February 1, 2010, Exodus 13:17-15:18, Matthew 21:23-46, Psalms 26:1-12, Proverbs 6:16-19

May the words of our mouths, and the meditations of our hearts be edifying and encouraging to your body and acceptable in your site, oh Lord our Rock and our Redeemer.

Response to Exodus 13:17-15:18

Awsome reading today, wouldn't you agree? (If you didn't read it and can't, don't worry, we still cherish your input!)

On my facebook page, I summarized today's reading with the following thoughts: "As long as I believe in and live for the G'od in this world, I have nothing to fear from d'evil and I will fight it's ideologies till my dying day in honor of His (G'od) design.  If you didn't figure it out, I transposed an o out of Good and transposed (the evil) to make a point. I feel there is much truth in this statement based on our reading.

A favorite verse of mine is found in Exodus 15:2; "The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.  He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God and I will exalt Him." It would appear this is not only one of my favorites as it is repeated in various ways quite obviously by David and Isaiah in Psalms 118:14 and Isaiah 12:2, and the theme is chronic in scripture.  You may know of others that you wish to share.

I feel the difficulty we have with this verse in religion today is the word "my".  Everybody wants to claim this God, this joy, this song as their own.  However, I believe as we now live in the New covenant, this verse can be claimed by all of creation. More on that in a moment.

It struck me as I read this morning that this God of awesome power gave Pharoah many chances to obey before He caused destruction and death. He started with a sign, then moved on to pests, then health concerns, then devastation of property and land, then a final sign with elimination of light, then death.  Moses writes that God hardened Pharoah's heart, and today, we are still struck by the power of God as something of wrath, but I truly feel the moral of the story is that our God is mighty to save.  He said He would lead His people to the promised land - and even if they did not believe, he did it, albeit through the next generation!  The beauty, I feel, is that just as His people were redeemed in the first covenant by the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of their homes at passover, we are all redeemed by the blood of His lamb - the lamb of God as we apply the sacrifice of Emmanuel to our very lives.  Just as He fulfilled His promise to the people of Israel in the first covenant and brought them to their promised land, so He is mighty to save and bring all of creation back to Him through the blood of this second covenant. I believe we find that second covenant over and over even in the midst of the first covenant, the Old Testament.  Listen to Isaiah as He speaks as the prophet of God in Isaiah 45:22-25 (quoting RSV)

"Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.  By myself I have sworn, from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness a word that shall not return: 'To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.' Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; to him shall come and be ashamed, all who were incensed against him. In the Lord all the offspring of Israel shall triumph and glory."

We shall often see that through Christ, all the offspring of Israel represents all of creation. This theme is constant in His word.

Response to Matthew 21:23-46

So, let's take a look at the New Covenant:
This reading starts with a great question for all of us.  By whose authority does one rule or speak on this earth? Do you believe God is in control? When Matthew writes in chapter 28:18 that Jesus said "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" does it sound to you like He is speaking of the present, or the future? It sounds to me like He was speaking in the then and now. Do you believe? Can you see God at work in our world today? Does He still have the power to save and redeem all of creation? Can He change your heart regarding your fellowman?

I struggle to separate the reading from the author.  Many would say that as the Bible is the "Word of God", that the authors are not that important.  However, I tend to disagree. I think deeper theological study would confirm this but would push most of us away.  Matthew was a tax collector. Notice in verse 31, Matthew quotes Jesus as saying "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you..." Do you think Matthew felt judged as a sinner by the religion of the day? Check out how often he quotes Jesus speaking against the Pharisees and religious rulers of the day.  If I'm not mistaken, Matthew mentions hell more often than any of the 4 gospel writers published in our Bible. I think his writings represent a lot of the resentment of the sinners in our world in regards to the self-righteousness of some religious people. I love attending church and being a part of the family of God on a weekly basis.  But first and formost "I am a Sinner in need of Grace and I see all of you as part of the family." Let's figure this Prince of Peace and Redeemer of all of creation thing out together, shall we?

Response to Psalms 26:1-12
I could not help but think that as David started the Psalm "Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have led a blameless life;" that this could not possible be true, save for the blood of the lamb.  Therefore, I often think of the human descendent of David - Jesus Christ - speaking when I read a Psalm like this.  It is also good to own it personally and apply it to my own life as I deal with the world. However, as I attempt to honor the Prince of Peace and a God of Love, I often must dismiss David's warrior instincts against flesh and blood and apply them to the demons of my own life - addictions, afflictions and the like which may well be manifested in the spiritual realm.

Response to Proverbs 6:16-19

This thinking is backed up by today's reading of Proverbs 6:16-19, let me quote them here because they are so powerful:

"There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him:
1. Haughty eyes
2. A lying tongue,
3. Hands that shed innocent blood
4. A heart that devises wicked schemes
5. Feet that are quick to rush into evil
6. A false witness who pours out lies
7. A man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

Therefore, as we attempt to speak the truth, we should all remember we are brothers and sisters before God and we must continue to remind one another that we are family as we talk about love. With that, I bid you good day! Please share your thoughts.