This is a perfect Psalm for a Sunday morning when we are getting ready to go to church and worship our Lord and celebrate the resurrection. But, next year, August 30th won’t likely be a Sunday and so we will be reading this text on Monday instead. No matter what day we read this Psalm on, it is a great Psalm. It reminds us that God is powerful, more powerful than we are, more powerful than anything in the world. “May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!” The Lord will share his strength with us. He will protect us.
So finally, they listen to God. But notice even here, that the people didn’t seek the Lord’s advice. They were ready to go and fight their own relatives. No, God spoke to them through Shemaiah. That is a bad sign.
I’m wondering if Jeroboam read Exodus and the story of the Golden Calf. True, his thinking is right, if the people were always going to Jerusalem to sacrifice, they would feel attachment to Jerusalem. So, if you have to, build other temples to God in other places. Don’t build false gods for the people to follow. That’s just going to make God mad at you. But he does. God gets mad. And Israel starts down the bad path to destruction.
In Corinthians, we read of the generosity of Macedonia. They took up a collection to send to the church in Jerusalem because they were hard hit with persecution. But, the people of Macedonia were themselves affected by extreme poverty. How does one become so generous? St. Paul tells us, “they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.” It was out of thanksgiving that they were able to do this wonderful thing.
This is going to be a great day, maybe a little cold, but a wonderful day.
What a cold, cold Monday. I even had a wear a sweat shirt on my walk this morning. Nasty.
If nothing else, the Psalms remind us who God is. He is our God and He is in charge and when He says jump we say, “How high?” When God decided He likes a mountain called Bashan, even if we don’t know anything about that mountain, that’s cool. God decided He likes it. After all, “Our God is a God of salvation, and to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.” He can deliver us from everything, even death.
I would think that one of the worst things in the world would be to have the Bible record of you, “And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him.” That’s not a good thing. You are pretty much in trouble when that is said of you. It is a wonder that anyone is named Ahab ever again.
But things were getting pretty bad. So bad that Elijah predicts a drought and God send him to live by a brook. It’s great that God has ravens bring him food. But would you really eat food carried to you by a raven? Ravens are nasty birds. They are dirty birds and I’m not sure I’d eat anything they carried to me. But then again, ask me just before dinner time and I may change my mind.
The drought got so bad, the brook dried up. So God sends Elijah to Zarephath. He lives with the widow there who has some flour and oil, just a little, but it never dries up until after Elijah leaves. And it’s a good thing Elijah is there to raise her son from the dead. Oh yes, Elijah is a man of God.
There are so many different sayings from the Bible, but it’s amazing how many we get wrong. “God helps those who help themselves.” Nope. Not in the Bible. But we got one in our text for today that we get right, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Yes, we got that right, “God loves a cheerful giver.” He is the one who gives us all that we have. And we give back out of thanksgiving. We don’t give because we have to. We don’t give because we like the cause. We don’t give so that we get something in return. We give because we want to. We give because God has done so much for us. “God loves a cheerful giver.”
Happy September! Wow, did August go by quickily. And it’s two days now that I have had to walk with my sweat shirt on. And, it’s almost to the point to where it’s dark when I head out about 6:00am. Not fun.
But our Psalm is fun. “Clay your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!” I may not sing well, but Trinity as a whole sings very well. It is a delight to hear everyone singing so well on a Sunday morning. This Psalm lists a number of reasons why we should clap our hands and shout to the Lord:
He subdued peoples under us.
He chose our heritage for us.
God reigns over the nations.
The shields of the earth belong to God.
He is the Lord and so we praise Him! Can I have an, “Amen!”
So, Elijah has been in hiding for three years (is that right). The Lord has provided for him through the widow. He raised her son from the dead and now it’s time for Elijah to confront Ahab. He meets Obadiah on the road. I would assume this is the same Obadiah who has a name on a book in the Old Testament. But Elijah wants Obadiah to go tell Ahab that Elijah is on his way. I wouldn’t want that job either. But Elijah is setting up a test a fight of sorts between God, the One True God and the false god’s that Ahab worships in vain. This will be a good one.
You realize, that we NEVER EVER have to have a bad day again. We really don’t. Just look at verse three of Ephesians 1 and we have every reason why we don’t have to have a bad day. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, WHO HAS BLESSED US in the heavenly places, even AS HE CHOSE US IN HIM BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, that we should be HOLY AND BLAMELESS BEFORE HIM.” God chose us before the foundation of the world. He planned for us to have eternal life. “In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ.” This is a wonderful gift. God predestined us to go to heaven. It’s our destiny. That is great news. That is awesome news. With news like that, we never have to have a bad day again.
It’s been a fun day of getting the church/school server up and running. I am learning so much about computers and we are bringing our system into the current century.
By the way, does anyone have an old rotary dial phone? I need one for my sermon Sunday. Just drop it by the church office and I’ll get it. Thanks.
Anyway, this is just a wonderful Psalm again today. It is so uplifting. “I bow down toward your holy temple.” We don’t bow much these days. And it’s not the same as in David’s day. We bow at the waist. They would literally lay down on their stomach’s on the ground. It is a sign of subservience. They were totally at the Lord’s mercy. If He wanted to chop off their heads, it would be easy to do it with them in that position. That’s what it means to trust and bow.
“On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.” So often our prayers are not answered, “on the day I call.” Are they? But we still pray and we know that God hears us. We do need to be patient sometimes.
“For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,” and we are as lowly as it gets. Our Lord has so much patience with us. Why don’t we have as much patience with Him? We want things now. We want it yesterday. He’s taking care of us, let’s just give Him a chance to do His job. After all, “the Lord will fulfill his purpose for me.” He will. That’s His promise.
I love our Old Testament text. This is just a great account of Elijah’s testing of the false gods. It’s one of the first scientific tests on record. You have two sets of identical subjects. Which god/God is going to be able to deal with the subject? Obviously, only the one true God is able to set the subject on fire because the other false god doesn’t in fact exist. Course, I would not try this with the back yard barbecue. Remember, do not put the Lord your God to the test, unless it is for a very good reason like we see here.
“You were dead in trespasses,” and you know what? When you are dead, even the simplest acts becomes impossible. “But God, being rich in mercy … made us alive together with Christ.” We have been made alive in Christ and alive with Christ. “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.” My friends, there is so much meat here in this text, I could write forever. This is good stuff. We are a product of God, a painting, or a wood carving, we are His workmanship. That is just amazing.
We were sinner Gentiles, separated from Christ, but now, we are one in Christ. We are no longer strangers, but fellow citizens with the saint and part of God’s household. We are in the family.
I told you, there is a lot of great stuff in this text for today! A lot of great stuff.
It is amazing how many people come out of the woodwork when you ask if they have a rotary dial phone. Those things were made to last forever. Too bad phones today are made as well.
“Do you intend to live according to the Word of God, and in faith, word, and deed to remain true to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, even to death? I do, but the grace of God.” Do you remember making this promise in your Confirmation? I hope so. It is an important part of being a Christian. In your Psalm, the author makes the same promise (probably not in front of an entire congregation) “I promise to keep your words … I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments … I do not forget your law … teach me your statutes!” That’s a big part of who we are, people who keep the Lord’s commands, not because we have to, but because God asked us to and out of thanksgiving for His Son’s death on the cross. It has become part of who we are, people who follow God.
Now, there are times when we feel like we are the last people on earth keeping God’s commands. Ben and Jerry’s is changing the name of Chubby Hubby to Hubby Hubby for this month to mark Vermont’s decision to recognize gay marriage. I don’t eat Ben and Jerry’s ice cream often, but I definitely won’t be eating it this month (besides, I have to lose 20 pounds). Well, we aren’t alone. Elijah felt like he was all alone. He even had people out to kill him because he was faithful to the Lord. And now, he is alone. But not really. He may have not known it, but the Lord was working all the time and there were 7000 others who had remain faithful too. That may not sound like a lot, but when you think you are alone, hearing that there are 7000 others is comforting.
Plus, God had a plan. Anoint Hazael, Jehu and Elisha and we will go on from there. Sometimes just knowing that God has a plan, even though we may not know every detail, goes a long way.
Have you heard of “the stewardship of God’s grace?” You just thought stewardship and though it just had to do with time, talents and treasure. No, my dear friend, there is a stewardship for everything that exists under the sun, especially the stewardship of the “mysteries” of God: the Gospel. St. Paul was charged with sharing the Gospel with Gentiles. He was the steward, the manager, the houseboy charged with Evangelism. He shared the grace of God with those He visited. And because it was such a wonderful message, because it dealt with eternal life, it was obviously an important message.
So many things to think about and meditate on. May God bless us and we serve Him and share His Gospel with those around us.
My hands smell like fish. I put some salmon on the smoker to smoke and now my hands smell like fish. I brined the fish in water, kosher salt, cumin and ground red pepper. It should be good in about 8 hours.
Well, there is no fish mentioned in the Psalm for today, but that’s okay. It’s a good Psalm anyway. But the text does say, “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” In other words, spend a little time with the Lord in the morning and it will have a positive effect on the rest of your day. It may not be a perfect day, but just imagine how bad it would have been if you hadn’t had that time with God. The Lord is the positive influence in our lives. Each day, He works to provide for us and protect us and keep us on the straight and narrow. Through His Word, the Sacraments, His Holy angels, the Lord keeps us in His way and establishes the work of our hands.
I can’t believe, we just saw Elijah defeat all the prophets of Baal, and now he is being taken to heaven. We get a close glimpse into the relationship between Elijah and Elisha. While it seems that Elijah just anointed Elisha, it seems the two were very close and while Elisha knew Elijah must go, he didn’t like the situation. And yet, like Solomon who asked for wisdom to rule his people, Elisha asks for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. That would be difficult to grant, but it would be invaluable considering the fact that Israel is so corrupt and so bad at following God. Elisha would need the Spirit and it is granted to him.
That whole section on them going out to find Elijah is just strange. But how are they to know that God took him directly to heaven. God doesn’t do that often. Only Enoch, Elijah never died. Moses died and was buried by God. So those three guys are very unique.
This section of Ephesians is awesome. It is amazing. As Christians we are one, “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all.” Our Lord Jesus ascended into heaven so that we could be united into one faith. He ascended so that we could be grown ups and not children with little faith, following every whim, but seeking the one true faith. Jesus ascended so that we could be untied to Him who is our head and so that we, the church, could work together for the church.
Because of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, we have a new life. Our old life of sensuality, greed, impurity and stuff is gone. We are “renewed in the spirit of your minds.” We have put off our old self and put on our new self in Jesus Christ.
Like I said, this is a great test.
Well, it’s time to go out and check my fish. Have a blessed day.
This is another great Psalm. Our Lord, indeed, knows everything that goes wrong in our lives. We get to the point where we think we are all alone, that no one cares, that we are the lowest of the low, but God knows every tear we shed and He knows every time we toss and turn in bed. He knows it all and He does care. The Lord is on our side. You see, God sees the big picture. He knows “the rest of the story,” and He knows what’s best for us and acts according to what is best for us. So, we start every day in His Word and we travel on from there.
It doesn’t take long for Elisha to go to work. First he fixes the water of one town and then he pays off the debts of a widow. In between, we get some information that we didn’t know about Elisha: he was bald. I doubt that he was bald by choice. That would be hard work in the day. They didn’t have the razors and shavers we have today. But his response to the boys seems a little extreme. But, take into consideration that everyone had to know that this bald guy was Elisha, the Lord’s prophet. He was probably the only bald guy of the day and so everyone knew that HE was God’s prophet. And still, with this information, these boys taunted and made fun of the prophet. They had no respect for the office. They had no respect for God’s anointed. So, the she-bears have a nice meal.
St. Paul in Ephesians kind of gives us the job description of a Christian. He describes what the new life in Christ is like. First off, okay, we are going to get angry, but don’t sin while in that anger. We might be angry, but try to resolve the issue before the sun goes down. Try to fix the situation quickly. The longer and longer it festers, the more opportunity the devil has to lead us to sin.
But it isn’t just our anger; it’s what we do and what we say as well. “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths.” Basically, we are to let love rule everything we do. We are new people. We have a new way of life. We focus on Jesus and His love.
But be careful, this activity and action, doesn’t win eternal life for us. We are not saved by works, we are saved by faith. We act this way out of thanksgiving for what God has done for us and this is just evidence of God working in us. It is the Spirit doing this work in us, it’s not us doing it.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 30, 2009
PSALM 29:1-4, 10-11
1 KINGS 12:20-13:5, 33-34
2 CORINTHIANS 8:1-24
Happy Sunday!
This is a perfect Psalm for a Sunday morning when we are getting ready to go to church and worship our Lord and celebrate the resurrection. But, next year, August 30th won’t likely be a Sunday and so we will be reading this text on Monday instead. No matter what day we read this Psalm on, it is a great Psalm. It reminds us that God is powerful, more powerful than we are, more powerful than anything in the world. “May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace!” The Lord will share his strength with us. He will protect us.
So finally, they listen to God. But notice even here, that the people didn’t seek the Lord’s advice. They were ready to go and fight their own relatives. No, God spoke to them through Shemaiah. That is a bad sign.
I’m wondering if Jeroboam read Exodus and the story of the Golden Calf. True, his thinking is right, if the people were always going to Jerusalem to sacrifice, they would feel attachment to Jerusalem. So, if you have to, build other temples to God in other places. Don’t build false gods for the people to follow. That’s just going to make God mad at you. But he does. God gets mad. And Israel starts down the bad path to destruction.
In Corinthians, we read of the generosity of Macedonia. They took up a collection to send to the church in Jerusalem because they were hard hit with persecution. But, the people of Macedonia were themselves affected by extreme poverty. How does one become so generous? St. Paul tells us, “they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.” It was out of thanksgiving that they were able to do this wonderful thing.
This is going to be a great day, maybe a little cold, but a wonderful day.
MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2009
PSALM 68:15-20
1 KINGS 16:29-17:24
2 CORINTHIANS 9:1-15
What a cold, cold Monday. I even had a wear a sweat shirt on my walk this morning. Nasty.
If nothing else, the Psalms remind us who God is. He is our God and He is in charge and when He says jump we say, “How high?” When God decided He likes a mountain called Bashan, even if we don’t know anything about that mountain, that’s cool. God decided He likes it. After all, “Our God is a God of salvation, and to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.” He can deliver us from everything, even death.
I would think that one of the worst things in the world would be to have the Bible record of you, “And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him.” That’s not a good thing. You are pretty much in trouble when that is said of you. It is a wonder that anyone is named Ahab ever again.
But things were getting pretty bad. So bad that Elijah predicts a drought and God send him to live by a brook. It’s great that God has ravens bring him food. But would you really eat food carried to you by a raven? Ravens are nasty birds. They are dirty birds and I’m not sure I’d eat anything they carried to me. But then again, ask me just before dinner time and I may change my mind.
The drought got so bad, the brook dried up. So God sends Elijah to Zarephath. He lives with the widow there who has some flour and oil, just a little, but it never dries up until after Elijah leaves. And it’s a good thing Elijah is there to raise her son from the dead. Oh yes, Elijah is a man of God.
There are so many different sayings from the Bible, but it’s amazing how many we get wrong. “God helps those who help themselves.” Nope. Not in the Bible. But we got one in our text for today that we get right, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Yes, we got that right, “God loves a cheerful giver.” He is the one who gives us all that we have. And we give back out of thanksgiving. We don’t give because we have to. We don’t give because we like the cause. We don’t give so that we get something in return. We give because we want to. We give because God has done so much for us. “God loves a cheerful giver.”
What are you going to give to God today?
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2009
PSALM 47
1 KINGS 18:1-19
EPHESIANS 1:1-23
Happy September! Wow, did August go by quickily. And it’s two days now that I have had to walk with my sweat shirt on. And, it’s almost to the point to where it’s dark when I head out about 6:00am. Not fun.
But our Psalm is fun. “Clay your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!” I may not sing well, but Trinity as a whole sings very well. It is a delight to hear everyone singing so well on a Sunday morning. This Psalm lists a number of reasons why we should clap our hands and shout to the Lord:
He subdued peoples under us.
He chose our heritage for us.
God reigns over the nations.
The shields of the earth belong to God.
He is the Lord and so we praise Him! Can I have an, “Amen!”
So, Elijah has been in hiding for three years (is that right). The Lord has provided for him through the widow. He raised her son from the dead and now it’s time for Elijah to confront Ahab. He meets Obadiah on the road. I would assume this is the same Obadiah who has a name on a book in the Old Testament. But Elijah wants Obadiah to go tell Ahab that Elijah is on his way. I wouldn’t want that job either. But Elijah is setting up a test a fight of sorts between God, the One True God and the false god’s that Ahab worships in vain. This will be a good one.
You realize, that we NEVER EVER have to have a bad day again. We really don’t. Just look at verse three of Ephesians 1 and we have every reason why we don’t have to have a bad day. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, WHO HAS BLESSED US in the heavenly places, even AS HE CHOSE US IN HIM BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD, that we should be HOLY AND BLAMELESS BEFORE HIM.” God chose us before the foundation of the world. He planned for us to have eternal life. “In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ.” This is a wonderful gift. God predestined us to go to heaven. It’s our destiny. That is great news. That is awesome news. With news like that, we never have to have a bad day again.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2009
PSALM 138
1 KINGS 18:20-40
EPHESIANS 2:1-22
It’s been a fun day of getting the church/school server up and running. I am learning so much about computers and we are bringing our system into the current century.
By the way, does anyone have an old rotary dial phone? I need one for my sermon Sunday. Just drop it by the church office and I’ll get it. Thanks.
Anyway, this is just a wonderful Psalm again today. It is so uplifting. “I bow down toward your holy temple.” We don’t bow much these days. And it’s not the same as in David’s day. We bow at the waist. They would literally lay down on their stomach’s on the ground. It is a sign of subservience. They were totally at the Lord’s mercy. If He wanted to chop off their heads, it would be easy to do it with them in that position. That’s what it means to trust and bow.
“On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.” So often our prayers are not answered, “on the day I call.” Are they? But we still pray and we know that God hears us. We do need to be patient sometimes.
“For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly,” and we are as lowly as it gets. Our Lord has so much patience with us. Why don’t we have as much patience with Him? We want things now. We want it yesterday. He’s taking care of us, let’s just give Him a chance to do His job. After all, “the Lord will fulfill his purpose for me.” He will. That’s His promise.
I love our Old Testament text. This is just a great account of Elijah’s testing of the false gods. It’s one of the first scientific tests on record. You have two sets of identical subjects. Which god/God is going to be able to deal with the subject? Obviously, only the one true God is able to set the subject on fire because the other false god doesn’t in fact exist. Course, I would not try this with the back yard barbecue. Remember, do not put the Lord your God to the test, unless it is for a very good reason like we see here.
“You were dead in trespasses,” and you know what? When you are dead, even the simplest acts becomes impossible. “But God, being rich in mercy … made us alive together with Christ.” We have been made alive in Christ and alive with Christ. “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.” My friends, there is so much meat here in this text, I could write forever. This is good stuff. We are a product of God, a painting, or a wood carving, we are His workmanship. That is just amazing.
We were sinner Gentiles, separated from Christ, but now, we are one in Christ. We are no longer strangers, but fellow citizens with the saint and part of God’s household. We are in the family.
I told you, there is a lot of great stuff in this text for today! A lot of great stuff.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2009
PSALM 119:57-64
1 KINGS 19:1-21
EPHESIANS 3:1-21
It is amazing how many people come out of the woodwork when you ask if they have a rotary dial phone. Those things were made to last forever. Too bad phones today are made as well.
“Do you intend to live according to the Word of God, and in faith, word, and deed to remain true to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, even to death? I do, but the grace of God.” Do you remember making this promise in your Confirmation? I hope so. It is an important part of being a Christian. In your Psalm, the author makes the same promise (probably not in front of an entire congregation) “I promise to keep your words … I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments … I do not forget your law … teach me your statutes!” That’s a big part of who we are, people who keep the Lord’s commands, not because we have to, but because God asked us to and out of thanksgiving for His Son’s death on the cross. It has become part of who we are, people who follow God.
Now, there are times when we feel like we are the last people on earth keeping God’s commands. Ben and Jerry’s is changing the name of Chubby Hubby to Hubby Hubby for this month to mark Vermont’s decision to recognize gay marriage. I don’t eat Ben and Jerry’s ice cream often, but I definitely won’t be eating it this month (besides, I have to lose 20 pounds). Well, we aren’t alone. Elijah felt like he was all alone. He even had people out to kill him because he was faithful to the Lord. And now, he is alone. But not really. He may have not known it, but the Lord was working all the time and there were 7000 others who had remain faithful too. That may not sound like a lot, but when you think you are alone, hearing that there are 7000 others is comforting.
Plus, God had a plan. Anoint Hazael, Jehu and Elisha and we will go on from there. Sometimes just knowing that God has a plan, even though we may not know every detail, goes a long way.
Have you heard of “the stewardship of God’s grace?” You just thought stewardship and though it just had to do with time, talents and treasure. No, my dear friend, there is a stewardship for everything that exists under the sun, especially the stewardship of the “mysteries” of God: the Gospel. St. Paul was charged with sharing the Gospel with Gentiles. He was the steward, the manager, the houseboy charged with Evangelism. He shared the grace of God with those He visited. And because it was such a wonderful message, because it dealt with eternal life, it was obviously an important message.
So many things to think about and meditate on. May God bless us and we serve Him and share His Gospel with those around us.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2009
PSALM 90:13-17
2 KINGS 2:1-18
EPHESIANS 4:1-24
My hands smell like fish. I put some salmon on the smoker to smoke and now my hands smell like fish. I brined the fish in water, kosher salt, cumin and ground red pepper. It should be good in about 8 hours.
Well, there is no fish mentioned in the Psalm for today, but that’s okay. It’s a good Psalm anyway. But the text does say, “Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” In other words, spend a little time with the Lord in the morning and it will have a positive effect on the rest of your day. It may not be a perfect day, but just imagine how bad it would have been if you hadn’t had that time with God. The Lord is the positive influence in our lives. Each day, He works to provide for us and protect us and keep us on the straight and narrow. Through His Word, the Sacraments, His Holy angels, the Lord keeps us in His way and establishes the work of our hands.
I can’t believe, we just saw Elijah defeat all the prophets of Baal, and now he is being taken to heaven. We get a close glimpse into the relationship between Elijah and Elisha. While it seems that Elijah just anointed Elisha, it seems the two were very close and while Elisha knew Elijah must go, he didn’t like the situation. And yet, like Solomon who asked for wisdom to rule his people, Elisha asks for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. That would be difficult to grant, but it would be invaluable considering the fact that Israel is so corrupt and so bad at following God. Elisha would need the Spirit and it is granted to him.
That whole section on them going out to find Elijah is just strange. But how are they to know that God took him directly to heaven. God doesn’t do that often. Only Enoch, Elijah never died. Moses died and was buried by God. So those three guys are very unique.
This section of Ephesians is awesome. It is amazing. As Christians we are one, “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all.” Our Lord Jesus ascended into heaven so that we could be united into one faith. He ascended so that we could be grown ups and not children with little faith, following every whim, but seeking the one true faith. Jesus ascended so that we could be untied to Him who is our head and so that we, the church, could work together for the church.
Because of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, we have a new life. Our old life of sensuality, greed, impurity and stuff is gone. We are “renewed in the spirit of your minds.” We have put off our old self and put on our new self in Jesus Christ.
Like I said, this is a great test.
Well, it’s time to go out and check my fish. Have a blessed day.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2009
PSALM 56:8-13
2 KINGS 2:19-25; 4:1-7
EPHESIANS 4:25-5:14
This is another great Psalm. Our Lord, indeed, knows everything that goes wrong in our lives. We get to the point where we think we are all alone, that no one cares, that we are the lowest of the low, but God knows every tear we shed and He knows every time we toss and turn in bed. He knows it all and He does care. The Lord is on our side. You see, God sees the big picture. He knows “the rest of the story,” and He knows what’s best for us and acts according to what is best for us. So, we start every day in His Word and we travel on from there.
It doesn’t take long for Elisha to go to work. First he fixes the water of one town and then he pays off the debts of a widow. In between, we get some information that we didn’t know about Elisha: he was bald. I doubt that he was bald by choice. That would be hard work in the day. They didn’t have the razors and shavers we have today. But his response to the boys seems a little extreme. But, take into consideration that everyone had to know that this bald guy was Elisha, the Lord’s prophet. He was probably the only bald guy of the day and so everyone knew that HE was God’s prophet. And still, with this information, these boys taunted and made fun of the prophet. They had no respect for the office. They had no respect for God’s anointed. So, the she-bears have a nice meal.
St. Paul in Ephesians kind of gives us the job description of a Christian. He describes what the new life in Christ is like. First off, okay, we are going to get angry, but don’t sin while in that anger. We might be angry, but try to resolve the issue before the sun goes down. Try to fix the situation quickly. The longer and longer it festers, the more opportunity the devil has to lead us to sin.
But it isn’t just our anger; it’s what we do and what we say as well. “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths.” Basically, we are to let love rule everything we do. We are new people. We have a new way of life. We focus on Jesus and His love.
But be careful, this activity and action, doesn’t win eternal life for us. We are not saved by works, we are saved by faith. We act this way out of thanksgiving for what God has done for us and this is just evidence of God working in us. It is the Spirit doing this work in us, it’s not us doing it.
So, enjoy your Saturday. Have a blessed day.