Category: Daily Prayers

 

1 Chronicles 21:1-17.     Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel. So David said to Joab and to the leaders of the people, “Go, number Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and bring the number of them to me that I may know it.” And Joab answered, “May the Lord make His people a hundred times more than they are. But, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? Why then does my lord require this thing? Why should he be a cause of guilt in Israel?” Nevertheless the king’s word prevailed against Joab. Therefore Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came to Jerusalem. Then Joab gave the sum of the number of the people to David. All Israel had one million one hundred thousand men who drew the sword, and Judah had four hundred and seventy thousand men who drew the sword. But he did not count Levi and Benjamin among them, for the king’s word was abominable to Joab. And God was displeased with this thing; therefore He struck Israel. So David said to God, “I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing; but now, I pray, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.” Then the Lord spoke to Gad, David’s seer, saying, “Go and tell David, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord: I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.’” So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Choose for yourself, either three years of famine, or three months to be defeated by your foes with the sword of your enemies overtaking you, or else for three days the sword of the Lord—the plague in the land, with the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now consider what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.” And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.” So the Lord sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell. And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As he was destroying, the Lord looked and relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who was destroying, “It is enough; now restrain your hand.” And the angel of the Lord stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. Then David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, having in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. So David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces. And David said to God, “Was it not I who commanded the people to be numbered? I am the one who has sinned and done evil indeed; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, O Lord my God, be against me and my father’s house, but not against Your people that they should be plagued.”

 

Think back over the past week. Have you told any “white lies”? Have you taken a quick glance at something that is off limits? Have you gossiped about a friend or slandered an enemy?

These are what we may call petty sins: impure thoughts, small twists of the truth to get your way, careless comments tossed out without a second thought. They may not seem like major issues. After all, you didn’t kill anybody or rob a bank.

However, the Bible tells us that God cares about petty sins, which is why those sins do matter.

In 1 Chronicles 21:1-17, we see a very interesting story that doesn’t seem like a life-or-death situation at first. David simply asked Joab, the head of his army, to take a census of all fighting men in Israel. Joab immediately recognized that this seemingly innocuous request was a questionable command (there were circumstances in which a census was allowed, but this didn’t fit the bill) and urged David against it. David ignored Joab’s concerns, however, and pushed forward with the tally. In doing so, he incurred God’s wrath and brought great destruction upon his nation.

What can we learn about sin from David’s tragic mistake?

Sin is evil: All sin, no matter how “insignificant,” is evil and adverse to God. In fact, verse one directly says that Satan was the driving force of David’s sin. A census seems so trivial to us. In fact, one could easily justify it as a necessary strategy in measuring the strength of David’s army. But it displeased God.

Similarly, we may justify our words, our actions, or even our inactions, but need to understand that sin is sin, and sin is evil. Whatever it is, it matters to God.

Sin can be traced back to pride: David counts the people presumably because he wants to see how successful he has been. He was prideful, which causes him to focus on his own human strength instead of his reliance on God. Pride is incredibly destructive. In fact, the Bible tells us that pride was the fall of Satan (Isaiah 14:12-17).

Our sins stem from pride, which causes us to believe we deserve something, or that we’re better than others. It removes us from the humility we should exemplify, and positions us into a dangerous place where sin can take hold.

All sin has consequences: No matter how small or how great, all sin has consequences. God, through the prophet Gad, gave David three choices for punishment:

1. Three years of famine

2. Three months of David’s enemies triumphing over him and Israel

3. Three days of plague.

David chose three days of plague because he realized that it is better to be in God’s hands than in the hands of man. Seventy-thousand people died in Israel because of one seemingly insignificant sin.

There are always consequences, not only for the person committing the sin, but those around that person: Consider the young couple killed by the drunk driver, the family torn apart by adultery, the small business owner impacted by the theft in their store, or the little children exposed to the sins of those they are modeling. As Luke 8:17 says, “For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light” (NKJV). Sin will always be revealed, and the consequences are far reaching.

My friends, we live in a world that celebrates sin. In fact, according to our culture, if you do not rejoice in your sin, there’s something wrong with you. However, we are not called to live by the world, but by the Word. Do not take sin lightly. It is serious, no matter how small you might think it is. When you do fall, be like David, who recognized what he did, repented and sought forgiveness. We serve a merciful Father who is “faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, NKJV).

 

If we died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him.

–2 Timothy 2:11–12

We can experience real, radical transformation in our lives right now because we have participated in both the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Just as He died and was raised to new life, so we, too, have died to our old way of living and have been raised to a new way of living. The third reason we can be transformed now rather than later is that we are also participating in the glorification of Jesus Christ. Colossians 3:4 says, “When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” Just as He will be glorified and rewarded by God, we, too, will be glorified and rewarded by God.

Any losses we experience or pleasures we give up by saying no to our old sin nature will be more than compensated for when Jesus Christ returns. On that day, “every knee will bow, . . . and . . . every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10–11). Those of us who are in Christ will return with Him. And if we follow Him in this life, then the rewards that God gives His Son for His obedience will be ours as well. That’s why Paul said in 2 Timothy 2:12, “If we endure, we will also reign with Him.”

To receive those rewards, we have to say no to sin. I’ve heard preachers say, “Sin is so distasteful. It just makes you miserable!” But notice what the Bible says about sin. Hebrews 11:24–26 says, “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.” The writer didn’t say Moses chose to endure ill-treatment rather than enjoy the emptiness of sin. No, the writer said sin is pleasurable–for a season. Moses was willing to say no to the pleasures and treasures of this world because he was looking forward to a greater reward.

That’s the decision we have to make. If we say no to sin right now, God will more than compensate us for that choice in the future. We may be misunderstood, ridiculed, and even persecuted by this world. But one day, when Jesus Christ returns and we return with Him, the entire world will understand why we chose to say no to sin because we will share in the riches of Jesus Christ for all eternity.

 

 

The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.

–James 3:17

When people think about heaven, they imagine different things. When my daughters were young, they thought heaven would be an endless supply of toys. For many senior adults and people with chronic illness, heaven means an end to physical suffering. For people who are grieving, heaven means a reunion with lost loved ones. Heaven means different things to different people.

But when Paul said, “Keep seeking the things above” (Colossians 3:1), he was not talking about imagining what heaven might be like or the people who will be awaiting us there. He continued, “Keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” To be seated at the right hand of God means to have a position of power. Psalm 110:1 says, “The Lord says to my Lord: ‘Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.’” God promised His Son that the entire world would be subjected to Him. So when we think about “the things above,” we are to concentrate on Jesus Christ’s position, His power, and most of all, His entire life. We’re to concentrate on the character qualities that belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. After all, that’s what it means to be heavenly minded: to conform our everyday actions, attitudes, and affections to those of Christ.

What qualities characterized Christ’s life? In Galatians 5:22–23, Paul referred to these qualities as the fruit of the Spirit. He wrote, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” James, the half brother of Jesus, also wrote about these qualities. He said, “The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy” (3:17). To be heavenly minded means to concentrate on the characteristics of Christ and to become like Him in our lives.

One of the greatest misunderstandings about the Christian life is the idea that while we’re on earth, we’re just sinful people who have no control over our actions or attitudes. No, the Bible says you and I can experience the good life now. We don’t have to wait until we die to become like Christ; we can enjoy the great life He enjoyed while we’re still on earth. In other words, we can experience real, radical transformation of every part of our lives.

 

 

Matthew 6:13

“And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

This request comes at the close of the Lord’s Prayer, perhaps better called the Disciples’ Prayer. Several English translations render the final phrase “deliver us from evil” rather than “deliver us from the evil one.”⁶The Greek could mean either. While it’s possible that deliverance from evil in general is Jesus’ primary meaning, protection from the author of evil is a suitable request for disciples learning to pray.

“Do not bring us into temptation” does not imply “don’t bring us to the place of temptation,” or even “don’t allow us to be tempted.” Jesus already endured temptation at the hands of the evil one after the Holy Spirit drove him into the wilderness following his baptism (Matt. 4:1). It cannot mean “don’t tempt us,” either, for God does not tempt us with evil (Jas. 1:13).

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Rather, as Craig Blomberg points out, these words seem best taken as “don’t let us succumb to temptation” or “don’t abandon us to temptation.” At times, of course, we do give in to temptation, but it’s not God’s fault, for he always provides us with an avenue of escape (1 Cor. 10:13).

This leads naturally to our request that God deliver us from the evil one, from whom all evil ultimately proceeds. The emphasis in this verse is on our human vulnerability and, thus, our utter dependence upon God, who is the only one capable of conquering Satan, sin, and death through Jesus’ finished work on the cross. Only “the Holy One of God” breaks the curse of the evil one (Mark 1:24).

Matthew 13:19

“When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one sown along the path.”

Jesus is explaining the parable of the sower (Matt. 13:3-9) to his disciples. In this familiar story, the Lord prepares his disciples for opposition to the gospel. Further, he encourages them to persevere in sowing the message of God’s kingdom wherever they go, for a harvest is certain (cf. Matt. 13:24-30; 28:19-20). Clearly, Jesus is the sower, the seed is “the word about the kingdom” (13:18), and the various types of soil are those who hear the message. By extension, Jesus’ followers are sowers who are to experience a wide range of responses to the gospel.

Jesus describes four different types of soil, depicting four different states of human readiness to receive the message of God’s kingdom. The sower scatters his seed indiscriminately, just as the gospel message goes out to the entire world. Some seeds fall on hard-packed footpaths, where birds snatch them away. Some seeds fall on shallow, rocky soil, where the sun scorches them as soon as they sprout. Some seeds fall on thorny ground, where weeds smother the tender shoots and prevent maturity. Finally, some seeds fall on fertile ground, resulting in varying degrees of fruitfulness.

Jesus ties these four types of soil to four conditions of the human heart. In the first case, he likens the footpath to persons who don’t “understand” the word of the kingdom. These are careless hearers. They are not necessarily hostile to the message. In fact, they may recognize the truth in it. But they don’t act. The Greek verb rendered “understand” is syniemi. It means “to put together;” that is, mentally, “to comprehend.” By implication, it means “to act piously: consider, understand, be wise.”

While this type of understanding sometimes is depicted as a gift from God, such as the understanding Jesus’ disciples receive from him (Matt. 16:12; 17:13; Luke 24:45), syniemi also may be used to describe a lack of understanding due to sin or hard-heartedness (Mark 6:52). That’s the meaning in Jesus’ parable.

Hard-heartedness makes hearers of the gospel easy pickings for the evil one. Like a bird swooping down from the sky to pluck seeds on the ground, Satan snatches away what is sown in unbelieving hearts. Jesus clearly has Satan in mind here, for the Gospel writers who record this parable identify him as “the evil one” (Matt. 13:19), “Satan” (Mark 4:15), and “the devil” (Luke 8:12).

Jesus graphically describes Satan’s work as “snatching away” the word. The verb harpazo generally connotes a forceful or violent seizing. The word is used of burglary (Matt. 12:29), mob action (John 6:15); animal attacks (John 10:12); and arrests (Acts 23:10). However, harpazo also appears as the forceful proclamation of sound doctrine (Jude 23); Paul’s visit to heaven (2 Cor. 12:2); and the catching up of believers to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4:17).

In the case of this parable, of course, Jesus has in mind a sudden and violent ripping out of what has been sown – the saving message of Christ and his kingdom. We should note that Satan’s work runs concurrently with the work of Jesus and his followers. Just as birds don’t wait for the farmer to leave his field before snatching seeds from the footpaths, the evil one descends immediately on hardened hearts to keep them from truly hearing and thus being saved.

Jesus goes on to describe three other types of listeners. And make no mistake: the evil one actively pursues them. The “rocky ground” represents those who enthusiastically receive the message. However, because their faith is shallow, they abandon the gospel when “distress or persecution … because of the word” confronts them (13:21). In essence, they succumb to Satan’s convincing argument, “You didn’t sign up for this.”

The thorny soil depicts those who hang on a little longer, but eventually “the worries of this age and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word” (13:22). Their loyalties are divided, and the devil succeeds in wooing them into legitimate worldly concerns, which morph into various forms of idolatry. “You have to take care of yourself first,” he whispers. “Just think of all the good you can do if you rise in the ranks of your organization.” “Think of the noble causes you can advance if you pursue those financial opportunities.” “Remember how gifted God made you; you can’t limit what he’s given you to this small rural church.” And on it goes.

Lastly, however, there is great hope. The message of the kingdom takes root in the “good ground,” ​those who hear and understand the word and yield a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what is sown (13:23). The evil one is present here as well. He viciously attacks God’s people, and Jesus has another parable to illustrate that: the parable of the wheat and weeds, which follows immediately (Matt. 13:24-30; 36-43).

Even so, as followers of Jesus invest their spiritual gifts, time, talents, and other resources in the kingdom of God, the Lord of the harvest produces much fruit through them and rewards them for their faithfulness (Matt. 24:45-51; 25:14-30; Luke 19:11-27).

Craig Blomberg writes:

This parable provides a sober reminder that even the most enthusiastic outward response to the gospel offers no guarantee that one is a true disciple. Only the tests of time, perseverance under difficult circumstances, the avoidance of the idolatries of wealth and anxiety over earthly concerns, and above all the presence of appropriate fruit (consistent obedience to God’s will) can prove a profession genuine.

 

John 8:12. Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”

The human psyche is naturally drawn to light, but more than that, we need it. The marble caverns known as the Oregon Caves underscore this in a dramatic way. Once inside, a park ranger guides visitors along the path until they reach a certain point. Then he shuts off the cavern’s lights. The photometer he’s holding reads the presence of light in the vicinity. It’s zero. This isn’t a problem at first, but eventually, the absolute darkness—the total absence of light—will create instability in your mind. Stay longer, and it will render you unable to detect right from left and up from down. Disoriented, you lose your way.

 

Tragically, our world is stumbling about in spiritual darkness today. Confused by what they see, hear, and experience, many feel unsure or unable to navigate the surrounding evils. Yet you, dear believer, never need to grope about.

He alone exposes and dispels the effects of darkness. Jesus says, “Follow close beside Me, into your heart and mind. I am the source of the light you need, and that light, I will give to you.” The God who “dwells in unapproachable light” (1 Timothy 6:16) promises to lead you by His Word into the light of truth and thus avoid every dangerous path.

 

When life seems out of control, and you’re perplexed about what to do next, step into the light of God’s presence. Allow His Word to illuminate the darkness—it will bring peace to your soul and surety to your way.

 

The song of Moses. We will look at this in more depth but for now let the words of this song occupy your mind.  

Deu 32:1-47  “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, like gentle rain upon the tender grass, and like showers upon the herb. For I will proclaim the name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God! “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he. They have dealt corruptly with him; they are no longer his children because they are blemished; they are a crooked and twisted generation. Do you thus repay the LORD, you foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you? Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you. When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.

 But the LORD’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage. “He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions, the LORD alone guided him, no foreign god was with him. He made him ride on the high places of the land, and he ate the produce of the field, and he suckled him with honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock. Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of Bashan and goats, with the very finest of the wheat— and you drank foaming wine made from the blood of the grape. “But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked; you grew fat, stout, and sleek; then he forsook God who made him and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation. They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods; with abominations they provoked him to anger. They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded. You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth. “The LORD saw it and spurned them, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters. And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them; I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness. They have made me jealous with what is no god; they have provoked me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are no people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. For a fire is kindled by my anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol, devours the earth and its increase, and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains. “‘And I will heap disasters upon them; I will spend my arrows on them; they shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured by plague and poisonous pestilence; I will send the teeth of beasts against them, with the venom of things that crawl in the dust.

 Outdoors the sword shall bereave, and indoors terror, for young man and woman alike, the nursing child with the man of gray hairs. I would have said, “I will cut them to pieces; I will wipe them from human memory,” had I not feared provocation by the enemy, lest their adversaries should misunderstand, lest they should say, “Our hand is triumphant, it was not the LORD who did all this.”’  “For they are a nation void of counsel, and there is no understanding in them. If they were wise, they would understand this; they would discern their latter end! How could one have chased a thousand, and two have put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had given them up? For their rock is not as our Rock; our enemies are by themselves. For their vine comes from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of poison; their clusters are bitter; their wine is the poison of serpents and the cruel venom of asps.  “‘Is not this laid up in store with me, sealed up in my treasuries?

  Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.’ For the LORD will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone and there is none remaining, bond or free. Then he will say, ‘Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge, who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you; let them be your protection! “‘See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. For I lift up my hand to heaven and swear, As I live forever, if I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand takes hold on judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and will repay those who hate me. I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh— with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the long-haired heads of the enemy.’ “Rejoice with him, O heavens; bow down to him, all gods, for he avenges the blood of his children and takes vengeance on his adversaries. He repays those who hate him and cleanses his people’s land.” Moses came and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun. And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, he said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”

 

So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.” (Genesis 13:8-9)

God did something special when He called Abram (later named Abraham) out of Ur of the Chaldees and promised Abram all of Canaan. But when Abram brought his nephew Lot with him into the land, it wasn’t long until there was conflict. Abram and Lot each had big herds of livestock, and their workers fought over the better grazing lands.

Abram and Lot each claimed to serve Yahweh as God instead of the local Canaanite idols, and their conflict made them look like hypocrites. The logical solution was to separate the flocks and take them to different grazing lands. But who would go where? That is when Abram used his right to lay down his rights.

Abram said to his nephew, If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left. Abram was the eldest and God promised the land to Abram (not to Lot), this was pure generosity.

This was true generosity, not weakness. Abram could fight when it was the right thing to do (Genesis 14). He didn’t yield to Lot out of weakness but out of love and trust in God. Because Abram lived with an eternal perspective, a few acres of grazing land didn’t seem worth fighting for.

The giving up of rights is a theme throughout the Bible. God was glorified when Jesus, out of love, waived his right to an existence that knew no human suffering or trial by experience (Philippians 2:5-11). God was glorified when Paul, out of love, waived his right to be supported by the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:14-18). In Genesis 13, Abram fulfilled the New Testament principle of love: Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. (Philippians 2:4)

But if we give up our rights, who will look out for us? Abram could do this because he learned that God would provide for him, and so Abram did not have to worry about being too generous. In this case, Abram was willing to let God look out for his interests. Right or left, it didn’t matter to Abram, because God would be there.

There are times to stand on principle and claim a right – the Bible also gives examples of this. Sometimes doing this is good for others and not only for us. Yet we are grateful for the generosity God shows to us, and we seek to show that to others.

We can do what is right by committing our rights to God.