Exodus 32:32

“But now, if You will, forgive their sin–and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!”

Moses was a great leader. He was the standard for the Jewish people. One of the things that makes Him such a great leader is His patience. Moses was a man who had to be constantly frustrated by his brethren. They had all seen the miracles of God bring them out of Egypt single-handedly to the point that they basically plundered the Egyptians. And yet what do we see the people saying to Moses over and over again? “Why did you bring us from Egypt? We would have been better off there than dead in the wilderness,” the said. It does not quite have the same ring as “Give me liberty or give me death!”

Every small thing that either went wrong or was not quite good enough for them, they came and complained to Moses. And yet Moses still has great love for Him. Here they have built the image of the calf in order to worship it. God is obviously infuriated, and wants to destroy this people. Amazingly enough, Moses intervenes. He goes before God, and asks God to hold back His wrath. We might expect that his natural reaction would have been to say, “Good riddance!” and move on. Instead he interceded for them.

What else is amazing is the lengths that he went to intercede. He even asked the Lord to blot out his name from the book of life for their sake. Now that shows great love. The question we have to ask ourselves is this: When facing similar circumstances, do we show the same attitude? Or are we ready to cast aside our fellow brethern at the most convenient opportunity. We need to follow Moses example, and exhibit great patience to those around us.

“But now, if You will, forgive their sin–and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!”

Genesis 45:8

“Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

One night I had to watch over my dad’s English Bulldog, Minnie. Unfortunately, the air conditioner was not  working in the house and it was summer. That  is extremely dangerous for an English bulldog because if it gets too hot, their throats can swell and they can die. So I was very aware of Minnie and what was going on with her. I noticed she had one of her favorite toys and was playing with it quite ferociously. Normally this would not be a problem but in this instance I took the toy away from her so she would not overheat.

She was a little unhappy with me that I would dare take away the toy that she loved. What she did not realize is that I was doing it for her benefit. Joseph was in the same situation with God when he was in Egypt. He was sold into slavery by his brothers, accused of attempted rape by his master, and thrown into prison. Yet all of this happened so that he would be in a position to save the sons of Jacob when a great famine came along. What seemed like a punishment to Joseph was instead a blessing in disguise.

When we come upon trials in our lives, we would do well to remember the story of Joseph. Sometimes God puts us through things that seem unpleasant for our benefit. When those difficulties come about we would do well to remember two thing. The first is that God loves us and wants nothing more than for us to succeed, whether we are in triumph or trial. The second is that He is all powerful and all knowing and we are not. He is the one who is in control, and He does much better than we could ever hope to. That should give us strength in our time of trial.

“Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Matthew 18:15

“If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.

      Sometimes in our lives we encounter our brothers and sisters in Christ succumbing to temptation. This is never easy for us, and it may open us to a myriad of emotions. We may feel betrayed or disappointed. We also may feel angry that they would do such a thing. Sometimes embarassment may enter our thoughts. Whatever it is that we feel, we must remember that as a fellow servant of God we have a certain responsibility to our fellow bondservants.

     As fellow partakers in God’s great love, our first attitude should be one of love and compassion. The last thing in the world we should desire is for them to be separated from God. Since we know that their sin will do that, we should feel an obligation to help them. That is why we need to go to them and confront them with their sin. By going to them, we are trying to help them renew their relationship with God.

      When we go them, we must be vary wary of our attitude. As above, their sin may cause many emotions, but we need to make sure that we control the emotions and keep their benefit in mind first and foremost. That is why Jesus commanded them to go to them privately. By going to them privately they are loving in two ways: the first, and most important, is that their relationship with God is renewed. The second is that we have been concious of their feelings of guilt and embarassment, and have accomadated them in a loving way as God commanded us to.

 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.

Matthew 13:44

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid {again;} and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

What would you do for five million dollars? There are many game shows that are based on this premise, although sometimes they see what people will do for a lot less. But imagine for a second that someone you trusted came to you with a business proposition. What you would have to do is sell all of your possessions, and get all of the money you have, and invest in this product. Say all of your possessions equaled $200,000. After doing so you would get a return of five million dollars. What would you say to this deal?

Assuming that we could trust the investment, we would take this deal in a heartbeat. It would be foolish not to give up $200,000 in order get $5,000,000. Yet we sometimes exhibit that foolishness before God. The gift God gives us is worth more than any physical possessions we may own. It is worth far more than any pleasure or satisfaction that we may get from sin. Yet so often we trade our spiritual inheritance for those petty (but alluring) things.

What is wonderful about this trade is that we can trust the investment. God is not some slick salesman that we have to be wary as he starts into his sales pitch. God is someone who has proven Himself over and over again since the beginning of time. If he says it than we know that it will happen. So when he tells us that if we will give all of our lives to Him then He will reward us beyond measure. Now the only question that remains is if we will indeed give everything over to Him.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid {again;} and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

James 5:8

You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.

It is very easy for us to become restless in our station in life. We are ready for something new, something different. At times we can feel that something is missing in our lives. So we try to fill the hole with something found in this life. Maybe it is a significant other. Maybe it is a job. Sometimes people think that a child will fill that gap. Other times it is money. Unfortunately these stop gaps are not enough to fill the need in our lives.

There is a sense in which we will never fill the void in this life. We were created as eternal beings. We were created for a personal, face to face relationship with God. Yet here we are trapped in a finite physical body, having a separation between us and the Lord. There is only one solution to that problem that will fix it permanently. That is to be transformed into a spiritual being and to be at home with our father in heaven. Until we are there, we will always have something missing.

However, we can have hope. The first thing to realize is that while our relationship with God is somewhat limited to what it will one day be, it is possible for us to have a relationship with Him. Having that relationship is what enables us to have peace in our lives today. It is also what inspires patience. Because we have a blessing in our relationship with God today, it allows us to look forward to what we will have. In doing so we can strengthen ourselves with patience. We can wait for the frustration to be healed in God’s time because we trust that it will indeed be healed. That will be a glorious day indeed.

You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.

Mark 1:35

In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.

     A look at our society today in America shows that we are a bag of contradictions. One of the most amazing ones to me is how we have so many things that are faster now, and yet the faster things go the less time we have. We have fast food, we have microwaveable dinners, and even pre-made easy to cook meals. All of these things are meant to make life easier and more efficient. The preparing and cooking a meal can be cut down from the couple of hours of yesteryear to as quickly as even five minutes. You would think that this gives us more free time. And yet, with the convenience we find ourselves having more we can do and thus more we feel obligated to do.

     The problem with our society being so busy is that many times people do not take time to be with God. To be a Christian requires true devotion. Take Jesus for example. If there was anyone who could do without the spiritual blessings that accompany prayer (stronger faith, etc.) it would be Jesus. He was God after all. And yet here we see that he takes away from His busy schedule of healing and teaching to go and spend time with God. We need to share a similar devotion ourselves. If Jesus needed prayer, we need it more so.

     Often times we claim that we are too busy to make time to pray or study. Yet that excuse shows us where our priorities lie. If there is something really important in our lives, we schedule time for it in advance. We need to do the same with our time with God. Time with God is vital to living a strong Christian life. It is also important to help make the relationship grow. Even Jesus understood that. What better excuse could there be to not go out to pray but to say, “Look I healed people and taught them about God, thought should suffice as my spirituality for today.” Instead He understood that His time with His father was more important than those other things. We too should understand this lesson for our lives today.

In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.

1 Corinthians 3:3

for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?

     The spirit of jealousy can often times find a home in our hearts. It is easy for us to get jealous of the possessions that oterh people have. We desire what they have, really to the point of us getting bitter towards them that they have it and we do not. We find reasons to criticize them so we can say that they do not really deserve such a gift. But even more than possessions, we can often times be jealous of the prestige or popularity of those around us. At that point, criticism often runs rampant.

     The problem with jealousy is twofold. The first problem is that it shows a lack of contentment on our part. God has blessed us with certain things in certain areas. It may come in the form of physical blessings. It may be through natural abilities. And he may give us the qualities that might make us popular or prestigous. At the same time, he may not. Or he may give us some and not any of the others. As Christians we need to learn to be at peace with what God has blessed us with. Jealousy shows a lack of thankfulness on our parts.

      The second problem with jealousy is that it is unloving. When God blesses other people, we should be happy for them. We should rejoice with those who rejoice. Jealousy sits in the corner and glares at the one rejoicing. It is not happy for that person. Instead all it can focus on is itself. Why did I not receive that blessing? Am I not more worthy than they are? By looking at ourselves so, and often times degrading the other person, we miss the entire point of loving our neighbor. This means there is no room for jealousy in our life, for after all, our love of man reflects our love towards God. 

for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?

Luke 6:32

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.

If we, as Christians, want to truly imitate God, it is vital that we be loving to outsiders. One of the dangers of being a part of the church is that we become enemies with those who are of the world.  This makes sense when we have different goals and values now. We understand that there is a fundamental difference between us and them. That is okay for us to recognize and even to act accordingly as far as making sure they do not influence us with sin. The problem comes when regard them as enemies and do not love them. We are cold and rude to them. This is not what God desires.

Even worse is when people in the church break off into little groups. Again, this is natural as we will be closer to some people than others. The problem comes when become unloving to anyone who is not in our group. We may gossip about them. We may stop caring about them and their needs. Or even worse we may stop caring about their salvation. We may be rude to them, and give them a cold shoulder. What is amazing is that this even happens among those in the Lord’s church. This is unacceptable. We must be loving to all our brothers and sisters in Christ.

The reason why we need to be loving to those who are outside of our group, whether that group be the church or a clique, is because that is what God does. Jesus did not die for those who had never sinned. He died for those who had become His enemy. At mankind’s lowest point, Jesus showed them love. What is disappointing is when people accept Jesus’ gift and refuse to show the same love He showed to others. There will be a strong condemnation for anyone who acts in such a way.

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.

1 Corinthians 9:20

To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law;

Paul was an excellent evangelist. He was always preaching the word. He probably converted more people than I have even met at this point in my life. When Paul went to prison, what did he do? He converted the guards. He converted the other prisoners. Even thrown in prison Paul was showing people the truth. Understanding how excellent Paul was at evangelism, we should follow His example whenever we want to teach unbelievers.

One of Paul’s greatest strengths was the ability to adapt. Paul preached to two completely different cultures. You would be hard pressed to find people much more diametrically opposed than Jews and Greeks. Jews thought Greeks were unruly pagans. Greeks thought Jews to be out of place ascetics. And yet Paul was able to preach effectively to both people. He tailored his message to their needs. He talked to each people in their own way.

We need to follow this example of Paul. We need to preach the word to those we know in a way that is suitable to them. Sometimes we can be stubborn. We can teach it in a way that we are comfortable with. Yet sometimes because of the ways we were raised, our way is different from the way they are. We need to determine what method may be the most effective for them. Like Paul this does not mean we diminish the truth. What it does mean is that we bring the truth to the people in a way they can see and understand it.

To the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I might win those who are under the Law;

Psalm 7:12

If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready.

It can be easy for people to become lackadaisical about their  spiritual life. The allow a white lie here, a lusting look there. They allow jealousy, anger, or bitterness to remain in their heart. We think that these small sins are no big deal. And yet they are. First of all any sin is an affront to God. The second problem is that we allow sin a beachhead in our lives. Before we know it the invading army of sin overtakes us. By allowing sin into our lives in any form, we open the door for more to enter in.

Before we know it our lackadaisical approach becomes a full out spiritual abyss. We feel distant from God. What was once an occasional sin or a guilty pleasure becomes a natural part of what we do. This is why our  attitude needs to be on of vigilance. We must constantly be on guard against any sin in our lives. As soon as we see it and recognize it for what it is, we need to repent immediately. Like a gardener constantly pulling out weeds, we must constantly change any slippage in the path of sin.

If we refuse to do so, we risk the judgment of the Lord. As the Psalmist says here, His judgment is fierce. On top of that, we can see that He is preparing to bring about judgment on those who do not obey.  It will not be a random decision one morning. The Lord hates sin. When He sees people involved in it, it upsets Him and causes Him to grieve in His heart. Those who refuse to repent before the Lord might make the mistake that He has turned a blind eye towards them. To do so is foolish: He is now preparing judgment for you if you do not return to Him.

If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready.