Rich’s Blog

It’s so hard to know what to do sometimes.  We want to do what’s right, but sometimes it gets a little unclear as to which decision is the right one.  David faced a time like that. David had problems with his boss.  King Saul was crazy jealous of his best warrior.  Instead of appreciating David, Saul kept trying to kill David. Several times David narrowly escaped the death squads of Saul.

The day came when David found himself hiding in a cave with his friends.  And guess who comes into the cave to take a nap?  As Saul settled down for a siesta, David faced one of those difficult decisions.  Should he end his problems right then and there and kill Saul?  The circumstance was certainly right – his enemy was sleeping right in front of him.  The council also seemed to indicate the time was right – all of David’s men encouraged David to take the opportunity and kill Saul.  But David had another factor playing into the decision he would make.  He had a principle to follow. David recognized that God had put Saul into the position as king, and David was real reluctant to be the one to challenge God’s choice as king.  In the end, David’s conscience would not allow him to kill Saul.

David’s final choice may not have been the easier one, but it was the right one.  David came out of the situation as a man of integrity.  When David eventually became king, it wasn’t because of his conniving and scheming, but because of God’s work.  Are you faced with a difficult decision?  Circumstance and council may not always be good indicators.  Don’t settle for convenience, settle for what’s right.

The search was on for a king (1Sam. 9).  Israel had never had a king before, at least not a legitimate one.  Who would it be?  While the people waited for God’s choice of king, the donkeys of Kish decided to run off.  Meanwhile God was whispering into the ear of Samuel that he would soon have a visitor, a man that God would choose as king.  When Saul went looking for his dad’s donkeys, he didn’t find the donkeys, but he did find that he was going to be king.  It might have seemed like a lot of coincidental circumstances, but it was all by design.

Who was this king?  Yes he might have been tall and handsome, but he was also from the tribe of Benjamin. Benjamin was the immoral and rebellious tribe (Judg. 19).  They were the tribe that had almost been wiped out because of their sin (Judg. 20).  Saul himself couldn’t figure out why God would pick him. And Saul answered and said, “Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak like this to me?” (1 Sam 9:21 NKJV).  I would imagine that the leaders of the bigger tribes were thinking the same thing.  Wouldn’t they make a better choice for king?

It seems that God likes to pick the “least” likely people.  God doesn’t want people impressed by your good looks and brains, He wants people impressed by Him.  I need to get “me” out of the way. This doesn’t mean I can hide behind the excuse of saying “God could never use me”, and then never serve God.  God wants humility and a willing heart.

Be humble.  Be useful.

It is one of the most disturbing stories in the Bible.  It starts off with a religious man, a Levite, whose wife runs away to become a prostitute (Judges. 19).  The man goes after her and as they are making their way home, they spend the night in the city of Gibeah, a town from the tribe of Benjamin.  At this point the story turns incredibly dark, kind of like those cheap horror movies with the creepy music and where everybody in town has a red glow in their eyes.  Though people in that day often would invite strangers into their homes (hospitality), this town ignores the couple.  Finally one old fellow takes pity on them and invites them into his house. While they are having dinner the night of horror begins.  There’s a knock at the door.  The men of the city ask for the man so they can rape him.  And the Levite … gives them his concubine.  The men rape the woman all night and leave her dead on the doorstep. The story doesn’t end there.  The next morning the Levite cuts the woman into pieces and has her body parts shipped to all the tribes of Israel.  When the nation gathers to find out what has happened, they decide that these men of Gibeah need to be arrested and punished.  But instead of bringing justice, the tribe of Benjamin unites and wants to defend the rapist-murderers.  Sounds like a made-for-TV plot, doesn’t it?

The Bible says, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judg 21:25).  It might sound like the most horrific story ever imagined, but it’s simply what happens when a person or a nation chooses to ignore God. It’s where we would be without the Lord.  Honor God beloved.  Read His Word.  Do what God says.

Paul came to the city of Ephesus and found some fellows called “disciples”.  I don’t know what tipped Paul off, but something made Paul curious and he asked them a question, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” (Acts 19:2)

It’s hard to know exactly just what these fellows knew and didn’t know and why Luke feels he has to call them “disciples”.  But one thing is clear, they were lacking something.  Luke goes on to record that after Paul shared with them and baptized them, he laid his hands on them and they were filled with the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit isn’t an impersonal force, He is God.  His desire is to empower our lives and help us live for God.  He helps us tell others about Jesus.  He gives us the strength to live in purity.  He comforts, guides, and teaches us.

The Bible tells us that it is God’s will that we be filled with the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18).  The Bible also tells us that if we ask God for something according to His will, that God will grant our request (1Jn. 5:14-15).  In other words, if you ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit, He will do it.

Are you lacking something in your life?  Do you wish you were more bold when it comes to sharing your faith?  Are you struggling with doing the right things?  Are you looking for direction?  Are you struggling with emptiness or pain in your life?  Ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit and trust God to fill you.  It’s one of the things I ask for every day.  Yield yourself to God.  He’s here to help.

So this was the lot of the tribe of the children of Judah according to their families: The border of Edom at the Wilderness of Zin southward was the extreme southern boundary. And their southern border began at the shore of the Salt Sea, from the bay that faces southward. (Josh 15:1-2)

Oh I know this isn’t the kind of verse I’d usually pick to write about in an article.  As we’re reading through Joshua, We’re going to see a bit of space devoted to the topic of borders.  They’ve conquered the Promised Land, and now it’s time to divide the land and give each tribe their lot, their inheritance, their new home.

Another word for “border” is “boundary”.  It’s a way of drawing a line, telling you just how far you can go.  If I cross the “line”, I’m out of my own territory and trespassing into someone else’s territory.  For us as believers, God has a set of “borders”.  The Bible gives me boundaries that tell me how far I can go without crossing the line. A border tells me what’s “mine” and what’s “not mine”.  It tells me where I belong and where my home is.

We may not like all of our borders.  We may want to stretch the envelope from time to time, but when we find ourselves crossing the line, we find we don’t belong there. Though I may not like the borders God describes, I need to remember that they are a gift from God.  The land given to each tribe was a gift from God.  Instead of trying to stretch your borders, learn to appreciate the treasures inside your boundaries.  The grass isn’t greener on the other side, the treasures you’re looking for are on this side of the border.

As the Israelites were lined up and ready to conquer their Promised Land, Moses sat the people down and gave them a review of the lessons they had learned during their forty years of wandering in the wilderness.  He said, “And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.” (Deu 8:2-3) 

One of the lessons of the desert journey was the element of testing.  Do you remember taking those end-of-semester tests?  The tests may have been a pain to you, but your teacher was trying to see if you learned anything in class.  The times of wilderness, drought, and hunger are a part of those “tests”.  What have you learned in this wilderness?  Have you learned the “Big Lesson”?  The big lesson is all about learning to trust in God and His Word and not focus on my hunger.  Have I learned that when God promises to take care of me, that He will keep His word?  Jesus was tested in this same way (Mat. 4).  He learned in His hunger not to take Satan’s shortcut to a quick meal, but to count on God and His Word.

Are you in the desert right now?  Take up your number two pencil and get ready to fill in the blanks.  Are you going to focus on your dissatisfaction, or trust in God to take care of you?  Be sure to complete your test before turning it in.

Just to the north of the Temple in Jerusalem, there’s a gate in the eastern wall called the “Sheep Gate”.  This was where they would bring in the animals destined for sacrifice in the Temple. Near this gate was a facility with a large pool and places for people to hang out.  The place was called “Bethesda”, or “House of Mercy”.  The rumor was that miracles happened there.  Supposedly an angel would come by from time to time, stir up the water, and the first one in the pool was healed.  You can imagine the great numbers of hurting people that hung out there.  Jesus walked passed many of the crowd to pay particular attention to one man who had been sick for almost forty years.  I don’t know what kinds of things you might say to this fellow, but Jesus asked him a question, one that might be thought of as insensitive.  He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” (John 5:6) When the man offered his excuse that no one was there to help him, Jesus simply told him to pick up his bed and walk.

There are all sorts of places we go to for healing.  Doctors, hospitals, counselors, friends, even church. I guess I should probably be a little insensitive and ask you the same question Jesus asked, “Do you want to be made well?”  How serious are you about things changing?  After all, sometimes illness has it’s advantages.  Sometimes I get stuck in my excuses and can’t see where the real answer lies.  I wonder why nobody will help me into the magic waters.  Dear hurting one, real mercy, real answers begin with Jesus.  Other people may eventually help in the solution, but Jesus says to you, “Take up your bed and walk”.  You take action.  Respond to Jesus.

“Enough is enough”.  “It’s time for things to change”.  When you hear people say things like that, it almost sounds patriotic.  America is a nation founded on change. We pride ourselves on our independent spirit.  Sometimes change is exactly what is needed.  Sometimes we need to stand up to “the man”.  After all, Moses was an agent of change as he stood up to Pharaoh and demanded, “Let my people go”.  But as we work our way through the Scriptures, we find that not all change is good.  Not all rebellion is right.

As Moses led the people through the wilderness, there were a group of folks who began to be unhappy with the leadership of Moses and Aaron.  Korah and his friends (Num. 16) talked as if Moses was some sort of hot shot who liked to boss people around.  They accused Moses of acting like a “prince” over the people.  When Moses heard these accusations, he was devastated, even falling on his face.  Moses knew more than anyone that he never wanted the job of deliverer.  In the end, God took care of Korah and the other rebels, though it wasn’t without a cost.  Other people had gotten swept up in the movement and many people suffered because of the rebellion.

So when is it right to say “enough is enough”?  I wonder if some of it has to do with your heart.  Korah’s revolt was characterized by pride and a desire for position.  Moses’ revolt was characterized by reluctance and humility.  When you’re unhappy with the way things are beloved, check your heart.  God is looking for humility.

Is it wrong to be ambitious?  Is it wrong to have big dreams?  I guess those are a couple of loaded questions.  It seems to me it all depends on what you are ambitious for.  If your ambition is to promote yourself, become a hotshot, control other people, or maybe even make a bazillion bucks, you might have a problem.  But having ambitions for things like bringing people to Jesus, serving God, building up His kingdom, or comforting hurting people all sound like good things to me.  What if I have big ambitions for God?  How do I see those things take place?  Jesus tells us how God bases promotion in His company:  “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.” (Luke 16:10)

Are you looking to “climb the corporate ladder” in God’s kingdom?  Then set your eyes on learning faithfulness.  The smart manager doesn’t have to wonder how well an employee is going to do if they get promoted.  A smart manager can already tell by how the person is doing where they are.  If that person is dependable in handling the mundane tasks of their lesser job, it’s probably a good bet that they’re going to continue being faithful in the bigger responsibilities.  On the other hand, the person who consistently fails to do even the littlest things is not going to be someone you’re going to be able to trust with bigger things, no matter how hard they lobby for that promotion.

Got any ambitions for God? Go ahead and make your plans for the future.  But don’t forget that the path to godly promotion is paved with faithfulness.

It seems like it must have started off as a chance to get away and take a break.  The disciples had been sent out on little mission trips preaching the gospel, healing the sick, and casting out demons.  At the same time, word had come that John the Baptist had been executed by Herod.  And so Jesus took the guys and they headed off to a deserted place. It seems that they were intending to take a well deserved break.  But things didn’t turn out that way.  The crowds got wind of where Jesus was going and instead of thirteen men getting a chance to rest, they found themselves in a tidal wave of ministry as thousands of people showed up at their retreat.  A day of rest turned into a long day of ministry and the disciples began to encourage Jesus to send the people away so they could all find something to eat.  Jesus responded by saying, “You give them something to eat” (Luke 9:13).  We look back at this incident and realize that Jesus was testing the disciples and teaching them a lesson of faith.  But I imagine at the time they thought He was crazy.  All they had was a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish.  And thousands of guests.

You know the rest of the story.  The disciples gave Jesus what little they had.  He took it, blessed it, and miraculously fed the entire crowd with leftovers to boot.

Are you feeling a bit stretched lately?  Feel like you need to take a break but instead of a chance to rest all you can see are hungry people?  Take what little you have and give it to the Lord.  He can bless it and multiply it, but you must first give it to Him.  The question is not about what you have to give, but whether you’ll trust Him to use it.