Author: Dave M Price

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Scandalous

Daily Reading

Matthew 1-4

Daily Thought

Matthew begins with what is important to a Jew, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). The Hebrew people are not as concerned with what you do as where you come from; specifically who was your father and your father’s father. They are notably patriarchal. It was a bit of a surprise, then, to find four moms in the family tree: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and the unnamed (though everyone knows it was Bathsheba) wife of Uriah (Matthew 1:3, 6); all the more scandalous because they were mostly women of scandal and non-Jews.

Most shocking is the fifth woman, a virgin “found to be with child from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:20). Joseph will be the husband of Mary, but not the father of Jesus, and his role is secondary in the story, the B-side of the hit single. Conductor Leonard Bernstein opined, “second fiddle” is the most difficult instrument to play, “Every one wants to be first violinist, but to find someone who can play the second fiddle with enthusiasm – that’s a problem. And if we have no second fiddle, we have no harmony.” Joseph played a faithful harmony, “when Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus” (Matthew 1:24). We do not know a great deal of Joseph, but what we do know is Joseph played his part well, he obeyed when God spoke.

The scandals, the women, the second fiddles, and the Gentiles in the genealogy set the stage for a Savior who came to save not merely the privileged, but the outcasts, not the well, “but those who are sick; not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matthew 9:12-13). This is good news because Jesus came to save the lost, like me.

Daily Prayer

My Lord and Savior, You came not as expected, not in majesty, but humility. I’m so glad you choose the company of sinners over saints. Otherwise, I would never have met You. Thank You for meeting me where I am. You loved me that much. Teach me faith and obedience, to follow Your commands for they are good, to live in harmony with Your Spirit.

May I be an ambassador of Your good news, an example of what You do in the life of one who is saved. May I love as You love, almost scandalously, going to unexpected places and bringing good news to the sick, the outcasts, the marginalized, to the sinners like me.

Amen

Daily Question

Do you think you can sin too much to be saved by God?

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Leftovers

Daily Reading

Malachi 1-4

Daily Thought

It is a shaming question: the gifts you present to God, would you give to the king? “‘When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor?’ says the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 1:8). 

Overheard at a garage sale, “Why are you selling the barbecue?” “Just built a backyard kitchen. Don’t need this anymore.” “Anything wrong with it?” “The auto-igniter doesn’t work and the flames are a bit uneven. It could use some TLC.” “How much?” “We’re asking $25. If it doesn’t sell, I’m donating it to my church.”

God gets leftovers, and he calls it robbery. “But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ And God says, ‘In your tithes and contributions’” (Malachi 3:8). Essential to our offering is faith, and faith is letting go, so either owe God everything or give him nothing, but do not offer him leftovers. Or tips. “That was a good service today,” and an extra five is dropped in the offering, as if God should perform for our pleasure to earn his keep.

It is a full faith, however, when we empty our hands and trust in the Lord. “Put me to the test,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need” (Malachi 3:10). 

“For every beast of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know all the birds of the hills,
and all that moves in the field is mine.
If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and its fullness are mine.” ~Isaiah 50:10-12

We give to God, not because God needs, but because we need and God gives–but he will not until our hands are empty and open and ready to receive.

Daily Prayer

My God, may You fill my life with Your desires, Your passions, Your wisdom. May I love You first, most, and always. May my love for You be reflected in what I do, what I buy, what I keep, and what I give. May the words of my mouth, the meditations of my heart, and the actions of my self be a testimony of Your goodness and Your greatness, and of my devotion to You.

Amen

Daily Question

What does your bank statement say about your faith?

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Right On Schedule

Daily Reading

Zechariah 8-14

Daily Thought

Much of the work of God’s prophets is in the proclamation of judgments and the promise of redemption, but sometimes they foretell the future, and Zechariah more than most. The future of God’s glory will be reflected in the salvation of his people, “On that day the Lord their God will save them, as the flock of his people; for like the jewels of a crown they shall shine on his land” (Zechariah 9:16). That day speaks of Jesus Christ and, 500 years before God’s son rode into Jerusalem, Zechariah saw it coming. 

“Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” ~Zechariah 9:9

Just as Zechariah foretold, it happened: “Throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it, saying, ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’” (Luke 19:35, 38).

When Zechariah said, “They weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver” (Zechariah 11:12), is it possible he knew it was the price of betrayal? “Then Judas went to the chief priests and said, ‘What will you give me if I deliver him over to you?’ And they paid him thirty pieces of silver” (Matthew 26:14-15). Of those thirty pieces, Zechariah prophesied, “’Throw it to the potter’–the lordly price at which I was priced by them” (Zechariah 11:13), and they did, “So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers” (Matthew 27:7).

As Jesus, God’s only son (John 3:16), the firstborn of all creation (Colossians 1:15), hung on the cross, “one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear” (John 19:34); and Zechariah prophesied, “When they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10).

Five centuries after Zechariah spoke these words, salvation came in the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and Peter looked to the prophets to explain to a confused crowd, “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified” (Acts 2:23). Everything was right on schedule.

Prophecy is given, not so we will know all the future holds, but that we will know God who holds all the future. 

“Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” ~Acts 2:36

Daily Prayer

All knowing, Almighty God, You are my salvation. You have rescued me from sin, through the blood and the love of Your Son, Jesus Christ. You have brought me into Your family, clothed me in righteousness, and set me apart to be a witness of Your grace.

You have shown me the future, a great future, a future I can be sure of, with Your Son on the throne and all the world subject to Him. In peace He reigns. I will follow You. Thank You for so great a salvation.

Amen

Daily Question

What is the most important thing you learn from reading the Word of God?

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Are You Listening?

Daily Reading

Zechariah 1-7

Daily Thought

The word of the Lord comes to his prophet often in dreams: “I saw in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses” (Zechariah 1:8). This is the first of eight visions Zechariah records as he begins his book: four horns scattered by four blacksmiths; a man with a measuring tape sizing up Jerusalem; Joshua the priest in filthy garments made clean; a golden lamp stand with seven lamps; a flying scroll, twenty cubits long; a woman in a basket carried by two women with wings; and four chariots led by red and black and white and spotted horses. Israel marveled at these visions and wondered at their meaning. Was the answer to their fears somewhere in these cloudy visions: Did God still care about Israel? Do they have a future in God’s plans?

Then, as if clearing his throat, God speaks plainly through Zechariah, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart’” (Zechariah 7:9-10). This is the answer. This is God’s will for your life. The dreams may speak to Israel’s future but these clear words speak to today. 

I am reminded of something Mark Twain is said to have said, “It ain’t the parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.” It is our disobedience to the clear words of God that lead to our troubles. Israel feared God was no longer listening. Their fear was justified: “As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear” (Zechariah 7:13). 

How often we bring our troubles to God and wonder if he is listening when it is we who did not listen to him that led to our troubles in the first place.

Daily Prayer

God, it is so good to talk with You and I know You listen, not because I obey everything You say, but because Your Son did. He fulfilled all righteousness and through Jesus, I can sit next to You and bring you my troubles and my joys. I share my life with You because You gave Your life for me.

I obey now, not because I have to, but because I want to. You keep changing me to be more like You. More and more I want the things You want. May Your desires become my desires. May I be like You and may others see what You are like by what I do. 

Amen

Daily Question

What is God’s will for your life?

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God First

Daily Reading

Haggai 1-2

Daily Thought

The people of Judah had returned from exile in Babylon, commissioned by the Persian king Cyrus to rebuild the city of Jerusalem and its Temple. They half completed the project before they became half-hearted and the work stopped. For almost two decades the work had been ignored and the Temple remained in ruins when Haggai stood before the people and berated them, “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?” (Haggai 1:4). It was not that Judah did not have the means to finish the Temple because they had the means to finish their homes. It was a choice, and it was me first, which is always what we choose when it is not God.

The irony is “me first” serves me least. “Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes” (Haggai 1:5-6). God saves the best for last, and those who put him first will feast at his table. This time, the people listened to their God and obeyed, “and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts, their God” (Haggai 1:14).

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” ~Matthew 6:33

Daily Prayer

My God, I love You with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. My life is committed fully to You. May the life I live reflect my devotion to You. Where I work, may I serve You by serving others. In my home, may I build my house on the solid foundation of Your Word. In my neighborhood, may I love my neighbor as myself.

May the things I do be for You first and bring You praise and glory.

Amen

Daily Question

Who do you think of first, yourself or God?

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The Fear of God

Daily Reading

Habakkuk 1-3; Zephaniah 1-3

Daily Thought

The prophet Habakkuk cries out to a righteous God, “You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent?” (Habakkuk 1:13). The powerful Chaldeans are wicked people and they are attacking us. God, do you not see the evil in this world?

Mr. Dubose was the mean neighbor in the white house three houses down from my childhood home. One day, playing kickball in the street, the ball went astray and hit the rear tire of his corvette. Mr. Dubose held the ball out for me to retrieve, but as I approached, he reared back and fired it into my chest knocking me over. This was Goliath versus David, the Chaldeans versus Israel, Mr. Dubose versus 7-year-old me. Except I have a dad and my dad came out and had a “talk” with Mr. Dubose. My dad was a Marine in World War II and fought in the battle of Okinawa. I had never seen my dad fight (and never would), but as I watched him talk with our neighbor, I gained a sense of what he was capable.

In chapter 2, God responds to Habakkuk: “Woe to him who heaps up what is not his own” (v 6); “Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house” (v 9); “Woe to him who builds a town with blood” (v 12); “Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink” (v 15); “Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake; to a silent stone, Arise!” (v 19). God may be unseen, but he sees all. He sees all the plunder, the pride, the warfare, the debauchery, the idolatry, so he has a “talk” with the Chaldeans, but these woes are more than a warning to an evil people, they are words of assurance to God’s children. Habakkuk can rest; he belongs to God. God is by his side and on his side.  

Yet I will quietly wait for the day of trouble
to come upon people who invade us. ~Habakkuk 3:16

Mr. Dubose did not change. He remained the mean old man in the white house, but he did not frighten me anymore because I knew my dad was here, he was capable, and he cares. 

On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Fear not, O Zion;
let not your hands grow weak.
The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love.  ~Zephaniah 3:16-17

Daily Prayer

My God, Yours is the Name above all names. There is authority in Your Name, and in Your Name I find life. Your Name is holy and good, righteous and powerful. I know this and I am learning to trust You. And as I learn to trust You, I find rest. If you are for me, who can be against me? I am glad You are here, You are almighty, and You love me. 

What foe shall I fear when God is my friend.

Amen

Daily Question

Proverbs 9:10 says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” What does that mean?

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The Wrath of God

Daily Reading

Nahum 1-3

Daily Thought

Nineveh was the capital of Assyria, a brutish people who crushed Israel. The city once repented briefly when warned by Jonah of God’s coming wrath, but returned again to evil and worse, “Woe to the bloody city, all full of lies and plunder–no end to the prey!” (Nahum 3:1). This time, there would be no prophetical warning, but a pronouncement of doom, and no nation would shed a tear over Nineveh’s demise, rather, “all who hear the news about you clap their hands over you” (Nahum 3:19). Imagine a funeral where everyone is happy you are gone.

Their doom is set–“the Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and wrathful; the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies” (Nahum 1:2). Such words seem ungodly to our ears, wrath and vengeance and jealousy, possibly because we like our soft-focused, air-brushed pictures of Jesus, or because we think God a watchmaker who merely wound up creation and turned her loose to run her course, but the true God is intimate and personal. His jealousy is not of the kind we favor, enviously desiring the possessions of others, but the jealousy of God is the loving desire to protect the people who belong to him, wrathfully if necessary, for one does not truly love if there is no anger kindled toward an enemy who brings harm. And where is justice if injustice is not avenged, and who better to trust vengeance to than the holy righteous God. 

Toward Nineveh is written, “Behold, I am against you, declares the Lord of hosts” (Nahum 3:5). This was welcome news to Judah in the face of her enemy. “The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him” (Nahum 1:7). This is the God of heaven and earth, who is an intimate father and passionately protective of his people against evil.

Daily Prayer

Lord God, Maker of the heavens and the earth, God outside of time and space, Creator of time and space, Author of life, the beginning and the end, Eternal Father, Savior and Lord, Yahweh, I Am That I Am.

Thank You for loving me.

Amen

Daily Question

When is jealousy and good thing? Have you ever been jealous in a good way?

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The Path of God

Daily Reading

Micah 1-7

Daily Thought

Micah, like ever so many prophets of God before and after him, called out God’s word to God’s people, “Hear, you people, all of you; pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it” (Micah 1:2). It was a message of judgment, a message repeated as often as needed, which is why there are seventeen books of the prophets in the Hebrew Bible. The prophets rebuked the people and the people rebuked the prophets, “One should not preach of such things; disgrace will not overtake us” (Micah 2:6). 

Actually, it will, and it did–the Assyrians destroyed Israel in 722 BC, the Babylonians took Judah into captivity in 586 BC. “Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who detest justice and make crooked all that is straight” (Micah 3:9)–you had it coming. 

But every prophet of judgment brings a prospect of hope, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths” (Micah 4:2). Micah urged the people of God to take hold of the heart of God.

“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel” (Micah 5:2). 

When God considered Christmas, when God thought about entering into our world, sending his Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, he made an amazing decision about the home of his birth. It was not to be a palace, fit for a king. It was not to be a mansion, worthy of his glory. It was not to be a temple or a church, a place you might expect to find God. God’s choice of a home for Christmas was a cold manger in a dirty stable in a little town called Bethlehem. 

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” ~Micah 6:8

To walk with God is to walk in justice and kindness and humility for that is the path he chooses.

Daily Prayer

Lord God, let me never take life for granted. May I never forget that each day is a gift from You and rejoice and be glad in it. May I store up treasures in Your Kingdom, may I be heavenly minded, may my first love always be You and may I always walk humbly, display kindness, pursue justice, fully showing your love to others. 

Then truly will I have life and life to the full. Then truly will I eat, drink, and be glad.

Amen

Daily Question

In what ways has God made you into a different and better person?

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The Image of God

Daily Reading

Obadiah 1; Jonah 1-4

Daily Thought

Of Ninevah had been written, “Woe to the bloody city, all full of lies and plunder–dead bodies without end–who betrays nations with her whorings, and peoples with her charms” (Nahum 3:1, 3-4). Ninevah was an evil nation, hated by Israel, and God called the prophet Jonah to “arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me” (Jonah 1:2). 

Ninevah was 500 miles east. Jonah immediately boarded a ship for Tarshish, two thousand miles west–the opposite direction. Jonah hated evil Ninevah, so he did not want God to be “slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster” (Jonah 4:2). Jonah wanted Ninevah to burn so he disobeyed God and set sail to remove God’s mercy as far from Ninevah as possible.

It did not work, of course. God sent a storm to get Jonah tossed from the ship, “so they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging” (Jonah 1:15); and God sent a great fish to swallow him up and deliver him back to Israel, “and the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land” (Jonah 2:10). 

“Let’s start over,” God said. “Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you’” (Jonah 3:1-2). Jonah obeyed this time, “and the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them” (Jonah 3:5), and God relented, just as Jonah feared, “when God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry” (Jonah 3:10-4:1). 

Jonah would prefer a god made in his own image, a god who would hate the same people he hated. But that is not God.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” ~Matthew 5:43-45

It turns out, the way you can tell God has made you in his image is how much you love the same people he loves.

Daily Prayer

Savior God, You are full of mercy and grace. My love for You is displayed as I love people. In fact, You said it will be apparent that I am Your disciple by my love for others. God, help me improve at love. Teach me Your ways. May I be a servant like Your Son.

Thank You for Your salvation. It has changed my heart. If You can show that kind of love for me, can I not love others the same?

Amen

Daily Question

Is it possible to love your enemies? What would that look like?

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Done Talking

Daily Reading

Amos 6-9

Daily Thought

Amos did not ask to be a prophet, especially a prophet to neighboring Israel. “I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore figs. But the Lord took me from following the flock, and the Lord said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel’” (Amos 7:14-15). God said go, Amos obeyed, and the people of Israel should have listened, but they refused, “O seer, go, flee away to the land of Judah, and eat bread there, and prophesy there, but never again prophesy at Bethel” (Amos 7:12-13). Israel should be careful what she asks for.

My dad could lecture, “I’ve talked to you and talked to you.” We knew we had more time. Dad could talk; truly an artist at work. “I’ve talked to you and talked to you until I’m blue in the face.” This was the high point of the lecture. He really did turn blue. Still, no worries, as long as he kept talking. “I’ve talked to you and talked to you until I’m blue in the face, and now I’m done talking to you.”

Uh oh.

God had talked and talked to Israel. Amos cries, “Thus says the Lord,” eight times in the first two chapters (Amos 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 13; 2:1, 4, 6). Each of the next three chapters begins with God speaking to Israel, “Hear this word.” 

Israel did not. She will wish she had. 

If you stop listening to God, it is bad, but if God stops talking to you, it is over. “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “when I will send a famine on the land–not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord” (Amos 8:11). God was done talking. “They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it” (Amos 8:12).

As long as Dad was talking, he was still trying to straighten us out. There was still hope. When the talking stopped, hope vanished. Then came judgment.

Daily Prayer

Lord God, thank You for Your Word. It guides me in life, leading me down the right path.

Too often, though, it may appear that I’m not listening to You. Probably because I’m not. I take You for granted, or I follow some silly notion that I have a better idea about life than You do. Please, God, do not give up on me. Thank You for Your patience and endurance. I need Your Word. Keep speaking, and I will develop the heart of Your Son, who said He does not live by bread alone, but by every Word You speak.

Amen

Daily Question

How can someone tell that you take God’s Word seriously?