Daily Reflections on 2 Kings 5:1-14 (Baptism; an Act of Faith)

I hear it all the time. Do I have to be baptized to be saved? To be honest it's a weird question in light of what Jesus said in Mark 16:16 (NIV), "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." I figure Jesus ought to know what He's talking about. I never have really understood the argument of those who say baptism is not necessary. I guess I'm really simplistic. If Jesus says it, I accept it.

I also don't understand why people say that baptism is an act of obedience. Seems to me that salvation is act of faith, trusting in God to do something that we couldn't do ourselves. Maybe it's semantics, but it seems to me that baptism is an act of faith. I'm trusting God to do something in me to present me alive in Christ. I know that to follow Christ I must answer His call to surrender my life. But isn't that putting my life in His hands by faith?

I was reading this passage again from 2 Kings 5 about Naaman, an Aramean high commander who suffered from leprosy. The whole story is about faith in God. Naaman's wife had a Israeli servant girl who told Naaman that Elisha could heal him. So Naaman went to him to be healed. Elisha didn't even come out to meet him but sent his messenger to tell this important and powerful man to go dip seven times in the Jordan River to be healed.

Naaman was hacked off and even insulted. He wanted Elisha to come out and make some big deal, do some hocus-pocus on him. Naaman went home unhealed. But his servants came to Naaman and asked him if Elisha had asked him to do some great work wouldn't he have done it. So Naaman caved in an went in faith to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times. The moment Naaman dipped the seventh time, his leprosy was instantly healed. In order for the healing to occur, Naaman not only had to believe but he had to submit himself in faith to the dipping. His dipping was an act of faith. Sure he obeyed Elisha's command, but the dipping wasn't out of obedience. It was out of faith that through the dipping God would heal him.

I think the overlying principle is that for a lot of people, they want what God wants to give them, but they just don't want to follow what God asks them to do in faith. It's not just about baptism. It's about relationships, lifestyles, finances, etc. God says to trust Him by tithing, but we say no way. I've got these bills and I want my cable and on and on it goes. And then we wonder why God won't bless us and we struggle financially. Same with sex and marriage and virtually any other issue in our life.

To be honest, obeying God is an act of faith. We trust in faith that by following God's instruction we will come out ahead. Since Jesus says believe and be baptized and you'll be saved, I do what he says in faith. He says cast out into deeper water for a catch, then I'll cast into deeper water in faith expecting a catch.

God, living by faith is a strange place sometimes. Most of us, Lord, like to see where we're going or what's ahead of us. Living by faith feels a lot like driving a car with a blindfold on. Yet, I know that living by sight and trusting my own instincts are often times disastrous. Help me swallow my pride like Naaman and take the dip of faith, exactly how you ask me. I don't want to minimize your instructions/teachings by inserting my own interpretations or ideas.

Daily Reflections on 1 Kings 22:1-28 (To Tell the Truth)

When I was a kid I can remember watching a TV game show called, "To Tell the Truth." The game consisted of four celebrity panelists who would try to determine which guest was telling the truth. Three guests would all pose as the same person, a doctor or nurse or scientist, etc. The panelists would ask each guest questions to determine who was the real doctor.

Each of the guests tried to answer all the questions as if they were that person they claimed to be. They would say things they thought that the panelists wanted to hear in an attempt to fool them. Some were very good at the game and often would fool the majority of the panelists. At the end of the game, the panelist would vote on who they thought was telling the truth. Then the host would ask the famous question, "Would the real Dr. Smith please stand up." After the guests would try to fake everyone out, the real Dr. Smith would reveal himself.

Many of us are very much like the guests on that show. We're good at telling people what we think they want to hear. We probably learned it as kids, but have developed the art of slight deception as we've grown to adulthood. We really don't look it at as lying. After all we're just trying to appease our questioner. And since we don't want to offend someone, especially if they are close to us, we shade the truth. We often times will tell someone what we think they want to hear simply so that we can remain in that person's good graces, even to the detriment of that person.

Macaiah was an Old Testament prophet that we hear about rarely. In fact, I've only heard one message in my lifetime that even referred to him. In short, King Ahab wanted to attack a town called, Ramoth Gilead, and recapture it from his enemy. But when went to inquire from the Lord, all of his prophets but one told him that God would give him the victory. All that is but Macaiah.

When Macaiah was summoned to the king, the messengers warned Macaiah to agree with all the other prophets. Initially he did. But when pressed by King Ahab to tell the truth, Macaiah told him the Lord told him it was trap and that if he went, he would be killed. Ahab was so angry that he put Macaiah in prison on bread and water until he returned. The problem was that Ahab never returned.

Macaiah told the truth and didn't relent even under pressure. He was trying to help the king, but the king didn't want to hear it. Nor did the other prophets who challenged him. Yet, Macaiah told the truth even though as far as we know he died in prison on bread and water.

Telling the truth isn't always the easiest or the most popular thing to do. Sometimes, we'll pay a penalty for telling the truth. Sometimes we'll be ostracized for telling the truth. Sometimes we may suffer for telling the truth or even lose a friend. But in the end, truth is truth. And if we learn to speak the truth in love as God commands us, we just may be celebrated in the end.

God, sometimes I find myself wanting to protect myself by not telling the whole truth. I realize I'm not trusting in you at that moment. Help learn to speak the truth in love and with wisdom. Help stand for your truth even though sometimes it's not popular.

Daily Reflections on Prov. 17:14 (Observations of a Breached Dam)

I just returned from Bemidji, MN where I performed the funeral of my father-in-law. On our drive south, we went through Iowa, who was experiencing some of the worst flooding in the history of the state. Some roads were closed. Many fields looked liked lakes. I'm not sure they could even have grown rice.

As drove through Des Moines, we noticed that much of the northern part of the city was under water. The efforts of fortifying levees and sandbagging weren't enough to keep the waters back. Along the Iowa and Mississippi Rivers, many towns are experiencing the same disaster. No matter how much effort is put into sandbagging, the rising waters are breaching the make shift dams. Flooding is ruining homes and businesses and lives. Once the dams or levees are breached, there is no holding back the devastation by the pulsing current.

Solomon says that starting an argument is a lot like that. Things that are normally left unsaid often times come spilling out as the quarrel intensifies. The flood gates are open and here she comes. You say one thing and the escalation begins. You think my idea is stupid. I don't like your mother. Things proceed to get very personal. The next thing you know, we find ourselves attacking every ounce of a person's character or behavior. And before the argument is done, hurtful blows have been exchanged and gaping wounds are evident on both parties.

The devastation has been done. There's nothing that can take back what was said or inflicted. Wounds fester. Hearts ache. There's a lot of clean up that has to be done. Life is messy for a while. Sometimes things are never right again.

The best course of action was to never have started the fight in the first place. It's normally better to drop the matter before it gets out of hand, especially if tension are running high at the moment. It's always better to temper your emotions and find a time and place to discuss the matter in a peaceful way. Conflict between people is inevitable. God made us all different. But starting arguments is not the wisest way to resolve your conflict. Someone always gets hurt in an argument.

God, help me to bite my tongue. I don't know why I provoke arguments sometimes. My emotions get the better of me and next thing you know I find myself in mortal verbal combat. The dam is breached and here it comes, the full force of disdain, frustration and anger. I need your spirit to intervene in those moments, to slow my mouth down, and temper my spirit.

Daily Reflections on Ps. 130 (Enough Already)

It's out of control. Gas prices are unbelievably high. Food prices are climbing. The cost of everything is being affected. Foreclosures are capturing the real estate market. Tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, weird temperatures, famine, hurricanes, tidal waves, typhoons have consumed the national and local news. I'm telling you things are out of control. Somebody has to do something.

Right now I feel like someone, somewhere has me and everyone else with our arms twisted behind our backs. I just want to cry out, "UNCLE!" Enough is enough. If someone doesn't do something soon, I think there's gonna be a revolution of some sort.

The good news is that when our lives are under duress, God is always there. When we need mercy, God is listening. When I need forgiveness, God is ready. When we're in of hope, God is offering. When in need of redemption, God supplies. When in need of hope, God points the way. When in need of love, God extends his arms.

Wherever we're at in life, God wants to supply our needs. He doesn't look at our cry for help as a weakness. He doesn't make fun of us or put the heat on us. He isn't there scolding us or belittling us. But waiting for the Lord isn't always an easy position to find ourselves. Most of us can't wait for anything. We have to have it now. But waiting is the place God loves us to be because God is looking for opportunities for us to call on Him. God's Word is full of wisdom and direction and answers to life's daily questions. It's a great place to put our hope.

God, I'm crying out to you. I need you in my life. Everything around me seems out of control. I'm placing my hope in your Word and waiting and watching for to do your work. Start in my life.

Daily Reflections on 1 Kings 8:1-11 (Overwhelmed in a Cloud)

The flashing red lights of the police car led the way as we marched out of our old building, down the middle of the street to our new home. It was like a scene from the pages of 1st Kings. Four of our elders hosting our Ark of Memories with the long poles went before our procession as we made the half mile trek. There was singing and talking and celebration. It took over thirty minutes for our throng of people to make the journey. Some couldn't walk so they followed in their cars reminiscent of a holiday parade.

The service began with some former ministers sharing their fond memories of what God had done through the congregation during their pastoral leadership. Congregates had been placing their memories of what God had done in the past in our Ark of Memories for several weeks. We shared some of those moments. Some special items and pictures were also placed in our ark. Then, at the close of the last service in our old building, we closed up the Ark of Memories, the elders inserted the long poles and off we headed to the new place.

It must have been an emotional time for many as the priests took the Ark of the Covenant from it's resting place in the old Tabernacle and led the procession to the newly completed Temple. The scene had to be amazing. The noise of the crowd and animals and instruments must have resonated for miles. What a sight to behold as the Ark was placed in its new magnificent home.

As you read the story of the completion and dedication of Solomon's Temple in 1 Kings 8, you have to be caught up in the celebration yourself. The amount of sacrifices and offerings being made to the Lord was incredible. Solomon offered up 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep and goats alone. The text says that there were so many sacrifices being made that it was impossible to count them all. The middle part of the court yard had to be dedicated as a place for sacrifice because the huge bronze altar wasn't large enough to handle it all. Amazing!

But the best part of the whole celebration was when the Ark of the Covenant was put into place. As the priest carefully and reverently positioned the Ark in the Holy of Holies and then left, the physical appearance of God descended. During the forty years of wilderness wanderings, God had led the Children of Israel with a cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. As long as they were encamped, the pillar would remain over the Tabernacle. God's cloud once again reappeared and filled the new Temple. It was so powerful that it ran the priest out of the Temple. They were unable to perform their priestly functions.

When the presence of God moved into the Temple, it was a sign to the people that God was with them and among them. Although, they knew that the Temple couldn't contain God, it was a symbol to them that God was taking up residence in their neighborhood, and in fact was the central place in their lives.

The Holy Spirit is that presence for us today. He moves into our lives the moment we dedicate ourselves to God. Belief, confession, repentance are part of that process. And baptism seems to be the coronation or the dedication of our temple, our body as Paul explains in Romans 6. He says it's when our old self dies and Christ raises us anew.

I long for that daily filling of the God's presence in my life. I want the power of God's Holy Spirit overwhelming me, driving ME out; driving out my iniquities, my inferior ambitions, my woeful human nature, my prejudice, my inadequacies, my evil and negative thoughts and practices. I want to be blown away by God's presence in my life.

God, each day I want to sense your holy presence in my life. I'm tired of the dryness and corruptness I allow into your temple. I need that daily refreshment and renewal. I need to be overwhelmed by your goodness and majesty. I want to flow in the richness of your current, move with your rhythms, relax in your ambiance. Blow your breath of holiness into my life.

Daily Reflections on Acts 7:48-50 (Does God Live in God's House?)

When I was a kid the building that we met for our church's gatherings was called "God's House." There were a lot of rules associated with God's House. There was no running in God's House. There was no acting up in God's House. There was no yelling, no rough housing, no horse play, no misbehaving in God's House. We had to dress up, I mean in suits and ties and nice dresses, to visit God's House. Every Saturday night we had to polish our shoes to make them shine. No scuffs were allowed in God's House. Our hair had to be perfect before we entered God's House.

In God's House we had to be very respectful because it was a reverent place. It was a serious place for the most part and a formal place, especially the SANCTUARY. Hats were to be removed the moment we walked in the door. After all God's House was were God lived, or so I thought. That's where we went to meet with Him. Although I never saw Him there, I was told He was there and watching my every move. It's no wonder many people view the church building as a stiff, irrelevant place.

Ironically, in Acts 7 while Stephen is giving his defense speech to the religious hierarchy, he quotes God from Isaiah 66. Stephen had been talking about Solomon building the Temple (you can read about that in 1 Kings 6 & 7). Yet Stephen notes that God doesn't live in houses built by man. He reminds the religious that Heaven is God's throne and that the earth is His footstool. God asked the question, "What kind of house will you build for me? Or where will be my resting place? Didn't I make all these things?"

It's interesting to note that the early church never did build any buildings. Yes the met in the temple courtyards, but they also met house to house. In fact, it was a number of years before church buildings became a thing. And since God doesn't live in building made by man anyway, where did we get the idea that where the church meets on Sundays is God's House? Paul even tells us that our bodies are the temple of God.

I'm not anti church buildings, but all the attention and money put into fancy ornate church buildings causes me to wonder if we're miscommunicating the nature of God and our relationship to Him. If God lives in church buildings and we have to be very reverent there, how does that impact my daily life? Does that mean God only shows up on Sundays or possibly Wednesdays at the church building? Does that mean if I don't go, God really isn't watching me or paying attention to me during the week? And does that mean I don't have to pay attention to God during my week?

There are so many questions that race through my mind regarding this issue. But what concerns me the most is a distancing of God the church has developed with a God's House mentality. It affects my faith. It affects my relationship. It affects my daily practices. It affects the non-Christian, the lost, the skeptical. Believe me, I understand the convenience of a church building. But if the early church could survive and expand across the globe for generations without permanent structures, would it hurt us to recapture their mentality about buildings, God, and our daily pursuit of Him.

God, I am so glad you don't live in a building made by man. I don't want or need a God who is restricted to a time and place. I need you, I want you in my daily life. I need for you to make a difference in my marriage, my parenting, my relationships, my goals, my direction, my job, my entire life. It's good to know that you are with me and in me as I rise to face the world each morning.

Daily Reflections on Ps. 127(I'm Hiring a New Builder)

Whenever you're building a new house or even remodeling an old one, having the right general contractor is crucial. If you want things to go well, be built well and in a timely manner, you better have a person who really knows what they are doing or you could suffer the consequences for a long time. Cheap isn't always better. Just because a guy can talk fast and make things sound good, doesn't mean you're getting the best deal in the long run.

Some contractors take short cuts or use cheap material or labor to insure their pockets are lined with profit. But those same steps aren't in your best interest. As the old adage goes, "Pay me now or pay me later." Use inexpensive substitutes and more than likely it will cost you more in the long run. When building a new home, you want to make sure it lasts, doesn't fall apart, or leak. Rush jobs, inexperienced laborers, inferior materials, short cuts always lead to a less than desirable outcome.

Solomon in Psalm 127 makes a poignant statement that many ignore. When he talks about letting the Lord build the house, he's not talking about an actual house. But his point is well taken. You want a master builder to build your house. You don't want Joe Fly-by-night in charge of building your dream home. Solomon is really talking about our lives. Unless we allow God to build into our lives, to guide us, direct us, protect us we're going to have a less than desirable result. More often than not, things are going to fall apart, especially if we face a major storm.

Many today draw their world view, philosophy of living, values from the world or their peers or even from their own personal desires. The problem is that when we hire those to build our house, we are in fact hiring Joe Fly-by-night. Expect your house to crumble at the first sign of stress on it. And since life is full of stressors, you can expect your house to be under constant duress.

God, I know sometimes I want to hire cheap substitutes to work on my place. I'm listening to all the wrong advice. I find myself constantly trying to do patch jobs on the messes I've made. I need you to remodel me. I've screwed it up in the past. I should have listened to you all along. Tear out the old stuff that's falling apart. Remake, rebuild me, my house the way that you want it built.

Daily Reflections on 2 Sam. 24:18-25 (Owning Up to Mistakes)

Mistakes always cost you one way or another. Sometimes there's a big payoff. Sometimes it costs us very little. Whatever the cost, there is always a lesson to be learned. The lesson is sometimes heeded and other times we have to learn it again. For some of us who take a little longer to learn, we may have to learn the lesson several times before we actually get it.

All of have made our fair share of mistakes. Yet, to be honest, it hasn't stopped us from making more mistakes. Making mistakes seems to be a part of life. And the hardest part about our mistakes is always the cost of the consequences. The problem is that we can't control the cost of our consequences. And sometimes, the consequences sadly affect other people who are innocent bystanders. It always saddens my heart to hear of someone killed by a drunk driver, especially if it was a child. The tragedy seems more than unfair to the victims.

King David, although a man after God's own heart, was far from perfect. We have a lot of fond stories of David, but his behavior wasn't always on the same page as God. In 2 Samuel 24, David, against the advice of his closest friends, decided to find out how powerful he really was by counting all his fighting men. He was flexing his muscles in the mirror to enhance his own ego. David was getting a little cocky and was more interested in his own strength, power, prestige, etc. than he was in seeking and trusting God.

After the census was taken, David realized his sin. But God brought a humbling punishment on him. He actually gave David a choice of punishments. David chose a three day plague over the land. 70,000 people died. David pleaded for forgiveness and for God to stop the death of his people. It happened that angel of the Lord was at the home of man named Araunah. So David was instructed through a prophet of God to go an build an altar to the Lord there and make a sacrifice.

David arrived at the farm of Araunah to build an altar. But Araunah wanted to supply everything for the altar and sacrifice. However, David insisted on paying him for the property and the animal to be sacrificed with these words, "I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing."

David's mistake had cost many lives. He had felt the pain of his people, owned up to the mistake, pleaded for mercy and forgiveness, and coffed up the cash to pay for his mistake. We can't escape the consequences for our mistakes. But to right ourselves with God, we must be willing to admit them in genuine remorse, recognize our humaness, humbly beg for mercy and forgiveness, and be willing to pay retribution. David wasn't able to bring back the family members of those who died in the plague. But he did step up to the plate and did his best to reduce any further suffering to his/God's kingdom.

God, your mercy is so awesome. How we need you. How I need you. I would love to minimize the mistakes I make. The only way I know to do that is to learn to trust you more. But my learning process seems to involve making more mistakes. I find myself learning the hard way. Empower me by my your spirit to seek your path, to minimize my screw ups, and to be willing to own up to the mistakes I do make.