“A Divided Family”

April 29, 2024

April 29, 2024

Read Deuteronomy 13, Psalm 144, Acts 22

Do you have a close family or are they a little bit on the continuous side? There are many stories in the Bible of families that were very dysfunctional to say the least. Jacob and his twelve sons and David and his son Absolom are a few that come to mind. In Deuteronomy 13 we read some shocking words from Moses and the Lord. “If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known, 7 gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), 8 do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. 9 You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people” vv. 6-9. We must remember that this was in the Old Testament and under the Old Covenant that we are not bound today to follow. But we should take note from this passage of how serious God took those who would worship and also entice others to worship the false gods of the other nations. It would be morally better for one person to die rather than for one person to mislead many others to join in and fall away from worshiping God. What else do you see in these chapters? What words, phrases, or themes stand out to you?
Add your thoughts below.

Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by John Weldon

“Israelite Rage Room?”

April 28, 2024

April 28, 2024

Read Deuteronomy 12, Psalm 143, Acts 21

Did you know that they have places that you can go and let out your pent up rage? These rage rooms are designed to be a fun and strangely therapeutic way to release some frustration in your life. You go and put on the proper safety equipment and goggles and then you enter the room and smash until you are rage free… or until your wallet can’t afford the things you are breaking. That’s right you pay for your experience by the things you destroy.

We read in Deuteronomy 12 about the original order from the Lord for Israel to smash and destroy the idols and other objects of worship from the nations around them as they entered into Canaan. “These are the decrees and laws you must be careful to follow in the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess—as long as you live in the land. 2 Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains and on the hills and under every spreading tree where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. 3 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places” vv. 1-3. That sounds like the ultimate thrill for a man, but this would be harder than Israel knew. The reason God wanted them to destroy these things was for their own protection and to keep them from wandering away from the Lord, tempted by the practices of the other religions.

God warned them to be fully obedient to his commands. “Be careful not to be ensnared by enquiring about their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.” 31 You must not worship the LORD your God in their way, because in worshipping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods. 32 See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it” vv. 30-32.

What do you need to smash and destroy in your life that is keeping you from completely following the Lord?

Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by John Weldon

“Music”

April 5, 2024

April 5, 2024

Read Numbers 25, Psalm 98-100

What’s your favorite genre of music? Do you have a favorite singer or band? Do you prefer the older music of your early years or the newer music of today? Maybe you love it all! Music has been around since the early chapters of Genesis. Genesis 4:21 mentions that sons of Jubal were the ones who played string instruments and pipes. The psalms are an expression of the hearts of Israel. They were put to music and sung in their native Hebrew language. Psalm 95 instructs us, “Sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him” v. 1. There will always be new songs that come because God is doing new things. God is always working. Whether or not we see it or recognize it is another thing.

There are different types of music. Some are love songs, others are blues or dirges. Some songs are filled with fun and joy from life’s moments. The author of Psalm 95 is apparently filled with Joy when he says, “Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. 8 Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy;” vv. 7-8.

What is something you can “sing” about today? How would you express yourself through music today if you wrote a song? Would it be focused on joy or be more of a lament or a blues song? Maybe you would prefer to express yourself with a poem.

What else do you see in these chapters? What words, phrases, or themes stand out to you?
Add your thoughts below.

Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by John Weldon

“Worship”

March 22, 2024

March 22, 2024

Read Numbers 11, Psalm 81, Mark 5

Everybody worships something. Some worship various things in creation like trees, mountains, statues, or other carved items. Others worship ideas like science, a political agenda, or saving the planet, or protecting animals. Some may even worship another person, Taylor Swift, a football coach, or a famed actor or actress. Most people just simply worship themselves. They are the ruler of their own domain.

Psalm 81 is a psalm of praise to God. “Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob! 2 Begin the music, strike the tambourine, play the melodious harp and lyre” vv. 1-2. As a reminder worship is much more than playing or singing a song. Worship can include what we devote our time, thoughts, or focus our efforts upon. We should worship God and Him alone, this is the first commandment. We can worship God for who He is (His character and nature) and we can worship God for what good things He has done.

God warns the people of Israel, “Hear, O my people, and I will warn you— if you would but listen to me, O Israel! 9 You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god. 10 I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it” vv. 8-10. We need to continually check ourselves and see if we are putting anything before the Lord in priority. Unknowingly we can allow things to creep in slowly into our lives and take a prominent hold in our life.

What else do you see in these chapters? What stands out to you? What words, phrases, themes or images speak to you most from the Scripture? Add your thoughts below.

Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by John Weldon

“I Will Make Your Name Great”

January 12, 2024

January 12, 2024

Read Genesis 12, Psalm 12, John 12

In Genesis 11 we find the people trying to make a name for themselves. Their attempt is without God and full of pride. In Genesis 12 we find the Narrative of Abram beginning with a call from the Lord. God tells Abram, if he will obey and follow His leading “I will make your name great” v. 2. What a contrast we find in these two chapters. God not only promises to make a great name for Abram, but he also promises that He will become a great nation that will be a blessing to all the other nations. Are there things in our life we attempt to do on our own and in our own power? If God is our creator, He knows us best, why do we fight Him and following his ways for our lives?

After Abram moves with his family to the land of the Canaanites, God also makes another promise to Abram. “To your offspring I will give this land” v. 7. Think about this promise, it was not one that Abram would enjoy himself, but one his “offspring” would see down the future. Hundred of years later, God would keep his promise and the Israelites would come to inherit the land. The idea of “paying it forward” comes to mind here. Abram’s obedience would not benefit anything to him personally in this promise but He was wise enough to follow through for the sake of his family far into the future.

 The last part of Genesis 12 we find Abram being not so concerned with others, especially his wife Sarai, and he tells Sarai to lie about his relationship with him in order to save his own life. God acts to protect the promise and strikes the Egyptians with serious diseases. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. We may be strong in a particular area of life but weak in another. When are you tempted to not trust the Lord most often? If you can identify your weaknesses this will go a long way in guarding against them and learning to lean more on the Lord.

Speaking of lying, Psalm 12 is a psalm of David. He speaks about those who lie to each other. “Everyone lies to his neighbor; their flattering lips speak with deception” v. 2. David desires people to not be taking advantage of by a lying tongue. He asks for God to act and stop those who would lie. The Lord responds, “’I will now arise’, says the Lord. ‘I will protect them from those who malign them’” v. 5.  David speaks about how the vile act of lying is “honored among men.” Lying is often seen as the smallest of sins committed by people. Humanity makes little of it. “Who does it hurt if someone lies?” many will ask. A great many people have been put in jail for lying and many honest people imprisoned for the lies of others. We must learn to love the truth and speak it to others. Truth honors God.

In John 12 we have two stories of honoring Jesus. First Mary takes some “pure nard, an expensive perfume” v. 3 and pours it on Jesus’ feet to anoint Him. Going further she takes her hair, which was considered a woman’s glory and wipes Jesus’ feet with it to clean them. What can you and I give, our best, to worship and honor Jesus with? This act is so moving Jesus proclaims, “’Leave her alone,’ Jesus replied. ‘It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me’” vv. 7-8. We should seek to honor Jesus when we can with what we have.  

The second story in John 12 of honor Jesus comes with his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Jesus rides the donkey as prophecy tells us into the city and the people shout  “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes I the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel!” v. 13. But not everyone there was pleased to see Jesus come into the city like that. The last part of John 12 is a commentary of the rejection of Jesus by many of the Jews. John quotes Isaiah 6:10 which speaks of those in Israel that would reject the message. Why would the Jews, specifically the religious leaders who knew the Scripture reject Jesus as the Christ. The answer is found in verse 43, John writes, “for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.” We can either seek to elevate ourselves or have God be the one to make us into who He wants. We can either honor and worship the Lord or we can honor and praise ourselves.

What else do you see in these chapters? What words, phrases, or themes stand out to you? Add your comments below.

Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by John Weldon

Sacrifices and Worship

January 4, 2024

January 4, 2024

Read Genesis 4, Psalm 4, John 4

I forget who said it, but someone once told me a great definition of a sacrifice; “Sacrifice is giving up something you love for something you love more.” In Genesis 4 is the first recorded sacrifices given to God. Cain who worked the soil brought “some of the fruits of the soil” v. 3. Abel “brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock” v. 4. The passage tells us that God looked with favor on Abel’s but not with Cain’s. What’s the difference? Was it the type of sacrifice brought, crops vs. animal sacrifice? From the wording and some help from the New Testament we can see it was not the type it was the quality of the sacrifice that caused the Lord to not look in favor of Cain’s sacrifice. The words “fat portions” and “firstborn” lead us to think that these were the choice animals of Abel. Hebrews 11:4 tells us that Abel “offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did.”

Then we have Cain’s reaction. He kills his brother in anger, not for anything his brother did to him but for what he failed to do himself. Do we ever lash out at others for something that we did or did not do? Is our reaction based on jealousy or covetousness when we were the ones who did not offer our best? It was not a competition between Cain and Abel, God’s response tells us this, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” v. 7. Then God says “sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” Sin is personified as a wild beast ready to attack us. God tells us we must “master it.” This phrase relates to discipline. We can master certain talents, skills, or wisdom. Here we are encouraged to master the choice to give in to sin and fight off the temptation to do something that is not right.

Cain is driven from the area in which he killed Abel. He contests that those who find him will kill him. You might ask, “who is going kill Cain, his parents?” Genesis 5:4 tells us that Adam and Eve had other sons and daughters. What many do not understand about the Scriptures is that many times they only highlight certain people or stories. They do not tell the whole story especially related to the genealogies.

Psalm 4 has some words of advice that Cain as well as we could learn from. Verse 4 tells us a similar thing that James does, “In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.” Our first responsibility is to master our response to our anger.  It’s okay to be angry, especially when we are wronged. Even Jesus got angry when people treated him or his father’s house wrong. David encourages us to “search your heart and be silent.” The next verse he tells us, “offer right sacrifices and trust the Lord” v. 5. My previous pastor used to tell me, “You can’t stop the birds from flying around in the air, but you can stop them from building a nest in your hair.” Simply put, we cannot control what other people do but we can control what is related to ourselves.

John 4 is the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. Jesus asks for a drink from the well and a conversation begins. Jesus tells the woman that she could have “living water” from him if she only knew “gift of God” v. 10 and who he was. Then Jesus tells her “I who speak to you am he” v. 26. The woman wants to divide with Jesus about the proper place to worship. The Samaritans claimed it was in Samaria while the Jews said it was in Jerusalem. Jesus reminds her that the right place is Jerusalem but that one day it won’t matter where the Father will not be worshiped in either place. Worship is closely related to sacrifice. Who or what do you worship? Is it a job? Family? A Celebrity? A Musician? Hopefully the Lord comes first on that list.

What words and phrases and themes do you see in these verses? What speaks to you in the time and circumstances that you are in now? What things get you angry enough to tempt you to do something you should not? Is the Lord what you worship and what you love more than anything else?

Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by John Weldon