#5 Biblical Encouragements for Depressed Believers | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

basicsofislam · 4 years

Text

ISLAM 101: 5 PILLARS OF ISLAM: ALMS AND CHARITY: VIRTUES OF ZAKAT:

DID ZAKAT EXIST IN RELIGIONS PRIOR TO ISLAM?

Past prophets have also been under obligation to take humankind by the hand and show all the roads leading to physical and spiritual ascension; thus, they too have shown the precious path of zakat as part of a primordial effort to diminish class differences in societies and to provide a judicious and blissful lifestyle remote from detrimental excessiveness. By virtue of providing examples of previous Prophetic applications, the Qur’an does much to put the accent on this mission. Following a brief reference in the Qur’an to the prophets Abraham, Isaac and Jacob comes the following declaration:

And We made them leaders to guide people in accordance with Our command: We inspired in them acts of virtue, the establishment of salat and payment of zakat. They were worshippers of Us. (Anbiya 21:73)

In reference to Prophet Ishmael, the matchless significance of salat and zakat as the primordial existence of alms as an essential component of worship is underlined from early on: “He used to enjoin his people salat and zakat, and was acceptable in the sight of his Lord” (Maryam 19:55).

Salat and zakat, in actual fact, are the common denominators of all monotheistic religions, where salat and zakat, after belief in the Oneness of God, form the very core of worship. In fact, salat and zakat are, or at least were, essential characteristics of all of the great religions of the world, those guided by a long line of prophets sent by God since the dawn of humankind, despite the fact that current forms of worship in some faith communities may vary in outward appearance. In support of this, the Qur’an, adamantly states:

They were ordered no more than to worship God with sincere devotion, to honestly establish salat and give zakat. And that is the Standard Religion.” (Bayyina 98:5)

The following verse, which provides insight into how the people of Midian first received teachings of Prophet Jethro (Shuayb) teachings about obligatory zakat, bears testimony to its practice in preceding times:

In sarcasm, they said, “O Jethro! Does your salat command you that we should abandon what our forefathers worshipped or that we should cease doing what we like with our property? Conversely, you are pleasant and right- minded.” (Hud 11:87)

The Midians’ apprehension at being compelled to cease doing what they liked with their properties denotes, almost certainly, a remonstration againstzakat. The people of the Midian, who evidently had complete appreciation for the altruistic Jethro, still could not get themselves to accept or follow Jethro’s brave attempts to encourage them to perform proper salat or give zakat; branding him instead as an instigator, and a rebel. As is the usual case with similar public dissentions, the people of Midian had a ready scapegoat for giving full vent to their frustrations about the obligation of zakatwhich was, as can be seen, salat itself.

Even though the Qur’an does not explain, literally, whether or not each prophet carried the duty of imposing zakat, it is highly possible to argue for its primordial existence through the i d e a l notion of peace, the humane spirit of assistance and support represented and accentuated by each Messenger, beginning with the Prophet Adam, and the Qur’anic references discussed above.

In addition, despite having their initial contents altered, the Torah and the Bible still include many passages which support the proposition that zakatactually predates Islam. As no revelations prior to Muhammad %(upon whom be peace) have survived to this day in their original forms, a fact supported even among Jewish and Christian scholars, the sole, authoritative point of reference in this argument remains the Qur’an itself. Additionally, it is worth noting that the Qur’an stresses zakat was enjoined as a duty on Jews and Christians, as well, not just on Muslims, as the textual references to the Qur’an which are included below will clearly demonstrate. Likewise, an analysis of the Torah and the Bible provides fascinating similarities and conformities with Islam’s all-embracing concept of zakat.

CAN YOU PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT

ZAKAT

IN JUDAISM?

The Qur’an generally tends to speak of the Jews as somewhat “skaters on thin ice,” underlining their preponderantly neglectful attitude concerning their religious responsibilities and periodically provides us a detailed account of what exactly those responsibilities were:

And (remember) when We made a covenant with the Children of Israel, We said; “Serve none but God, show kindness to your parents and to your relatives, to the orphans and the needy; speak kindly to humankind, establish the prayer and pay the zakat. But with the exception of a few, you turned away and paid no heed. (Baqara 2:83)

Zakat along with salat is sternly recommended as a requirement for divine acquittal for their transgressions:

God made a covenant of old with the Children of Israel, and We raised among them twelve chieftains, and God said: “I am with you. If you establishsalat and pay the zakat, and believe in My Messengers and support them, and lend to God a goodly loan, surely I shall remit your sins, and surely I shall admit you into gardens beneath which rivers flow. Whosoever among you disbelieves after this has gone astray from a straight path.” (Maida 5:12)

And in spite of undergoing multiple amendments, the current text of the Torah still grants us glimpses of the spirit of zakat, grounded on the relations between the rich and the poor:

Jehovah has not despised or been disgusted with the plight of the oppressed one. He has not hidden His face from that person. Jehovah heard when that oppressed person cried out to Him for help. (Psalms 22:24)

When you help the poor (needy) (lowly) (depressed) you lend to Jehovah. He will pay you back. (Proverbs 19:17)

He who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker. He who has mercy for the poor honors his Maker. (Proverbs 14:31)

This is what you must do whenever there are poor Israelites in one of your cities in the land that Jehovah your God is giving you. Be generous to these poor people. Freely lend them as much as they need. Never be hardhearted and stingy with them. When the seventh year, the year when payments on debts are canceled, is near, you might be stingy toward poor Israelites and give them nothing. Be careful not to think these worthless thoughts. The poor will complain to Jehovah about you, and you will be condemned for your sin. Give the poor what they need, because then Jehovah will make you successful in everything you do. (Deutoronomy 15:7-12)

He who gives to the poor will not lack. But he who hides his eyes will have many curses. (Proverbs 28:27)

And if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom will be like midday. (Isaiah 58:10)

He who gets ahead by oppressing the poor and giving to the rich will certainly suffer loss. (Proverbs 22:16)

It is certainly easy, by and large, to draw a connection between the above verses and many Qur’anic passages, not to mention the conspicuously striking similarities between some. It is these considerable parallels that lead us to the conclusion that the ideas and instructions all stem from the same source, God, and that the essential issues concerning humankind have, quite surprisingly, undergone very little change despite human’s apparent weakness as a transmitter over time.

One further point deserves mention. The above quotations gathered from the Torah, as well as the upcoming Biblical passages, are from current versions of the texts which have, as is widely accepted and was noted above, been partially or predominantly altered, though the exact extent and manner in which such changes have been brought to these ancient scriptures is a matter for debate. A tentative and prudent approach to the current versions is thus the correct attitude, as recommended wisely by the Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be peace) himself:

When the People of the Book utter a narration, do not agree nor disagree with them, but say, “We only believe in God and His Messengers.” This way, concurrence is avoided if they speak lies, and denial is avoided provided that they speak the truth.48

IS THERE INFORMATION ABOUT

ZAKAT

IN CHRISTIANITY?

The situation in Christianity is no different, for the Prophet Jesus, while still in the cradle, utters the duties obliged onto him by God in the following manner:

(Whereupon) he (the baby) spoke out: “I am indeed a servant of God. He has given me the Scripture and has appointed me a prophet. And He has made me blessed whereever I may be and has commanded me to pray and to give alms to the poor as long as I live. And (He) has made me dutiful to my mother and has not made me oppressive, wicked. So peace be upon me the day I was born and the day that I die and the day that I shall be raised up to life (again).” (Maryam 19:30-33)

Considering the fact that the Bible predominantly focuses on ethical issues, a jurisprudential adherence to the Torah, so to speak, was a social necessity. Nonetheless, there are copious Biblical verses which themselves allude to zakat and sadaqa. The following passages may throw light on this discussion; of course, the possible alterations to these passages must be kept in mind:

Be careful! Do not display your righteousness (good works) before men to be noticed by them. If you do, you will have no reward with your heavenly Father. Do not loudly announce it when you give to the poor. The hypocrites do this in the houses of worship and on the streets. They do this to be praised by men. Believe me, they have already been paid in full. When you give charity, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. (Matthew 6:1-3)

He looked at him and was afraid. “What is it, Lord?” he replied. The angel said: “God hears your prayers and sees your gifts of mercy. (Acts 10:4)

He said: Cornelius, your prayer is heard and your gifts of mercy are noticed in the sight of God. (Acts 10:31)

Jesus then replied: “If you wish to be complete, go sell your possessions and give the money to the poor. You will have wealth in heaven. Then follow me!” But hearing these words, the young man went away grieving, for he was very wealthy. Jesus said to his disciples: “Truly I tell you, it is hard for a man with much money to go into the kingdom of heaven. Again I say, it is eas ier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a man with much money to go into the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:21-24)

Sell your possessions and give to charity. Make yourselves purses that do not get old, a treasure in heaven where moth and rest cannot corrupt and thieves cannot steal. (Luke 12:33)

And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, I gain nothing. (Corinthians 13:3)

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy and faith. You should do both and leave nothing undone. (Matthew 23:23)

It is thus quite possible to, again, draw connections between the Qur’an and Hadith, on the one hand, and many Biblical passages. The level of conspicuous similarities between the above texts accentuates their unity of origin. Adopting this approach in scrutinizing the Torah and the Bible will, undeniably, offer us much more evidence culminating in the very same conclusion.

2 notes · View notes

queertheology · 5 years

Text

Building A Bible-Based Faith (that isn’t terrible!)

“Test everything; hold fast what is good.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:21

When I first started to realize that I was attracted to guys, a tiny crack appeared in my faith: how could a loving God knit me together in my mother’s womb then give me these desires for love, intimacy, and family with no righteous outlet to express them?

I’d been told that “homosexuality” was sinful, but I was never quite sure why. I needed to be sure, so I turned to the Bible. That was terrifying. Who was I to question what my church leaders acted like was common knowledge? And then I stumbled upon 1 Thessalonians 5:21 and I realized that questioning my beliefs wasn’t heresy, it was Biblical!

It took me YEARS to sort out that being LGBTQ was not only “ok” but an important part of the diversity of God’s creation. (If you want a peak at what I learned during the process, check this out)

Now that I know it’s ok to be queer — despite what some religious leaders say — I asked myself: what else were they wrong about?

Figuring out I was queer was an invitation to question my faith and to take a fresh look at “what the Bible” says about so many things.

Thank God I’m queer, because I have discovered in the Bible — and the community, experience, expertise, and traditions of Christians across millennia — a faith that is liberating and life-giving… and so much more alive than the evangelical faith of my childhood.

Conservatives talk a lot about being “Bible-believing” or having a “Bible-based” faith.

Too often that’s code for “My interpretation of Christianity is right and everyone who doesn’t measure up is sinful and going to hell.”

While I think it’s entirely possible to be an upstanding, moral person without ever turning to the Bible (or even believing in God!), I’m not ready to let go of this sacred text.

When I look at the Bible, here’s what I see.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. – Luke 4:18-19

Jesus begins his public ministry by quoting from the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 61:1-2, to be specific).

In doing so, he roots his ministry in his Jewish faith and, more specifically, in the Hebrew prophets.

If you’ve asked “What did Jesus come to do?” or “Why did God send Jesus?” … well Jesus answers that question himself in Luke:

to bring good news to poor people

to set prisoners free

to give sight to the blind

to liberate the oppressed

and to usher in God’s abundance

But Jesus doesn’t want to go at it alone. He begins calling disciples to join him in his ministry. Jesus isn’t looking for converts, though.

“Come, follow me,” he said, “and I’ll show you how to fish for people.” (Matthew 4:19)

He’s looking for doers to join him in the work of his ministry. And what is that ministry?

Throughout the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, we get a look at God’s priorities. When I look at the ministry of Jesus, I don’t see a departure from the Hebrew scriptures, I see a continuation of them.

In the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, there are 2,350 verses about money, 300 about social justice and the poor, and even 24 about immigration.

But it’s not really about plucking verses out of context or tallying up the number of verses about this subject vs that subject. To take the Bible seriously and faithfully, you need to know what to do with it. What are the central themes and what are the exceptions? What are commandments and what might be examples of humans messing up, despite their best intentions? What taps into the divine and what is just a reflection of a time-bound, cultural norm?

In Deuteronomy,

I have set life and death, blessing and curse before you. Now choose life.

In Amos,

I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

In Luke, when asked what one must do to gain eternal life, Jesus shared a story that ended with the Samaritan taking care of the injured man and paying for his healthcare … “Go and do likewise” was Jesus’s answer.

In John,

I came so that they could have life—indeed, so that they could live life to the fullest.

In Acts,

All the believers were united and shared everything. …There were no needy persons among them

There’s a whole lot in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures: letters, commandments, poems, stories, parables, and even some visions.

What are we to make of all of these?

Genesis 1 ends with, “God saw everything he had made: it was supremely good” and Revelation ends with “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all.” When you look at Scripture — from Genesis to Revelation — what you see is that God calls us to be faithful by loving ourselves and taking care of each other.

Jesus seems to agree. In Matthew 22, he says,

You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: You must love your neighbor as you love yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.

If you aren’t drawing yourself and others closer to God, if you aren’t filled with love for God, for yourself, and for others, you’re not following Jesus’s commands.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 7 that “by their fruits you will recognize” whether a religious teaching is true or not.

The fruits of anti-LGBTQ theology reveal its falseness: depression, despair, suicide, fractured families, loss of faith, bullying, harassment. The fruits of affirming theology testify to its rightness: a return to faith, a healing of relationships, and a vibrance and resurgence in church life.

But it’s not just about being “LGBTQ affirming” or not.

Does your theology put you at odds with your mind, soul, heart, or body? Does your theology sow division in your family, community, nation, or world? Does your theology excuse or encourage violence? Does your theology exacerbate your mental health problems?

Or does it lead you to life and joy? Does it comfort you? Does it give you hope? Does it lead you to treat others well?

Judge your theology by its fruits.

How to figure out an integrated, Bible-based faith that is life-giving

It took me studying religion in college, being trained by religious and civil rights leaders, engaging in full-time activism across the country for months, reading and studying countless books by pastors, scholars, theologians, and activists; and studying under mentors. It took Fr. Shay going to seminary, continuing his education for a decade, working in churches for equally long, and pursuing independent study.

But it shouldn’t require that much of an investment just to read the Bible well and put it into practice. That’s why we are distilling all of our expertise and experience down into a 4-week course on how to read the Bible: Journey into the Bible. It starts on September 15. You can learn more and register here.

#Bible #daily bible verse #daily bible reading #faithfully lgbt #faithfullylgbt #gay christian #lgbtq #how to read the bible #reading the bible #homosexuality #queer theology #progressive christian

94 notes · View notes

dailyaudiobible · 4 years

Text

12/06/2019 DAB Transcript

Hosea 4:1-5:15, 2 John 1:1-13, Psalms 125:1-5, Proverbs 29:9-11

Today is the 6th day of December. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you today as we move into the weekend and continue the voyage that we are on together through the Scriptures. So, we began the minor prophets and are working our way through Hosea in the Old Testament. We concluded the first letter of John, also known as first John yesterday, which means we get to the New Testament today we’ll be talking about second John. Actually, we’ll read that entire letter today. But first, Hosea chapters 4 and 5 and we’ve been reading from the English Standard version this week.

Introduction to second John:

Alright. So, like we mentioned a couple minutes ago, we’re going to read in its entirety a letter from the apostle John that we know as second John. And this letter was…was probably written just a little while after the first one, the one we just finished yesterday and it was probably written to these same people because the letters are similar, and these similarities are one of the reasons that most biblical scholars accept John as the authentic author. And since it’s believed that John spent the later part of his life in the city of Ephesus, then it's probably from Ephesus where he wrote this letter that we call second John. And the letter’s short, it's 13 verses and the first three of those verses are…are greeting and then the next three verses remind us of the importance of love which is something that we…we got in spades while reading first John specifically involving each other. And then the next three verses speak against the false teaching of Docetism which…which was what…which we talked about in first John. And then the next two verses are giving instruction that’s not in the first letter. And these verses tell the readers and tell us how to behave toward a traveling teacher or preacher who tries to come in and introduce false teaching into the church. And the church is not to encourage or offer hospitality in those situations. And then the last two verses conclude the letter. So, we’re gonns read it and it's gonna go by and it’d be easy to let first and second John kinda blur together because we’re just covering…it's like we’re covering the same territory. But let's just imagine that between the conclusion of first John yesterday and our reading that we’re about to do of second John today that months have gone by and the impact of that first letter has reached its peak and is beginning to fade and diminish because the challenges go on in life and we keep facing them and then this second letter comes along a few months later when the readers needed the encouragement, needed the boost and…and clarity, a reminder of what the first letter had instructed. And then we will see that we are again being reminded to love one another and we should get in the habit of reminding ourselves of that on a continual habitual basis. And, so, with that we read second John.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word and we've already said on a number of occasions just…just the observance of the fact that the year is speeding up and…and that is happening here in the Scriptures as well as we move through shorter letters and shorter writings. And, so, we’re moving at a quicker pace as we move through this final month. And, so, once again, our prayer remains constant, that You would lead us into all truth and that we would stay fixed upon this rhythm that we began all of these days and months ago when we set out on the journey of a lifetime to move through the Scriptures this year. And, so, come Holy Spirit, plant the words that we've learned from first and second John this week into our lives that we must love one another and that this…this isn't something that we just simply say. And really for that matter, it's not just simply some things that we do that are kind or benevolent, it's who we are, it's what we are. You are love, we were told this week and You abide within us, we were told this week, which means that love abides within us and must overflow out of us so that You can love the world through us. And as we move into the weekend this really fundamentally begins with those who are closest to us. So, may Your love pour out of us flooding those that are near us that we love as we move into the weekend. And may we consciously realize that it's not just us trying to be sacrificial or it's not just us loving those that we love, but it's You loving through us. And as we begin to sense You loving through us we realize how loved we are. So, come Holy Spirit help us participate and collaborate in loving the world in the days ahead we pray. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, its the website, where you find out what's going on around here.

And I guess the thing that is most prevalent, prevalently going on around here is what's going on everywhere else, it’s…it’s Christmas time, it's the holiday season. And, so, we have brought out the Daily Audio Bible family Christmas Box for 2019, which is an annual tradition and we have packed it full of mostly things that have never been in a Christmas Box before, brand-new resources, some of the most popular Global Campfire resources, the brand-new written resource the God of Your Story, which is the 365 day, one year devotional that follows the rhythm and the path of the Daily Audio Bible. And the new Journal is in there. Your choice of coffee or tea, fresh roasted coffee being roasted as it's being sent and so that it arrives fresh or our boutique tea, and some of the Daily Audio Bible Christmas cards. And, incidentally, you can get the Christmas cards separate from the Christmas box. Just look in the Christmas section in the Daily Audio Bible Shop. They come in packs of 20 for five bucks and they come with their matching envelopes, they’re beautiful, we make them every year. There wonderful way just to…well…first of all, to share Christmas wishes with your loved ones but a fantastic way to invite those who…who…who may need the Bible and their life every day, to have this resource and take the journey with you. And you can walk the journey with them in the coming year. So, the Christmas cards are in the Christmas Box as well as, like I said, a number of Global Campfire items that we made this year. And the…and the Daily Audio Bible Christmas ornament that is only found in the Christmas Box with Daily Audio Bible 2019 on it and our word for the year, “Maintain.” So, you can find all this in the Christmas section of the Daily Audio Bible Shop. Check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There's a link on the homepage and I thank you with all of my heart for your partnership as we move through this holiday season. Thank you. So, there's a link on the homepage. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

And that is it for today. I'm Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello this is Lola I’m from East Asia calling in again with a update about Lorraine the teacher who was dying here in China probably. Healthwise she’s…she’s kind of all over the place. She’s…for a while we thought she was going to die in the next couple days, but it doesn’t seem like that anymore so maybe I think prayers are making a difference. So, she is doing better. Praise God her family was able to come to China and get all those visa things and so should now she’s not all alone but right now what the struggle is…is all this legal wrangling, wrangling with the insurance, wrangling the… The nurses last night were just on like the texting app were just yelling, not yelling literally but at some people who…at some people who are trying to help Lorraine saying, “you’re causing her pain, you’re causing her blah blah blah” and the teachers were reacting not very calmly to this and the cultural misunderstandings and anger and I think a lot of people are struggling with this right now when they’re trying…I think everyone, the nurses, the teachers are just trying to help Lorraine. So, pray that this will all be smoothed over and that we can help her, and that Lorraine will come to know Jesus and maybe…maybe that she’ll be able to go home to the states. Okay. Thank you. Bye.

Hi everyone, it’s Karen in St. Louis. It’s December 2nd and I always love when I hear the reading of Psalm 121. It is a blessing to my soul because God gave me that Psalm not only in word but in song when I was going through a very, very dark time of sickness when doctors didn’t know what was going on with me - deep depression and fear because I am my only provider financially. So, He is faithful, He is with us and our help comes from Him. And I love to the commentary that you gave today Brian. Ultimately, Christ in us is the hope of glory. And we have all we need in us. I know it’s hard for us to comprehend that when we’re going through pain and brokenness, seeing that too. I’m going through…I go through daily pain every day. I don’t know what kind of money I’m going to make from week to week. The answer of the prayer that I pray every day for my life of having a husband and family has not happened, but my hope is in Christ and I just lift up all of those. I think of Diane Blake Davis, God be with you, God heal you. I pray for Karen, that his comfort would be upon you and Michaela that you would know that the government is upon His shoulders, that we would all know that, that joy to the world, the Lord has come and that you all would have a blessed, blessed holiday season just filled with the Holy Spirit with Jesus Christ. Amen.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible today is December 1st my name is Bee from College Station Texas. My husband passed away October 1st with CHS. He was only 58. So, I’m kind of behind on the Daily Audio Bible because of taking care of him. We were married for 35 years. So, we had one child, Roxanne. Her name was Roxanne. We had one child together. She was daddy’s little girl and she is hurt, angry. With who, I don’t know. I feel like she’s angry with me. I can’t do or say anything right around her. She seems angry all the time with me. But anyway, we always thought that it was gonna be me first to go but it was my husband unexpectedly. So, I need prayer. I need prayer because I feel so lonely without my husband. We were together for 35 years and it hurts. I’m alone. I had to move. So, I just feel lonely and my daughter, I don’t know what to say about her. She has four kids, four of my grandkids and she seems like she takes them away. I don’t know she…she just takes it out on me I feel. So, I need prayer. I feel so lonely without my husband. I miss him so much.

This is Candace from Oregon. I’m moved all because I just heard a call, I’ve from I believe it’s Karen from Hemet who lost her husband of 36 years just before Thanksgiving. Thank you, dear sister for your call. We love you so much and the Lord loves you much, much more. I thank Him because I know that He’s promised to be near to the brokenhearted. I lost my husband almost 3 years ago now, it was March 11 of 2017. And with the holiday time I…I miss him but I just treasure every detail of just little things about him that were just such a great blessing to me and to our children and to our grandchild. And…oh…yeah it’ just…it’s very intense and very precious when you’ve gotten to have so very many years with your beloved. So, I thank God with you for that and I ask Him to attend to your heart. Lord, be with all the brokenhearted during the season and be…be the husband that’s missing Lord as You have been to me. Thank You so much. Be that grandpa Father that’s so needed Lord be present among us. We look to You in Jesus’ name.

Good evening DABbers, this is Running Desperately to Jesus. Diana, I cannot get you off of my mind. The message that you left asking for prayer and your serious bout with cancer and your autistic sons, God has so much for you until this is gonna be such an awesome testimony to others. This cancer, may it be affecting your brain but it’s definitely not affecting your Spirit and it’s definitely not affected your walk with God. That is so apparent in your…your call. You’re taking the Bible verse of Daniel and putting a rhyme to it, making it so clear. I don’t even know where to begin, I don’t even know where to end. I just wish I could meet you in person to give you a hug and to tell you you are such an awesome woman. God has got you. He’s got you in the palm of His hands. He’s got your sons in the palm of His hands. I love you Diana. Again, I wish I could meet you so that I could just give you a hug and tell you I love you sister. Running Desperately to Jesus.

Good morning this is for Married and Alone. I have been married for almost 28 years and you said you’ve been married for 20. I just want to give you hope that God can work amazing things in your husband’s heart. For probably the first 20 years of my marriage I never heard the official diagnosis before, but I definitely did not have my husband’s heart and in the…in the last few years I’ve seen a turnaround. God has been working in his heart and just doing amazing things and…and it’s overwhelming and…and we have we have a love now that’s deeper than…that I could have even imagined. And what I would say is don’t give up, keep pouring it out to the Lord. What I prayed constantly was that we could be, my husband and I, that we could be one mind in Christ Jesus, and I’ve seen that come to pass. So, I’m praying for you and I’m believing for you and just don’t give up because the Lord will sustain you. And this is what I’m going to be praying for you in Jesus’ name. Amen.

1 note · View note

pooma-bible · 2 years

Text

Sister. Savita Manwani

Praise the Lord! It’s time to hear the word of the Lord. Greetings to all in the name of our LORD and SAVIOR Jesus Christ.

Let us Pray: Gracious Heavenly Father, thank you Lord for this opportunity you gave to share your word with your beloved people on this platform. Bless us this hour as we learn from your word. Holy Spirit, I invite you in our midst, come and reveal to us the truth of your word and enlighten our spirits and encourage us to do your will. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Topic: Overcoming Discouragement

Discouragement affects all ages – from school going toddler to an elderly person. A working professional is no better than a homemaker nor is a seasoned minister better than a new believer. We all have our share of discouragement.

Even spiritual giants faced discouragements in their life. Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon, Alexander Whyte, John Henry Jowett, Andrew Bonar, and G. Campbell Morgan all admitted to times of serious discouragement. The Bible calls this condition as a faint spirit (Isaiah 61:3) or a crushed spirit (Psalm 17:22).

If discouragement is not dealt properly and if it falls into the hands of the enemy, it could prove to be fatal. Untreated discouragement can lead to depression and even to suicidal tendencies. We may lose our focus and may be side-tracked. As a child of God, you and I need to know how to handle discouragement in our lives.

Elijah the Man for the Hour

Elijah was chosen by God during the darkest hour of the history of Israel. The kingdom forsook the true living God. King Ahab, incited by his wife Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord and filled the land of Israel with the worship of Baal.

Elijah ministered in such a time. He had no friends or fellowships. He acted alone under the direction of the Lord. He challenged King Ahab and told that he had the keys for rain in the kingdom. He summoned the prophets of Baal to Mount Carmel and brought fire from high. He slaughtered the prophets of Baal. He prayed for rain and rain came down. For a period of time one man controlled the climatic conditions of the nation of Israel.

Truly, Elijah was a great man of God. In fact, he was a prophet of fire. His words and deeds were fiery. We read about all these things in the Biblical chapters of 1 Kings 17, 18 & 19.

But he was discouraged. If Elijah could be discouraged, then you and I surely could. Thai is what exactly James wrote, Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months (James 5:17).

Let us meditate on the reasons for discouragement from the life of Elijah and the ways to overcome it.

1.Overwork Without A Break Can Discourage Us

Elijah was very active in the kingdom of God. He was very zealous for the Lord. He had a strong spirit. God gave a great victory to him on Mount Carmel. He prayed to God for rain and it rained. He killed 450 prophets of Baal. In fact, the work was phenomenal. But soon after this incident, Elijah could not face the threat of Jezebel. He was afraid and ran for his life. This can happen to anyone of us whether we are in a secular job or in ministerial service. Continuous work without physical rest and relaxation may take a toll on one’s mental well-being.

The Sabbatical rest was instituted by God Himself. Even God rested on the seventh day. God’s direction is that we take a day of rest from our regular labor and rest at His feet. Sadly, for many of us, Sunday is a hectic day. We run here and there to entertain ourselves only to return home weak and tired. God has also required sabbatical year rests from us.

I strongly believe, this is very much needed for those of us who are in ministry. These years of rest will enable us to rejuvenate ourselves, and get fresh directions from the Lord. We see that God gave Elijah the much needed rest.

1 Kings 19:5 - Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.”

1Kings 19:7 -And the angel of the LORD came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.”

We find Elijah was twice asked to eat. What a loving God we have! He exactly knows what we need. Many a times in our life, our need is not a revival or a revelation. We simply need to rest in the feet of the Lord. Beloved of God, do not be hard on yourself. In our life, there will be mountain top experiences. These exhilarating experiences are exciting and encouraging. But there will be lows of life as well. We may pass through the valley of shadow of death. There is no excitement there.

We experience darkness and we do not ‘feel’ the presence of the Lord. Life becomes dry and gloomy. Well, this may be because we have not fed ourselves with proper balanced diet and have not given our physical bodies the needed rest.

Sleep is one of the gifts from God. Note the following verses:

Psalm 3:5 – “I lay down and slept”

Psalm 4:8 – “I will both lie down and sleep”

Psalm 127:2 – “He gives to His beloved sleep”

ll though oversleeping is condemned by the Bible (Proverbs 6:9, 11, 20:13), we should not overwork. Medical professionals suggest a minimum of 7 hours of deep sleep for our well-being.

Today, too many are discouraged simply because they do not get adequate rest. Good sleep and good food are a prerequisite for a sound mind. When we are physically worn out and mentally upset, we tend to say weird things and take crazy decisions. These are our vulnerable moments. We should never forget that the devil is waiting for a chance to attack us. Hence, take adequate rest and spend time with the Lord.

2. Low Self Esteem Can Discourage Us.

‘I am not worthy’, ‘I am not experienced’, ‘I am not educated’, ‘I am not fit’ – Have you uttered these statements? Then welcome to the low self-esteem club! Moses complained about his lack of eloquence (Exodus 4:10) and we find Elijah too singing a similar song.

“It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my father’s (1 Kings 19:4).

We are born and brought up in different situations and circumstances. During our childhood, people might have verbally abused us. Our friends would have made fun of us. We would have failed in exams or sports. All these negative experiences cause a dent in our personality, creating a low self-image.

This mental baggage may be strapped on us even after we become a believer and continue to hang there even when we serve the Lord. On the outside, Elijah was a fiery prophet. But in the inside, he was a man just like us with all the weaknesses and struggles.

This low self-esteem coupled with a sense of defeat can cripple us in our work or ministry. A small failure can discourage us to the core. When something happens contrary to our plans, we might be tempted to abandon the cause altogether.

That is why God focuses on the inner transformation of our being. The old self is being transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ. We are becoming more and more like Jesus. In Christ, God has loved us and accepted us.

Even though Elijah performed mighty miracles, he felt that he was defeated. Jezebel could not be dislodged from the throne, nor was she humbled. This created an illusion of defeat which is actually not the case. Though Jezebel could not be subdued, the prophets of Baal were slaughtered.

The faithful remnant of Israel would have been overjoyed. The remaining prophets of God would have seen a ray of hope dawning in Israel. Elijah was gaining grounds. In fact, he had written its first chapter. But in God’s plan, there were other people who would finish that.

Obedience alone matters. God doesn’t measure achievements as we do. Our so called concept of success and failure is entirely different from God’s. Our failure can be God’s success. So, as children of the Most High and His servants, let us listen to His voice and obey Him. We are never called to be successful but faithful. Hence let us focus on Jesus Christ and continue to do His bidding. This makes us good and faithful servants of the Master.

3. Lack of Justice and Fairness Can Discourage Us

It is natural to expect fair treatment in this world. But we should not forget that we live in a fallen world. Sometimes we are treated fairly and other times not. Sometimes justice is possible and at other times it is not. But the God of Justice will judge everyone in His time.

Whether we are in a secular organization or a spiritual one, expecting a perfect system may lead us to discouragement. I find people jumping from one company to other because they are not treated fairly. In a similar way, people jump from one church to another, one organization to another. But I wonder whether they would be treated fairly in the next place. It is the same story in marriage as well. Many expect a fair treatment and are discouraged.

We all have a sense of justice. This is a gift from God. But to expect fairness in all aspects of life is merely utopic. We are living in a fallen world and we build organizations with limitations. There are no perfect systems or organizations in this world. Every institution has its own positives and negatives.

Some people of God look at a ‘great man of God’ and admire him. But when that ‘great man’ commits a sin, they are shaken to the core and are disillusioned and discouraged.

If God puts you in a situation where you face inequality and injustice, ask God for His guidance as to what you need to do. History is full of people who worked within the systems and brought in organizational changes and institutional reforms. So instead of pointing fingers at the present things and persons, pray and proceed on as what you can contribute for the people around you.

Elijah was sailing in the same boat, he did not like what he heard and witnessed, He prayed for a revival and God started to work. But here is the catch. Elijah wanted God to work in a certain way, his way. He wanted Jezebel to be punished in his life time. Elijah slightly ran before God.

Is this not the case with many of us? We expect God to work in a particular way, and when that doesn’t happen, we are discouraged. Beloved, even with the best intentions and motives, we may miss God’s timing and leading. Our impatience can lead us to discouragements.

Nobody is perfect in this world. We were born into this imperfect world alongside imperfect people and when we die, we would leave behind an imperfect world. The only satisfaction that we gain is having fulfilled God’s calling in our lives, bringing hope and comfort to the needy. When perfection comes, all the imperfection will go away. Let us fix our eyes toward Heaven and finish the race that is before us.

4. Loneliness Can Discourage Us

1 Kings 19:10 – “…. And I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”

Loneliness can set the stage for discouragement to play. Some want to be lonely in life while others are forced into loneliness. In either case, there is a high probability that we might be discouraged.

God basically created humans as relational ones. The first and foremost is, our relationship with God. Then comes our earthly relationships of mother, father, brother, sister, friend, spouse, children and relatives. We also relate with the nature. But when sin came into this world, all these relations got complicated, and now we are in a total mess.

It is only through Jesus we can now relate to the Father and to our fellow human beings. Nevertheless, at times we may face loneliness staring at us.

We need to understand the difference between loneliness and delusional loneliness. Delusional loneliness is when we feel lonely although we are not alone. We forget that there are so many people who love us and cherish us. They may not by physically near us but we are close to their hearts.

Elijah suffered from this delusion. He acted alone. He felt lonely. But God had kept others like him in different places and positions – 7000 people still had not bowed down to Baal ( 1 Kings 19:18); Obadiah served in the king’s court (1 Kings 18:3) and there were hundred other prophets (1 Kings 18:4).

Not aware of this, Elijah started to withdraw from the scene.

Instead of dealing with discouragement, too many of us withdraw ourselves from the situation making it more complex. In spite of our discouragements, we should make ourselves useful to others especially the needy ones.

Above all, we should never forget the fact that we are never alone at any given point of time. Jehovah Shammah has promised to be with us even to the end of this age. What a great comfort! People may come and go, but God always remains. He is the Rock of all Ages! Amen! Hallelujah

5. People’s Misbehavior Can Discourage Us

1 Kings 19:2 - Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.”

All of us, at some point in our life have to face the hatred of the world. Jesus foretold this: “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. (John 15:18).

Hence we should not be surprised by it. It is human nature to seek acceptance from people. We expect dignity and respect. We want acceptance. We want love. But it is not possible at all times from all people. People may talk against us. They may disrespect us. They may criticize us. They may hate us.

[10/7, 9:34 PM] 01019 CH W Savita Manwani: We cannot allow ourselves to be discouraged by every word that is spoken against us. Let us listen to the wise counsel of King Solomon:

Also do not take to heart everything people say, Lest you hear your servant cursing you. (Ecclesiastes 7:21)

If you start listening to all the things that people say about you, you will be constantly discouraged. We cannot please everyone and cannot expect praise from everyone. If everybody praises a person, then it may be that they were forced to or he is a false prophet.

Luke 6:26 - Woe to you when all men speak well of you, For so did their fathers to the false prophets.

Hence let us not worry about what people say, but let us set right our relationship with God. He will cleanse us and purify us. What God says about us is more important than what people say.

6. Deferred Hope Can Discourage Us

We all live with expectations. Our expectations become our hopes. Hope is a beautiful thing. The Bible says that Love, Hope and Faith are three great things (1 Corinthians 13:13). Hope sustains human beings. We all hope for something.

We hope for a new job, our children’s marriage, settlement, good ministry, promotions, so on and so forth. This hope for tomorrow becomes our driving force of life. When a person loses hopes, then discouragement sets in and this might even lead to depression.

Some develop high hopes with regard to their business or children or ministry. But when that hope is dashed, they get discouraged. Some people used to say, ‘I have this one hope.’ Or ‘I can count on him/her’ or even ‘This is my only hope” or “My last hope”.

When we have certain things or people in our lives, which can qualify for our ‘only hope’ then we are setting ourselves in a place where we can be discouraged to the core. I believe Elijah too had this mentality.

According to him, Mount Carmel was the last thing Israel could see. He thought fire from heaven could change everything. He pinned all his hopes on that one event. But when that event did not bring out what he expected, he was disillusioned and prayed for death.

1 Kings 19:4 – “And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life,….”

Have you prayed such prayers – “It is enough Lord. Oh! I have faced a lot of discouragement. Everybody left me. People whom I trusted betrayed me. I have no one to turn to. Everything seems mundane. I do not want to live. It is enough Lord. Take my life”?.

Beloved, take heart. Elijah went through the same experience. See how a great prophet developed suicidal tendencies. God had plans to take him to Heaven even without his physical death. But he prayed to the contrary. Moses too once prayed liker this (Numbers 11:15) and so did Jonah (Jonah 4:8). Praise be to God that He does not answer all our prayers.

What we need during such trying times is Rest and Refocus. Beloved, this is my spiritual suggestion to overcome the fiery darts of discouragements. Rest in the Lord and refocus on the task ahead. Even when all our hopes are lost, we still can hope in the Lord. Jesus is our only hope. Let us turn to God and His word. We should learn to run to Him, wait on Him and get directions from Him.

Elijah did the same! He ran to Horeb the mountain of God (1 Kings 19:8). He knew only God can understand him and can deal with the situation.

“Whom I have in Heaven except you” says the Psalmist (Psalm 73:25).

God is our refuge in times of trouble. Let us run to Him. He will protect us from the fiery darts of discouragement. The God who guided Elijah and gave him a new direction and jobs, will guide us through (1 Kings 19:15-18).

Hence my beloved, let us not be discouraged. Even when we walk through the path of discouragement, let us learn to take rest in His presence and seek His guidance. May God strengthen us and use us according to His plan and purpose.

God bless you!

0 notes

mrlnsfrt · 2 years

Text

The Depressed Prophet

Disclaimer: The following is what I personally take away from my study of 1 Kings 19. I am not a counselor or a psychologist and I am not giving counseling advice here. I am not a mental health professional and I am not trained to deal with depression. These are simply the lessons I take away from this story and that I have found personally helpful.

This is the final post in my Becoming Elijah series. I encourage you to read and/or listen to the other posts but this one stands on its own.

Quick Overview

Elijah shows up and tells the king there will be no rain or dew except at his word. (Part 1)

God tells Elijah to hide by the Brook Cherith. Elijah is to drink from the brook and God will send ravens to feed him. (Part 1)

The brook dries and God tells Elijah to go live with a widow in Zarephath. (Part 2)

Elijah lives with the widow and God miraculously provides for them by not allowing the flour or oil to run out. (Part 2)

The widow’s son becomes sick and dies. Elijah prays and God restores life to the boy. (Part 3)

God tells Elijah to present himself to King Ahab. (Part 4)

Elijah, King Ahab, all the prophets of Baal and Asherah gather at the top of Mount Carmel and all of Israel come to witness the showdown. Elijah and the prophets of Baal each will prepare a sacrifice but no one is allowed to set it on fire. Each is to pray and cry out to their god and the god who answers with fire from heaven is the true God. (Part 4)

Nothing happens while the prophets of Baal jump and shout but when Elijah prays fire comes from heaven and consumes his offering. proving to all that the LORD is the only true God, and all the prophets o Baal are put to death. (Part 4)

Elijah then prays and it rains again. (Part 5)

Expectations

What would you expect to happen next?

Elijah prayed and fire came down from heaven.

Elijah prayed and it sained after three and a half years of drought.

Baal was not able to make it rain, Baal was unable to save his prophets. Meanwhile, the LORD clearly demonstrated, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that He is the real God, He controls the weather and He was able to keep Elijah alive when Jezebel wanted to kill him. I would expect spiritual revival to breakout throughout Israel. I would expect Jezebel to apologize for promoting the worship of a false god, and for trying to kill Elijah for all those years. I would expect Elijah to be promoted, to have a nice job, a decent income that would allow him to live comfortably, and a happy a prosperous remainder of his life as spiritual leader of the nation.

Reality

And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. - 1 Kings 19:1 NKJV

From the way the writer begins the account maybe you get a slight hint of where this is going. Notice how the execution of all the prophets with the sword is mentioned. He could have talked about the fire, the rain, how Elijah had run ahead and from Mount Carmel to Jezreel (approx. 25 miles). There was more than enough evidence for anyone to believe. This just goes to illustrate that those who choose to reject God will do so even in the face of overwhelming evidence.

The biblical text does not go into details but I can imagine Jezebel was not very happy about the execution of all the false prophets. And I say this based on the very next thing the text does describe Jezebel doing.

A Message from the queen.

Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” - 1 Kings 19:2 NKJV

I am no expert in trying to kill someone, but I am pretty sure sending a messenger to announce they have 24hrs is not the best approach. It’s almost as if Jezebel knew she could not do anything beyond that but was hoping her threat would be enough to cause Elijah to flee. This reminds me of a Bible passage.

Be on your guard and stay awake. Your enemy, the devil, is like a roaring lion, sneaking around to find someone to attack. - 1 Peter 5:8 Contemporary English Version

I remember going to the zoo as a child in Brazil and hearing the lion roaring. Even though I was in a safe place the roar of the lion still made me want to move away, it was like my body was very much aware of the danger that a lion presents. I can’t imagine the fear that would grip someone who runs into a lion in the wild.

So here is how I see this. Satan is not only looking for someone to attack, he also tries to intimidate those he can’t attack. I have no doubt that God would have protected Elijah from Jezebel and that it would only give the people more evidence of God’s power. Similarly, when you are walking with God, and Satan cannot take your life, it does not mean that he will not try to scare and intimidate you. If Satan can cause you to doubt, to run away, to give up, he can count that as a victory.

I am sure that Satan could not touch Elijah at that point in Elijah’s life. So he did his very best to scare Elijah, he used someone to discourage Elijah, to take his focus away from God and what God had done for him. Do we ever allow that to take place in our life? Do we allow someone who is against God to succeed in planting doubt in our hearts and robbing us of the joy and assurance of salvation we have in Christ?

Think about this with me.

If Jezebel was really interested in who was the real God, whether Baal or the LORD, she would have been at the top of Mount Carmel along with everyone else in Israel. Could it be that sometimes we are blinded to all that God is doing in us and through us just because of a comment from someone who does not even show up? By someone who is not even trying to help? By someone who is not even interested in what God is doing?

Running for his life

And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. - 1 Kings 19:3 NKJV

I bet you didn’t see this coming!

In three short verses the writer has totally changed the flow of the story. Victory seems to be transformed into defeat, the brave prophet into a cowering refugee, and the victory over death and Baal into an opportunity for death to reassert itself through Jezebel’s oath to take Elijah’s life. -House, P. R. (1995). 1, 2 Kings (Vol. 8, p. 222). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

Elijah’s previous victories had opened the doors for still greater victories, but he was turned away by the threats of Jezebel. God had placed Elijah on vantage ground yet he ran away and placed himself in a position of weakness.

How will the Lord prove to be God now?

I want to die?

But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!” - 1 Kings 19:4 NKJV

I am so glad that I am not God. If Elijah came to me asking to die I would have said that if that was indeed what he wanted, why did he run away from Jezebel? She was eager to help him with that request.

Elijah did not really want to die, at least I do not think so. I believe Elijah just did not want his life efforts to be a waste. Elijah wanted to know that his life’s work was not meaningless, that he had not just wasted all those years. I believe that Elijah longed for a meaningful life and it all felt worthless. I imagine he expected revival to begin, for Jezebel to convert or at least to finally leave him and the prophets of the LORD alone. But it feels like nothing changed, everything continues the same.

What hope is there? When you do your very best, when God comes through and works a miracle, but it feels like no lasting change has taken place. I too would feel like giving up. Elijah was faithful, he had faithfully done what God asked every time up to now. But the frustration of feeling like it had all been for naught just drove him to run away and to not want to live, not if life was going to be like this.

I admit that it is difficult to continue to move forward when things don’t turn out the way we expect. How do you handle failure? Better yet, how do you identify failure?

Was Elijah a failure? Does the behavior of one woman define his ministry? Should we measure success in ministry strictly by numbers?

Jesus’ disciples fled when He was taken to be crucified, was Jesus a failure?

I have tried to define success in ministry by faithfulness to God and not by visible results. Elijah did not see any immediate results to his faithfulness to God, so he felt like a failure.

I wonder how many parents and people in different circumstances feel like a failure when the results of their correct and good actions are not immediately visible. Can we be content with faithfully doing God’s will for years, going through difficulties, feeling alone and invisible, never being properly recognized… how long can you last like this?

Before we rush to criticize Elijah, he had been living a difficult life of loneliness and quiet service for three and a half years. Not to mention the past 48 hours or so must have been extremely stressful and exhausting. This can be surprising but it seems like we are very vulnerable to depression after a great victory or success.

What will God do next?

What would you expect God to do?

His best prophet just ran away and now is asking to die. Elijah’s flight hurt the cause of God in Israel. Jezebel is seen as a powerful figure if she can cause the mighty Elijah to flee. Elijah faced hundreds of false prophets, he prayed and fire fell from heaven, he prayed and it rained again after a drought that lasted over three years. But he fled from Jezebel. Should the people of Israel fear God or Jezebel? Elijah abandoned them, is God really as powerful as He seemed? Has God indeed won the victory? Or is Baal, Jezebel’s god really more powerful since Elijah was the one who fled and Jezebel the one who remained in power?

Is God angry with Elijah?

Will God punish Elijah?

What will God do next?

Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, “Arise and eat.” Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again. - 1 Kings 19:5-6 NKJV

When Elijah was at his lowest point, feeling like a failure, completely alone, God showed up and offered him a freshly baked cake! And a jar of water, perhaps Elijah considered asking for cold milk but decided water worked too.

God showed up to provide for Elijah. Even when Elijah had run away, even when Elijah felt like a failure, Even when Elijah was all alone and scared and tired and depressed, God showed up and brought cake! That’s the God we worship! That’s the God of the Old Testament, the God of the Bible, my God. The God who shows up with cake!

The journey is too Great for you

And the angel of the Lord came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God. - 1 Kings 19:7-8 NKJV

God provides Elijah with more cake and tells him that the journey is too great for him. We are not meant to go on this journey on our own. We need God’s help. When God offers you cake, take it, enjoy the moments of joy and find in them the strength to push you through the next leg of your journey. On the long journey remember that God fed you cake, God is there for you, you are not alone, you are not a failure, you are a child of God!

Elijah went on to travel 40 days covering roughly 250 miles from Beersheba to Horeb.

What are you doing here?

And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” - 1 Kings 19:9 NKJV

When our decisions are based on fear and not love we find ourselves outside of God’s plan for our lives. If God asked you why are you where you are in life, what answer would you give him? Are you here because of the mission God has called you to?

Your career, your area of study in school, your use of your time and resources, what brings you here, wherever “here” is for you is it based on love? Passion? Sense of mission? Personal calling? Or are you here because of fear and attempts to run away from discomfort?

God asks Elijah what he was doing there because God had directed every move before this point.

Elijah presented himself before the Ahab to deliver a message from God (1 Kings 17:1)

God told Elijah to go hide by the Brook Cherith (1 Kings 17:2-3)

God told Elijah to go stay with the widow in Zarephath (1 Kings 17:8-9)

God told Elijah to present himself before Ahab again (1 Kings 18:1)

But God never told Elijah to go to this mountain. So why was Elijah there? you could argue that Elijah was seeking God and wanted to go to Horeb, the mountain of God. But God does not work that way, the God of the Bible comes to us, we don’t go to Him. Could it be that Elijah was afraid, and burned out, and used seeking God as an excuse for running away from his problems? But I guess if you’re going to run away from anything might as well run in the direction of God.

I am all alone

So he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.” - 1 Kings 19:10 NKJV

Elijah feels alone and wants to feel sorry for himself. To be honest, it makes sense for Elijah to feel sorry for himself, he has led a challenging life. Elijah feels alone, but that does not mean that he is alone. But God does not reply to what Elijah said. Instead, God reveals Himself to Elijah.

God’s revelation

Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.

So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” - 1 Kings 19:11-13 NKJV

Do we expect God to reveal Himself in destructive forces of nature?

Do we recognize Him when He shows up as a still small voice?

Are there enough quiet moments in our lives for us to hear God, to recognize His presence?

Perhaps we could benefit from cultivating quiet time with God, from creating space to listen to His leading.

What are you doing here?

And he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.” -1 Kings 19:14 NKJV

God repeats His question to Elijah and Elijah doubles down on his answer. Elijah is trapped in a narrative where he is a victim. Did he forget so quickly how God provided for him miraculously? Did he forget that it is the God he serves who controls the rain, the wind, the earthquake, and the fire? Elijah has nothing to fear, he is on God’s side. How often do we feel sorry for ourselves about how difficult it is to be a faithful follower of God? In reality, our hearts should break for those who do not know God. We are the ones who are saved (Ephesians 2:8), who have hope (1 Peter 1:13), we are told by the God of the universe to not be afraid (Isaiah 41:3), we know that Jesus is coming again soon (Revelation 22:20). We are the bringers of good news (Mark 16:15)!

When we begin to feel sorry for ourselves we lose focus of the mission and instead focus on ourselves. Whenever I spend too much time thinking about how difficult life is I begin to feel sorry for myself. I begin to feel powerless and want to be helped. It is okay to want and to need help, but not lose focus that we are called to help those around us. I find joy and meaning in doing what God called me to do in His strength! My life must be all about Him otherwise I begin to lose the desire to live.

God’s Reply

Then the Lord said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. - 1 Kings 19:15-17 NKJV

God does not join Elijah in his self-pity party. God gives Elijah a mission. God still has plans for Elijah, if Elijah is still willing to live a meaningful life. God does not give up on us, even when we give up on ourselves.

God also tells Elijah to begin to disciple, to train and prepare his successor. When you’re tired and worn and feel like you can’t go on for much further, find someone to train, someone who will be able to go farther than you have ever gone because of your willingness to equip and empower them in the Lord! We need to invest in the next generation!

You are not alone

Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” - 1 Kings 19:18 NKJV

When you are faithful to God you are not alone, you are a member of the remnant! Revelation 12:17

Takeaway

The following is what I personally take away from this story. I am not a counselor or a psychologist and I am not giving counseling advice here. I am not a mental health professional. These are simply the lessons I take away from this story and that I have found personally helpful.

Whenever I feel discouraged and burned out I step back, slow down, spend some time in nature and listen for the still small voice of God to speak.

I ask myself “What am I doing here?” Did I arrive here pursuing a mission and a calling? Did I follow my heart here or was I running away from discomfort and difficulties?

I pray for God to reveal to me what He would have me do.

I remind myself that I am not alone and that I am with God, and He is more than able to provide for all my needs (Philippians 4:19).

I look for someone to invest in! Someone to disciple, coach, encourage and equip.

#Elijah #Narrative #Mental health

1 note · View note

ivy72376 · 3 years

Text

BIBLE REFLECTIONS, SEPTEMBER 1-30, 2021

God is our saving health... This Psalm on Neginoth feels prophetic and oddly written for our time; and because of that, it feels strongly powerful and timeless... May we find confidence and hope in the Psalmist's words; as we heed his encouragement to sing for joy unto our Great Healing God, The Saving Health of all the nations; and in holy fear, humbly live our days in obedience to His Way...

#HappySeptember30midnight

Praise is joyful, and worship is solemn... Both are our expressions of thanks and testimonies about the goodness of our God, and His abundant mercy... No matter how we do it on a Sunday or in communal worship, the most important thing is that it reflects in our everyday lives... For how can one keep silent, when God has been so good to answer our prayers... No need to brag what specifically, though, because most assuredly people will know; what should remain our duty is by giving praise and honor, we direct recognition to God's grace and mercy, rather than our own limited efforts and capabilities...

#HappySeptember30

Because God uses a different tape measure... Some people, who find their confidence from the affirmation of others, and who believe that only in becoming thin and "sexy", can they feel satisfied of their own bodies, might have a hard time accepting that fatness is a blessing... But in the Word it is, especially as stated here by the Psalmist (v. 11)... And so, may I suggest that many of us should expand our vocabularies further, because being fat is not quite exactly the same as being obese; the former means more fleshy and curvaceous, while the other is most often a debilitating medical condition... If one is fat, but physically active, eats nutritiously, sleeps well, and has a generally sunny disposition in life, that person is healthy compared to thin, slim and wiry people who lounge around or drag their feet while walking, binge on junk food or doesn't eat at least three balanced and complete meals per day, sleeps badly, grumpy and moody and most often depressed, a host of health syndromes and allergies, and has gone through several surgeries to remove inflammations, cysts, stones and whatnot (no offense meant to the latter group, some of whom with which I am personally related by blood, extended families and work)... May we take the perspective of the Psalmist, that it is only by living lives of humility and obedience to God can we have true good health, both physically and spiritually... To aspire to be thin just to fit that beautiful dress in the store rack is ungodly and an act of conforming to the world; but a life of prayer, faithfulness, honesty and thankfulness to God that He has made us wonderfully and well--flabs, aches, warts and all--so that in all moments of our lives, we can give praise and glory to Him, not just with our words, but with our actions and motivations, is true higher and heavenly level lifestyle indeed...

#HappySeptember29midnight

In the war of words, God's justice reigns... Especially because evil people, more so now in the social media age, craftily and cruelly abuse this as their most destructive battleground and strategy; at every turn, honing their skills to put down, insulting and abusing, harassing and oppressing people who are humbly living and doing the best they can to live peaceably and honestly, and even so far as attacking and striking those who seek to bring life, right knowledge, wisdom and peace to all... But when the latter put their faith in God, trusting Him to uphold their cause and bring them justice and fairness, He will always hear and protect, deliver and save them from the evil machinations, psychological, mental and emotional impact of the wicked people's words and actions... May we wisely consider our motivations and assertions, our thoughts, speech and deeds, so that like the Psalmist, we can confidently declare, "And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of His doing. The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and shall trust in Him; and all the upright in heart shall glory."...

#HappySeptember29

Many times in the lives of those whom God loves and cares for, there are wilderness moments: when wealth, achievements, careers, endeavors, positions, status and relationships are seen and felt as worthless... They may not actually be so, but it is in these moments that God makes His beloved people realize that He is all that they need... Yes, the apostle Peter prophesied that all the elements will melt with fervent heat (2 Peter 3:10-12), and Ezekiel saw a valley of dry bones (Ezekiel 37)... But, like the Psalmist, they too believed that if we but trust in and have faith in Him, follow His will and leading, God will restore everything, to more than their former glory and goodness; and especially so, because in the Bible, fatness is a result of blessing and praise (Genesis 27:28), while thinness (leanness, or slim-ness) is associated with cursing and punishment (Isaiah 10:16), so that may we sing along with the Psalmist, "My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips" (v. 5)...

#HappySeptember28midnight

Openly, greatly... This Psalm is to be sung by Jeduthun, one of the chief singers in the temple, and his group... By name and lifelong function, the Jeduthun are called to be lead lauders or praisers of God, and everything He is in the lives of His people: our rock, our salvation, our deliverer... What should be noted well is that with this trust and hope, God's people can be confident that in all the uncertainties and troubles of human life, we shall not be moved (v. 6); and even if we should be moved, He will be there to strengthen, equip and support, so that we are not moved greatly (v. 1), in order that we are not weakened and lose heart... What is truer and more sure instead is that in openly praising God, in sincerely and transparently dedicating our lives and efforts to Him, He can and will move greatly and mightily in and through us...

#HappySeptember28

This Psalm is another Neginah, to be played on stringed instruments... But it is not a sad song, because it doesn't reflect despair or distress by the Psalmist... What it seeks to show us though, is that no matter the ups and downs and turbulence of life, those who put their trust and hope in God (not on wealthy foreign sponsors, supporters, bureaucratic backers, or influential connections), though they may not rise to the high echelons of power and status in society, can rest secured and be at peace; because God is the only help and covering they need, their hiding place, their sure hope, the inspiration of their obedience, their strength and the substance of their confidence... May we not boast of what we have, what we have attained, how secure we are because we are well-connected, and how steady and rich life seems to be because of whom we know; for God can destroy all those things (that have become our idols) in one snap... But may we humbly live and glorify God and His abundant mercy and goodness, as we seek to live out His peace to all, His life-giving spirit flowing like mighty rivers from us, to a darkened and fearful world...

#HappySeptember27midnight

This song is titled Shushaneduth, for as biblical translations say, "the lily of testimony", it is to be played on the cymbals that are shaped like the lily-flower, and therefore every word is a strong declaration... It is also a Michtam, as written, for it is an eternal proclamation... Indeed, in the life of God's people, many enemies abound, those who--out of envy and greed-- oppress, harass, bully, and abuse others, in order to promote themselves, and to try to deprive them from learning the truth, to be truly saved, to receive the grace and goodness due to them... Yet, as narrated in the song, God's people never lack the talent, the skill, the strength and help in times of oppression, tribulation and trouble; even in the face of hypocrites, pretentious and duplicitous, evil and wicked people, God's people will be saved and upheld... And in whatever challenge they may face, even if struck and put down, stomped upon, those who truly fear God, who remain humbly obedient to His call to bring life and peace as His children, will have the upper hand and the victory, as the Psalmist said in verse 12, "Through our God we shall do valiantly, for it is He who shall tread down our enemies"...

#HappySeptember27

Even in physical, verbal, and spiritual ambush, God is our defense... And this lament by the Psalmist, in this third Altaschith and Michtam, still holds true in the life of God's people today... Not only with evil people outside of the faith and normal culture, but even within the body of Christ: some pretend to have been saved and surrendered their lives to God, yet are still driven by materialism and envy, worldliness, and glorification of "slim and sexy" body size, body-hugging and revealing clothes (unless one has a mental disorder, that is), rather than the growth and maturity of their spirits (because honestly, if one claims to be a child of God, proclaiming themselves to live in holiness and not conforming to the lusts of the world, yet still says "oh, it is good to be sexy", or "hey, aren't you sexy?", isn't one being lustful and worldly, a hypocrite of the faith by which he calls himself, in direct disobedience to what our Lord Jesus Christ said in Matthew 5:28? Hmmm... I think I have just borrowed some of Lewis and Tolkien's words...)... Anyway, as the Psalmist said, these people belch out their words, showing us by the stench of their speech, what are inside their minds and bellies... Their words are swords, acting to be sweet and diplomatic talkers, yet are full of insults, put downs and insinuations... They lie in wait that the faithful make one mistake, and like hungry vultures, attack by becoming judgmental, hurling insults and slander, puff up their pride and prejudices, and claim themselves more holy, more righteous, more knowledgeable, wiser and right... The Psalmist only has harsh words for them, in imploring God for their downfall... But because our Lord told us to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44), we can only pray that we be delivered by the traps, bullying, harassment, abuse and oppression of such people... For truly, for those who hold on to their faith and trust in God, who live in humility, and those who strive to live peaceably with all, no matter how disagreeable they may be, we "can sing: God is our defense, and the God of our mercy"...

#HappySeptember26midnight

This Psalm is a continuation of the previous one, both an Altaschith and a Michtam, so that we may not forget that God's deliverance and preservation are true and timeless... May we learn to set our lives, our words, our actions and motivations in order, because surely, "there is a reward for the righteous, or those who do right; because God is not only Creator and Lord, He is the Supreme and Great Judge of the earth too" (v. 11)...

#HappySeptember26

God's anointed one shall not be destroyed... This psalm is both an Altaschith, "do not destroy", which means that both the song and the people for whom and by whom it is sung, are sealed for preservation... It is also a Michtam, a golden or precious writing, again doubly referring to the song itself, and the heart behind it... During the days when he was persecuted by King Saul, David declared and claimed this song, both to preserve himself and that of King Saul... Many of us have yet to attain that level of forgiveness and understanding, but that is actually the heart of God... May we learn to grow into the spirit of the song, as we go through difficulties and calamities; for surely, no matter how hard life may be, we can take cover and find refuge under the mighty wings of our God (v. 1)...

#HappySeptember25midnight

King David killed Goliath during wartime... Which even in their times and cultures that maintain a sort of unwritten Articles of War, should have merited no consequential punishment after... Indeed, there wasn't, because David became anointed... But then, he wasn't king at the time, because King Saul was still on the throne, so the Philistine people and relatives of Goliath exacted their vendetta, while David was on the run for his life, and helpless... We realize that even then and until now, war doesn't pay; because the spark of hatred, insult, offense and affront will always remain in the hearts of surviving families, brethren and comrades, fuelling another conflagration of attack and war... For this reason our Lord Jesus Christ came and proclaimed, "Blessed are the peacemakers" (Matthew 5:9), to declare that wars and conflicts are normal human experiences, but the ones who accept their calling to attune their lives vertically to the One who created and rules over all, must abandon all feelings of hatred, rage, resentment, vendetta and vengeance, leaving these all up to Him (Deuteronomy 32:35)... Then, we can have this hope: to not take offense at slights and insults (Matthew 5:11), at persecutions, threats and assaults (2 Corinthians 4:8), because "what time we are afraid, we can trust in God" (v. 3, 4), for He is for us (v. 9) who humbly submit to His will; and so we need not fear what man can do to us (v. 11, Matthew 10:28)... May we find strength and peace in this...

#HappySeptember25

Another Maschil on the Neginoth teaches us again of a timeless truth: that God's people are not immune in a world of suffering and oppression... Like King David, God's people are normal human beings, who oftentimes get desperate and seek a way out... But that is never a good way, because as the king realized with his own troubles, no matter how difficult life gets, God will always sustain those who look up to Him, and surrender their cares and burdens to Him (v. 22, the same words his root and offspring Jesus Christ promised in Matthew 11:29)... Yes, if we but trust God enough, not be proud of ourselves and feel entitled, if we are able and as long as it is within our power and good conscience--to accept the help and support of others, whoever they may be (because no matter from which direction it comes from, all help, whether we think the people offering them are sincere or not, are actually gifts from God), then we will feel our burdens become easier and lighter... They do not disappear though, but God will give us the strength to manage them; and we will gain the confidence that in this life's journey, we are not alone, because of God and the people He sends our way; and we are not pressured to feel and act like the world revolves around us, because it doesn't; but that its every moment should be lived for the One who created us and set us free to enjoy eternity with Him...

#HappySeptember24midnight

On this chapter, another Maschil of eternal truth, to be played on the Neginoth, or stringed instruments, we are sobered by the Psalmist's realization of King David's predicament: how that strangers who don't even know much about him, and to whom he had only shown respect, could sell him out to his enemy, and endanger his life... This situation is not new, because throughout history, many more people are that selfish and greedy, who, without even lifting a finger to help, would gladly betray others to save their own skin, or for a profit... And even in our social media age, groups of people abound, who destroy other people's reputation, or slander and shoot down the truth and good message that they bring, just to make themselves appear knowledgeable, and feel good, and for the very crafty, earn some bonus points, or even financial rewards for trolling... Yet, King David's words are timeless too: for God will not have mercy on liars, slanderers, blasphemers and evildoers... He will strengthen His faithful ones, deliver them and give them justice, and will accomplish His desire on His enemies, and those that harm His people--whether that be for their good or destruction, is out of our hands, for God shall deal with each person, according to the measure of their words and deeds... May we be humbled, may we be more circumspect, may we be more respectful and true...

#HappySeptember24

Today's psalm is a Maschil, a song of eternal truth, specifically instructed to be played on a Mahalath, a lute or lyre or a guitar, because it is a sad song... And we realize why: because for the God who made us, and who has such glorious plans for our future; to not be acknowledged, to be ignored, whose presence and love are to be denied, is the saddest realization of all... Who are we to think that the world revolves around us; and to believe that we are entitled to comfort, convenience, favor and grace, without being humble enough to acknowledge our dependence on God, and the help and community of other people... If we hadn't grown into that learning yet, this pandemic should have made us realize that we could get sick and die any moment, but for the favor the Lord grants us when we humbly pray and implore to be given yet another day: to work, to earn our keep, to realize our dreams, to help and to love and cherish the people He sends our way... May sad songs remind us of the One who loves us truly, Who will never leave us when we cling on to Him in faith, and who daily showers us with new mercies every morning He so graciously wakes us up to until the end of our days...

#HappySeptember23midnight

Evil people are consistent: doing mischief, being proud, abusive and oppressive, greedy and materialistic... Yet this Maschil reminds us of an eternal truth: their hope and trust in themselves, their positions and connections, and their wealth will come to nothing... Because the only One truly worth trusting in is God; for He will come to the rescue of His faithful ones, and will always be a source of strength and hope for them...

#HappySeptember23

The ultimate repentance Psalm... Which many of us like to preach about and try to parrot after, especially as it was penned by the king who was after God's own heart himself... What many people don't realize and explore more is that first, this Psalm was addressed to The Chief Musician, which Jewish and Bible scholars understand to be God Himself... And with such tall appeal to the highest authority in the universe, one should be humbled and shamed enough not to sin again... Hence, it was but right that in his later years, King David indeed reformed himself and lessened his cavorting with his harem, especially since his double crime of adultery and murder went unpunished by the Law of Moses as mandated in the Ten Commandments, yet resulted in the death of his newborn son... And we learn too that even in his last days, he reaped the consequences of his sin by being impotent enough to stop his daughter from being raped by her half brother, and his beautiful son and then-heir Absalom murder his rapist-half brother, and organizing a rebellion, which led to his death... It was to King David's memorial that we learn that even the seemingly holiest and favored people can sin most depravedly... However God is merciful, for when they repent, they are forgiven and renewed... Unfortunately however, or fortunately if we take the perspective from the Word, forgiveness is a lifetime process where the repentant sinner must bear the evil and tragic consequences of the past... Being forgiven doesn't mean getting away scot-free for life; it simply means that when vengeance and justice are demanded, the offender must and can actually pay the price with confidence and faith, no matter how painful and devastating it may be... For the grace given by forgiveness as what this Psalm wants us to learn, is not being freed from the responsibility of owning up to our faults; but because God has forgiven us, we now have more grace to weather the aftermath; and so be able to face the future with trust and faith in Him, Who can create in us clean hearts, and renew a right spirit within...

#HappySeptember22midnight

Asaph and his sons declare in this psalm what is most important to God: it is not offerings or flattering words that are not matched by disobedient and prideful living, but thanksgiving and praise, humility, making true our promise to live for Him, and calling on His Name... May we be humbled and convicted, as we set our words, our motivations, and our deeds consistently and right...

#HappySeptember22

Here is another pragmatic song for the performance of the sons of Korah, rubbing in the wisdom that dependence on earthly wealth, status, position and possessions are nothing without God, particularly since we cannot bring them with us to the grave... Even if places, buildings and monuments are named after us, still what counts in the afterlife are not these but our relationship with a physically intangible God, whose work in our lives can be made manifest through moments lived in humility and selfless service and generosity to others, in not flaunting our wealth even if we say we have worked hard to earn it, but to share with and bless those less fortunate than us... Truly, if in this pandemic we believe that lifting ourselves up is one way to thrive, then we must get down from our high horses, for a life that truly matters is one where the will and the love of God matters more, and where the care and benefit of the weaker and oppressed ones matter more than our reputation, our fame, our image, our body size, and our convenience...

#HappySeptember21midnight

Setting our hopes in the right places... And may our visions not be misaligned too... As what this Psalm from the sons of Korah reminds us of... That we must worship and serve the One True God, Who commands His loving kindness then from the physical Mount Zion and even now and in the future, from the spiritual Zion of His kingdom, if we are to live meaningful lives... This is not a matter of compulsion, because the Word says that even kings and leaders of the earth who would like to have all glory to themselves are threatened by this faith, and they and those they put their hope in are destroyed; which means that many of our world and religious leaders of today may mandate some form of religion or faith, but we know it is false; for as it is laid bare, it only serves their own selfish and greedy purposes, to enrich themselves and hold on to power and authority at the expense of others... But we still can hope and trust in God, who ultimately has the upper hand, and declare the creed as what the Psalmist proclaims, "this God is our God for ever and ever; He will be our guide even unto death"...

#HappySeptember21

Worshipping with understanding (v. 7)... Is what the sons of Korah, some of the premier lead singers and musicians in God's temple, remind the people then and even until now... God did not make us stupid automatons compelled to render service through praise and worship; because though His laws rule the universe, but our God is never a dictator... The sons of Korah encourage us to remember His greatness, His goodness and mercy, and that we are nothing without Him... Incidentally, today is the start of Jewish Sukkot, the Festival of Booths or Tabernacles; in which the chief aim is to remind God's people that we are all pilgrims and foreigners here on earth; that when it is our time to go, no matter how rich we are, or how high in society we may rise to, that we can never bring with us, even a penny of our wealth beyond the grave... And so with this understanding and full awareness, we worship and praise our God Who gave us life and breath, Who gave us strength and skill, Who gave us wisdom and choice, and Who daily showers us with mercy and grace, no matter what we may have done... May we be humbled, may we be constantly reminded, and may we not lose our hope, trust, obedience and awe...

#HappySeptember20midnight

This chapter starts off one of the higher-pitched songs, probably because it is upon Alamoth, young maidens or virgins, and therefore normally of soprano voices... In here, the Psalmist emphasizes in high voice, that no matter what happens, even if literally the world around us is falling or coming to its end, we can still trust and have hope because, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble"... May we take this to heart, stop living stubborn lives in disobedience, so that even if life's troubles overwhelm us, we can be confident of God's words, when He declares, "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth"...

#HappySeptember20

Well, what do we know, the Psalms contain a Maschil that is a love song too... Maybe this is one reason why biblical scholars, most of them men obviously, choose to interpret this as referring to the Messiah and His bride, the church; because the verses contain undeniably sensual (that is, ancient versions of fan-girling, a willing harem and concubinage) and therefore a bit inappropriate, innuendos for the Holy Book... Yet, we cannot deny that such high adulation hinting at joyful affection and passion is both a manifestation of God's desire that His people feels for Him, and for married men and women to their spouses too... One need only look at social media feeds to discern that in many cases, husbands and wives seem to adore each other so much even unto the high heavens, second only to God Himself... It is a lifetime truth also, and we need not feel shy when the word of God so plainly tells us of it: that in the same manner that we can so deeply and possessively fall in love and fawn over our significant others, and our offsprings, is actually the same kind of love our God has for us, however physically intangible He may be... For He is truer than most fickle human affections and connections; and even if the ties that bind us to our loved ones get severed at death, yet even beyond and through all eternity, for those who have given their lives to Him in worship and service through living His Word and will, they will never fail to have Truth, His mercy and grace reign throughout their physical lives, and His kingdom and the glory of His presence forever...

#HappySeptember19midnight

A precarious privilege... How the Israelites settled in the holy land, when God made them go to war and drive out the inhabitants that have been living in the land long before them, is still a contentious issue even until this very day... And from the time the Psalmist penned this Maschil and until now, he reminds us of one eternal truth as exemplified in the lives of the Israelite nation, that they still get to experience even just a few days ago: the privilege of being called a holy nation by God is something very precious and vulnerable, for its debatability by people who were left out since they believe that presumably they were not initially included, and how it is always the spark that fuels wars and acts of terrorism around the world... And for us, Gentiles who believe that our Lord Jesus Christ have grafted us into the same promise and blessing, may we be reminded of such precious and dangerous gift too: in a world where the love of many has increasingly gotten cold, which declares that Christianity is now in decline and being abandoned by an increasingly disillusioned and darkened body; now is always the best time to stand up and live our faith, so that the failures of leaders and past generations that have tarnished the faith left to us may be overcome by a better testimony... That yes, nobody is perfect, and no one can gain holiness by our own efforts, church and man-made traditions, creeds, principles, philosophies and traditions alone, but only by lives personally surrendered to God, and in meekness and humility with godly wisdom, lived for His Word and will every day... May we become those better witnesses, those more worthy members of God's family, whose lights shine for all the world to see...

#HappySeptember19

This chapter is a continuation of the previous one, a Maschil, where the Psalmist talks to himself, not to get so disappointed and depressed because he will yet praise God... May we listen in too, and learn; that in spite of the lies and darkness that pervade earthly life, we do not lose heart, because the God we believe, hope and trust in, will always shower us with His truth and light... He gives us life and health, HE IS our life and health...

#HappySeptember18midnight

In this chapter which is another Maschil, or lesson of eternal truth, the Psalmist illustrates for us that depression, or in his term, his soul was 'cast down', can set in for the believer, when even though we praise enthusiastically with the crowd of God's people and pray unceasingly, yet sometimes God seems to not grant our petitions; so that our enemies and even some of our fellow brethren ask and wonder if we are doing right and okay, and where is God in our life if He has not answered our prayers... Yet the Psalmist would have us remember that even in such times when it is emotionally difficult and spiritually draining to go on, if it seems that God is not being favorable to our situation, we still must hope in, praise and bless God; for He will yet save and deliver, and hear us, maybe not immediately when we want it, but in some future time, in His perfectly good time... May we not forget that when it is too painful and difficult to continue, we must not give up if only to take the chance to praise, to hope, to expect and to be able to receive more grace from Him in the future... Because life is not a gamble, these are definitely worth living for...

#HappySeptember18

In this chapter, the Psalmist reminds us of his experience with fair-weather friends who, in his times of illness and sorrow, only wish the worst for him, not bothering to support him in any way, nor lift his spirit up... We should learn from this too: to wisely associate with people who do their best to do good, and to bring out good in others... Good thing for him, the Psalmist has God in his life, protecting him, saving him, healing and blessing him as always... And this God is our God too, and He will do the same for us, when we humbly follow His will in whatever relationship and connection we establish with other people, whether at work or in our personal lives... Let our friendships and communion with others then, be subject to His wisdom, His will, His blessing, and His grace...

#HappySeptember17midnight

In waiting patiently, there is grace and mercy... And this is what the Psalmist wants us to remember; that though we can give all that we can, out of what we have, out of what we can do, out of the time given to us on earth; but it is our trust and hope, our patient endurance and never-ending prayer, conversation and appeal to God that He inclines His ears to... Yes, we can show our love of Him by giving Him out of what He has given us, but elsewhere He said, He "desires mercy (love) and obedience (out of love), not just sacrifice, nor offering" (Hosea 6:6, Matthew 9:13, 1 Samuel 15:22-23)... God desires that more than speaking about and giving for Him, that we live for Him, and be guided by His will and word each day... May we have the minds to understand and the hearts to humbly obey...

#HappySeptember17

Probably bewildered by all the trouble the world is experiencing right now, even given the fact there are so many well-meaning people praying, giving, helping, sacrificing, but seemingly to no avail for an ever- darkened humanity that steps closer and closer to the edge of destruction, somebody asked: "how does one know if the troubles we are going through are mere trials, or punishments?"... Deep question indeed, but the honest answer is: we don't know, because only God knows and understands what we are going through, how we might get through them, and what will the future hold for each and everyone of us... Indeed we have seen throughout the whole of human history, that good and nice people suffer along with the bad, and more often experience more tragedies than wicked ones... Yet, goodness never dies out, faith never gets snuffed out, and hope never fails; simply because God is good, and He is true to His promises and prophecies... and like the Psalmist here who went through much hardship and tribulations, so that he eventually asked God to make him know and understand when he will die, we too can feel frustrated at times... It is worth remembering however that no matter what we go through, even if we don't understand the why and how, yet we can rest assured that our "now" and our "tomorrow" are in the hands of our God... The important thing is, we don't let these hardships pass without us learning, maturing, becoming better... May we all grow in the grace and knowledge of Him who loves us so much that He gave His Only Son, so we may be able to spend eternity with Him, when we believe, and live the rest of our lives in pure obedience to that faith...

#HappySeptember16midnight

This day incidentally, is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the holiest (and some say, the truest) holiday of the Jews, and the only one of its kind the world over and among all cultures; for unlike other holidays which are usually celebrations, this one is a memorial of prayer, fasting and repentance, in order that the sinful man may get closer to the Holy God... There is much to learn from this holiday, and even from today's chapter, as King David declared... We realize that sometimes due to our sins, sometimes due to life's circumstances, and sometimes due to the cruelty of evil and wicked people, we all undergo suffering and pain... Yet God is gracious; He waits for us to seek forgiveness, to repent of our wrongdoings, and to appeal to Him for help out of the midst of our difficulties... For just as King David believed and experienced His goodness, so too He remains consistent, and will still listen to, commune with, and eternally be a Savior and Deliverer of all those who trust and depend on His mercy and goodness all throughout time...

#HappySeptember16

In this chapter, King David seems to be laying bare his beef against the wicked--those envious people, who clearly manifest their schemes and machinations against those who do what is good, just, fair and right... He also repeatedly presents the marks and benefits of the righteous--people who are humble, who are merciful and generous, peace-loving, promoters of life and justice, who are blessed abundantly yet are always delightedly content with God, His will and Word, and His way of living--and of how God will save and deliver them each time they are in difficulty... Indeed, it takes faith and trust to take the great king at his word; yet, as surely as we believe religious myths and traditions, all the more strongly should we heed this great Psalmist and Israelite King, whose life and reign are recorded in the annals of history and archaeology, as much as his humanity and faith are detailed in the Word... May we have hearts and faith such as his...

#HappySeptember15midnight

It is the height of wickedness to believe that in spite of our deceitful and cruel, yet hypocritical words and actions, we are good, we are doing fine, we are strong and invincible, and God will not hold us accountable... Because God always sees and hears, He will call to account, He will dispense justice and put us all in our proper places and rightful ends... Yet for those who humble themselves and trust in Him, this Psalm of King David declares for us that out of the abundance of God's mercy and grace, they shall be abundantly satisfied... May we have the eyes to see, ears to hear, and humility to conduct our words and actions right...

#HappySeptember15

For many of us powerless humans, it is natural to appeal to a higher power when we are wronged, oppressed, violated or abused, especially by those people with more power and influence... But King David, a man after God's own heart, had the right attitude: he appealed to God Himself, Creator and Ruler of all... And it would be wise for us to follow his example, for then we would experience true joy: "And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in His salvation." (v. 9)...

#HappySeptember14midnight

God's blessings and grace starts first of all in the mind and the heart... Those who fear and love Him, who do their best to live His will and Word in their lives, who guard their speech and actions not to oppress and abuse others and instead be generous and gracious, are kept safe, given courage and sanity, and a proper perspective in the face of the world's ridicule, rejection, persecution... For as many as His promises as declared and claimed by King David in this chapter, so indeed will God's provision, protection, peace, wisdom and discernment be poured out on those who continually praise Him, and who trust and hope in Him...

#HappySeptember14

To be truly blessed is a reciprocal act: whom God calls and chooses as His inheritance (also, John 17:1-26), and those who, even if they might not be physically part of the chosen, yet, made the decision and accomplished the deed of making God their Lord, King and Master; for they are grafted to the True Vine, and brought to the One Fold (John 15:1-8, 10:16)... For indeed, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He chose for His inheritance." (v. 12)...

#HappySeptember13midnight

In this first Maschil, or instructional Psalm, the Psalmist starts us off with our basic instruction in life: that we are to trust God, Who instructs and teaches us in the right way to go, and Who guides us Himself with His eyes... And we can know for certain if we have obeyed well, because His sure promises will be clearly manifested in our lives: that unlike the wicked and stubborn who will encounter many sorrows, the one that trusts God will receive abundant mercy, and will be glad and rejoice...

#HappySeptember13

Sometimes, no matter how hard we try, how careful we may be, however much we give our best, because of the selfishness and greed of some, we still encounter tragedy, suffering, and pain... Yet, we can always count on God's faithfulness, "our fortress and rock (v. 3)", the "keeper of our spirits" (v. 5), "Who has our times in His hands" (v. 15), "Who lays down and grants great goodness to all those who fear Him" (v. 19), and "Who shows marvelous kindness even in a strong and fearful city" (v. 21)... May we heed the challenge of the Psalmist, as he encourages us to love God, to be faithful, and not to boast but be confident inwardly that we can and will do our best for Him as a manifestation of what we believe (v. 23)... And as we derive good courage from His sure promises and constant provision, may we receive from Him strength--physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually--and hope...

#HappySeptember12midnight

For those who have put their trust in God, it is not always sunshine and roses; for the worries, cares and sorrows of life may trouble us even through the night... But God in His mercy, gives us joy in the morning, in the grace that He gives us by keeping us alive... And so, may we not trust in our own prosperity, relying on it for security, for it is only God who can help us, give us strength and enable us to stand strong... It is only Him who can turn our mourning into dancing, that He may be glorified through our lives...

#HappySeptember12

Here one can know if they have their priorities straight, and their hearts in the right place; when, in times of honor and recognition, we give glory to God instead of promoting ourselves; when, in times of suffering and pain, we can still give glory to God, and worship Him, not because we are worthy, or we feel good and righteous, but because God alone is worth lifting up and worshipping, in the beauty of the holiness which He alone can give... And then we reap what is the real reward: through trials and tribulations, even in sorrow, He will give us strength, He will bless us with peace...

#HappySeptember11midnight

We are such needy creatures, and rightly so, for without God, we are nothing... All that we have, all that we do, can only find meaning and fulfillment with His strength, His anointing and saving grace...

"Blessed be the Lord, because He hath heard the voice of my supplications. The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise Him. The Lord is their strength, and He is the saving strength of His anointed. Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up for ever." (v. 6-9)

#HappySeptember11

Even in the midst of persecution and hardship, we have a true partner and companion...

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?...For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion: in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock...Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord." (v. 1, 5, 14)

#HappySeptember10midnight

In these times of tragedy, suffering and pain, it is not a soul-searching that we need, as if our souls have been lost, but rather, an examination of our hearts, our motivations, our principles, and our ways of life, measuring them against Truth, and against the will and the Word of God... Maybe then God will hear, He will heal, and He will save; because He does, in fact, but only those whose hearts humbly seek Him and obey His call... May we have the wisdom to heed His Word...

#HappySeptember10

Even though we are sinners, with such weak resolve in life, but because God is good, He helps and protects those who trust Him; and leads through the right and secure path, those who humbly submit to His leading... May we all make the right choice today, and for the rest of our waking days...

#HappySeptember09midnight

The Lord, the King of Glory, actually owns everything we see around us... It is but right that we prove ourselves responsible stewards, not be greedy or selfish or clingy of these things because we can not bring them with us when we die, and to give Him the glory, honor and praise...

#HappySeptember09

"le Seigneur est mon berger"... The first line of the twenty third Psalm, as translated into French, evokes images of being in a lush pasture or forest garden, on top of a hill or mountain, because that is precisely what 'Berg' means (pasture on top of a mountain or hill, and 'berger', meaning shepherd or gardener)... An apt description of the inner peace and confidence of one who can truly yet humbly declare the words of this Psalm, as engraved in our hearts... So that no matter the floods of problem or despair, we feel secure in the knowledge that our God keeps our spirits safe... That even if our physical bodies get sick or exhausted, He is always with us to refresh, restore, heal especially inwardly, and make us dwell in His presence, if we so choose, forever...

#HappySeptember08midnight

The Messiah's passion Psalm... Teaches us humility in the face of hardship, patience in the time of affliction, trust in the time of difficulty, hope in the time of trouble... For God hears those who come to Him in faith, and in meekness depend on Him for help and deliverance... Even to a generation of descendants, a people yet to be born, He will still do mightily, and pour out and declare His glory, His power, His mercy and grace...

#HappySeptember08

Whether King or High leader, poor country man or miserable slum dweller: whoever trusts in the Lord, by His mercy, they shall not be moved... Those who humbly ask God for life, will be given eternal life and more - - healing, deliverance, salvation; while their oppressors become God's enemies, and will be destroyed, along with their descendants... May we have the wisdom and courage to choose the right side...

#HappySeptember07midnight

Though we have nothing, though we are nobody, yet we can trust in our God, who hears and saves those who trust in Him...

#HappySeptember07

Yes, indeed, from our atmosphere up to the cosmos beyond, God's glory is revealed... And even in the strongest and darkest storms, we can have hope, we can learn patience and endurance, we can gain wisdom and understanding... For we know that whether those that govern all creation, or those that must be used in the administration of human relations and the affairs of people, His laws and ordering are perfect and complete; and His promises of provision, care, protection and security, are true...

#HappySeptember06midnight

"The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from my enemies."... When God is our defense and shield, our victory, there is nothing to fear against the enemy...

#HappySeptember06

May we behold God's countenance in righteousness, unafraid, confident, full of hope and joy, even if the whole world should turn against us, or turn its back on us... For we have a God who rejoices in making us the apple of His eye, who delivers and heals, all those who trust in Him alone...

#HappySeptember05midnight

We can always strive to be in company with, and be surrounded by the people we love and care about; but the only affirmation we need is God's, who preserves and restores those who trust and worship Him alone, and in whose presence, there is fullness of joy...

#HappySeptember05

The person who lives in integrity and fairness will abide by God's presence, and not be shaken by the storms of life...

#HappySeptember04midnight

Unlike what unbelievers and atheists think, God is not just an abstract concept or convenient cause of those who could not plumb the real essence of life... For even the full height, extent and depth of human philosophy and understanding could never fathom His being... He is real, and He rules the affairs of those who live right by Him: in justice and fairness, in deliverance and restoration, in grace and power, in mercy and love...

#HappySeptember04

Sometimes, like the Psalmist, we also think that God is taking too long in answering our prayers... Yet, like him, we can realize too that God will always do things in His proper timing... As He had given us so bountifully in the past; so will He not fail to give us the healing, deliverance, breakthrough, growth and advancement we deserve, at the right time, and when He believes we are ready for it...

#HappySeptember03midnight

There will soon be a fitting end to all liars, flatterers, and wicked abusers and oppressors; for the Lord will rise and defend the poor and needy who humbly appeal to Him for help...

#HappySeptember03

We are all tried and tested... And while the Lord hates those who remain prideful and ignorant; He watches over those who repent, reform, and humbly obey His guidance...

#HappySeptember02midnight

Even wicked and cruel, rude, oppressive, abusive, and offensive, people have Psalms dedicated for them... But only to remind us that no matter how much harm they inflict on the innocent, the poor, the humble, God will hear the cause and cries of the latter, save and strengthen them, and punish the evildoers... So, however difficult the situation and unfortunate the circumstance, there is no reason to give in to our baser nature and lash out at others, verbally or physically, because God always hears, and dispenses right judgment...

#HappySeptember02

The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed and the humble... And it is not something to brag about; nor a license for complacency, abuse, or feel superior of and be entitled to; but one that we should be deeply and meekly eternally grateful for...

#HappySeptember01midnight

We thank God that for the glory of His excellent Name, He has given us stewardship of His creation... May we prove ourselves responsible and worthy...

#HappySeptember01

0 notes

davevoetberg · 3 years

Text

July 2021 Update.

Greetings, As I write this (long overdue) update, I'm currently sitting in my office at our new house in Bangkok. As many of you know from previous updates, we'd spent the last 9 years in the Northeastern province of Kalasin, about 8 hours from where we are now. But as of the end of April, Bangkok has become our new home for the time being. Being that where we live is considered a red zone for the Covid outbreak, our freedom & interaction with others has been restricted to varying degrees throughout the last 2.5 months that we've been here. Unfortunately, that has meant that we've not gotten to meet in person with our new church community, Grace City. However, we have been able to be a part of the weekly online meetings & our family has also been getting to participate in a cell group at the pastor's house twice a month. Although the Covid situation has produced barriers to normal life for us (& millions of others), thankfully life hasn't come to a full-on standstill. We've still been able to move forward with various projects & opportunities, which I'd like to share about briefly below. 1. Translation Projects *Treasuring Christ When Your Hands Are Full by Gloria Furman, a book project that will be made freely available for Thai mothers, is just about ready to print. Lord willing, I should be able to give the publisher the green light to start publishing within a week. Thank you to those of you who contributed to that project. We raised more than enough money to print 4,000 copies of the book. Your generosity is appreciated & will soon become a blessing to others as the book begins to be distributed & read by Thai Christian women throughout the country. *The Biggest Story by Kevin Deyoung is another book project that I'm happy to be able to announce should also be available in Thai later this year. The Biggest Story is a children's book that helps provide an overview of the Bible story with Jesus as the hero, accompanied by superb artwork. We've collaborated with another church in Bangkok in taking on this project & I will be following up with the U.S. publisher soon about getting rights for the book. The final draft should be done sometime within the next month. 2. Online Teaching Since we've been in Bangkok, I've had more time & opportunity to pursue filming teachings about the Scriptures & the gospel. Some time ago, after moving here, I was invited by the Pastor of our new church to produce short, weekly videos for the congregation of Grace City as a means of encouraging the believers in the church during the Covid situation. Also, I run a Youtube & Facebook page that provides biblical teaching for Thai people & I've been able to stay more consistent in updating those since we moved here. It seems to me that my desire (& hopefully gifting) lines up with a need I see in the Thai church for more Scripture-saturated content online. I hope to buy a new video camera in the near future to aid in producing longer videos (my current camera limits me to 10-minute videos). As I've requested prayer before, so I ask again. Please pray that my heart & motives would be pure as I create content to make available online before the eyes of others. May the exaltation of Christ's name, not mine, be my aim & desire. I confess, along with John the Baptist, "I am not the Christ." (John 1:20) 3. Mali's Homeschooling Mali's development in her homeschooling has been encouraging to watch. Currently we're doing Thai & English with her (taught by Oy & myself, respectively). She recently finished up learning the Thai alphabet (44 characters) & she's also working on reading through short stories in English. In the near future, we're going to try & introduce her to a more formal curriculum from the United States, most likely something from Sonlight's homeschool curriculum. Currently looking online for a reasonably-priced curriculum for her. 4. 9-year anniversary trip Despite recent Covid restrictions, we were still able to get down to the beach as a family on a recent anniversary trip for a few days last month. It is God's grace that has brought us through these last 9 years together. I've often thought of our relationship as a kind of "growing through fire". That may sound a bit depressing to some, but it is reality. At the same time, there has been lots of sunshine to be thankful for as well. Simply put, we've been through a lot together. And I trust that the God of all grace who has brought us this far will sustain us till the end. 5. College Classes My schooling at Bangkok Bible Seminary has been underway since January & I just recently started the 2nd semester of my first year there. Doing classes online (which I wasn't planning originally), creates an opportunity to do more ministry & spend more time with my family. I will need to be diligent with my schedule/studies in order stay on track in tackling each day's activities successfully & in a timely manner. 6. Etc. In addition to the above, I wanted to share that Oy went in for surgery last week to remove some internal cysts that had been causing her pain for probably half of her life. A generous donor offered to pay for the procedure. Praise The Lord for a successful surgery. She's been taking it a bit easy & should be fully recovered from the surgery sometime in the next couple weeks. Also, I've apologized for the infrequent updates a number of times now, but I've not followed through with my intentions to do better & update more consistently. Please forgive me for this as it displays both a lack of faithfulness to my word & appreciation for you, among other things. I want to attack this area (& related issues) with more of a Holy Spirit-empowered fervency then I have prior. No excuses here. I hope to have another update out sometime before the end of August. If you don't receive one from me by then, please feel free to write & check in with me about it. In conclusion, thank you to all of you who have prayed for us and/or contributed financially. We still desire to serve the Thai people & the Thai church with the gospel. Being finite & weak in ourselves, we need divine assistance to continue doing these things. Your prayers are appreciated in this regard. We are weak, but our Lord is strong. I know it can be difficult to maintain long-distance relationships (like keeping up with us) when so much is going on at home in your own lives already. So thank you for your selflessness in bearing our burdens with us. May The Lord bless you, The Voetbergs Bangkok, Thailand July 2021

P.S. If you’re interested in giving financially, click here.

0 notes

dalyunministry · 3 years

Text

Pastor. Johnraj Lamech

💎

Greetings in the matchless Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Topic: Biblical understanding and experience of waiting on God.

Rhema Word: Psalm 123:2 “Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until He has mercy on us.”

Let’s pray. Our Gracious Loving Father, thank you for giving us an opportunity to meditate your Word today. Thank you Holy Spirit for helping us to understand your Words which are living and active. Please help us to live a life as per your Word Lord. Father, we give all the Glory and Honour to you Lord. We pray in the mighty Name of your beloved Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

The God of the Bible is known for waiting. He never acts in haste. His very name is the God of Patience as Paul says in Romans 15:5 ”Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus,” In all His dealings with man, sinner or saint, He is patient throughout. If He had not been so, everyone of us would have been perished long ago. As He is patient with us, it is only right that He expects us to be patient in our relationship with Him. This is what the Bible calls as “Waiting on God”. Yes, this exercise “Waiting on God” is quite essential for Christian discipleship and growth. Today, let us try to understand the Biblical understanding and experience of waiting on God viz., (1) WHY wait on God?, (2) HOW to wait on God? & (3) What PROMISES God Makes to Those Who Wait?

(1) WHY wait on God?:

a] To Know God’s mind:

According to Apostle Paul, “God has given us the spirit of a sound mind” (2 Tim 1:7) and “we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2:16). This does not imply that whatever we think is according to the mind of God. What is meant here is that under the New Covenant, God through His Spirit puts His laws in our mind and writes them on our hearts (Heb 8:10). In other words, at new birth He gives us the potential ability to understand His mind. But the truth always remains that God’s thoughts are higher than ours as the heavens are higher than the earth (Isaiah 55:8,9). “The carnal mind is enmity against God” (Romans 8:7b).

Waiting on God is an exercise by which we calm our minds and tune them up to receive signals from Above. An agitated and turbulent mind cannot recognize God’s voice. Psalmist David prayed in Psalm 25:4-5 “Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long.” This sounds like a morning prayer. Having made such a prayer at dawn, David had been waiting for the answer all through the day.

Remember, rarely does God reveal His mind instantly. His delays are purposeful. He knows when our minds are ready to respond to the revelation of His will. Our minds get prepared during the time when we wait on Him. We imbibe a spirit of reverence when we wait on God. In the same Psalm, David says in Psalm 25:12,14 ”Who is the man that fears the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses.. The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant.”

Waiting on God to know His mind is comparable to a servant looking to his master for orders and instructions. This is pictorially illustrated in Psalm 123:2 ”As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until He has mercy on us.” To hear the voice from Above, it is necessary we stop our ears to the voices from around. Remember the directions for the first missionary movement were received while a team of five prophets-cum-teachers was waiting on God with fasting and prayer (Acts 13:1-4).

Remember, we miss God’s will at critical situations just because we don’t withdraw ourselves for a while to wait on Him. We draw rash conclusions and rush into courses of action which are totally outside the will of God. The beheading of John the Baptist was not an ordinary news to Jesus. John was both a family member and a fellow minister to Jesus. The Bible says in Matthew 14:13 “When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself.” When Jesus heard that His friend Lazarus was sick, He waited a while to know His Father’s mind in the matter. The four days of delay paved way not only to perform a resurrection miracle but also prepared a pulpit for Jesus to teach precious truths on resurrection (John 11).

When we are at crossroads, and there are more than one option, waiting on God is indispensable. Deciding between “good and bad” is easier than choosing between “good and better”. What is apparent may not be the actual. Only God knows which is best for us. He alone knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). We are concerned about the immediate but He cares for the ultimate. Many a headache and loss can be avoided if only we take time to wait on God to see how He would steer the events.

Eliezer made a trip to Mesopotamia to hunt a bride for Isaac. When he saw Rebekah, who was exquisitely beautiful and exceptionally helpful, he was quite excited. However, he “remained silent so as to know whether the Lord had prospered his trip or not” (Gen. 24:21). Interestingly, during that time, the groom was also waiting on God by spending time in meditation out in the fields (v 63). What a lesson for parents and youngsters!

b] To strengthen our hearts:

Discouragement is the most effective tool in the hands of the devil against the children of God. There is hardly any saint who has never been hit by the arrows of discouragement. Problems, pressures, perplexities and pains spare no believer. The only way to live above fear, worry and depression is to wait on God.

But for the difficult and dreadful terrain the Psalmist walked through, he would not have given us so many priceless Psalms. The call to wait on God is not so loud and repetitious in any other book of the Bible. Take for example Psalm 27:14, ”Wait on the Lord; be of good courage and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!” David confessed that he would have lost heart if he had not waited on God in faith (v 13).

God alone is omnipotent. We all have weaknesses, but in different areas. God has blessed us with limitations and inabilities so we may walk humbly before Him and others. True we have our natural strengths and skills. When we wait on God, He anoints us with His Spirit so our accomplishments and activities for His Kingdom are acceptable to Him. When we wait on Him, the spiritual powers overrule our natural abilities. This is the meaning of the famous passage in Isaiah 40:29-31 ”He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” The fear-filled disciples became spiritual revolutionaries when they collectively waited on God for ten days and received the power of His Spirit (Lk 24:29; Acts 1:5,8,4; 17:8b).

The Author of Hebrews says in Hebrews 10:7-10, 12-13 ”Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, my God.’” First, He said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then He said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all…But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.” Yes, Jesus is still patiently waiting for his enemies to be made his footstool.

Remember, God chastise those whom He loves. No parent who spares the rod loves the child sincerely. During periods of chastisement, our hands become tired, knees shaky and feet faltering.

Prophet Jeremiah’s testimony is enlightening and encouraging: ”I am the one who has seen the afflictions that come from the rod of the Lord’s anger.. The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words…The unfailing love of the Lord never ends! By His mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. They are new every morning… The Lord is good to those who wait from Him…It is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord..Let them all alone in silence beneath the Lord’s demands.” (Lam 3:1,19,22,23,25,26,28). There is nothing that strengthens our hearts like the remembrance of the mercies of God in reverential silence.”

The situation we find ourselves in may be just “mire and mud”. Yet, when we wait on God, He will not only bring us out of the horrible pit, but also set our feet on a rock, stabilize our walk, and stir up our hearts to sing! That is what Palmist David says in Psalm 40:1-3 ”I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.”

This does not mean we will experience instant deliverance always when we wait on God. Rather the night will shine as the day, and darkness as light! (Psalm 139:11,12). Yes, our hands may be fettered with chains but our hearts will be given feathers to soar high. That was the experience of Paul and Silas in the Philippian prison. There is no way to be triumphant in darkness except by waiting on God with trust and confidence. God will send His servants to encourage us at such times. We must not be disappointed if their shouts of prayer do not lift us an inch.

Here is the Scriptural prescription God gives in Isaiah 50:10 ”Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant? Let the one who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on their God”

Just yesterday we would have witnessed the power of God spectacularly in fire from Heaven. Next day we may be sitting dumped in depression. There may again be wind, earthquake and fire. Based on our yesterday’s experience, we may look for God in these elements. But He may not be there in any of them. This is where patient waiting on the Lord helps. He will speak through “a still small voice!” Sometimes God’s ways are “in the whirlwind and in the storm” (Nah.1:3b). Other times He leads us through “still waters” (Psa 23:2b). There is no stereotype with God. Only those who habitually wait on Him will not miss Him.

c] To fight the enemy:

It is only natural to run for shelter and refuge on the face of threat and danger. But in this era of swift and lethal weaponry, no place is absolutely safe unless God protects us. Because our times are in His hands and we are in his palms, we must learn to relax in any situation. The profitability of waiting on God when we are threatened and hounded is explained in Isaiah 30:15-16 ”This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. You said, ‘No, we will flee on horses.’ Therefore, you will flee! You said, ‘We will ride off on swift horses.’ Therefore your pursuers will be swift!” God says in verse 18 ”Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! Yes, He would wait for us even if we would not wait for Him. What a gracious God He is! God further says In Isaiah 59:19(b) ”When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.”

God’s silence and slowness in acting on our behalf when we are under the severe attack of our enemies may be due to two reasons. Ether God wants to strengthen us by delaying deliverance or He wants to sanctify us. It is when we wait on the Lord we will understand the exact reason. This is explained in Isaiah 59:1,2,9,10 ”Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear… Therefore, justice is far from us, nor does righteousness overtake us; We look for light, but there is darkness! For brightness, but we walk in blackness! We grope for the wall like the blind, And we grope as if we had no eyes; We stumble at noonday as at twilight; We are as dead men in desolate places.” Remember, taking time to sit before God in self-examination is the only way to experience victory.

There may come times when friends and family members may turn out to be our enemies. Prophet Micah tells us what we should do in such a situation in Micah 7:5-7 ” Do not trust in a friend; Do not put your confidence in a companion; Guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom. For son dishonours father, daughter rises against her mother, daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own household. Therefore, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.”

When King Saul sent soldiers to watch David’s house in order to kill him, David sang in Psalm 59:9-10 “You are my strength, I watch for you; you, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely. God will go before me and will let me gloat over those who slander me.”

Remember, the weapons of our warfare are not worldly. They are mighty through God to knock down the devil’s strongholds. We don’t wage war with human plans and methods (2 Corinthians 10:3,4). We sharpen our spiritual weapons in prayer and waiting before God with perseverance (Ephesians 6:13-18). The Lord of Hosts is with us. We stand still and know that He is God! (Psalm 46:9-11). In the passage of spiritual warfare explained by Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6:14-17, five out of six weapons are for defence! This explains how waiting on God is the most powerful means of wrestling against Satan. It is by staying under the authority of God, we exercise authority over the enemy.

Remember in fighting the enemy, we must be more conscious of the orders of our Captain than our strengths and experience. Though David was a man of war, he had the habit of inquiring of the Lord whether to go against the enemy or not, and how to go about it. In the case of Philistines, once the Lord commanded him to go, and next time He said, “Don’t go”. David surrendered his logical and reasoning powers to the Lord of the Armies and that was the secret of his victory (2 Samuel 5:18-25).

(2) HOW to wait on God?:

(a) Pour out your heart before God:

Waiting on God is more than just praying. In prayer we essentially present our requests before God and seek His favour for an answer. But while waiting on God we simply open up and throw up ourselves before the Almighty. It is not an exaggeration if I say that waiting on God begins only after presenting our needs before Him in prayer. Waiting for an answer to prayer, especially for guidance, is often part of the answer. Here is David with his testimony and teaching in Psalm 62:1,2,5,8 ”Truly my soul silently waits for God; From Him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved…My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him…Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.”

Remember, prayer can be offered in a hurry; but without taking time we cannot wait on God. It is a time of uninterrupted communion in our spirit with God. There need not always be a specific subject to dwell upon. That is why Palmist says in Psalm 62:5 ”My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.” Yes, it is just waiting on “God alone”. Yes, it is an exercise of all our heart, mind, soul and spirit being filled with God Himself. It is fellowship in its purest form.

(b) Saturate yourself with the Scriptures:

Psalmist says in Psalm 130:5 ”I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope.” Waiting on God does not mean passivity or keeping our minds blank. This may attract the devil because he keeps roaming about to occupy vacant and well-swept houses (Luke 11:24-26). We must feed richly on the Word of God during seasons of waiting on God. This is what Jesus did during the forty days He spent in the desert before He began His public Ministry. The time of waiting on God can also be used to ruminate the truths we study during our regular meditations of the Scriptures.

Joseph’s example: God had revealed His plan to young Joseph through dreams. Everything that followed in his life was just the opposite. The imprisonment in Egypt on false charges of sexual misbehaviour provided for him an excellent time to wait on God who never fails His Word. Joseph had written the vision clearly in his heart. He had been assured that the vision was yet for an appointed time; though it delayed, he must wait for it; it would surely be fulfilled. (Hebrews 2:2,3). The divine record says in Psalm 105:19 ”Until the time that his word came to pass, The word of the Lord tested him.” If we are really waiting on God, we will not employ fleshly methods to work out things for our promotion.

Let us read and reread Psalm 37 until its message sinks deep in our souls. David says in Psalm 37:7-8 ”Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret—it only causes harm.” David starts this Psalm with ”Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.” (Verses 1,2), and ends with in verses 39,40 ”But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, And save them, because they trust in Him.” Amen…Hallelujah!!

Waiting on God does not mean we stop working for Him. Priest Zacharias kept on serving God till his very old age while waiting for an answer to his prayer for a child (Luke 1:5-14). David once lamented, ”I am exhausted from crying for help; my throat is parched and dry. My eyes are swollen with weeping, waiting for my God to help me” (Psalm 69:3) Nevertheless he kept on composing songs for God which became the Messianic prophecies and promises, like this Psalm. Servants of God down through the ages have testified that they had been soaking their pillows at nights with tears, but anointed them with the oil of gladness when they stood on the pulpits. This is the power of waiting on God.

Remember, waiting time is not a wasted time. The time spent in waiting to find the will of God will be saved while carrying it out. Waiting on knees brings us to our journey’s end quicker than walking on foot!

(3) What Promises God Makes to Those Who Wait?

(a) God promises to reward and bless our faithfulness:

David says from his experience in Psalm 37:34 ”Wait on the Lord, and keep His way, and He shall exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.”

Jeremiah laments in Lamentations 3:25-26 ”The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”

God promises in Isaiah 30:18 ”Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him.”

(b) God promises to give us what we need to endure:

God comforts us in Isaiah 40:30-31 ”Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

Micah says in Micah 7:7 “ I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me.”

(d) God acts for the one who waits for Him:

God promises in Isaiah 64:4 ”For since the beginning of the world men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him.”

(e) Whoever waits for God shall not be ashamed:

God says in Isaiah 49:23 ”Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers; They shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord, For they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me.”

Shall we wait on God like King David and Joseph so that He would exalt us on His appointed time?

Shall we look to our Lord until He has mercy on us?

Shall we submit ourselves completely to our Lord to understand His mind?

Shall we wait on God till He strengthens our hearts?

Shall we wait on God to fight our enemy?

Shall we pour out our heart before God while waiting on Him?

Shall we saturate ourselves with the Word of God so that we can defeat the enemy with the Sword of Word of God?

Shall we keep on serving our loving God faithfully till the end?

Let us Pray: Heavenly Gracious Father, we thank you for helping us to understand about Biblical understanding and experience of waiting on You Lord. As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until You have mercy on us. Father, please help us to know your mind, your perfect will, your plans and purpose of our lives, to strengthen our hearts besides helping us to fight the enemy Lord. Thank you Father for teaching us on how to wait on God by pouring out our hearts before You, by saturating ourselves with Your living Words and keep on serving You faithfully Lord. Please help us to be patient and stand firm, as Your Son Jesus Christ’s coming is so near, and run our race by fixing our eyes on you Lord. We give all praise, glory and honour to Your Holy Name Lord. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

God bless you all..

0 notes

basicsofislam · 5 years

Text

ISLAM 101: ALMS AND CHARITY: VIRTUES OF ZAKAT: Part 9

DID ZAKAT EXIST IN RELIGIONS PRIOR TO ISLAM?

Salat and Zakat, in actual fact, are the common denominators of all monotheistic religions, where salat and zakat, after belief in the Oneness of God, form the very core of worship. In fact, salat and zakat are, or at least were, essential characteristics of all of the great religions of the world, those guided by a long line of prophets sent by God since the dawn of humankind, despite the fact that current forms of worship in some faith communities may vary in outward appearance. In support of this, the Qur’an, adamantly states:

They were ordered no more than to worship God with sincere devotion, to honestly establish salat and give zakat. And that is the Standard Religion.” (Bayyina 98:5)

The Midians’ apprehension at being compelled to cease doing what they liked with their properties denotes, almost certainly, a remonstration against zakat. The people of the Midian, who evidently had a complete appreciation for the altruistic Jethro, still could not get themselves to accept or follow Jethro’s brave attempts to encourage them to perform proper salat or give zakat; branding him instead as an instigator, and a rebel. As is the usual case with similar public dissensions, the people of Midian had a ready scapegoat for giving full vent to their frustrations about the obligation of zakat which was, as can be seen, salat itself.

Even though the Qur’an does not explain, literally, whether or not each prophet carried the duty of imposing zakat, it is highly possible to argue for its primordial existence through the ideal notion of peace, the humane spirit of assistance and support represented and accentuated by each Messenger, beginning with the Prophet Adam, and the Qur’anic references discussed above.

In addition, despite having their initial contents altered, the Torah and the Bible still include many passages which support the proposition that zakat actually predates Islam. As no revelations prior to Muhammad %(upon whom be peace) have survived to this day in their original forms, a fact supported even among Jewish and Christian scholars, the sole, authoritative point of reference in this argument remains the Qur’an itself. Additionally, it is worth noting that the Qur’an stresses zakat was enjoined as a duty on Jews and Christians, as well, not just on Muslims, as the textual references to the Qur’an which are included below will clearly demonstrate. Likewise, an analysis of the Torah and the Bible provides fascinating similarities and conformities with Islam’s all-embracing concept of zakat.

ZAKAT IN JUDAISM

Zakat along with salat is sternly recommended as a requirement for divine acquittal for their transgressions:

God made a covenant of old with the Children of Israel, and We raised among them twelve chieftains, and God said: “I am with you. If you establish salat and pay the zakat, and believe in My Messengers and support them, and lend to God a goodly loan, surely I shall remit your sins, and surely I shall admit you into gardens beneath which rivers flow. Whosoever among you disbelieves after this has gone astray from a straight path.” (Maida 5:12)

And in spite of undergoing multiple amendments, the current text of the Torah still grants us glimpses of the spirit of zakat, grounded on the relations between the rich and the poor:

When you help the poor (needy) (lowly) (depressed) you lend to Jehovah. He will pay you back. (Proverbs 19:17)

He who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker. He who has mercy for the poor honors his Maker. (Proverbs 14:31)

He who gives to the poor will not lack. But he who hides his eyes will have many curses. (Proverbs 28:27)

And if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in the darkness and your gloom will be like midday. (Isaiah 58:10)

He who gets ahead by oppressing the poor and giving to the rich will certainly suffer loss. (Proverbs 22:16)

One further point deserves mention. The above quotations gathered from the Torah, as well as the upcoming Biblical passages, are from current versions of the texts which have, as is widely accepted and as noted above, been partially or predominantly altered, though the exact extent and manner in which such changes have been brought to these ancient scriptures is a matter for debate. A tentative and prudent approach to the current versions is thus the correct attitude, as recommended wisely by the Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be peace) himself:

ZAKAT IN CHRISTIANITY

The situation in Christianity is no different, for the Prophet Jesus, while still in the cradle, utters the duties obliged onto him by God in the following manner:

(Whereupon) he (the baby) spoke out: “I am indeed a servant of God. He has given me the Scripture and has appointed me a prophet. And He has made me blessed wherever I may be and has commanded me to pray and to give alms to the poor as long as I live. And (He) has made me dutiful to my mother and has not made me oppressive, wicked. So peace be upon me the day I was born and the day that I die and the day that I shall be raised up to life (again).” (Maryam 19:30-33)

He looked at him and was afraid. “What is it, Lord?” he replied. The angel said: “God hears your prayers and sees your gifts of mercy. (Acts 10:4)

He said: Cornelius, your prayer is heard and your gifts of mercy are noticed in the sight of God. (Acts 10:31)

Jesus then replied: “If you wish to be complete, go sell your possessions and give the money to the poor. You will have wealth in heaven. Then follow me!” But hearing these words, the young man went away grieving, for he was very wealthy. Jesus said to his disciples: “Truly I tell you, it is hard for a man with much money to go into the kingdom of heaven. Again I say, it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a man with much money to go into the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:21-24)

Sell your possessions and give to charity. Make yourselves purses that do not get old, a treasure in heaven where moth and rust cannot corrupt and thieves cannot steal. (Luke 12:33)

And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, I gain nothing. (Corinthians 13:3)

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You tithe mint and dill and cumin and have left undone the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. You should do both and leave nothing undone. (Matthew 23:23)

5 notes · View notes

queertheology · 7 years

Text

Building a Bible-Based Faith (That Isn’t Terrible)

“Test everything; hold fast what is good.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:21

Now that I know it’s ok to be queer — despite what some religious leaders say — I asked myself: what else were they wrong about?

Figuring out I was queer was an invitation to question my faith and to take a fresh look at “what the Bible” says about so many things.

Conservatives talk a lot about being “Bible-believing” or having a “Bible-based” faith.

Too often that’s code for “My interpretation of Christianity is right and everyone who doesn’t measure up is sinful and going to hell.”

While I think it’s entirely possible to be an upstanding, moral person without ever turning to the Bible (or even believing in God!), I’m not ready to let go of this sacred text.

When I look at the Bible, here’s what I see.

Jesus begins his public ministry by quoting from the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 61:1-2, to be specific).

In doing so, he roots his ministry in his Jewish faith and, more specifically, in the Hebrew prophets.

If you’ve asked “What did Jesus come to do?” or “Why did God send Jesus?” … well Jesus answers that question himself in Luke:

to bring good news to poor people

to set prisoners free

to give sight to the blind

to liberate the oppressed

and to usher in God’s abundance

But Jesus doesn’t want to go at it alone. He begins calling disciples to join him in his ministry. Jesus isn’t looking for converts, though.

“Come, follow me,” he said, “and I’ll show you how to fish for people.” (Matthew 4:19)

He’s looking for doers to join him in the work of his ministry. And what is that ministry?

In the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, there are 2,350 verses about money, 300 about social justice and the poor, and even 24 about immigration.

In Deuteronomy,

I have set life and death, blessing and curse before you. Now choose life.

In Amos,

In John,

I came so that they could have life—indeed, so that they could live life to the fullest.

In Acts,

All the believers were united and shared everything. …There were no needy persons among them

There’s a whole lot in the Hebrew and Christian scriptures: letters, commandments, poems, stories, parables, and even some visions.

What are we to make of all of these?

Jesus seems to agree. In Matthew 22, he says,

If you aren’t drawing yourself and others closer to God, if you aren’t filled with love for God, for yourself, and for others, you’re not following Jesus’s commands.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 7 that “by their fruits you will recognize” whether a religious teaching is true or not.

But it’s not just about being “LGBTQ affirming” or not. Does your theology put you at odds with your mind, soul, heart, or body? Does your theology sow division in your family, community, nation, or world? Does your theology excuse or encourage violence? Does your theology exacerbate your mental health problems?

Or does it lead you to life and joy? Does it comfort you? Does it give you hope? Does it lead you to treat others well?

Judge your theology by its fruits.

We’re having a webinar to dive even deeper into the fundamentals of Christianity — and the fundamentals of being an LGBTQ Christian. Join us Thursday September 21 at 8pm eastern. Click here to register for free.

#Bible #Christianity #Christian #jesus #gay Christian #lgbt #lgbtq #queer theology #christian fundamentals #bible basics #gospel #prayer #salvation

576 notes · View notes

dailyaudiobible · 3 years

Text

09/30/2021 DAB Transcript

Isaiah 60:1-62:5, Philippians 1:27-2:18, Psalm 72:1-20, Proverbs 24:11-12

Today is the 30th day of September, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It's great to be here with you today. We made it this far. All the way to the last day of the ninth month of the year. Crazy as it sounds. We made it this far together day-by-day, step-by-step, and so, let's step in to our reading today. We’re in the book of Isaiah. Today we will read chapter 60 verse 1 through 62 verse 5. And we’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week.

Commentary:

Okay, in Paul's letter to the Philippians, we encounter some pretty lofty statements today and we’ll go through it. But if we were like, kinda boiling things down we would come to this understanding: Jesus is Lord. And I doubt that you've never heard that one before. I doubt that even you’ve never said it before; we say these kinds of things all the time. But for policy, Jesus is Lord. It's not like saying Jesus is like the supreme master over things. It's him saying Jesus is God, which is what the early church was confessing and what Paul was preaching and what was problematic and very controversial because well, we…we understand that the Jewish people would not say, would not say God's name. So, oftentimes there’d be like a replacement, like for example Adonai, which is not a name of God, that is a Hebrew word that means, Lord. So, when they began to say Jesus is Lord, well, you see, you see the situation and yet that is indeed what we believe as Christians, and that is indeed what the early church was confessing and we do indeed still confess that until this day and that is central to what Paul was preaching. And, you can see why Paul appealed to Caesar instead of going back to Jerusalem, where they would most likely assassinate him. So, now you sitting in prison waiting for the emperor to decide whether he's going to live or die, essentially over this, as well as his activity among the Gentiles. He's a blasphemer in their mind; blasphemy is to elevate something to the level of God. Jesus is Lord, elevates Jesus to the place of God. We as Christians, 2000 years later who believe this and are going to get killed for believing this, we don’t always grasp how tenuous and how problematic and how what a struggle that they went through in their declaration of faith. And so, Paul uses language in this letter, essentially to unpack that and there's plenty biblical scholars would think this particular thing this statement, this statement, that Paul makes might've been something that was spoken, like creedal, was something that was recited or memorize or spoken in the churches, which wouldn't be all that unusual. We still in many, many tens and tens and tens of thousands of churches around the world do express some kind of declaration, some sort of, whether it be creed, a creed that we recite or some sort of confession that we make, it's never been foreign, a foreign concept to the church. But what we get from what Paul is saying is a pretty clear picture of his Christology, not to get all theological but his view of who Jesus really is. And so, I wanna repeat those six verses so that we can immerse ourselves in that, this is what the early believers believed about Jesus. This is what we believe. Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead He emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when He had come as a man, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death - even to death on a cross. For this reason, God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. This is what we believe as Christians. This is what brought Paul ultimately to his execution. So, it's reasonably safe for us to say that he believed this, he suffered for this, and he died for this and so when we say Jesus is Lord, lets understand that it's not a bumper sticker. It's a declaration that Jesus is one with the Father. Jesus is God.

Prayer:

So, Holy Spirit, we invite You into that. We invite You to make us more and more aware of this reality, lead us deeper into the heart of Jesus, our Savior, who is Lord. Help us, help us to do what this letter says to do everything without grumbling and arguing, so that we may be blameless and pure children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverse generation, among whom we are supposed to shine like stars in the world as we hold firm to the word of life. Holy Spirit, lead us deeper into Jesus, that we might continue to be transformed into his likeness so that we can be like him in this world. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, it’s home base, it’s where you find out what's going on around here, so be sure to stay connected in any way that you can or in any way that you want to. Check out the Community section, that is where the Prayer Wall lives, that's where different links to get connected on social media are. Check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop. That's where resources are available for the journey that we are on.

And if you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible that can be done at dailyaudiobible.com or using the app as well. On the website, there's a link on the homepage, using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And as always, we’re a community that loves on one another, especially through praying for one another. Being involved in each other’s stories and if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, that's the little Hotline button looking thing up at the top in the app screen or you can dial, well there are a number of numbers that you could dial: if you're in the Americas 877-942-4253 is the number to call, if you're in the UK or Europe 44 2036 088078 is the number to dial, and if you are in Australia 61 3 8820 5459 is the number to call.

And that's it for today I’m Brian. I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Mark Street here from Australia. Haven’t called for a while. I have a real desperate prayer request, my brother-in-law, he’s gone missing in the Northern Territory. It’s been a couple of months now, he does suffer from a mental illness as well, we’re quite worried and concerned. He’s been through a lot, he’s lost his son, it’s real tough. Please pray for him. He’s way up in the Outback, he could be up in the Outback Bush, he’s a bit like a Crocodile Dundee, actually. But, we’re not sure and we’re really worried. If you could please really pray for revelation and closure and for him to be found and wherever he is that he’s safe with the Lord. Yeah, okay thanks a lot everyone. Bye.

Hello Daily Audio Bible, this is Alyssa calling from Colorado. I’ve been listening since the beginning of the year, I did live in Montana, I called once before. I love this community so much and I’m just reaching out today because I got COVID a few weeks ago and I have lost my taste and smell and I don’t have COVID anymore but the symptom has not gone away and I’m actually totally blind, I was born that way, and so for me losing taste and smell is really, really difficult and it leaves me depressed almost every day and I cry about it every day and I know God can heal, I know he's able to do it. But I'm fearful that it won't go away or that it won’t come back because I’ve heard people who don't get it back for a long time so I just need your prayers against fear and that I'll trust God in what He’s trying to teach me through this. But that if it’s His will I’ll get my senses back so that life will be a little bit easier for me. So, thank you so much for your prayers in advance. And I love each and every one of you. And God bless you, have a wonderful day.

Just wanted to say how much I am blessed by the Daily Audio Bible Scripture reading and how moved I am by the prayers. Thank all of you for calling in. I do want just lift up the prayers for parents. I am a parent of four and I just parents who really grab a hold of the prayer that you, that the Lord would bless our children and enlarge their territory, they He would keep their hand of safety upon them, that He would keep them far from evil, that He would even keep evil people away from our children and that every single day our children would learn to love Him with all their heart, soul, strength, and mind. Thank you. We pray all this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

This is Bonnie from Virginia. And today is September 27th. I was listening to the message, thank you so much Pastor Brian, for the message today. I had been living in the abusive marriage relation for about 14 years. But, I think, because of my culture that in Nepal, even though I was a teacher I was not able to escape from that relation because back in our culture if any marry relation will be broken it’s mostly it will be the wife, they will think it’s her fault. And so, maybe because of that scare thought I was living in the abusive relation. I had physical, mental, sexual, verbal abuse every day from my husband. But once I came to America with him, I was able to learn everything about not coping with the abusive attitude of my husband. And I prayed and got advice from other people and I was able to escape from that relation. After 14 years I was able to understand this message from the bible. And thank you very much. I hope this message will …

Hi, I’m a first-time caller from Wyoming. And I was listening to the September 24th cast and I heard a woman who asked for prayer for her 18-year-old son who was going to discipleship training school in Hawaii and I am struggling with the same issue with my daughter. She got accepted to a discipleship training school in New Zealand in January. And of course, New Zealand is closed and it doesn’t look like it’s going to open any time soon and I want my daughter to apply to a different one and she’s accusing me of not having enough faith and that God will make a way for her to go. So, I could just really use some prayer. And I am praying for your son who is going, it’s a huge step and it’s exciting and I would just appreciate prayer. Thank you.

0 notes