Messin' with Sasquatch (1 Kings 22)

There's a series of commercials that air usually during certain sporting events hawking a brand of beef jerky. They all revolve around the theme, "Messin' with Sasquatch." Each of the episodes revolve around usually male characters trying to trick or play a practical joke on the mythical man-beast character of Sasquatch. The ads generally portray the characters as smart and fun loving and the more powerful Sasquatch as lacking intelligence or simply naive. The end results are always the same, the much stronger Sasquatch kicking the butts of the practical jokers.

I'm not really sure of the implication of the commercial to the product, but it sure reminded of the way many arrogant leaders viewed and treated God in the Old Testament. Take King Ahab for instance. Instead of humbling himself before God and fearing Him, he treated God as almost bumbling idiot. Ahab seems to think of himself as superior in intellect and sophistication to God. Although he doesn't try to pull a chair out from under God in physical sense, as portrayed in one of the commercials, Ahab does try to pull throne out from under God.

In 1st Kings 22, King Ahab invites King Jehoshaphat to go to war with him against the Areameans. Jehoshaphat agrees on conditions that the prophets guarantee victory for them. All the prophets but one, Macaiah, tell Ahab that he will have victory. Macaiah tells Ahab that if goes to war against the Areameans that he will be killed. Ahab is so angry that he has Macaiah arrested and thrown into prison and put on bread and water and then Ahab heads off to war.

To hedge his bet, Ahab disguises himself as just regular soldier and has Jehoshaphat wear his royal robes. As the battle ensues, the enemy come after whom they believe to be King Ahab. When they discover that it wasn't Ahab, the battle is enjoined. During the fighting, an arrow from the bow of an enemy archer is randomly launched. It strikes Ahab between the joints of his army. Ahab dies later that day as a result of the wound and his army is routed. Random shot? Lucky Shot? Messin' with Sasquatch.

 

Many today have the same arrogance as Ahab. They think that they can ignore the teachings of God and avoid the consequences. They think God's commands are archaic, out dated, irrelevant in today's world or society. "We are much more sophisticated today and God's teachings are old fashion." They live the way they want to live, trivializing the truths of God. They view God as almost a benevolent benefactor who is out of touch with today's world. He maybe powerful, but He's a little naive. Messin' with Sasquatch.

 

I'm not saying that God is a mean, angry, powerful pontificate ready to squash anyone who crosses him. I am saying that there are consequences to not following God's truths.  God is interested in our well being, our relationships, our marriages. He wants the best for us, for us to experience a healthy life, an abundant life. To ignore his truths, his teachings is a detriment to us and the world we live in. God's truths are TRUE! When we choose not to follow them, we crash and burn.

God, forgive my arrogance. Forgive me when I ignore or trivialize or manipulate your teachings to accommodate me. In the words of the psalmist, I love your precepts. I want to hide your truths in my heart. They are a light, a guide to my path. I want to follow your ways. Guide me today, each day.

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 Numb. 22:1-35 (Who's the Real Ass Here?)

It's one of the most fascinating and almost humorous accounts in the Bible. Balaam is prophet of God in the Old Testament. He lived during the time of the Israelites wilderness wanderings. As the Israelites trekked their way through the desert country, they came up against various nations who refused to let them pass through their countries or territories. Conflict always ensued and God always gave the victory to the Israelites. And as Israel wiped out whole armies and communities defending themselves, the nations were getting a edgy when the Israelite pilgrimage led them close to their land.

The Israelites had reached the plain of Moab, which made the king of Moab very nervous. So he sent for Balaam to put a curse on the Israelites. The first ambassadors for King Balak were unsuccessful in convincing Balaam to go to meet with the king. God had instructed Balaam not to go. So King Balak put together a high powered entourage of princes and important people and sent them to pursuade Balaam to come meet with him. And persuasive they were. They offered Balaam a very lucrative reward.

Initially, Balaam said no because God had said no. But just like any child, Balaam begged God to let him go meet with the king. God, reluctantly told Balaam he could go. So the next morning, Balaam eagerly saddled his trusty steed, a donkey, headed off with Balak's posse. God was really hacked at Balaam for giving in to these powerful and prominent people. So He sent an angel with a sword to oppose Balaam.

Here's where things really get interesting, the trusty old steed saw the angel of the Lord with sword drawn and did everything in her power to avoid getting them both killed. At first, she took off through a field. Next, she crushed Balaam's foot against a wall to avoid the angels striking blow. Finally, she just laid down and refused to go anywhere when she saw the angel standing in a narrow place in the road through which they had to pass.

Each time the donkey took evasive action to protect them, Balaam beat her. Now, in one of the most unique events in the Bible, God actually allowed the donkey to speak. I don't mean in brays. I mean speak speak. God allowed the donkey to talk to Balaam. Whoa! Can you imagine Balaam when the donkey said, "Dude, what the heck are you beating me for?." Now what's really funny is the conversation Balaam has with his donkey. It's almost as if he's arguing with his wife, only worse.

Balaam is so ticked at his donkey he tells her he'd kill her right now if he had a sword. To which the donkey defends herself, I'm sure in a feminine voice. And as most ladies effectively do in arguments, she backs Balaam into a corner of guilt. It's at that moment that the angel reveals himself to Balaam and takes the donkey side. So Balaam falls facedown and begs for forgiveness.

If you think Balaam was confused, what do you think the princes and high officials were thinking at all of this. They were probably checking their own canteens to see what they'd been drinking.

I've met a lot of Balaam's in my life time. They know what God wants them to do, but they get swayed by the voices of friends, peers, society, greed, lust and the like. They choose to go with the persuasive voices against God's wishes and more often than not their better judgment. Balaam wanted to stay in good favor with Balak and the boys. He was enticed by their pressure and prominence. He was drawn by the rewards and relationships, the personal acknowledgments and affirmation. Instead of doing the hard thing, he chose to do the popular thing. Instead of standing for the right thing to do and facing the consequences and potential hardships, he gave in. Instead placing himself at odds with the influential people, he chose to place himself at odds with God. And even though God allowed Balaam to go, if it weren't for the protective action of a co-laborer in God, an ass, if you will, Balaam would have suffered severe consequences, or should a I say severed consequences, his head from his body.

God, I want to listen carefully to you. I don't want to do what you don't want me to. Sometimes I know I need an ass to protect me from myself. I need people who will intervene in my behalf to keep me from making stupid mistakes. Help me to be that ass for others as well, to give constructive advice as friends and co-laborers in Christ falter from your path.

Daily Reflections on Ex. 23:20-33 (My Personal Angel)

Wouldn't it be great if you had an angel go before you clearing the way? You're on your way to work and all the lights would turn green right before you got there. All the other cars would just move over giving you a clear path. You pull up to the mall and a space would be waiting for you on the front row. Instead of standing in line at Wal-Mart or the grocery store, a path would open allowing you to go directly to a register without waiting.

Wouldn't it be great if all the angry people in your life would disappear forever? Your angel would rid you of all troublemakers and annoying people. Your enemies and your competition could be eliminated without you having to do a thing. Where can I get one of those angels?

In today's reading, God promises to send an angel like this ahead of the Israelites. He was a representative of God. The only catch was that they had to listen to him and do what he said. They also couldn't start worshiping the gods of the people that were already in the land. They were to destroy their idols and sacred places. They also weren't to make a peace covenant with the people living in the land.

God said if they did those things, then He would bless their food and water, take away any sickness from them, young women would have healthy children and they would live a long happy life. Sounds like a great promise to me. Where do I sign up?

I also noted one more promise that God gave them. He said He would drive out all the inhabitants of the land which He had promised to Abraham and his offspring. But He said He wouldn't do that all at once. He'd do it gradually so that the land wouldn't become desolate and dangerous. As the people grew in number, He would drive out the negative element as needed, until the Children of Israel could possess the entire land.

Wow. Seems like lots of lessons here. We're looking at the birth of a nation. God knew it would take a while to make the transition so He carefully planned their development. They weren't suddenly a nation. God knew the chaos that would ensue if He didn't take one step at a time. Nation building takes time, training, careful planning.

So does the birth of a Christian. God doesn't take out all the supports and leave us floundering. He allows us to grow slowly. His caution, however, is to listen only to Him in the developmental process. The negative influence of our lives have to be slowly and methodically removed. Trying to invite old habits and worldly influence into our lives leads only to disaster and ultimately destruction. The best of God's blessings and a healthy life requires listening to Him and obeying Him. We don't have an angel to prepare our way, but we do have the Holy Spirit living in us to direct us, protect us and empower us.

God, thanks for preparing my way each day through your Holy Spirit.

Daily Reflections on Ex. 20:1-20 (Do We Have to Keep All Ten Commandments?)

When our growing church needed to expand, we looked at several possibilities. We realized that our facility was limiting our growth and ultimately we had to relocate. Our seven weekend services were too much strain on everyone, including the facilities. Our elders finally decided to purchase several acres of land on the edge of town. Our goal was to build in phases so as to accommodate the needs of our growing congregation without over taxing our resources.

Wise thinking. But God had different plans for us. We had already started to plateau in growth. People would drive onto our lot, not be able to find a parking place and drive off never to return. We really couldn't wait on a ten year plan. It was then God gave us the unique opportunity to purchase an old Wal-Mart building. 60,000 square feet on 7 and a half acres, complete with concrete parking lot, right at the center of the statistical hub of our city. God even sliced the asking price in half for us. After the sale of our properties, the purchase of the Wal-Mart facility cost us only about $125,000.

It's amazing how God works. What seemed impossible odds were relatively nothing for God. As were going through the whole process of relocation, fund raising and transition, I kept coming back to these stories of God at work in Exodus. God did some amazing things for children of Israel when things looked hopeless or impossible. They even heard the voice of God speaking to them. Now that would get your attention.

God struck a covenant with the Children of Israel. He told them he would provide for them and protect them and choose them for His own people if they simply would honor Him and obey His instruction. So God gave them 10 basic commands by which to live. That's it 10. Shouldn't be too hard, right? Well, let's just say they couldn't make it a month.

The Ten Commandments still remain the basis of our relationship with God. It's true that those of us in Christ are under a new covenant that centers on God's grace through our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior, Redeemer, Lord and friend. However, Jesus said that not one aspect of the law would diminish, that He came to fulfill the law not do away with it. He also said that the law is summed in two basic commands, love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.

An interesting thing happened after we purchased that old Wal-Mart building. People used to joke about us being the Wal-Mart Church. You can imagine some of the comments. Some wondered if all our greeters were going to wear blue smocks with yellow smiley face buttons. Some asked if we were going to adopt slogans like, "always low requirements." We got accused of being the "Lite Church." We thought about offering a discount tithe of 8%. We kicked around the idea having only 8 commandments, you get to choose your 8. But then we realized that people were already doing that and less.

Jesus abbreviated the 10 commandments to two simple commandments and yet what I've found is that people can't even keep those two let alone the ten. We have witnessed the incredible power of God's love and grace. We watch His hand continually go forth in our behalf and we can't do the simplest thing of obeying God. It blows my mind, because I'm just as guilty as the next person. I'm just thankful that God is a patient God and that His grace is bigger than my disgrace.

God, you truly are amazing. Words can't describe you. Your power and might are infinite. There is nothing impossible for you. Why do I doubt? Why do I whine? Why do I ignore you? Why do I disobey your truth and wisdom? Forgive me, Father. Fill me again with your wonderment.

Daily Reflections on Prov. 1:24-28 (Why Is This Happening to Me?)

"God, why is this happening to me?" That question or one like it has been spoken from the lips of many who sought my counsel in a crisis. It's not always an easy question to answer. But sometimes the answer is obvious. I admit that there have been times I've wanted to shout, "Are you blind? You did this to yourself. God had nothing to do with it." I've just wanted to grab my Louisville Slugger and knock some sense into people. When will we get that age old advice, "Play with fire and you'll get burned."

Now I realize that Job suffered great tragedy at no doing of his own. However, more often than not what's happening to us is of our own making. When we ignore the principles of God for finances, relationships, attitudes, business, etc. we can expect trials, struggles, difficulty. You speed to get a ticket. It costs you something. You get too many speeding tickets and they take away your license. That's life.

Ironically, God says here in Proverbs, "You ignore me and I'll ignore you. Don't expect me to bail you out when you purposely chose not to do what I told you." (Dave's paraphrase.) We have to accept the consequences for our actions. You can choose to do, to live however you want, but you can't choose or escape the consequences, nor will God remove them. Sure God is willing to forgive the error of our ways, but He will not take away the consequences of our ignorance or purposeful defiance.

The only reprieve we get is from eternal death when we come to Jesus and accept Him as our personal Lord and Savior. God grants forgiveness and remembers our sins no more. But we still can't escape the immediate consequences of our disobedience, rebellion or sin. Don't expect God to deliver you from something you chose to get yourself into.

God, thanks for your grace to forgive us through your Son, Jesus. Thanks for paying the ultimate price for my sin. Thanks for the sustaining power to deal with consequences of my past sin through your Holy Spirit. Thanks for showing me the path out of my own destructive patterns. Thanks for your Word which is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path.

Daily Reflections on Judges 7:19-25 (Trumpets)

It'd been a long day and longer evening. The meeting that night had been arduous. The cool, gray, misty conditions only added to the craving for some restful slumber. As my exhausted Sr. Pastor arrived home that evening he draped his top coat over the corner of his bedroom door, slipped into his pj's and crawled into bed. Later the night he was awakened by a loud noise. As he peered around the darkened room without the aid of his glasses, he saw the back of an intruder leaving his bedroom in a top coat. He leaped from his bed to attack the intruder. BANG! The cut, so prominently displayed on his forehead the next day, was from hitting the corner of his bedroom door. He had attempted to tackle his own coat hanging right where he'd left it. The loud noise? Turned out to be a clasp of thunder.

Ever awakened from a deep sleep startled or not known where you were? Takes a minute to get oriented. That's the scene in the valley of Jezreel as Gideon and his 300 men broke their clay jars that concealed their lit torches, blew their trumpets and began shouting their victory cheer. Awakened by the sounds of battle echoing across the hills, 120,000 enemy troops slew each other while the remaining 15,000 fled in fear. The interesting thing, Gideon and his measley 300 men never had to raise a sword. All they did was to shine their lights, blow their intruments and shout praise and glory to God.

God isn't without humor in all this. When the Angel of the Lord came to find Gideon, Gideon was cowering in a wine press terrified of his enemies. The Angel of the Lord addressed Gideon at that moment as "mighty warrior." Now that's funny! The rest of us would have called him what he was, "chicken." But that's the point of the story. God takes inept men and puts them up against insurmountable odds and then hands them the victory.

Gideon's victory came not from his abilities, ingenuity, resources, determination or anything else. It came from the hand of God that was unleashed when Gideon and his friends obeyed God and praised God. Wouldn't it be great if all you had to do when you faced an overwhelming, impossible problem was follow God's lead and sing praise in shouts of adoration. Makes me want to break out my guitar right now.

God, I know my obedience to you is the key to personal victory. I don't understand why I don't surrender more of my earthly battles to you. Trusting you and giving you praise in the heat of battle isn't easy. Keep a song of praise on my lips as I go through this day. I give you my life and praise you for the victory.

Daily Reflections on Mt. 7:21-27 (Who's Going to Heaven?)

Who's getting into heaven? I'm generally amazed and amused by the discussion. In my years as a pastor I guess I've heard a zillion reasons for getting into heaven from "I'm a good person" to "I grew up in the church" to "My grandmother or grandfather was real religious" to "God is a good god so everybody will be saved." I've heard various theological opinions and rituals to perform. As I visit with families at the death of a loved one sometimes I hear a litany of reasons why grandpa or cousin Joe, who never had anything to do with Christ, never darkened the door of a church and the only time he used the name of God was in an expletive, was going to heaven.

Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he (or she) who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." That's pretty clear. Jesus goes on to say that prophesying in His name doesn't get you in. Driving out demons in His name doesn't get you in. Performing miracles doesn't automatically get you into heaven. Does that mean I could have perfect church attendance for 50 years and not get it? I could give large sums of money to the church and not get into heaven? Absolutely!

Church attendance, keeping rules and regulations, outward signs of religiosity or spirituality aren't what get you into heaven. My guess is the Apostle John missed a few Sundays while in exile on Patmos and Paul probably had to skip sometimes while he was in prison. What Jesus plainly said gets you into the kingdom of heaven is doing the will of God, the Father. How do I do that? Jesus said it's by surrendering your life and will completely to God. It boils down down to submission and obedience that stem from an intimate relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It's about building your life on and in Him.

God is always more interested in what's going on in your heart and mind. It's easy to put on a show. Many of us do that to impress our peers. God is interested in authentic surrender and submission to Him, that's played out in genuine obedience and behavior. Lip service is not enough. Our life and lifestyle counts for something.

God, look into my heart. See if there is any wicked way in me. Guide me in your paths by your Holy Spirit. Cleanse me, renew me, lead me each day. I'm not interesting in showing off or pretense. I simply want to be yours to do with as you see fit. I submit my will to you.