" ... on three Sabbath days he [Paul] reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. 'This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,' he said" (Acts 17:2,3).
What Does This Scripture Mean for Us?
How do you react when God fails to meet your expectations? When life goes in a way you are certain cannot be something God wants for you or would do in your life?
When Paul preached to these Jews in Thessalonica, he showed them that God's work in Christ as Messiah was totally unlike the conquering deliverer first century Judaism was expecting. Their expectation for the Messiah was someone who would come in power and might to overthrow Roman domination and make a political-military power out of Israel once again. They were not expecting a Messiah who was be ridiculed, tortured, and crucified by Rome.
When I am sick or need something, I expect God's presence to come to me through the Holy Spirit and make Christ my healer and provider. In the last few months, my wife has been diagnosed with a chronic heart condition. She spent two separate stays in the hospital while doctors juggled medications to get her heartbeat and heart rate stabilized and functioning as it should.
In this situation, God did not meet my expectations. After all, I've been striving since the age of 6 or 7 (a looonnng time ago now) to serve God and live for Him. My wife has known Christ as her Savior and loved and served Him since her earliest memories.
Naturally, we expect the Messiah to be the one who heals and delivers us -- not the one who puts us through hospitalizations and daily medication. (If nothing else, with today's health care costs in America, the financial aspects of this alone are almost more than we can handle. And that's WITH insurance!)
Our reaction to all this was not good, initially. We were much more like those of "little faith" Jesus chided than we were like those heroes of faith in Hebrews 11!
Then we listened to what God was saying to us, His work in our lives, and we got over it. Or at least we are "getting" over it. Accepting God's ways in our lives, especially when they differ from our expectations, is an ongoing thing after all. Life is a journey, not a particular location.
How are you going to react to God in your life today when and if he fails to meet YOUR expectations?
"Josiah removed all the detestable idols from all the territory belonging to the Israelites .... As long as he lived, they did not fail to follow the Lord, the God of their fathers" (2 Chronicles 34:33.
What Does This Scripture Mean for Us?
As a Christian living in the United States of America, I sometimes get very, VERY exasperated at all of my well-meaning fellow believers who walk down the path to civil religion, i.e., following a form of Christianity that's really a mixture of true faith and sort of cultural/historical/political idolatry. Let me put this question to you:
Is America a Christian nation? Was America ever a Christian nation in the past?
How you answer that question has everything to do with how you look at your Christian faith, whether you understand Christ's and the apostles' teachings about the Body of Christ and true believers or you follow that mixed blend of political "civil religion" that's taken over way, way, WAY too many churches and Christian fellowships in America.
My answer to the question about America as a Christian nation would be a firm "no."
Nations are NEVER Christian or un-Christian. People are Christians or not Christians.
Some of the individuals and groups of people who founded America were Christians and some were not. Some of the principles and ethics embodied in our Constitution and our government overall are "Judeo-Christian" and some are not.
This civil religion comes about as Christians in their zeal blend moral values and biblical teaching with political positions or teaching, and insist wrongly that "God's people" in Scripture somehow is the same, or very similar, to God's plan for America today.
Such teachings even have a name in conservative circles. It's called "American exceptionalism," the concept that America occupies a special position of leadership, example, and purpose among all the nations of the world.
Regardless of your political and religious views, adherence to such teachings has nothing to do with biblical Christianity. In Scripture, only one nation ever occupied a special or "chosen" role in God's plan -- ancient Israel. They were chosen as the tool or "vessel" which God used to bring revelation of himself to the rest of the world.
And today? Is there not some nation equivalent to Israel? Some sort of "true Israel" of God -- and wouldn't that nation be America?
In fact, there IS an identifiable, true "Israel" of God in today's world: It is made up of all individuals who come to God by faith through Christ, becoming part of the Church, the Body of Christ. Paul's letter to the Galatians is filled with this theme. In Galatians, he goes to great lengths to say that God's people are from every nation, from every social status, men and women, and that those who try to confine God's chosen people to any single nation or culture are wrong.
Finally, Hebrews 10-12 are filled with the message that believers now come into God's presence by faith through Christ's atonement -- no longer relying on religious ceremony or rituals given under the Law to Israel -- and this journey of faith will lead us to our heavenly home.
"As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God" (1 Peter 4:2).
What Does This Scripture Mean for Us?
I've always been puzzled by what value there was, if ANY, in suffering: Why does God allow his people to suffer?
I'll not claim to have the answer to that one -- preachers, teachers, theologians, philosophers, and tons of other folks with impressive sounding names and titles have wrestled with the problems of suffering far longer
than I will!
But perhaps God gives us some "clues" in this passage of Scripture -- suffering has a wonderfully powerful "purifying" effect on our actions and attitudes. One of my favorite study Bibles suggests that serious suffering often focuses our attention away from sinful desires and those things of the "world" which seemed so attractive, and focuses it directly on living for Jesus.
Perhaps that's so. Suffering for ANY reason certainly isn't fun. I would never recommend that anyone seek out suffering or avoid ending it for any reason. But when it comes -- and as part of life, suffering WILL come! -- perhaps we can handle it better if we allow the problems we have to focus us more passionately on our faith in Jesus, on our dependence upon God!
"He could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief" (Mark 6:5, 6).
What Does This Scripture Mean for Us?
It's amazing, as you read through Mark's gospel, to find how many times Jesus' work is NOT connected to our faith, but to our lack of faith, our unbelief. This passage is a prime example of that -- he was able to give the people of his hometown some wonderful gifts and healings, but he was limited by their unbelief.
I'm not trying to say God's failure to work in our lives is linked to unbelief, because his will is primary, not our ability to muster up faith. He works in our lives according to his plan, even when we do lack faith.
What I want to suggest is that which our pastor suggested at our weekly men's Bible study this morning regarding these verses in Mark 6. His comment was this: "Faith makes us open to receive what God wants to give us."
No matter what comes into your life today, God is saying to you, "Just trust me on this." Our faith can open our lives to receive all the wonderful things God has for us today!
I've been looking around YouTube at the many videos there related to Bible study. I think it would be very useful to post an occasional video here, because there are many who learn more and learn better from videos.
The video below is about "The Daily Bread Bible Study Method." For many years, I've used a process much like this when looking at a small portion of Scripture. I didn't know there was necessarily a name for it, and I never do it step-by-step exactly like this video. But I can recommend much of what's suggested here.
On the other hand, I know nothing about the website recommended, about "Pastor Andy," or anything about the book mentioned on the recommended website. So do not consider this as any "endorsement" or free publicity for all that. But I think there are some good ideas in the video that you can take into your prayer life and your study of Scripture. Enjoy:
"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect" (1 Peter 3:15).
What Does This Scripture Mean for Us?
Ever since the day -- would you believe it's been more than 54 years ago?? -- I first turned my life over to Jesus, I have been generally eager and willing to tell people about Christ, about his love for me and for them.
But, being filled often with more zeal than good sense, I haven't always been ready or able to share Christ with "gentleness and respect." Especially when I was a young lad, it was hard to understand witnessing by my actions and attitudes toward others as well as my words.
Think about it -- do you REALLY believe people come to Jesus because of your stand on the latest political issues? Or how you feel about the latest problems in our society and culture? And do you really think one person has turned his or her life over to Jesus because Christians held protests over objectionable films or music?
I have found time and again that the most effective way to bring people to Jesus is with personal gentleness and respect -- a respect that loves and accepts "sinners" just the way they are, allowing the Holy Spirit to "clean up their lives," not trying to force them to change their lives as I see fit.
Share Christ today -- and do it with gentleness and loving respect.
"Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover up for evil; live as servants of God" (1 Peter 2:16).
What Does This Scripture Mean for Us?
Someone in the history of the church -- Luther? Augustine of Hippo? I don't remember -- once said that the true definition of "freedom" and the idea of human "free will" was not the ability to choose to do evil, but it was the ability given Christians by the grace of God to always choose to do right instead of evil.
Probably that's a lot more profound than I can handle, if you think carefully about what all it means about us and our relationship with God. But this one thing is clear, based on today's Scripture reading (see especially the quoted verse): No matter what culture we live in, nor what form of government we live under, we have the ability in Christ to be free in the fullest extent. We are free to love God and follow Him, no matter what. We can use that freedom to follow Christ and draw others to Him as they see the quality of our lives and our love for one another!
"Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control" (Hebrews 2:8).
What Does This Scripture Mean for Us?
When you look at the world, perhaps even when you look at how life's going for you specifically, do you ever wonder why things aren't quite "right" or what you might be able to do to make things "better" than you find them? Here's a thought -- as the old song lyrics go, "We have the power." That line has been running through my head since re-reading this Scripture from Hebrews.
Amazingly, God has put us, us sinful and fallible human beings, in charge of things on this great Earth and we truly have the power to do the right thing or the wrong things to make the world and all of our lives better or worse. That's the concept of "stewardship" which runs throughout the entire Bible.
So how do we handle such power? How can we, how can I and YOU, make things better?
By focusing constantly on Jesus. The last part of today's Scripture reading turns the focus of what God is doing and has done in our world on the Source of both inspiration and real-life power to accomplish God's will: our Lord Jesus Christ!
Maybe comedians have trivialized the phrase with sarcasm and parodies, but the truth is still there for us today: Constantly ask yourself as you go through the day, "What would Jesus Do?" Live that answer in your life today!
Seeking and knowing God's will means we must be following God carefully and closely every day.
Read Numbers 9:15-23
"Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, resting upon it, the Israelites would remain in camp and would not set out; but when it lifted they would set out" (Numbers 9:22).
What Does This Scripture Mean for Us?
I once knew a woman who insisted that God guided every tiny, day-by-day part of her life. She wouldn't even pick up a washcloth to bathe herself in the morning until she prayed about it and became convinced that God was "telling" her what color washcloth to use that day.
Does God really micro-manage our lives THAT totally? Must we be concerned about knowing His will about what color washcloth to use, which shirt or dress to put on, etc., or does He leave a lot of life up to our judgment and allow us to make decisions without the anxiety of thinking He might not prefer blue stripes in a necktie??
When God led the Israelites out of Egypt, He was not only leading them to freedom and to form a nation for His specific plans, He was using them as an "object lesson" for all time. He was creating sacred history every step of the way. As a result, God gave them clear "signs and wonders" to take them exactly where He wanted them, at the exact time He wanted them there, to teach all mankind about His faithfulness and His way of life for us all.
We are doing God a disservice if we demand His voice to tell us what color washcloth to use or what necktie we should wear. Of course He has a plan for our lives, but He has also given us the presence of His Holy Spirit and brains to think with. We can be confident that our trust in Him and our acknowledgment of Him as our Lord will give us the guidance we need as we go about living.
We must follow God carefully and closely -- but we also have the confidence to take daily steps in our walk with Him. As we trust Him, we need not fear we will suddenly somehow lose our way!
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life" (John 3:16).
What Does This Scripture Mean for Us?
"... I can't come to the phone right now, so leave a message -- and by the way, John 3:16!"
A friend of mine always ends her voicemail message that way, which I've always found a bit odd. But the fact is, John chapter 3, specifically John 3:16, is one of the best known passages of Scripture. I would bet that Christians and non-believers alike who call my friend have at least a good idea of what "John 3:16" means and says.
There's a story that an aging, well-known European theologian of the last century was asked as he approached the end of his life to sum up the most important truth he had learned about God and mankind. The story is that he smiled and recited the children's chorus that's based on John 3:16 -- "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."
We need to spend time today and every day praying and meditating on the awesome, profound truths of that chorus and of these Bible verses. What an incredible foundation for all we know about God and about living -- God sends His love to us in His Son, our Lord Jesus!
