Listening to the Word

Proverbs 19-21; Romans 13   “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs is like a watercourse wherever he pleases…The fear of the Lord leads to life: Then one rests content, untouched by trouble.” Proverbs 21:1; 19:23 “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.” Romans 13:1 Paul wrote his letter to the church in Rome, not realizing it would be the location of his martyrdom. The Roman Caesar, whom Paul called the church to submit to, eventually tortured and killed Paul. Paul’s hope and our hope come from the greater authority of God in whose hands are the heart of the king and our very lives. More importantly, our hope is in the resurrection of the dead through Christ’s victory over sin and death. Submission to authority begins with God and the point of our salvation. Without submission to God’s authority we are not saved. From the point of surrender, we then entrust our lives fully to the...

Proverbs 16-18; Romans 12   “When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him.” Proverbs 16:7 “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse…Do not repay anyone evil for evil…If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath…” Romans 12:14, 17-19 Practical peacemaking in relationships is costly and courageous. Peacemakers bless and do not curse. In response to evil, peacemakers respond with generosity and practical love that feeds, clothes, and shelters. Peacemaking, like forgiveness, is a choice we make each day before the circumstances of the day confront us. Peacemaking is a lifestyle, rather than just a response to evil. We are to live at peace with everyone. Peace with God brings the peace of God to fill our lives through which we approach all of life. We trust in God’s ultimate justice to punish evil and we live with gratitude for the ...

Proverbs 13-15; Romans 11   “Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox comes abundant harvest.” Proverbs 14:4 Who doesn’t want an abundant harvest? - Not just one, but repeated abundant harvests? Who doesn’t want food in the manger when there are many hungry stomachs? The writer of Proverbs points to the undervalued role of oxen in cultivating soil, transporting and threshing harvest grain. The ox is strong, patient, steady, and reliable. Unlike the horse, an ox doesn’t shy away from obstacles such as rocks under the plow. Do we know who oxen are on our harvest teams? Do we value and communicate appreciation to the oxen on our teams and in our lives? If the profile of an ox describes us, are we aware of how our essential role contributes to the spiritual harvest teams we participate in? While the horses, or leaders, on our teams might get more recognition and visibility, it is from the strength of an ox that abundant harvest comes. “Lord Jesus, st...

Proverbs 10-12; Romans 10   ”The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.” Proverbs 10:11 “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” Romans 10:14 Our words have the power of life or death. From the overflow of our heart, our mouth speaks. When our hearts are made righteous by Christ, we will experience a fountain of life-giving words welling up from within us. The most life-giving words testify to Christ and his gospel. These words are simply a testimony of the difference Christ is making in our lives. These words plant seeds of faith in others which the Spirit uses to bring people into a relationship of faith in Christ. If our speech is not pointing others to Christ, we must question the condition of our heart. Has the righteousness of Christ transformed our heart? Each one of us preaches...

Proverbs 7-9; Romans 9   “I was there when he set the heavens in place…Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.” Proverbs 8:27, 30, 31 Creation was a team experience. It was also a joy-filled experience. Would that describe the creative work we are involved in, in God’s kingdom today? When creativity flows through teams, it is very satisfying to see the synergy of how our contribution builds on those of others. We were created to experience this kind of team building, with this kind of joy. What needs to change for us to experience new levels of team creativity and joy in our work? Joy is not just to be found in the outcome of our shared work, but also in our shared relationships while we work. We, too, can rejoice always in one another’s presence and delight in one another’s unique imaging of God’s creative nature. This gift of creative wisdom is to be ex...

  Proverbs 4-6; Romans 8   “When I was a boy in my father’s house, still tender, and an only child of my mother, he taught me and said, ‘Lay hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands and you will live. Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them.’” Proverbs 4:3-5 “…you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” Romans 8:15, 16 David had a profound impact on Solomon as a boy by instilling in him a desire for wisdom and understanding. David’s words to Solomon were remembered and repeated years later. Through the Spirit of God indwelling us following our adoption as sons and daughters into God’s family, we, too, have a Father in heaven who wants to instill within us a desire for wisdom and understanding. The fear of the Lord, or an awareness of and response to the awesome glory and authority of God Almighty is the beginning of wisdom. Like t...

1 Kings 10-11; 2 Chronicles 9; Romans 6   “You have been set free form sin and have become slaves to righteousness…now offer them [the parts of your body] in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness…But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.” Romans 6:18, 19, 22 What does it mean to be a slave to righteousness? In a culture that values individual rights and freedoms, the term “slave” is offensive to us. In response to God’s incredible grace toward us and his gift of righteousness, Paul calls us to respond with the surrender of our will to God. Where we used to surrender our will to sin, we now surrender our will to righteousness, or right relationship with God. Our passion becomes “how can I please God”? Living this surrendered life for God leads to holiness, or being set apart for God. Those who are set apart for God, experience his eternal life now and forever. Are we slav...

1 Kings 9; 2 Chronicles 8; Psalms 136; Romans 5   “The Lord appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. The Lord said to him: ‘I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me…;’Three times a year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings…and so fulfilled the temple obligations.” 1 Kings 9:2, 3, 25 The Lord God himself appeared and spoke to Solomon a second time, twenty years after his first meeting with Solomon which had been early in his tenure as king. After Solomon had built the temple and palace and engaged in other projects, God’s word to him re-affirmed his promises to David. It also emphasized God’s warnings and judgments for disobedience. God’s promises were not without responsibilities. There is no recorded response by Solomon to this word from the Lord. He fulfilled the minimal sacrificial requirements at the temple, but he did not pursue a relationship with the Lord. How would our relationship with the Lord be described? Are we, like Solomon, me...

  2 Chronicles 6-7; Psalms 135; Romans 4   “As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm - when they come and pray toward this temple, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.” 2 Chronicles 6:32, 33 This prayer of the foreigner is an essential part of the temple’s function. The court of the Gentiles was set aside as a place for foreign seekers who came to inquire about the Lord. Solomon’s plea to God was that he would answer the prayers of the foreigner “so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you…”. Today, many would pray, “that they may know your name and love you.” Why would knowing God lead foreigners to fear him? The awesom...

1 Kings 8; 2 Chronicles 5; Psalms 99; Romans 3   “The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake. Great is the Lord in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations. Let them praise your great and awesome name – he is holy.” Psalm 99:1-3 There is a relationship between God’s presence and worship by his people, and God’s influence among the nations. The Church is the living temple of God among the nations. The worship of God’s people lifts up the name of the Lord and points the nations to know and respond to God as well. A worshiping, witnessing Church among every nation, tribe, and language is God’s vision. His throne is the center of our worship and the focus of our mission. The Church is not the focus, neither is our mission; rather, we focus on the Lord himself. When we lift up his name, he will draw all nations to himself. The Lord reigns, he is enthroned, he is great, and his name is exalted. The nations tremble, the earth shak...

  1 Kings 7; 2 Chronicles 4; Psalms 98; Romans 2 “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.” Romans 2:1 Paul’s point is that observance of the law is impossible and observant Jews are only judging themselves when they judge law breakers. What about evangelical Christians? Some have called us the modern Pharisees.   In what ways are we, too, judging others rather than acknowledging that salvation is by faith in grace alone? When we put ourselves in the gospel stories, are we the Christ-figure?   Or, are we the leper, prostitute, prodigal, tax collector, and unclean? Each day, when we remember our great need of God’s grace, mercy, and Holy Spirit’s empowerment, we become carriers of good news. God’s invitation is for our hearts to be circumcised, to become hearts of flesh and not hard like stone. When our hearts are soft, we ...

1 Kings 6; 2 Chronicles 3; Psalms 97; Romans 1   “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” Romans 1:16, 17 The great news of the gospel is God’s gift of righteousness, or right standing with him, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sin. The world’s religions, including the self-styled “good person” worldview, all trust in some form of self-righteousness through good works, being nice, and being better than the person across the street. The great news of the gospel is that though we are lost in sin, even the best of us; we have a Savior! The great news of the gospel is that faith in Christ’s death and resurrection for our sin restores relationship with God and delivers us from the power of sin and dea...

  1 Kings 4-5; 2 Chronicles 2; Psalms 101; 2 Thessalonians 3   “I will be careful to lead a blameless life – when will you come to me? I will walk in my house with a blameless heart. I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me. Men of perverse heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with evil.” Psalm 101:2-4 Can we imagine a world where every Christ-follower prayed this prayer and lived out this intention? We can’t determine the world’s standards on sexuality, lust, perversion, and evil; but, we can decide which standards we will live with in our own homes. David’s commitment was to live a blameless life because he knew God’s ways and he highly valued the Lord’s presence in his life and home. David recognized that watching vile acts defiles those who watch. What choices will we make regarding what we watch in a world that celebrates perversion, adultery, immorality, and blasphemy? When we entertain these v...

1 Kings 3; 2 Chronicles 1; Psalms 78; 2 Thessalonians 2   “…’Ask for whatever you want me to give you.’ Solomon answered God, ‘You have shown great kindness to David my father…Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?’” 2 Chronicles 1:7, 8, 10 How would we respond to a question from the Lord as to what we would want from him? Questions like that reveal our heart. Solomon asked for wisdom and knowledge; but then married Pharaoh’s daughter as well as many other princesses. He began trading horses and chariots, something that was forbidden by God. Asking for wisdom from God is not the same as making wise choices consistent with God’s Word and ways. Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian church was that they would be given the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in their knowledge of God. The Holy Spirit gives us wisdom when we humble ourselves to listen and obey. Our hope is better than Solomon’s, as are the riches of God’s in...

  1 Kings 2; 1 Chronicles 29; Psalms 95; 2 Thessalonians 1   “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.” 1 Chronicles 29:11 “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;…For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” Psalm 95:6, 10, 11 Learning God’s ways and entering his rest begins with fully surrendering who we are and all we have to God. In the life of full surrender is worship as we realize that everything we have – life, breath, health, family, wealth, gifts, influence – everything comes from God. Any other response than grateful worship of God is idolatry. With full surrender and grateful worship comes rest as we eat of the pro...

1 Kings 1; 1 Chronicles 28; Psalms 91; 1 Thessalonians 5   “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’ Surely he will save you…” Psalm 91:1-3 Many are seeking the rest of the Lord, without dwelling in his presence. It doesn’t work. A life of worship, listening to the Word and following Jesus in mission are active choices we make to remain in the presence of the Lord. There is rest in the presence of the Lord! We can declare today, “You are my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.” We, too, can choose to worship the Lord today, throughout the day. We can take our eyes off of ourselves. We, too, can listen to the Word of the Lord, submitting our will to God’s Word to us. We, too, can follow Jesus on mission today, obeying the promptings of his Spirit, recognizing that to remain in God’s presence doesn’t just mean spending more time in contemplation...

  1 Chronicles 25-27; 1 Thessalonians 4   “David, together with the commanders of the army, set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying…The sons of Asaph were under the supervision of Asaph, who prophesied under the king’s supervision.” 1 Chronicles 25:1, 2 The gift of prophesy was valued by David and his army because he himself operated with that gift. David knew how many times it was the Word of the Lord that changed his perspective when he was in a cave, on the run from Saul, or involved in a battle that seemed overwhelming. However, this gift of prophesying would need to be submitted under authority. The gift was always influenced by the humility and purity of the person through whom the Word of the Lord was given. The ministry of prophesying was a weapon in spiritual battle. It directly connected the people to the commander-in- chief. Mature use of prophesy, in healthy submission to spiritual leadership, is still essential as Pa...

1 Chronicles 22-24; 1 Thessalonians 3 “…’You have shed much blood and have fought many wars. You are not to build a house for my Name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight. But you will have a son who will be a man of peace and rest, and I will give him rest from all his enemies on every side. His name will be Solomon, and I will grant Israel peace and quiet during his reign. He is the one who will build a house for my Name’...” 1 Chronicles 22:8-10 God’s desire was for the temple, which carried his name, to be built by a man of peace. Peace and rest from all enemies on every side was the gift God granted to Solomon. God values peace, and even withheld the honor of building the temple from David, a man after God’s own heart, because he had shed much blood on the earth. Do we value peace? Entertainment today glorifies violence and many people pay to see men hurt each other for sport. Even when we know the destructive impact on health later in life, we still support ...

  2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21; Psalms. 30; 1 Thessalonians 2   “But Joab replied, ‘May the Lord multiply his troops a hundred times over. My Lord the king, are they not all my lord’s subjects? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?’” 1 Chronicles 21:3 God’s heart is that we be fruitful and multiply, and in doing so, bring him much glory. David’s order to count Israel’s fighting men was rooted in pride and reflected the “shadow mission” of finding confidence in the size of his army. Sometimes success is more dangerous than failure. David’s commander, Joab, recognized that it was the Lord who multiplied the size of Israel’s army, and it was the Lord alone who was their strength. Counting fruit isn’t wrong; rather, it is the motive behind counting that the Lord is interested in. In the ensuing judgment of the Lord on David’s prideful sin, a single angel with a drawn sword destroyed 70,000 men. The battle really is the Lord’s!   What are we tr...

2 Samuel 21-23; 1 Thessalonians 1   “Next to him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines banded together at a place where there was a field full of lentils, Israel’s troops fled from them. But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it and struck the Philistines down, and the Lord brought about a great victory.” 2 Samuel 23:11, 12 Shammah, whose name meant ‘astonishment’, astounded both his fellow Israelite warriors and the Philistines by risking his life to defend a bean patch his fellow soldiers had abandoned. Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field of lentils and stood his ground. On what have we taken our stand? Are the harvest and our inheritance in that harvest worth our lives? If Shammah is willing against all odds to take his stand in a bean patch, what will we defend for the sake of the gospel?   “…after you have done everything, to stand” (Ephesians 6:13). The spiritual battle for our cities and nations is intense. ...

2 Samuel 19-20; Psalms 55; Matthew 28   “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20 Why are these last words of Jesus to us, his disciples, not the central life-verses of the Bible for each of us? The enemy of our souls will do whatever he can to keep us from living this great commission. Once we surrender our lives and our will to the authority of Jesus, we are given a new identity as sons and daughters of our Father in heaven. The commands of Jesus become our discipleship manual, both for ourselves and for the nations we are reaching with the gospel. The presence of Jesus is with us as we live on mission with him. What needs to change in our lives, for this text to describe how we live our lives? What n...

2 Samuel 18; Psalms 56; Matthew 27 “…But they shouted all the louder, ‘Crucify him!’…then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again…Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink.” Matthew 27:23, 29, 30, 48 The humiliation Jesus endured at his crucifixion was in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering” (Isaiah 53:3). The passion of Christ was more than a quick execution. The event involved physical, emotional, and even spiritual pain as Christ cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).”…for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame…” (Hebrews 12:2).   What price are we ...