Genesis 25:8 - Elderly, Not Happy

Genesis 25:8 

And Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, and old man and satisfied [with life]; and he was gathered to his people. 

Message: Elderly, Not Happy

Time: Genesis is the first book and Moses is credited as authoring. The book spans 2400 years of time. It was originally written in Hebrew.

What the Lord is Saying: Aging is difficult. I am finding this out. It seems for me that life simply ran its course for 50 years or so, maybe even 55 for me, but over the last couple of years, I have noticed age starting to set in. Discomforts are rising. My mind seems more cluttered at times. Memory seems harder. Responsibilities are increasing. At times, my ability to complete tasks is taking longer. My analysis seems to increase on things. I have started a book called "From Strength to Strength" by Arthur Brooks. It is a book about happiness and purpose in the 2nd half of life. Even that book I am having trouble making progress on. I want to but other things get in the way or take my focus off of it. The book has reminded me so for that as I sense live coming to a close, there may be a struggle with joy and happiness and purpose. 

I am 58 and told my boss this week that I think I will retire 1 year from next month. It seems the right time. And yet, I don't know what will happen to me after that. Even though I will stop working, I can continue to get paid for a year because of the vacation and sick pay I have stockpiled. 

So this text or reading here seems apt for me. Granted, there are always those older than me. Right now, I am in a Sunday school class and a couple of weeks ago it was said I am a young person in the class since most of the class is made up of people my parents' age. I know my dad continues to struggle following the death of my mom in October 2019. While he misses my mom, his fear of death seems greater. And these two emotions in his life control his life and define it. For him, there is solitude. He manages his day I think. He has routines but it seems that each day is simply an exercise in getting to tomorrow. 

This text today mentions Abraham at his old age, breathing his last, mentioning he was ripe, satisfied and with friends. To me this means, he was ready, satisfied and had people. Perhaps that is the need for any time or moment in life. Living like today is your last. Living with contentment and living with people around you. 

This lesson though lists 3 points today. 

1. The author here points out that Abraham had faith in God. This faith has existed throughout his life as he has learned to trust God and depend on His promises. Uncertainties that come and sufferings that come can be faced because of that faith. I think this means we believe in God's promises and words to us. We believe in the future he has prepared for us, our heavenly home. And we remember the love he has for us. 

Often people remark that they don't know how people make it without God. I have been talking to someone recently that I believe is an atheist. He is thankful for life and appreciates life. He understands suffering and pain. That life is simply this. But for me it life is something more. God's word and that knowledge that I am his creation, and living with him now and for eternity gives me an everlasting peace. I see his work in all things of life and He is my creator. That life is more than today, but tomorrow. And the principles in the Bible are for my best. So it seems empty to not have that. 

2. Abraham was obedient to God. Obedience follows faith. "Trust and obey, there is no other way than to be happy in Jesus" or so the song goes. Obedience produces alignment with God and His ways. As we abide in His ways, we see the fruit that follows and that alone brings peace and tranquility and we know and have assurance that God will not forsake us. 

3. His final point is Abraham walked with God. It seems to the author this meant a relationship with seems to be the product of faith and obedience. He talked to God, listened, and understood Him. This relationship with God assures us and Abraham that God is there. Having built that relationship, we have nothing to fret about it. It moves to more than simply trust, to an alignment.. 

One of the things I have noticed with my earthly father is he seems to have placed his entire well-being in my mom and his dependence on her for everything she did meant that upon her passing, he did not seem like he could be happy consistently. He stopped meeting with friends at Starbuck's, going to his synagogue, relating with people because his foundation (my mom) was no longer there and this has resulted in his extreme solidarity and loneliness to the point that all he has is his health. That health fear has always been there but it has grown in these final days.

Prayer: O God, how I want to find my rest in You. How I want find my peace in You, trusting in You day by day. I want to grow daily in that relationship and continue to have faith and follow that up with obedience. Thank you for bringing me to this point right now. Help me to hold onto you. And be ready to die, satisfied and content and surrounded by friends and family. All that you have blessed me with. 

Note: If you are interested in other studies/devotions, check out my index of Bible Study's.

I Samuel 3:1 - 4:1 - The Lord Calls Samuel

I Samuel 3:1 - 4:1

19 Now Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and He let none of his words fail. 20 And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord.

Message: The Lord Calls Samuel

Time: This book is a biography of Samuel's life and career up to his death. It took place over a period of about 110 years, stretching from the closing days of the judges, when Samuel was born (ca. 1120 BC) through the death of Saul (1011 BC).

What the Lord is Saying: Verse 1 seems to highlight a difference between the two sons of Eli and now Samuel. It states, "Now the boy Samuel" in contrast to the words of I Samuel 2 of his sons and "the report is not good" (2:24). The reality is those individuals who marked their lives consistently in growing up in the Lord and ministering to the Lord were rare. 

In this 2nd chapter the Lord calls Samuel and yet Samuel does not recognize the Lord. He thinks instead it is Eli. This happens 3 tunes through verse 8. Verse 7 says, "Samuel did not yet know the Lord." Then in verse 9, Eli instructs Samuel on how to answer the next time he hears the Lord. 

The Lord is speaking a word to Samuel and that word is He will curse Eli and his household. The issue was "because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he (Eli) did not rebuke them" (v.13). One problem was the sin and the other was the father not rebuking the sin. The sin needs to be called out and brought to the attention of others as not being acceptable. 

Samuel is now scared to tell Eli (v. 15), but eventually he does and Eli accepts it - "It is the Lord: let Him do what seems good to Him" (v. 19). It was not good for Eli, but he would accept it. As what is important is that it is good for the Lord. That's the crux of this. God will do what is best for Him in the moment. 

Thus:

• Samuel grew and the Lord was with him (v. 19)
• [he] let none of his words fail (v. 19)
• he was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord (v. 20)
• the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel (v. 21)
• the word of Samuel came to all Israel. (4:1)

The Lord speaks not simply alone himself, but uses people to speak through. This chapter chronicles the life of Samuel up to being a prophet. It started with his mother dedicated him to God's service and then he responded by growing up in the Lord. But even as God spoke to him, he did not hear Him as Lord. He needed instruction and Eli as a priest provided him that guidance and instruction so that next time the Lord called him, he heard. And then God asked him to do something and He replied and did it and in the process he became one God can count on. He grew to be a Prophet of the Lord and eventually one that speaks to all of the people. There is a progression here with many involved, his mother, a priest, and the Lord ultimately. 

Summary: Samuel, unlike Eli’s sons, is growing with the Lord God, as a prophet, and bringing God’s word to Israel. 

Promise: I need to take time daily to listen to God. 

Prayer: Father God, I am yours, created by You to not only live morally but to live always pleasing to You. Samuel modeled this and I pray my life now and going forward will be a life well lived according to the truth of who you are and who I am in You. I am to bring You glory. Like Eli’s sons though I am often so selfish and am only seeking what makes me feel good. I ask for strength each day, Your strength, so that I will be one that honors You. I ask this and come to You in the name of Jesus and because of Him. Amen 

Note: If you are interested in other studies/devotions, check out my index of Bible Study's.

John 6:52-59 - Eating and Belief

John 6:52-59

52 The Jews therefore began to argue with one another, saying, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat?" 53 Jesus therefore said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in  yourselves. 54 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise Him up on the last day. 55 For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me he also shall live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate, and died, he who eats this bread shall live forever." 59 These things He said in the synagogue in Capernaum.

Message: Eating and Belief

Time: John most likely wrote between A.D. 85 and 90. John's purpose in writing was, "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:31)."

What the Lord is Saying: As a reminder, this discourse that Jesus is giving is in the midst of multitudes in the synagogue which includes Jews. He has been clear in his words, but he is also using language that is a little shocking stating "I am the living bread....if anyone eats of this bread he shall live forever." Our passage this morning begins with the Jews asking this question - "how are we to eat flesh?"

With our knowledge now of Luke 22:19 - And when he had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you, do this in remembrance of Me." And so we know now that Jesus' discourse here of eating the body and drinking the blood would be a parallel for His atoning death. But at the time, what would His audience have thought? Jesus does not seem to here be talking about the sacrament. 

Thus, as we study, we see parallels - verse 40 - "For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I myself will raise him up on the last day." Jesus mentions repeatedly believing in Him. And then as we look at verse 54, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." Thus, there doesn't seem to be extra work or an extra sacrament that is required for eternal life, but rather the eating and drinking are not carnal acts, but rather speak to the trust we place in Him for salvation. He also says in verse 56 that doing this "abides in Him." Abiding is a giving of oneself completely. It is to include ourselves in all of what God provides to us - studying His word, prayer, fellowship, living our life in faith. As such the eating and drinking refer to more than belief, but taking Jesus in and taking Him in completely to our lives. 

Summary: As Jesus is the bread of life, to eat his flesh and drink His blood is to abide in Him and to trust in Him completely for salvation practicing all that He has provided for us to grow in Christ. 

Promise: Later on, with the Lord's supper, we see a tangible picture of taking Jesus in and entering unto Him, to show that tangible practice we are to mirror in our life of growing in Christ daily. 

Prayer: Lord, as Petra stated in their song, we are daily to move Beyond Belief. I am to practice the presence of God daily in reading and studying and listening to good speakers, in fellowship with my wife and any others in the faith and encouraging myself and others continually to go beyond faith and belief to practice and doing the will of God. In believing I am sealed for eternal life, but in my belief I work for it shows that I am with you God. Keep training me daily in this sort of living. Keep me focused on You and leaning on You. 

Note: If you are interested in other studies/devotions, check out my index of Bible Study's. 

Ephesians 4:12-14 - Our Arena for Growth

Ephesians 4:12-14 - To equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 

Message: Our Arena for Growth

Time: Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians sometime in AD 60–61, around the same time he wrote Colossians and Philemon. Ephesians deals with topics at the core of being a Christian - faith and practice, no matter the situation.

What the Lord is Saying:

This lesson begins a series of lessons on the purpose of Church. At is core, the purpose of the church is to bring God glory. Yet, in this passage today, after studying in the last 2 lessons of church offices - the next verse in Ephesians is Paul calling to the Church leaders the goal To equip the saints for the work of ministry. So it is in the church that we become equipped. I was in a church that mentioned this often and yet they had so many people on staff doing ministry, it made me wonder at times if they were really equipping or simply enabling the church people to depend on the pastors.  

I think my focus on church has often been from the words in Hebrews 10:24-25 -- And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. I suppose it seems that while the leaders are equipping the body is being challenge while also being encouraged. Living in our world is a challenge on many levels. We strive to keep fighting the fight (I Timothy 6:12) and yet even in this we need encouragement from one another. 

I think our current church does a great job preaching and teaching. We are now in a large class after service. Again, great preaching and good people. And maybe the mere presence of being there is an encouragement but talking through life with one another, that remains a challenge. But no matter what,  there is something special about being in church versus being alone and I think this is what the writer's of Tabletalk are emphasizing here. It is the place that encourages us and anchors us in spiritual growth. I don't think this means that all of our spiritual growth occurs at church but even as I think about in my life, the fellowship and the people in my life that have resulted in my spiritual growth have all come from church. Many people stay away from church for reasons that I have experienced, not liking the leadership, not agreeing with it. And yet in the process we miss out on what remains important, being taught, shepherd and encouraged. 

Personal, individual study is good, but it is through fellowship with others and talking to others about these studies and being involved in life with others that growth happens. In my life, meeting with other men has been a church. Even my work in GMO is a church of sorts as we continue to engage in discussions around truth. I think there is even something mysterious about how this happens. There is an accountability that takes place. Overall, it is central to who we are. 

I see this further in this passage. Leaders will equip the saints for the work of ministry and in this time at church we are coming together for building up the body of Christ. A building is one of strength and the community of believers is meant to have a strength. As the passage continues, church life recognizes that Jesus is not walking with us in physical form and yet as we have each other and are with each other we have this goal of all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ -- all of those words speak of maturity; our goal is to grow and grow together - focusing on the Son of God. We are not meant to always be young, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. We are meant to mature so that the cares of this world do not have a stronghold on us. 

Summary: It is at church, present, that we are to be equipped and build one another up in order to grow in maturity. 

Promise: No amount of study that we do on our own, however helpful it may be, can substitute for the benefit we receive by participating in the educational ministry of our local church

Prayer: O Father God, thank you for orchestrating life as you have. In all times, the church has been the place we need to be taught, encouraged, and grow. Thank you for knowing that we need this and giving me always that desire to be involved. Thank you for the people you have placed in my life to do the work of ministry and being in fellowship. You have given me always a great love for church. I'm so thankful for my mom and her love for it and showing us at an early age the importance of being with one another. I always think of those Sunday evening potlucks and doing life together. We still need this. I still need this. Help me to continue to invite others into our home and figure out a way to be with one another in these ways. 

Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am now working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines celebrating the 500th year of the Reformation. The month of August is about the Body of the Lord - the Church recovered in the Reformation; July was the right use of God's Law; June was justification by faith alone; May, Christ Alone; April, salvation by grace alone; March, the sovereign providence of God; February, the doctrine of revelation, Scripture; January, the doctrine of God. 

Christ's Body

The Body of Christ - The Church is the Body of Christ and Christ loves the church. We are to imitate Christ and see that the Church is how Christ carries out His purposes in the world. The Head of the Church - Christ is Head of the church and he only has final authority and gives life to the church. Life is found only in Jesus Christ our Lord. - The Church We Can See - Belonging to a church is not optional, for anyone. We are meant to live in a community with other believers, to hear the Word of God preached, and to grow. The Church We Cannot See - What we see is the Visible church, the invisible church only God knows because He is omniscient and that is the Church we cannot see. 

Truths about the Church from the Apostles Creed

Church Unity - The church is bigger than our local assembly; there are core beliefs among the invisible church. One People Throughout History - God has only one people; throughout the world there are people that share doctrines and truths despite their being differences in where we attend or belong. God's Holy People - By being in Christ, though we still have a fallen nature, God has set us apart as holy, as his saints. True Catholocity - God's people includes men and women from every tribe and every tongue that hold to the biblical gospel. The Apostilic Church - we are fellow citizens with all people from all tribes and tongues throughout history, united by being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets teaching, thus apostolic, with Christ Jesus being our cornerstone.

What the Church Does and Believes

Preaching Christ and His Commandments - A church needs to be committed to faithfully preaching the Word of God. Administering Sacraments - Sacraments (The Lord's Supper and Baptism especially) need to be part of a church existing, but they also need to be rightly administered. The Discipline of the Church - We need to be a people that encourage repentance to keep the church pure and set apart.

Church Leadership Offices

Prophets and Apostles - There is a foundation of how the church begins and that foundation is the apostles and prophets. Evangelists, Shepherds, and Teachers - Only mention of pastors in the New Testament. 

My Utmost for His Highest - May 18th - Careful Unreasonableness

Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? - Matthew 6:26, 28

    Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they simply are! Think of the sea, the air, the sun, the stars and the moon--all these are, and what a ministration they exert. So often we mar God's designed influence through us by our self-conscious effort to be consistent and useful. Jesus says that there is only one way to develop spiritually, and that is by concentration on God. "Do not bother about being of use to others; believe on Me (John 7:38)"--pay attention to the Source, and out of you will flow rivers of living water. We cannot get at the springs of our natural life by common sense, and Jesus is teaching that growth in spiritual life does not depend on our watching it, but on concentration on our Father in heaven. Our heavenly Father knows the circumstance we are in, and if we keep concentrated on Him we will grow spiritually as the lilies.

 
    The people who influence us most are not those who buttonhole us and talk to us, but those who live their lives like the stars in heaven and the lilies in the field, perfectly simply and unaffectedly. Those are the lives that mould us.

    If you want to be of use to God, get rightly related to Jesus Christ and He will make you of use unconsciously every minute you live.

- From Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest" - Classic Edition

Highlights and Underlines are courtesy of Mom from her print edition.

My thoughts

To develop spiritually, we concentrate on God, not on our growth per se, but on Him and like the lilies of the field and the stars in the sky, we will exert Him as we focus on the Source. If we do this, unconsciously we will be in right relation to Him and be of use to Him. 

My Utmost for His Highest - March 26th - Vision by Personal Purity

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those with leprosy, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. - Matthew 10:8

Purity is not innocence, it is much more. Purity is the outcome of sustained spiritual sympathy with God. We have to grow in purity. The life with God may be right and the inner purity remain unsullied, and yet every now and again the bloom on the outside may be sullied. God does not shield us from this possibility, because in this way we realize the necessity of maintaining the vision by personal purity. If the spiritual bloom of our life with God is getting impaired, in the tiniest degree, we must leave off everything and get it put right. Remember that vision depends on character--the pure in heart see God.

God makes us pure by His sovereign grace, but we have something to look after, this bodily life by which we come in contact with other people and with other points of view, it is those that are apt to sully. Not only must the inner sanctuary be kept right with God, but the outer courts as well are to be brought into perfect accord with the purity God gives us by His grace. The spiritual understanding is blurred immediately the outer court is sullied. If we are going to retain personal contact with the Lord Jesus Christ, it will mean there are some things we must scorn to do or to think, some legitimate things we must scorn to touch.

A practical way of keeping personal purity unsullied, in relation to other people is to say to yourself--That man, that woman, perfect in Christ Jesus! That friend, that relative, perfect in Christ Jesus!

Oswald Chambers - From My Utmost for His Highest Classic Edition

- Underlines and highlights are courtesy of Mom from her Print Edition

- Sullied - to soil, tarnish, especially by disgracing

Mark 4:26-29 - Slow and Steady Growth

Mark 4:26-29
26 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27 and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. 28 The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29 But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Message: Slow and Steady Growth

Time: Mark's personal connection with Peter gave him the source material for this book. This book was composed probably between AD 57 and AD 59. It's a book that is on the move, leading to the cross. 39 times is the word 'immediately' used. Mark reveals Jesus as God's servant, reaching into the lives of people and effecting physical and circumstantial change.

What the Lord is Saying:

Most of chapter 4 has been dealing with the good soil, the falling of the seed and the Word of God into people's lives -- people that are called by God and then their responsibility to that calling. The Parable of the Sower showed all different kinds of surfaces the seed falls on, but upon it falling on the good soil was the remark that it was accepted and the fruit produced a large crop. And then that good soil (His called ones) have a responsibility to let their light shine and to live according to their calling. After the seed falls, the soil has the task of yielding fruit. Thus, I am a vessel or an instrument of the Lord. And I have a great responsibility as His Child.

I see a lot of part-time believers of God in life. That is not my calling. I am not to only go to church weekly and then behave as I want during the week -- seeking entertainment of every sort, working my trade or my job, raising my family, maintaining my belongings, and buying more -- those are parts of everyone's life and showing partial devotion is not my calling. I am to be equipped and run to the glory of God in all of my activities. Am I really praying, confessing my sin in detail and then offering prayers for others? Am I serving the body of Christ, serving those in need? Is my fellowship with other Christians purposeful, for His glory? My life has been bought at a cost (the Cross) and I have a responsibility to live in a different manner than all of my peers.

This new parable begins with this phrase - The kingdom of God is like. As I recall, in verse 11, in response to the disciples and followers asking Jesus for the meaning of the parables he says - To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, The disciples possess the kingdom of God. I really just stop to mention this subject of the kingdom of God and its importance. I admit, my understanding of these verses is still a work in process. I don't understand completely. But here in these verses, there is something similar here. Could these parables be more for the disciples and followers and less for the great multitude for it is talking specifically about the kingdom of God or rather the good soil? Yet, it is a parable and the parable is given earlier to those on the outside. So, not understand that completely yet.

Here is the parable: a man casts seed upon the soil and he goes to bed at night and gets up the next day and the seed sprouts and grows, yet he himself does not know how or why even as the growth has occurred while he was sleeping. This parable is given without explanation. Immediately Jesus, I believe, is calling to their attention that as he just told them that they need to be obedient to their calling to be good soil and multiply, the multiplication or fruit is something he does. We cannot force this to happen in people's lives.

It reminds me of a visitation I did one time with a leader in the church and we went to the house of woman that lived nearby that had visited the church. I was in my 20s and so the church leader led the discussion. He shared the gospel and then rather forcibly led her to a decision. He persisted and pushed and pushed her until she sort of made a decision and then he walked out of there in celebration of what God had done. I saw the reverse. I didn't see that this was led by the Spirit, but maybe he saw something I didn't. For this message, I see Jesus saying that we are to water and we can give the plants food and care for it, but ultimate God will take charge of the growing.

Each person grows to a certain height, but no parent can determine how tall a person will be. God takes care of this and in the same way we must trust the process. This means that there are no formula's in life. This can be hard at times because this happens often in our non-spiritual life as we work hard and yield results. But, God doesn't work like this and we should not question outcomes.

The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come. This could eventually be talking abut suffering (puts in the sickle) or the point in a person's life that leads them close to death for the harvest has come points possible to the end or the culmination of a person's life where the fruit is seen. Often at deaths of Christians we have a celebration of life service that helps us to stop and take a moment and look at the fruit that has come from this person's life. We are to be faithful in our work but we are also to trust God for the outcome. God will decided when the crop permits for it is different for each person.

Promise: Preach the gospel faithfully and trust God for the harvest. This will yield lasting fruit.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the way in which you work. Thank you for not putting outcomes on me. Help me to not focus on results, but focus on the presentation and depend on you for the results and trust you as well. I need this reminder continually in my life that you are always working, always growing and I can trust you for this. Thank you Lord for the way in which you want me to be involved.