Encounter

Re:Verse passage – 1 Kings 18:30-39 (day three)

“Then Elijah said to all the people, ‘Come near to me.’”

Elijah didn’t treat this occasion as a scolding, but rather as a time of participating in the forgotten ways. He didn’t keep the people at a distance like an audience at a lecture. His method was “show, don’t tell.” He drew the men and women close to him so they could experience the reality that an alter used to point beyond the material realm. It used to speak of heaven. It used to appeal to God for help, for mercy, for forgiveness, for hope in a tired world. The priests of Ba’al had exhausted themselves and their followers. Elijah tenderly bids the people to move in close, foreshadowing Jesus’s invitation to all who are weary and heavy laden: “Come to me, and I will give you rest.”

Focus

Re:Verse passage – 1 Kings 18:30-39 (day two)

“O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant…” vs 36b

Elijah makes sure to set things in the proper perspective. His first actions were to repair the altar. By doing so he was honoring the covenant that God had with Moses and the people of Israel. His prayer is one that we should take notice of. Elijah makes clear nothing wonderful that is about to take place is due to him. All the glory, all the honor belongs to the Lord. When we pray, how do we focus our prayers? How much attention do we give to honoring the Lord? Examine your prayer life today, and make an effort to not only exalt him, but to surrender any sort of pride, ego, or adulation that would take any focus from God. See how the Lord shapes your heart as a result.

Re:Verse Blog – 5/8/23

Re:Verse passage – 1 Kings 18:30-39 (day one)

Join us as Senior Pastor Chris Johnson, Associate Pastor Aaron Hufty, and Associate Pastor Bryan Richardson walk us through 1 Kings 18:30-39 in our Spring Re:Verse Series: “Unlocking The Old Testament.”

To watch the Re:Vlog, Click Here!

Pride Before the Fall

Re:Verse passage – 2 Samuel 18:6-11 (day seven)

And his head caught fast in the oak, so he was left hanging between heaven and earth, while the mule that was under him kept going. vs 18:9b

Earlier in 2 Samuel 14, we learn that Absalom had beautiful hair. So much so, that he prided himself in it and weighed it every year when he got it trimmed. In our Re:Verse passage, it is believed that it was actually his hair that got caught up in the brush. Is it not ironic that the thing that Absalom most prided himself in was the very thing that led to his demise? Quite literally, his pride came before his fall.

That is the way Satan works. C.S. Lewis says,

Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.

We live in a world that encourages us to be self-consumed. We find pride in our job, in our accomplishments, in our possessions, in our looks, and even in our children. Although it is not necessarily a bad thing to be proud of these items, it becomes sinful when humility does not precede it. We must first give recognition to Whom made all of these things possible. If we do not realize that we are simply the stewards of these things that already belong to God, we will end up just like Absalom, hung up in our pride waiting for our fall.

Perfect King

Re:Verse passage – 2 Samuel 18:6-11 (day five)

David was a good king but not a perfect king. There was still sin and depravity in his life.  Part of God’s plan is to convince Israel (and us) that what we really need is a king to lead and love us perfectly. To restore and rescue us. (Pointing to Jesus) God is showing us that only Jesus can lead and love us perfectly. There’s a small narrative before our Re:Verse text that demonstrates the difference and need (2 Samuel 14).

After rebelling and publicly humiliating his father, Absalom returns back to Jerusalem. Yet David (the father), refuses to see his son. David could have met Absalom at the gates, forgiven and restored him.  But he chose not to do so. Jesus tells the story of a rebellious son who returns to his father. And the father runs to meet him (at the gates) and forgives and restores him.

We can rejoice that in spite of the fact, like Absalom, we have rebelled against and humiliated a Holy God with our sin, our Heavenly Father loves and leads us perfectly, taking the initiative (thru Christ) to restore us into a right relationship with Him.

I’m thanking God for His wise and patient plan to show us our need and provide for us, a king to lead and love us perfectly!!

Murky

Re:Verse passage – 2 Samuel 18:6-11 (day four)

If there was ever a perfect snapshot of the human condition, it’s this one. This story doesn’t have a clear hero or villain, but rather a host of imperfect people working out the results of their sin in a high-stakes arena. David is a poor example of a parent and lets his personal affairs nearly destroy the nation of Israel, but he loves his son regardless of his actions. Many of us have had the experience of caring for someone to a fault. Absolam is vain and conspiratorial against his own father, but he is fueled by righteous anger over things in his past. Trauma can put a dark lens over our worldview. Joab is disloyal to the king and seems to have a thirst for revenge, but he makes a decision to end a war that could have taken more Israelite lives. We’ve all experienced the burden of a conflict of values.

Life is a like this much of the time – right and wrong are made blurry by sin and trying to find the path forward is like trying to see through mud. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:12, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.” The path forward looks murky now, but have hope. There is no amount of sinful mud that will stop our God from making all things new.

Fix

Re:Verse passage – 2 Samuel 18:6-11 (day three)

“Why then did you not strike him there to the ground?”

Was Joab loyal to David? Or was he instead opportunistic? Sure seems like the latter. Joab’s cold calculus left no room for the emotional dimension of the human experience. Joab left emotion to David – who was plenty emotive – while he himself had apparently decided a long time ago that the acknowledgement of his own emotions produced a vulnerability that was too risky for him. David, on the other hand, embraced emotion but excluded empathy and curiosity, so others around him – family or not – found themselves on their own without any support. David would feel, and Joab would fix. The arrangement worked very well from a political standpoint. But the price was high for David. David’s fixer broke his heart. This is how it goes when the only pain you feel is your own.

Imagination

Re:Verse passage – 2 Samuel 18:6-11 (day two) For the battle there was spread over the whole countryside, and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured. Vs. 8

Before and after our filming of re:vlog last week the three pastors discussed this verse. The forest devoured more people than the sword. That is incredibly vivid language, which gives rise to incredibly vivid imagery. One of the things that I love about scripture is its ability to inspire the imagination. Countless songs, pictures, novels, and every other conceivable art form have been born out of a love and knowledge of scripture. To be clear, the scripture is set apart from these works. Scripture alone is sufficient. But God has created us to imagine, create, and dream. He has redeemed our whole selves, including our imaginations. It is no wonder that Tolkien took inspiration from this passage and created Fangorn Forest and the Ents for his Lord of the Rings epic. Have you ever let scripture inspire you to write, sing, or paint? It is NEVER too late to start.

Re:Verse Blog – 5/1/23

Re:Verse passage – 2 Samuel 18:6-11 (day one)

Join us as Senior Pastor Chris Johnson, Associate Pastor Aaron Hufty, and Associate Pastor Bryan Richardson walk us through 2 Samuel 18:6-11 in our Spring Re:Verse Series: “Unlocking The Old Testament.”

Revert

Re:Verse passage – 1 Samuel 17:38-51 (day seven)

“And David strapped on his sword over his military attire and struggled at walking, for he had not trained with the armor. So David said to Saul, ‘I cannot go with these, because I have not trained with them.’ And David took them off.” 1 Samuel 17:39

We usually revert to what we know or are comfortable with. The Israelites reverted to fear because their enemy was stronger than the Israelites. Saul reverted to his use of armor to protect David. For both the Israelites and Saul, they reverted to trusting in themselves or in what they could physically do. David reverted to his stone and slings. But David also reverted to his trust in the Lord.

David had spent so much time trusting and learning from God that the Lord was the point he reverted to. I’ll say it again: we tend to revert to what we know and are comfortable with. When trials of faith come or when attacks threaten to knock you down or defeat you, who is it that you revert to? Do you go to yourself, trusting that you can overcome said trial on your past or on your skills? Do you trust that you will be alright and that this will be something you can handle without going to God first? Or, do you revert to the Lord and to trust that He can do anything, no matter how small and no matter how big? My prayer is that you are ready this week (and all to come!) to gird yourself first with the Lord in all things. We need Him!