Category: Published

2 Kings 7:3-4 (MSG). It happened that four lepers were sitting just outside the city gate. They said to one another, “What are we doing sitting here at death’s door? If we enter the famine-struck city we’ll die; if we stay here we’ll die. So let’s take our chances in the camp of Aram and throw ourselves on their mercy. If they receive us we’ll live, if they kill us we’ll die. We’ve got nothing to lose.”  5-8 So after the sun went down they got up and went to the camp of Aram. When they got to the edge of the camp, surprise! Not a man in the camp! The Master had made the army of Aram hear the sound of horses and a mighty army on the march. They told one another, “The king of Israel hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to attack us!” Panicked, they ran for their lives through the darkness, abandoning tents, horses, donkeys—the whole camp just as it was—running for dear life.

Observation

For me, this is one of the most encouraging passages in the entire Bible.  All through the Bible we see God using the unlikeliest of characters – the weak, the disenfranchised, the outcasts, the youngest, the oldest, the least qualified, and the one with the shakiest knees – to accomplish the impossible and reveal His glory, power, authority and nature to the world. These four seem to me to represent the bottom of the barrel from a human perspective. 

Leprosy is a disease that is more than skin deep, which causes significant nerve damage as it progresses and, in the advanced stages, can even result in the loss of limbs or appendages (fingers, toes, nose, etc.).  Lepers were pariah, outcasts, beggars, shunned by and forbidden to associate with the healthy.  These four are sitting outside the city walls, exposed to the elements and unprotected from the enemy surrounding the city, almost certainly clothed in dirty rags. They know there is no hope to find any help or food from those within the city – why would starving people waste their precious limited resources on these hopeless, homeless, diseased beggars? 

These four decide they have nothing to lose by approaching the enemy, who has been besieging the city until those within the walls are starving, to beg for some food (“let’s take our chances in the camp of Aram and throw ourselves on their mercy. If they receive us we’ll live, if they kill us we’ll die. We’ve got nothing to lose.”).  Understand, the city had thrown these four away as trash, considering them a burden, a drain on the extremely limited resources available, but God decided to demonstrate again the value and significance of each soul by making these the most unlikely of heroes, deliverers of an entire city.  I have a picture of four weak, starving, limping men in filthy rags stumbling toward the enemy lines, hoping for either a handout or an end to their misery, with no idea that God is using them to set the city free.  Only God could make them sound like a mighty army!

Impact on Me

This passage of Scripture always reminds me of two things:

1. EVERY soul is significant and precious to God and
2. It is only my willingness to go that limits what He can do in and through me. 

Every soul includes not only the young, healthy and productive, but also the helpless, the homeless, those who face physical or mental challenges, who are impaired by the challenges of age or disease and, perhaps the most difficult for us to accept, those who do evil – terrorists, murderers, abusers, extortionists, cheaters, and the like. 

God’s love extends to whosoever will come and I am not the judge of whom He will choose to show mercy or use to accomplish His will and purpose.  I am called to love as I have been loved, give as freely as I have received, sow generously while allowing Him to be responsible for the results. I have often repented for resisting to obey His requests because I judged the cost to me to be too high or a wasted effort or outside my strengths; He is not asking me to approve His plan, His strategy or His use of resources, but rather asking me to trust and obey. 

These four lepers are the very last people that any of us would choose to overcome the besieging army; they were hopeless, helpless, starving, homeless, and faced severe physical challenges as the result of disease.  Despite all of this, God used them mightily because they got up and went. What can He do  with me if I will be obedient to get up and go at His command regardless of how qualified, equipped or comfortable I feel about the assignment?  I will only know if I commit to say “yes” before asking “what” and refuse to back out when the “what” seems too scary.

Prayer

Lord, I want to see with Your eyes, love with Your heart and trust You with all I am and have. I want to be courageous and go boldly where You send me, knowing that You go with me.  Remind me always that I am the lantern, but You are the light; I am a vessel, but it is Your power, anointing, love, mercy, grace and peace that is to fill and overflow me.  I never want to forget that the best I can bring to the table is my trust in and my obedience to You.  You will equip me to do whatever You call me to do.  I pray this all in Jesus’ name. Make it so.

Romans 5:1-6 PHILLIPS   Since then it is by faith that we are justified, let us grasp the fact that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have confidently entered into this new relationship of grace, and here we take our stand, in happy certainty of the glorious things he has for us in the future. This doesn’t mean, of course, that we have only a hope of future joys—we can be full of joy here and now even in our trials and troubles. Taken in the right spirit these very things will give us patient endurance; this in turn will develop a mature character, and a character of this sort produces a steady hope, a hope that will never disappoint us. Already we have some experience of the love of God flooding through our hearts by the Holy Spirit given to us. 

Romans 5:1-6 MSG  ^1-2 By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.  ^3-5 There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!

Observation

Wait, wait, wait!  I was good with “Through Him we have confidently entered into this new relationship of grace, and here we take our stand, in happy certainty of the glorious things he has for us in the future.”  I really like the standing “out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.”  Isn’t this relationship of grace about the guarantee of a life full of blessing, happiness, glory and freedom from conflict?   What is Paul meaning by these words – “We can be full of joy here and now even in our trials and troubles.”  Trials and troubles!!  How can we “continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles”?  Doesn’t God promise us smooth sailing on an luxurious yacht through life when we accept Jesus and embrace salvation?  Some may say so, but I say absolutely not!   

Just as an athlete must practice and a student must study to achieve their goals, there is work involved in sustaining faithfulness on our parts.  Don’t forget that we have an Enemy who, since the Garden of Eden, is constantly working for our failure.  God never fails in faithfulness, but we humans are inconsistent and must build the muscles and experience of our faith through resisting temptation and never giving up.  Trusting and relying upon Jesus in troubling and difficult times builds in us patient endurance, mature character, and a steady hope, a hope that will never disappoint us. 

Please understand that patient endurance suggests long distance, physical challenge and/or persisting under unpleasant or difficult circumstances without flagging or complaining.  Mature character means that you have a firm foundation morally and spiritually because of the deeper relationship with Jesus built in and through all you have endured.  Then hope, beautiful hope, which encourages us to turn to and depend on our God for Whom all things are possible, even when we don’t understand why we are where we are experiencing difficult circumstances.  No matter how long or difficult the journey, when Jesus goes with us, we will accomplish His goals and reach our destination.

In John 16, Jesus explains to His disciples what being His disciple will be like after He goes away.  They are filled with sorrow and probably fear because they have depended upon Him for wisdom, leadership, instruction, confronting the opposition and the extraordinary demonstration of God’s power.  Their reaction suggests that they do not feel prepared to go it alone.  Jesus encourages them with the promise of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, who will be with them, and even in them, to do all that Jesus did for them.  Jesus said to His disciples, “I’ve told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.” (John 16:32-33 MSG)

Impact on Me

So, what should I expect in this current godless world?  After these verses, Jesus died a horrific and culturally shameful death on the Cross.  10 of His 12 disciples were martyred and 1 was exiled to a tiny rocky island for the faith.  Paul himself suffered beatings, shipwreck, prison and eventually death for his work spreading the Gospel.

How can I have the joy and peace God promises when I experience difficulties and face trials and troubles?  He promises His Holy Spirit will be with us and for us in our trials and tribulation so that we through patient endurance will become mature in character so we can have “a hope that will never disappoint us.”

So, I guess my expectations should depend upon whether I want to be a fully committed disciple or just a member of the crowd.  Have I come only to hear a great message and get a free meal like so many of the 5000?   Am I willing to risk ridicule, opposition or worse to identify with Jesus?  When life is not “blessing, happiness, glory and freedom from conflict,” will I blame God and look for comfort and security elsewhere or seek Him for what He wants me to be and do as I walk in patient endurance?  It is always my choice.  If I want to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”, I will need to press on in the footsteps of Jesus before me regardless of where they lead.

Prayer

Father God, Creator of the Universe, All-Wise, All-Knowing, Merciful One.  There are so many times that life seems too difficult to bear, circumstances too overwhelming.  I don’t know how people survive without faith in You.  Sometimes my enduring does not seem too patient, but give me the strength and courage to walk in those footsteps of Christ You have placed before me so I can be what You have called me to be and do what You have called me to do.  May I be found faithful, a servant of mature character and steady hope.  In Jesus’ name, I pray.  Make it so.

Matthew 5:14-16 MSG “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

2 Corinthians 4:6-7 For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.

Observation

This passage appears very soon after the “Blessed are those…” list which begins the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus was preaching to a mixed crowd, people unqualified to be included in God’s favor because they were either poor or Gentile or uneducated or a myriad of other societal or Jewish religious reasons.  He was teaching the people how God was calling them to live in this messed up world – to be in it but not of it.  My goodness, how Jesus turned the current understanding of what God wanted from them upside down (or was it right side up?)!  

In this sermon, Jesus is putting the pathway to loving and serving God as a choice – one anyone can choose.  No picky mountain of rules about how to behave, but, rather, be generous, be kind, be loving to the unlovely, give up your rights to benefit others who cannot repay you, be meek (constant strength of faith under pressure) and humble (know exactly who you are in Christ).  He was teaching them that God wanted them – the formerly excluded – to be a carrier of His light, a light which would dispel the darkness wherever they would go, remembering always “we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.”    

Impact on Me

The Sermon on the Mount is a place where I meet Jesus face-to-face every time I come, asking Him to judge my obedience, my willingness to be a living sacrifice, a good and faithful servant. Here is where I ask the Holy Spirit to inspect my heart, my motives, my thoughts toward others, especially those who make it so hard to love them! Here is where I am reminded that it is how I allow Christ in me to shine that matters because what I bring on my own is only an dark lantern or empty pot. So, I ask myself:

• How clean is the glass of my lantern?
• What trash have I accumulated in the clay pot of my life that reduces the treasure I can hold and share?
• How brightly does Jesus shine through my life?
• Have I allowed myself to dim or obscure His pure light by mucking up the glass (or filling my pot) with my human pride, my selfish desires, by offenses I have not forgiven, by my circumstances, by the cultural muck of the world, the decoration of religion?

These verses are where I ask for a good scrubbing of the glass in my lantern and a good clean out of my pot – a refreshing to my soul, my heart, my attitude, my perspective, my mercy and compassion for the unlovely. I want my glass to be sparkling clean and no hindrance to His light shining through to pierce the darkness for me and others. I want my pot to hold nothing but His treasure so it is all I have to give.

Prayer

Lord God, Father, Savior, Teacher, Helper, I praise You and am so grateful for Your love and care.  I invite You on an inspection tour of my life, the storehouses of my soul, the dark corners of my attitudes and perspectives, the hidden places of my heart.  I want to be filled with, motivated by, overflowing with only You, Your light and treasure, so others will come to know You because they meet You in me.  Make it so, in Jesus’ name.