Spreading the Word & Chickens Everywhere
1 year ago
Friday, March 27, 2009
See the New Blog
We have recently moved from Acworth, GA to Moncks Corner, SC , and I have chosen at the same time to change the title of my blog to "Comments from the corner." You can now find a somewhat more newsy blog at www.commentsfromthecorner.blogspot.com
A new name for a new location
Well, here we are, three weeks into our status as South Carolina citizens. We are now living in Moncks Corner, SC. If you'll e-mail me, I will be glad to send you our exact address.
Speaking of moving, our Bible reading yesterday was the introduction to the book of the Recapitulation of the Covenant (otherwise known as Deuteronomy). In this chapter, Moses gathers the people and prepares them for a reminder concerning what lies ahead by giving them an outline of their history since they left Egypt, and reminding them of God's sovereignty and their need for His guidance and protection.
The history points out how God has dealt toward them by showing His power in discrediting the gods of Egypt and bringing them out of their slavery. He brings them to Mount Sinai after miraculously opening up the Red Sea so that they can cross on dry land. He then tells Moses to make the preparations for entering the land of Canaan.
As I read this passage, I was surprised to see a detail which I had not seen before-- the idea of sending spies out to check out the land was not Moses' idea nor God's, but it came from the people. Another detail was that they all came back with a very good report.
So, how come they did not go right in and conquer the land immediately? It was a conflict of WILLS. It was GOD's will vs. Israel's will. Moses points out that "you were unwilling to go up: you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God." (Deut. 1:26) This was not an intellectual battle. They had seen God's work, so they knew He could do what He promised. They had seen the land, so they knew that the land was good. But there was another force at work here: There was a total lack of trust in God. Only two out of twelve were willing to trust His promises. Instead, the other ten led the chorus of "grumbling", an undercurrent of insinuations and detractions which questioned God's good will toward them. The result was that the people were discouraged (they lost heart), and a whole generation lost out on God's blessing. They saw enemies everywhere, but did not take into consideration the huge advantage they had by having God on their side. Nothing Moses could say was able to dissuade them. They were not about to trust. They could not see the truth of what Moses said "...God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place." (1:31) When I read this verse, I was reminded of the poem which many of us have read, and which has brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion-- "Footprints" describes in the form of a dream this very fact. When we can only see one pair of footprints in the sand, it is not because God has abandoned us, but rather because He has picked us up and carried us through a difficult situation.
As we enter this new phase, I pray that our precious Lord will make each of us aware of His daily presence in our lives, and that we will be willing to follow Him here in the Corner--not hiding away or grumbling, but valiantly forging ahead in the confidence that He is with us at all times, and will pick us up and carry us when the circumstances seem unbearable.
Have a wonderful day trusting Him, and depending on Him!!
Speaking of moving, our Bible reading yesterday was the introduction to the book of the Recapitulation of the Covenant (otherwise known as Deuteronomy). In this chapter, Moses gathers the people and prepares them for a reminder concerning what lies ahead by giving them an outline of their history since they left Egypt, and reminding them of God's sovereignty and their need for His guidance and protection.
The history points out how God has dealt toward them by showing His power in discrediting the gods of Egypt and bringing them out of their slavery. He brings them to Mount Sinai after miraculously opening up the Red Sea so that they can cross on dry land. He then tells Moses to make the preparations for entering the land of Canaan.
As I read this passage, I was surprised to see a detail which I had not seen before-- the idea of sending spies out to check out the land was not Moses' idea nor God's, but it came from the people. Another detail was that they all came back with a very good report.
So, how come they did not go right in and conquer the land immediately? It was a conflict of WILLS. It was GOD's will vs. Israel's will. Moses points out that "you were unwilling to go up: you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God." (Deut. 1:26) This was not an intellectual battle. They had seen God's work, so they knew He could do what He promised. They had seen the land, so they knew that the land was good. But there was another force at work here: There was a total lack of trust in God. Only two out of twelve were willing to trust His promises. Instead, the other ten led the chorus of "grumbling", an undercurrent of insinuations and detractions which questioned God's good will toward them. The result was that the people were discouraged (they lost heart), and a whole generation lost out on God's blessing. They saw enemies everywhere, but did not take into consideration the huge advantage they had by having God on their side. Nothing Moses could say was able to dissuade them. They were not about to trust. They could not see the truth of what Moses said "...God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place." (1:31) When I read this verse, I was reminded of the poem which many of us have read, and which has brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion-- "Footprints" describes in the form of a dream this very fact. When we can only see one pair of footprints in the sand, it is not because God has abandoned us, but rather because He has picked us up and carried us through a difficult situation.
As we enter this new phase, I pray that our precious Lord will make each of us aware of His daily presence in our lives, and that we will be willing to follow Him here in the Corner--not hiding away or grumbling, but valiantly forging ahead in the confidence that He is with us at all times, and will pick us up and carry us when the circumstances seem unbearable.
Have a wonderful day trusting Him, and depending on Him!!
Friday, March 20, 2009
Is God's Second Best Good Enough
Sears may have started it in the area of merchandising, but many other retailers have followed. They offer the GOOD, the BETTER and the BEST. Of course, when it comes to merchandise, we all want the BEST, and whether we get it depends on what we can afford.
But in the lives of the Israelites God was willing to give them the BEST. When Moses sent out the spies to look over the land, Joshua and Caleb came back telling of the prospects. They even had to enlist some help to carry the huge bunches of grapes they picked in the Promised Land. But Israel chose to be a "democratic" society and not listen to the two spies who were in tune with God's BEST. The majority ruled, and a landslide at that. After all, the prospect of going out to fight for a land that God had promised was not exactly exciting. Someone might actually get hurt!
So they chose the BETTER. Yes, it was better than being slaves in Egypt, though that was GOOD for almost 400 years. But the quality of life there had deteriorated as Egypt found that the Israelites were hard workers, and decided to get more and more out of them--production, production, production!
Now, because Israel chose not to forge ahead and achieve the BEST, all the men of military age at the time of the spies' report would not get to enter the Promised Land.
Almost forty years later, after camping out in the desert for most of that time, Israel was faced with the prospect of actually being allowed by God to enter the Land of Promise. Numbers 32 tells us that 2 1/2 tribes of Israel (Reuben, Gad and Manasseh) had decided for the BETTER, leaving the BEST to the other 9 1/2 tribes. When Moses tried to dissuade them from that plan, they would not reconsider. So Moses pointed out that the choice was not going to be that easy. The men of military age would still have to go across the Jordan and help the others conquer the land, but they would not be able to inherit the Promised Land. They would stay at the threshhold and achieve only the BETTER.
Normally we could not make these applications, but both Moses and the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews make the application, so we are more than justified in doing so. Many followers of Jesus Christ (which is GOOD) stop short of the BEST by choosing the BETTER. Rather than letting Him have all of themselves and the bountiful goods that He supplied them with in the first place, they choose to hang on to the BETTER and get into a daily routine of sameness--same job, same services attended, same niceties said to fellow workers, etc. Their theme--and I confess it is tempting to fall into this rut-- could be:
About evangelism: "I'll help pay the salary for a Minister of Outreach"
"That's what the pastor gets paid for."
"I'm not gifted in that area"
About missions: "I'll support our church's missionaries."
"I'll go do support work so that the missionaries can do the work they were called to."
" I can support a national for much less than it would cost to keep me on the
field, and he can do the job so much more efficiently."
"I'm a farmer--I can teach them to support themselves by farming."
About personal growth: "I am what I am--it's in my genes--there has been much improvement,
but I can't see where I can change who I am."
While many of these statements are true, they fail to take into consideration one factor: What is God's BEST for me? They also fail to take into consideration who it is that will effect the change in our lives and in the lives of those whom we touch. Our job is not so much to DO what God wants us to DO, as it is to BE who He wants us to be--the doing will be the result.
If you feel like I'm preaching at you, be aware that I'm really preaching at myself. It is impossible for me to recount the number of times I have chosen the BETTER and missed out on the BEST.
So as I go along I will try to remind myself of the importance of weighing the possibilities and choosing the BEST God has for me.
But in the lives of the Israelites God was willing to give them the BEST. When Moses sent out the spies to look over the land, Joshua and Caleb came back telling of the prospects. They even had to enlist some help to carry the huge bunches of grapes they picked in the Promised Land. But Israel chose to be a "democratic" society and not listen to the two spies who were in tune with God's BEST. The majority ruled, and a landslide at that. After all, the prospect of going out to fight for a land that God had promised was not exactly exciting. Someone might actually get hurt!
So they chose the BETTER. Yes, it was better than being slaves in Egypt, though that was GOOD for almost 400 years. But the quality of life there had deteriorated as Egypt found that the Israelites were hard workers, and decided to get more and more out of them--production, production, production!
Now, because Israel chose not to forge ahead and achieve the BEST, all the men of military age at the time of the spies' report would not get to enter the Promised Land.
Almost forty years later, after camping out in the desert for most of that time, Israel was faced with the prospect of actually being allowed by God to enter the Land of Promise. Numbers 32 tells us that 2 1/2 tribes of Israel (Reuben, Gad and Manasseh) had decided for the BETTER, leaving the BEST to the other 9 1/2 tribes. When Moses tried to dissuade them from that plan, they would not reconsider. So Moses pointed out that the choice was not going to be that easy. The men of military age would still have to go across the Jordan and help the others conquer the land, but they would not be able to inherit the Promised Land. They would stay at the threshhold and achieve only the BETTER.
Normally we could not make these applications, but both Moses and the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews make the application, so we are more than justified in doing so. Many followers of Jesus Christ (which is GOOD) stop short of the BEST by choosing the BETTER. Rather than letting Him have all of themselves and the bountiful goods that He supplied them with in the first place, they choose to hang on to the BETTER and get into a daily routine of sameness--same job, same services attended, same niceties said to fellow workers, etc. Their theme--and I confess it is tempting to fall into this rut-- could be:
About evangelism: "I'll help pay the salary for a Minister of Outreach"
"That's what the pastor gets paid for."
"I'm not gifted in that area"
About missions: "I'll support our church's missionaries."
"I'll go do support work so that the missionaries can do the work they were called to."
" I can support a national for much less than it would cost to keep me on the
field, and he can do the job so much more efficiently."
"I'm a farmer--I can teach them to support themselves by farming."
About personal growth: "I am what I am--it's in my genes--there has been much improvement,
but I can't see where I can change who I am."
While many of these statements are true, they fail to take into consideration one factor: What is God's BEST for me? They also fail to take into consideration who it is that will effect the change in our lives and in the lives of those whom we touch. Our job is not so much to DO what God wants us to DO, as it is to BE who He wants us to be--the doing will be the result.
If you feel like I'm preaching at you, be aware that I'm really preaching at myself. It is impossible for me to recount the number of times I have chosen the BETTER and missed out on the BEST.
So as I go along I will try to remind myself of the importance of weighing the possibilities and choosing the BEST God has for me.
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