June 4, 2025

Deuteronomy 9: 4, 5 After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, “The Lord has brought me here . . . because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity . . . but on account of the wickedness of these nations. (NIV)

No fall is sudden. . . . [No] man [has] been dragged over into the domain of evil, who had not strayed carelessly, or gazed curiously or lingered guiltily beside its verge.*

While I am not a proponent of the “everything happens for a reason” school of thought, I don’t doubt that some things happen for a reason. In this instance, God makes it clear that the reason for the Israelites’ victorious invasion of Canaan had nothing to do with their righteousness or integrity – they were merely an instrument of God’s judgment against the wicked Canaanites. 

In Deuteronomy chapter 20, verses 16 through 18, God lists the evil tribes and orders the Israelite army to annihilate them – “do not leave anything alive that breathes,” he said. Otherwise, “they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do . . . and you will sin against the Lord your God.” Apparently, the Israelites never complied completely with the command and, just as God predicted, they were contaminated by their association with their new neighbors. 

We might wonder how the Canaanites reached their state of ungodliness. Someone has said that there has never been a time in history in which the worship of God was not proclaimed somewhere.* I can’t verify the accuracy of his observation – at least not without some very thorough research - but it seems safe to assume that the tribes in the Promised Land had not always been Godless. (We can’t say they were godless – “little g” – because they worshipped lots of gods.) They should have been a most alarming cautionary tale to God’s chosen people, but, alas, not so much . . . 

There are three quick points I want to make from this passage. 

1. God’s reasons for blessing you might not have so much to do with you. He might bless you so that you can bless others – or he may have other, surprising, motives. 

2. Partial obedience is not really obedience. There will be a price to pay. 

3. Fraternizing with evil is not how to overcome evil. We can’t isolate ourselves from the ungodly – we’re commanded to go into the world – but God’s people are commanded to keep themselves pure. We must insulate ourselves from the enticements of the evil around us through the power of the Holy Spirit within us. 

It is impossible for God's holiness . . . to pass from us to the world. . . . The world will contaminate your holiness, if you are not on guard against it.*

June 3, 2025

Job 3: 11 “Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb?” (NIV)

God’s best answer to “why” is often, “Be still and know that I am God.”*

Ironically, I begin this discussion on the futility of asking “why” by asking my very own “why” question: Why do we have to know why? Sure, sometimes we need to know why something happened so that we can avoid a repetition of the incident, but more often our questions are of the why did this have to happen to me variety. If there was a reason why, and if we knew why, it wouldn’t change things. Why waste time asking why when you could be asking, “What am I going to do about it?”

Job’s question reminds us that 1) bad things happen to good people; and 2) we don’t know why. We know what was going on in the spirit realm between God and Satan because God chose to reveal it to the writer of the book of Job, but there is no indication that he ever told Job. Which brings us to the third thing that Job’s question reminds us of: 3) God doesn’t owe us answers.*

Does that seem fair to you? Do you really want God to be fair? I really want God to be God. Someone has said, “My theology is big enough for a God I can’t figure out but whom I trust, ultimately, to be deeply good.”*  I would add my personal sentiment by saying that I pray that my faith is strong enough to trust that God is good and he does good.

God’s goodness extends far beyond our understanding.*

June 2, 2025

Matthew 16: 26 “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” (NIV)

What a value hath God set upon the soul! He made it after his image, he redeemed it with Christ's blood.*

I have often wondered what I would do with the world if it were mine. I’m pretty sure I don’t want it! I am puzzled by the motivation of the megalomaniac villains in movies who want to take over the world. (I realize these bad guys are fictional characters but surely they reflect someone’s fantasy.) Upon occasion, I have pondered the question, “How different would my life be if I had twice as much money?” My answer, it turns out, is, “Not much.” Perhaps, like Paul, I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances (Philippians 4: 11). But Jesus poses another thought-provoking question: What can a man give in exchange for his soul?

Placing a value on a thing is not an exact science. If you’ve ever watched an episode of Antiques Roadshow, you know that saying something is worth $3,000, and actually selling it for that amount are two different things. Even the value of a soul is fluid: my soul is worth more to my mother than it is to a stranger. So what is a soul worth? Jesus established the value of our souls by giving up his place in heaven so that we could have our place there. As the Son of God, no soul was more valuable by any standard -  and yet now he and I are worth the same.

In answer to Jesus’ question: the only thing we can give in exchange for our soul is . . . our soul.

He would rather go to hell for you than to go to heaven without you.*

June 1, 2025

II Corinthians 4: 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. (NIV)

Death is an affront to our emotions and reason. Death is the curse of life.*

When we get vaccinated, substances are introduced to stimulate the body’s immune system to prevent or ease the symptoms of a disease. The antigenic material in the vaccine is actually a form of the pathogen itself.* In other words, in order to fight a disease, we must carry it around in our body.

Hmmm. Sounds like Paul might have understood the concept of vaccination when he wrote about carrying around the death of Jesus in our body. The way to overcome death is to be injected with the blood of someone who overcame it himself. We come in contact with the “antibodies” of death, not through a needle, but through washing in the blood of the overcomer. “We were . . . buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead . . . we too may live a new life.” (Romans 6: 4)

Wikipedia shares an interesting bit of information about vaccination: “When a sufficiently large percentage of a population has been vaccinated, herd immunity results.” No, those of us who have been vaccinated against death can’t spread our immunity to others by breathing on them; we can’t pass it to our children through our genetic material. But we should deliberately and diligently be spreading the good news about the cure to those who are still infected by the disease of death.

Jesus is not weak toward us, but mighty in us.*

May 31, 2025

II Kings 18: 4-7 He[Hezekiah] removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. . . . Hezekiah trusted in the Lord . . . There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the Lord had given to Moses. (NIV)

To be free in Christ, our high places will have to fall. We must be willing to take a stand against idolatry.*

The Bible tells us that among all the kings of Judah, there was not another one like Hezekiah. What was so special about him when we are also told that Jehoshaphat, Joash, Amaziah, Azariah, and Jotham were all kings who “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord”? The problem lies in a small but mighty exception to their exemplary lives. 

As king, Hezekiah didn’t just worship God and abstain from idolatry – he demolished the places and symbols of idol worship, seeing to it that they were no longer accessible to the young, the impressionable, and the weak of faith. He couldn’t force the people to worship the one true God but he had the power to erase idolatry’s aura of respectability. The other kings – the ones who “did what was right” - they had a more relaxed attitude and allowed the people to keep their “high places.” 

Freedom of religion is a sacred philosophy in America. Our founders wanted to ensure that their new country had no official religion and that everyone was free to practice the religion of their choice. That’s all well and good for a secular nation, but Judah and her religion were intertwined. They were God’s people. And “live and let live” is not a good policy when it comes to sin. 

The high places and the Asherah poles are not issues for us today, but they represent any area of disobedience that we allow or promote. In our homes, we have the power to remove, cut down, smash any form of idolatry. In society, we are free to avoid and to speak against idolatrous practices. Anything that comes between us and God has the potential of becoming an idol. 

As Christians, we should do more than just what is right in the eyes of the Lord. We should confront sin and take a stand against sinful behavior. There is no room for tolerance when it comes to sin.

When we make something other than God an absolute priority – even something good – we have made an idol.*

May 30, 2025

Matthew 28: 19, 20 “Therefore go and make disciples . . . And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (NIV)

Not only does he send us but he goes with us.*

Just before Jesus delivered the Great Commission, Matthew tells us that when the eleven remaining disciples saw him, they worshipped him. But, he adds, some doubted. Put yourself in their sandals. Would doubt be the worst thing you would be feeling at that moment? What’s going to happen to us now, they had to be wondering. What happens next is that Jesus gives them their marching orders. As Max Lucado puts it, “He sent men into all the world, yet equipped them with only bended knees and memories of a resurrected carpenter.”* 

Except that’s not quite accurate. Sure, they weren’t given procedure manuals or brochures to pass out, but Jesus didn’t just tell them where to go and what to do. He made a promise to them – and ultimately, to us – that he would be with them to the very end. It was the reiteration of the promise he made to them before his arrest: “The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14: 26) 

Remember the benediction uttered by the characters in the Star Wars movies? “May the Force be with you.” Jesus doesn’t just send us out with good wishes – he is the Force that goes with us.

Power always goes with a commission.*

May 29, 2025

Luke 10: 36, 37 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” (NIV)

A lot of people want to open up a conversation just to tell you you’re wrong.*

In this passage, we see once again how deftly Jesus dealt with difficult people. Even those who refuse to acknowledge him as God could learn from his skilled and compassionate handling of people. An expert of the law has prompted a parable – the Good Samaritan – by his specious question, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus doesn’t call him out on his insincerity; instead, he turns it into a teaching moment – not just for this man, but for all mankind. 

After listening to the parable, the man could not not know the answer when Jesus asked him, “Now, who was the neighbor to this man?” But it wasn’t enough for this law expert to admit that the neighbor was the one who showed mercy; Jesus confronts him with a challenge. “Go and do likewise,” he said. Neighborliness is reciprocal: If a person is your neighbor, then you are his neighbor, with all the rights and responsibilities thereof. Now the question becomes, not “who is my neighbor,” but, “To whom will I be a neighbor?”*

People never felt belittled by Jesus for their focus on the unimportant. They felt challenged.*