Author: Don Guthrie

Don Guthrie is the Senior Pastor at FBCSA.

I Can

Re: Verse reading–Exodus 3:7-15, 4:1-17 (day one) 

“But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’ “–3:11

Familiar place for me.  Insecurity.  Inadequacy.  “I can’t do that.”  “I don’t know how.”  I know these words all too well.

A few years before, Moses probably wouldn’t have verbalized self-doubt.  He was brash and self-confident.  Then, life collapsed.  A very public fall from grace and a criminal record and the loss of all he had.  Forty years in the desert at a blue collar job had done its job.  He learned humility.

Confidence is the second lesson of the spiritual life.  (Humility is always the first) Once God teaches us to say, “I can’t” (in my own strength), He teaches us to say, “I can” (if God will be with me).

It is a turning point.  For Moses.  For us.  “I CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”–Philippians 4:13.

Christian soldiers

Re:Verse reading–Genesis 3:1-19 (day seven)

“I will put enmity between you and the woman”–v 15.

“Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Jesus Christ”–2 Timothy 2:3

It has been eye-opening for me.  Reading Genesis 3.  Reflecting on it.  Realizing that when sin came into the world God DECLARED WAR!  No other choice for a holy God to make.  And no option for His sons and daughters than to join Him in the conflict.

It has been a strange comfort to me.  The tension I feel, I am not “making it up”.  The opposition is real and so is His call  to courage.  Neutrality is no virtue, not in this eternal struggle.  Jesus didn’t look for a safe place.

My take-away this week is what the Lord told Joshua.  “Be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the Law that Moses gave you.”–Joshua 1:7.  We are in a war! May the Lord give us courage.

Trustworthy

Re:Verse reading–Genesis 3:1-19 (day one) 

” ‘You will not surely die,’ said the serpent to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God.’ “–v 4.

If a ship is strong, capable of navigating the ocean, we call it seaworthy.  If (since) God is strong, capable of keeping His promises, we call Him trustworthy.

Eve would have saved herself (and us) great heart ache to have remembered this truth.  Why did she doubt God’s goodness and essential honesty?  Why would she lend credibility to the whispered accusations of a talking snake?  Why do we?

It is the second question that must be answered by every living soul.  1) Is there a God? 2) Is He good and worthy of my trust?

This confidence guides our reaction to His law.  Even when difficult or painful, God’s plan is “good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2) because that is who He is.

No king in Israel

Re:Verse reading–Judges 17:1-6; 18:1; 19:1; 20:1-7; 21:25 (day seven)

“In those days, there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.”–17: 6

Most scholars think that Samuel wrote the book of Judges.  Years later, he was the historian who reflected on the lessons of this unproductive chapter and recorded them as a warning.

Authority is good.  (The Spirit, government, parents, pastors–see Romans 13).  Samuel will later struggle with the idea of a human king for Israel (see 1 Samuel 8) , but even he concedes that unrestrained personal freedom is an unworkable system.

Haven’t we come to the same place?  Headed there?  Challenging any authority outside of self?  Don’t we (apart from the influence of Christ) resist leadership too?

“I am a man under authority” said the Centurion who so impressed Jesus.  (Matthew 8:9) For Jesus, submission is a virtue.  Like Samuel, He warns those who recognize no king but self and its thoughts, “You are on an unwise path”.

No king in Israel

Re:Verse reading–Judges 17:1-6; 18:1; 19:1; 20:1-7; 21:25 (day one)

“In those days there was no King in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes.”–17:6

Sad and instructive chapters.  We watch as Israeli society disintegrates.

Every decision seems worse than the preceding.  A Israeli man has an idol (17).  The tribe of Dan steals it and sets the idol up for their whole tribe (18)  (Dan eventually became a center for idolatry in Israel).  The gang rape of an concubine (19). Inter-tribal war to vindicate her death (20)  A rash decision, followed by a worse one. (21)

Amazed and helpless we watch this tragedy unfold and fear that we are living in a similar moment. Over and over the diagnostic sentence is repeated.  NO King in Israel (not God, no governor). Unrestricted and unchallenged personal choice.  Chaos results.

It isn’t inevitable.  The book of Ruth tells of people in the same period who lived with faith and humility under the Government of God.  Very different outcomes.

May the Lord give us ears.

 

Best day

Re:Verse reading–Judges 13:1-5, 14:1-9, 16:1-30 (day seven) 

“The dead that he killed at his death were more than those whom he killed in his life”–16:30

It was the best day of his entire life.  Like the thief of the cross, clarity came to Samson with just minutes left on the clock.  Maybe physical blindness helped him realize that he had been spiritually so.  Maybe iron chains helped him know that he had long been chained to himself and his desires.

If so, he is not alone.  God often meets us in adversity.  “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word” says Psalm 119:67.

At the end of his life, Samson returned to God and found grace.  He was never better or wiser or more useful.

Same with us on the day we die to self.  The end of the old man is often the beginning of the new man.  It will be our best day too!

Needing a Nazirite

Re:Verse reading–Judges 13:1-5, 14:1-9, 16:1-30 (day one)  

“The boy shall be a Nazirite to God”–v 13:7

The Nazirite vow was given to Israel by God in Numbers 6.  It was a voluntary offering of self to God.  No alcohol meant that the Nazirite would seek God over the pleasures of the world.  Not cutting the hair symbolized that he would seek God over appearance and acceptance in polite society.  Not touching dead bodies meant that he would keep himself ceremonially pure at all times.  Taken together, they symbolized a life totally devoted to God.

Samson was a Nazirite from birth.  Like Israel, he had power only so long as he guarded this single devotion.  Drifting from it, he had no power.

Jesus was also a Nazirite from birth.  Not the outward code (the Lord drank wine for an example) but the inward reality.  Wholly dedicated to God, He became the Savior of world and called us to a life like His.

Mixed bag

Re:Verse reading–Judges 11:1-6, 28-40 (day seven)

“Jephthah was a valiant warrior, but he was the son of a harlot.”–v 1

He was a mixed bag.  Who isn’t?  Mighty warrior.  Strong and courageous.  Part of his drive, I suspect, came from his early childhood trauma.  Rejected by his family, he worked the rest of his life for achievement and approval.

Sometimes unconscious and unhealed wounds make a person unstable.  One day, in a very unwise moment, Jephthah foolishly risked his family in pursuit of the success he so desperately craved.  He vowed to sacrifice whatever or whoever came out of his tent on his victorious return.  What was he thinking?

We are all mixed bags.  Spiritual and fleshly.  Healed and still healing.  Wounded warriors. “Who will set me free from the body of this death?” said Paul one day in the midst of his own mixed-bagness.  “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord”–Romans 7:24-25.

I’m a mixed bag.  Christ isn’t.  Reminds me to always walk in His Spirit.

Unclear conscience

Re:Verse reading–Judges 11:1-6, 28-40 (day one)

“Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, ‘whatever comes out the door of my house to meet me. . .I will sacrifice to the Lord as a burnt offering.’ “–v 30.

The Bible speaks of our conscience.  The Greek word is syneidesis.  It  means “to know with yourself”.  Refers to those things that we know, don’t question.  What is true and right.  What is good and bad.  Things we sincerely believe.

Ordinarily, the conscience is a good guide.  “Keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith.”–1 Timothy 1:19

Sometimes, however (particularly when the inner mind has been shaped by culture rather than the word of God)  what we REALLY BELIEVE is not true.  An inaccurate picture of God’s character and will.

Jephthah is an example.  No one doubts his sincerity.  What we question (and should) is his view of God and what is pleasing to Him.

300

Re:Verse reading–Judges 7:2-8, 15-22 (day seven)

“I will deliver you with the 300 men who lapped. . .let all the others go home.”  v 7.

Maybe you saw the movie “300”.  (I am not recommending that you do)  300 Spartan soldiers hold off a massive Persian army for days and by their sacrifice, inspire all Greece to unite against a common enemy.  Thermopylae.

The Bible story is similar and better.  300 Jewish soldiers–chosen by God based on two criteria 1) not afraid–v 3,  2) not controlled by personal needs but by the mission (a secret test administered by God and evidenced by how they drank water)–defeat the Midianite invaders and declare an eternal principle.  Numbers don’t count.  Spirit does!

“You shall defeat Midian as one man”, God promised Gideon in Judges 6:16.  Actually it took 300, but the truth is the same.  If God is with you, you are ALREADY IN THE MAJORITY!  “If God be for us. . .” it doesn’t take thousands.  A few will do.