Journey Through The Bible

last one out, shut the door

2005-05-11T22:20:00.000Z

I'm going off the air for a while. Sorry to abandon you like this but, various contributing factors have conspired to draw me away. I know you'll miss my daily subversion of the scriptures, but don't give up on the readings and maybe I'll be back before you know it to liven up your day once more - or just plain confuse you! Whichever, stay cool, keep whistling, eat chocolate and enjoy life! Oh, and don't forget to put the cat out....

Proverbs 4-6

2005-05-06T15:32:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Bit late today sorry. Not convinced anyone's reading this now so I could just say anything.

I'm still trying to figure out how believers, without access to the Bible, managed to maintain their faith and evangelise the world for the first 1850 years. It's staggering.

Proverbs stress is all about finding wisdom. Christ is our wisdom. So maybe the answer partly lies here; we have to find Christ thru relationship, but not primarily thru the Bible as we evangelicals have always been taught.

Maybe the 'Word' which the reader is advised to pay such close attention to is more about the 'spoken' word, ie what the Holy Spirit is actually saying right now, which for those without a Bible would come directly to their spirit? How else would it be? Perhaps we have become so Bible focused that we have largely lost this day to day trust in the Spirit's voice?

Tomorrow's passage Proverbs 7-9.

Proverbs 1-3 get wise man

2005-05-05T05:50:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

No one seems bold enough to comment. Oh well, maybe I'm not being controversial enough? Let's get on with Proverbs.

"The purpose of these proverbs is to teach people wisdom and discipline,"
"...Through these proverbs, people will receive instruction in discipline, good conduct, and doing what is right, just, and fair."

All I can say is: shame the writer (Solomon) didn't follow his own advice! Funny that.

Yeah I think I get the bit about it being bad to hang with people who are planning murder.

Wisdom (fearing/respecting God) is basically what will keep you away from evil.

"5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths." - Always a good one to pull out at a difficult moment.

Tomorrow's passage Proverbs 4-6.

Song of Solomon (yes the whole thing!)

2005-05-04T10:03:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

The whole book, yikes! Not sure I can do this.
So instead here's a little side thought: did you know that it's only in the last 100 or so years that christians have had access to a readable Bible and the ability to read. So that makes me think: how did believers manage to maintain their faith and keep growing spiritually for the previous 1800 years???? Maybe we're missing a trick here? Perhaps this big evangelical law which says 'if you don't read your Bible every day you're not really a christian' is a bunch of twaddle.

If you're brave, leave a comment with your thoughts. Or if you got something from Songs let's hear it!

Tomorrow's passage Proverbs 1-3.

1 Kings 1-2; Psalms 37, 71, 94

2005-04-30T07:47:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Hey where did that guy go? Here one minute, gone the next. I don't know, you just can't get the staff nowadays. I suppose I'll have to fill in for a while. My name's Alfred (Carter) by the way, just incase we meet on the street one day, but most people just call me Al. Right let's see where we are now, ha, we're just starting on 1 Kings. BTW a little confession up front: I've never read the bible before. I've been to church once or twice, but hey it was so weird I don't think I'll be going again soon. But enough of me let's see what this dude Kings is up to.

1 Kings 1-2
Man this old guy David had it good! A young babe to keep him warm at night; awesome! But oh dear he's got trouble in the family. He hasn't disciplined one of his boys and the young turk is getting high ideas. Solomon is quickly put in place to succeed David as king and the whole town has a party. Wicked. Crisis averted.

As soon as David is gone Sol sets about putting things straight and making his position safe by removing his enemies. Sounds a bit like a dictatorship to me.

Psalm 37
Maybe God operates under a different time scheme than we do? But it seems to me that most of these things are not true right now. The wicked don't seem to fade away, they go on and on and get stronger and stronger. I dont see the gentle and lowly possessing the land, I see the innocent dying in conflicts all over the world and many dying in famines right now. I do see the Godly begging bread and having children who are anything but a blessing. Am I just reading this wrong or what? Maybe I missed something.

Psalm 71
I assume this is David? He seems to have had a life of one long battle. I can identify with that. What do you do when you've cried out to God for help over and over, and nothing has happened? Begin to doubt God?

Psalm 94
This dude spends a lot of time focused on his enemies and making sure they get what's coming to them! Zap em God.
Tomorrow's passage Psalms 119:1-88.

Psalms 95, 97-99 I'M BACK!

2005-04-23T10:10:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.
Yes I'm still alive. Got back from couple of weeks on the road then a few days to recover. So we've missed loads of Samuel etc, but I know you've been dilligently (is that one or 2 L's?) keeping following along in my absence. Haven't you? What? Come on, surely? OK, you took a break. You're forgiven, now let's continue;

Psalm 95
You have to bear in mind that I tend to write out of how I feel at the time (in case you hadn't noticed already!), so rather than a definitive homiletical, exegetical, theological commentary on each passage it tends to be a fairly (though not always) light weight but 'real to my life' response to what I read each day, and that usually pretty quickly.
So let me be blunt, I'm not really comfortable with this psalm. Why? Because it's too close to the bone for me right now.

Soooo, moving right along;
Psalm 97
v11 Light shines on the Godly. Been hearing a lot about light recently, some very interesting things. God is light. God spoke light into being in Genesis 1. Light is the 'material'/ visible part of God. Light is the most powerful thing in all the universe. It is the power which lies at the heart of all matter, holding it together. The spirit world exists beyond the speed of light, hence it is not visible to the naked eye, but it is just as real, just a 'solid'. Jesus was the light of the world. We are now the light of the world. We put on the armour of light. We live in the light. etc etc...

Psalm 98
He is coming to judge the world.

Psalm 99
All these Psalms seek to enthrone God, to see Him as GOD. We forget so quickly. We become god. We make lousy gods. I do anyway. I don't know why I bother.

Tomorrow's passage 2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21-22; Psalms 30.

Psalms 1-2, 15, 22-24, 47, 68 smashing heads and saving nations

2005-04-06T06:59:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Surprise! I grabbed a bit of loose time before setting off. So let's take a look at these psalms.
Psalm 1 - yeah ok.

2 - Jesus IS Lord.

15 -

"those who keep their promises even when it hurts."

Not many do that in our comfortable society. I reckon 'comfort' is probably one of the biggest false gods in our culture. That and Eastenders of course (I love it, but don't tell anyone).

22 - This was one of the Psalms that Jesus was probably aware of during His suffering. What an extraordinary foretelling of what was to come 100's of years later at Calvary.

23 - David's amazing meditation on his shepherding days. He recognises that God was now his shepherd, leading, protecting, providing for him all the way. He realised the paternal feelings he had for his own sheep were only multiplied in God.

24 - yeah.

47 - yeaaah.

68 - God, great for the good, terrifying for the bad, caring for the poor.

20 Our God is a God who saves!
The Sovereign LORD rescues us from death.

21 But God will smash the heads of his enemies,
crushing the skulls of those who love their guilty ways.

No lukewarm there!

Bit jingoistic this psalm. Oh well.

Tomorrow's passage Psalms 89, 96, 100, 101, 105, 132.

A break

2005-04-05T09:22:00.000Z

I am away for several days and will not have time/access to be able to post, so enjoy the break, keep reading if you can and see you in a few days.

2 Samuel 5:1-10; 1 Chronicles 11-12

2005-04-02T07:22:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Sorry folks I'm not up for this today. It's a 'make your own comments day'.

Tomorrow's passage Psalms 133.

Psalm 102; Psalm 103; Psalm 104 Lord hear my prayer

2005-04-01T07:15:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

1 LORD, hear my prayer!
Listen to my plea!

2 Don't turn away from me
in my time of distress. Bend down your ear
and answer me quickly when I call to you,

I'll say amen to that! We need a big miracle right about now so this is my prayer too.

103: Is just full of Gods grace towards us. Lord be gracious to us your people this day.

Tomorrow's passage 2 Samuel 5:1-10; 1 Chronicles 11-12.

1 Chronicles 7-10 Gatekeepers

2005-03-31T10:42:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Yikes more names. And more, and more...

Interested in these 212 gatekeepers who were responsible for guarding the entrance to the house of the Lord. I am now the 'house of the Lord', He lives in me. "Above all else guard your heart, for out of it flow the issues of life (or life-forces)" Prov 4. Why does God need men to guard His presence? Anyone who even touched the ark dropped dead, so maybe they were protecting stray visitors rather than God? Naa. We need to guard carefully what goes into our heart for it is out of the overflow of our hearts that our mouth speaks. You can usually tell pretty quickly where people are at by the first things that come out of their mouths. Oops did I just say that...

Tomorrow's passage Psalms 102-104.

Psalms 81, 88, 92-93 four different moods

2005-03-30T07:54:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

81: God longs for His people to pay attention to Him. Why? So that He can fill their mouths with good things. God is not a stingy God.

88: This sounds like a messianic psalm, as if Jesus on the cross is praying.

92: By contrast here's a psalm full of hope and praise.

93: God's mightiness.

Tomorrow's passage 1 Chronicles 7-10.

1 Chronicles 6 and 'The Passion'

2005-03-29T14:03:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Names and places. Can't say I got much from this to be honest.

This morning watched 'The Passion of Christ' with my 2 youngest. Not sure just after breakfast was the best time to do it! It's funny how watching a film of what happened helped make some connections I had not thought of before. For example, in my thinking, I had never connected the earthquake when Jesus died with the curtain in the temple being torn in two. Seems obvious now. And no wonder the Roman centurion recognised that Jesus was indeed the Son of God even after all they had meted out to him. I hate watching brutal suffering particularly as a result of blatant injustice. So I did not like this. It makes me mad. I think it was a tremendous shame that the film really only focused on the suffering and not the subsequent victory that came as a result. That was the whole point. If we get stuck at the suffering we will never fully perceive or receive what was the whole point of His sacrifice. I think that the result of focusing on the suffering is religion, not Life. So although it was a powerful and moving presentation of Jesus and His sacrifice I still have question marks over the whole project. And research findings from USA into the films 'evangelistic success' seem to bear this out. Still, I'm glad my 2 boys have seen it and maybe now understand a little more of the extent to which Jesus was willing to go in His love for each of us. Incredible. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.

Tomorrow's passage Psalms 81, 88, 92-93.

Psalms 73, 77-78 Asaph's rap

2005-03-28T09:05:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Missed a bit more of 1 Chron yesterday. Oh dear. Back on track today with a few more psalms.

73:

But as for me, I came so close to the edge of the cliff!
My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone.

Been there.

77: Asaph is a fairly honest guy. He was in trouble and his faith had evaporated, he was desperately clinging on. He needed to keep reminding himself of the great acts of deliverance that God had wrought in the past.

78:

They did not keep God's covenant,
and they refused to live by his law.

11 They forgot what he had done--

They forgot. Recalling what He has done for us in the past can be a good way of strengthening our faith when we are being tested anew. That's certainly true for us right now. God HAS done amazing things on our behalf before and we know He will act again now as we continue to trust Him.

Tomorrow's passage 1 Chronicles 6.

Psalms 43-45, 49, 84-85, 87 Sons of Korah strut their stuff

2005-03-26T07:05:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Missed Good Friday, kind of glad when I read it - loads of names! So in the meantime we're back to psalms.

Psalm 43, I love David's honesty about where he is emotionally.

Why am I discouraged?
Why so sad?

44: One minute everything is going our way and we are praising God, next everything looks grim and we're questioning whether God even knows we exist. Yeah, sounds familiar.

45: Could this be foreseeing the bride - the church? Whatever, it's poetic.

49: Death, the great leveller, rich or poor it gets us all in the end. The 2 great certainties in life: death and taxes.

84: I've noticed in these psalms that the writers often expressed their longing just to be in the temple, close to where God's presence was supposed to be. I wonder if they could feel it? What did it feel like? Should we feel the same things now that God dwells in us all the time? We must be incredibly blessed, where they had to physically go to Jerusalem to the temple, we can 'go to God's presence anytime we want'. How much greater care we should take to walk in holiness sothat we do not mar that presence. It is an awesome responsibility, which I think much of the time I neglect.

85: A nation cries out for mercy. Amen.

87: Jerusalem, Jerusalem. What an extraordinary city. No wonder there is so much bitter fighting over it's ownership. But one day guys, watch out! The king is coming! I don't mean Elvis.

Have a wonderful and blessed Easter tomorrow everyone.

Grace & Peace from the Campbell household.

Tomorrow's passage 1 Chronicles 3-5.

Psalms 6, 8-10, 14, 16, 19, 21

2005-03-24T05:48:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Phew, this is quite a journey of emotions! David goes from pleading for God's compassion through to the joyful triumph of a victorious king. Obviously it didn't happen overnight though.

For me I think this is at the heart of all these songs:

I know the LORD is always with me.
I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.

David just pours out whatever's on his heart. It's maybe a lesson for us. Be real, be honest. God prefers it that way I think.

Tomorrow's passage 1 Chronicles 1-2.

2 Samuel 1-4 over to you today!

2005-03-23T14:45:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Am home alone with 3 kids this week so time is somewhat tight! I think I'll leave you to read and leave your own commentary!

Tomorrow's passage Psalms 6, 8-10, 14, 16, 19, 21.

Psalms 121, 123-125, 128-130

2005-03-22T06:34:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

I have to be honest, sometimes I find it difficult to connect with the psalms. Maybe if I was in a war situation it would all be far more relevant. But right now I'm not. However I do take a degree of comfort from the constant assurance of God's protection, covering, grace and forgiveness. All of that I need today.

And I believe in the power of blessing;

"The LORD's blessings be upon you;
I bless you in the LORD's name."

I pray for any who read this today, that you would know God's closeness and goodness today.

Grace & Peace.

Tomorrow's passage 2 Samuel 1-4.

1 Samuel 28-31; Psalm 18

2005-03-21T10:28:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Saul was in fear. God refused to answer him. What an aweful position to be in. He turns in desperation to the only one who he thinks can still help him, Samuel. To do so he has to effectively consult the dead. This is a weird story, frightening. This seems to give credence to those who claim to be able to contact the dead. This woman clearly is able to communicate with Samuel. However, we know God is wholly opposed to this practice.

The phillistines who are massing infront of Israel send David back home with his men, afraid they will turn on them in the battle. David discovers raiders have attacked and carried off all their families and goods in the meantime. His men were so riled up they began turning on David. He was under enormous pressure. He does exactly the right thing, he turns to the Lord for help and guidance. Lord please remind us to do this when we are under pressure.

Then follows this great story of the chase to recover their families etc. 200 men stop half way to guard the baggage and because they are too exhausted to go on. Some of the rest who return victorious don't want the 200 to share in the plunder, but David says no,

"We share and share alike--those who go to battle and those who guard the equipment."

And this has been used to encourage those not called to give up all to go to Africa that they too will share in the rewards. Mmm?!

Saul finally meets his end. A sad story.

17 He delivered me from my powerful enemies,
from those who hated me and were too strong for me.

No matter how overwhelming the enemy or problem infront of you God CAN deliver you.

Tomorrow's passage Psalms 121, 123-125, 128-130.

Psalm 17; Psalm 35; Psalm 54; Psalm 63

2005-03-20T07:12:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Psalm 17, It's amazing to think that these were the thoughts and feelings expressed by David all those years ago when he was under such pressure. This is how he dealt with the pressure, he wrote his thoughts and prayers to God. It suggests that he was constantly thinking about God and prayed constantly. For one so successful that is incredible. He could easily have become self reliant. Maybe that was part of the problem later on?

Psalm 35, He looks to God to deal with these enemies, and he doesn't pray for their salvation! He wants God to get 'em.

Psalm 54, 63, David is in agony because he can't return to where God's dwelling place is, and he longs to be in His presence. He vents this agony by writing. I wonder what his men thought of him? David really is a rounded guy, a musician, song writer, soldier, lover. He's da man!

Grace & Peace this Sunday.

Tomorrow's passage 1 Samuel 28-31; Psalms 18.

1 Samuel 25-27 don't be a numpty

2005-03-19T08:06:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Nabal was a numpty. He descended from Caleb and had a beautiful and sensible wife and he seemed to be wealthy. He had everything going for him except he was an idiot. Moral of the story: don't be a numpty.

Enter fool number 2, Saul. David was constantly willing to trust God to deal with Saul rather than take things into his own hands. He understood honour. He was pretty astute too, and realised that the safest place for him would be with the enemy that Saul feared, the Phillistines. He managed to hoodwink them too by killing every person in the towns they attacked each day so that no one could return to King Achish to report what they were doing.

Have a great weekend.

Tomorrow's passage Psalms 17, 35, 54, 63.

Psalms 56, 120, 140-142 David's secrets

2005-03-18T06:29:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Hey what happened to Thursday? No idea! I must have been raptured for the day then returned to earth with my memory erased. Actually I was just plain too busy, sorry.

So let take a look at these Psalms; 56 -

But when I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.

This Psalm is a real encouragement for me today. We are facing a massive test right now, but I know that as I put my trust in God He is able to work on my behalf.

120 - Lord I bring my troubles to you this morning too. I cry out to you for help. I choose to trust you.

140-142 - David pours out his cries for help to God. He feels overwhelmed. Many people feel overwhelmed by life much of the time. Lord rescue us and lead us through. Give us the grace and strength we need to overcome these things. Show yourself faithful to us again today.

Then I pray to you, O LORD.
I say, "You are my place of refuge.
You are all I really want in life.

That seems to be David's strength, that his heart was fully committed to God. He went through many subsequent ups and downs in life, but ultimately it was his heart towards God that stood out.

Grace & peace to you today.

Tomorrow's passage 1 Samuel 25-27.

1 Samuel 21-24 Star quality

2005-03-16T06:06:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

David's obviously a bit of an actor. He acts, sings, writes, plays, dances; he could have been a real celeb in our generation.

Saul now begins to completely lose it, killing priests, pursuing David maniacally. David eventually has a chance to finish it but only cuts a piece of Sauls clothes. But David has an amazingly sensitive conscience which is remarkable after the way he has been treated.

Saul is a sad, deluded, driven man by this time. It is pathetic to see.

Tomorrow's passage Psalms 7, 27, 31, 34, 52.

1 Samuel 17-20; Psalm 11; Psalm 59 David & Goliath

2005-03-15T06:45:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

What made David different from the whole of Saul's army? Covenant. He believed in God's covenant and he knew that if he stood on it against this 'uncircumcised (non-covenant) Phillistine' he was certain to win no matter what the odds were. How did he get such faith? He learnt this while protecting his sheep, doing his daily job and seeing how God rescued him there. He recognised that this giant was coming against God Himself not Israel, so he was confident that God would fight him if He had a pair of hands to fight through. So it was God who killed Goliath not David. God just needs us to work through. We have to be willing to look like it's us. That takes a lot of guts, but the rewards are high.

So David made his bold proclamation in what seemed an impossible situation in the natural. Can we do the same? Will people think we've lost it and laugh, like they did with David and with Jesus? Let's have confidence in God's covenant promises today, to help us, to save us, to deliver us, to provide for us, to heal us, whatever you need, and let's make a bold proclamation in the face of what seems impossible:

"Satan, you thought you had me in this situation, but I come against you today in the name of the living God, in the name of Jesus, and I declare that you will be totally defeated in my life today, I will go completely free today and you will not be able to stop me. All my needs will be completely met today, I will be totally healed and set free today in Jesus name."

Tomorrow's passage 1 Samuel 21-24.

1 Samuel 13-16 Sauls slips

2005-03-14T11:25:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

I sympathize with Saul here. The pressure is on, the men are deserting, the enemy's getting stronger and Samuel said he would be there by a certain time and he wasn't. What to do? Take things into his own hands and do the sacrifices himself. At least he didn't just ignore them which he could have. We look down on Saul as a failure from our vantage point, but don't we bottle out under a fraction of the pressure he was under? I know I do. Trusting God when not much is at stake is easy. It's a different story when your whole life and the well-being of those you are responsible for is on the line.

How do you cope with the stress of such a situation? Just whistle and pretend it's not there? This slip under pressure cost Saul his throne and eventually his sanity and his life.

Johnathan seems to exhibit youthful zeal and reckless faith and yet God seems to back this. His faith actions turn the tide and bring a remarkable victory against the odds.

Saul again demonstrates his foolishness by making an oath which almost cost his sons life. As God's choice for king he doesn't seem to be shaping up very well. Did God not check his references first?

Sauls pattern of only partly obeying God continues. Did he not realise he was digging himself an early grave? Perhaps the power went to his head?

14:Now the Spirit of the LORD had left Saul, and the LORD sent a tormenting spirit that filled him with depression and fear.

this poses some interesting theological problems for some! Depression and fear seem to come together and I would certainly vouch for them being demonic in origin.

Tomorrow's passage 1 Samuel 17-20, Psalms 11 & 59.

1 Samuel 9-12 looking for donkeys

2005-03-13T07:56:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

You never know what's going to happen when you go looking for donkeys, or shopping, or take the kids to school, or go to work...

God chose Saul, but didn't He know that Saul suffered from an inferiority complex and would turn out to disobey Him? He must have done, but still He went ahead. Does God call us to do certain things which He knows we will fail at and mess up? That's a scary thought. Maybe it would have been better for Saul if he'd never been 'chosen'? I don't like this line of thought but we've got to face up to it. So many 'spiritual giants' in recent years have messed up. God must have known that was going to happen but clearly he couldn't stop it. Or maybe He isn't as interested in our 'success' or 'failure' as we think?

Tomorrow's passage 1 Samuel 13-16.

1 Samuel 4-8 raiders of the lost ark

2005-03-12T08:34:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

God, powerless against His enemies, taken captive! How come? Because of His people. That's how closely God is bound to His people. God's hands on earth appear to be bound depending on our faithfulness and obedience. We forget our part of the deal so often, we would prefer a totally sovereign God with whom there is no rhyme or reason but He just does everything and we trail along in His wake without any responsibility.

Israel defeated, Eli's sons dead, the Ark taken - no one could deny this was Judgement.

Now we get a bit 'Raiders of the lost ark', the enemy start getting tumours. I hate tumours, cancer and all that stuff. The Philli's are pretty smart and decide to be rid of this thing sharpish. The Israelites decide it's time to repent and get right.

Strangely Sams sons seem to turn out like Eli's, as a result the people ask for a king. Sam warns them but they're not having any of it. They WANT a king so they can be just like everyone else. Peer pressure sucks.

Tomorrow's passage 1 Samuel 9-12.

1 Samuel 1-3 Hannah's fruit

2005-03-11T09:43:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

The challenge of having 2 wives! Does God mind us having 2 wives? Suppose the NT is pretty clear, as an elder you have to have only 1 wife. Wonder how/why the rules changed? Or did God just let it go during the OT?

Eli's encouragement was enough to release faith into Hannah's heart. She became confident that God had heard her prayer. Often when we have prayed we're still as uncertain about God's answer as before we asked. No wonder we don't get what we ask for.

To leave her young child to be brought up by Eli in the temple, what a decision, but she stuck to her promise. She must have been a courageous lady. This heritage was evidently passed on to Samuel.

The boy became the Lords helper.

Eli failed to properly discipline his sons, with sad consequences for them all. He was 'honoring his sons more than God'. Putting them before God. For our own sake God wants us to have His order in our lives, and if we are going to see any fruit in our lives God HAS to have first place, there is no alternative to that. No amount of anything else even if it seems 'spiritual' can replace this basic order. Isn't this the reason for such mess in our own lives so often? We think we can set our own priorities and still expect God to answer our prayers when we're in trouble.

Because Samuel had the right heart and order he was able to receive God's word. Is it surprising that so many of us struggle to 'hear Gods voice' when we need to?

Tomorrow's passage 1 Samuel 4-8.

Ruth 1-4 The power of honour

2005-03-10T05:03:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Goodmorning from Sheffield. As usual being away from home I've woken up very early.

Ruth's honoring of her mother in law is powerful. Honour is a rare thing nowadays. Honour is bound up with the understanding of covenant, which we in the West have no real grasp of. A persons 'word' holds less and less strength because of a lack of honour.

Ruth's honoring of her mother in law brought her great reward in the end. Honour is often about putting others ahead of ourselves. If we honour God He will honour us.

The ultimate honour Ruth received was that David and eventually Jesus came from her. God always returns more to us than we can ever give, both in this life and in the one to come. When we lay our lives down for others in seemingly insignificant ways we can have no idea how God is going to use it in His bigger purposes.

Do something small for someone else today, you never know!

Tomorrow's passage 1 Samuel 1-3.

Judges 19-21 Day off!

2005-03-09T21:35:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Gotta be honest, I had to be up early for a long drive north to Sheffield, where I am now, so haven't had a chance to read today's passage. Kind of glad to see the back of Judges. Will pick up again from tomorrow before I get back on the road (if I wake up early enough!) See you then.

Tomorrow's passage Ruth 1-4.

Judges 16-18 Sam's fall, Dan's rise

2005-03-08T06:36:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Samson's weakness for women continues and eventually is his undoing. I suppose no one had the courage to tell him to stop. Sometimes we are so 'nice' or fearful we fail to confront friends with the truth about what they are doing, even if it will ruin them. But that's not real friendship, only a sham.

6: In those days Israel had no king, so the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.

This passage is used in all sorts of ways. Some use it to criticise those who step outside the existing church structures in order to pionneer new works; I will say no more.

Next the tribe of Dan, who have still not taken their inheritance, finally get it together. Gaining courage from having a priest and an ephod with them they carry out some ethnic cleansing and set up their new city on the burnt ruins of Laish.

Tomorrow's passage Judges 19-21.

Judges 13-15 Samson's babes

2005-03-07T06:26:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

They just don't learn do they? Mind you neither do we.

Samson is about to appear on the scene. An angel is dispatched to get things ready. Funny how often God seems to choose barren women. Angels don't eat but they can put on a great flying show.

Samson may have been kept off the booze but girls obviously weren't on the list of don'ts. He liked 'em. It is a sad story really, he promised so much but he simply couldn't control himself. Did God know this was going to be the case before He called Him? Ch 14:4 seems to suggest He had planned it that way in order to get at the Philistines.

Despite his great strength during his 'judgeship' of 20 years the Phili's still ruled over them during that time.

Did God's plan fail?

Tomorrow's passage Judges 16-18.

Judges 10-12 Jephthah the numpty

2005-03-06T07:33:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

10:Finally, they cried out to the LORD,

Always seems to be the last thing we do! But this time Gods says no! Let the God's you have gone after help you. Just crying out in desperation was not enough, they had to change what they were doing. Then God took pity on them. But only after they had humbled themselves and called for the despised Jephthah.

Jephthah turns out to be a fool, promising to God the 1st thing that he meets on his victorious return home. Unfortunately his daughter. Incredibly she complies with the whole thing and willingly submits herself to be killed. Tilt. Was this for real or just a fable concocted over time?

Once again a tribe not included in the campaign grumble about being left out! I wonder what they would have said if Jephthah had lost?

And so it dribbles on, one judge after another, some good some bad.

Tomorrow's passage Judges 13-15.

Judges 8-9 Gideon comes and goes

2005-03-05T16:11:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

You can never please everyone all the time, there's always someone who'll moan no matter what!

Gideon's leadership seems pretty hit and miss. He gets it right by not letting them make him king, but then he makes a golden ephod which they end up worshipping.

And once more as soon as Gods man is gone they're off chasing foreign gods.
Tomorrow's passage Judges 10-12.

Judges 6-7 Gideon

2005-03-04T06:50:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

It took starvation before they would cry out to God. Are we this proud sometimes?

When God's people cry out to Him He sends a prophet. In this case the prophet just tells them off and reminds them how they've sinned. Tough. In the UK there has been prayer to God for help for several years, asking for revival etc. Has God sent a prophet? Was his/her message too tough to receive? Have we missed it?

I still believe that Wimber brought a clear prophetic word to the established church which has never been fully received,

"I want my church back"

So God's answer is to find a nobody; the least of the least; the smallest in his family.

Interesting that after the angel proved who he/she was Gideon had a revelation of 'The Lord is my peace'; God was going to bring them peace from their enemies maybe?

Gideon needed lots of proof to bolster his courage. He of course didn't have the Holy Spirit inside him to direct him etc, we do, so if we seek direction using external 'signs' like this we make ourselves vulnerable to being mislead by the enemy who operates out in the physical realm. Amazing that so many christians set such store in positive external 'signs' when they are seeking God's direction! No wonder so many of us end up in messes. It's an indicator of how spiritually dull most of us in the West are.

Gid rises to the challenge and of course God fights for him and they see a great victory. Hurray!

Tomorrow's passage Judges 8-9.

Judges 3-5 A pacifist God?

2005-03-03T06:34:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

How do pacifists deal with this verse? How does God change from a war encouraging God in the OT to an out and out pacifist in the NT? Am I just looking through my 21st C glasses again? Anyway, the younger generation had to learn how to fight. From where I am now the fight seems to be endless and most of the time I just want a quiet life. So perhaps when you choose to follow Jesus there is no option, it's fight all the way?

Now we just get this quite monotonous circle of sin, judgement, repentance and deliverance. Sounds a bit familiar actually!

Tomorrow's passage Judges 6-7.

Judges 1-2 does the Holy Spirit do 'comments'?

2005-03-02T15:16:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Sorry bit late again today! Did read the passage earlier but not had time to blog.

I find it strange that even though they had entered the land and fought the battles by faith they were still unable to defeat some guys because they had iron chariots. Does that mean God's promises didn't take these into account when He made them? Maybe chap 2 has the answer when the angel turns up to give them a rocket for having made covenants with some of the people. Perhaps they did this instead of taking on the iron chariots?

I'm always asking questions about these passages, not sure why. Suppose I'm half hoping some clever charlie will leave all the answers in the comments! I wonder if the Holy Spirit does comments?

Once Joshua is gone and a new generation is in place things it doesn't take long before things are heading downhill. It doesn't sound as if they really passed on to their kids all that God had commanded them to. I can feel some resonance there I'm afraid!

Tomorrow's passage Judges 3-5.

Joshua 20-24 stones have ears

2005-03-01T10:23:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

If you blinked you could have missed Joshua it went by so fast!

After all that fighting by 'faith in Gods promises' it's time to divi up the land.

Years pass and they are living in peace. Do we get to experience that here, after we have fought to take our inheritance in Christ? Or is that just in heaven?

Deep in your hearts you know that every promise of the LORD your God has come true. Not a single one has failed!

Oh how we need that fixed in our hearts, not just by faith but in our experience too.

Before Joshua dies he once again warns the people in strong terms to follow the Lord, he reminds them of the covenant, and once they agree to serve and obey God, he raises up a stone which has heard all their commitments as a witness. Now that's an interesting idea, stones hearing and being witnesses. If stones can hear, what else around us can? And one day will those things stand witness against us if we have not first confessed them? Or thinking more positively are there ways we should use objects like stones in our worship and journey with God?

Tomorrow's passage Judges 1-2.

Joshua 1-19 what?! Yes you heard me, 1-19

2005-02-28T14:37:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Saturday & Sunday both took a tumble in light of the techie fun with my main site, so to keep up we have to do the 1st 19 chapters in one go! Just kidding, read whatever you like/can then we'll jump thru to 20-24 tomorrow.

By skipping thru this we're missing a lot of good stuff. But here's something general from these passages that I was pondering on in the early hours this morning when I couldn't sleep; the majority of christians (often including me) tend to put their religious, theological, rational, commonsense beliefs before the simple promises of God. Usually it is born of their own or someone elses experience and like the first generation of Israelites they follow the crowd, feeling safety in numbers. But it is sobering to recall that it was only 2 out of over a million(?) who were able to enter the promised land. ALL the rest (the majority) failed and died without getting what God had promised. So you can be in a minority and be right. They took the 'sensible, rational, based on sound research route. Joshua & Caleb chose to take the promise route. 2 against a million+. 'I prayed for -----, he died, so it must not be God's will to heal everyone'. Our experience is dictating our theology, rather than Gods Word. Just because our own experience doesn't seem to bear it out we somehow think that God's promise no longer means exactly what it says. Just because the Israelites discovered that there were giants in the land and the cities were all fortified and rationally speaking they didn't stand much chance of conquering these enemies didn't mean that God's promise no longer held true. But they chose that route and all parties involved got exactly what they believed for.

BUT, even though Josh & Cal chose to believe God's promise inspite of being massively in the minority and all the facts to the contrary, they still had to fight for every inch of it, they didn't just slip into it unopposed.

Sometimes I realise that I have not even really started taking my land. I'm off to sharpen my sword now.

Tomorrow's passage Joshua 20-24.

Deuteronomy 31-34, Psalm 91 Not mere words

2005-02-25T11:16:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Joshua is appointed and God tells Moses that this is now it for him but also lets him know that the people will stray away from God as soon as Mo is off the scene! Is that a God of faith or a God of reality? In faith circles they would have been saying, 'no, no, you can't say that, it's too negative.' Not very encouraging for Mo as he signs out. Then He gives Mo a song to teach the people which they will sing as a witness against themselves. I wonder how many of those songs are being sung by much of the church today!

Over and over God repeats His exhortation to Josh & Caleb to be strong and courageous, they were obviously going to need it!

The song:

But Israel soon became fat and unruly;
the people grew heavy, plump, and stuffed!

I'll be blunt, this is the state of much of the church in our country. There, I said it!

"Take to heart all the words I have given you today. Pass them on as a command to your children so they will obey every word of this law. 47These instructions are not mere words--they are your life!"

Not mere words, they ARE your life! That is profound, and if we fully recognised this we would read scripture very differently.

Goodbye Moses, hello Joshua.

Psalm 91; it's a great psalm of comfort and protection. I think you can live so deeply in this psalm by staying in it for months that you actually come to a place of knowing you are shielded and protected in reality.

Lord yes, come and rescue those of us who are sinking, please.

Tomorrow's passage Joshua 1-5.

Deuteronomy 27-30 our choice, life or death

2005-02-24T11:05:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Apologies for the lateness of this; had a technical crisis over on simplechurch.co.uk that is still ongoing!

So, keeping it brief; blessings and curses; speaking these out audibly was clearly a powerful thing. I think it still is today, as long as we don't go overboard on the whole thing and make it a technique whereby we can manipulate things to satisfy our own desires. I think that's called witchcraft!

The choice between life or death is in our hands ultimately. It's an awesome thing.

Lord give us the strength to chose life.

Tomorrow's passage Deuteronomy 31-34, Psalms 91.

Deuteronomy 23-26 The greatest nation on earth

2005-02-23T06:42:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Have to be brief this morning as I'm up & off early.

Well the opening verse brings tears to the eyes.
Moses seems to be squashing in as much as he can before he departs. Loads of random laws. They have to "commit to these laws without reservation". This would be the key to their being the greatest nation.

Tomorrow's passage Deuteronomy 27-30.

Deuteronomy 17-22 Scotsmen, watch out!

2005-02-22T06:20:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

The purpose of capital punishment was to both purify Israel but also to warn others not to do likewise.

God forsees a time when they will ask for a king. The king is not to have too many wives or too many riches. Seems like Solomon didn't read that bit. Explains a lot. He is not supposed to act as if he is above his fellow citizens! Non-heriarchical leadership in the OT!

More dire warnings and repeated regulations. Sounds like a lot of fear.

War: If anyone was not ready to fight, they were sent home.

Firstborn sons are to get a double portion of the inheritance. Jesus was the firstborn of many sons from the dead. We are joint heirs with Him, so we get a double portion of the Fathers inheritance. Yeah.

Rebellious children watch out! Scotsmen watch out!

Tomorrow's passage Deuteronomy 23-26.

Deuteronomy 11-16 idol infested culture

2005-02-21T10:08:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Obedience to Gods commands was of critical importance for their well being and success in the land.

They were to 'eat their tithes' before the Lord. I wonder how those who teach tithing so ferociously see this? I know this is a can of worms but personally I have heard ALL, and I mean ALL, the teaching on tithing there is and I am still unable to embrace it from the NT. The NT in relation to money and giving teaches GIVING not tithing. If you want to make 10% your bench mark, fab, go ahead but don't make it a law that everyone else has to keep in order to qualify for any of Gods blessing.

Don't get pulled aside and drawn after false idols. I think we in the West live in the most seductive, idol infested culture ever. We live our lives totally influenced by idols of every kind. God help us.

I'm beginning to feel rather bogged down in all this OT stuff.
Tomorrow's passage Deuteronomy 17-22.

Deuteronomy 5-10 obedience leads to blessing, disobedience leads to disaster

2005-02-20T08:19:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Loving God above all else leads the way, and nothing has changed on this one in the NT. This is not a list of party-pooping laws, this is a warning over things that will kill you if you get tangled up with them. God loves us and wants the best for us so He wants us to clearly know what will harm us so we can avoid them. HE wants to be our sufficiency in all things.

They were about to inherit loads of stuff for which they hadn't worked at all. That reminds me of when Jesus said something to the disciples about winning a harvest for which they hadn't laboured. Excuse the random thoughts! It's Sunday & we had a late night out at a wonderful Thai restaurant.

They had to be pretty ruthless with those they were conquering, basically kill everything that moved. God was keen that they were totally pure from the sinners in the land.

God loved them not because they were a great nation but because he chose to love them and because of the oath He had sworn to their forefathers. He is a promise keeping God. But He is 'quick to punish those who hate Him'. Hmmm? I thought He was slow to anger etc. Man this stuff can be confusing at times.

The theme of all this stuff is: obedience leads to blessing, disobedience leads to disaster. Can't say they weren't warned. Plus the warning not to forget God when they were living in luxury. Being blunt I think that is basically where the church in the West now is. Tough but true.

When you win your victories, Israel, don't get cocky, just remember it was MY doing.

You can almost hear the note of anxiety in Moses voice as he pours out his last words of warning and advice to the people he has laid his life down for. An awesome dude.

Tomorrow's passage Deuteronomy 11-16.

Deuteronomy 1-4 A lesson in history

2005-02-19T09:57:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

A journey of 11 days took them 40 years. I won't point out the obvious.

God doesn't seem too worried about how long it takes to get people ready for things. Living outside of our time space context but being deeply involved in it must pose some interesting challenges for God. But we tend to see things in finite terms, with death being a clear end point, however from God's point of view that of course is not an end, we all go on. Nonetheless we only have a limited period of time here on the earth and during that period we relate to and have dealings with God in a limited way. Not sure where I'm going with this.

`You have stayed at this mountain long enough. It is time to break camp and move on.'

Not sure I like this verse, it's a little too close to the bone.

I am giving all this land to you! Go in and occupy it

We always tend to forget that, yes God gave them the land, but they still had to fight for every inch of it. God, through Jesus has given us stuff, but we still have to fight tooth and nail for it. Pants.

Moses rehearses their story to ensure that this generation don't repeat the errors of the previous one. They failed to trust God. Their inner fears were larger than their faith. They were defeated not by the giants but by their own self imgage. They couldn't get past those inner blocks. I wonder if counselling would have been a help? But they were on their own. It's amazing in the light of this to think that Josh & Caleb managed to remain so strong in faith being surrounded by all that negativity for years and years.

Sometimes God has to pass over an entire generation before He can find a people willing to trust Him so He can work out His purposes. A sobering thought for the church in the West right now. We tend to think that 'we are the ones, of course God is going to use us...' but if necessary God will patiently wait for a new generation to grow up who are willing to leave the comfortable structures and trust Him to lead them into new places of fruitfulness. I feel a preach coming on so I'll leave it there.

Moses warns them in no uncertain terms to continue to obey God's commands or else...He almost prophetically envisions what will happen to them when they disobey. But the underlying covenant promise will always remain, no matter how disobedient they become. God can never forget His covenant, this is the unshakeable foundation for our faith.

Tomorrow's passage Deuteronomy 5-10.

Numbers 34-36 Final numbers

2005-02-18T08:28:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

God sets the boundaries. I have a quiet feeling that this is an important truth, if I can get slightly political here, I wonder whether we step on thin ice when we begin playing around with national boundaries, geographical, political or monetary. Am I being a little right wing, europhobic here? Just a thought!

Here's a God of faith; He's divying up the land before they've even set foot in it.

Knowing what is about to come (lots of fighting and bloodshed) I can almost feel the deep breath before plunging in to the action ahead. Fasten your seat belts, we're going in guys.

Tomorrow's passage Deuteronomy 1-4.

Numbers 31-33 Woops, some clever charlie

2005-02-17T17:45:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Was up early on the paper run with Jamie this morning and completely forgot about the reading today until now (17:45)! So here goes;

Go and kill these guys, then it'll be time for you to die, job done. God doesn't beat about the bush! The priest led them into battle. Maybe to steady their nerves as most were new to war? Maybe to remind them that God was the one doing the fighting. Or was He? They still had to stick their swords into peoples bodies.

Sorry for asking all these awkward questions, but I prefer to be real rather than theologically entrenched; the God of the OT doesn't seem to be too ruffled by war. I've heard both sides of the theological arguement on 'just war' or 'turn the other cheek' etc but between Malachi and Matthew did God go through a mid-life crisis and a major personality change? Did He suddenly wake up and realise war was aweful and there should be no more? In Gods economy there seems to be room for war, just or not. He didn't tell them to hide behind that mountain over yonder while I beat the ---- out of these boys for you. No He said, come on lads time to get your swords out and spill some blood. By the way, don't worry about these guys they're all a bunch of filthy sinners anyway. I may be taking liberties here, those of a nervous theological disposition please forgive me.

Woops, some clever charlie thought it would be good to spare all the women and kids. Moses wasn't a happy bunny. So another round of blood shed ensued. That must have been tough, women and children. Cold blood. The young girls, who've seen their parents and siblings killed now have the pleasure of being slaves and concubines. They're going to have one or two emotional hurts to deal with later in life I reckon.

This is just so far from our world today that it seems unreal. I find this irritating.

As the land drew near Reub & Gads tribes decided the grass looked green enough on their side of the Jordan, so they asked to stay there. Moses smelled a yellow streak and started to hyperventilate, picturing yet another 40 years of wandering if this got as far as God. They quickly committed to going with their fellow tribes into battle in the land until the job was done then they would return to this side of the river. Whew! Just in the nick of time.

Finally we get an AA road map of their whole trip. Just to remind them how far it was and much easier to go forward than back all that way.

Tomorrow's passage Numbers 34-36.

Numbers 28-30 yeah right, ok

2005-02-16T08:16:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

God needs food. Burnt food. Why?

Offerings, offerings, offerings. Details, details, details. Vows, vows, vows.

Yeah right, ok.

Tomorrow's passage Numbers 31-33.

Prayer links

2005-02-15T16:27:00.000Z

PS. I've added a couple of links on the right under the heading 'pray'. They take you to the respective morning or evening prayers & readings provided by the Church of Englands web site.

Numbers 25-27 Mo gets his pension

2005-02-15T12:27:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Woops. These guys just don't get it. The connection between their sin and the resulting sickness cannot be denied. The sequence of events seems very fast, but I wonder if actually all this happened over an extended period of time. So what appears pretty cut and dried to us was in reality less clear at the time. Maybe I'm clutching at straws? I'm just trying to get my head round stuff which seems light years away from our present experience of God.

Phinehas is rewarded for his zeal, demonstrated by killing one of the offenders and his Midianite woman. Yikes!

Time for another census to prepare for battle. Always a good idea to assess your strength before facing the enemy. But then God was going to fight for them so why did they need to do that? More puzzles. Total of nearly 602,000 fighting men. And not one of them (apart from Caleb & Josh) was numbered in the last census. Every single one of those had died in the desert as prophesied.

Some brotherless gals get their rightful inheritance.

Moses gets his gold watch and pension, hands over his job to Josh, and gets one last peek at the land he won't enter. He was faithful under remarkable pressures.

Tomorrow's passage Numbers 28-30.

Numbers 22-24 Hold on it's coming

2005-02-14T07:29:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Balaam seems a powerful guy. With the power to bless or curse he is vital to kings and countries. He had a weakness: money. He appears to have known God, so he must have been a prophet, but he's from another nation, that's a puzzle. God repeatedly said no, but the £££$$$ was calling and he pushed God until He said go with them. It was clear God did not really want Balaam to go. So we have this weird story about the donkey who not only sees angels but then talks. This is better than Dr Doolittle! So we get this tiresome preachers joke, if God can speak through an ass then He can speak through you and me, ha ha ha. It's worn a little thin now. Confusingly the angel still allows him to go with the men but warns him to only repeat what he says. In the end he can only bless Israel, he cannot alter Gods desire to bless them. He ends up prophecying destruction on the neighbouring nations. It would have been better had he stayed at home!

In the midst of this we get these powerful words;

19 God is not a man, that he should lie.
He is not a human, that he should change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act?
Has he ever promised and not carried it through?

If we really believed these words we would not doubt Gods promise to us, no matter what the situation. God cannot lie. This is because whatever He says comes into being! So if He has given you a promise over something, so long as you hold firm to that, He cannot lie or deny Himself, it is impossible, He has to fulfil it.

What are you facing right now? What is Gods promise to you in that situation? Remember it is IMPOSSIBLE for God to lie. Hold on it's coming.

Tomorrow's passage Numbers 25-27.

Numbers 20-21 God seems cool with war

2005-02-13T08:05:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Still moaning about dying! You have what you say, so if you keep on and on saying something like this you only have yourself to blame! What are YOU always saying?

Personally after all that Moses put up with I think he got a raw deal from God. He told him to take his staff so he could easily have assumed that God wanted him to touch/hit the rock to get the job done. I think after all he'd done for God and His people this was harsh. The issue seems to be lack of trust, but it doesn't look that way to me; I think he had trust but he was just pissed with the moaners and took it out on the rock. But I'm not God so...

So the fighting and slaughter begins. The Canaanites make a wrong choice and get hammered. I can't imagine how aweful warfare was in those days. I have been a soldier but thank God never saw close combat, but even nowadays when everything is so clinical, war at the sharp end is a ghastly business. God seems cool with it here in the OT. This is a different world.

Can you believe it, more complaining. These people must either have a very low IQ or suffer from severe repetitive memory loss. So now we have a little creativity: snakes this time! Moses stepped in yet again and we have this extraordinery OT picture of Jesus on the cross being lifted up for all to see, those turning to Him are healed. A snake, Jesus! Why? He was made SIN with our sin. Not a pleasant sight.

More oppostition, slaughter and singing. Better get used to this pattern we'll see more of this.

Tomorrow's passage Numbers 22-24.

Numbers 16-19 God comes out of His box

2005-02-12T08:16:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

You don't want to mess with the boss, especially when he's been appointed by God. Recognising God's order in our lives is vitally important. We have to know where our boundaries are because when we step beyond them we expose ourselves to the enemy, we step out from our God given protection. These boys were swallowed up by their pride and envy, literally. With anointing comes great responsibility; don't covet it.

Unbelievably the people want to take it out on Mo and Aaron! God wants to destroy them. He seems to blow hot and cold mighty fast in the OT. Again Moses intercedes to rescue them. He has enormous stature. Even when God wants to kill them he's still trying to hold Him back! I'd be shouting 'go God go, get em all!' Nonetheless 14,700 died from plague as a result. Some people preach that ALL bad things come from the Devil and only good things come from God, but you'd have to do some pretty serious tweaking to get this passage to say that. God was angry and wanted to kill them. That's it. Period. Just because we find that hard to line up with our own experience and theology doesn't mean it didn't happen and God has to fit into our tidy little boxes. He's GOD! I don't understand it any more than you do.

The priests and levites get support from the gifts of the people. More stuff on purification. Clean, clean, clean.

Tomorrow's passage Numbers 20-21.

Numbers 14-15, Psalm 90 What triggers you?

2005-02-11T06:29:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

This was their problem, they were unable to eradicate this deep seated fear that anyone who 'ruled over them' was ultimately out to kill them. If some emotional experience has deeply impacted you in childhood it can be extremely difficult to replace the recurring emotional response when triggered by similar events. To their emotions, every time they were threatened in some way it appeared they were going to die. Only 2 of them were able to replace this with a faith filled response based on Gods promises. How do you respond when pressure comes? Is there a pattern there? Does that reflect something of your childhood?

Moses intercedes for them. It's incredible really - a man negotiates with GOD. Moses had guts. God forgives but there is a price to pay. They will all get what they believed for: death in the desert. I think there's a warning there! Ouch.

24: But my servant Caleb is different from the others. He has remained loyal to me,

Caleb was different. Lord help me to be different this way too.

The people tried to push ahead of God and were overtaken by the enemy.

Psalm 90: This makes pretty depressing reading. I wonder if Moses suffered from depression. He must have lived with enormous stress constantly.

Tomorrow's passage Numbers 16-19.

Numbers 11-13 Dissing leaders is bad for your health

2005-02-10T06:34:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

God sure wasn't keen on complaining. Has all this visible anger been assuaged through Jesus? Was the Tsunami God's anger in action? I think many would say no. But it makes you think.

They got fed up with what God was miraculously providing. Bored with the miraculous. Always wanting something more. Could be today.

Even Moses couldn't believe that God could produce enough meat for all the people.

"Is there any limit to my power? Now you will see whether or not my word comes true!"

But for God it was easy. Our faith is so limiting at times. If we can't figure it out with our brains we can't see any way that God can do this thing, so we doubt. We put God on our level.

Criticizing leaders can be bad for your health. Probably best not done.

Research team was appointed and briefed. Find out what is there and report back. God likes strategy, and the first step is research, to discover what is already there. But researching and researching in faith are 2 different things. Having faith will change the way you look at things. Even if something looks impossible in the natural you will still be confident that God can do it. Don't just look at your circumstances with the natural eyes, look through the glasses of God's promises and His ability.

Tomorrow's passage Numbers 14-15; Psalm 90.

Numbers 8-10 Driver, follow that cloud

2005-02-09T05:17:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

From within His chosen people God claimed the Levites specifically as His own in place of the eldest sons of each family. He gave them to Aaron as workers in the temple.

The people followed the cloud of Gods presence. They didn't budge even for 2 years unless the cloud moved. They were on a journey but at times it must have seemed as if they were settling down in one place, but they still had to be ready to go at a moments notice. We are only pilgrims moving through. Perhaps we too ought to be more careful about 'settling down' for too long? When the time comes for God to move us on we may not be able to respond.

They were given a clear signal through the trumpets when it was time to move. The prophetic word? They moved out in order and discipline. Gods presence always went ahead of them and found a place for them. If we are following Gods lead we can trust that He has already gone ahead of us and prepared the way.

Tomorrow's passage Numbers 11-13.

Numbers 5-7 Blessing with powerful words

2005-02-08T13:34:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

v23 - 'Words shall never hurt me'?! This whole world is based on words, formed by them and held together by them. Words contain life or death. We will be judged by our words, every idle word we ever spoke! We've lost touch with this powerful understanding and we have devalued words utterly.

So why only if the man is suspicious? It would be far more likely the reverse? And how come the man who commits adultery with the woman seems to get off scott free? This was a different world.

The priestly blessing. Here is the height of powerful words. I was challenged last night to gather my family around the table and using Proverbs 31, to bless my wife out loud. The challenger said, if your wife does not have tears in her eyes by the end - call me! No one ever has! We need to restore the hebraic flow of 'blessing' in our homes and relationships.

Tomorrow's passage Numbers 8-10.

Numbers 1-4 Order & discipline, preparing for battle

2005-02-07T05:36:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

All the men of fighting age are to be counted. This is one year in since the exodus. They are ready to fight. Only the priests were not included because they had a different role. They became ordered. Each tribe was to camp together in an assigned position in relation to the others, all arranged around the central tent of meeting. It was time to get organised, ready for what lay ahead. With battles ahead of them they needed discipline and order.

We too face a battle. We were born again into a war zone. So even if we are exploring more organic forms of church life, there still needs to be some discipline and order in our lives and families if we are going to be ready for the battles ahead.

The Levites were to belong to God in place of the rest of the tribes firstborn sons. They belonged to God. Not sure in what way they belonged to God any more or less than the other tribes? Different families of the priests were given specific duties which only they could perform. Everyone knew their job. Do you know yours?

Tomorrow's passage Numbers 5-7.

Leviticus 24-27 Under the law?

2005-02-06T05:38:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

So cursing God and committing murder deserve the same punishment in Gods eyes. Do we
'curse' God when we refuse to trust and believe in Him inspite of all His promises? It's a sobering thought.

These people had to operate under a system of Law. Under that system therefore the Law demanded its due penalties; an eye for an eye etc. Now we are no longer under the Law. We 'died' as far as the Law was concerned. It no longer holds sway over us. Jesus took it and nailed it to the cross, fully satisfying every one of its demands for just recompense, once for all time. Incredible. But we'd better believe it or it's like spitting in Gods face. Lord have mercy; Christ have mercy.

Every 7th year they were to honour the Lord by letting the land have a complete rest. I wonder if they still do that in Israel? I wonder if that has something to do with why the farming industry in the UK is in such a mess?

The 50th year, a year of restoration. This is what Jesus refered to in His first public address, 'The year of the Lords favour', that's where we are now. This is when all that belongs to us, His people, is restored in full.

God reassured them that in the 7th year, when they rested the land, they would still have enough food from the 6th year to take them right through til the harvest in the 8th year. That meant of course they had no farming work to do for a whole year. That's a bit like taking a sabatical from a well paid job. Perhaps every 7 years we should do that?

So here's God condoning slavery, and yet Wilberforce worked all his life to eradicate it believing it was completely ungodly, unchristian and immoral. Is this another culture/time issue?

"I broke the power that held you down and let you walk with your head held high" 26:13

Obedience brings blessing.
Disobedience brings disaster.

Tomorrow's passage Numbers 1-4.

Leviticus 19-23 Have we become too familiar?

2005-02-05T04:49:00.000Z

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(Managed to get online at Bristol airport 4:30am!)
Laws & regulations... Some make sense - respecting the elderly, but some seem weird - dont trim the hair off your temples...hmmm.

If a man commits adultery BOTH must die; so what happened to the guy in the story of the woman who was caught in the act and brought to Jesus?

So handicapped people wouldn't have made it into the priesthood... hmmm.

We seem to have got so far away from an understanding of God and His awesome holiness that we have become (on the whole) completely casual. Rather like casual sex. We are oblivious to the enormous, often hidden consequences of our unthinking actions. Perhaps this is where ritual & liturgy come into play, helping to restore a sense of God's otherness? I know I tend to treat sin and approaching God in a very 'californian' way. Not good.

Tomorrow's passage Leviticus 24-27.

I will be back

2005-02-04T19:07:00.000Z

Just to let you know that I am away for a few days and don't know whether there will be internet access, so don't despair if all goes silent for a while. I will be back!

Grace & Peace,

Alexander

Leviticus 16-18 Life in the blood

2005-02-04T06:27:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

The day of atonement for the whole nation. Sin has to be paid for somehow. Sin is serious because it produces death. So God is doing all this in order to protect His people and so that He can continue to live amongst them. The weight of sin will eventually destroy this planet. It is a tragedy. Sin has caused and is causing untold pain all over the world right now. Perhaps you are experiencing some of that today. We certainly are.

Believing in Jesus and His blood does not protect us from all the effects of sin in the world. We don't live a pain free life. Some of our suffering is our own fault, but some is simply as a result of living in this world.

The life is in the blood. That's why Jesus shed His blood. That's why we now drink His 'blood' in remembrance of Him, because as we do we receive His life into our spirit and He 'abides' in us.

Sexual prohibitions; the people whose land they are about to take have committed all these sins and as a result their land has become defiled. So the ground itself can be effected by a peoples sin. But how would these people have known it was wrong?

Tomorrow's passage Leviticus 19-23.

Leviticus 11-15 Tough reading before breakfast

2005-02-03T06:20:00.000Z

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Out of bounds animals. Childbirth. Skin problems. This stuff isn't good to read before breakfast. House rot, bodily discharges; it gets worse.

All this stuff seems to refer to 'bad' things, things that make a person 'unclean' to God, who is totally clean. So if sex was created by God, and everything He made was 'good', why are a man & woman who have had sex 'unclean' until the evening?

This seems to be more about hygeine issues for the benefit of the people rather than keeping the tabernacle completely sterile incase God gets contaminated. I mean now God lives in us, so does that mean God is contaminated when we have sex?

Has the blood of Jesus had such a powerful sin removing effect that what would have contaminated God in the OT is now no longer unclean? It must have, either we'd be dead, or God doesn't really dwell within us in the way He did the temple in the OT. That makes you think.

Tomorrow's passage Leviticus 16-18.

Leviticus 8-10 More blood and death and glory

2005-02-02T06:13:00.000Z

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More blood! Boy that place must have been messy. Once again we see the principle of something being transfered by touch as Aaron & the boys put their hands on the animals in order to impart their sin. In our 'civilised' culture we have largely lost all appreciation for the reality of many of these things.

This was no game. If they failed to do everything as God required they would die! I bet they paid attention in class. So that's where we're missing it in our education system now. Undiluted fear.

When complete they hit the jackpot and God's glory showed up. The people shouted then fell down. Sounds like a wild meeting.

Then Nad & Abi found out the hard way that God really did mean what He said. No second chance here. Whammo. If that were still the case now, I would have fried years ago. We seem to have got the better end of the deal. Or did we?

Aaron wasn't even allowed to mourn them.

What's with this 'wave offering' thing? Waving meat around at God? Is He trying to make them look plain silly or what?

How much of this came from Moses and how much from God? Every now and then it seems like Moses is the one actually putting all this together and thinking up the sacrifices etc. If that was so, was God backing him?

Tomorrow's passage Leviticus 11-15.

Leviticus 1-7 O the blood of Jesus, O the blood...

2005-02-01T06:23:00.000Z

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Challenging reading territory now!

The Israelites had to rely on endless detailed blood offerings in order to remain on good terms with God. We should similarly rely endlessly on Jesus' blood offering to do the same job. Though, whereas the many sacrifices merely covered temporarily the offences, the one sacrifice of Jesus completely removed the offence once for all time and also completely cleansed the conscience of the sinner, as if they had never even been near sin. No wonder people sing, 'O the blood of Jesus.'

Sin for them was a life and death issue. I wonder how 'holy' we would get if that were still the case now? We do treat sin very lightly. The truth is of course that God has 'in Christ already reconciled the world to Himself, not counting men's sins against them'. The sacrifice is made, sin is finished as far as God is concerned, now all that remains is for us to accept that and then choose to live as if that is so.

So many offerings. Now all we have to offer is our lives as a living sacrifice, our praise and our money. I struggle with all of these at times.

Lord help me to see the seriousness of sin and the importance of the offerings I should make, and the enormity of the sacrifice of Jesus.

Tomorrow's passage Leviticus 8-10.

Exodus 35-40 God moves in.

2005-01-31T09:28:00.000Z

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Killed for doing work on the sabbath! Serious or what? Why does it seem that God was more ferocious in the OT than now?

It is good to see that the people were not put under pressure to give towards the building of the tabernacle. It was important that they gave because they were moved to and wanted to. I suspect the way we give in our hearts is much more important than how much we give.

Bez & Ohol not only had gift and ability to make the stuff but also the ability to teach others. That's neat. God is always keen for us to give away what we have, it sets up a godly flow in our lives.

As always the people of God are overly generous. Blessed to be a blessing.

The tabernacle and everything else is constructed in all its exact detail. Everything had to be precise. They had to follow Gods instructions perfectly. Has God stopped being exact? Is He now an approximate God? Does He have any less precise instructions in the building of His NT temple?

Then God moved in. His glory so powerful not even Mo could get in there. And that same God has now moved in to my spirit...

Tomorrow's passage Leviticus 1-7.

Exodus 31-34 Golden calf & shining face

2005-01-30T20:06:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Apologies for the lateness of todays entry; have been out all day for my youngest son's rugby match.

God loves the creative arts and anoints & gifts people specifically in this way. Interesting that in our society most artists are amongst the most financially stretched. What does this say about how we value these gifts.

The sabbath; once again God institutes something with the aim of helping us to 'remember' (covenant word) an important truth. So The sabbath is partly there to remind us that He is God.

Next we have the pitiful story of Israel's idolatry. Thick or what? One minute they're terrified of this God the next flagrantly disobeying Him. I dont get these guys! Even more amazing is Moses' arguing with God on their behalf. But he is willing to put his neck on the line for them. This is true intercession.

Here is a God who seemingly gets angry when His people are rebellious, so much so that He wants to destroy them and has to be restrained. I don't know this God. Was this the intenseness of anger which Jesus submitted Himself to in my place?

Moses was desperate that God went with them. He knew they would not make it without. Then he asks to see God's glory, which is? His goodness, mercy & unfailing love. One second He wants to kill em all the next He is declaring His patience and loving kindess. Then He re-affirms the covenant again. After all that time directly in God's presence his face is shining, literally. It's so bright he has to cover it up. This was no sweaty face glowing in the sun. This was the light of God shining, like Jesus at His transfiguration. This is weird stuff.

Tomorrow's passage Exodus 35-40.

Exodus 27-30 Detail & symbol

2005-01-29T07:44:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

This temple and the subsequent solid one in Jerusalem were a copy, a reflection of the actual dwelling place of God in heaven. God likes detail and symbol. It always amazes me when I read this stuff plus the subsequent detailed instructions on the sacrificial system that every single bit of this process which enabled the people to approach God and have their sin covered was all completed and superceded through the one sacrifice of Jesus. Once and for all...

Tomorrow's passage Exodus 31-34.

Exodus 23-26 Signing on the dotted line

2005-01-28T10:40:00.000Z

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This whole section is essentially about covenant; God was entering into a legally binding agreement with them. First He gives them His requirements for what they must do: justice, mercy and obedience. Then He reaffirms His promises to them for material blessing and the land they were to inherit. On Israel's acceptance of these terms God then invites the representatives to eat the covenant meal with Him.

Eating a meal together has a spiritual dimension which I believe lies at the heart of the life of the church.

The conclusion of this was God's desire to come and 'live' in their midst, so He gives minute details for the preparation of His travelling temple. I've often wondered why God was so precise and detailed like this in the OT and yet in the new everything seems to get a bit looser and less specific. Not sure I have any satisfactory answers on this.

Tomorrow's passage Exodus 27-30.

Exodus 19-22 Who is this God?

2005-01-27T09:50:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

This will have to be brief as I am just on my way out for a meeting in Birmingham.

To be honest I found this passage difficult. This God surrounded by fire and cloud etc striking fear in His people is just so far from the little of God I have experienced. I know some would say that's why we in the West are so weak spiritually, but still I find it very hard to relate this stuff to where I'm at. What do you think?

See you tomorrow!

Tomorrow's passage Exodus 23-26.

Exodus 16-18 will you pass or flunk God's exam?

2005-01-26T10:26:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

So much of our battle to move forward spiritually takes place in the mind. This generation of Israel simply could not make the shift mentally. They were unable to rid themselves of the conviction that basically everyone was out to kill them. They stubbornly refused to accept that maybe, just maybe God was for them not against them. Even after the incredible signs that God performed for them. Amidst the pressures of daily life we somehow need a constant reminder of Gods love for us and that whatever we are going through, ultimately He IS on our side.

God's test; will they follow God's clear instructions? No! God does set us tests which first have to be passed before we can move on to the next level. Simple obedience is all that is required. How are you doing in your current test? Sometimes I wonder whether I'm even hearing the questions let alone obeying them!

Even though God miraculously provides for them they still had to go out and 'work' to gather it in.

Rest is important, so God sets things up to let them have a day off from collecting their food. It's obviously important.

You've got to sympathise with Moses, he got a rough deal! Each time they are tested they don't see past the man, they don't look to God. It's weird really after all the things God had done. But maybe they saw Moses as their deliverer not God. That's always the danger when we put our faith in leaders in place of God. So easy to do, because you can see, touch, hear and complain to a person. With God it takes more effort.

First battle; that staff of Moses seems pretty powerful. Is there anything it can't do? That would be a handy stick to have around you. You could part the morning rush hour traffic, no longer need to go to Tesco's for food, turn taps on and off without any effort. fab!

Here in battle they learn a new name for God: The Lord our Banner. He is the one who fights for us and defeats our enemies. Lord come and fight for us today, drive away our enemies, deliver us.

Finally Moses accepts some wise management consultancy from his father-in-law. We do need those who are older and wiser than us!

Tomorrow's passage Exodus 19-22.

Exodus 12-15 You first

2005-01-25T13:08:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

God likes to set up rituals which remind us of important times and truths.

Do this in remembrance...

We obviously are prone to quickly forgetting things. Infact that summarizes much of the old testament! Keeping these things in our thinking is obviously very important or God would not have gone to such lengths and detail. Though under the new covenant there appears to be less stress on this area, aside from 'breaking bread' but historically it seems quite clear that it quickly became important for the early church to remember and celebrate certain events and truths. I wish that we as a family had imbibed more of this but coming from a 'new church' setting anything ritualistic was a big no, no.

The first Passover; with great detail God sets the pattern for this celebration. It was a prophetic meal. Just as communion is for us now. Something happens in the spirit realm every time we do it. This suggests to me that there is far more to these rituals than meets the eye.

Blood. Again, an element full of unseen power and importance. Much has been said on this so I won't go down this road here, suffice it to say this amazingly symbolised the sacrifice that was yet to come in Jesus. The truth is, we have been delivered.

All the 1st born in Egypt - killed. This is difficult. So much pain. Without the concept of sowing & reaping this would be hard to understand. Even so, I'm still uncomfortable with this.

The ritual of the Passover was also for the purpose of teaching the next generations. Do our rituals help or hinder that process today? Certainly my kids would be baffled by most rituals in church.

They needed to remember that it was GOD who had done this, not their own courage and cleverness. How quickly we forget that!

Now we have the classic Red Sea story. God leads them such a way that there is no way back and seemingly no way ahead! Ever been there? Because of the fear of what's coming up behind it is an incredibly testing place to be. Particularly when there doesn't appear to be any obvious way out. You just have to resolutely grit the teeth and trust God. We are in this place right now.

The people began to panic!

Yes right on! Then they made a mistake, they began to complain. When the test came they couldn't overcome their fear of being killed, their pattern of victimisation. Moses stood firm infront of the people, but he too began to complain, but he took it to God. But God wasn't having any of it!

Get moving guys!

So often it seems God needs us to do something first, something we CAN do (like walk) so that He can then do what only He can do. And so the miracle happened.

Lord please help me not to complain. And please show me what I need to do first so that you can then do your part.

Tomorrow's passage Exodus 16-18.

Exodus 7-11 Let battle commence

2005-01-24T11:05:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

I seem to recall from somewhere that each of these plagues was associated with a particular Egyptian god. So this was God going head to head to prove who was incharge. Pharoah was a proud guy. Given the option of when to be rid of the frogs he asked Moses to pray the next day! One more night with the frogs; what was he thinking?!

9:20 Some had respect for God's word and others didn't. Nothing's changed much.

I wonder what the Israelites were thinking all this time? Terrified? Or quietly cheering God on under their breath?

Pharoah seemed to confess his sin over and over but in the end he always hardened his heart again once the pressure was off. I know I often do this. When the pressure's off it's too easy to just let the current of life take you along in it's flow. When you're desperate you'll do anything. We're very basic as humans really.

Tomorrow's passage Exodus 12-15.

Exodus 4-6 An unpredicatble God, a quick thinking wife

2005-01-23T07:56:00.000Z

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Moses is still back-stroking fast, but God ain't having none of it. What's this though? A cheap magic trick to convince people of Moses' authenticity? That's weird. Maybe it's the culture gap again? Nowadays, in good charismatic knee jerk style, we'd probably say this was demonic and Moses was a false prophet not to be trusted. Still, maybe I should be reading all sorts of clever and highly spiritual lessons into the shepherds staff being turned into a snake? Naaa.

Next there's a plan B sign, leprosy. Both dangerous. Both making Moses someone to stay away from. Funny signs. And then a third, blood. Yeuck, even worse. I suspect the Israelite and/or the Egyptians would have got the message immediately.

Now Moses gets positively disobedient. He's all but saying 'No I won't go.' Is this man insane? Doesn't he fully realise who he's talking to? Surely if God shows up in a burning bush and speaks directly to you, tells you what to do, that He'll be with you and gives you some impressive party tricks to back you up, you'd say 'sure no problem, when do we leave?' But no, he has to keep back-stroking til he makes God mad! God is incredibly forbearing despite being ticked off. Moses up frontness with God seems to continue on for the rest of his life.

Does this mean God can be negotiated with?

So Moses finally agrees to return so the confrontation with Egypt can begin. But first an even weirder bit: because he hasn't circumcised his son God is going to kill him. WHAT? God seems like an unpredictable, mood swinging murderer. How can you trust a God like that? Zipporah, a foreigner, knows what to do, and angrily resolves the situation. Work that one out.

Moses and Aaron quickly win the confidence of their own people. These folks are desperate for deliverance. Then off to see Pharoah.

God says, let my people go!

You must be kidding you lazy scumbags. Get back to work. And who is this 'God' anyway?

Moses is now in trouble not just with Pharoah but with his own people too. He doesn't waste any time, straight back to complain in Gods face. Me too. God's response: the covenant. Strong talk. The covenant is blood-binding. God is totally bound by it. It's amazing really, that the God of all creation chose to bind Himself to us through a human contract. Why? so as to leave us in no doubt whatsoever that He will honour His promises to us no matter what. Why do we still doubt Him so much of the time?

Tomorrow's passage Exodus 7-11.

Exodus 1-3 God remembered

2005-01-22T07:25:00.000Z

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So we fast forward in time. And as mentioned before the Israelites are now perhaps reaping some of what Joseph sowed when he enslaved the people of Egypt through the famine years.

But God has a plan. He needs a man. Moses. Dadaaaa!

I always think it's a nice little touch that the God fearing midwives were rewarded with their own children!

Once again God uses the 'chance encounter' to get his man into the right postion. God seems to have a way of fast tracking his chosen ones that would make David Blunket proud.

Having grown up Moses was a deliverer through and through. He couldn't help himself. When he saw one of his own being abused he killed the abuser. The problem? He was trying to deliver through his own strength. Often our strengths are also our weaknesses until we submit them to God. When we try and accomplish things trusting in our own strength we usually mess up badly. Moses naturally fought against injustice. He couldn't help himself. This is perhaps a lesson for those engaged directly in fighting social injustice. Not in your own strength.

But the next time he stands up for the weak it opens a door for him in Midian. And so began his long 40 years in the backside of the desert learning how to be a humble shepherd.

The Israelites cried out in their slavery. Did it take all that time before they cried out? But

God remembered His covenant.

God is bound by His covenant. When His people cry out to Him, He is obligated to remember the covenant He has made. Still true today.

The burning bush. God wanted to 'catch his attention', so that He could talk with him. Why didn't He just send an angel? Does God still use strange natural phenomena to get our attention? It's funny despite the fact that in our post pentecost days we should have a much closer walk with God, hearing Him speak etc, the impression I always get from the OT is that He was much more present with them, speaking far more clearly etc.

God's declaration of deliverance sounds too good and simple to be true. Moses, the great deliverer starts back-stroking fast! I know the feeling.

Tomorrow's passage Exodus 4-6.

Genesis 48-50 What you meant for evil

2005-01-21T11:36:00.000Z

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So Genesis and Jacob draw to a close. He blesses Joseph's sons, putting the younger ahead of the older. The blessing imparted by the right hand superceding that by the left hand. I have long believed that stuff goes on in the spirit when we put our hands on someone or something to impart blessing that we have no idea about. Like when Jesus talks about imparting 'shalom' to the house of a man of peace in Luke 10. Something's going on there which I have a suspicion is mighty powerful and important. Still haven't quite got to the bottom of it. Any ideas?

Next he 'sings' prophetically over the rest of his sons. He sure was moving in the spirit. Some got a rougher ride than others! Then wham! He checked out for good. What a way to go.

After the state funeral, unbelievably his brothers still show their fear and lack of trust in Joseph. With Dad gone he'll probably now get his revenge on us. But once again Joseph shows amazing grace and humility.

As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil. He brought me to the high position I have today so I could save the lives of many people.

So God even uses peoples evil intentions to get His will done. That is a massive theological statement.

Even at the end Joseph's faith in Gods covenant promises was unmoved. He knew God would take them back to the land He had promised them. I need that unshakeable faith right now. We are on the edge of a cliff, no way backwards, a massive drop below us, and nothing but God's promises to step out onto.

Tomorrow's passage Exodus 1-3.

Genesis 46-47 The God of more than enough!

2005-01-20T10:37:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Firstly apologies for the silence yesterday, we had a funeral down in Devon which included a punctured tyre on the journey down! I did attempt to email a post up to the site but it doesn't seem to have made it through the system yet!

So yesterday's passage, chaps 43-45: Joseph first tests his brothers then reveals himself to them. And what amazing grace, seeing the bigger picture he doesn't hold anything against them. Unbelievable.

Now for today, 46-47.

God didn't appear to Jacob to affirm what he was doing until he had already set off. Would it be twisting the text to suggest that's often how God works? First we have to respond to the still, small voice of the Spirit, then when we are underway God will clearly confirm we're on the right road. Maybe that's stretching it a wee bit?

Anyway, I'm sure it was highly significant that He said

"I AM GOD"

For Jacob that was probably sufficient.

After some more family tree recounting, Joseph again applies his wisdom to ensure his family are located at a safe distance from the centre of power.

What an incredible example of God's favour on His people in action. Instead of starving they ended up with the very best of the best. That is indeed 'the God of more than enough'!

The famine grew worse and it seems that Joseph almost took advantage of the people's desperate situation and used it to effectively make them slaves to Pharoah. Reflecting on the 'law of sowing and reaping' again, maybe the Israelites eventual slavery was the result of this seemingly harsh exploitation?

Tomorrow's passage Genesis 48-50.

Genesis 41-42 A quick shave & a change of clothes

2005-01-18T10:41:00.000Z

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2 Years later! Joseph is remarkable. Instead of being angry & bitter, after a quick shave and change of clothes he was ready to go for God. His faith in God was undiminished, even strengthened. I wish we knew more of what went on inside him during those prison years. Given this opportunity he didn't bat an eye but immediately responded that although he couldn't interpret the dreams he had no doubt that God was able.

"It is beyond my power to do this," Joseph replied. "But God...

This is where real trust kicks in. 'This situation we are facing is beyond my power to deal with. BUT GOD IS MORE THAN ABLE...' Oh how I need that right now.

Not only did Joseph interpret the dreams but he also applied wisdom to the situation in light of it. Having a dream from God is one thing, knowing what to do in light of it is another. Lord give us your wisdom 'The principal thing'.

So the remarkable promotion happened: from prison to prime minister. But then I wonder if his faith was tested through those long 7 years of plenty? Did doubts ever assault him? 'Maybe I just made it all up, we'll get to the end of 7 years and things will just carry on as normal and I will be in BIG trouble!' In the retelling he seems so sure and certain, but there must have been some pressure. He must have had enemies who were jealous of his position who were saying to themselves, 'well let's just see what happens in year 8. The smile may be on the other side of his face then!' But the story seems pumped full of faith, not a doubt in the air. How did he do it? Why is the narrative so silent on this?

And so at last the inexorable plan of God, revealed through a dream fell into place. And through Joseph God made a way to protect and provide for His people, just as He had promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God knew that famine was coming. For whatever reason (couldn't/wouldn't) He didn't stop it but instead went to enormous lengths to prepare a way of salvation for His covenant people. It makes you wonder.

Tomorrow's passage Genesis 43-45.

Genesis 38-40 Sex & the bigger picture

2005-01-17T13:22:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

Zoicks! This has more drama than a soap-opera.

Firstly Judah's choice of names for his kids was weird; 'Er' - what? And Shelah - that's ozzie for a woman! Bad choice man.

Then 2 of them got zapped because they didn't play by the rules. It clearly says (in this text) that God took their lives. That kind of challenges the simplistic view that 'all good stuff is from God and all bad stuff is from the devil.' But then based on the law of sowing and reaping, earlier in Genesis, they must have been sowing some pretty bad stuff fairly consistently.

Then the wily Tamar exposed Jacobs duplicity. Do these guys ever take a break from having sex? Seems like it was a pretty major part of their lives.

Maybe this was put in the story as a contrast to the way Joseph handled sexual temptation. He is an amazing guy Joseph. As untactful as he was to begin with he certainly got wise pretty sharpish. He must have had extraordinary resolve. Firstly to ward of the advances of Poti's wife then to keep his attitude and morale in spite of the false imprisonment.

Just as we have tried to teach our kids: life ain't fair, you just have to get used to it and get on with it.

I wonder how aware Joseph was of God's blessing being on him, and that no matter where he was he would always rise to the top? I think he must have been, and it was this that gave him the ability to see the bigger picture beyond his immediate circumstances, and thus enabled him to persevere.

I reckon that is a vital lesson: to be constantly aware of the bigger picture and thus keep our immediate challenges in right perspective.

Lord please help me do this right now.

Tomorrow's passage Genesis 41-42. (PS. sorry just noticed this was pointed to the wrong reading!)

Genesis 35-37 Had a dream? Get ready to duck.

2005-01-16T05:31:00.000Z

Read the passage by clicking here.

So back at Bethel and once again God affirms His covenant. Here is the echo of Gods original instructions to Adam & Eve: He blessed them and told them to be fruitful, multiply & fill the earth. This still remains as our mandate even today. Gods intention is to see the whole world blessed. How? Through his (re)created people as they make disciples of all nations: fruitfulness & multiplication. This, for me is the underpinning for the whole vision of planting small, reproducible, simple churches. The family/household is God's basic building block both naturally and spiritually.

Next is loads of family history, skipped over fairly briskly.

Then finally we get the opening of the Joseph saga's. Funny how he was preferred over his younger brother Ben, but maybe he reminded his father of his mothers death too much?

Anyway, Joseph is a young numpty. I wonder if he learnt from his early mistake of blurting out his dreams! The lesson here is of course 'when you've had a dream from God the next thing you do is - duck.'

I always feel a certain affinity with Joseph because my first (unexpected) encounter with God was through a powerful dream at the age of seven. Boy I wish someone had told me then that I needed to duck! I'm still reeling from the knocks that followed.

Tomorrow's passage Genesis 38-40.

Genesis 32-34 WWF champion: Jacob

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Read the passage by clicking here.

Angels; there seemed to be a lot of these guys around Jacob. 'Mahanaim' a whole camp of them. I wonder if we have an 'angels camp' in our back garden? Maybe they sit round the fire at night and sing camp songs? Kumbya my Lord? Naa.

Jacob was a politician. He knew how best to appease his brother. But he was still terrified. He certainly had to excercise faith in this return home. He had to really trust that what God had said to him - that he would look after him and get him home safely - was the truth and that God WAS able to intervene against his brother. In the event of course he needn't have worried because time had healed their differences and amazingly Esau had completely changed.

It's often like that in my life; something unknown is up ahead and in the natural it seems terrifying, and when I let my mind run riot it can turn me into a jibbering idiot; then as I plough forwards in sheer 'teeth-gritted' faith the clouds part and it's all over & I wonder why I was so uptight about it in the first place! If I'd known what was going to happen I wouldn't have wasted all those sleepless nights. But maybe that's how we should live all the time? When things are uncertain though, it's extremely difficult not to worry.

In that process Jacob had his famous night long WWF wrestling contest. Maybe that's symbolic of the sleepless nights wrestling with the fear & anxiety. Hmmm. I've heard lots of clever sermons on this passage, but I'm not sure I really understand what was going on. Was it God, Jesus an angel or what? Whichever, the fact was that Jacob survived, though injured for life, and he received this person's blessing as a result of which Jacobs name (nature) was changed from 'deceiver' to 'one who struggles with God'. I suppose this must have been a step up? One things for sure, God is committed to changing our natures.

Anyway, after the happy reunion then Jacob/Israel continues to show fear and distrust of his brother by heading off in a different direction. Perhaps he was just being wise?

Then there's the Dinah saga. 'You mess with us, we'll mess with you'. You've got to give it to them, these guys weren't going to be slow in coming forward. Nobody was going to mess with Israel's boys and get away with it. Nothing's changed! Even last night's news bore testimony to that!

Tomorrow's passage: Gen 35-37.

Genesis 30-31 The Great Escape

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Read the passage by clicking here.

Kids were certainly important to these folks. And as for having 4 wives! Again, this makes me feel so distant from these stories. This is a different planet.

It's interesting that even though Jacob had God's blessing and protection on him, so Laban couldn't get the better of him no matter what he did, BUT Jacob still had to work his butt off night and day to build the wealth that he gained. He had to be pretty sly too.

Anyway he got away in the end and now all he has to worry about is his brother who, last time he saw him vowed to kill him! Yeah, I'd be nervous too!

Genesis 27-29 Jacob doing his thing

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Read the passage by clicking here.
I haven't been reading much of the Bible over the last few weeks. I have felt rather disconnected from God and found no relief in the pages of scripture. I'm sure it shouldn't be like that, but for me it is.

When I get back to reading these OT stories such as these today I get frustrated because I realise that I dont know how to read this stuff. I am so aware that I am living in such a completely different time, place, culture and society from both those who wrote it and those for whom they wrote. How can I possibly understand what was being said or implied by these distant writers?

I know, we are taught that the same Holy Spirit, who we evangelicals (though I think I would refer to myself now as a post-evangelical) believe inspired the writers in their writing, is with us now to illuminate the same words. So does that mean that we should just read roughshod over the original writers intentions and context and wait for something entirely subjective to pop out of the spirit realm regardless?

Or do we just make-do with the 'mental' truths we can glean from a cerebral study of the text?

I suspose this is an age old debate, one in which I have swung from one end to the other and nowhere imbetween at times!

Anyway I'm supposed to be jotting down some frightfully smart thoughts on this passage, so let's see what I can do!

Yeah, well, Isaac getting deceived; did he deserve this? If, as I have been drilled, we reap everything that we sow in our lives, did Isaac sow deception? Yeah I guess he did, like his father Abe, he pretended that his wife was his sister to protect his own skin! So maybe he did deserve it!

Esau! What a dumb cluck!

This father to son, blessing thing; I have a gut feeling that it's an immensely powerful thing which we in our 'civilised' society have completely lost. I was really struck, provoked and made jealous by hearing how Doug Pagitt of Solomon's Porch has recently had his 13 year old son go through a 'rites of passage to manhood' breakfast, you can read how they did it HERE.

Gods affirmation of His covenant promises to Jacob after all that is amazing. I would have dumped him ages ago and gone looking for an alternative. But God stays with His original promise and plan. He's gonna bless all people thru these guys; Abe, Ize & Jake. And that's our inheritance. In Christ we have become part of this bloodline. So maybe even if we muck up big time He's still gonna stick with His plan to bless all people through you and me.

That's enough for one day I think!

Welcome to this journey through the Bible

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I've no idea if I'll keep this up, but taking a lead from a number of other bloggers this is my attempt to blog my way through the Bible in a year. If you'd like to join in the party then jump straight in. You can follow the reading plan by downloading it from the link provided and I will include a daily link on each post so you can read the passage online. Leave me a comment if you like with your own thoughts on each passage and let's see if we can help one another reach the end of this journey and maybe have some fun along the way.

Your fellow pilgrim,

Alexander.