1 Samuel 23-25 & Proverbs 28:1-14

A quick overview of 1 Samuel 23-25 shows David saving Keilah against the odds, David fleeing from Saul, David sparing Saul’s life, Samuel dying and David marrying Abigail.  Not unlike the lessons to be learned from 1 Samuel 23-25 the lessons taught in Proverbs 28 show the differences of the wicked and the righteous man. 

 Although there are many lessons to be learned from these passages the one that stands out most to me is God’s sovereignty.   For the person that genuinely seeks God’s plan and is obedient to His requests there is nothing that can come against him that God will not protect and comfort him through.  The road will not always be easy but the end result will be a sweet one if we give all the glory and honour to God and do not boast of the accomplishments as our own. 

 In 1 Samuel 23:1-14 we see David being obedient to God in seeking His direction and following that direction by saving Keilah from the Philistines.  David and his men went to fight the mighty Philistine army without fear because they had God on their side.  Saul learned of David’s whereabouts and pursued him.  David and his men fled Keilah and roamed the wilderness and hill country.  In 1 Samuel 23:15-18 we find Jonathan comforting David.  As a pious friend, he encouraged him to rely on God for his strength and comfort and remain strong in his faith.  As a friend not thinking of his own gain he took pleasure in David advancing to the throne.  They then renewed their covenant of friendship with one another before God showing continual support for one another.     As the chapter continues we see Saul’s pursuit of David. 

 Chapter 24 begins with Saul being put into the hands of David and his men.   David encouraged by his men to take Saul resists the temptation and shows his men God’s way is best although he did take a small part of Saul’s clothing to show that he was that close and could have killed him.  David realized that act was one that did not leave him with a clear conscience.  In verses 16-22 Saul speaks as though he is overcome with David’s kindness.   Now God made good to David that word on which he had caused him to hope, that he would bring forth his righteousness as the light, Ps. 37:6.   Saul could not find it in his heart to destroy David. 

 1 Samuel 25 begins with all of Israel grieving Samuel’s death.  It moves on with David approaching Nabal (A fool).  Nabal looked very mean, had no honour or honesty, cross, he was evil in his doings and self-centered.  Nabal refused the pleas of David and David in anger wanted to destroy Nabal and his family.   In verses 18-31 we see Abigail petitioning to David using God’s grace to soften David.  She tells of the things that David will gain and of his success if he perseveres.  She relies on David’s conscience by asking him not to do anything he may regret in the future.   In the verses that follow David gives thanks to God for the reality check.  About ten days after the Lord allowed Nabal to die.  David thanked and blessed God that he had not killed Nabal.  David proposes to Abigail and she accepts.

 In Proverbs 28 we learn of the differences of the wicked and the righteous man, guilt compared to a clear conscience, faith compared to fear, and in general the difference of living a life committed to following God as compared to a life of living in sin. 

 Our application is to have faith that when things look bad for us that God is with us and protecting us in ways we cannot comprehend.   He is indeed worthy of our confidence and trust.  We often face struggles too big to face alone but God is bigger than the worst of them.    We need to remember there is nothing God cannot do if He wills it.  We need to remain tuned into God’s direction as David was.  We need to constantly assess our ways and remain in the path of righteousness and not of the world.   There is nothing in life that is sweeter than the love of God filling us, protecting us, guiding us and holding us.  What more could we want or cherish?  

 Ellen

A Matter of the Heart ~ I Samuel 16:7

A Matter of the Heart

I Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Today’s reading is about David. Samuel anointed David, after Saul had disobeyed the instructions of the Lord to utterly destroy King Agag, and even the animals during a battle with the Amalekites (I Samuel 15). Samuel had told Saul that the kingdom would be torn away from his hands and given to another.

 When David becomes known nationally for killing Goliath and leading numerous successful war campaigns, it becomes obvious that David will be the next king, and Saul’s hatred for David becomes intense. It is ironic that Saul who was chosen by God to be king and who was aware that God is the one who sets up rulers, tried to do everything in his power to destroy David, simply because he wanted power for himself.

 The passage says several times that an evil spirit from the Lord afflicted Saul.

 I Samuel 16:14  Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.

 I Samuel 19:9 But an evil spirit from the Lord came on Saul as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand.

 You might well ask, how could God allow such a thing? In I Samuel 13, his men were scattering because Samuel was late. Saul was disobedient and made the offering to the Lord, instead of waiting on the prophet Samuel. In I Samuel 15, he did not want the men to be angry with him, so he allowed them to keep the animals they captured. In both I Samuel chapters 13 and 15, the root cause of Saul’s disobedience can be clearly seen. His disobedience was a lifetime habit, because he loved power (he even stepped out of his sphere of power into Samuel’s) and popularity. So God was sending an evil spirit to cause events to occur, whereby Saul would be punished. Did you notice what the final trigger for Saul was?  Is predictable once we realize what his weakness was. It was the song that the women sang (I Samuel 18: 7):

 “ Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” This was the ultimate undoing of Saul for his power and popularity were being ripped from his hands.

David on the other hand was filled with the zeal and the presence of the Lord. We see that even when David was a shepherd; Samuel anointed him and “from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David.” It was this same presence that drove away the evil spirit from King Saul, when David played the lyre.

It seems to be several years later when David is sent to the battlefield by his father to give his brothers some food, and his brother Eliab accuses him: “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”  By the way, we are told that Joseph had left the sheep in the care of another shepherd, but Eliab, was in no mood to confuse himself with the facts. Notice that there is always an enemy who claims to know your motivation, and is happy to jump to all the wrong conclusions, and rise up to accuse you, when you are on God’s side.

When David approached Goliath, the giant leader of the Philistines, we see the true source of his motivation, “you come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” He goes on to state before the fight that “All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” David’s motivation is not for himself but for the glory of the Lord.

 Of course, we know how this section of the story ends. Against all odds, an untrained civilian, a young shepherd boy, who was not even strong enough to wear the suit of armor, defeats this “champion” Goliath, the mighty Philistine giant.

So we have looked at the lives of two contrasting characters today, Saul and David. The difference between them was the motivation of each man’s heart. No matter if you are where God has called you to be, and you are walking fully in His purposes, a heart that is devoted to your own purposes and not His, will eventually destroy your divine destiny, and sadly perhaps, even you.

EVA

1 Samuel 13-15, Proverbs 26:17-28

The story of King Saul is a tragic one.  There was so much hope for this man who stood taller than any other in the kingdom of Israel.  Though tragic, I believe he started with good intentions, and a good heart which is why God chose him.  In chapter 9 when Samuel first spoke to him and said” is it not on thee, whom all the desire of Israel lies” 1 Samuel, 9:20. How did Saul respond?  “Am I not a Benjaminite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel and my family is the least of all the families of the tribe of the Benjamin so why do you speak to me?”  Saul felt he was not worthy of such praise, similar to how Gideon responded under similar situations.  Even when Samuel called all the tribes of Israel together to anoint the new king, Saul could not be found for he had hidden himself among the stuff, the Lord had to reveal to Samuel where he was.  Saul was not boastful or brash or full of himself. 

After only two years into Saul’s reign, things started to change.  In chapter 13, we see where the Israelites were told to wait for 7 days for Samuel to appear and he would make the sacrifice to the Lord for victory in battle.  When Samuel did not appear at the appointed time, Saul took matters into his own hands and offered the sacrifice himself.  Instead of waiting on the Lord and on Samuel, he panicked and tried to force the situation.  We also see his downward slide in his dealing with Agag, king of the Amalekites, who God had told him through Samuel  to utterly destroy but Saul allowed the people to sway him and allowed them to keep the best of the herd, supposedly to sacrifice to God.  Saul also spared King Agag when he was told to kill every man, women , child, and all the cattle. 

Saul lost faith in God and doubt crept in, which led him to take matters into his own hands as we have seen.  Saul should have been more like his son Jonathon who as shown in chapter 14 verse 6 “Come, let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will work for us; for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few.”

Jonathon had faith in the God of Israel.  He knew that if God was for them, then who could come against them.  As difficult as it may be, we need to remember that God cannot lie; if He says he will do something, it is our job to stand steadfast and wait upon the Lord against all odds – against the fear of man – even when we do not see the results we are looking for, or in the timing we expect it. We must stand fast and know that God is God and firmly believe that He will do what He said He would do.  We must always believe that God is with us and for us.    

WINSTON

I Samuel 5:3-4

 Lord among gods

I Samuel 5:3-4 When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord! They took Dagon and put him back in his place.  But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord!

 In today’s reading, we read about the many distressing things that happened to the Philistines, when the Ark of the Covenant, remained amongst them. The ark was captured by the Philistines during battle with the Israelites, and taken to Ashdod where it was set beside their god Dagon in Dagon’s temple. Dagon was a fertility god, who had the upper torso of a man and the lower half of his body was a fish.

 At first they found Dagon the next day, lying prostrate before the ark of the Lord. When they propped him up back, again, he was found prostrate before the Lord with his hands and head broken off, and the head and hands found lying on the threshold. So theologians have said that only the torso and fish part of the body of Dagon remained intact. Fortunately someone finally got a clue, and thought to move the Ark of the Covenant, otherwise only powder might have been left of Dagon, if this had continued.

 The ark was moved from Ashdod to Gath to Ekron. In every city, where the ark was kept, the people were severely afflicted with tumors. The people of Ashdod were even very concerned and protective about their god Dagon, saying, “The ark of the god of Israel must not stay here with us, because his hand is heavy on us and on Dagon our god.” Really quite understandable when you realize that Dagon must have looked the picture of helplessness, without his head and hands. If people dying and the rest of them getting tumors, was not bad enough, versions like the King James also state in I Samuel 5:9, that the men of Gath had tumors or emerods in their “private parts”.

 The Ark of the Covenant stayed in the land of the Philistines, for seven months but by the time the ark was taken to the third city Ekron, the panic in the city was at an all time crescendo. No doubt this would have been the most popular topic at the wells. They told their leaders that they had brought the ark to them, to kill them and insisted that it be removed.

Eventually it was agreed to test whether the plague of tumors had been deliberate or just “happenstance”. Now call me superstitious, but if a plague happens three times in a row, each time wherever the ark was… well ergo, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist…

 So the Ark of the Covenant was placed on a cart, hitched up to two cows that had never been yoked and who had given birth to calves recently. Despite the fact that the cows were lowing for their calves, and that they were never driven in a yoke before, they walked in perfect unison to the land of Israel.

 This passage demonstrates the futility of idol worship, and the terrible consequences when people decide that they can disregard the presence of the supreme God and carry on giving credence and worship to idols.

 Exodus 15:11 Who is like You among the gods, O LORD? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, Awesome in praises, working wonders?

 EVA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Samuel 1-3, Proverbs 24:23-34

The Influence of a Godly Mother

 I Samuel 3:35- I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his priestly house, and they will minister before my anointed one always.

 We just celebrated Mother’s Day a few days ago, and rather fortuitously, today’s reading centers on the story of a Godly mother and how her influence on the life of her son, impacted the nation of Israel.

 Samuel is a wonderful biblical example of a life, which was devoted to the Lord, before birth, by his mother Hannah, and during his lifetime. This is in stark contrast to the life of Eli’s sons, Phineas and Hophni. The difference is in the parenting styles, which influenced Samuel and Eli’s sons. Even though Hannah was not a priest, it seems she had brought up Samuel in the fear and admonition of the Lord from an early age.

 Now before you discredit Hannah’s influence because Samuel left home at the tender age of around three years old, you will need to realize that developmental psychologists state that our personalities are fixed by the age of five years old. As well no doubt, she was praying for him regularly and she also visited him every year faithfully.

 On the other hand, Eli did not exercise sufficient discipline over his sons and they desecrated the temple and offerings of the Lord. We see that the Lord laid the blame for the wrongdoing of the sons, not only on the sons themselves but also squarely on the shoulders of their father Eli. God pointed out to Samuel that Eli not only knew about the sins of his sons, but also that he failed to restrain them.

Does God hold parents accountable for the conduct of their children towards God? From this passage it certainly seems that way. As well, a parent’s close relationship with God, does not guarantee that God will continually wink at the transgressions of one’s children. You could be the best of intercessors or even a priest; God will judge every man on his own merit.

 Because I am a fan of the prophetic, I have always loved Chapter 3,verse 19-20: The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord.

 Now that is incredible!! Nowadays we are taught that we have to practice how to prophesy, because we sometimes will miss or incorrectly interpret what God is showing us. And I do subscribe to this belief, as this seems to be how the Spirit trains most people. It is usually a process of gradual revelation. We have biblical evidence of this as we see that prophetic schools existed in the Old Testament. But Samuel never gave a prophecy that did not come to pass!! He seems to have been extraordinarily accurate as the next verse states that Samuel was “ attested” as a prophet of the Lord throughout all of Israel. When God even changed His mind, as he did about the lineage of King Saul being established, He told Samuel. And Samuel was able to modify his previous prophecy. You see, not all prophecies are cast in stone- some are conditional. But Samuel carried the presence of the Lord so strongly, he could discern even changes in the course of events, as they happened.

 

Even though the bible does not give a lot of details about Samuel’s early training in the things of God, there was something that kept Samuel on the right path in spite of the corrupting influence of Eli’s sons. I believe it was the influence of a godly mother, in his formative years.

 Let’s look at what the passage has to say about the faithfulness of Samuel and how God rewarded his faithfulness:

I Samuel 2:21 Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord
I Samuel 2:26 And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people

I Samuel 3:19 The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up

I Samuel 3:19 He (God) revealed himself to Samuel through his word.

 If God has blessed you with a godly mother, please, please do not wait until Mother’s Day to recognize and appreciate her. Do not wait until you can only bring flowers to a headstone; she deserves more than that. I remember my mother and I had a lot of quarrels especially when I “morphed” into a teenager, and wanted to go my own way. Many times I said unkind things in anger that hurt. However she never retaliated in kind, gentle person that she was, but only looked at me through eyes filled with disappointment. Truly, I will never be woman enough to walk in her shoes.

 I thank God for a godly mother, for I will always remember the tremendous sacrifices she made, in the midst of trying circumstances, to ensure that I was provided for, despite her meager earnings. The image of her walking two miles everyday, so that I would have enough money to take the bus to school, is indelibly etched in my childhood memory. Yes, it is true, we did not have a lot of money, but I consider myself to have been bountifully blessed, to have had such a mother. Looking back, despite the hardships, I would not have it any other way, for I learned what true unconditional love is, all because, of a godly mother.

 EVA

Ruth

 I love the story of Ruth. The Bible is one of the most intriguing books and full of every type of scenario you can imagine. This story begins talking about a family, a husband, wife and their two sons that left their home town of Bethlehem due to famine to go to a neighbouring town.  In the process of their stay in Moab the unthinkable happens and the husband dies.   They decide to stay in Moab and the two sons marry women who are not of their culture or faith –Orpah and Ruth, after ten years the two sons die as well.

Even though this is a good story this is not what truly makes this story one of my favourite.

Let’s go through the speedy version of what happens next. Naomi the mother in our story decides to go back to her hometown after she hears good news that the famine is over, she heads back and though both of her daughters in law begin the journey with her, only one finishes it – Ruth.

Ruth says something to Naomi that speaks of the relationship between these two- but it also speaks strongly to me. “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God.  Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” (Ruth 1:16-18)

 Wow! Naomi was a mother without a daughter, but she must have loved Ruth like a real daughter for this type of devotion to exist. Most mother-in laws we hear of do not have this type of relationship with their daughter in laws especially after the marriage no longer exists. And it doesn’t end here. The two women return to Bethlehem and Naomi and Ruth continue to think of how if one of them does well that the other will be blessed as well. Ruth stays true to her statement and their great relationship continues. Ruth provides with every blessing she has for Naomi and Naomi advises Ruth on the ways of her people and their customs. Because of this relationship Ruth marries Boaz (a close relative of the family and their kinsmen redeemer) and they have a son. This story is of complete redemption as Naomi now gets to have a grandson and an heir to her family line through the devotion of her now daughter. Her shame and reproach is taken away and replaced with pride and significance. Ruth is also rewarded for her faithfulness and receives great praise as a daughter and the eternal memory of her story being recorded throughout the generations. In the Jewish culture there is a blessing spoken over a relationship that it would be like Ruth and Naomi.

 I love how God always shows us how even negative situations can end with His ultimate plan in mind.

I don’t know who you have in your life that is really not family by blood, but that you know is part of Gods redemptive plan for you. They are devoted to see the fulfillment of the plans of God for your life. Take some time and thank God for this person and be grateful for those that through certain circumstances have chosen to remain with you and your God.

Charmaine

Romans 14-16, Proverbs 22:17-29

In God’s Service and In His Perfect Will

Romans 12 :1-2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will.

To truly serve God, to live a life that is pleasing to Him, we must recognize that we need to live a life of purity, both physically and mentally and humbly use the gifts that he has given to us. I am constantly taken aback at how many people refer to the person they are living with outside of marriage, as their “husband’ or their “wife”.  I am a traditionalist and it is somewhat annoying that the same people who avoid marriage, but will happily use the terms of, and seek all the benefits of marriage, without making the actual commitment.

The standards of our society are constantly changing over time. There is a distinct contrast in how society regards issues like cohabitation (shacking up), before the 1970’s and after. The less conservative views on these issues, are branded as “progressive”, and the media lauds the liberal view, regarding traditional values as close-minded and very prejudicial. However God’s standards are unchangeable. His words do not change and although the norms of society will change, His judgments are measured against the plumb line of biblical standards.

 In Romans 12, Paul beseeches the Christians in Rome to not conform to the pattern of the world. They should instead, offer their bodies as a holy sacrifice to God, as this is a proper and right way to worship God. A life of purity is “pleasing to God”. Paul then gives the Church the key to being transformed to a place where we can walk in holy obedience to God – a renewed mind.

 Although many times as Christians, we have to ignore our intellect, and walk a path of faith, in order to live a supernatural life, we do need a mind to live and function in all other aspects of our lives. We are called to be harmless as doves, but wise as serpents. It is through a determined choice to live in obedience to God and to resist the wiles of this world, that we can walk in purity. It takes deliberate choice every time the opportunity to sin presents itself, to resist. It is only through a mindset, which is honed in time spent in the word, prayer and in His presence, that we can live a life of holiness, being set apart from the world. How can we know what the perfect will of the Lord is for us? Paul says a life of purity and a renewed mind will keep us walking in a place of holiness and ensure that we do not stray from God’s perfect will.

 Paul compared the members of the church, to the parts of a single body, each part having a different function. We are encouraged to “diligently” use the gifts. Paul says that each member of the body belongs to the others. So our gifts do not belong to us, they belong to each member of the church. The point is made that the grace of God gives the gifts, so Paul instructs that each one should not think of himself, more highly than others, as we are only recipients of the gifts.

 Finding the perfect will of God, starts with a renewed mind. A renewed mind will lead to a relationship of obedience to God, and a life lived in humble servitude to the body of Christ, His church.

 EVA

 

Romans 9-11, Proverbs 21:17-31

A Zeal For Righteousness

Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

I have heard it said, that a passion for flying doesn’t make you a pilot, nor does being enthusiastic about imitating animal sounds. make you that animal.

In verse 1-10 of Rom. 10, Paul makes the point that his fellow nationals, the Jews, are passionate and full of zeal for righteousness, but fall short of attaining God’s standard of righteousness. Let’s look at the scriptures.

Rom.10:1-3

1.Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.

2.For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

 3. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.

We see the Apostle Paul expressing his passion for the Jews to be saved. He also stated that they are full of zeal. That word zeal, in the classical Greek means to be eagerly devoted, angst, having a fiery passion about one’s beliefs. This was Paul’s observation about the Jews: they were passion- filled for righteousness, but Paul in the ending of that sentence in verse two, poured cold water on their zeal.

Having zeal and passion is good; it drives us and motivates others with excitement. But if it is misplaced or as Paul says “not according to knowledge”, it is like getting on an exercise bike and pumping away, working up lots of sweat, expecting to be going places but when you have stopped, you find that you’re still in the same place. The problem is you didn’t have the knowledge to understand that an exercise bike is not what is meant to get you from place to place.

Just as the Jews did then, we many times try to impress God, and ourselves with what we do and how well we have been living, not realizing that it is not getting us anywhere and God isn’t impressed. The problem is ignorance a lot of the times, and self-imposed ignorance at that. We have God’s word and His Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth if we only submit. Verse three tells us that the Jews then established their own righteousness, not having submitted to God’s righteousness. This gets us nowhere, since we must “play by God’s rules because He rules!”

(Matt. 15:4-6 Shows us how they went about establishing their righteousness apart from God, please read it and meditate on the implications.)

 Rom.10:4-10

4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

 5 For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.

” 6 But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down from above)

 7 or, ” ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).

8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):

9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

 Verse four is so sweet! It makes me want to party like a rock star. You see, as we get further in our blogging, we will understand that no man could fulfill the law. Actually earlier in Roman’s Paul makes it clear that the law was given as a diagnostic; that is to reveal sin. Galatians tell us that only Christ can truly give us righteousness and so that’s why he took the law and nailed it to the cross, even the Ten Commandments.  We already know that the scriptures say that we cannot keep the law, so verse five is moot.

Here is what Christ has done- He did the heavy lifting by fulfilling the law and all it’s requirements and gave us the easy part: confess our belief in the resurrected Christ and salvation comes, so simply it takes humans to mess it up. Verse ten clarifies and says the same as verse nine, that we must believe in our hearts and confess that belief with our mouths. The latter part of Matt 12:34 tells us that it is out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The question is this: are our hearts filled with believing in the resurrected Christ? If so, confess this with your mouths and you will be saved. This is the only way to attain the righteousness of God.

Please invite a non-Christian to view today’s blog and believe that God will use it to draw them to himself.

 Sean Clue

 

Romans 6-8, Proverbs 21:1-16

Justified By Faith

Romans 4: 20-21 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

Many years ago, I got my first job, teaching at an all-girls high school. I remember having a conversation one day with one of the teachers in the lunchroom, on the topic of heaven. In her belief system, no one could be sure that they would really go to heaven. Instead people would have to be prayed for and then, if enough intercession was made then the soul would go to heaven.

 Even in those early days of my walk with God, I remember thinking how discouraging that must be compared to what my conviction was, that we could be justified (made righteous) by faith. If we had to pray to achieve a righteous state, then it would be only the prayers, which were somehow making us right with God. It would be a righteousness borne of works. The best thing about this also, was that we have the assurance and hope that we will go to heaven and be with Jesus. Pastor Marcia does not have to arrange a 24/7 prayer meeting to get us past the “pearly gates”.

 Paul, explaining the doctrine of Justification in Romans 4, says Abraham was justified by faith, and it was not of works, i.e. anything that Abraham had done, otherwise Abraham could take the credit for his righteousness. God gave the righteousness that Abraham received freely, because of Abraham’s faith. In Abraham’s case, this was truly an extraordinary thing, as Abraham grew up in his father, Terah’s house where they worshipped many idols (Joshua 24:2).

Paul goes on to further explain that God made Abraham righteous before circumcision, which is important for us Gentiles, in that our righteousness therefore is not dependent on us being Jews. Therefore Abraham is a father of many nations, as God had promised him in Genesis, because he is our spiritual father, by faith. Otherwise his descendants would not be as sand on the seashore, as God had promised.

 In his letter to the Hebrews (Chapter 11), Paul goes into more detail about the great faith of Abraham who walked “by faith”:

 ⁸ By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. ⁹ By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. ¹¹ And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. ¹² And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

 Paul goes on to state in Romans that under the new covenant, we have been credited as righteous because of our faith in Jesus.  Romans 4:25 says, He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. Jesus died for ours sins and was resurrected, so that we could be made righteous. This one statement in Romans 4, is the very heart of the Gospel. Jesus is the only way that men can be righteous.

 Many times we look at our circumstances and become discouraged. Brethren, let us be like Abraham; his faith never wavered regarding God’s promises. He needed a DOUBLE miracle as his wife was in the same condition!!! Abraham, who was past the age of having children, believed wholeheartedly that his children would be as the sands of the sea. Like Abraham, we must believe on the One who gave us the promise. Let us be “fully persuaded” like Abraham that God has the power to do all He said He would do. He did it for Abraham and He will do it for us.

EVA

Romans 1-3, Proverbs 20:1-15

A Pastor’s Heart- God’s Special Gift

Romans: 1:16-17 – For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.  For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed —a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

About two weeks ago, I felt led to visit a church, where I have gotten to know the Pastor quite well. I greatly admire and respect this woman of God, and have always seen her love and her care for the flock that God has entrusted to her. The church happened to be doing a surprise appreciation service and I so touched, that the love that she has always displayed for her flock was being poured right back to her on that special day.

 It is an awesome and serious responsibility to be a Pastor and the Bible tells us that Pastors will be judged according to how they have guided and watched over the sheep. As teachers, James also confirms that they will be held to a higher standard.

 In his letter to the church at Rome, Paul is gives a lot of encouragement to the Romans, stating that the faith of the Romans was being mentioned “all over the world”. He mentions also that he is in constant prayer to God for them.

Paul seemed to value his relationship with this church and was praying that a way might be opened for him to visit them, so that he might continue to minister to them. He also gave them the reason for his prolonged absence- that he was preaching the gospel elsewhere.

 The love that Paul had for this church is obvious in the longing that he had to see them. He is totally invested in their growth and the concern he has, that the church maintains its strong faith is demonstrated by his several attempts to revisit them.

 The church is also for Paul is a personal source of strengthening as well. So it is for all of us, when we gather corporately as believers. Although Paul is functioning in the office of an Apostle, he acknowledges, that even he, as a regular individual, needs the corporate fellowship of a church. This shows us that Pastors also are regular people too, who need encouragement and strengthening from time to time.

 Pastors must by necessity, also be evangelists or raise up evangelists, since to grow or even maintain a church, the Gospel must be preached. Paul who is not only a Pastor but also a great evangelist of the Gospel, cannot help but mention that he will not only be fellowshipping with the church, but preaching the Gospel in Rome as well. He ends this section of the letter, with the statement that the Gospel is the source of power for all believers, for it gives us faith and enables us to receive the righteousness of God.

 It is indeed a very challenging job to be a Pastor. To run a voluntary organization where you must hold people accountable to do their part is extremely difficult. Obviously you are not paying people and you cannot fire them. However when you have to be a taxi driver, cleaner, counselor, prayer partner, hand holder though marriage problems, financial upheavals, incarcerations, job layoffs, emotional breakdowns, you see the roughest parts that life has to offer, and you must draw from reserves of strength that must somehow suffice, for all whom you are ministering to and for yourself.

 Now include in that, the responsibility to correct and admonish people in the church. These are the same folks who are doing your “job evaluation”. People get offended and snap at you, if you try to correct them no matter how diplomatic you try to be. They stay away from church and are annoyed as heck, if you call them too much, and offended if you do not call them enough. It is an awfully fine line to walk.

 Not to mention that everyone in the church has his or her own preconceived notion of how the service should be run. They know the music, worship, hospitality, prayer meeting etc., is best if done in a particular way. To satisfy us all is simply not possible. So you will always have to live with the fact, that 40% think you are doing things incorrectly. I am not saying that there is not a place for constructive and well founded criticism, but if it is not accepted, then be gracious about it.

 It is so stressful a job that many Pastors burn out. In one denomination that I was a part of, in Jamaica, all but one of the Pastors who retired, basically died of stress related illnesses. My former Pastor’s children to this day, have tremendous resentment towards the denomination, as in their minds, the church killed their father. Now that is stress.

 Have you ever found yourself with some unexpected cash and thought to bless one of our Pastors? We have Pastors that are always assisting those of us who need a little help whenever they can. How often do we pray for our Pastors? I want you to know, that they pray for us constantly. We often call them only when we are need of help and support. Why not give them a call in the next few days to just let them know how much you appreciate them and just love upon them. They are indeed God’s very special gift to us.

 EVA