ResponsiveReiding

Through the Word in 2020 – May 1 – Things that cannot Profit or Deliver

May 1st, 2020

For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using.

Samuel’s farewell address in 1 Samuel 12 is an eye-opener. And it’s packed with valuable and timely insight. It’s take on human government is something that in our own politically charged climate is not to be missed. And it’s lessons, need to be recalled in every generation.

The 4 passages we are scheduled to read today are: Mark 8:14–21; Psalm 85; 1 Corinthians 16:12–18; 1 Samuel 11–13

It is Samuel’s farewell address at the installation of Saul as the 1st king of Israel that captures my attention today.

If we learn nothing else from this farewell address, the first thing to note is that human government is a gracious gift of God – but! – it is in response to our sinful desire to be led by men rather than by God directly. It’s not God’s best for us, but it is His mercy on us rather than leaving us completely abandoned.

It is government’s dual nature here we must grasp. Yes, it is a gift of God to keep society ordered and punish evil. And, the need for it is also a perpetual reminder that we need it, only because we are unwilling to serve God directly and individually.

It is a graciously given bit and bridle.

Note secondly it is not enough that a people has a godly leader. There must be parity for a nation to stand. If either one or the other, the leader or the people or both forsake the Lord, destruction will come. Count on it. And, it is just as true with Church leadership too. Just look at the 7 letters to the Churches in Revelation.

So we get:

1 Samuel 12:14–15 ESV

If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well. But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king.

This is why human government cannot save us from the judgment of God in our disobedience. And why human government – even the best human government still requires us to love and serve God. We cannot serve the government in place of God.

Isn’t it interesting then that Samuel can call this new government – instituted by God – and the kingship of Saul: “an empty thing that can’t profit or deliver” in vs. 21.

Isn’t that a powerful rebuke regarding how much emphasis the Church in America right now places on political power and societal position?

All of it is worthless and cannot possibly profit us, nor can it rescue us from the true dangers we face – the spiritual ones. Only a people bound together to seek and serve the Lord is of any real good.

Our greatest dangers right now are far more severe than Covid 19, government overreach, secret cabals, deep state shadow governments or globalist conspiracies – it is standing in the judgment of God for our rebellion against His Lordship. Personally, and as a society.

Heavenly Father, prevent us, prevent me from slipping into that all too commonly visited abyss of imagining that the hope for the Church or the nation in any fashion rests in government or leadership. We need Christ! And to look to Him as our King. To love and serve Him. Then and only then will it be well with us. As Jesus taught us to pray – Father – “Thy Kingdom Come!”

Let that sink into your soul today listener.

God bless. And God willing, we’ll be back Monday.
Through the Word in 2020 – 4/30 – The Blinding Light of the Commonplace

April 30th, 2020

For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE

If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using.

Bread. It is the single most common symbol of sustenance in life.

When we get together with friends, we break bread. Our livelihood is sometimes referred to as our “bread and butter.” It is so tied to basic human needs that money has at times itself been called bread. So it is no wonder when Jesus refers to Himself, He can say the He is God’s very bread of life. The most basic need of human soul. Apart from which, true life, life connected to the Living God cannot be sustained.

It’s not incidental that Jesus’ breaks bread to the multitudes more than once. That’s our focus today on Through the Word in 2020. I’m Reid Ferguson.

We have 3 sections to consider today, 1 Corinthians 16:1–11; Mark 8:1–13; 1 Samuel 8–10. And I’d like to take us back to the passage in Mark 8, where Jesus feeds the 4,000.

You’ll remember that just 2 chapters earlier, Jesus performed this very same miracle – but feeding 5,000 there.

Repetition was a common way in ancient texts of emphasizing things. The writers of the New Testament knew nothing of conventions we see every day like bold text, underlining, exclamation points or italics. They most often used repetition. So it is Jesus’ miraculously feeding the crowds must hold some unique importance the Holy Spirit is drawing our eye to.

What is it? Well, while there may be other reasons, but there is one we dare not overlook – even though those who were present at the time – even the Disciples, seemed to miss.

I’ve become convinced over time that this miracle of multiplying the bread just may be Jesus’ greatest miracle during His incarnation – and the one which makes His deity the most evident.

The simple reality is that here, right in front of their eyes, Jesus acted as Creator.

You see, to multiply those few loaves and fishes required that He bring material into existence, that wasn’t already there. He had only so much material to work with. Only so many atoms and molecules. In order to do what He did, at that moment, with no fanfare, no great pronouncements, no grand flourishes, in the simple act of breaking the bread into pieces, He created new bread molecules on the spot. He brought into existence that which did not exist a moment before. What He did when He spoke the physical universe into existence in Genesis 1.

And nobody got It. No one. Not even His closest friends. The very ones who put the loaves and fish into His hands and then carried them to the crowds. He sat before them in that moment as THEIR Creator, but in the blinding light of the commonplace, they missed Him.

And I have to wonder if we do the very same thing every day.

Living in a universe of amazing regularity. On a planet so finely tuned to sustain life that so far, it is the sole example we have in the universe. The seasons as they come and go. Our necessary cycles of rest and activity. Our suitedness to live and thrive in this environment with all of its stunning provision and variety.

The perpetual hum of the human machine with its innumerable processes and functions from the cellular level on up. All these incredible systems working in perfect harmony. Breathing. Eating. Sleeping. Moving. Coordinating. Thinking. Inventing. Selfawareness. Love. Knowledge of right and wrong.

To consider all these most basic realities of human existence, and then to contemplate them apart from a Creator, designer and sustainer, defies the imagination.

But like with the feeding of the thousands, His miraculous work in the midst of it all gets lost in the blinding light of the commonplace.

But He is here. Working. Sustaining. In the ordinariness of everyday life.

Oh Father – open our eyes.

Let that sink into your soul today beloved.
God bless, and God willing, I’ll be back tomorrow.
Through the Word in 2020 – April 29 / Emancipation!

April 29th, 2020

For the audio Podcast of this and every episode, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE

If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using.

Nothing separates the Redeemed in Christ from the rest of the World more than does the doctrine and hope of the Resurrection.

In Christ – the single most fixed reality of life – death, is utterly and completely transformed.

This is the heritage of all those who by faith have cast their sins upon Jesus as their substitute – and received the cloak of His righteousness to make us fit to stand before the Living God.

So we are reminded in one of our texts today: 1 Corinthians 15:50-58; Psalm 84; Mark 7:24-37 and 1 Samuel 4-7.

Hebrews 2:15 reminds us that all people apart from Christ, are lifelong slaves to the fear of death.

Fear of – Dying alone. Dying painfully. Dying in their regrets. Dying having accomplished nothing. Dying and leaving all they love behind. Dying and going out into nothingness. Dying and facing judgment.

Only the Christian knows true freedom from this slavish fear.

True, some may work hard at convincing themselves that after life there is just – nothing. Which is also terrifying to others. But in truth, deep down, we all know we will have to give an answer for ourselves, for what we’ve thought, done, or perhaps left undone.

In his work “A Free Man’s Worship and Other Essays”: The famous agnostic/atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell wrote of death this way: “Brief and powerless is man’s life; on him and all his race the slow, sure doom falls pitiless and dark. Blind to good and evil, reckless of destructions omnipotent matter rolls on its relentless way; for man, condemned today to lose his dearest, tomorrow himself to pass through the gates of darkness, it remains only to cherish, ere yet the blow fall, the lofty thoughts that enoble his little day; … to worship at the shrine his own hands have built.”

That dear friend, is slavery.

What a contrast then are the words of John Calvin: “how miserable is the life of those who fear death, as they must feel it to be dreadful, because they look on it apart from Christ; for then nothing but a curse appears in it: for whence is death but from God’s wrath against sin? Hence is that bondage throughout life, even perpetual anxiety, by which unhappy souls are tormented; for through a consciousness of sin the judgment of God is ever presented to the view. From this fear Christ has delivered us, who by undergoing our curse has taken away what is dreadful in death. For though we are not now freed from death, yet in life and in death we have peace and safety, when we have Christ going before us.”

And so, from our Corinthians passage today I write:

O death, where is your victory?

O grave, where is your sting?

Do you think the thoughts of fools,

Of pow’r o’er everything?

This man, for one, tho mortal be

Shall not by fear be swayed

To flee your cold, unyielding hand

Which makes the world afraid

For One has gone before me now

He’s plumbed your icy pit

And rose from out with triumph’s shout

Life’s candle spark re-lit

Come now you dupe of Evil’s mind

Stretch forth your numbing hand

Unnumbered hordes of demon ranks

Cannot my Lord withstand

Sing your final ghoulish song

Chant your hellish phrases

And even in those closing hours

I’ll hear nought but His praises

For you, O death, can only serve

To free me from this shell

And grave, to let this body rest

You’ll serve me very well

O death, where is your victory?

O grave, where is your sting?

For when your dual work’s complete

You’ve but brought me, to my King.

Let that sink into your soul today Christian.

God bless. And God willing, I’ll be back tomorrow.
Through the Word in 2020 / April 28 – 3 Simple Lessons

April 28th, 2020

For the audio Podcast, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE

If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using.

The passages we’re considering today are 1 Samuel 2-3; Mark 7:14-23 and 1 Corinthians 15:35-49

Each of the portions before us today are rich with lessons for the Believer. And we can barely scratch the surface of each.

In Mark we learn that it is not exposure to sinful things which makes one sinful – it is the sin which proceeds out of our own hearts which does so.

We are prone to make our purity one of dealing with our environment – rather than looking at our inward resonance with the sin in our environment, and seeking to deal with that inward concord. MY sin, is the problem, not other’s.

Sin isn’t a substance that can rub off on us, but an inward defilement which only the blood of Christ can cleanse, and the Holy Spirit deliver us from the power of.

In 1st Samuel we learn that it is important to recognize the seasonality of the movements of God. When we try to require that every generation at all times has exactly the same experience of God – or that He necessarily works the same way at all times – we rob Him of His sovereignty, and of recognizing that ebbs and flows are part of His sovereign plan.

So it is attempts to re-create the 1st Century Church today are doomed to fail. We’re not the 1st Century Church, but the 21st Century Church. We must live Christ in our context.

Flattening out God’s movements and our experiences is equivalent to saying we should either always be asleep or always awake – and that there is nothing to be had in having both sleeping hours and waking hours appointed by God.

There is spiritual infancy, adolescence, young adulthood, adulthood, middle age, and maturity. We ought never to try and stay at one level and make all of God’s works identical at all times in either type or frequency.

Let God be God.

And then in 1 Corinthians we are reminded of the coming glory of the resurrection.

And the cornerstone of that glory is this:

1 Corinthians 15:49 ESV

Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

If our concept of Heaven is just that it will be life as normal but without the scars of sin and fallenness here – then we are sadly mistaken. Heaven, is being with Christ. Seeing Him in His unveiled glory. And at last fully bearing His image.

And here is a necessary consideration for each of us: If we are not laboring to grow in that image now, then how can bearing that image then, be in the least pleasurable or desirable. For Heaven is, in its very essence, Christ in all His fulness.

And if I don’t want that now, I surely will not want it then either.

So here’s the question – am I seeking Him now? If not, the old adage remains quite true: If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it.

As I’ve said before, and no doubt will repeat again – no one stumbles into Heaven by accident. The only ones who get there, are those intentionally on their way there. Their goal is to be with Him, and to be like Him.

How about you?

Let those things sink into your soul today Christian.

God bless.

And God willing, we’ll be back tomorrow.
Through the Word in 2020 / April 27 – Praying Down God’s Curses

April 27th, 2020

For the audio Podcast, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE

If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using.

Mark 6:53-7:13; 1 Corinthians 15:1-34; Ruth 4-1 Samuel 1& Psalm 83 form our reading list for today.

Psalm 83 is what is called an imprecatory Psalm. Imprecation is just a fancy word for cursing. In the dozen or so Psalms which fall into this category, the author is calling upon God to curse his enemies, or those of Israel as God’s people.

Some are confused by this and wonder how it fits into the prayer life of those now in Christ and living under the New Covenant. And there several things to keep in mind which I hope will burn the fog off any concerns you might have.

We need to remember first that Christians have 3 enemies: The World, the Flesh and the Devil. So it is praying against the World, the World system; the invasion of secularism in all of its forms and its attempt to silence and/or obliterate the testimony of Christ in the earth is more than legitimate.

Praying that false belief systems found in cults and false religions come apart at the seams under the judgment of God is valid as well.

Calling upon God to curse every effort of the Devil to tempt and oppose God’s people and mission. To destroy his power to blind people from the truth of the Gospel.

And, praying against our own inward sinfulness must head the list of praying down God’s curses against our enemies.

Secondly, we remember that ancient Israel serves as a type and shadow of the Church. So while the New Testament is clear our struggle is not against flesh and blood – human enemies – it is no less real. And so praying against whatever or whoever attacks the Church as the Church, or the truth we are commissioned to guard and proclaim – is legitimate as well.

But here we have to note something vital if we should pray such prayers rightly: Note how the Psalmist is not asking to take vengeance himself, but is placing that in the Lord’s hands. He is doing his battle in prayer.

How perfectly this aligns then with passages like Romans 12:19:

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

Know your enemy, but bring their disposition to the Lord. He’ll never act wrongly. We can safely off-load our grief, consternation, anger and desire to Him in prayer, knowing He’ll only do what is good and just and best. And we LEAVE IT there.

Lastly, while there may still be some mystery regarding exactly how to handle these kinds of Psalms and prayers we get some great light on it in vss. 16-18.

With all of the destruction which the Psalmist seeks God to rain down on Israel’s enemies, the prayer is not simply about destroying their foes. Yes, he desires their enemies fail and be defeated and their faces filled with shame – but to what end? “That they may seek your name, O Lord.” The desire is not mere relief from attack, nor the wanton destruction of others. It is the crushing of their sinfulness, by subduing them to God.

This is how we are to pray against our enemies, the enemies of the Gospel, or our personal enemies. That their words, tactics, and wicked actions would be ruthlessly and utterly overthrown – but not that alone – That they might become our brothers and sisters in Christ. That they too would seek the glory of our Savior’s name. That, is real victory!

Bring your enemies to your God to deal with. Pray for the destruction of their efforts – AND, for the salvation of their souls.

That beloved is part of true spiritual warfare.

Let that sink into your soul today.

God bless. And God willing, we’ll be back tomorrow.
Loving Church Members with Different Politics: A Brief Book Review

April 25th, 2020

At ECF, we just finished preaching through the book of 1 Corinthians. DIvision plagued the Corinthian Church. And right now in the USA, not only is our society deeply polarized, so is the Church. And if there one dividing point which stands above the rest – not only for its own sake but because of what else gets tolled into it – it is politics.

Enter Jonathan Leeman and Andy Naselli’s poignant, powerful and extraordinarily timely little book: “How Can I LOve Church Members with Different Politics?”

It is less than 65 pages and is, in my opinion, an absolute must-read. Especially as we are fast approaching this next Presidential election.

No, it will not tell you how to vote. It will not tell you how to win political arguments. It will not prepare you for debates, except in the sense of its title.

The writing is crisp, minus a ton of jargon, theological or political. Both authors are skilled communicators, and due to their mutual capacity for brevity and clarity – you can digest it in less than an hour. But its after-effects will linger on.

Page after page is filled with sound wisdom, Biblical principles, and ways to live with one another in the Church – with whom we disagree – with the Scriptural requirements of love, compassion, understanding, courtesy, patience and “leeway.” A woefully lost word in our day when anyone who disagrees with us must be instantly demonized, or at least their soul’s state brought into question.

Social justice. Immigration. Tax reform. Socialized medicine. These are all hot topics right now, and ones that I personally have seen divide the Church even locally. Tragically. Shamefully.

Do yourself a favor and pick this gem up. The Kindle version is only 2 bucks and in paperback – $4.99. It is Scripture applied in the most practical and necessary way – right when needed. A timely word for Christ’s Church.

The book is written for you and me just sitting in the pew. It is neither academic nor technical. But let me share with you the closing section which is titled:

How Can Pastors Work for Unity in Politically Divisive Times?

1) Preach expositionally.

2) Continually clarify the distinction between biblical issues and applied-wisdom issues.

3) Continually affirm Christian liberty.

4) Teach forbearance toward the weaker conscience.

5) Point to your church’s statement of faith.

6) Speak more to what Scripture says and less on how to accomplish it.

7) Remember that your authority lies with expounding Scripture, not your politics.

8) Practice church discipline.

9) Teach what Scripture says about justice.

10) Teach the congregation to listen and empathize with those from different backgrounds.

11) Publicly pray for the issues causing grief and fear among different parts of the congregation.

12) Don’t overestimate the breadth of the problem when only a few people are making noise.

13) Model graciousness toward those who disagree with you.

14) Keep a cool head and don’t feel the need to address every issue of the day.

15) Preach the final judgment and sing about heaven often. 16) Preach the gospel every week.

Leeman, Jonathan. How Can I Love Church Members with Different Politics? (Church Questions) . Crossway. Kindle Edition.

Really great stuff. Now buy the book (really a booklet) and read the rest. You won’t be sorry, and you will be better.
Through the Word in 2020 – April 24 / Not out of the Way

April 24th, 2020

For the audio Podcast, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE

If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using.

Today: Ruth 1-3; Mark 6:30-52 and 1 Corinthians 14:26-40.

I’m Reid Ferguson and this is Through the Word in 2020.

Every time I read this account of Jesus walking on the water in the midst of the storm in Mark 6, or His previous calming of the storm 2 chapters earlier – I am filled with hope and encouragement.

It’s not just that sometimes He actually calms the storms in our lives – but more the reminder that He is master of all those things outside my control. Even the most threatening.

I need to be reminded of that over and over.

He knows that. And so I take it, it is no coincidence these 2 accounts appear so close to one another. He knows our souls need the repetition. That we don’t get it the first time.

My capacity to forget His track record and the revelation of His power, goodness, mercy and grace is endless. It seems to run through my soul like water through a sieve.

It is in His abundant graciousness that He repeats such things over and over.

So in revisiting this account today, note first how our Christ accommodates our weaknesses and infirmities.

In this case of the disciples caught in the storm, Jesus would have gone before them, leading the way to shore and safety – but the immediacy of their fear and stress catches His heart.

So rather than simply leading them on, He stops, enters the boat with them AND speaks a word of comfort to them. Then, as if all of that is not enough, He also stills the storm.

How much He knows our pitiful state. How willingly He stoops to help us. One would have thought this would be an occasion for Jesus to rebuke them for their lack of faith. After all, hadn’t He stilled the storm before?

But not so our Savior. Tenderly, willingly, accommodatingly, He shifts to meet the exigent circumstances they faced.

How wonderful He is!

Note too how they misapprehended Him and thought Him simply an apparition.

I don’t know about you, but I do this all the time. I fail to recognize Him in the midst of my storm. But He is there whether I perceive Him rightly or not. He never fails to be right in the very center of my deepest cares, concerns and woes. Especially those so outside of my own control .

So what are we to make of the statement in vs. 48 that Jesus “meant to pass by them”?

As with them, so with us: Neither their trials nor ours are the end of God’s dealings, but merely one place along the path of His plan.

We often make our trials (and their relief) the end point. He does not.

He is still on His way toward His eternal goals. And our trials and difficulties are not out of His way – but directly in His path. They are neither incidental, nor the whole story. And He meets us there, where we least expect Him.

But He does not intend to stay there, nor for us to, nor did He alter His course in the process.

This is a most amazing truth: Our woes always coincide with His path, and His path always leads beyond our woes.

May the Lord grant us the grace to always keep the two of those things in view.

Let that soak into your soul today Christian.

God bless. And God willing, we’ll be back next Monday.
Through the Word in 2020 – April 23 / No King

April 23rd, 2020

For the audio Podcast, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE

If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using.

Judges 18–21; Mark 6:14–29; 1 Corinthians 14:1–25; Psalm 82

Today in Judges, we close out one of the darkest and most bizarre chapters in the history of Israel.

As we have seen in this book, time after time God raised up “Judges” to deliver Israel from their enemies. And each time we are confronted with the revealing of their unstable and unconverted hearts.

4 times the author reminds us there was “no king in Israel” – with the result as 21:25 has it: “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

Left to themselves, without a man to lead them in right ways, they stubbornly refused to follow God individually. And every nation in human history has followed this identical pattern.

In the flow of the Old Testament narrative, Judges sets the stage for God to finally give Israel an earthly King. But we must be careful how we understand that. Let’s not be unaware that human government as established by God, is a mark of His grace in responding to our wickedness.

It is always second best.

As God will tell Samuel later when He does give them their first King: “They have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.” (1 Sam. 8:7)

The truth is, we come more and more under the bonds of human government, the more we fail to serve God individually. So Solomon can write in Proverbs centuries later: “When a land transgresses, it has many rulers.”

So, when the text notes those 4 times they had no king over them, “No King” is right, not even God.

As a result, what a mess Israel becomes – adding one bad decision upon another. Moral confusion reigns. Sticking rigidly to oaths they should never have sworn, and then compounding their foolishness by convoluted reasoning and machinations that are as absurd as the events that precipitated them.

Sounds rather contemporary to me.

When men do not serve God, and instead serve their notions of God and what is right and wrong from their misguided and invented constructs – havoc ensues. Society crumbles. And governments multiply laws and all kinds of strictures to try and rein in sinfulness and give society some measure of order – as convoluted as it is. But all doomed ultimately to fail.

Governments can address some actions, but not hearts in rebellion against God.

No one sought the Lord then. And the less people seek the Lord now AS their Lord – the more our own society will cave to everyone doing what is right in their own eyes. And the dreadful, confused, mad, tragic and gruesome kinds of events and circumstances we witness in Judges, will be replayed – ARE being replayed in our day and place.

This is why the preaching of the Gospel remains our great imperative and hope.

Why not just the prayers of the saints, but the lives of the saints lived under the Lordship of Christ – rather than doing what simply seems or feels right in our own eyes – is so vastly important. Why the Church must lead the way.

When Christians, when the Church imbibes this same spirit; when self-styled religion replaces the faith, once for all delivered to the saints – we actually lead the way into the chaos that ravages society.

Why does the gruesome, abominable, wholesale slaughter of babies persist among us in abortion?

Why does the tragic confusion of transgenderism proliferate along with 1,000 other societal ills?

Because we have no king – certainly not King Jesus – and everyone does what is right in their own eyes.

Oh that our God may be pleased to revive us in our day – that we are fully restored to God being our God, and we His people.

Let that sink into your soul today.

God bless, and God willing, we’ll be back tomorrow.
Through the Word in 2020 – April 22 / Love, is always saying more than “I’m sorry”

April 22nd, 2020

For the audio Podcast, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE

If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using. It’s never too late to start.

Today’s readings include: Judges 13-17; Mark 6:1-13 & 1 Corinthians 12:12-13:13

It’s amazing in the book of Judges to see how long the People of God can sometimes walk in disobedience before they feel the pain of their fall and cry for recovery.

This dynamic is repeated both in the lives of the heroes and the villains in this remarkable book.

But of particular note is this character Samson. And in his story, among others – one lesson stands out far above the rest.

Samson was both used mightily by God, and was also a man of failures equal to if not eclipsing his accomplishments.

Samson, as gifted and set apart by God as he was had a big problem; he never knew how to humble himself in repentance. And it brought about an end to his usefulness as well as his life.

For many, the notion of repentance is simply saying they are sorry for the wrongs they’ve done. But Scripture describes repentance in far deeper terms; best detailed in

2 Corinthians 7. Something we’ll look at another day.

In God’s genius in Scripture, what is taught by precept in the Corinthians passage is illustrated in graphic detail in many an Old Testament event.

The key to that in the account of Samson is found in 13:5, where the angel who visited Samson’s parents announced that he was to be “a Nazirite to God from the womb.”

According to Numbers 6 a Nazirite was a person who had entered into a unique time of dedication to God for God’s purposes, where among other things; they could not eat or drink anything derived from grapes or alcohol in any form, and not cut their hair until the term of the vow was ended.

There was one more important prohibition – they could not come into contact with a dead body for any reason – even to bury a parent who died.

If they failed in any of these details, the term of the vow was broken. They had to cut off their hair, offer a sacrifice, and start the clock over again.

But here’s the rub for Samson.

Since his great strength was connected to his Nazirite status and thus his hair not being cut – if he came into contact with a dead body – even he would have to cut his hair and start over. The problem being, if he cut his hair, he would be weak like other men until it grew again. And it appears he was unwilling to humble himself to be like other men on those occasions.

The narrative records a number of times where Samson killed men in physical combat. But none where he cut his hair and stepped aside until it was regrown.

Until Delilah cuts it.

And he is humbled at last not by his own hand in humble obedience, but by his enemies, in disgrace.

Beloved, if we will not humble ourselves in repentance regarding our sins, even if that means we appear weak or even disqualified from service for a while – then in due time, God will bring that humbling about. And the sad pain of that will far outstrip any humbling we might endure by owning our sin fully ourselves.

I find myself praying at the end of this narrative something like this:

“Heavenly Father, give me a heart that repents at the drop of a dime. Do not let me grow so hard and cold that long times pass before I feel the woeful state of my soul and fly back to you. Grant me the gift of a repentant heart – that I not bring shame upon the name and cause of Christ.”

As 1 Cor. 11:31 notes: “If we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.”

Let that soak into your soul today.

God bless, and God willing, we’ll see you tomorrow.
Through the Word in 2020 – April 21 / The Amazing Humility of God

April 21st, 2020

For the audio Podcast, find us on Breaker, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify or HERE

If you’d like to join us in our journey reading all the way through the Bible this year, drop me a line at reid.ferguson@gmail.com, and I’ll be glad to email back a copy of the reading plan we are using. It’s never too late to start.

Today’s Passages: Psalm 81; Mark 5; 1 Corinthians 12:1–11; Judges 10:6–12:15

What an amazing display of God’s goodness is to be found in Psalm 81.

The Psalm begins with a call to the people to praise God for His goodness.

But then, the language takes an important turn.

In the latter half of vs. 6 – the voice of God is heard and the rest of the Psalm becomes a most passionate plea from God for His people to return to Him.

You have to read it slowly and thoughtfully or you will miss the tone and the emotion of it.

How God pleads with His people.

I find this absolutely amazing.

The God of the universe, who spoke all of physical creation into existence; who made us for Himself to bear His own image – is also unspeakably and astoundingly – humble!

He is not prideful – He humbles Himself in the most aching pleadings.

Visiting the Jews in their Egyptian captivity He says: “I hear a language I had not known.”

In other words, the people of God didn’t sound like the people of God anymore.

Praise and honor for their God didn’t characterize their speech – but they sounded just like the rest of the World; profane, lost and hopeless.

I wonder if God visited your house and mine today – the Church today, if He would marvel that we sound more like the World? Fretful over things of no eternal value, profane, vengeful raging. Speech bereft of encouragement and faith pointing to Jesus, and instead full of vitriol, invective and even obscenities.

How do we speak to our families when we think no one is listening?

Or consider the “speech” which is masked by the anonymity and safe distance afforded us by the internet. What we say and how we say it in postings and comments.

What we talk about most, our tone and our vocabulary are all windows into our soul’s condition.

He then goes on to recount how He delivered them from Egypt (we could liken that to our own salvation); took them through the desert; admonished them repeatedly for their good; chastened them in their disobedience – and still suffered their turning to other gods.

And then He cries out in vss 13-16 “Oh that my people would listen to me!” That they would walk in my ways.

If we would just listen He says – He would soon subdue our enemies and fight against our foes. He would battle for us against our sins.

And that His desire is to feed us with the finest of the wheat – He desires nothing but the very best for us.

The “best” which He then denominates as this: “With honey from the Rock I would satisfy you.”

What a word picture that is. It’s a direct reference back to Deuteronomy 32 where God identifies Himself as the Rock of our salvation 5 times – and testifies that He does what seems counter to all normal reason – that when we turn to Him, rest in Him and stand upon Him as our sure foundation – the end result is that we are satisfied with a sweetness which the world can know absolutely nothing about.

For in the natural, one does not get sweetness, from a rock.

Beloved, if life is bitter to you right now, unstable and hard – know this – your God pleads with you in the most humble and passionate way to turn to Him once again to be filled with the sweetness that can only come from Him.

Check your speech. It will tell you where you are.

But you do not need to stay there. Look to Him.

And your speech will soon take on the same sweetness you are taking in.

Let that soak into your soul today.

God bless, and God willing, we’ll be back tomorrow.