he had been released. They were amazed. It was not what they had been expecting. Unlike Caleb, these people had not received a specific promise from God regarding the future. They had not been told by God that Peter would be spared and released from captivity by an angel of the Lord. They simply had to pray and wait. But it still required faith – the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. They had to wait on God, not knowing exactly what it was they were waiting for. They had seen the growth of the church after the stoning of Stephen. They had witnessed the miraculous conversion of Saul, the greatest threat to the church in those early days. They knew that God worked in mysterious ways and that what He did didn't always make sense. But He could be trusted.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

Caleb stood for more than 40 years on a promise made to him by God. The friends of Peter stood on the faithfulness and sovereignty of God. Caleb knew exactly what he was waiting for and had spent four decades with his hope set on its arrival. The men and women gathered in that home praying for Peter had no idea what to expect or how God was going to work, but they placed their faith in God. Caleb had to wait a long time. The friends of Peter didn't. But in both cases, they had to deal with doubt, fear, and the unknown. They had to face apparent adversity with a faithful tenacity to trust in God. He would come through. And in both cases, He did. There are certain promises made by God for which I am assured and for which I am simply going to have to wait. There are other times when the only promise I have is that God is with me and for me. He has assured me of His presence and the availability of His power in my life. But He has not given me the details of how all things are going to work out. It is in those times that I must faithfully wait on Him, trusting in His character and standing on His promise to never leave me or forsake me. God came through for Caleb. He came through for Peter. He will come through for me. How? I may not always know. When? He doesn't always tell me? But He can be trusted. I can have an assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen – because my God is faithful.

Father, I want to learn to trust You more. I want to stand on Your promises and wait on Your power to be revealed in my life. Forgive me for my doubts and fears. Forgive me when I am shocked and surprised when You do come through, as if it is something I never expected. May I never be taken back by Your activity in and around my life.  Amen

God's Way Is the Best Way.

Joshua 11-12, Acts 11

…who was I that I could stand in God's way? ­– Acts 11:17 ESV

Every child of God faces a daily choice to either live their life God's way, or according to their own will. And it's not a one-time decision. Countless times during each day of our lives we are given opportunities to follow God's will and do things His way, or to determine that our way is better. When Joshua led the people into the land of Canaan, he knew full well what God's expectations on him were. He knew what his job was and how God wanted him to do it. And he had learned a valuable lesson when he and the people failed to follow God's plan in the case of the city of Ai. It resulted in defeat. But when Joshua and the people did things God's way, the results were markedly different. God had told Joshua not to fear those nations living in the land, because they would be handed over to the people of Israel for defeat by the hand of God Himself. And that's exactly what happened – “and the Lord gave them into the hand of Israel” (Joshua 11:8 ESV). Joshua's conquest of northern Canaan was a huge military success. In fact, chapter 12 records that Joshua and the people defeated 31 different kings and kingdoms. That was 29 more victories than Moses had experienced when he led the people of Israel.

There is always a temptation to do things our own way. Doing things God's way doesn't always make sense or seem logical. It isn't always easy. But Joshua learned that God's way is always best and produces the preferred outcome.

What does this passage reveal about God?

When God birthed the Church in the early days after Jesus' ascension, it was clear that He had a plan in place. The growth was spectacular and the events surrounding it were far from normal. The Spirit of God was at work. And yet there was persecution present as well. In the midst of the exciting expansion of the Gospel and the coming to faith of countless men and women, there was a growing animosity toward the cause of Christ and those who claimed His name. But that persecution resulted in the spread of the Gospel. The Church was scattered. “Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far away as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews” (Acts 11:19 ESV). God was using the persecution of the Church to force the Gospel outside the confines of Jerusalem and Judea and into the surrounding regions of the world at that time. Not only that, He was opening up the Gospel to the Gentile world, expanding the Good News beyond the confines of the Jewish nation. Peter had learned that God's way included ALL men, not just Jews. Barnabas and Paul would discover that God was at work among the Gentiles in Antioch, pouring out His Spirit on them as “a great number who believed turned to the Lord” (Acts 11:21 ESV). It was in Antioch, among the newly converted Gentile believers, that the term “Christian” first came into use. The term was used to distinguish those who were of the “Christ party” from the religious Jews and pagan Gentiles. God was doing something new and exciting. His way was producing amazing results, and the world was beginning to notice.

What does this passage reveal about man?

When the apostles first received word that Gentiles were coming to faith in Christ, they didn't know what to think. The more hard-core Jewish believers, known as the “circumcision party”, were upset with Peter, criticizing him for spending time with uncircumcised Gentiles. They just couldn't believe that this would be within God's will. But Peter revealed the story of his call by God to go to Caesarea. He told them, “the Spirit told me to go with them, ‘making no distinction’” (Acts 11:12 ESV). Peter made it clear that this was clearly the work of God and it had been anointed by the Spirit of God. He concluded, “who was I that I could stand in God's way?” (Acts 11:17 ESV). Peter knew that God's will was going to be done – either with or without him. To disobey God would have been futile. It would not have halted the advance of His Kingdom, but it would have placed Peter in an unenviable position as a stumbling block to God's will. God was granting to the Gentiles repentance that leads to life, and he was not going to stand in God's way.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

There should be no greater desire in the life of a believer than to watch God work. Our hope should be that we are always willing participants in God's great plan for the redemption of mankind. His way should be our way. His will should be our greatest desire. When Joshua did things God's way, he was able to witness some powerful results. He was an eye witness to the mighty hand of God operating on behalf of His people. When Peter, Barnabas, Paul and the apostles realized what God was doing among the Gentiles, they knew that their best option was to join in, whether they fully understood or not. God was confirming His work among the Gentiles through His Holy Spirit and there was no reasonable excuse for standing against what God was doing. God's way is always the best way. I must continually learn to live my life in keeping with His will and with a sensitivity to what He is doing in the world around me. I can't afford to let my way get in the way. My personal agenda must always take a backseat to God's Kingdom agenda.

Father, we fail to see more victories in our lives because we tend to want to do things our way, rather than Yours. Help me to understand just how important it is to live my life according to Your terms and not my own. I never want to stand in Your way. I know I do it thought. Sometimes willingly. Other times, ignorantly. Give me a special sensitivity to Your will and an ability to know Your way, and then follow it.  Amen

The Counsel of God.

Joshua 9-10, Acts 10

So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the Lord. ­– Joshua 9:14 ESV

If you don't know what God's will is, you will find it extremely difficult to follow it. And there is an obligation on the people of God to constantly seek out and listen to the will of God. In the case of the people of Israel, they should have known that God had a will concerning their conquest of the land. He had made it clear what He wanted them to do and how He intended them to go about doing it. Their defeat of Jericho had been quite specific and detailed. Their failure to defeat Ai the first time was directly related to their failure to obey His revealed will concerning the items devoted to destruction. There were times when God's will was extremely clear and undeniable. But there were also times when the Israelites found themselves needing some clarification from God. Such was the case when the Gibeonites pulled their elaborate ruse and tricked the Israelites into signing a covenant with them. Joshua and the people were completely deceived, even though they had some suspicions. They went ahead and signed a covenant with the Gibeonites, not realizing that these people were actually inhabitants of the land of Canaan and should have been on the list of those nations deemed for destruction. The passage makes it clear that Joshua and the people “did not ask counsel from the Lord.” They didn't turn to God and ask His advice. They simply acted on gut instinct. And their decision was binding because they had sworn an oath to the Gibeonites “by the Lord, the God of Israel” (Joshua 9:18 ESV). That oath guaranteed the safety of the Gibeonites and bound the Israelites to protect them at all costs. They ended up having to defend the Gibeonites when a five-nation federation came against them. Their failure to seek God's counsel left them vulnerable and in a compromised position.

What does this passage reveal about God?

God longs for His people to know His will. Sometimes He makes it perfectly clear and undeniable. Other times, God allows us to experience circumstances in which our next step is not always obvious. It is in those times that we must learn to ask God what He would have us do. Over in the book of Colossians, there is recorded a prayer that Paul prayed on behalf of the believers in the city of Colossae. He prayed, “We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better” (Colossians 1:9-10 ESV). Paul's desire was that God would give them a complete knowledge of His will, so that they could know beyond a shadow of a doubt what it was that He would have them to do. Knowing God's will was directly tied to living lives that honored and pleased God. When God reveals His will to men, they are given an opportunity to obey and live their lives according to His divine plan. Obedience pleases God. Living according to God's will always produces the right results. In the case of Peter, he received a vision from God that left him somewhat confused and uncertain. He had a dream in which he was offered a feast from God that contained a wide range of animals, reptiles and birds – all previously banned by God to the people of Israel. To have eaten any of these creatures would have made Peter unclean. Yet God said, “Rise, Peter, kill and eat” (Acts 10:13 ESV). Peter refuses. Like a good, faithful Jew, he turns down this seeming temptation to sin against God. But then God surprises Peter by saying, “What God has made clean, do not call common” (Acts 10:15 ESV). The word translated “common” is actually the same word that is often translated “unclean.” God is trying to tell Peter something, but it all leave him confused and perplexed. The arrival of Peter's three visitors would begin to illuminate the vision and clarify God's will.

What does this passage reveal about man?

The command by God to eat the banned creatures had to have caught Peter off guard. It went against everything he knew as a Jew. He would have been violating God's revealed will concerning the consumption of unclean animals. To do so would have been to make himself impure and resulted in his removal from the assembly of the people and banned from the presence of God. But these were different days. God was doing a new work among His people. With the death and resurrection of His Son, God had done a new work and was introducing a new means by which men might be made right with Him. No longer was righteousness to be attained through the keeping of laws, and only available to those who were Jews. Being right with God would not be based on human effort, but on the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross. And it would be available to all. Peter was being made aware of God's new plan for man, and it was going to include the Gentiles who had long been considered unclean by the Jews. But as God revealed His will to Peter regarding the Gentiles, Peter was going to have to decide whether to obey it or not. Peter explained his dilemma quite clearly to Cornelius and his guests. “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean” (Acts 10:28 ESV). Peter knew God's will. Now he had to obey it. “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him” (Acts 10:34 ESV). The rules of engagement with God had changed. His revealed will had made it clear that “everyone who believes in him [Jesus] receives forgiveness of sin through his name” (Acts 10:43 ESV).  Peter had received the counsel of God. And he willingly embraced and obeyed it, even though it went against everything he had ever been taught before. The result was a powerful movement of God among the Gentiles. They believed, received the Holy Spirit and were baptized.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

Sometimes God makes His counsel known beforehand. It is revealed in His Word and is non-negotiable and undeniable. But then there are those times when we may find ourselves wondering what it is that God would have us do. We all face instances in which we aren't quite sure that the next step should be. It is at those times we must learn to seek God's counsel. And there are no matters to big or small for God. He cares. He wants to reveal His will to us. That is why Paul prayed that his brothers and sisters in Christ would have a complete knowledge of God's will, including spiritual wisdom and understanding. He wanted to them to know how to please and honor God with their lives by knowing exactly what God would have them to do in any given circumstance. Asking for God to reveal His will to us may sound strange. It may require waiting or postponing our decision until we hear from Him. In other words, we may find ourselves having to WAIT. Not something any of us particularly like doing. But living according to the counsel of God is always well worth the wait.

Father, Your counsel is always available to us. We just have to ask. We have to seek it. You have given us Your Word as a trustworthy source of Your will. Keep me hungry to know Your will and to live my life according to it – even when I don't quite understand it or like it. Your way is always best.  Amen

God's Will Must Be Done God's Way.

Joshua 7-8, Acts 9

Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction.I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you. ­– Joshua 7:12 ESV

The people of Israel had experienced a significant victory over the city of Jericho. It was their first battle in their conquest of the land of Canaan, and God had shown up in a major way, destroying the walls of the city and delivering its inhabitants into the hands of the Israelites. But God had placed conditions and restrictions on the people, demanding that they devote everything in the city to Him. It was all to be destroyed. And all the silver and gold, every vessel of bronze and iron was to be separated out, dedicated to God, and placed in the treasury of the Tabernacle. But one man refused to play by God's rules. Achan decided to disobey God and satisfy his lustful desires by stealing a cloak, as well as some silver and gold, hiding it all away in his tent. But God knew. And as long as this sin went unconfessed, the people would be incapable of doing God's will. The sin of one man had infected the camp, turning the face of God against them. So when Joshua sent out a small contingent of men to take the much-smaller city of Ai, he was shocked when what should have been an easy victory turned into a major defeat. In his mind, they had simply been doing the will of God by taking the land from its inhabitants. But their efforts had failed. He was confused. He even asked God, “Alas, O Lord God, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us?” (Joshua 7:7 ESV). But God's will must be done His way. His abiding presence and power was dependent upon Israel's faithful adherence to His commands.

What does this passage reveal about God?

The problem at Ai was not that they were a more formidable army. It was that unconfessed sin had infected the camp of Israel. Israel had sinned. Yes, one man had committed a solitary act of disobedience to God, but the entire community shared in the guilt. God told Joshua, “Israel has sinned; they have transgressed my covenant that I commanded them; they have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen and lied and put them among their own belongings. Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you” (Joshua 7:11-12 ESV). Even thought Joshua and the people knew nothing about Achan's crime, and had played no role in it, God was holding them all responsible for it. As long as this sin went undetected and unconfessed, Israel would find it impossible to do God's will. They would be not be able to stand before their enemies because God refused to be with them. It is impossible to accomplish God's will without God's presence and power. And it is impossible to enjoy God's presence and power if you are unwilling to do things God's way. Disobedience had brought the discipline of God. Now it was Joshua's job to deal with the sin in their midst.

What does this passage reveal about man?

In the book of Acts we have recorded the incredible story of Saul's conversion. This man, who at one time had been a key figure in the persecution of the church, arresting Christians and placing them in prison, had met the resurrected Lord on his way to Damascus. He had a divine encounter and was left blind by the experience. When Ananias, a faithful follower of Christ, received a vision from God to go and restore the sight of Saul, he was shocked and more than a bit reluctant. He knew the reputation of this man. Ananias debated with God regarding Saul, saying, “how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem” (Acts 7:13 ESV). But it was God's will that Ananias go. It was God's will that Saul become “a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel” (Acts 7:15 ESV). It was essential that Ananias do the will of God the way God wanted it to be done. In his mind, it all made no sense. It seemed ridiculous and even dangerous. But Ananias obeyed. He did as God told Him to do, in spite of his fears and reservations. Joshua had to do the same thing. He had to listen to God, assemble the entire nation of Israel, and allow God to reveal the source of their sin. Then he had to purge the sin from their midst by destroying Achan, his family, belongings, and all the treasure he had stolen from Jericho. This probably seemed like a harsh punishment to Joshua. After all, Achan had confessed. He admitted that he had sinned against God. But he had not done so willingly and without coercion. So Joshua obeyed God and cleansed the people of Israel from their sin. God's will had to be done God's way. And while Ananias might not have understood what God was doing, he had to obey what God was commanding. His obedience resulted in the restoration of Saul's eyesight and, more importantly, the beginning of Saul's ministry as God's messenger of the good news of Jesus Christ. As a result, “the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied” (Acts 9:31 ESV). God's will done God's way resulted in God's blessing.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

Once the people of Israel had cleansed the sin from their midst, they experienced the presence of God once again. They were able to defeat the city of Ai with ease. God gave them victory. Ananias, while reluctant to do what God had revealed for him to do, did it any way and got the joy of being a part of God's divine plan to raise up Saul as His divine instrument. He got to witness the transformation of this man's life from that of a persecutor of the faith to a bold proclaimer of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Doing God's will in God's way always results in the joy of seeing God's work being accomplished in our midst. We may not get it at first, but if we trust and obey Him, we will eventually see His will accomplished. Sometimes we fail to witness the power and presence of God because we simply refuse to do the will of God His way.

Father, I want to learn to do Your will Your way. Forgive me for the many times I question Your will and try to talk my way out of it. I confess that I can sometimes be stubborn and hardheaded, wanting to do things my way because they make more sense to me. I can try and twist Your will and cut corners. I can find excuses and create rationales for disobeying you. But if I want to be a witness to Your power, I must learn to do Your will Your way.  Amen

The Movement of God.

Joshua 5-6, Acts 8

So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city. ­– Joshua 6:20 ESV

The Bible gives us a glimpse into the history of God's interactions with man. It reveals moments in which God intervenes and interjects Himself into the affairs of men, revealing His divine presence and displaying His incomparable power. When it was time for the people of Israel to begin their conquest of the land of Canaan, God showed up in the form of the Captain of the Host. Joshua found himself face to face with the Lord Himself, dressed for battle and with drawn sword in hand. Joshua, not immediately recognizing who this individual was, asked Him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” (Joshua 5:13 ESV). In other words, Joshua wanted to know if this warrior and His army were friends or foes. Did the Israelites have two enemies to contend with, or was this an unexpected ally? But the Lord's answer was basically, “Neither.” He simply replied, “No, but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come” (Joshua 5:14 ESV). And Joshua immediately bowed down and worshiped Him. We know that this was no ordinary man, because of what He instructed Joshua to do next. “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy” (Joshua 5:15 ESV). These were the same words God spoke when He appeared to Moses in the burning bush years earlier. This was a sacred encounter with God. He had showed up and was letting Joshua know that His presence was going to have a dramatic impact on what was about to happen. The conquest of the land was not going to be done conventionally or by human means alone. It was to be a movement of God. It was going to have the fingerprints of God all over it, so that the people of Israel would know that their success was due to Him, not themselves. God's instructions to Joshua regarding the siege and fall of Jericho had to have sounded farfetched and a bit ridiculous. But Joshua's obedience brought victory. His willingness to do God's work in God's way resulted in God's will being done.

What does this passage reveal about God?

It is so easy for us to question the will and the ways of God. We sometimes wonder and question why God does things the way He does. In reading the story of the spread of the church in the book of Acts, it is difficult to understand why Stephen had to die a martyr's death. It is hard to comprehend why Saul had to persecute the church, dragging off men and women to prison. But the movement of God is not always recognizable to us. Luke records the events just as they happened. He makes it clear that “Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison” (Acts 8:3 ESV). But even this was a work of God. It was all part of the plan of God. Because at this point, the message of the good news of Jesus Christ has been confined to the city of Jerusalem. But Jesus had told His disciples, “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8 ESV). The gospel was to be preached around the world. So God moved in the midst of men, bringing about a persecution that would result in a dispersion of the people of God so that they might spread the message of Christ. “Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word” (Acts 8:4 ESV). God moved and so did the people. And Luke makes it clear that Philip went down to Samaria, exactly where Jesus had instructed His disciples to go. And because Philip was forced to leave the safe and familiar confines of Jerusalem, many of the Samaritans heard the good news of Jesus Christ and believed. God moved and the Spirit of God came upon all those who believed. He put His seal of approval on the lives of those who placed their faith in Jesus. Philip even got the opportunity to share the gospel with an Ethiopian – someone who represented “the end of the earth.” Philip would end up traveling through Judea and settling in Caesarea, a busy trading hub on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The good news was spreading. This was clearly a movement of God.

What does this passage reveal about man?

Mankind has always needed a movement of God. If you take Him out of the story of human history, it would be a bleak and hopeless affair. God's movements among men have always resulted in powerful and significant outcomes. He moved at creation and brought mankind into existence. He moved again and brought about the destruction of virtually all mankind because of the prevailing presence of sin. But He moved in the life of Noah and provided a means of salvation. He moved in the life of Abraham and brought about the creation of the people of Israel. He moved in the life of Moses and delivered His people from captivity in Egypt. He moved among the Israelites, providing them with provision and protection all the years they wandered in the wilderness. He moved at Jericho, and the walls fell. Mankind desperately needs to see God move. But God almost always moves through men. He used Noah. He used Abraham. He used Moses and Joshua. He used Stephen, Peter, and Philip. God used the people of Israel to march around the walls of Jericho, but it was God who caused the walls to fall. God used Philip to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the people living in Samaria, but it was God who caused His Holy Spirit to fall. The movement of God among men always uses men of God. Simon the magician failed to understand that fact. He wanted the power for himself. He thought he could purchase the ability to display power like God possessed. But the movement of God is reserved for God alone. It can't be bought, replicated, or manufactured by human means.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

As a child of God I should long to see the movement of God in my life and in the world in which I live. The lost among whom I live don't need to see my handiwork, they need to see God at work in and around my life. When the nations living in the land of Canaan got word about how God had miraculously dried up the waters of the Jordan River, allowing the people of Israel to cross over, the book of Joshua records, “their hearts melted and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel” (Joshua 5:1 ESV). They knew that the people of Israel had a powerful God who moved on their behalf. He displayed His power in practical and unprecedented ways. He moved and the world took notice. When God moves, it is always difficult for the world to ignore, explain or understand. They may try to discount it or deny it, but a true movement of God among men is usually undeniable and unavoidable. When God moves, men notice. We should long for a movement of God among us. As the people of God, we should pray for and expect God to move on our behalf and in our midst. When God moves, things happen. In Jericho, walls fell. In Samaria, the Holy Spirit fell. God wants to move in our midst. He is still the Captain of the Host, ready to fight on our behalf and defeat the enemies we face.

Father, I want to see You move today. We desperately need a movement of God in our midst. Sometimes I don't always understand how You work. I don't always like how You choose to move, but I recognize that when You choose to move among men, it it always obvious and undeniable. That is what we long to see. You are here. Let us see You move.  Amen

God-Exalted Leadership.

Joshua 3-4, Acts 7

Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. ­– Joshua 3:7 ESV

Joshua was God's hand-picked replacement for Moses. But it was essential that the people see him as Moses' equal and not just some unqualified stand-in. Also, God knew that Joshua was going to need some reassurance that his role as leader had God's “Good Housekeeping seal of approval.” So God let him know that He was going to “exalt” him in the sight of the people. He was going to elevate Joshua's stock in the minds of the people by giving clear and convincing evidence that he was indeed God's man for the job. It just so happened that the very time of the year that God had picked for the people to begin their conquest of the land of Canaan was the same time of year when the Jordan River overflowed its banks. This was not a coincidence or a circumstance that caught God off guard and unprepared. It was all part of His divine plan. Just when the people of Israel were going to have to cross over the Jordan, God made sure that the circumstances were as difficult and impossible as they could be. They had lost their esteemed leader, Moses. They were faced with the prospect of having to get over a flooded, rapidly flowing river. They were being led by an unproven, novice leader. In other words, the situation was just right for God to work. And He did. He instructed Joshua to have the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant into the waters of the Jordan and, when their feet touched the water, the river ceased to flow and left them standing on dry ground. The people were able to cross over the river and into the land of Canaan, safe and sound. God had exalted His new leader. He had proven to the people that Joshua was His man for the moment. “On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they stood in awe of him just as they had stood in awe of Moses, all that days of his life” (Joshua 4:14 ESV).

What does this passage reveal about God?

God confirms those whom He chooses to act on His behalf. Moses was given the ability to perform signs and wonders, confirming his position as God's spokesman and deliverer. David was given the ability to defeat Goliath, an adversary far greater in size and strength, and in doing so, revealed that God's hand was on him. The prophets spoke on behalf of God and their right to do so was confirmed by God's fulfillment of their prophecies. God exalts or lifts up those whom He chooses. He confirms those whom He calls. But it isn't always the way we might expect. Not every called one ends up working miracles or performing great signs and wonders. In the story of the early church, found in the book of Acts, we see the rise of Stephen to leadership. He had been recognized as a man of “good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom” (Acts 6:3 ESV). He was full of grace and power. God elevated him to a position of leadership within the church and gave him the ability to speak truth boldly and without compromise. He was clearly God's man for the hour. Luke describes him as having a “face…like the face of an angel” (Acts 6:15 ESV). And yet God chose to exalt Stephen in a way that most of us would find shocking and surprising. This man, whose life was marked by grace and power and who was filled with the Holy Spirit, was stoned to death by the hands of those with whom he attempted to share the good news of Jesus Christ. He was exalted in death. Jesus had warned the disciples that this was going to happen. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake” (Matthew 24:9 ESV). Stephen became the consummate leader that day. He gave his life for the cause of Christ and was exalted by God in his death. Again, Jesus had taught His disciples, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39 ESV). “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mark 8:35 ESV). The truth is that God sometimes exalts His chosen leaders through suffering and even death. This was the case with Jesus. Paul writes, “he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name” (Philippians 2:8-9 ESV). Jesus was God's own Son, and yet He had been sent to suffer and die. He was the Chosen One, but His role was to be that of the suffering servant and sacrificial Lamb. His obedience “to the point of death” resulted in His exaltation.

What does this passage reveal about man?

We have a warped view of leadership. We have saddled the concept with misconceptions and misunderstandings, turning it into a self-centered and self-elevating notion surrounded with power, position, prominence and possessions. We see leadership as tied to authority and power. And in the world, all these things are true. But in God's economy, leadership is always about service, humility and sacrifice. Some of God's leaders, like David and Solomon, held positions of prominence and power. Others, like Stephen, found their tenure short-lived and marked by tragedy. Virtually all of the disciples would die in their service for the Kingdom. There is no doubt that they were chosen of God and served as leaders for the cause of Christ, but their leadership would be marked by suffering and death. There is something attractive to most of us about being a leader like Moses or Joshua. The idea of being God's instrument for accomplishing great signs and wonders is appealing. We all want to be used by God. We would all love for others to see the hand of God on our lives through the miraculous things He accomplishes through us. But what if God's exaltation of us involves our suffering and death? What if His calling on our lives is revealed through our suffering in this life? Prosperity, power and prominence are not necessarily the mark of God's hand on a man's life. Before David could become the king of Israel, he had to suffer for years, living as a fugitive in the wilderness with a bounty on his head. He lost his job, his wife, his mentor, his reputation – and yet he was God's chosen one. He had been anointed by God, but had to suffer on behalf of God. Joseph was God's hand-picked choice to provide a place for the descendants of Jacob to live in the land of Egypt during the time of famine. But Joseph had to suffer humiliation, slavery, false accusations, imprisonment and worse – all before he could experience the exaltation of God. His suffering was all part of God's divine plan. Stephen's death was all part of God's plan. It actually confirmed his calling by God. We don't understand it. We don't necessarily like it. But even in his death, Stephen revealed the hand of God on his life, calling out“Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60 ESV). His life was a witness right up until he breathed his last breath.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

I must constantly learn to see my role as one of God's chosen ones, not through the world's false concept of leadership. I must see that sometimes suffering is God's form of exaltation. He may call me to suffer on His behalf. He may choose me to walk a difficult path. My life may at time be marked by suffering and shame, but that does not mean I lack His hand on my life. It may be confirmation that He has chosen me for something great. He may be exalting me by making less of me. Paul reminds me, “For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him” (Philippians 1:20 NLT). That prospect is not attractive to most of us. We would prefer to be Joshua; standing before the people, giving instructions, wielding power and authority, and acting as God's spokesman. But it may be that our leadership will be marked by suffering, insignificance, pain and even death. I want to be able to say as the apostle Paul did, “For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die” (Philippians 1:20 NLT). Whatever God calls me to, I want to honor His Son with my life – whether that means living it or losing it for Him.

Father, exalt my life however You see fit. Help me to see that suffering for You is just as much a form of leadership as accomplishing great things for You. Help me to see that as long as I am living my life in submission to Your will and dependent upon Your strength, I will be living a life worthy of my calling. Then I can leave the results up to You.  Amen

Godly Leadership.

Joshua 1-2, Acts 6

Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. ­– Acts 6:3 ESV

Moses was gone, but the people of God still needed someone to lead them. So God chose Joshua the son of Nun. He had spent most of his adult life as the personal assistant to Moses, so he was not a novice when it came to leadership. But he was going to be thrust into the spotlight and given the responsibility of leading the people of God as they began their conquest of the land. It was not going to be easy. Joshua knew the people of Israel well and had watched them repeatedly give Moses a run for his money, bucking his leadership and disobeying the revealed will of God for their lives. But Joshua was God's man for the task. And three different times during His commissioning of His new leader, God told Joshua, “Only be strong and very courageous” (Joshua 1:7 ESV). In the face of what had to look like formidable odds and saddled with leading a people who had proven themselves unwilling to follow, Joshua was told by God to be strong and courageous. But how? Because God was going to be with Him every step of the way. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9 ESV). Joshua's main responsibility to recognize his need for God, to never doubt the presence of God, and to faithfully obey the will of God.

What does this passage reveal about God?

The book of Joshua is really not about a man, but it is about the God who chose and led the man after whom the book is named. Joshua was an instrument in the hand of God to accomplish His will regarding the people of Israel. It was essential that Joshua be a man of God, in touch with the will of God and faithful to the Word of God. He had to know what it was that God wanted done and faithfully execute God's will, in spite of any opposition he might face – within or without. Even in the New Testament, as the church began to grow, it was as a result of God's Spirit working through the lives of ordinary men and women. Filled with the Holy Spirit, they boldly proclaimed the good news of Jesus Christ and spread the word regarding the free gift of salvation made available through His death and resurrection. The gospel was being preached and literally thousands of people were coming to faith in Christ. This influx of individuals into the church was creating a tremendous need for teaching and discipleship. New converts required careful instruction in the teachings of Jesus. There were all kinds of people coming to faith in Christ from all kinds of economic, social and ethnic backgrounds. This created a whole host of other problems for the leaders of the church as they had to deal with various disputes and differences among the quickly growing congregation. So God lead the apostles to look for additional men to help handle the load of leadership. But they were not to settle for any kind of man. They knew that they needed “men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom” (Acts 6:3 ESV). They would need to be men of God if they were going to work on behalf of God. Their qualifications were spiritual in nature, not secular. They were to be Spirit-filled, wise, and men of integrity, whose reputations within the community were impeccable. One of those chosen was Stephen, who Luke described as “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5 ESV). He was known for his faith and recognized for being filled with the Spirit of God. Those are the kinds of men God chooses to use. Luke goes on to say, “Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people” (Acts 8 ESV). He had been chosen to help handle an apparent oversight in the care of some of the widows within the church. He had been appointed to help serve, so that the apostles could spend their time preaching and teaching. But because he was a man of God, he didn't limit his actions to his assigned duty. He was ready, willing and able to do whatever God had for him to do.

What does this passage reveal about man?

God's choice of Joshua was based more on his useability than his abilities. Joshua wasn't chosen because he brought innate leadership abilities to the table that would be an asset to God's cause. He was a man who had a heart for God and had proven himself obedient to God. God has the uncanny ability to be able to look into the heart and see characteristics an qualities to which the rest of us are blind. When the prophet Samuel was looking for someone to replace Saul as the king of Israel, he found himself swayed by the external characteristics of the men he was considering. He was looking for a man who looked like a king. But God warned him, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7 ESV). To be an effective leader for God a man must first have a heart for God. As human beings we are far too easily impressed with the outside. Resumes and accomplishments can too easily replace the need for faith, integrity, and character. We can find ourselves choosing self-made men rather than Spirit-filled ones. Stephen was a man filled with the Spirit of God who exhibited the wisdom of God when he spoke. For a man to be used by God, he must be dependent upon and controlled by God. He must be a willing instrument in the hands of God, pliable, teachable, and useable.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

Am I a man "of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom?” Would I be characterized as “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit?” Would people say of me, he is “full of grace and power?” The inner qualities of my life should be reflected in my outer countenance and directly impact my reputation among men. I should be known for who I am because of Who I serve. Too often, we are known by our talents, abilities, and accomplishments, many of which are purely of human origin. But Joshua was chosen by God, not because he was going to be useful to God, but because He was willing to be used by God. Stephen was chosen by God, not because he was a natural-born leader, but because he was a Spirit-filled servant who had a reputation for wisdom, grace, and godliness. That is the kind of man I want to be. That is the kind of leader I want to be. But it all begins with my willingness to be used by God, not seeing myself as somehow useful to Him. He doesn't need me. He can do His will without me. But God wants to use me. He wants to accomplish His will through me. But like Joshua, I must remember to “be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9 ESV). My usefulness to God is solely based on the presence and power of God in my life. Godly leaders are Spirit-filled, God-dependent leaders – full of the wisdom, grace, and power of God.

Father, I want to be the kind of man You use. Not because I bring anything of value to the table, but because I recognize that I am useless without You. I want to be dependent upon You and fully useble by You. May my life continually reflect Your presence and be marked by Your power. Amen

Man of God.

Deuteronomy 33-34, Acts 5

We must obey God rather than men. ­– Deuteronomy 34:29 ESV

Moses was a man, a flawed and sometimes fault-filled man. But he was God's man. Throughout his tenure as God's appointed leader of the people of Israel, Moses tried to live in obedience to God. He attempted to faithfully carry out God's will, in spite of his own feelings of inadequacies and the people's stubborn refusal to obey. It isn't easy to find examples of this man's faults and failings. There were times when he got frustrated and even angry with God. He often became exasperated with the very people he had been called to lead, and at times wished he could walk away from the job. But there are just as many examples of his faithful leadership and his loving intercession to God on behalf of a stiff necked people. We know that Moses was not perfect because God refused to allow him to enter into the land of promise. Instead, he died in the land of Moab, and was buried by God Himself. He was 120 years old when he died, and “his eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated” (Deuteronomy 34:7 ESV). Moses was an incredible man, but a man nonetheless. He is an example of what it means to follow the Lord and to know God face to face. He had an intimate, personal relationship with the living God of the universe. He was used by God because he remained useable to God. He was willing to do whatever God called him to do. Yes, sometimes he exhibited reluctance and even reticence. But eventually he always overcame his fears and apprehensions, doing whatever God had called Him to do.

What does this passage reveal about God?

God works through men. He chooses to reveal His extraordinary power through the means of ordinary men and women. Moses was not chosen by God because he had any special qualities or characteristics that set him apart. God used him in spite of his faults. Moses was actually a murderer with a bounty on his head, but God chose to use him to set the people of Israel free from captivity in Egypt and to lead them to the land of promise in Canaan. In the New Testament, we see God using a group of men to spread the message of Christ's death and resurrection to the world. These were ordinary men who brought nothing to the table except their belief in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. After the resurrection of Jesus, God would fill these men with His Holy Spirit and empower them to do signs and wonders in the midst of the people of Israel, just as Moses had done. Like Moses, they would become spokesmen for God, speaking on His behalf and exhibiting His power and presence through their own lives and ministries.

God is not obligated to use men. He could just as easily accomplish His mission without the help of men or women, but He has chosen to use us. Just as in the days of Moses, God wants to exhibit His power and presence through the lives of ordinary men and women in order to show the world what a right relationship between He and His human creation should look like. When we live in obedience to His will and empowered by His Spirit, we become living, breathing witnesses to the world of the reality and life-changing power of God. The world gets to see God in us. His presence becomes tangible and highly practical.

What does this passage reveal about man?

When the apostles faithfully ministered as Jesus had commanded them to do, they quickly found themselves in trouble with the Jewish religious authorities. In fact, it wasn't long before they were arrested and thrown in jail. They had been teaching, preaching, healing and proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. Thousands of people were hearing and accepting the message regarding salvation through Christ alone. “And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women” (Acts 5:14 ESV). These ordinary men were making an extraordinary impact on the world. And even when they found themselves locked in a jail cell, God would use their circumstance to reveal His power. He sent an angel to release them and commanded them to “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life” (Acts 5:20 ESV). And they obeyed. The high priest had them re-arrested and brought before him. He confronted them saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us” (Acts 5:28 ESV).

Confronted by this powerful religious leader who had played a role in the death of Jesus, Peter and the apostles didn't bat an eye. Rather than back down and give in to his threats, they remained faithful to their calling. “We must obey God rather than men,” Peter responded. They would not give in or give up. Even when they were beaten and warned again not to speak in the name of Jesus, Luke records that they left “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name” (Acts 5:41 ESV). These ordinary men, filled with the Spirit of God, would go on to do extraordinary things for God. “And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:42 ESV).

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

There is no limit to what God can accomplish through the man or woman who is willing to be used by Him. Our usefulness to God has nothing to do with our own abilities, talents, or strengths. God is not obligated to use us or somehow dependent upon our abilities to accomplish His will. Like the apostle Paul, we often find ourselves weak and ill-equipped to do what God has called us to do, but we quickly learn as he did, that God's grace is sufficient. “‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 ESV). I don't have to be strong. I don't have to be smart. I don't have to have my act together or bring a special array of talents to the table. I simply must be willing and ready to be used by God. It is the recognition of my own insufficiency and weakness that makes me useable by God. When I realize just how much I need Him, I am much more likely to be used by Him. What the world needs to see are more men and women of God who are empowered by God and being used by Him to accomplish His will in His power through their lives.

Father, I want to be a man of God, who knows You face to face and relies on Your power and presence in my life to accomplish the unimaginable and inexplicable, so that they world my truly know You exist. Amen

Strength and Courage.

Deuteronomy 31-32, Acts 4

Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give to them. I will be with you. ­– Deuteronomy 31:23 ESV

Imagine what it would have been like to be Joshua. This poor man was being handed the mantle of Moses, the great liberator and leader of Israel. He was going to take over for one of the greatest men who had ever lived and was expected to lead the people of Israel in their conquest of the Promised Land. Not only that, he had been made well aware of the fact that the people were going to end up breaking their covenant with God. Joshua would prove to be successful in his efforts to get them into the land, but they would quickly turn their backs on God. “For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant” (Deuteronomy 31:20 ESV). God was fully aware of all that was going to happen once the people occupied the land. He would fulfill His part in the covenant, but they would prove to be unfaithful. “For I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give them” (Deuteronomy 31:21 ESV). And yet, God tells Joshua to be strong and courageous. Not exactly encouraging words when you consider the circumstances and the less-than-ideal prospects facing Joshua. This was a man who was being called to lead a people who were described by God as crooked, perverse, twisted, corrupt, blemished, foolish, senseless and faithless. They were destined to disobey and, ultimately, to suffer destruction at the hands of God.

What does this passage reveal about God?

God was fully aware of all that was going to happen in the centuries to come. He had given Moses the law and instructed him to put it in writing. Moses was to give it to the priests and instruct them to read it out loud to the people when they assembled together every seventh year. They were to constantly remind the people of what the law said and were to teach it to the next generation. Moses told the Israelites that the written law had a purpose. “That it may be a witness against you. For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are” (Deuteronomy 31:26 ESV). Moses knew that the people were going to “act corruptly and turn aside.” God had even given Moses a song to teach to the people that would be a constant reminder of God's faithfulness and their own unfaithfulness. They had the oral and the written law. They had a song composed by God Himself. They had no excuse. God had clearly revealed to them His will and yet they would end up rejecting it.

What does this passage reveal about man?

Joshua had a job to do. He had been commissioned by God to lead the people into the land of promise. And yet he was well aware of the fact that the people he was leading were stubborn, stiff necked and rebellious. They would prove to be disobedient and all the victories and conquests would one day end up in their defeat and deportation in foreign lands. Like the prophets of God who would come after him, Joshua had been called by to do the will of God, regardless of the circumstances or eventual outcome. It was all part of God's plan. Even thought Joshua knew that the people would end up losing the very land they were about to conquer, he still needed to do his job. He needed to be faithful to God's calling. His job was the conquest. He was going to have to leave the rest up to God.

Long before His trials and crucifixion, Jesus had told His disciples, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour” (Matthew 10:16-19 ESV). And those very words had to have been ringing in the ears of the Peter and John as they stood before Annas the high priest and the Jewish council. They had no idea what was going to happen to them. They had been arrested by the religious leaders for “teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead” (Acts 4:2 ESV). They had been obedient to do just as Jesus had commanded them to do. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20 ESV). And now they were standing before the religious council and being warned “to speak no more to anyone in this name” (Acts 4:17 ESV). And yet, in spite of the threats of the religious leaders and the warning by Jesus Himself that they could end up flogged for their efforts, they refused to back down. “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19-20 ESV).

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

When Peter and John were released, they made a beeline back to the other disciples and immediately appealed to God. Their prayer should be an encouragement to each and every one of us who call ourselves followers of Christ. We live in the midst of difficult days. We face tremendous opposition to our faith. Jesus warned the disciples, “you will be hated by all for my name’s sake” (Matthew 10:22 ESV). The same thing holds true for His disciples today. The world and the enemy hate us. Our standing in Christ marks us and sets us against the prince of this world. So like the disciples, we must face the reality of our circumstances and turn to God for help. Their prayer is insightful and instructive. “And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus” (Acts 4:29-30 ESV). They appealed to God for boldness to speak His Word. They asked Him to reveal Himself through miraculous signs and irrefutable evidence of His power in their midst. Nothing builds our courage like a first-hand view of God's power in our lives. Like Joshua, they were going to need strength and courage. Paul told the Christians in Ephesus, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Ephesians 6:10 ESV). Joshua had a job to do. So did Peter and John. In the midst of a generation marked by unfaithfulness and unbelief, they were called to be faithful, bold and strong. So are we. Paul would encourage us to “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13 ESV).

Father, may I have the strength and boldness to do what You have called me to do. Teach me to find my strength in You. Constantly remind me to remain faithful to the task You have given me. Like Joshua, Peter and John, I have a job to do. Give me strength and courage to do it well. Amen

Times of Refreshing.

But to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see of ears to hear. ­– Deuteronomy 29:4 ESV

God had made His divine will known and knowable. He had made His rules, regulations and requirements easy to discern and non-debatable. It was all very black and white. “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil” (Deuteronomy 30:15 ESV). The people of Israel had no excuse when it came to knowing what God expected of them. Moses told them, “This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you to understand, and it is not beyond your reach” (Deuteronomy 30:11 NLT). The difficulty lie not in knowing God's commands, but in keeping them. The key to life was obvious: “Loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him” (Deuteronomy 30:20 ESV). But the resolve of the Israelites would prove insufficient for the task. Left to their own devices and dependent upon their own strength, they would eventually fail to live up to God's standards – not because they did not know them, but because they lacked the capacity to keep them. The giving of the law produced a stark contrast between the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man. Paul clarifies the role of the law in the lives of men: “For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me” (Romans 7:8-11 ESV). Without the giving of the law, the people of Israel would have been oblivious to God's holy and righteous expectations. They would have been ignorant of His divine standards. But Moses had made sure that the Israelites were up to speed with and fully aware of all that God expected of them. And His divine requirements would eventually expose their human deficiencies. They lacked the ability to remain faithful. Their hearts and minds would wander from God. They would knowingly disobey Him and prove unfaithful to Him. They were missing one thing – the key ingredient to living in faithfulness to God. “And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live” (Deuteronomy 30:6 ESV).

What does this passage reveal about God?

The book of Deuteronomy is all about the faithfulness of God, not the failure of man. The history of the people of Israel, as revealed in the book of Joshua and all through the chronicles of the kings, tells of a people who lacked the ability to remain faithful to their God. Their faithfulness is displayed in vivid detail on virtually every page. They are repeatedly referred to as a people with rebellious hearts. God calls them stiff-necked and stubborn. And all the dire warnings God had given them regarding what would happen if they proved disobedient would come true. They would end up driven from the land of promise. God would bring a foreign power to lay siege to their cities and bring destruction to the land. They would end up in captivity worshiping other gods and living in isolation from the one true God. And yet, despite their disobedience, God would once again prove His faithfulness. “Then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live” (Deuteronomy 30:6-11 ESV). The prophet Ezekiel spoke of a day when God would provide for His people the missing ingredient necessary for them to live in obedience and faithfulness to Him. “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (Ezekiel 36:26-27 ESV).

What does this passage reveal about man?

Knowing the expectations of God is not enough. Having a firm grasp on the holy requirements of God will never result in a life of holiness. A spiritual life requires the Holy Spirit. Human flesh is incapable of living spiritually, without the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul tells us, “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other” (Galatians 5:17 ESV). In fact, “the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these” (Galatians 5:19-21 NLT). These very “works” were evidenced repeatedly in the lives of the Israelites long after they conquered the land of Canaan and settled in it. Their human nature produced fruit that was not in keeping with God's will. These people had been hand-picked by God, given the law of God, and had experienced the presence and power of God. Yet, they proved unable to live in faithfulness to God. And such is the plight of all mankind.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

The Israelites were a living, breathing example of man's inability to live up to God's righteous standards, even though they knew it well. Their own sinful natures were the greatest hindrance to their efforts at living holy lives. Holiness would prove unattainable without the indwelling power of God's Holy Spirit. But when Jesus appeared on the scene thousands of years later, He would come to live a perfectly holy life, in complete obedience to the will of God and made by possible by the Spirit of God. His humanity would be assisted by the Holy Spirit, providing us with an example of godliness made possible by the life of the Son of God, the power of the Spirit of God, and all in keeping with the divine will of God. In his address to the Jews standing in Solomon's Portico, within the Temple complex, Peter called them to repentance. He told them, “turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come again from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus” (Acts 3:19-20 ESV). Peter was telling them that Jesus was the key to them receiving the one thing they needed to experience a time of refreshing. Jesus was the source for accessing the power they had been lacking all along. The Son of God was the means by which they could receive the Spirit of God and be equipped to live in obedience to God for the first time in their lives. Paul writes of this cooperative effort on the part of the Trinity in his letter to the believers in Rome: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,  he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1-4 ESV). Christ fulfilled the requirements of the Law. He not only lived in complete obedience to the law of God, He paid the penalty required by the law for the sins of mankind. His perfectly sinless life made Him the perfect, sinless sacrifice. And as a result, both Jews and Gentiles can experience the forgiveness of God because of the sacrifice of the Son of God, and experience the life-changing power of the Spirit of God.

Father, You have brought time of refreshing to my life and for that I am grateful. You placed Your Holy Spirit within me, giving me the ability to not only understand Your will for my life, but to live in keeping with it. You have provided me with the power to live righteously that I lacked on my own. You provided righteousness through Your Son that I could have never produced on my own. I have received the missing ingredient required to living a holy life: The Holy Spirit. All because of Your gracious and merciful love. Amen

Blessed and a Blessing.

Deuteronomy 27-28, Acts 2

And all the people of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. ­– Deuteronomy 28:10 ESV

God was serious when He called His people to live in obedience to His commands. They were not suggestions. They were not up for debate or open to interpretation. And God made it abundantly clear that obedience to His law came with unbelievable blessings, while disobedience would result in devastating consequences. If the Israelites obeyed God, they would enjoy a place of honor and exaltation as His people. They would experience God's favor in the form of fruitfulness, abundance, victory in battle, and recognition among the nations as being the people of God. But disobedience would be extremely costly. The warnings found in chapters 27 and 28 were meant to be deterrents toward disobedience. Their free-will choice to disobey God would not go unnoticed or unpunished. And it's interesting to note that many of the curses that are outlined in these two chapters are violations of the commands of God. “And you shall be only oppressed and robbed continually, and there shall be no one to help you. You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall ravish her. You shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it. You shall plant a vineyard, but you shall not enjoy its fruit” (Deuteronomy 28:29-30 ESV). By disobeying the laws of God, they would experience first-hand what violation of those laws felt like. God had told them, “You shall not steal” (Exodus 25:15 ESV). Yet if they failed to obey that law, they would find out what it was like to be on the receiving end. They would discover the devastating consequences of life lived in opposition to God's divine will.

What does this passage reveal about God?

God's intention had been to make Israel a showcase of His grace and mercy. They were to be a witness to the nations of His abundant power and amazing love. He had told them, “And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you” (Deuteronomy 28:10 ESV). But their disobedience would have a completely different outcome. “And you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the Lord will lead you away” (Deuteronomy 28:37 ESV). They would go from being a blessing to becoming a curse. They would move from being blessed by God to being under His curse. But God's desire all along was that they might be a blessing. He wanted to pour out His grace, mercy, and love on them. He desired them to be a shining example of what it looked like for men to live in obedience to and in favor with God.

What does this passage reveal about man?

God's favor required man's obedience. The blessings of God were conditional and demanded adherence to His commands. Throughout these two chapters in Deuteronomy we see “if…then” statements that clearly indicate that enjoyment of God's blessings required obedience to His laws. But in spite of Moses' dire warnings, the Israelites would find it virtually impossible live up to God's exacting standards. They just didn't have it in them. Their hearts would prove to be unfaithful. Their strength would prove to be too weak. Their good intentions would not be enough to overcome their bad choices. And God knew exactly what was going to happen. He was not surprised by their inability to live up to His holy standards. He gave His law to them in order to illustrate just how holy He was and just how difficult it would be for ordinary men to meet His extraordinary requirements. The apostle Paul understood the role of the law well. “Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’ But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness” (Romans 7:7-8 ESV). When God gave the law to the people of Israel, they found themselves facing an impossible task. They had been given God's righteous standards and yet were ill-equipped to meet those standards. They were sinful men and women attempting to live up to the righteous requirements of a holy God. And they would fail. Every one of the curses outlined in these two chapters would take place. They would end up in exile, living in a foreign land, serving as slaves to a pagan king and worshiping false gods. Their fortunes would be reversed. They would go from many to few, from blessed to cursed, from free to slave, from honored to reviled, and from worshiping the one true God to serving “other gods of wood and stone” (Deuteronomy 28:64 ESV).

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

But God had a plan. He was not done. His relationship with the people of Israel would not end with their failure to keep His commands. The history of the Jewish people is a picture of God's faithfulness, love, mercy and grace. He had made a covenant with them and He was going to keep that covenant in spite of them. While they proved to be faithless, He would be faithful. He would do what He said He would do. Yes, He would fulfill every one of the curses. They would end up in exile. They would experience every single one of the consequences outlined in these chapters. But they would also experience God's amazing grace when He restored them to the land and returned them to their rightful place as His chosen people. And God would fulfill every one of His promises made to Abraham. He would make the descendants of Abraham a blessing to the nations. It would be through the nation of Israel that Jesus would come. He would be born a Jew, required to keep the laws of God and meet the exacting standards that God had given to Moses. Jesus would be the one man who would do exactly what God had commanded to be done. He would live in obedience to the laws of God, resulting in a perfectly sinless life, and making Him a perfectly blameless sacrifice for the sins of mankind. But Jesus was not just destined to die. He would rise again, and He would return to His Father's side in heaven, sending His Holy Spirit in His place. And we see the arrival of the Spirit in the second chapter of Acts, when He came upon the disciples and empowered them to speak in foreign languages they didn't know. These “Galileans” were transformed by the Spirit of God and became powerful witnesses for God. These common Jews would end up being a blessing to the nations, including “Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians” (Acts 2:9-11 ESV). The disciples would be blessed and a blessing. They would receive the power necessary to live in obedience to God's laws and reveal to the nations “the mighty works of God” (Acts 2:11 ESV). And that is exactly what God wants to do in my life. He has blessed me through His Son and He wants me to be a blessing to the nations. He wants my life to be a living testimony of His grace, mercy, love and forgiveness. He wants my life to exhibit His power and testify to the fact that a holy life is impossible without the help of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is only available to those who have placed their faith in the only man who was able to live a holy life: Jesus Christ. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 1For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10 ESV).

Father, You have blessed me with the gift of Your Son. You have saved me. You have given me new life and the promise of eternal life. But You have also called me to be a blessing to all of those around me. May my life be a constant reminder and an illustration to those around me of Your grace, mercy and love. Never let me forget that I was as hopeless as the Israelites when it came to living the life You have required of all men. I was incapable of meeting your exacting standards. But You sent Your Son to do what I could never have done. He lived the life I couldn't have lived and He met the standard You required, making Himself the perfect sacrifice and payment for the sins of mankind. And His death made it possible for you to extend Your blessings upon all those who would accept His gift of new life through His death. Thank You! Amen