Marching Forth!

Recently I considered how we often wonder in trying circumstances, "What should I do?"  Often we can be focused on what actions we ought to take to relieve our difficult situation.  People who fear God also think about what God holds us responsible to do or what other Christians or friends counsel us to do.  With so many voices and our potentially self-seeking motives, we can experience analysis paralysis and fail to do what we should. I have come to find out by reading the Psalms and other portions of God's word (the Bible) that what we will do is more important that what we should do--for this wise counsel applies to every situation of life.  For instance, knowing we should wash the car because we cannot see out of the windows is not as important as washing the car.  The Bible is packed with revelations and affirmations of God's will for our lives that is as relevant for household chores, business decisions and personal relationships--really everything. When ...

The infamous tragedy of the Levite and his concubine recorded in Judges 19 was a wake-up call that united the nation to stamp out the abominable conduct of Benjamites in Gibeah.  The gang-rape and murder of the concubine by men of Gibeah was savage, and when the Levite posted her corpse in pieces throughout the tribes the whole nation took notice and united to take decisive action.  Such a shocking thing had not been done or even heard of before, and when the Levite sent notices with decomposing body parts of his concubine to all the tribes it illustrated the sinful rot in the nation that literally was slaughtering their citizens. I do not believe the Benjamites or those in Gibeah were worse than any other tribe in Israel, for many times the book of Judges explains how in those days every man did what was right in his own eyes.  Because mankind is naturally sinful, what happened during that fateful night in Gibeah was just a small sample of how wickedness had corrupted ...

One thing I appreciate about the Bible is how true to life it is in the depiction of human character.  While every person has a unique genetic makeup and personality, there is much we naturally share in common because we are of the same kind.  There are aspects of humanity that are as predictable as the force of gravity on earth, like being focused on ourselves.  We want to do what we think is best for ourselves and benefits us the most.  "Looking out for number 1" is a maxim most people live by without ever being taught or taking a course. This self-focused perspective was demonstrated by the men of Dan when they travelled to the house of Micah and spoke with the priest he made for himself--in the hope the LORD would do him good.   Judges 18:5 says in the KJV, " And they said unto him, Ask counsel, we pray thee, of God, that we may know whether our way which we go shall be prosperous ."  The men did not ask counsel of God for guidance but wanted as...

" The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting, b ut diligence is man's precious possession ." Proverbs 12:27 What incredible, divine insight this verse provides!  I imagine if most people were given three chances to name a precious possession of mankind, diligence would not even be a consideration.  Health, wealth, security, love, friends, peace and prosperity would likely be chosen over plodding, dull and monotonous diligence.  God created mankind in His own image, that we would have a mind not only to start tasks but to see them to completion. The verse begins by saying, " The lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting ."  We must understand the "lazy man" identified here would likely be seen by others as a go-getter and a dedicated worker.  In Solomon's day (and to this day) people hunted primarily to obtain food for themselves and their family.  Hunting required waking early and sometimes travelling great distances to scout and t...

Samson was a man who, by faith in God, stopped the mouth of a lion, waxed valiant in battle, and out of weakness was made strong.  As I observe the life of Samson in the book of Judges, the majority of the time it seems he took the supernatural strength provided by the Holy Spirit for granted.  Without uttering a prayer or making a request to God, the Holy Spirit came mightily upon him, his bonds put up the resistance of ash, and he defeated numerous Philistines.  After he was made weak as any other man, he cried out to God who remembered and strengthened him to fulfil God's purpose to wreak havoc on the Philistines who oppressed Israel. God's plan and purposes for Samson were revealed when he sought a wife of the Philistines--much to the dismay of his God-fearing parents.   Judges 14:4 says, " But his father and mother did not know that it was of the LORD --that He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines had ...

" And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS , for He will save His people from their sins."  22  So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:  23  "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us ." Matthew 1:21-23 The almighty God revealed in the Bible is unique from all other gods and people in how personal He is.  He did not remain unseen and unknown in a place far away but chose to draw near to sinful man in the person of Jesus Christ.  People who fear God in both the Old and New Testament knew God was with them--even when He did not assume any physical form--by the amazing deliverances and salvation He wrought and fulfillment of His promises.  When the virgin Mary gave birth to a son in Bethlehem, God kept His word to visit His people in person and provide peace to all people. ...

One awesome quality of God is His sovereignty and immaculate plans only He could possibly conceive and accomplish.  While we try to do our best with our scraps of intelligence and limited ability, He brings into existence what could not be foreseen or predicted.  The birth of Samson is one of those moments in history when God was working to do what His people could not even dream was possible in an unlikely, improbable way. During their marriage, Manoah and his wife had been unable to have children.  This suggests they desired children, did everything in their power to have a child, but as time wore on they were unsuccessful.  One day the wife of Manoah was met by an angel of the LORD who told her she would have a son who would begin to deliver the children of Israel out of the hand of the Philistines, a people who had oppressed them 40 years.  It is remarkable that Manoah and his wife were well aware of their present inability to even fall pregnant, much less d...

" The wise shall inherit glory, b ut shame shall be the legacy of fools ." Proverbs 3:35 There is a desire in the hearts of men to be well-thought of and long remembered, and this is seen even in lives of self-serving people who did not fear God.  Absalom the son of David could easily be numbered among such people, for  2 Samuel 18:18 tells us:  " Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up a pillar for himself, which is in the King's Valley. For he said, "I have no son to keep my name in remembrance." He called the pillar after his own name. And to this day it is called Absalom's Monument ."  The proverb spoken by the wisdom of God proved true, for Absalom's infamous insurrection that ended with his death and being cast into an unmarked grave only brought himself and his memory shame. A legacy is what a person leaves behind for others, something that imparts a positive or negative impact that remains long after the person is gone.  ...

This morning at church the martyr Polycarp was mentioned in the sermon, a man who was blameless in the eyes of others and accepted death by wild beasts or flames rather than deny Jesus Christ the LORD.  God had been good to him for his 86 years of life:  how could he deny God?  Unlike convicted criminals who were terrified of dying and did everything in their power to evade the execution of justice, Polycarp wore martyrdom as a privileged crown.  Like Jesus before him who had done no wrong, Polycarp did not resist evil.  He did not protest or rail against the injustice he suffered that would cut his life short.  Rather than being nailed to the stake, he offered to stand against it willingly by the power of God who gave him strength.. After being led to the stake,  Polycarp  prayed before many witnesses:  " O Father of thy well-beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, by whom we have attained the knowledge of thee, the God of angels and powers, a...

This morning while reading a passage in Judges of Gideon's victory over the Midianites, Amalekites and people of the east, I was struck with how unorthodox (from a worldly perspective) their tactics were.  Rather than assembling a massive fighting force, Gideon dismissed fighters until only a meagre 300 men remained.  These men did not endure grueling training or drilling, and they did not don armour or helmets.  Instead of being armed with sword and shield, they carried a torch in their left hand and a trumpet in their right into the fray.  It was clearly the sword of the LORD that devastated their enemies, and it was a victory as comprehensive as the Egyptians being overthrown in the Red Sea or the walls of Jericho falling down. A common Hollywood plot is when a ragtag team is thrown together and defies overwhelming odds by becoming champions.  This was the case individually of the "Karate Kid" and "Rocky" and many others, that by hard work and personal sacri...

" Do not give your strength to women, n or your ways to that which destroys kings ." Proverbs 31:3 In the book of Proverbs, Solomon and others hold forth timeless wisdom from God people do well to heed.  Kings are glorified for their wealth and power, yet as Solomon could attest excess leads even the mighty to destruction.  Promiscuity and drunkenness are ways that destroy kings--as the writer of Proverbs 31 went on to describe.  Drinking to excess leads to forgetfulness of God's Law and perversion of justice, and God will hold those who are given leadership roles in government, society, family and the church to account. As I considered the mother's command to her son to refrain from giving his strength to women, I am reminded of the principle Jesus held forth during the Sermon on the Mount in the first part of Matthew 7:6 :  " Give not which is holy to the dogs ."  To the Jews in Jesus' day, dogs were considered an unclean animal.  For this reason th...

Through my participation in many three-legged races as group activities, I learned the importance of communicating with your race partner (before the race!) how to best coordinate movement.  If each person tries to run as fast as they can they will not be able to run at all.  The only way to move quickly when your leg is strapped to someone else's leg is to agree how to to work together to walk and jog in step. While the analogy of walking in step in a three-legged race could be employed to mutual coordination for fruitful ministry in the church, it is very simplistic to the point it fails to account for the personal responsibility of each person to prepare their hearts before the LORD--not only when working together in ministry--but on their own time.  For this reason a marching band is a more accurate analogy of our need as Christians to freely embrace our personal role in the Body of Christ the church to work in step with others.  The human body has many organs, s...

When some Christians speak of "God's will," it is often resigned to a status that is mysterious, unknown and unknowable.  The tone of people desirous of knowing God's will is often similar to, "I hope so."  This gives little sense of the sure expectation Christians can have based upon God's word, the Bible.  We can know God's will shall be done on earth as it is in heaven even when things do not go according to our plan, for God is sovereign, almighty and rules over all.  We can be steadfast and immovable in this knowledge since God and the Scripture remain the same forever. Even as God has not remained hidden but has revealed Himself to all mankind through creation, His word and by coming to earth Himself as Jesus Christ, God has also revealed His will for all people.  For instance  2 Peter 3:9 says, " The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but ...

" So the LORD was with Judah. And they drove out the mountaineers, but they could not drive out the inhabitants of the lowland, because they had chariots of iron ." Judges 1:19 At face value, this is a most curious verse.  After affirming God was with the tribe of Judah and gave them success to drive out the inhabitants of the mountains, they were unable to drive out those in the valley who had chariots of iron.  Are chariots God's kryptonite?  Far from it.  This teaches us that even when God is with His people who trust Him, it is possible our neglect to seek Him and wait on His guidance can result in us falling short of His will for our lives.  God commanded His people to drive out the inhabitants of the land, yet we observe the Hebrews at times were reluctant, unwilling and unable to do so in the end.  The kryptonite of God's people has always been unbelief and neglect of seeking, trusting and obeying God. David sang in  Psalm 20:7 , " Some tru...

Before the death of Joshua, he gave the people exhortations to fear God and serve Him only.  He also said in  Joshua 23:5-8 :  " And the LORD your God will expel them from before you and drive them out of your sight. So you shall possess their land, as the LORD your God promised you.  6 Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left,  7 and lest you go among these nations, these who remain among you. You shall not make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause anyone to swear by them; you shall not serve them nor bow down to them,  8 but you shall hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day ."  Joshua commanded the people to be very courageous to keep and do all that was written in God's law, and this was what God commanded him when he was made leader after Moses. God said to Joshua in Joshua 1:6-8 :  "...

Because our understanding is limited, misunderstandings are a common part of life.  The more we are exposed to the way people think, what they do and the choices they make, we are exposed to potential conflicts due to misunderstanding when as a result we make judgments.  We can make incomplete or inaccurate assessments and thus poor judgments when we allow our own assumptions or suggestions of others to fill in the gaps in our understanding.  Division and discord can be the result of our reluctance and unwillingness to go to others from the start and simply discuss our observations with brothers and sisters in Christ.  While this may be uncomfortable or the other person might react defensively, when done in a loving manner it works to draw us closer to one another and the LORD. I suspect we Christians do not always deal with our misunderstandings when we are confident in ourselves as being in the right.  Why should we talk about things with others we have alread...

I am always a bit puzzled when I see people reference "the universe" with gratitude for something fortuitous or beneficial.  These references often correlate with how a Christian commonly invokes the name of God or Jesus Christ with thanks or admiration.  I wonder if those who thank the universe or their "lucky stars," consider where or how those things originated.  For those who appeal to the goodness of the universe, one might as well believe the soil or grass under their feet was worthy and able to receive their praise. The children of Israel were distinct from all the nations of the earth in that they were guided to worship the God Who is the self-existent Creator of all things.  While the heathen nations worshipped the sun, moon and idols of man's devising, the children of Abraham made a covenant with God who revealed Himself to them on Mt. Sinai.  Not only did God create the world, but Scripture testifies along with the annals of history that God also kept...

" I will praise You forever, b ecause You have done it;  a nd in the presence of Your saints I will wait on Your name, for it is good ." Psalm 52:9 David compared himself to a green olive tree planted in the house of God, and that he would trust in the mercy of God forever.  David realised it was by faith in God he was thus established, having received favour from the living God of Israel.  He had an unshakable hope in the goodness of God presently and for the future because God is faithful, a deliverer and redeemer. During the Friday night Bible study at Calvary Chapel Sydney, we discussed what it means to " wait on Your name " in relation to God.  In the Bible, God's names describe His glorious unchangeable attributes and good character.  I was led to consider the passage where God's presence was introduced by His name before Moses in  Exodus 34:5-7 :  " Now the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the...