Here is today’s Bible reading: Judges 7:1-8:17
Luke 23:13-43
Psalm 97:1-98:9
Proverbs 14:7-8.
Luke 23:40-41 (NIV)
But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? [41] We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
Right relationship with God begins with understanding what we deserve. This is also the gateway to gratitude and joy.
“My observation is that over the last thirty or forty years our pastoral ethic has shifted from one of faithfulness to one of productivity and success. A generation of pastors and church leaders formed by the church-growth movement has slowly come to believe that our core pastoral mission is to build large and successful churches. Very few will actually admit this, but the truth is not hard to see. We have been trained to produce and “succeed,” and we have learned our lesson well. When we carry this desire for productivity and success into a culture nurtured by the forces of consumerism and pragmatism, churches will be built around supplying religious goods and competing against other churches for the allegiance of the religious-consuming public. Instead of a particular brand of coffee or clothing line, we sell our various youth programs, worship styles and preaching abilities (77).”
Here is today’s Bible reading: Judges 6:1-40; Luke 22:54-23:12; Psalm 95:1-96:13; Proverbs 14:5-6.
Judges 6:12 (NIV)
When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
Gideon was anything but a mighty warrior. He was fearful and faithless. But God saw Gideon for what he could be. God knew that in the power of the Holy Spirit, Gideon could not be defeated. Gideon needed to see himself they way that God saw him. The same is true for us. God sees us for who we can be, which is far greater than how we see ourselves. The key is the presence of His Spirit at work within us. May God give us a vision for who we can be in Him.
“If spiritual formation was going to be established as the driving force at Oak Hills, it had to first take root in our own hearts (40).”
“The outward success of our church came with a steep price tag. We had grown the church, but we were not more like Jesus. Growing the church did not require that we be like Jesus. It wasn’t as though we were blatantly sinning and trying to hide it. But the leadership energy required in a larger church and the adrenaline rush of outward success gradually substituted for authentic experiences with God. The enthusiastic buzz in the church validated what we were doing. The hard work of preparing insightful sermons replaced hearing God’s voice in his Word. We had built a thriving church, but we were not becoming better people in whom Christ was being formed (40-41).”
Here is today’s Bible reading: Judges 4:1-5:31; Luke 22:35-53; Psalm 94:1-23; Proverbs 14:3-4.
Psalm 94:19 (NIV)
When anxiety was great within me,
your consolation brought joy to my soul.
I have certainly grown to treasure the verses in the Bible that talk about anxiety. It is comforting to know that I am not the only one who has had this struggle. Even the Psalmist battled it. What I find exciting about this particular verse is to see how God used the anxiety to bring about joy. That is unexpected. But God is even able to use our anxiety and turn it into joy as we experience His presence. Leave it to God to turn even anxiety into something good.
“Gradually, we began to get some clarity on a troubling truth: attracting people to church based on their consumer demands is in direct and irredeemable conflict with inviting people, in Jesus’ words, to lose their lives in order to find them. It slowly began to dawn on us that our method of attracting people was forming them in ways contrary to the way of Christ (35).”
“…we slowly began to realize that, to be faithful to the gospel of Jesus, consumerism was not a force to be harnessed but rather an antibiblical value system that had to be prophetically challenged (35).”
Here is today’s Bible reading: Judges 2:10-3:31; Luke 22:14-34; Psalm 92:1-93:5; Proverbs 14:1-2.
Judges 2:10 (NIV)
After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.
Sadly, we are living this. The solution is the revival of the Church. May it start with us.
Here is today’s Bible reading: Judges 1:1-2:9; Luke 21:29-22:13; Psalm 90:1-91:16; Proverbs 13:24-25.
Judges 2:3 (NIV)
Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.”
The idolatry of the Israelites caused them to be less victorious than they should have been. They short-circuited the power of God in their lives with their sin. We do the very same thing. How many Christians are walking around in defeat due to the sin they have allowed in their lives.
Proverbs 2:7 (NIV)
He holds victory in store for the upright,
he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
May God make us upright and victorious.
With My Own Eyes 