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A Rare Word

Daily Reading

1Samuel 1-3

Daily Thought

“Now the sons of Eli were worthless men”–God’s Word speaks bluntly–“they did not know the Lord” (1Samuel 2:12). A terrible resume for priests, and Hophni and Phinehas did terrible things for which they both would die on the same day and be replaced by “a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind” (1Samuel 2:35). God raises up this faithful priest, Samuel, in the next chapter.

Chapter 3 begins, “the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision” (v 1); and ends, “and the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord” (v 21). The Hebrew reads literally, “the Lord appeared increasingly.” There is movement in Israel; God is beginning to visit again. What prompted this is found in the verses between 1 and 21–“Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground” (v 19). Samuel, yet a boy, displays a heart for God’s Word. He listens for it, he receives it, and he faithfully and fully passes it along to others. “And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord” (v 20).

Daily Prayer

Eternal God, You have made me a temple of Your Spirit. You live in me! I pray my words, my actions, my every thought reflect Your character so fully that Your kingdom is made evident to the world, that You are praised because others glimpse heaven. Let not a Word you speak to me fall to the ground.

By Your grace and Your goodness, by Your righteousness and the Holy Spirit who indwells me, may I be filled with Your love. May I listen to Your words, know Your thoughts, follow Your heart, because hearing without doing is not listening. And so in my doing what You say, may others hear Your voice, think your thoughts, and give you their heart.

Amen

Daily Question

How can you best make God’s Word known by the way you live?

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The List

Daily Reading

Ruth 1-4

Daily Thought

Genesis 19 reveals the bawdy beginnings of the nation of Moab, “the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father. The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day” (Genesis 19:36-37). Later, attempting to curse Israel, “the king of Moab invited Balaam to curse you” (Joshua 24:9), but instead, the Moabites were themselves cursed by God, “No Moabite may enter the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation, none of them may enter the assembly of the Lord forever, …because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you” (Deuteronomy 23:3-4). Yet, God delights in redemption and, thus, the story of Ruth is in God’s Word. Ruth is a Moabite. And Ruth is faithful to God and displays her faithfulness in her most memorable words to her mother-in-law, Naomi, “For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16). People follow God when they find someone who follows God. Be that someone.

Central to this story is a person called a kinsman-redeemer. In ancient Israel, the brother of a man who dies childless would marry the widow left behind and father a son to carry on the dead man’s name and care for his family (Deuteronomy 25:5-9). The kinsman-redeemer in our story, however, refused to fulfill his role, because he did not want to put his own inheritance at risk. He wanted to keep it for himself and the children who would take his name, not his brother’s. His name was important to him.

There is a list of names found in Matthew 1, a record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. “The List” chronicles the family tree of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus. From the book of Ruth are five people whose names are included in “The List,” Ruth, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, and David. One guy, however, did not make “The List.” The would-be kinsman-redeemer chose, rather, to cling to his wealth, and thus his wealth consumed him. We do not even learn his name, but we remember the name Ruth the Moabite.

Daily Prayer

Our God, You are All in All. Your Name, “I Am That I Am,” proclaims who You are. You are Creator, the First and the Last. Simply put, there is nothing more important, more valuable than knowing You. You are most worthy of my attention and praise.

God, my desire is to stay focused on You, to hold loosely all things except You, to seek first Your Kingdom and Your righteousness, to leave my name in Your hands and to hold onto Your Name.

Amen

Daily Question

Who helped you get to know Jesus?

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God’s Not Done Yet

Daily Reading

Judges 19-21

Daily Thought

The best thing about chapters 19-21 of Judges is they are the last chapters of Judges. Judges is over, and none too soon. The period of the Judges began when Joshua died “and there arose another generation after him who did not know the Lord” (Judges 2:10); was characterized by the oft-repeated, “the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord” (Judges 2:11; 3:7, 12; 4:1; 6:1; 10:6; and 13:1); and closes in summary, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). How often what is right in our eyes is not so in God’s?

The hope of Judges is that the book will end, but God will keep going. And he does. God’s story continues through Ruth into 1&2 Samuel, when, at last, Israel does have a king, a king after God’s own heart, “The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people” (1Samuel 13:14). Even that is not enough, and the story is far from over, because there is a King to come, the King of kings and Lord of lords, “the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen” (Jude 25).

God’s unfolding story is best captured in the words of the apostle Paul, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). If it’s not good yet, God’s not done yet.

Daily Prayer

My Father in heaven, Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I’ve met the King, my Savior, Jesus Christ, and I will follow Him. May my life display my allegiance, for I am an ambassador of the good news of salvation.

Thank You, God, that You keep working. That what You began, You will finish, and that it will be once-and-for-all good. Keep changing my heart so that I will desire and delight in righteousness and justice and peace. May I love You fully and out of that love, serve the people of this world who so need to know and trust in the Savior, Jesus Christ, my Lord.

Amen

Daily Question

How can you make the way you see things the same as the way God sees things?

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Temptation

Daily Reading

Judges 16-18

Daily Thought

One of the scribes asked Jesus, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:28, 30).

Samson had God’s strength… “Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat” (Judges 14:6).

…but he loved Delilah. “After this he loved a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah” (Judges 16:4).

David had God’s heart… “The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people” (1Samuel 13:14).

…but he loved Bathsheba. “He saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. And David sent and inquired about the woman” (2Samuel 11:2-3).

Solomon had God’s wisdom… “Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you” (1Kings 3:12).

…but he loved one thousand women. “He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart” (1Kings 11:3).

Lest I fool myself, believing I can resist temptation on my own, I should remember that I am not stronger than Samson, more godly than David, nor wiser than Solomon. But I know someone who is and I’m not on my own. 

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” ~Hebrews 4:15-16

Daily Prayer

Almighty God of Wisdom, God of Love, I pray that my heart reflects Your heart. You have made me for a purpose. I am Your workmanship. May I keep my eyes on Jesus. May I fully love You. May I not find things attractive that would steal my devotion to You.

May I love You with all my heart, with all my mind, with all my strength, and thank You for Your grace that carries me when I fall short.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Daily Question

How close are you to keeping the greatest commandment?

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Broken Records

Daily Reading

Judges 13-15

Daily Thought

When I was young, I listened to records. A scratch in the surface of a vinyl record would cause a song to repeat at the same spot over and over again. We called it a “broken record.” It would sound something like this, “And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord – And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord – And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.”

Judges 13:1, “And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” In the Bible, when something is repeated, you are looking at a theme, and the theme of Judges is God is faithful when we are not. Israel would do evil, a foreign nation would enslave Israel, and God would do something special that only he could do to remind Israel that he is their God. Samson was going to be special; it was obvious before he was born. “There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children. And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, ‘Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son’” (Judges 13:2-3).

There it is, another scratch in the record, a child born out of barrenness, life from death, another theme. It has happened before. Isaac, son of Abraham, was born to Sarah, who “was barren; she had no child” (Genesis 11:30). Later, “Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord granted his prayer” (Genesis 25:21), and Rebekah gave birth to Jacob and Esau. Jacob’s wife, Rachel, “was barren” (Genesis 29:31), “then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. She conceived and bore a son and she called his name Joseph” (Genesis 30:22-24). The theme, life from death, continues. Hannah, “though the Lord had closed her womb” (1Samuel 1:5) would give birth to the prophet Samuel, and barren Elizabeth (Luke 1:7) had a son named John, who would be called John the Baptist. 

Then, one very special, not from barrenness, but from innocence. “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). God with us. Jesus. Some things bear repeating, again and again. Life from death. “God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love for us, even when we were dead in our sins, made us alive together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:4-5). Not a broken record, this is grace.

Daily Prayer

God Almighty, I can do all things through You. You give me the strength to find peace and contentment in any circumstance. Whether I have plenty or am in need, weak or strong, You are my strength. If You are for me, who can be against me.

God, may I walk in the confidence of Your strength and the humility of mine. I pray that I grow daily in dependence on You, replacing my will with Yours.

Amen

Daily Question

When have you seen God do what only God can do?

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A Guy Like Me

Daily Reading

Judges 10-12

Daily Thought

The people of Israel are again (still) doing evil in the eyes of the Lord (Judges 10:6), so God lifted his hand of protection and permitted the Philistines to torment them. Israel cried for help, and God responds, “Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you” (Judges 10:14). But the people cried louder and God relented and raised a leader and Judges 11 is beautiful grace.

His name was Jephthah and he was born of a prostitute, but lived with his dad and his dad’s wife and their legitimate sons. Jephthah was a constant reminder his father strayed, so when Jephthah was old enough to leave, he did. He collected worthless fellows as companions and formed a mob, a mob that could fight, and Israel needed fighters. How Jephthah developed a deep faith in God isn’t recorded, but he spoke of his Lord more than anyone else in Judges. He was a mix of street smarts, worldly manners, and impassioned faith. God chose Jephthah to lead Israel.

He made mistakes, one in particular. He vowed to God, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return shall be the Lord’s, I will offer it up for a burnt offering” (Judges 11:30-31). His daughter was first out the door to greet him. His vow was foolish, even wicked, pagan, and ungodly; but that was the way of the world he knew. If you want the help of the gods, make big promises. The Bible records life as it happens, unvarnished. It records that Jephthah “did with her according to his vow that he had made” (Judges 11:39). The Bible is a rough read.

A guest interviewed on “The Tonight Show” said, “I don’t know anybody who could read the Bible and still want to be a religious person. It is a book filled with immorality, wickedness, and then just plain silliness.” Yes, it is. It is raw humanity in need of God’s strength and guidance, which to me makes it eminently readable. Three millennia later, I live in a world that is every bit as immoral, wicked, and silly. I need God, the kind of God who will work with a guy like Jephthah. And a guy like me.

Daily Prayer

My Lord, You show me your love in grace. I do not deserve it, I do not even desire it, and I certainly do not seek it. And then You die for me anyway. You take my sins on Yourself, you pay the price of justification, and You share Your righteousness with me. You adopt me as Your child, teach me Your ways, and give me Your strength.

How can I possibly not love You? I love because You first loved me.

Amen

Daily Question

What skills do you have that God can use?

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The Songs We Sing

Daily Reading

Judges 8-9

Daily Thought

God delivers the Israelites from slavery to Egypt and Moses breaks out in song. His thirty-two verses lift off with, “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. For I will proclaim the name of the Lord; ascribe greatness to our God!” (Deuteronomy 32:1, 3). God destroys the Canaanites in Judges 4, and Judges 5 is another song, this time by Deborah and Barak, “Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes; to the Lord I will sing; I will make melody to the Lord, the God of Israel” (Judges 5:3). God is great. God is good! But the next time, nothing. A mighty victory over the Midianites in Judges 7. Turn the page and nary a note. The songs we sing, or don’t sing, matter. There is one fleeting reference to God from Gideon, but rather than praise, it was an excuse to duck the anger of Ephraim. The Ephraimites accosted Gideon for not including them in the fight, but Gideon dodged, “God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb” (Judges 8:3). This isn’t praise, it’s blame. God was in charge. Talk to him about it.

It matters what songs we sing, and don’t. Instead of praising God, the Israelites want to make Gideon king. To his credit, Gideon responds with a rare word of wisdom, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you” (Judges 8:23). But I will take your gold, thank you. “And Gideon said to them, ‘Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil.’ (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites)” (Judges 8:24). Gideon proclaimed, “One nation under God,” but his actions speak louder. When leaders prefer the gold of the people to the goodness of God, there can be no surprise at the outcome; “the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals” (Judges 8:33).

Daily Prayer

Sovereign God, Maker of everything. Your Son, King of kings, Firstborn over all creation. You hold all things together. You not only made the planets, the stars, the suns, and the moons, You determined their path. Silly people worship the created rather than the Creator.

God, may I always keep You in my thoughts. May I always allow You to determine my steps. God, may I have the wisdom it takes to hear Your voice, know Your thoughts, follow Your lead.

Amen

Daily Question

Do you seek God first (Matthew 6:33) before anything else?

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Stand Amazed

Daily Reading

Judges 6-7

Daily Thought

Gideon’s leadership was far from stellar: “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house” (Judges 6:15). “Show me a sign that it is you who speak with me” (Judges 6:17). “Because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night” (Judges 6:27). “Behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said” (Judges 6:37). “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew” (Judges 6:39). “The Lord said to him, ‘If you are afraid, go down to the camp with Purah your servant.’” And he did; he went down with Purah (Judges 7:10-11).

This is anything but inspiring. Certainly God could find someone else in Israel with more faith and courage, but that’s not what the Israelites needed. When, finally, Gideon stepped up, God trimmed his army from 32,000 to 300, “lest Israel boast, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me’” (Judges 7:2). This is the “generation who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel” (Judges 2:10). It was time for the people of Israel to get to know again the might of their God, and a cowardly commander leading 300 men armed with trumpets against the menacing army of Midian was just the ticket.

When God chooses you to accomplish his will, do not imagine it is because of all that you bring to the table. Just do what he says. Then, be ready to stand amazed at the might of your God.

Daily Prayer

God, You are God. Simple as that. In fact, it’s Your Name, the Name You gave Moses. The Name we are to remember You by. “I Am That I Am.” You are God. There is no other.

What You say, You do. God, I pray that my faith is full, that my devotion is pure, that I follow You without fail, that I never take my eyes off of You. You are God. There is no other.

Amen

Daily Question

Do you operate more by what you can do or what God can do?

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Look Up

Daily Reading

Judges 3-5

Daily Thought

“And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” Again. That’s putting it mildly. The verse is Judges 3:12, but it is also Judges 2:11; 3:7; 4:1; 6:1; 10:6; and 13:1. What is astonishing is they do all this bad behavior while God is looking down on them.

This guy walking along the sidewalk near the middle school in our neighborhood had finished a can of coke. I watched him glance to his left, then over his shoulder, and seeing the coast was clear, toss the can into the hedge on his right. Let’s think through his thought process. He is walking, looking forward and no one is there. Left, no one; behind, no one. He does not have to look down since that is the ground, and the hedge is on his right. No one is looking, so it is safe to litter. Forward, behind, left, right, and down, he had every direction covered. Except up. He did not look up. He did not think about God.

God was watching the Israelites, but they were not thinking about God. The book of Judges begins with the generation after the generation of Joshua. “And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord” (Joshua 2:10). Little wonder “the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” They were not looking up.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. ~Colossians 3:1-2

Daily Prayer

Heavenly Father, by Your grace I am saved. Not by anything I did. I add nothing. Your Son, Jesus Christ, paid the price for my sins by His death on the cross. I was dead in my sins and you raised me up. You gave me life, a life overflowing.

I am Your workmanship, made to do good works. Father, You lead and I follow and You get the glory and I have a life that is full and satisfying and good. On the night before Jesus died, He ate bread with His disciples and drank from the cup, and said, from now on whenever I do this, remember He gave His life for me. God, may I always remember, never forget, always look up.

Amen

Daily Question

What can you do to keep God present in your thoughts all day?

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Hiroshima

Daily Reading

Judges 1-2

Daily Thought

In 2005, my son was in 8th grade history at Springview Middle School. His assignment was to write an essay on the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In 1945, my dad was in the 6th Marine Division on the Island of Guam. His assignment was to invade the mainland of Japan. Until two bombs dropped. Before my son began his assignment, I’m glad he had the chance to talk with my dad. My son did not personally know World War II, but he knows his grandpa, and thus World War II was personal. But what about the next generation, and the next.

Life moves forward, a generation dies and then another. There is a danger that comes when generations pass, “and there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel” (Judges 2:10). This does not mean Israel had not heard the stories, legends passed down from generations long gone, but they did not know them. To the Hebrew, the word “know” contains a personal intimacy, something not quite captured in legend.

“So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said, ‘Because this people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the Lord as their fathers did, or not’” (Judges 2:20-22). When God disciplined the nation of Israel, he provided an opportunity to make it personal again. When I open God’s Word, it introduces me to my God. When I obey his Word, live by faith, trust God through trials, it makes it personal.

Daily Prayer

My God, You enter history and You walk with us. You guide us, You lead us, You go before us. In the work of Your Son, Jesus Christ, through death on the cross and resurrection from the grave, there is victory over death, over sin, and over evil. You are Almighty, the God of righteousness.

God, may we truly know what You have done, passing it along to our sons and daughters by living a life of faith and trust, following You wherever You lead.

Amen

Daily Question

In what ways have you experienced God personally in your life?