Danny Panter

Signs

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

What if they don’t believe me? Or think I am weird? What if they ask questions I can’t answer? Moses had these insecurities when God called him to lead his people out of slavery. God assured him that He would provide signs, signs that would lead people to believe that what he said was true.

Jesus promised the church signs as well. He said, “If you love one another, then they will know you are my disciples.” In His high priestly prayer he also said, “Lord may they be one as we are one,…so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you have loved me.” Two signs, love and unity. The promise is that when we love the way Jesus loved, when we see and savor God in unity then the world will believe God’s message of reconciliation.

What sign does your family, co-workers, and neighbors need to see?

Out of Hiding

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

“And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God…” Genesis 3:8

This is remarkable, only moments before if they had recognized God’s presence they likely would have run to him, but not now. It had to have been a very peculiar feeling, fear and shame, feelings they only experienced now since their eyes had been opened by the Knowledge of good and evil. The serpent promised they would become like God, but truly they became alone out of fear. They weren’t made to experience either, nor were we.

Notice though what God does almost immediately.

“But the Lord God called to the man and said to him…” Genesis 3:9.

Grace is God finding you and bringing you out from the shadows. He triumphs over your fear; he brings you out of hiding. That’s the good news of God!

Our Own Image

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

And he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. And his mother said, “I dedicate the silver to the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a carved image and a metal image. Now therefore I will restore it to you.” Judges 17:3

The Israelites committed two grave evils: idolatry and casting the LORD in their own image. They were quick to adopt the lifestyle of pagan worship, and even when they did get the name right (the LORD) they believed things about him or worshiped him in ways that he did not prescribe at all, not even close. Judges 17 is a keen reminder of this reality in the ancient Israelites…and us. We can make God into our own image. We can be guilty of getting His name right, but ascribing things to Him that He has not revealed. This only ever happens when we choose to listen to ourselves, others, or culture over God; or we interpret what God has revealed to us through the lens of our own choosing.

Sadly, the result is the same, chaos and subtle (and not-so-subtle) destruction. How do we ensure we are actually listening to God’s voice? Two connected ways. One, by faithfully
and regularly reading the Bible. The Holy Spirit teaches us, which means that consistent reading of God’s Word has a self-correcting affect on us; the Holy Spirit won’t let us continue casting God in our own image. Two, faithful fellowship with other Christians. When we do fellowship right, we can gently nudge each other the moment we begin to make God in our own image.

So, Christian do both faithfully! God desires that you know Him!

Taste and see that the Lord is good. Psalm 34:8

Spoken

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

But his wife said to him, “If the Lord wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from us. He would not have shown us all these things, or have spoken to us like this just now.” Judges 13:23

A very astute argument from Monoah’s wife, “If God wanted us dead, He wouldn’t have accepted our offering or SPOKEN to us at all.” This truth is clothed in glory! Consider the ways that God speaks to us. He speaks to us through His creation (Psalm 19:2), He speaks historically and presently to us through the Word, Jesus (John 1:1-4), and He speaks through his written Word, the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16). As of 2014 the Bible has been translated into 531 languages and counting, with over 2000 other languages having a portion translated. This is in stark contrast to any other “holy” book; the Qur’an, for example, is technically forbidden to be translated from the Arabic, although translations exist. Not only has God spoken, but he is sovereignly making His revelation known to all peoples and nations. He is casting a wide net; He desires that every tribe and tongue hear His voice. Why?

We must come to the same joyous conclusion, as did Monoah’s wife, God speaks because he wants us to have life and purpose. He wants us to live! Jesus said it like this in John 17:13, “I am saying these things in the world, so they may experience my joy completed in themselves.” By knowing that God speaks, we can also know that He desires for us life, purpose, and eternal joy! What glorious news!

He’s Got the Whole World…

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

He’s got the whole world in his hands; all of human history. Sometimes we can read a passage in the Bible and wonder what God is doing, or how he could allow somethings to happen. Isn’t God good? Isn’t he loving? When I read stories like Jeptha’s in Judges 11, I’m reminded it’s God’s providential hand that is guiding us towards grace. That although we feel the weight of our own brokenness and sin,(we see it in Judges 11) He does not long to leave us there.

Can you imagine for a moment if God left human history to our own sinful devices? What would history be like if God left us to manage it? The Good News is that he has not left us to ourselves. God is not haphazard, or whimsical; He does not delight in the suffering of the wicked. No, He intends to press us towards restoration. And by His grace, he alone can do it. He has the whole world in his hands.

Low

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

There is great value in being brought low. In those moments you might think God unfair, unkind or even sadistic, but nothing could be further from the truth. God is none of those things, especially in those seasons of life when we are brought low. Perhaps those moments are the greatest displays of God’s grace. Jesus’ brother James argued that we should “consider it all joy,” when we are brought low because God intends great good to come of it. That certainly was the case for Gideon and his men. Facing 150,000 Midianites, God took a sizable army of 32,000 and whittled it down to 300. How much lower could Gideon go? It was in those moments though that he could see beyond his own pride so he might more fully see and trust in the God of his salvation.

The same is true of us. Our hurt and hardship is grace to us, for it is there, in that low place that we often see God most clearly. It is often then that we can finally lean on the God that gives us the greatest assurances in the Gospel, assurances of victory and restoration!

Mighty

Re:Verse reading–Judges 6:1-2, 11-28, 36-40 (day six)

Really, what made Gideon mighty? Was it his extensive military training, or the way he held his sword…no wait, he didn’t have either of these things. Or maybe it was his keen ability to hide? How about his articulate, well-worded complaints about the absence of God? Those must have caught God’s attention. It was none of those things. Either God was being sarcastic or he has another definition entirely. I choose the latter.

By all accounts Gideon was a weak, inexperienced, reluctant farmer. He was not the ideal leader (he was no Samson), far from it. And yet God sees might in him. God saw the smallest amount of faith in Gideon; the size of a mustard seed. It was enough to make him mighty! God measures mightiness in units of faith, and the smallest amount goes a long way. How about you? Are you mighty by God’s standards?

Lead

Re:Verse reading–Judges 4:1-22 (day six)

I do not think the primary lessons in Judges relate only to leadership. They are there for sure, but they are not the POINT. At the risk of sounding like a hypocrite,…let me whisper to you today, “lead.” Who in your life are you calling to move forward, to take a step? With whom are you joining the fight? Are you speaking gracious truth to another? Are you willing to do the hard thing, not just the convenient one? Are you counter-cultural? Life-giving instead of draining? Inspiring instead of deflating? Loving even when it hurts? Forgiving even when it is unreasonable? Tough even when you feel as if you will break?

Who in your life are you leading? Your single friends? Your husband or wife? Sons and daughters? That neighbor, that friend, that colleague who you know needs SOMEONE? That stranger? Will you lead at home? In the hallways and offices of your workplace? At the Spurs watching party? Will you live out the Gospel in all of life, in all the places that you go? Will you lead?

Are you called, you may be wondering? Yes, let me tell you, you are called. That’s what the Gospel does; it raises you from death to life, and calls you to lead.

So let me whisper to you today…”lead.”

A Failure to Move

Re:Verse reading–Judges 2:1-3, 6-22 (day six)

I have a failure to move. Left to my own devices, my own will and wisdom, I am incapable of any forward motion in this life journey. It’s quite frustrating sometimes, no correct that, it is always frustrating. Have you ever felt that way? Even with the best intentions to change, we often just remain the same. That’s true of us, and it was true of the Israelites. In fact Joshua told them exactly that in Joshua 24:19, “You are not able to serve the Lord,” and that prophecy was fulfilled over and over in Judges. Left to ourselves we have no hope. That’s the rest of the story in Judges, that our hope comes not from human will but from God. He sends aid, makes a way, and provides the means. Always. Left to myself I cannot move; God must move me.

Do you know who the last judge (and King for the matter) was? It wasn’t Samuel. It is Jesus; he is our aid, the way, and our means.

Love

Re:Verse reading–Joshua 23; Joshua 24:14-15 (day six)

Joshua implored his people to commit to “love” God. The covenant between God and the Israelites was not a business contract; their obedience to God was not payment for services rendered, nor is it an attempt to repay Him out of indebtedness. That’s not the arrangement. Joshua told them to obey, worship, and love because the God of the universe first loved them, made himself know to them, rescued them out of idolatry, and in His love was great reward.

Stop doing business with God; love him with all your heart!