Marching Forth!

Jesus exposed the hypocrisy in people who worshipped God in vain, for their motivation was to seek glory from men.  They wanted to be recognised and credited for their piety, to be seen and known as devout and honourable men in the synagogue and society.  The attention they hoped to gain from fickle men for their actions was their meagre reward, and God dismissed them as hypocrites.  The recurring theme Jesus presented addressed the motives of His disciples in giving, praying and fasting, and Jesus assured obedience to God in secret will certainly be seen by God who rewards openly. Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 6:1-4:   " Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.  2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I sa...

During the 90's in San Diego, there was an investigative journalist on KUSI named Michael Turko who responded to consumer complaints.  His segment called " The Turko Files " was a big hit, and he was known for shouting, "It ain't right!" as he made waves to set things right.  He was a consumer advocate who brought shady business dealings to light.  Even if those who complained did not receive just compensation, Turko used his platform to expose fraudulent practices and push for justice. Despite laws, written policies, training of employees and aims to provide quality goods and services, mistakes will be made and customers can be short-changed or cheated.  When it comes to business, government, relationships and life in general, there are no shortage of things which could lead us to rightly say, "That's wrong!"  Many times there is nothing we can do to change the past or things that seem unfair to us today--like restrictions or bans on items, ex...

I've been reading through the book of Zechariah in the mornings, and it is impressive how often messianic prophecies connected to Jesus by the Gospel penmen pop up.  The fulfillment of biblical prophecy supplies strong evidence of the veracity and trustworthiness of Scripture.  Bible prophecy is not like general predictions people make, who proudly claim they "called it" when they were not specific and ignore the fact they also contradicted themselves numerous times.  In God's word, He provided many statements over a thousand years meticulously recorded for our benefit so we could identify the promised Messiah and Son of God Jesus who is the Saviour of the world.  The New Testament in many places expressly states how Old Testament prophecy was and will be fulfilled by Christ, and here are a few examples. Zechariah 9:9 states, " Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salv...

Slowly but surely I have been making progress on little projects around our house.  There's been ongoing patching and painting, setting pavers, improving drainage and recently I have been constructing a small retaining wall.  Between ongoing maintenance, church-related work and projects around the house, it has been a very busy season of methodically chipping away at tasks with slow, almost undiscernible progress. After I set forms on Saturday to pour concrete, the thought crossed my mind to do a bit of concreting on Sunday afternoon to have a jump on Monday's tasks.  A conversation I had yesterday at church gave me pause, however, as I was reminded how the things we do--or choose to wait to do--can be done unto the LORD.  Growing up, as a family we always abstained from doing physical labour on Sunday beyond going to church morning and night.  This was something I carried over into my working career as a witness for Jesus in the workplace, that when interviewin...

Our God shall supply all our need according to His riches in glory, for He is faithful ( Phil. 4:19 ).  Sometimes we need conviction, rebuke, encouragement and help, and God is able to provide wisdom and strength for the day.  I must have needed encouragement from the LORD while reading His word this morning, for that is what I received from Him today in abundance. I was reading Zechariah 4 and the passage where God said it was not by might, nor by power, but by His Spirit a mountain would become a plain.  The task of rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem--which might have seemed as impossible as shifting Mount Everest a mile to the east--would be accomplished by God's grace through Zerubbabel.   Zechariah 4:8-9 says, " Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying:  9 "The hands of Zerubbabel h ave laid the foundation of this temple;  h is hands shall also finish it. Then you will know  t hat the LORD of hosts has sent Me to you ."  Th...

On the topic of eating meat in markets, Paul said Christians could eat anything with assurance there is nothing unclean in itself--even if the meat was offered to idols.  Yet at the same time, Christians were called to walk in love and be sensitive to what stumbled or offended others.  He concluded believers were blessed not to condemn themselves when their conscience was clear, and those who doubted it was upright to eat meat offered to idols sinned when they ate it:  "... for whatever is not from faith is sin ." ( Romans 14:23 ) The point Paul made is excellent and relevant for Christians today, for there can be many things we do (or choose not to do!) for reasons other than faith in God.  We can be influenced by who is watching us or who is around us, by our desire to control the image we want to present to others, peer pressure, fear of offending people, wanting to avoid looking foolish, to keep from losing face or to seek to earn favour.  We might be motiva...

I remember years ago in San Diego we had a mayor who ran on conservative principles he abandoned in tears when he fronted the media, and he stated his position on marriage had changed because of the persuasions of a dear family member.  Some might have appreciated the change in his stance, but the complete reversal of his position was a betrayal of his party and those who voted for him.  I believed he would have done better to cite a conflict of interest and resign rather than undermine the will of the people for personal reasons. One aspect of God's character is He is not a respecter of persons--meaning He does not show preferential treatment.  He does not punish the heathen for sins yet find the rebellion of His people funny or ignore their disobedience.   Deuteronomy 10:17-18 :  " For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe.  18  He administers justice f...

The miraculous things Jesus did were connected with His claims of being the Son of God, the Messiah sent by God to be the Saviour of the world.  Early in the public ministry of Jesus, a Pharisee named Nicodemus made this observation in  John 3:2 :  " This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him ."  Jesus turning water into wine and healing the sick were signs that pointed clearly to the fact He was not an ordinary man of Nazareth.  We look for signs to help us navigate to our intended destination.  The preaching of Jesus concerning repentance and the Kingdom of God, combined with His righteous life and miraculous power, directed people to conclude He was either indeed the Christ or a charlatan.  His conduct on the cross alone signaled to a Roman soldier Jesus was surely a righteous man.  Jesus rising from the dead (just...

After I landed a high-school job at McDonald's decades ago, I learned things behind the clamshell grill I never learned as a customer.  I was surprised to discover customers could add mayo, lettuce, tomato and the larger onions--or request extra of any topping except cheese--for no additional cost.  It blew my mind to consider every time I previously went to McDonald's I could have ordered a cheeseburger with lettuce and tomato and extra pickles for the same price.  Ordering this way also meant your burger was freshly cooked to order and had not been sitting for an hour under a heat lamp.  My newfound knowledge made a basic burger much better for half the price because of my employee discount. I remember when a workmate clued me in that In-N-Out Burger in California had a secret menu.  He suggested I should try a Double-Double "Animal Style."  I thought he was playing a prank on me.  I scanned the menu and did not see an Animal Style option, so I refus...

Many Christians are aware of the compelling power of a personal testimony in leading people to Jesus Christ.  The man born blind who was healed by Jesus was fiercely interrogated by religious rulers who intimidated his parents from even speaking on his behalf--lest they be excommunicated from the synagogue.  Poisoned by unbelief, those blaspheming rulers judged Jesus to be a sinner and told the man to give God the glory for his miraculous healing.   John 9:25 gives us his brilliant response:  " He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see. "  Though this man was unskilled in matters of Jewish religion and law compared to those experts, he spoke wisdom by sharing his personal transformation by Jesus these men could not speak against.  All their scorn could not shake the faith of the man in Jesus. Something which Christians can overlook is how sharing our personal testimony of...

In the New Testament, the apostle Paul explained one purpose of the Law of Moses in  Romans 3:19-20 :  " Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.  20  Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin ."  While all sin is contrary to God and His righteous ways, it is completely natural for all those born into it.  The Law gave commands and prohibitions that guided the conduct of people, yet laws written on tablets of stone could not govern or transform hearts.  Thankfully God who knows the heart has given Christians the Holy Spirit who convicts us of sin the Law never explicity mentioned. During my recent study in the book of Jeremiah, it occurred to me how self-pity is a sin I have not always recognised in myself or others.  Self is at the centre of countless si...

As I was departing from a carpark today, the car in front of me stopped and very slowly inched forward.  At first I thought it was caution before turning right, as there were cars lined up on both sides of the street that obscured a clear view.  Then I suspected it was out of care for the paint on the bumper because the dip was extreme.  When my turn came to make a right--careful though I was--I felt the front bumper graze the bitumen and scraped off some paint.  Likely the fellow before me had already learned the lesson I did by experience. I have found learning by personal experience to be the natural order of things.  Though I saw the other driver taking great care in turning right, I did not know precisely why he was so slow in doing so.  Even when I suspected I knew the reason, we were driving different models of vehicles, and his car had lower profile tyres.  Drivers of utes of four-wheel drives would not need to slow down at all to safely navig...

The more God's people consider the awesome attributes of our God, it blows our minds away.  Though God has created us in His own image and given us minds able to understand, reason and remember, God is not like us.  He knows all things, and because He is outside time sees what is past, present and future all at once.  Though He cannot forget, God chooses what He will and will not remember.   Jeremiah 31:34 speaks of the new covenant God would bring and how He will forgive repentant sinners:  " No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD ,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD . For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more ."  Blessed is the one whose sin is forgiven and God remembers it no more! God does not need reminders like we do (because we forget), but God takes specific action to remember and do all He has said....

Aaron and Miriam spoke against Moses their brother after he married an Ethiopian woman.  The passage says ominously, " And the LORD heard it. "  Because he was a meek and humble man, Moses did not say anything to defend himself from their attempts to publicly undermine his God-given leadership role.  God is patient and longsuffering, yet in this case He acted quickly by summoning all three of them to appear before him at the tabernacle.  The LORD descended before them in a pillar of cloud and stood in the doorway, and He commanded Aaron and Miriam to step forward. Numbers 12:6-9 tells us God's words:  " Then He said, "Hear now My words: "If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD , make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream.  7 Not so with My servant Moses; h e is faithful in all My house.  8 I speak with him face to face, e ven plainly, and not in dark sayings;  a nd he sees the form of the LORD . Why then were y...

When facing tragedy and loss, we can be overwhelmed with hopeless feelings to the point we can refuse comfort.  We observe this in the life of Jacob after his eldest son Reuben presented the special colourful coat Joseph wore that was torn and soiled with blood.  There was no mistaking the coat, for Jacob had given it to his son who was at the time 17 years old.  The destroyed state of the coat caused Jacob to assume the worst.   Genesis 37:34-35 reads, " Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days.  35  And all his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, "For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning." Thus his father wept for him ." Because Joseph was precious to His father, he took no comfort from his sons, daughters and grandchildren.  He was determined to grieve the loss of his son presently and perpetually, for the death of Jos...

Have you experienced being overwhelmed, when everything seems too hard and you've had enough?  When we feel this way our tendency is to feel lonely, disillusioned and like we ought to quit.  If you have felt this way as a Christian, you are not alone.  Elijah was a man who feared God, who was protected and miraculously provided for, whose prayers were answered, and saw God work wonders firsthand.  Yet after he received a death threat from queen Jezebel, he left his servant behind ventured alone into the wilderness.  He prayed to God he would die and said, " It is enough!  Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers !"  It was all too much for Elijah. 1 Kings 19:5-8  reads, " Then as he lay and slept under a broom tree, suddenly an angel touched him, and said to him, "Arise and eat."  6 Then he looked, and there by his head was a cake baked on coals, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank, and lay down again.  7 And t...

This morning I was struck with a phrase I found in the King James Version of  Hosea 12:4-5 that speaks of Jacob wrestling with a Man near the Jabbok river crossing as the day began to break:  " Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spake with us;  5 even the LORD God of hosts; the LORD is his memorial ."  Jacob prevailed over the angel by refusing to let him go, even after his hip was permanently injured by the touch of the Man's hand.  As Jacob wept he begged for a blessing, and the angel (who seems to be much more than an angel) replied in  Genesis 32:28 :  " And He said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed ."  God changed Jacob's name to "Israel" which includes God's name, meaning "God strives" or "one who struggles with God." Before Jacob...

" He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity ." Ecclesiastes 5:10 Wise king Solomon observed things people love and pursue will not end up satisfying them even when they obtain their desire.  The one who loves money will have an insatiable appetite for it after acquiring it, and those who seek increase are pleased with the prospects of a bit more.  This concept can be widely applied in this world of vanity whether it be tattoos, cosmetic surgery, praise, recognition, likes and acquiring goods.  People can make great personal sacrifices to become famous, and after they acheive their dreams they can hate and love it at the same time. Because we are naturally restless and dissatisfied, we often busy ourselves with fruitless pursuits.  Though we seem to gain ground, our desire remains just beyond our reach.  There are those like Solomon, however, who obtained and achieved more than anyone...

" It is good for me that I have been afflicted, t hat I may learn Your statutes. " Psalm 119:71 I don't think anyone sees affliction as intrinsically good, yet the psalmist affirmed through experience that God was able to use affliction for his good.  If a tree could speak, it might cry out in pain to have branches cut and trimmed by a skilled arborist, but as a result of pruning the tree will be healthier and produce more fruit.  Years ago our family had a lemon tree in the back yard with one large but light lemon on it--and it hung there for months.  I didn't want to trim the neglected tree for the sake of the "fruit" that never seemed to ripen, and when I finally harvested it was dry, woody and inedible.  I trimmed the tree following an online tutorial, and the tree for one year did not produce a single lemon.  The next year, however, we harvested over 80 juicy lemons! When the lemon tree was neglected and left alone, it grew many leaves and branches. ...

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught His disciples not to give what was holy to the dogs or cast their pearls before swine.  It would be abominable to offer food God provided to sustain the priests and Levites to scavenging dogs, and it makes no sense to toss valuable pearls at animals that will disregard them and trample them underfoot.  God has given us great wisdom in His word that is food for our souls we ought to treasure, and when people refuse to regard God or hear His word there is little point to continue speaking to them on the subject.  They will often pivot to biting the hand that reaches out to feed them. Since Jesus told His disciples not to give what is holy to the dogs, we can know He walks in His own wisdom.  We can see this illustrated in the life of king Saul who disregarded God's word and disobeyed the word of the LORD spoken through Samuel, and when given opportunity to repent and humble himself Saul refused to do so.  He cared only for ...