Author: Dave M Price

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Going Public

Daily Reading

Matthew 9-10

Daily Thought

“So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32).

The rancher wanted the farmers to pay for his drowned cattle. “Judge, you know we’ve been having a drought. The farmers had a prayer meeting and asked God to send rain. I don’t put much stock in prayer, but dad gum if it didn’t work. It rained the next three days and flooded my ranch. Their prayers drowned my cattle, Your Honor.” The farmers objected, “There is no proof that God sent the rain.”

“Let me get this straight,” clarified the judge. “What we have here is a man who doesn’t pray, but believes God answers them. And you guys who do pray say God doesn’t.”

“But whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:33).

Humor is best when it bears the sting of truth, and this farmer joke is funny and stings. Jesus charges his followers, “What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops” (Matthew 10:27), and yet, with such slight opposition, we allow others to silence our voice. Jesus grants no Christian claim to a right to privacy; following Christ means going public in his Name, the Name of Jesus.  

“You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” ~Matthew 1:21

Daily Prayer

God, You are faithful and true. I desire to be one who trusts in You, walks in Your Word, and steps out in faith. Help me with my faith where it lacks. Test me and strengthen me where I lack. I believe in You in word, but may I also believe in You in action.

I know, God, that it is fear that keeps me from standing tall for You at times. Help me build upon the solid foundation of Your Son, Jesus Christ. May I be one whose life points to You at all times. May I be one who stands for, lives by, and speaks aloud your Name.

Amen

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Judge Not

Daily Reading

Matthew 7-8

Daily Thought

John 3:16 may be the Christian’s best-known verse in the Bible, but the one most quoted by the world is Matthew 7:1–“Judge not, that you be not judged”–often employed to provide biblical cover to an “I can do whatever I want” lifestyle. The rub comes a few verses later, however, when Jesus says, “Beware of false prophets” (Matthew 7:15), which is an invitation to judge, “You will recognize them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:20), clearly judging them by their actions. So, which is it, to judge or not to judge? That is the question.

One thing for sure, everyone will be judged. “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne” (Matthew 25:31). There comes a day when Jesus will judge and that judgment final. Jesus will sit on the throne of God and we will each stand before him. Some will contest, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?” In final judgment, Jesus will respond, “I never knew you; depart from me” (Matthew 7:22-23). You do not want to be one of those. This final judgment of Jesus ought to relieve me of my hunger to judge. No one is getting away with anything, and that includes me.

Perhaps our problem is our favorite verse, John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” We stop too soon. We should keep reading, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (John 3:17). The Bible is full of “you shall” and “you shall nots,” and the prophets judged people according to these standards, not to condemn, but to turn people toward God’s love. This is the heart of “Judge not, that you be not judged.” It is not our place to condemn, but to prepare each other to meet God. “First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:5). God’s grace given to you, you give to others to help others see clearly, because when someone truly sees clearly, they truly see God and his saving grace and are prepared to stand before his throne.

Daily Prayer

Wonderful God, what a great work You do in my life. You meet me where I am, a sinner, and embrace me and live in me and change me from the inside out. There is nothing I did or do to deserve this. It is only because of Your love and grace that I see salvation. Then you never stop saving me, transforming my heart and mind so that what I do displays Your grace and truth. May others see that same grace and truth in me and find you.

Amen

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The Perfect

Daily Reading

Matthew 5-6

Daily Thought

Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:17-18). Jesus then elaborates on the what exactly are the iotas and the dots of the Law. Murder is a big one, but Jesus says anger and hate are the same thing. Adultery is bad, of course, but Jesus says if you lust you are guilty. Do not swear to tell the truth, just tell the truth, always. Turn the other cheek and go the second mile. Love your neighbor and love your enemy. In summary, “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Fat chance. No one can claim what Jesus claimed, that he fulfilled all the Law, that he is perfect. 

Jesus holds two expectations of us, the first, perfection, the holy expectation of heaven, extravagant righteousness, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:21). Jesus gave us a standard we cannot reach and he knows it because he knows us. Perfection is our aspiration, but Jesus also expects us to fall far short because he knows of our fondness for the forbidden fruit. Jesus stands in the middle of two expectations, perfection and failure, and so he says, simply, “Follow me” (Matthew 4:19). That is our choice. Will it be Satan or Savior, sinner or saint? He demands a choice, for “no one can serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24), and if we choose to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33), all the iotas and dots. We will be perfect, because “for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2Corinthians 5:21). Jesus took our place so we could take his.

Daily Prayer

My God, You sent Your Son the first time to bring salvation. His second coming will usher those who are saved into Your Eternal Kingdom.

My salvation is in knowing You as my Savior and Lord, and I desire to be at all times excited at Your coming. Help me live each day believing it could be The Day, the day that You return. May I live with the freedom and confidence that comes from knowing that this world will pass, so there is nothing in this world that should hold me. There is nothing more valuable than You. May I love You, therefore, with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love my neighbor as myself. May I live the life You saved me to live.

Amen

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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

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Empty Hands

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 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 not an empty 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

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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. It is a future of God’s glory 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

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Are You Listening?

Daily Reading

Zechariah 1-7

Daily Thought

The word of the Lord often comes to his prophet 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 as Zechariah 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. They wanted to know if God still cared about them. Was the answer somewhere in these cloudy visions?

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). There is the answer. This is God’s will for your life. The dreams may carry 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 was the clear words of God Israel had disobeyed that led to their troubles. 

Israel feared that God was no longer listening. Her fear was justified. “As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear” (Zechariah 7:13). How often do 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 and more and more I like the things You like. May Your desires become my desires. May I be like You and may others see what You are like by what I do. 

Amen

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God First

Daily Reading

Haggai 1-2

Daily Thought

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, “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 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

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God Sees

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.

God responds to Habakkuk in chapter 2, “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 in God. 

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

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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 the emotion we exhibit, enviously desiring the possessions of others, but the jealousy of God is the loving desire to protect the people who belong to him, wrathfully when necessary, for where is the 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