I believe that if people had any true self-awareness, they’d be less in awe of celebrities, sports figures, politicians, etc., and possess a greater fear of God.  If they had any clue about the magnitude of the power of God, they’d realize the senselessness of messing with Him, dissing Him, canceling Him, and thumbing their noses at Him.

The prophet Jeremiah gets it straight.  Jeremiah 10:6 No one is like you, LORD; you are great, and your name is mighty in power. 7 Who should not fear you, King of the nations? This is your due. Among all the wise leaders of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you. 8 They are all senseless and foolish; they are taught by worthless wooden idols. 9 Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz. What the craftsman and goldsmith have made is then dressed in blue and purple– all made by skilled workers. 10 But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath. 11 “Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.'” 12 But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. 13 When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses. 14 Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. The images he makes are a fraud; they have no breath in them. 15 They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish. 16 He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including Israel, the people of his inheritance– the LORD Almighty is his name.

Read back through that passage and think about all the magnifiers and all the reducers.  God is magnified over and over for His greatness, power, truth, and creative genius.  Man doesn’t look too good, coming up empty time and again. 

But God uses His power to bless those of us who simply don’t deserve it. 
Now is a good time to praise Him. 

Father God, we proclaim that You are the One True God, the living God, the eternal God.  You are powerful and wise, merciful and generous, creative in the diversity of all You have made including a people for Yourself.  Thank You that mankind does not all perish though we do not live as we ought.  We deserve Your righteous judgment.  Fear of judgment is no longer ours in Christ because perfect love drives out fear. But a terrible fear, a dread of Your power against mankind is for the unbelieving world alone to experience in the Last Day.  Thank You that Christ took this punishment upon Himself. We deserved Your wrath and only escape by Your grace. May our holy fear of You be for Your glory.  Amen.

===

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2022 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.

This year’s Lent Devotional Series “But God…” resumes tomorrow after today’s Sabbath rest to meditate and worship.

Today’s meditation focus:
The splendor of His holiness.

Psalm 96:1 Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. 3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. 4 For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. 6 Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary. 7 Ascribe to the LORD, all you families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. 8 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts. 9 Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth. 10 Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.” The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity. 11 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it. 12 Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy. Let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. 13 He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Stephen, in his famous speech (just before he was martyred for it) lays it all bare.  He was a true fact checker before fact checking was cool.

He preached, “This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’ 38 He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living words to pass on to us. 39 But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.

40 They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt– we don’t know what has happened to him!’ 41 That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made. 42 But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets: “‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel? 43 You have taken up the tabernacle of Molek and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile’ beyond Babylon.” (Acts 7:37-43)

Let’s review the facts Stephen said:  God raised up a prophet.  God was with them.  The angel of the Lord spoke to Moses and all the people.  They’d all received living words to pass on to the next generation to keep the faith alive.  And then what did they (we) do?  Reject it all.

“Gee, Barb, does Lent have to be such a downer?” you might ask. 
I might reply, God wouldn’t have to “But God…” anything
if we were on the right track, prone to 24/7 worship of God in purity and devotion, and part of a culture that was known for faithfully following Christ with whole hearts reflecting pure words, minds, souls, and bodies.

Our ancestors turned back to ways of sin, false gods, idols to worship that denied the living God.  Before we point our accusatory gaze and proclaim them fools, let’s ask ourselves, “Are we any different?”  As we continue our Lent 2021 series, “But God…” and look at the things God does to stop us in our tracks and turn us back to the way we ought to go, let’s remind ourselves that we are living between the City of Man and the City of God. Unpleasant as reminders of our sin, rebellion, and evil are, God gives us these lessons so that we’ll turn back to Him.

There’s a really sad moment in the record of Jesus’ ministry.  Jesus had to ask if all the other disciples wanted to leave Him too.  (Isn’t that sad?) “Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.  We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69).  But even Peter would deny Him before it was all over.

Lord God, we’re so sorry for grieving You.  It’s easy to feel like You turned away from us in the United States, that You’ve given us over to all the things that are evil, and Lord, that You are sending us into a spiritual exile beyond Babylon.  How could the world turn so wrong so quickly?  We know we have grieved You with our actions, our rebellion, and our choices to sin, elevating man to a point of worship. We have let what is evil run unchecked throughout this nation.  We confess we have not stood for You as we should, we have not been bold, but rather cowardly.  We have not appreciated the way You have blessed this country through the decades, and so while we have no standing before You, we ask Lord that You would hear these prayers offered in humble repentance.  We are grieved by what we see, Lord and we feel so helpless.  We ask, Lord, that You would turn to us again by Your grace.  There are faithful ones of Yours, Lord, depending on Your Covenant and promises, repenting of our national sin that we can do so little to stop because its root is in those who do not love You.  But for the sake of those who are Your sheep, we ask Lord, for You to hear our prayers.  Out of the greatness of Your mercy please forgive us and our nation, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2022 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.

Lent is a good time to think about our priorities. We can be thankful that God doesn’t lead us to bad priorities or ignore the ones we self-select. Rather, He straightens them and aligns them with His Word and His will.

Luke 12:13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” 16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ 18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”‘ 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

You may have heard that “the one who dies with the most toys wins.”  That’s not in Scripture … not in Proverbs or Song of Songs.  It’s not even hiding in Leviticus.  We can plan and plot, organize and orchestrate, but in the end when we turn dust to dust, the toys go to the next generation, the resale shop, or the trash heap.  Today, as we look at But God….for Lent 2021 and think about living with peace in the space between the City of Man and the City of God, let’s remind ourselves that our value is not in our possessions but in … who … owns us.

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” John 10:27-30

Thank You Lord Jesus that we’re the sheep of Your pasture, that You know Your sheep, You call us by name, and those of us who belong to You will never be ashamed.  Thank You for rescuing us when we were wandering astray. Thank You for Your Holy Spirit who teaches us to be still, to listen, and to wait upon Your will. We recognize Your voice and hear it in the words of Scripture, hear it upon the pages of our hymnals, and hear it in the days of our lives.  We praise You for being the Good Shepherd.  In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

===

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2022 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.

Do you see injustice in your midst?  Do you ever complain about it to God?  The prophets did.  The historians recorded it in the annals of history.  The poets opined and mourned about it in tune and verse. 

Psalm 64:1 For the director of music. A psalm of David. Hear me, my God, as I voice my complaint; protect my life from the threat of the enemy. 2 Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from the plots of evildoers. 3 They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim cruel words like deadly arrows. 4 They shoot from ambush at the innocent; they shoot suddenly, without fear. 5 They encourage each other in evil plans, they talk about hiding their snares; they say, “Who will see it?” 6 They plot injustice and say, “We have devised a perfect plan!” Surely the human mind and heart are cunning. 7 But God will shoot them with his arrows; they will suddenly be struck down. 8 He will turn their own tongues against them and bring them to ruin; all who see them will shake their heads in scorn. 9 All people will fear; they will proclaim the works of God and ponder what he has done. 10 The righteous will rejoice in the LORD and take refuge in him; all the upright in heart will glory in him!

Newsflash for evildoers: God knows what’s going on.  He sees everything, even the things done by people who don’t believe He exists.  He sees what’s being done in secret, behind the closed doors of bedrooms, mansions, offices, Congress, and the Supreme Court.  God sees it all.

Who seriously believes there’s escaping the consequences forever?
A man reaps what he sows (Galatians 6:7).

So when we read psalms like this one or the “Imprecatory Psalms”, we can feel somewhat confused.  Would God really destroy the wicked?  Yes.  Absolutely.  How does this square with praying for our enemies?  I once wrote a post about the Imprecatory Psalms, 5 C’s Toward Understanding Imprecatory Prayers.  Without a doubt, they can be hard to understand, but they serve a purpose for us and bring us to the same conclusion as the psalmist here:

“All day long I have been afflicted, and every morning brings new punishments… When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.” (Psalm 73:14, 16-17 )

Until I entered the sanctuary…what a very profound thought!  When we enter the sanctuary of God, in prayer, humility, and crying to God for wisdom, He helps us to see that He will be proven righteous in the end. 

Sometimes praying for our enemies
achieves the very same result as praying against them. 
God is proven just.

Father God, when we begin to think that those who do evil will never face any consequences, it’s easy for us to become discouraged.  It seems they grow up prosperous and strong, beautiful and successful … while those who love You suffer.  Sometimes we are among the poorest, the ones who struggle to hold on to hope in the face of adversity, the ones who get called names and accused of holding onto conspiracy theories or crutches for the intellectually substandard, being ignorant hicks or bitter clingers.  Yet Lord in Your righteous judgment the things of this world–the successes, the material wealth, the popularity, the prestige, the power—it all fades away when compared to the glory that You have.  So, we praise You and thank You that Jesus Christ told us that blessed are the poor in spirit for they know the kingdom of heaven and those who mourn for they will be comforted.  We thank You, Lord, that our riches are in heaven with You.  Be with us during Lent and keep our hearts focused on the work Your Son Jesus did to make it possible for those of us who are so very weak, who know nothing but a struggle against sin day after day, yet we can have riches in Christ beyond our imagining.  We praise You and thank You for Jesus, for His sacrifice on the Cross and for Your accepting His sacrifice as complete.  We would be finished, but for God so now we rejoice that “It is finished!”  We praise You Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

==

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2022 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.

As we continue looking at “But God…” and this intervention in the lives of men, we have focused upon the desperate situation of human sin, God’s wrath, and His holiness.  But we must be careful not to confuse what we might say with what God has spoken.

God guards His holiness, but He isn’t bound by what we layer over, as human ideas, upon God’s desires.  Such is the case with another odd passage dating back to Saul’s time as king.  Saul wasn’t exactly a model worshiper of God, and he let his being selected king go to his head.  For Saul, offering his own sacrifice instead of waiting a couple more hours for Samuel proved disastrous.  Saul’s way wasn’t just as good as God’s way. 

For Saul, fighting enemies had become personal…for his own glory and his own pride, but not for God’s. 

Few things display this better than in 1 Samuel 13-14. Saul’s troops are hiding in a cave, quaking.  Saul is resting under a tree.  His manmade choice of priest tagging along to appear spiritual was one related to Ichabod, a name meaning “the glory has departed.” (Well, isn’t that telling!)  Saul was continuing his own conquest without checking in with God—in God’s way—which is why the glory of Saul’s kingship was beyond over.

Think about how often we go our own way
instead of listening for the voice of God. 
Demanding now!  When God says wait for it.
You see, God distinguishes between His will and man’s. 

Meanwhile in our story, away from the camp, Saul’s son Jonathan was stepping out in faith as a major league Bible hero.  His step-by-step trust in God gave him courage, and God blessed him and his armor-bearer with a successful surprise attack that constituted a huge victory.  Faith=victory.

For those trained by experience in listening for God, our ears know His voice. 
Jonathan’s listening for the Lord was so habitual that he could even do it on the move. 
None of this complacent waiting as some do, an excuse for inaction. 
God’s voice was choreographing Jonathan’s steps one by one.

But then after hearing of such a great victory, Jonathan’s dad Saul, layers human ideas of a fast for all the soldiers as a quasi-divine command to finish Saul’s fight.  Instead of a personal fast as a spiritual practice for a personal fight, he applies it to everyone…including all the foot soldiers who would have benefitted from a little food.  Saul issues it as a command, an oath, and a rash one at that.  Saul decides to bring the ark of God along for the battle as a lucky charm to go along with his starving troops.

24 Now the Israelites were in distress that day, because Saul had bound the people under an oath, saying, “Cursed be anyone who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!” So none of the troops tasted food. 

Except one problem: Jonathan had been faithfully following God, out fighting, and never heard that oath by dear old dad for all the people. He ate a little honey, not against God’s law, only his father’s troublesome oath.  

35 Then Saul built an altar to the LORD; it was the first time he had done this. 36 Saul said, “Let us go down and pursue the Philistines by night and plunder them till dawn, and let us not leave one of them alive.” “Do whatever seems best to you,” they replied. But the priest said, “Let us inquire of God here.” 37 So Saul asked God, “Shall I go down and pursue the Philistines? Will you give them into Israel’s hand?” But God did not answer him that day. (1 Samuel 14:17-45)

God did not answer him.  Saul was ready to rush headlong until the priest suggested checking in with God.  That’s why God did not answer. 

Saul’s heart wasn’t in it for worship, and God is not obligated by our oaths and promises made in haste for our own pride and glory.  But God will answer those who seek Him as Jonathan did.  “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

Let this be a lesson to us…that we should not leave inquiring of God to be a last resort, but to do so always as a matter of first importance.

Father, the battles we face might not be ones on a battlefield but rather struggles against evil, against discouragement, against hopelessness, against fear, against doubt, and against so many things that call us away from our faith in You.  But we know, Lord, that You are faithful.  We are thankful that You reward those earnestly seek You.  Might we seek You as a matter of first importance every day, throughout the day, so that we might look for Your activity in our lives and see You at work.  We appreciate that we cannot follow You and yet stay where we are in our comfortable places.  Give us boldness like Jonathan, instead of complacency like Saul.  Might we seek Your glory as Jonathan did, and not our own personal vendettas like Saul’s.  We ask Lord that You’ll be glorified in our actions, in our boldness, and that we would be willing to sacrifice all for the sake of Your Gospel … for the sake of Your Kingdom … and for the sake of Your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior and it’s in His mighty Name we pray. Amen. 

===

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2022 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.

God will be patient with us…to a point.  That limit involves His holiness.  God is set apart, that’s what holiness is.  During this Lent 2021 devotional series, But God…, let’s remember when we take it upon ourselves to encroach into places where we have no business, no right, no authority, no purity to enter, the hammer falls…it’s punishment.  Or worse, like in the case of today’s passage, God strikes them dead.

The Philistines had captured the ark of the Lord and decided to try to manipulate it to their benefit.  They found out that, unlike their fake gods, our God can’t be manipulated by man.  The result? Plagues upon them so long as God’s ark remained in their custody.  So, they voluntarily decided to get rid of the thing.

1 Samuel 6:1 When the ark of the LORD had been in Philistine territory seven months, 2 the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how we should send it back to its place.” 3 They answered, “If you return the ark of the god of Israel, do not send it back to him without a gift; by all means send a guilt offering to him. Then you will be healed, and you will know why his hand has not been lifted from you.” 4 The Philistines asked, “What guilt offering should we send to him?” They replied, “Five gold tumors and five gold rats, according to the number of the Philistine rulers, because the same plague has struck both you and your rulers.”

It didn’t matter how wealthy or powerful one was…whether it was the rulers or the subjects, the same plagues descended because there was guilt aplenty.  The rulers represented their subjects (stop and note how an entire culture can reap the consequences of leadership decisions).  The whole story is bizarre.  Read 1 Samuel 6:5-12.  They sent the ark on its way on a cart, unattended, with the guilt offering in a chest beside it.  Kind of like putting it on the Israelites’ doorstep, ringing the doorbell and running.  But they kept watch.

The Israelites at Beth Shemesh (vs. 13-18) were thrilled at its return and the Philistines one can only imagine were glad to get rid of that cursed thing.  The Israelites chopped the cart’s wood, killed the cows, and offered a burnt offering to God … exactly what they should do to respect the holiness of God when it comes to the ark.  Until (Uh oh!!!) 70 of them decided to go where they were not allowed, and they peeked inside.  Boom, the hammer falls.  Just like in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.

“19 But God struck down some of the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh, putting seventy of them to death because they looked into the ark of the LORD. The people mourned because of the heavy blow the LORD had dealt them. 20 And the people of Beth Shemesh asked, “Who can stand in the presence of the LORD, this holy God? To whom will the ark go up from here?” (1 Samuel 6:1-20)

Instead of regarding God’s holiness as sacred, their irreverent curiosity surpassed their respect for God, and now they view the ark as a curse upon them too.  But you see, God didn’t curse them, He only punished the insolence of those who disrespected His holiness.  We would be wise to respect God with holy fear.  “Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the LORD our God is holy” (Psalm 99:9)

Father God, we praise You and thank You that You are a holy God. We ask, Lord, that through the power of Your Holy Spirit, You would convict each of us for the ways in which we disrespect Your holiness (whether subtle or blatant) … ways in which we treat You as common … ways in which we elevate man above You … ways in which we disregard the sacrifices that You have made so that we could have eternal life with You.  We ask, Lord Jesus, that You would forgive us and that the blessing that You promise to those who love You would be our focus.  May the holiness that You display guide and guard our actions. May we never take matters of faith or purity lightly for we know through Your Word what a terrible sacrifice You have made.  Lord Jesus, please don’t ever let us take for granted what You have done.  We are eternally grateful for who You are and for the sacrifices made.  In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2022 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.

“But you promised!”  How many times have any of us uttered that when someone didn’t do what we wanted them to?  With God, it’s different. 

When God promises something, He doesn’t owe us anything:
not our plan, not our hopes, not our timetable,
and most certainly not apart from Him. 
He owes us only His plan on His timetable. 

Such is the case with the patriarchs as Stephen (of martyrdom fame) reminds us in Acts 7.  He begins with Abraham all the way to Christ Jesus to prove God’s plan happens faithfully on God’s timetable.

Acts 7:3 ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’ 4 “So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. 5 He gave him no inheritance here, not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child.

But God promised… Abraham an inheritance, just not now.

6 God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated. 7 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.’

But God … let them be purified by suffering.

8 Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs. 9 “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt.

But God … doesn’t design gratuitous suffering.  It was part of God’s plan for the community and for Joseph personally. 

“But God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace. 11 “Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food. 12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers on their first visit. 13 On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. 14 After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. 15 Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died.”

So what do we do with promises yet unfulfilled? 
Doubt God?  Reject Him? 
Stop believing? 

Scripture tells us what is going on.  “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with His promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:9-13)

Thank You, Lord, that Your plan didn’t end with a promise delayed, a Last Day, or even with the empty tomb.  Just like a second visit where Joseph revealed himself, Your Son Jesus will have a second visit, a second Advent, a Second Coming to us.  So Father, we prepare our hearts during Lent 2021 with awareness that But for God, our hope would not exist. So we acknowledge Jesus’ first coming and culmination in crucifixion, burial, and resurrection…so that we may be ready for His Second Coming.  Lord God, purify us now.  Give to us the gift of faith so that we might be found faithfully watching, prepared for His Return.  In Christ and for His glory, Amen.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2022 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.

This year’s Lent Devotional Series “But God…” resumes tomorrow after today’s Sabbath rest to meditate and worship.

Today’s meditation focus:
Our days are all in the Lord’s hands.

Psalm 113:3 From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised. 4 The LORD is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens. 5 Who is like the LORD our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, 6 who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?

The Apostle Paul had an amazing past.  He talks about all his qualifications in Philippians 3:5-6 and 2 Corinthians 11:22-12:10.  What’s even more amazing is that he considers it all a loss and displays the humility of a man—but for God’s redemption of his past—who would have had no future to boast about.  Let this sink in during Lent 2021.

Hell is every man’s destination but for Jesus Christ. 
And hell brings no bragging rights.

Paul, for all of his qualifications, learned that those were only useful when redeemed for Christ as fuel for a great testimony. To Paul, everything was for evangelism, for the Gospel, for the sake of Christ.

He tells his story repeatedly.  One of my favorites is Acts 26:10-19 when he’s testifying before King Agrippa and Festus.  It’s one of my favorites because God presses irony in the face of the world.

Acts 26:19 “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.  20 First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.  21 That is why some Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me.  22 But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen– 23 that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.”

Ironically neither Festus nor Agrippa believed his testimony at the time (vs 24-31)
but as they leave the room, they say two of the
world’s most ironic and wrong statements of God and government. 

“This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment.”  Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.” (Acts 26:31-32). 

Weren’t they listening?  We all deserve death as a consequence of sin.  We cannot be truly set free by Caesar or any other government official.  Only Jesus can do that.  Only Jesus can redeem our past, pay for what we deserved, and set us free indeed for a future worth bragging about, and worth telling others about.

Lord Jesus, sometimes we are amazed at the words of Scripture because of the irony that is present in what we say among men.  We thank You and praise You that You redeem our past, that You use our flaws, our faults, even the things we’ve done that have grieved You, and by redeeming us, You put these things to work in our lives.  It is our humanity in need of rescue that gives us a testimony to Your great goodness, to Your grace, and Your mercy.  How we praise You, Father, for the forgiveness that comes by the shed blood of Your Son Jesus.  Oh, Father, during this season of Lent may we be mindful that it is human sin that compelled Jesus to the cross out of love for You and only by His shed blood can we hope to know eternal life.  To You be the glory, Lord, now and through the ages. Amen.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2021 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
•  A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.