Leviticus 25-27

In the middle of chapter 26 God explains to the people of Israel what he did when he brought them out of Egypt. His declaration in the last part of verse was a beautiful escription of the gift he gave Israel; "I broke the power that held you down and let you walk with your head held high."(TEV). The life of a slave is one of hopelessness and resignation. Slavery displays that the aggression of the world has won and utter dispair is the daily diet of those who are captured by its snare. God explained that he not only displayed his power by setting the slaves free he restored to them their dignity that had been stolen. He also lifted their faces so that they could look above the worn path on which they were forced to walk and they could see eternity if they desired to look with eyes of faith.
Stuart

Proverbs 17

Verse 6 of this chapter really hits home to me today. I have returned from my Dad's 81st birthday party. The longer I live the more I appreciate his love, guidance, insight, and training. I am thankful that I have in a father what many people lack for their father; respect and love. I know too many people whose struggles to spend time with their father.  As I watched my father listen to his grandchildren today I saw the pride and hope that Solomon mentioned glowing in my father's eyes. That is the same glow that I have when I consider my father. I give thanks to God for my Dad.
Stuart

Leviticus 22-24

I find it interesting that God required a night light in the tabernacle. There is no question that God did not need the light. So it only makes sense to me that the light is there for God's people. It is an indicator that the light of God's truth glows in the holy place of his people whenever the darkness seeks to invade it. Where there is light, no matter how dim, the darkness flees. A dying match can dispell the entire darkness of a great room. I wonder if Jesus was hoping that his listeners would make the connection to the lamp in the tabernacle when he told them; you are the light of the world?
Stuart

Proverbs 16

Verse 32 of this chapter uncovers the weakness found in many of histories noteworthy leaders. These people who led millions often fell because they lacked self discipline. They may have over thrown kingdoms and had cities named in their honor but at their end they were humiliated because they would not restrain themselves. Even without scripture we should know that a disciplined life is a critical part of stability. Yet outside of scripture there is no enduring framework that we can use to constrain our sinful passions. Though I have not even ruled a household, let alone a city, Solomon spoke from his own experience. His words are trustworthy.
Stuart

Leviticus 19-21

Not only has God drawn a line that separates his people from those who reject him, he calls out with encouragement to those who are his to imitate him.  “I am holy,” God tells Moses to share with the people, “they are to be holy as well.”  In chapters 19 and 21 God provides some examples to help Israel understand how to live a holy life.  Many of these examples we call “common courtesies” but some of them are examples of God’s grace.  How many modern farmers would leave the outside of the fields for the poor to harvest?  How do I apply that principle to my life as a computer administrator?  The principle of providing the means for helping those who have lost their means or find themselves in need of assistance beyond their current abilities requires a sacrifice on both side of the need.  I don’t know how big their grain fields were, but I’d guess that they may have been multiple acres.  So the Israeli farmers were to give God a tenth and leave a little more in the field for the poor to reap.  But his promise for their faithfulness was for much more than they gave up.  That same promise is still true today.

Stuart

Leviticus 15-18

God made it very clear; his people will follow his rules. There is no room for deviation from the line God drew. The line is still there. He first drew it in the garden and it stretches to judgment day. It is a line that we encounter multiple times in life. God only allows one way to live life. Satan and our flesh says it is a life missing something.  It is the really fulfilling life, the abundant life that Jesus proclaimed.
Stuart

Proverbs 15

There are two approaches that we can use in situations where anger is ready to errupt.  We can seek to appease the party on the verge of anger, but that does absolutely nothing to remedy the conflict and rewards the threat of anger. The other approach is to speak gentle words to the angry ones. Gentle words are often returned with gentle words and potentially ugly confrontations can remain civil and profitable for both side of the disagreement. That is the summary of Proverbs 15:1.
Stuart

Leviticus 12-14

I have heard many Christians ponder the question of why God allows his people to suffer.  That “problem” is not new to the Christian age.  In these passages of Leviticus God makes it plain that his covenant people will not be exempt from all of the diseases that were produced in a fallen world.  There will be sickness that will separate families.  There will be mildew that destroys houses and clothing.  Sacrifices will need to be made, but God’s holiness demands such sacrifices.  These are all a part of the costs of having access to the creator God.  But even in all of the separation these chapters describe God remains faithful to his covenant people.  The separations themselves are evidence of his holiness.  Life will be difficult, but God has always been and will always be good.

Stuart

Leviticus 9-11

The whole assembly of Israel had gathered to worship God under the direction of their newly consecrated priests. Six men stood between the people and God's presence. When the priest had made the offering for the people God displayed his shekinah glory and consumed the sacrifice. Shortly after that God sent more fire. But this was not a cause for celebration. Aaron and Moses looked down at the charred remains of Aaron's two oldest sons. Their unwelcomed actions had cost them their lives. How long did Moses and Aaron stare is silent horror? In the stillness of that time Moses heard God speak. Then with a voice of sorrow Moses choked out the words God had given him. Aaron remained speechless before the Lord. His silence was the only mourning God would allow. Sometimes our silence may have to serve the same purpose.
Stuart

Leviticus 1-4

The sacrifice described in chapter 4 is intended to atone for the unintentional sins of a memeber of the covenant people. The blood of the animal sacrifices described in chapters 1 and 3 was applied to the bronze altar in front of the tent. But the blood of the offerings in chapter 4 is used differently. For the sin of the priests and the whole community the blood was taken into the tent to the incense altar. There in front of the veil that hid God's mercy seat some of the blood was cast down before the Lord and some was used to annointed the horns of the incense altar. The blood of all the other offers was cast against the side of the main altar.
Stuart

Proverbs 14

Verse 2 offers us a standard against which we can measure our submission to God. How easily to we lie? Our propensitiy to lie is inversely related to our reverence for God. The more we lie the less we are in submission to God's will.
Stuart

Proverbs 13

Verse 11 presents a truth that I need to take to heart. I have been able to be generous towards the next generation in my immediate family. By my gifts my nieces and nephew are graduation from high school with a significant balance to continue their education. So far there have not been any problems but since they did not work for this money they may face the danger of treating it as something less than it worth. They may not understand the sacrifice that has been made for them.  Solomon points out that money is not to be worshipped, but neither is it to be ignored. It is a God given tool to be used for his glory and the good of others.  We will do well to remember that truth.
Stuart

Acts 26-28

Luke notes that Paul's message at the end of the book of Acts is still about the Kingdom of God as revealed in Jesus. His methods may have changed and his audience was always different but he held fast to the one true message that he had received after his Damascus experience.
Stuart

Acts22-25

After his arrest in Jerusalem three men were put in charge of Paul in sequence; Claudius Lysias, Felix, and Festus.  Each man felt that he was caught between a rock and a hard place.  The rock was the Roman law to protect their citizens.  Paul’s status of a citizen of Rome provided the motivation for the leaders to grant him due process and spare his life.  Paul would be kept safe, if not free, because of his Roman citizenship.  The hard place was the volatile Jewish people.  A riot among the Jews under each man’s watch would not look well  within the Roman political structure.  One by one these men with political aspirations passed on their problem citizen to someone else.  Even Festus sought to rid himself of Paul by sending him to the emperor for trial.  Paul’s situation shows us a picture of how Christians fit in this world; we don’t.  The confusion that Christian faith introduces to any culture is a display of God’s power that is at work in the life of faith.  In the midst of such chaos we need to remember to keep our mission and our focus in line with God’s plan, just as Paul did.

Stuart

Acts 19-21

Paul's last recorded visit to Jerusalem ended with his arrest. A week before that Paul had met with James and the elders of the Jerusalem church. They encouraged Paul to sponsor some fellow Christians who had taken a vow. The vow would be fulfilled with a sacrifice sometime around the feast of Pentecost. What may have been planned as a celebration of God's firstfruits in a new covenant became a major shift in the focus of Paul's ministry.  Why did Paul agree to sponsor those who had made the vow? Why was Paul so anxious to associate himself with such a Jewish ritual? Why did Paul agree to a sacrifice when he believed that Jesus was the final sacrifice? Is it possible that Paul no longer saw this process as action of worship but rather a cultural barrier. A barrier that if he ignored or rejected its value among the Jews might limit the church's out reach to his fellow Jews with the Gospel message? What lessons can we learn from Paul action in this situation?
Stuart

Proverbs 12

We will each receive insults and accusation from other people. I know that I have been guilty of speaking words that were intended to cause pain to the hearer. I know that I have been accused of fabricated lies and misunderstanding in the past and am confident that I will face them in the future. Verse 16 points out that our reaction in abusive situations determine whether we are wise or foolish. Is we ignore the statements directed at us we are acting wisely. If we fly off the handle and return the same, or greater, pain we are being foolish. The wise imitate Jesus the fool follows the example of Annas.
Stuart

Acts 16

Twice on his second journey Paul was kept from evangelizing an area. In Asia and Bithynia. Since Luke recorded a vision as the invitation for Paul to preach in Greece it seems unlikly that the Holy Spirit conveyed his restriction through a vision. So I wonder how he held back Paul, Silas, and Timothy? Prompting? Providence? Persecution? Since the details are missing it is a point that God deemed unneccessary; but I still wonder.
Stuart

Proverbs 11

There were three verses in this chapter that tell how worthless a foundation based on wealth is for a life. (4, 7, 28)  The first two speak of the value wealth will have after death. The answer is self-evident- none. The third verse explains then end result of the life that is focused on security measured by wealth - worthless. Money can buy a number of things but Solomon pointed out two things that money cannot buy - security in this life or the next life.
Stuart

Acts 13-15

Barnabas and Paul began their first mission trip in Barnabas' home land of Cyprus. In Paphos they encounter a Jew named Elymas. I wonder if Paul caught a glimpse of Saul of Tarsus in this stubborn man who strongly refused to to bent to the Gospel message? I've often felt that Paul's words to Elymas were full of anger and frustration, but scripture indicates that his heart, and surely his voice, was full of God's Holy Spirit. So now I hear Paul's word with a touch of parental concern as he identifies the four traits in Elymas' life that needed to change. Perhaps Paul was thinking back to the day more than two decades earlier when he himself kept trying to the Lord's truths into lies. Maybe God reminded Paul of the fruit of his three days of blindness. How the scales had helped Paul to see the light of Jesus. So the lesson Elymas needed to "see" was the same one Saul had learned on his path to becoming Paul. Scripture doesn't tell us whether Elymas repented and turned to Jesus, but Sergius Paulus responded.
Stuart

Acts 10-12

I feel sorry for Agabus. The two times that he is mentioned in scripture it is to deliver challenging news. In 11:28 he passes on God's revelation that there will be a famine soon. When we see him again, Acts 21:10-11, he reminds Paul what will happen after his arrival in Jerusalem. But what seems to be the aweful burden of bad news is really an expression of God's grace. Both of these events were going to happen. As God revealed the future he is preparing his saints for the work that they need to complete. We need to understand that God still does that, even though it may not be as clear. God seeks to prepare us for the joys and difficulties that are preparing to unfold in our lives.
Stuart

Proverbs 10

Our culture attributes wealth to the positive characteristic of hard work. There is no question that laziness destroys any treasure that a man may have. Solomon repeatedly warns against avoiding work and Paul gave the divine instruction that the refusal to work should be met with a closed hand. In verse 22 Solomon points out the root cause of accumulated wealth: God's blessing. No matter how hard we work if God does not bless our efforts there will be no fruit to our labor. Likewise any efforts to gain assets must meet God's approval.  This truth means that I need to adjust my investment practices.
Stuart

Acts 7-9

I know that I have read Stephen’s speech many times but I never really noticed that it was structured to address the two accusations that had been charged against him; Jesus would tear down the temple and change all of the customs that Moses had passed down to Israel.  Stephen pointed out that generation after generation of Jews had rejected the customs of Moses.  He also said that their injustice toward Jesus showed that this generation was no different.  Then he pointed out that God cannot be contained in a temple building.  I know that I need to watch myself in the same areas.  Do I reject God’s commands?  Do I try to contain God in a box; whether I call it a temple or not?  How should I be applying the truth of Stephen’s sermon to my life?

Stuart

Acts 4-6

It is really amazing what people will do to protect their doctrine.  The Sadducees were so angry that Peter and John refuted their doctrine of no resurrection that they had them arrested.  Attempting to use their God-given power to promote their own doctrine the Sadducees were met with a stubborn rejection of their perspective and a challenge; “Choose for yourself; is it right to obey you or God?” (Acts 4:19)  The Sadducees’ doctrine was based on ignorance while Peter and John spoke as witnesses of the events they had experienced.  The more the defiant and “ignorant” fishermen spoke about what they had witnessed the greater the anger of those who were politically connected grew.  This was not a situation for the weak willed or faint of heart.  But Peter and John were also empowered; not with the political influence of the institutions of man, but with the same divine presence which had moved Jesus to challenge the same corrupt political structure.  We need to recognize that being the target of a political assassination is not necessarily a defeat.  God has always turned what we might see as a defeat into mighty a glorious victory for his true Kingdom.

Stuart

Proverbs 9

What is my responce when someone corrects me? How do I react to an accusation whether it has merit or not? Every corrective action that I receive is a learning experience. Sometimes what I learn will save my life. At other times it will save my honor. Still other times it will teach me how to deal with a foolish person. Because every corrective situation is ripe with learning I should rejoice in the harvest. Of course I know that such an attitude is more easily spoken than lived. But God will help me with living that attitude; since it comes from him.
Stuart

Acts 1-3

I wonder what the former lame man did after he heard Peter preach the sermon calling for repentance and surrender to Jesus’ authority as Messiah?  Did he let go of Peter’s hand when Jesus’ name was mentioned again?  Did he quit dancing when Peter accused the crowd of giving false testimony toward the innocent man Jesus that resulted in his death?  Did he drop down to his knees, resuming the position of his lifetime of imprisonment to some unknown disease, and confess Jesus as his Lord?  Did he start adding the name of Jesus to every prayer he offered to God and every sentence he spoke to family.  Did his frequently question to other change from “Buddy, can you spare a dime?” to “Friend, have you heard about Jesus?”  Though he has been immortalized in scripture he still had to choose between following Jesus or walking away.

Stuart

Exodus 38-40

The book of Exodus closes with a picture of God’s glory indwelling the newly constructed tabernacle.  Never before had men erected an edifice to honor God.  Through the generations of the faithful they had build altars on which to burn the offerings to God.  But the people who knew God the best, as compared to their ignorant and pagan neighbors,  had never constructed anything this big to honor God.  They built it on God’s timetable and by God’s design.  I see that as a picture of the faith in which God wants us to dwell.  A faith that submits first to God’s timetable.  I know that I am guilty of not aligning my sense of urgency with God’s.  Sometimes I want to move very quickly only to be frustrated.  Later I learn that I had been moving too fast.  Not that God couldn’t keep up, but that he wants me to submit my timing to his.  I have also been to slow in my response to his prompting, and missed the opportunity to honor my God.  Our faith also needs to conform to God’s plan.  I often feel that I have a better grasp on my life and the circumstances around me than God does.  So I have the better plan.  But such attitudes only put my foolish and selfish heart on display.  God not only has a better understanding of what is happening now, but he sees the past and future with equal clarity.  His “silly” or “poorly timed” plan will work greater progress for the Kingdom than any plan that I can conceive.  When we hold closely to God’s timing and design we will be allowed to see his holy splendor inhabit the work that he has given us to complete.

Stuart

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Paul of Tarsus

Proverbs 8

In verse 5 Wisdom ask two questions. It really doesn't matter how a person might answer this question. What matters is whether or not a person will consider the questions. A person who disregards both questions without any consideration displays their folly. Any one who will ponder the questions are either wise already or have humbled themselves before God and are now ready to receive his wisdom. We cannot remain as we are and be a wise receptacle. If we don't want God to change us we are choosing foolishness. If we are will for God to make his changes in our lives then we are wise.
Stuart

Exodus 35-37

The final chapters of the book of Exodus are focused on the fabrication of the furniture and parts for the tabernacle and its first assembly.  Moses went into great detail as to all the work and Bezalel and Oholiab and their craftsmen did in preparation for the tabernacle.  He also pointed out the generosity of the people of Israel and their liberal outpouring of gifts to provide more than was needed for the tabernacle’s construction.  The amount of work that went into the construction is not completely noted in scripture but I find it interesting to note what instructions preceded the collection of gifts and construction of the tabernacle.  Moses reemphasized the Sabbath regulation.  In 35:1-3 Moses makes very clear, as the greatest work of adoration on which Israel had ever begun was preparing to start, that observing the Sabbath is the a greater act of worship.  Greater than building the tabernacle?  More important than constructing the ark of the covenant?  A more powerful display of faith then the preparations for the high priest’s garments?  I see two reasons why the Sabbath rest took precedent over the construction of the tabernacle; two lessons for the church today. 

First is that God wants us to understand that no matter how hard we work we cannot earn a right relationship with him.  When he extends his grace into our lives and declares us his covenant people then we are in covenant.  Our righteous acts didn’t BRING us to that point.  Our righteous works won’t KEEP us in covenant.  Only God’s grace will sustain us in that right relationship with him. 

The second lesson is that God wants us to give him our hearts before we give him our hands.  If he tells us to rest, then we need to tell our hands to rest before God.  Spending quiet time with God may be more valuable and fruitful to Kingdom work then knocking on dozens of doors, handing out thousands of tracts, or sharing the Gospel with millions.

Stuart

Proverbs 7

Wisdom is the general focus of the book of Proverbs. Not just the definition of wisdom, not only the fruits that wisdom brings to our lives, but also a description of how wisdom should change our thinking.  When we understand the way God wants us to think we begin to understand the wonder of his plan for us. It is through wisdom that we will grow to see God's handiwork. Both in his providential preperation in our lives, but also in the amazing execution of the small piece of the plan he has for us to build up his kingdom.
Stuart

Exodus 33-34

After the incedent with the golden calf God commanded Israel to move on to take the land of their inhertence. But the rebellious nature of the people threatened their existance. God said that he would not travel with them. But Moses boldly demanded that God reconsider and walk with his people. In 33:16 Moses spoke to God a truth that not only applied to that wandering nation, but described God's people in every generation since then: when God dwells among his people his presence is what distinguishes his people from all other people. As Christians we have the same distinction; God's Holy Spirit dwells in the lives of his people. Paul refers to his presence as a reminder of our redemption (Ephesian 1:14). So we can understand that God's presence in the lives of people of faith is a timeless constant of his nature.
Stuart

Proverbs 6

Work is not a bad word. Work is a gift, a positive outlet for the creative nature that dwells in each of us; that is a part of God's image impressed on our lives. Work can be boring. It can be stressful. It can also steal away other parts of our lives if we let it. But God intended it for two purposes. The creative expression I have already mentioned and the ability to meet our physical needs. That is why Proverbs 6:6-8 focuses on the ants. One of the smallest of God's creatures offer to teach us a lesson. Work is how God intends for nearly all of us to acquire our sustinance; just like the ant.
Stuart

Exodus 30-32

The beginning of chapter 30 presents and introduction to the altar of incense.  The altar for burning incense provides a wonderful picture of the prayer life for a Christian.  The location of the altar in the tabernacle puts it right up against the curtain that visibly separated the holy place from the most holy.  The lampstand and showbread were further away from the mercy seat.  Most of the priests who burnt incense would never get closer to the ark of God’s covenant that this altar.  The smoke from the incense flowed through the curtain and connected the priest to God’s invisible presence on the other side of the curtain. So it is for the Christian in this life.  There is no time where we will be “closer” to God than when we are engaged in prayer.  The table was also overlaid with gold and a picture of how precious prayer is to God and should be to us.  The final picture of the wonder of prayer is seen in the covering of sacrificial blood on the altar.  The precious altar was made holy not because of the gold, but because of the blood that was put on it.  So too is the altar of our hearts made holy by the grace filled blood of Jesus.

Stuart

Exodus 28-29

Part of the high priest’s garment was to include two engraved stones set on his shoulders. The high priest would symbolically carry the presence of the nation of Israel into God’s presence whenever he enter the holy places.   I wonder if that foreshadow of the Christ is fulfilled in the words of Jesus recorded in John 12:32; “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to me.”?

Stuart

Proverbs 5

All foolishness boils down to a lack of self control. Adultry, which is the focus of this passage, is the fruit of a life without self-control. And that is rotten fruit. Nothing good has ever been produced in adultry. It leaves in its wake distrust, secrets, lies, broken hearts, and ruined lives. Solomon points out that it leads to death. That is the extreme of being bluntly true. But young men need to understand the cost of their foolishness.
Stuart

Proverbs 4

Verse 13 offers kingly insight into the vaule of an education. Solomon charges his son, in the same way that David much have challenges Solomon, to place great value in an education. "Your education is your life" is not an over statement. The strength of many modern nations was built upon the growth of the education of the masses. God places knowledge slightly below faith in him as importance for us to develop.
Stuart

Exodus 25-27

While Moses was on the top of the mountain he not only received the tablets on which the words of the covenant were inscribed he was show a vision of what the tabernacle should resemble.  At least 4 times in this passage (25:9, 40; 26:30; 27:8) God explained to Moses that the tabernacle that Israel was to assemble needed to look like the pattern Moses had been shown.  Even though there were skilled craftsmen among the people of this new nation I wonder if Moses was concerned about their ability to build the structure that God desired?  They were, after all, camped in the middle of a wilderness.  Where could they acquire all of the linen that God required?  Had they carried with them looms that the weavers had used in Egypt?  What about all of the skins and the dyes that would provide the red, blue, and purple colors?  Did the accumulation of the gold and bronze that would have be collected concern Moses?  There was probably no way for Moses or any single member of Israel to understand that everything God was expecting of the people he had already given them.  Probably most, if not all, of these items were spread out through the encampment that the Egyptians had given the people when the left their former slave masters.  Today we can rest assured that whatever God asks us to do he has already provided the means to accomplish though us.

Stuart