I Samuel 20; I Chronicles 4; Psalm 56,57, 142; Acts 14

I Samuel 20:41, 42 Jonathan and David: The story of these two men is a binding loyal love between friends. Even family loyalty could not separate Jonathan from David for amid their friendship was God. Jonathan and David knew God’s plan was to make David king of all Israel someday. David did not gloat and Jonathan was not jealous even knowing that David was God’s man to replace Jonathan’s father, Saul, as king. That is true friendship.

Another example of turning from family toward God was the story of Jabez, one of a whole list of sons and fathers in the house of Judah. “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers… And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, ‘Oh that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!’ So God granted him what he requested.” I Chronicles 4:9, 10. Such a humble ending to a prayer for God’s blessing. Jabez intended to protect his love for others by asking God to guard his heart against evil and from harming others. I do not wonder that Jabez had several friends in mind when he lifted up this prayer.

Acts 14:2, 3 demonstrates the love that Paul and Barnabas had for the Iconiums. “But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren. Therefore they [Barnabas and Paul] stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.” Instead of using the contention and danger brought on by unbelievers as an excuse to immediately leave the Iconiums, Paul and Barnabas dug in their heels and stayed even longer with these brethren. I have had ‘fair weather friends’ before, and know the disappointment and loneliness that these relationship types wrought on my heart. The Iconiums

Yet, I have friends who are golden. I mean that. I’ve known a few of them for over 30 years and a few for just about five years. What I love about them all is how they love me. They are much better than I at showing their friendship. Calls and texts when we have not communicated for a lengthy time. Cards and kind words on holidays or just because they were thinking about me. And of course, they know me. My pain has been their pain. My silence to them a matter of prayer for my wellbeing. And my joys a cause of celebration.

As I said, they are much better at being a friend than I can ever match. I try to give support when needed, and I hope not to forget important dates in their lives. I especially love to catch up on their family ties and expansion. But I never feel I can give back all I have received in these beautiful relationships.

This is also how I feel about the overwhelming love of God for me. Christ has given His life that I can stand today in His grace. He warms my soul with His Holy Spirit, speaking truth, encouragement, and mercy to me every morning. I am honored by His love that I have not earned and sometimes even take for granted. Yet connecting with God is like when my phone rings and that lovely, familiar voice says, “Well, hello there!” I am immediately all smiles and laughter. How delightful to have a good friend. How marvelous to have Christ as my friend who sticks closer than a brother. How blessed I truly am!

Psalm 57:9-11 “I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations. For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens, and Your truth unto the clouds. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let Your glory be above all the earth.”

jansuwkilkinson

Ruth 3-4; Psalm 37; Acts 4

(Ruth 3:1-9) In the Book of Ruth, Naomi instructed her daughter-in-law Ruth, who was by then a widow, in a clandestine move to propose marriage to Naomi’s relative, Boaz. The scene is described in detail: Boaz is among his workers after the harvest, planning to spend the night on the threshing floor. He eats a hearty meal, probably drinks wine, and lies down with a “cheerful heart.” Then Ruth secretly and quietly comes to him in the night while he is asleep, uncovers his feet (symbolic of asking for his protection and security), and lies at his feet until he startles around midnight. The story ends well, with Boaz redeeming Naomi’s inheritance, marrying Ruth, and having a son who continues the Messianic lineage of Jesus Christ.

Courtney, in her discourse on “regular people” like us being used by God (66 Books post 4/5/24) struck a chord with me, and reading these stories continues that melody. I am also struck by the thought that many important characters in the Bible were considered even less than regular. I mean to say that God caused some considered outcasts to become those heroes and heroines we admire.

For instance, consider that Boaz was the son of Rahab. Rehab was a Canaanite prostitute who demonstrated her faith in Israel’s God by sheltering Joshua’s spies in Jericho. A Canaanite and a prostitute would make her ‘less than’ in any society. Yet her actions were instrumental in the victory of the Israelites when the walls of Jericho fell. Boaz also was a descendant of Perez the son of Judah and Tamar. Tamar was a Canaanite and widowed of Judah’s two sons. Her status at that time of her life would have been considered ‘less than.’ She sought levirate justice but Judah chose not to allow his youngest son to marry her, so she deceived Judah into believing she was a harlot. He went into her and she conceived. When found out, Tamar not Judah was considered righteous. We see that despite their origins and the nature of their actions, Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth are righteous and beloved by God.

Another example of being viewed as ‘less than’ is the denouncement by the religious leaders in the Book of Acts regarding Peter and John. (Acts 4:13) “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” Peter and John who were not rabbis and were not trained by the leaders of the Sadducees or Pharisees became apostles chosen by Christ to preach His gospel. They, not the religious leaders, are considered righteous and beloved by God.

I am encouraged by these stories because I sometimes feel like the ‘less than’ population, especially having come to Christ later in life (and having had many regrets for a life lived without Him). I empathize with people who experience the stigma of poverty, drug addiction, disabling conditions, and mental illness. And yet I am astonished at the progress and achievements of so many people who overcome these barriers to live meaningful lives. The vast majority do so when trusting in God, leaning on His wisdom, and obeying the truths in God’s word.

The richness of all these stories is truly “apples of gold in settings of silver.” (Proverbs 25:11)

Thank You, Lord, for the beautiful biographies of Your beloveds. I am encouraged, humbled, and delighted knowing how You love and purpose each of us. We are righteous, emboldened, and secure in Your love, and oh, what a story we are telling by Your grace!

Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. (Psalm 37:3-6)

jansuwilkinson

Joshua 18-21; Psalm 15; Luke 18

It’s amazing to me how detailed, how specific, and how ordered the genealogies and the boundaries of territories were described in the Old Testament. If you were of the chosen people of God, you knew your ancestors, your extended family, and the land on which your tribe could live. You belonged.

In contrast, I feel like a nomad, moving from one state to another, leaving family behind, and pulling up roots each time. I’ve lived long enough in one place to become attached to the land and its people, yet I was always a bit of an outsider (think Yankee living in Texas). I tried to return to the place of my birth, but experienced even worse isolation; not the homecoming I had imagined. Yet even the Hebrew slayer who accidentally kills a person could “return to his own house, to the city from which he fled.” (Joshua 20:6) I wonder if even he was warmly reunited.

I do relate, however, to God’s children in the astounding declaration upon receiving the land given to the descendants of the Israelites who crossed over the Red Sea.

Joshua 21:42-45: “So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. The Lord gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.”

“Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill?” Psalm 15:1 Though I am an adopted child of God and privileged with the promise of salvation and God’s favor, I am well aware of my shortcomings. Unlike the answer to the questions in Psalm 15:1, I do not always walk uprightly, nor refrain from backbiting. I can hold a grudge for a long while. I sometimes fail to fulfill my oaths (promises) to God. Kneeling before the Lord Jesus, I confess and ask for mercy.

“And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified…'” excerpt from the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, Luke 18: 13, 14.

God never fails me. He has placed me exactly where I need to be and given me all that I need to follow Him. His promises are still true today as when I first gave my heart to Him. And when I stand before Christ Jesus one day, I hope to hear His sweet words, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…” Matthew 25:16 (By the way, Matthew who wrote this in one of the Gospels was a tax collector before He met Jesus.) I will shout with praise for His faithfulness, knowing that “All came to pass.”

God, You have prepared a place for each of us, Your beloved. A joyous homecoming. We are unable to earn our way into Your kingdom. We also do not know the hour that You will call us home. But all will be well; all will be done; all will have come to pass on that day. I look forward to spending eternity in Your house with You, with the saints, and with the angels! Thank You for knowing the longing of my heart to be with You. Amen!

Jansuwilkinson

Deuteronomy 10-14; Psalm 5; Luke 8

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord you God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?” Deut. 10:12-13

“For if you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do – to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to hold fast to Him – then the Lord will…” Deut. 11:22

“Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately.” Luke 8:47

Like this woman, I crave the power of love that Christ Jesus exuded in the flesh and now does so through His Holy Spirit. I think about Jesus in the morning, throughout my day, and before falling asleep in the evening. These thoughts are not necessarily formal prayers or supplications or even praise. Rather my thoughts are turned toward the God who knows me intimately. Psalm 5:3 says “My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; In the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up.” I once read from C. S. Lewis writings that he preferred not to utter words when he prayed to God. I can relate to this because I, too, feel that my words are not accurate or humble enough to even know how to express all that I want to say to the Creator of my soul. And I do not want to prattle on about my earthly life when my Lord is speaking heavenly truth. So I look up and wait for direction.

The idea of holding fast to God is comforting. How trustworthy. How kind. How tender He is toward me. And when I am holding on, I can easily love Him and choose to walk in His ways. Even if I stumble during a day’s journey closer to being eternally with Jesus Christ, I am looking into His face and hearing His encouraging words to keep walking. In the space between speaking my words and hearing God’s commandments, I am still His.

This week of remembrance leading up to the crucifixion and Christ’s resurrection is another time when my words are few. The images of Christ’s passion still bring tears to my eyes though I have celebrated this holiest of days yearly for over 30 years. Who would I have been if in the crowd the day of His death? I cannot cry, “Let Him live;” for then I would die. I cannot cry, “Crucify Him!” For then I would only seek to run from impending judgment. So I cry, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And maybe that is why speaking words can be so difficult; why touching Jesus is done with a shaking hand. For I love Him with all my heart and soul, but I know the depth of His love reaches into my very being when He says, “Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace.” Luke 8″48.

Go in peace. What a blessing to receive! Thank You, Lord Jesus. You have my good on Your mind. You speak what I can barely whisper – how much You love us! How Your love causes us to tremble!

Numbers 12-14; Psalm 28; Colossians 2

“Oh, my lord! Please do not lay this sin on us, on which we have done foolishly and in which we have sinned.” Aaron’s plea to his brother Moses regarding their sister whom God struck with leprosy for her and Aaron’s complaint against Moses. (Numbers 12:11)

I really hate to feel the humiliation of being caught in sin or even making a mistake, especially in front of others. There is no way to hide the consequence, whether it comes from my supervisor, my husband, or is brought up by those who look up to me. Sometimes the error is one of poor judgment but most often bears the appearance of self-reliance.

Quoting Scripture such as, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” Romans 3:23, does not make me feel better. (Amazing how my mind tries to rationalize my sin.) No, only confessing to God and when required, to others involved can resolve my guilt.

At those times, I cry out to God like King David who wrote: “To You I will cry, O Lord my Rock: Do not be silent to me, lest, if You are silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to You, when I lift my hands toward Your holy sanctuary.” (Psalm 28:1-2)

I am so thankful that God forgives my sins and forgets them. Colossians 2:13 says, “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” I interpret this to mean that my sins today have already been forgiven once and for all by the blood of Christ Jesus. Not only those personal sins but the rules that condemned me.

So why do I continue to feel the sting of my sins? Perhaps, like Mariam’s leprosy – the outward, observable consequence that lasted seven days and required that she be removed from her people – the public chastisement exposes my shortcomings. Others have seen. Others have heard. Others talk. There is no hiding sin or sweeping it under the rug.

Reflecting on sin and its consequences helps me to understand my feelings and hopefully get to the root of the problem that led me to commit these sins/mistakes/errors in judgment. Self-reliance is a recurring theme in my life, yet self-reliance may be better defined as pride. My habit is to tell myself that I can do this or I have the authority to do that. Of course, there are times when someone has to step up and act. But what is the motivation of my heart? Am I trying to prove myself? Am I seeking to establish an authoritative position? Am I trying to hold onto the illusion of control? That sounds about right. My perfectionism and anxiety over being seen as dependable, responsible, and always doing the next right thing is also a recurring theme in my life. What a heavy load to bear.

Oh, God, You do forgive me, and I am grateful! My struggle with being right is not pretty; this fear of being wrong is a real problem. Comparing myself to others is also fruitless. Show me Your mercy and a better way. Bring me back to You, to being Your humble servant. Let my shame and guilt fall away through Your grace. I accept Your correction and choose to walk humbly before You. Please do not count this sin against me and please let my chastisement prompt me to dive deeper into Your perfect will. Protect me from those who would take this opportunity to do me harm. Demonstrate Your mercy to Your beloved.

“Blessed be the Lord, because He has heard the voice of my supplications! The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him.” (Psalm 28:6,7)

jansuwilkinson