Author: Tim Ehrhardt

I'm just a common ordinary pastor, chaplain, father, grandfather, and dog owner who loves the smell of a genuine leather Bible and the aroma of its message. I'm on a quest to track down the best Bibles, how to best read and use them, and to discover the encouragement inside.

2 Samuel 2:1-7

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            “David inquired of the LORD.”  This is a wonderful commentary that characterized the life of King David.  Saul had pursued David, seeking his life.  But now Saul had been killed in battle.  Any other person in the sandals of David would have immediately set about to do away with any rival factions, any people who had been loyal to the previous ruler.  But David was not just any other run-of-the-mill kind of king.  He did not presume to act on his own accord, or know exactly what he should do.  Instead, he inquired of the Lord.
 
            David not only did an astounding thing by not wiping out those loyal to Saul, but he did one better:  he showed steadfast love to the men of Jabesh-Gilead who had been devoted to Saul.  David blessed instead of cursed; he acted kindly instead of coldly; he honored the memory of Saul instead of stamping out any vestige of him from the land.  David did not venture to immediately consolidate his power and rule over Israel and Judah.  Rather, he sought God, and his actions reflected the nature and character of God.
 
            Perhaps our words and actions do not always reflect the character of God because we dare to speak and act apart from inquiry of the Lord.  Maybe we only seek the Lord if we have enough discretionary time at the end of the day, or if we are in a pickle we want to get out of.  What if we began each day with seeking the Lord?  What if our default disposition and immediate knee-jerk reaction to everything was to ask God what we should do?  If we carve plenty of time to do so each morning, maybe we will be known as people who show steadfast love, and people who are after God’s own heart.
 

 

            Loving God, you are attentive to all I say and do.  Let my words reflect your gracious character, and my actions work in accord with your good purposes to the glory of Jesus.  Amen.

Psalm 63

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            Those that visit this blog with any regularity know that I believe the book of Psalms to be a vast untapped resource of devotion and prayer for many Christians.  In those dark times when we don’t know what to pray, how to lament, or what to say to God; in the joyful times when we want to proclaim praise, give thanks, or express our blessings and longings; in every season of our lives the psalms have something to offer us in our relationship with the God of all creation.
 
            Today’s psalm was originally uttered to God when David was roaming in the wilderness avoiding Saul’s malevolent intent.  David expressed his yearning, desire, and hope in order to connect with God and be led by him, step by step.  David praised God in his circumstance, longing to be satisfied with spiritual food and drink.
 

 

            Just as we are to pray the psalms, speak the psalms out loud, and meditate on the psalms, so we are to also sing the psalms.  The Psalter Hymnal of old, as well as many contemporary praise and worship songs are words from the psalms, meant to help, encourage, and give voice to our own current experiences.  Inspired by the psalms, take a few minutes today to listen to “God You Are My God” by Michael W. Smith, or check out a compilation of music from the psalms, for example, “The Psalms Project”, which aims to get all 150 psalms to music.  Maybe even make up your own tune to today’s psalm and sing it to the Lord.
 
            Whatever we do, let the psalms help form and shape a profound spirituality for us which helps to more deeply connect with the God we long to know more and more.  Soli Deo Gloria!

2 Kings 23:15-25

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            To say that King Josiah cleaned house would be a gross understatement.  Having found the Book of the Law, lost for generations deep within the temple, Josiah took its words to heart and set about a campaign of reformation like no king before him.  Indeed, Josiah was determined to restore and implement the Law in the life of the nation of Judah.  His zeal knew no bounds.  Josiah was relentless, radical, and redolent with the smell of transitioning the Jews back to the true worship of Yahweh.
 
            King Josiah did not just re-institute the Passover and other festivals of the Lord; he first upended the pagan worship which had moved in like a death-dealing cancer.  Josiah cut it out with ruthless precision.  He made ashes out of Asherah poles and put pagan priests out of business permanently.  He did away with everything that was contrary to the worship of the One true God, including spiritual mediums, household gods, and sacrificial high places.  In order to turn his heart fully to God, he did away with all competing gods.
 
            If there is to be true repentance, there must be a two-fold process:  turning away from what is false; and, turning toward what is true.  Turning from sin without turning to God is merely a half-repentance.  And turning to God without turning one’s back on sin is both denial and dangerous.  We are to put off the old clothes of injustice, and put on the new clothes of righteousness.  We are to forsake the old in order to embrace the new.  There needs to be a radical gouging out of sin so as to replace it with what is just and right.  It must be born in mind that none of this is pretty or romantic; it is a messy ugly process of dispelling darkness and letting light shine.  It is not for the faint of heart.
 
            Where to begin?  Make a fierce, brutally honest inventory of your life.  You cannot turn from something that you are not really aware of, so create in your schedule some time in the week to connect with God.  After identifying some areas for change, list the things that stand in your way of turning from them, i.e. fear, despair, financial repercussions, etc.  Face the obstacles honestly and forthrightly.  Then, begin to form a rudimentary plan to forsake the old ways and embrace new paths of righteousness.  This is but a beginning.  Let God take that process and direct it in ways he wants to take it….
 

 

            Holy God, you are jealous for your own glory.  I decide today to identify and put away all that is contrary to your righteousness and will for my life.  And I choose to turn to you with all my heart.  In body, soul, and spirit I belong to you.  Amen.

The Reign of Christ the King

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
 
In my undergraduate college days, one of the required classes for my major was Philosophy of History taught by a crusty old professor who looked like he was one-hundred ten years old.  Professor Thompson knew that I was a Christian because I always sat in the front of his class taking notes with a Bible on my desk.  One day he came into the classroom and began his lecture by looking directly at me with those beady black eyes of his and said, as only Professor Thompson could say it, “Ehrhardt!  Can God change history?”
 
            My answer was this:  the question is only relevant if God were never in control and sovereign over history to begin with; there is no need to change history if God is actively and continually working out his purposes in and through history.  So, a more appropriate question would be:  Since God is Lord over all history, will we submit to him? 
 
            In difficult times, it is only human to wonder if God is really sovereign over all the earth.  When terrorists kill others; when natural disasters claim countless lives; when Christianity is seen as a threat to many; with such realities we might ask ourselves – Can God change history?
 
            Even though Christ’s reign is invisible and seems limited and temporary, it will ultimately be visible and is pervasive and permanent (Revelation 1:4-8).  Faithful believers in the first centuries of the church would witness to their faith and tell others about the redemptive events of Jesus and that, since Jesus is alive, others can experience new life.  They were effective enough to alter the social order of things, which brought persecution and, in some cases, death.  These men and women were killed proclaiming their devotion to Jesus, witnessing to others.  So, the term “witness” or “martyr” began to refer to those who were killed for their proclamation of the gospel.  In doing this, they saw themselves as only emulating and following in the way of their sovereign Lord Jesus, who was himself a faithful martyr.  Just as Jesus died proclaiming the kingdom of God and people’s need to submit to it, so the earliest believers needed to see their solidarity with their Lord so that they would not falter and give in to being silent.
 
Jesus is Lord of both good days and bad days.  Our faith cannot be dependent upon our circumstances because it is the blood of Jesus that has freed us to live for God no matter what the situation we have before us.  We overcome only on the ground of the blood of Christ – not because everything goes our way.  We overcome our consciences, bad tempers, defeats, lusts, fears, and pettiness on the basis of the blood of the Lamb.  Jesus frees us! The goal of the church is not having a wonderful existence without any adversity; the goal is to know Jesus Christ, and him crucified, dead, risen and ascended. 
 
As believers in Jesus we have continual access and unconditional acceptance of God through his blood.  We can intercede for others directly by going straight to God.  Just as Jesus has unlimited access to the Father, so, the Christian has the ability and the privilege of coming to God at all times.  Christians are a kingdom of priests where every believer intercedes for other believers, and even for the world which persecutes them.
 
While we wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus, we do not idly wait.  We intercede for the world.  We proclaim the gospel to all the earth.  We love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.  Nothing in this world can ever deprive us of grace and peace.  No circumstance or adverse situation, no terrorist or natural disaster, no ornery people, no other person can take away Jesus from us.  So, with this security, assurance, and blessing we are free to rescue others from the coming judgment.
 

 

The reign of Jesus Christ elicits some probing questions:  Will we be faithful to Jesus by being faithful witnesses?  Will we live into the new life offered to us?  Will we submit to King Jesus?  Jesus is worthy of our praise.  He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.  His kingdom will never end.  Since this is true, we are meant to serve God.  In life and in death, we belong to God.  We are not our own; we were bought at a price.  Therefore we are to serve God in the ways he wants us to serve.  “Can God change history?” is not really the question we should be asking.  Since God has changed history forever in the sending of the Son, what will we do with him?