Judges 13-15

Judges 14:4 is a most troubling verse. Samson has grown up a Nazarite. So he has led a life of total separation was what is not holy to God. He God moves him to pursue and marry a Philistinian woman. Why would God plan such a paradox? To create an opportunity of conflict so that his power could be demonstrated in one man of Israel. In some ways Samson followed in his mother's simple faith. He did what God lead him to do even though it did not make sense to those around him.
Stuart

Psalm 71

I wonder if this was a psalm written for the feast of tabernacles? It starts with a comparison of God to a shelter. And continues to speak of deliverance; which was surely a message to remind the singers that God's strong hand delivered Israel out of Egypt.
Stuart

Judges 7-9

Gideon was very wise.  From the perspective of the people who surrounded him his courage and leadership were THE reason that Israel defeated the army  of Midian.  Gideon knew it was because of God’s gracious and patient mercy that Gideon had been used to bring about God’s victory.  The people didn’t see Gideon’s fear and indecision.  The people were unaware of the re-assurances that God had provided.  Gideon knew he was a leader only because God had made him one, and he knew that purpose was not to rule Israel as king.  In Judges 8:23 Gideon makes it clear that God is to be their king.  That same truth applies to modern believers; God is to be our king.  It is to him we answer.  His commands are to be our first directives.  And the great news is that as long as we living in a culture that recognizes the freedoms that God grants then we will be model citizens for the country.  But our allegiance falls first to our God.  To be a Christian is to live no other way.  That is different and may be difficult, but that was the message Gideon set forth.

Stuart

Psalm 70

How do we approach dealing with others? This psalm seems to point out two options. We can be busy trying to pull others down with our words and action. The normal reason for this is to elevate the self over someone else. Or we can worship God. And in the process of accomplishing that we will elevate other people. The psalmist feels that he is the recipient of the former and so he calls on God to intervene.
Stuart

Psalm 69

There should be no question in the minds of believers; if we persist in a sin that God has brought to our attention we will face his discipline. And every form of effective discipline hurts. The desire of the pain is to direct us away from rebellious action. Will we be condemned because of the rebellion? Maybe. But if we focus on that we miss God's point of the pain; to build our faith and trust in him to do what is right. When we come back to God, like he wants us to, then we will rejoice in his benefits and enjoy his good pleasure. And we will look forward to his hope fulfilled.
Stuart

Psalm 68

The writer of psalm 68 proclaims God's ability to bring victory to his people. When I think of victory my thoughts go to warriors and battles with swords and bows. But I have never faced that kind of battle.  The battles I face often have a faceless enemy, or an enemy that hides behind the anger, frustratIons, and insecurities of others. The terroristic tactics of this enemy are more frustrating than painful to me. But they often distract me from my mission and lead me to forget what God wants to do in my life, in our lives. He wants to give me victory.
Stuart

Matthew 27-28

Killing Jesus turned into an expensive proposition for the Jewish leaders. They paid Judas a months worth of pay to betray him. Then they greased the palms of that group of Roman soldiers to sacrifice their integrity. Finally they had to prepare a sizable bribe in case Pilate wanted to execute these soldiers for their fabricated crime.  Maybe the felt the threat of Jesus' following was worth the cost. Maybe they felt they had no choice. Whatever their justification they were surely disappointed by the end of the week.
Stuart

Matthew 20-22

When Jesus toLd the parable of the hired workers the closing accusation of the early workers tells us three very important traits of the one who calls the workers. First of all he is persistent. We're not told why he went to look for workers so frequently, but he was looking all the time. Maybe the work is so big he always needs more workers. Maybe the job is most effective with a large pool of laborers. Maybe he knew that every person has the innate desire to work productively. For whatever reason he continued to seek out workers. 
Second his call is universal. He didn't call just Jews, or Romans, or Arabs. His invitation was to all people. Jesus' practice of speaking in riddles and parables does not hide the message that the owner's passion was for all people to be about his work.  
Finally he is generous to all who receive his call. And his generosity is equal to each disciple. Generosity is the hallmark trait of our God. He gives abundantly of his love, his forgiveness, and his grace. So that each believer is not only welcomed but is uniquely gifted to serve God's purpose in advancing his kingdom.
Stuart

Psalm 64

When we read Psalm 64:10 we have to be very careful not to take it out of the psalm. To say "The godly will rejoice in the LORD and take shelter in him" is a very plain truth. We look to God at all times to be our shelter and our joy. But the rest of psalm 64 paints the setting in which the godly rejoice. They are not in peaceful times or seasons of abundance. The psalmist speaks from the pit of despair surrounded by people who despise them and seek their downfall. It is in those times of exposure and sorrow that the psalmist says the godly there is joy and shelter because of God.
Stuart

Matthew 14-16

The crowd had been listening to Jesus speak all day. They had consumed the mid-day meals that the brought with them, but the preaching went on longer than they had planned. And the sun began to set there were discussions about a meal. The provisions available were not in proportion to the need. But Jesus was there. He provided the necessary resources from what was available but it was the disciples who got the food to the people(Matt 14:19). This is another example of the disciples all doing little things so that the big task Christ seeks to accomplish can be completed.
Stuart

Psalm 62

The end of psalm 62 leaves us with two permanent principles of God's nature. First that he is strong. If king David wrote this psalm he knew a lot about strength. He knew it was necessary in battle. And victory would go to those whose strength did not wane. David had learned that unlike the men around him God's strength was endless. Second was God's nature of love. Our culture seldom connects these two qualities and would never equate them. Yet every person in the world yearns for a leader who is as loving as he is strong. Many kingdoms have been created through strength but none of them will stand without love for others. That is where God and his kingdom stands in the sharpest contrast with the world.
Stuart

Matthew 11-13

Matthew has Jesus pointing the difference in his teaching between the close disciples and the crowds. In 13:13 Jesus gives the reason for his distinction: "Although they see they do not see, and although they hear they do not hear nor do they understand." That riddle for an answer is perplexing. So I pondered and prayed about it, and this is my conclusion. The disciples to whom he explained the parables sought him out and were seeking to do all that he said. The crowds came to hear him and then left. They didn't try to stay with him. They wouldn't adjust their lives or lifestyles to conform to what he said. They may have been impressed with how he spoke, wooing over his authority, but it did not change how they thought or how they acted. The crowds were like Sunday only Christians and the disciples were like daily Christians. That distinction makes sense.
Stuart

Matthew 8-10

In Matthew 5-7 Jesus presented a very powerful and authoritative sermon on discipleship.  The people were amazed not only at the content of his message but the authority with which he spoke.  In 8:5 he was confronted by a man who knew authority as well; a Roman centurion.  The commander of 100 men in the army he understood the power of the one word command.  In verse 9 the leader gave an example, “I say to this one, ‘Go’ and he goes.”  Yet with all of this authority the centurion faced an enemy he could not defeat; a terminal disease in his servant.  So this military leader came to a man whom he believed could do what no other man could; help his dear servant.  Jesus heard his request and saw the faith in this pagan.  So he used the centurion’s own word; in verse 13 Jesus said, “Go”.    From there Jesus went to Peter’s house.  Peter’s mother-in-law was sick in bed.  Jesus spoke a word to heal her.  Did you ever wonder what that word was?  A couple of stories later Jesus encountered two demon-possessed men in a cemetery.  Jesus commanded the spirits to leave the man with just one word.  Any guesses on the word? “Go!” (vs 32)  What could Jesus do in my life with just one word?

Stuart

Matthew 5-8

Christians are all equipped to serve others. In the course of touching the lives of others in the name of Jesus somebody will notice what we do. I was recently told by two people that they had made it a point to watch what I have been doing. I don't normally preach on Sunday mornings, though every fourth month I teach some grade school kids during the sermon. I don't sing on the praise team. I'm not an usher or a perpetual communion server. Both of these two commented, "you do a lot of little things." Jesus began Matthew 6 with the warning, "don't do your acts of righteousness in order to be seen.". Jesus wasn't saying our good works HAVE to be invisible to count. The problem comes when our motivation becomes the attention of other people noticing us. Our motivation should be to do whatever pleases God.
Stuart

Psalm 58

Talk about a troubling verse. Psalm 58:10 is definitely problematic. "The righteous will be glad when they are avenged, when they bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked." (NIV) I can say that at first glance this does not present a positive picture of the people who serve Yaweh God, and it probably reflects poorly on him. Then we consider the time frame and the situations that the psalmist faced. David is attributed with this psalm and in his day there were two groups of people who were wicked. There were the people of Israel who stubbornly rejected God's commands.  There were also the descendant of those horrific Caanannites. According to God's justice both of these groups were to be killed. In order to rid the inheritance of such rebellion.
Stuart

Joshua 19-21

The last two verses of Joshua 21 help us understand one very important aspect of God's nature: he always fulfills promises he has made. The biggest challenge for us is the time frame in which he chooses to fulfill those promises. God seems to plan in generations where as we think in days or months. That is one of the aspects of faith; trusting God to complete that which he promised even when we know we might not experience the end result in this life.
Stuart

Joshua 16-18

God gave the people of Israel their inheritance. And yet some of the people failed to take what was theirs.  Joshua 17:12-13 relays how Manasseh never destroyed the Canaanites in their inheritance. When they grew strong Manasseh brought those heathens into submission but they lived without receiving God's full inheritance. I think there is a lesson implied but not spelled out in this story. Even when we are strong we can never achieve on our own what God intends to grant us through his grace.
Stuart

Psalm 55

This psalmist seems to jump from betrayal to tragedy in his life. A seemingly endless stream of loss and sorrow. But through all of that he is aware of God's work as well as God's faithfulness. In the end he contrast that which distinguishes him from evil rebels; his trust in God.  That is where he will stand.
Stuart

Joshua 10-12

Joshua 11:20 is a disturbing passage for me. Why would the God who sent Jesus to die for all people annihilate a group of people without mercy? I thInk we tend to minimalize the immorality of those people God told Joshua to kill. These were people who extended no mercy to anyone else. They victimized the weak and offered justIce to no one. Those whom Israel destroyed in the Promised Land were not innocent people. They were barbaric in all that they did. They could have responded as Rahab did, but their desires were selfish above all else. They refused redemption.
Stuart

Joshua 7-9

He was a man of courage and faith.  He did not cower before the battle and walked in faith and confidence of God’s deliverance.  He was not an adulterer, or a murderer, or a liar.  There is no indication that he sought other gods, crafted an idol, defiled the Sabbath, spoke ill of God, or dishonored his parents.  He did not covet anything in his neighbor’s household.  The soldier obeyed God’s command to kill the pagans of Jericho as well as their animals.  Surely he assisted in the burning of the city.  Yet he disobeyed in one point; he took for himself what belonged to God.  Just like so many other believers throughout history he rejected God at one point.  But that one point of rebellion was costly. 

Why did God insist on Achan’s children, animals, and all his belongings meeting the same end as the violator?  How was that the directive of a gracious God?  What we don’t know is who Achan had told.  It is possible that everyone in his house was fully aware of what Achan had done, and where he had hidden God’s treasures.  (The Bible record doesn’t explain, but we should not rule out that possibility because of the absence of such testimony)  I think since God acted in the way he did it is probable that Achan’s family were either co-conspirators in Achan’s rebellious deception or gave silent consent to his deeds.

The entire community felt the impact of his rebellion.  Not only in the loss at Ai, but throughout all of their history there would be no inheritance for the family of Achan.  The community of faith was forever changed because of one man’s act of rebellion.  The church today is impacted in the same way when a believer turns his back on God’s grace.  The church will feel the impact of such rebellion; never being the same community again.

Stuart

Psalm 53

This world is falling apart. And we think that it is something new. We look at the polls and find that a majority of Americans say that they believe in God, and yet a majority also seem to reject the value of a commitment to life-long marriage, and the standard of absolute truth. This psalm of David says similar things about the believers in his day. Too many of them were Jews in title only; rejecting God's call for holy living. So we see that people have been failing God's call for obedience for generations.
Stuart

Joshua 4-6

God's battle plans always seem strange in our mind. When Israel faced the Amalekites victory was dependent not on the men in the battle but on Moses' prayers (Exodus 17:11). When they entered the Promised Land the plan for the first attack was just as unusual. March around the city, play a song on trumpets, and wait to shout. There can be no question that in both cases Israel played a part in the victory God provided. Their faith had to be accompanied with work. But it was, and always will be, the work of God that brings victory.  The question we need to answer is; what strange command has God given you before you will have victory.
Stuart

Psalm 52

Were do I place my trust? David asked that question as he recalled the deception Doeg. David had the ear of the king of Israel. But Saul was only a man who could offer a man's strength. David wanted more than any man could offer. Though David served in king Saul's tent he lived to serve the God of Israel. The God whom he'd met when his father took him to the tabernacle. The God who protected and trained him in the wilderness. David had witnessed God's provision and faithfulness too many times to trust in any man; even an earthly king.
Stuart

Joshua 1-3

Has the fear of God ever paralyzed you? I can think of no case where I was immobilized because of God. maybe that is because I have not been threatened by his wrath. Rahab and Jericho where in a different situation. The harlot confessed to the spies that the stories of God wrath and power sucked their breath out of them. But rather than stumble around in fear Rahab saw the arrival of the Jewish spies as an opportunity to declare her faith. In the presence of those two men of the covenant, and maybe her family, she spoke her faith; the God of Israel was ruler of everything. And in the growing faith she sought the grace of God; and received it. The other people of Jericho acted in fear. This one woman accepted God's invitation to faith. And because of her faith she saw God's salvation.
Stuart

Psalm 51

This song of repentance has more to say about God's works of grace than anything else. I count no less than sixteen requests for God to act graciously toward David. David offered five phrases of confession and repentance to God.
Stuart

James 3-5

In verse 8 of chapter 3 James warns us about our own tongue. No one can control their words. We learn to be vocal at a very young age and that desire to speak our mind is a constant battle. I can think of numerous times when my out of control mouth introduced me to some very unpleasant consequences. So what can reign in our mouth? It takes an indwelling of God's spirit to accomplish that task. We will loose the battle of the tongue every time if we try to control it on our own. I guess we could compare it to herding cats.
Stuart