Month: July 2015

2 Samuel 10:1-5

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            King David was at the pinnacle of his rule.  All Israel and Judah were under his gracious authority.  David acted as a godly sovereign when he sought to use his power to show kindness and grace to those in his kingdom, even those who were related to his former enemy, Saul.  But when David kept up his gracious ways and sent a delegation to the Ammonites in order to bring compassion to a grieving nation, they not only spurned the kindness but attributed evil intent to it.
 
            One of the hard lessons of life is that showing God’s grace and mercy to others does not necessarily mean that they will receive it and give love in return.  In fact, there are some who refuse grace and give back only scorn and despise.  Yet, even the Lord Jesus experienced this like no other before or after him.  Christ endured all the foulness and degradation of a cruel cross because there were people who refused to see that he was extending to them God’s grace.
 
            In those times when we, at best, scratch our heads, and, at worst, weep uncontrollably over having our genuine love paid back with harsh scorn, it is a good reminder that we are imitating the life of our precious Lord Jesus who knows exactly what shame is and what a profound lack of mercy can do.  It is in such seasons or events in life that we understand that perfect peace will not be found in this life, and we more fully attach ourselves to Jesus and find genuine grace and the solidarity of faith and love.
            Loving God, I give you thanks for sending your Son, the Lord Jesus.  He is the pioneer of my faith.  Just as he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at your right hand, so help me to live into the grace you offer through Christ’s redemptive events so that I might remain strong through all the unmerciful acts of this world.  Amen.

Acts 20:17-38

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            Apparently, real men do cry.  When the manly Apostle Paul was headed for Jerusalem, he stopped in Ephesus on his way.  Paul preached for hours to the church he had established there, and everyone understood this just might the last time they all saw each other.  Paul remembered that he had served the Lord among them and admonished each person “with tears” (vv. 19, 31).  Paul departed from Ephesus for the last time and “there was much weeping on the part of all” (v. 37).
 
            Paul did not shrink from declaring all the will of God to the church.  Neither did he hold back the tears and was not afraid to allow his emotions to be an integral part of his ministry.  One of the unfortunate philosophical hangovers from the Enlightenment project of sheer intellectual rationalism is that over the past several centuries we in the West have tended to view ourselves as brains on a stick.  The thinking goes that if we clearly and objectively educate people, providing them the correct information, they will have everything they need and do the right thing.  Try telling that to Paul.
 
            Christianity that does not include the vital element of the emotions is a truncated spirituality that desperately needs some tears in order to connect with Jesus Christ.  So, let’s all have a good cry today.  Weep over the lost persons who are in need of salvation; shed some tears about believers who are not growing in their faith; bawl and let our eyes be red in missing those friends and mentors who have moved on and/or passed away; and, cry over a broken world that has not experienced the grace of God.  Indeed, slow down enough to feel the pain and find the mercy of God.
            Gracious God, you have created us all in your image.  Help me so to connect with your emotional self that I will not be stifled in my faith, but will go on to maturity in Christ with your whole church.  Amen.

Psalm 61

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            The Psalms are the prayer book of the Bible.  Sometimes evangelical Christians might forget the simple reality that not every prayer they utter has to always arise spontaneous from the heart.  There are many times, especially when overwhelmed or under duress, when speaking aloud a psalm perfectly captures the state and intent of our prayers. 
 
            As I sometimes do, today I offer my own contemporary paraphrase of a psalm that can be prayed by God’s people in times of difficulty:
 
O God, listen to me as I cry out to you from the depths of my heart,
            and bend your ear toward what I am saying to you;
from this emotionally faraway place I call to you,
            because I am about to faint with stress.
Lead me to the place
that is higher than my fears,
for you have been my refuge,
            a mighty fortress against the enemy of my soul.
 
Let me live in your safe-house forever!
            Let me be in a secure room with you standing guard!
O God, you have heard all the commitments I have made for your name’s sake;
            and you have given me a special place along with others whom you love.
 
Prolong the life of your committed servant;
            and may my years on this earth multiply with you in charge.
May I be seated with you forever in your glorious presence;
            command your grace and faithfulness to continually watch over me!
 
I will not stop singing about your great name,

            as I live for you with all my heart day after day.  Amen.

We Belong to God

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
 
We belong to God.  Let that statement sink in and saturate your soul with grace.  The Bible is a “covenant” document giving us the stipulations of how we can have a belonging with God.  Covenant is how God has chosen to communicate to us, to redeem us, and to guarantee us eternal life in Jesus.  These truths, revealed in the Bible, are the basis of Christianity.   The Old and New Testaments are really Old and New Covenants.  The word “testament” is Latin for “covenant”.  When God makes a covenant with his people, it means that he gives them promises of what he will do, and, in turn, has moral expectations or ethical responsibilities for the people to follow. 
 
The ancient world operated on a covenant system.  A nation or empire would conquer a city or territory and set up a covenant in which the conqueror would promise protection, certain provisions, and leave a military presence among them.  In turn, the conquered people would be required to offer things like allegiance and tribute.  In the Bible, God made a covenant with Abraham and promised that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through him.  The only stipulation that God gave to Abraham was to leave his home and begin a new life in the land he would show him.  God continued to work through Abraham’s descendants, the Israelites, and made them a people for his own Name who would be a kingdom of priests, testifying to the nations through a lifestyle of having God the center of all they do in embodying the Ten Commandments – being a holy people, reflecting the holiness of God.
 
The difference between earthly covenants and God’s covenant is that God steeps his covenant in love and grace.  God cares about his covenant because in his dealings with his people, he is concerned to reveal who he is to them so that they can relate to him and flourish as human beings.
 
            God never forgets nor reneges on his covenant promises.  For example, God clarified his covenant by giving King David a dynasty, a never-ending kingdom, a temple, and a father/son relationship with his progeny.  Furthermore, he promised that his love (Hebrew “chesed”) would never be taken away (2 Samuel 7:1-17).  This is my favorite word in the entire Bible.  It is translated in various ways as love, grace, kindness, and compassion.  It refers to God’s steadfast covenant loyalty to his people – that he will not fail to show continuous love to his people, even when they might go astray.  Unlike the nations of the earth, unlike the fickle nature of people, unlike the inconsistent commitment of others, God stands alone as a Being who in his very nature is love and continues to be gracious.
 
            All the good promises given to Abraham, to the Israelites through Moses, and to David are all fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ.  In the New Testament, the New Covenant, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are soaked in the language and explanation that Jesus is the Son of David.  He is the Promised One, the Savior, Lord, Teacher, and Healer that will save the people from their sins and bring them to a spacious kingdom full of the grace and love that characterizes God.  Through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ we are brought into union with God and participate fully in all the promises of the New Covenant – a Covenant that has its main stipulation of love.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.  And love your neighbor as yourself.  All this talk of love is because God himself is a God that is love personified in Christ.
 
            The way the world is going to know that there is a God in heaven is through chesed,grace.  God has not called us to yell louder than the culture; he has not told that we are to work to get our way in everything within society.  Instead, he calls us to be gracious.  Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful….  Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.  Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone (Colossians 4:2-6).
 

 

            The most gracious truth we can ever know and bank our lives upon is that we belong to God.  Our primary identity is not in a club, church membership, or even our biological family; our most fundamental identity is as a child of God, created in his image and belonging to him in Christ.  God’s covenant with us has become the mechanism that assures us of that belonging.  One can never be reminded too often of God’s covenant loyalty that is by sheer grace.