Trust or Bust

ALL – Psalm 110:1-7
ALL – Proverbs 27:14
OT – Ezekiel 24:1-26:21
NT – Hebrews 11:1-16

Interesting passage for the day: Noah was another who trusted God. When he heard God’s warning about the future, Noah believed him even though there was then no sign of a flood, and wasting no time, he built the ark and saved his family. Noah’s belief in God was in direct contrast to the sin and disbelief of the rest of the world—which refused to obey—and because of his faith he became one of those whom God has accepted. – Hebrews 11:7, The Living Bible

Thought: Usually it’s the people who are preparing for some unconfirmed future disaster who are considered to be crazy. They build bunkers, store up years’ worth of food and, with eyes that dart suspiciously to and fro, they hiss dogmatic warnings of doom for all mankind. But Noah, the man who built the most epic floating bunker ever, storing up enough food for eight humans and for multiple specimens of the entire planet’s wildlife to survive for about a year, was not crazy. He had heard from and believed the one true and living God. And because Noah believed what God said about a coming flood, he took appropriate action (also with guidance from above).

And we thought we had nothing in common with Noah.

Noah heard God promise to destroy the earth with a flood. We’ve heard from God that, when Jesus comes back, the earth will be destroyed by fire.

Noah received instructions from God about escaping death. We’ve received instructions from God about escaping death (for example, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved—you and your household.” – Acts 16:31, NIV).

Noah responded wholeheartedly to God’s instructions. … How about us?

Question: What does it look like to respond wholeheartedly to God’s command to “believe in the Lord Jesus”? Is it enough to say, “I believe,” or should our lives be different somehow, too? Would you say that your life is being spent wholeheartedly responding to God’s warnings, promises and instructions? Why or why not?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Apparent Believers, But Maybe Not

ALL – Psalm 39:1-13
ALL – Proverbs 21:30-31
OT – Job 12:1-15:35
NT – 1 Corinthians 15:29-58

Interesting passage for the day: Get some sense and quit your sinning. For to your shame I say it, some of you are not even Christians at all and have never really known God. – 1 Corinthians 15:34, The Living Bible

Thought: First, let’s summarize yesterday’s thoughts. Some heretics are still saved, and even as we approach them to correct their false beliefs we should look at them as brothers for as long as possible.

But there is a limit at some point. Paul may or may not have known which specific people he was talking about (he doesn’t call anyone out by name the way he does in his letters to Timothy). But he says, to translate more literally than the Living Bible, that, “some have no knowledge of God.” The Living Bible, as you can see, interprets this to mean that “some of you are not even Christians at all”.

Do you remember Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the tares? That’s what could be going on here. Paul could be saying that he actually believes some of the people he is addressing are not believers, even if he’s not sure yet which ones. If so, he has not yet come to the point where he’s recommending expelling any of them from the church, like he did with the immoral brother of 1 Cor. 5. Sometimes when people in the church display a lack of knowledge, we could be dealing with a wheat and tares situation—some of them are believers and some of them are not, and our goal is not to try to sort it all out, but to provide for the believers to keep growing.

If so, part of that provision includes warning people who believe false ideas that they may not know God.

Question: Have you ever urged someone you considered to be a Christian brother or sister to examine whether they actually knew God or not? What made you concerned about the reality of their relationship?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

On the Other Hand, I Don’t Want to Be Denied.

ALL – Psalm 13:1-6
ALL – Proverbs 3:16-18
OT – Genesis 31:17-32:12
NT – Matthew 10:24-11:6

Yesterday I contemplated Jesus’ warning that loyalty to Him means we should expect hatred from various people in my life. The good side was that, if we endure their hatred, we’ll gain His salvation.

Today’s more about what happens if we don’t endure the world’s hatred. What happens if we cave in to people’s pressure? How loyal does Jesus want us to be. Is Jesus ok with us loving Him, but not really letting anyone know it? Here’s what He says:

If anyone publicly acknowledges me as his friend, I will openly acknowledge him as my friend before my Father in heaven. But if anyone publicly denies me, I will openly deny him before my Father in heaven. – Matthew 10:32-33

So yesterday we were struggling with whether we were ready to endure other people’s hatred. Today the question is whether we want Jesus to deny us before His Father. I’m not sure I’m ready for that, either, you know?

Those who read the Bible find themselves caught between a rock and a hard place. Because the Bible is honest—Jesus Christ is honest. He lets us know what to expect, no matter which way we turn (unlike advertisers, who tell us only the benefits of following their advice and never the downfalls). We have two choices: on the one hand, we can follow Jesus and be hated by at least some of the people who don’t follow Him; on the other, we can deny Jesus and find that He denies us before His Father in heaven. In other words, there’s no escaping some sort of pain. If we follow Jesus, we’ll experience the pain of people’s rejection. If we deny Jesus, we’ll experience the pain of God’s rejection.

Some people take these words as if Jesus is threatening us. I don’t. I take these words as a loving warning and as wise advice. Jesus wants our good. In yesterday’s reading, he promised salvation to those who endure people’s hatred to follow Him (Matt. 10:22). In today’s, Jesus promises to let God know that we’re His friends if we publicly acknowledge Him as our friend throughout our lives (Matt. 10:32). In terms of pain, we’re caught between a rock and a hard place, and there’s going to be some kind of pain in our lives no matter what we choose. But Jesus lets us know that life isn’t ALL pain and rejection. He has good things in store for us, things the people around us simply can’t offer.

So yesterday we struggled with whether we were ready to be hated by other people, and today we find out that the alternative is to be denied by Jesus Christ. The question isn’t really whether we’re ready for either. One of them is coming our way, whether we’re ready or not. The question is really whether we trust Jesus to give us the salvation and friendship He promises if we’re faithful to Him. If we trust Him, we can make our decision.

I pray that you join me in trusting Jesus. He’s faithful and good.

In what ways do you struggle with trusting Jesus? Have you trusted Him anyway? What have you learned?

To review the Bible reading plan options, please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj2o7jz.

Worthless Shepherd

Zechariah 11; Psalm 146; Proverbs 30:33

Talk about job accountability!

Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered, his right eye totally blinded! – Zechariah 11:17

Lord, make me faithful!

What reminds you to be a good worker?

When Judging is Right and When Judging is Wrong

Jonah; Psalm 134; Proverbs 30:1-4

Have you ever seen someone getting ready to do something stupid? If you have, have you ever tried to warn them or prevent them from going through with their stupidity?

Why is it that when I warn a friend about stupidity, it’s perceived as a warning, but when I warn a friend about sin, it’s perceived as a judgment? Shouldn’t it still be considered a warning? Yet people so quickly throw out the line, “Stop judging me.”

Sometimes it is right to judge. And sometimes it is wrong. How do we know the difference?

In the story of Jonah, God tells his prophet Jonah to go preach against the wicked city of Ninevah (Jonah 1:1-2; 3:1). What message does Jonah end up preaching?

Forty more days and Ninevah will be overturned. – Jonah 3:4

Is that a judgment? Or a warning?

From God’s vantage point, it’s both. It’s a judgment because God had already condemned the wickedness of the Ninevites, and it was only a matter of time before God destroyed Ninevah for their wrath. But it’s a warning because God wouldn’t have had Jonah preach this message if there wasn’t still time for the Ninevites to repent. If God’s judgment had been final, He would simply have wiped the Ninevites off the face of the map. So it’s a judgment (in the sense of a decision) against their behavior, but it’s not yet a final judgment where the punishment has fallen upon Ninevah. It’s just a warning.

And the Ninevites took advantage of the warning. They repented—all of them, even the king (Jonah 3:5-9). And God had mercy on them (Jonah 3:10).

But what about from Jonah’s view? Was his message a judgment or a warning?

Jonah intended it to be a judgment. In fact, he knew that God meant the message as a warning, and that’s precisely the reason Jonah ran away from delivering the message at first—Jonah didn’t want God to have mercy on the Ninevites! So from Jonah’s perspective, the goal was judgment, not warning. He said to God,

O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. – Jonah 4:2

So Jonah knew that the judgment coming from God was really a warning. But Jonah meant it as a judgment, as a final condemnation and punishment on the people of Ninevah.

Final conclusion? What’s the difference between a judgment and a warning?

Answer: The difference is probably not the words that are used. Jonah spoke God’s words, when he finally spoke. The difference is found in the heart of the person speaking. Are the judgmental-sounding words coming from someone like Jonah, who can’t wait to see you get what you deserve? Or are the judgmental-sounding words coming from someone like God, who can’t wait to see you stop sinning so that you can escape punishment?

The judgment (decision) about what will happen to those who continue to sin is final: they will be punished. But that doesn’t have to be the final decision about you, me, or anyone else. Our God, the Judge, is a God who warns. He’s a God who wants people to live. May we His people have His heart.

Can you share a time when someone’s judgmental-sounding warning helped turn your life around for the better?