2010 – November 2 – When Ignorance is Anything But Bliss

Study from God’s Word… Readings selected by Dr. Smith revealing Jesus teaching his Disciples about the inability to see Jesus’ kingdom teachings clearly ... from Mark, Chapter 8 and Matthew, Chapter 15 … Passage for Reflection: Mark 8: 17 - 18 … NIV Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear?

My Journal for Today: When a modern-day Christian reads and grasps what Jesus was saying to His inner twelve in today’s passage, we can feel the very human - and possibly divine - frustration of the Messiah Rabbi who had just fed thousands with a few loaves and fishes; and yet when he was trying to illustrate the spiritual poison His followers needed to avoid from the teachings of the Pharisees, Jesus’ buddies just couldn’t get it. Hence, we read Jesus’ tone of challenge to the twelve in today’s highlight passage.

And you know it’s pretty easy for me to sit here, believing as I do and having all of Scripture - Old and New Testaments - to pass judgment on Jesus’ Disciples. My wife has a saying when she encounters ignorance and stupidity of the highest order. She will say in those instances, “You just can’t deal with dumb!” And maybe that was a little bit of the attitude we read into Jesus’ retort to His disciples in the text for today’s study.

BUT - and it’s another big “BUT” - who am I to pass judgment on a Peter or a John or a James ... or even a Judas, for that matter, when there are just way many things about the kingdom of God which I’m sure I can’t perceive everyday? How many truths about what is going on in the world do I miss because of my own lack of discernment? I could just imagine God, the Holy Spirit, whose ministry it is to teach me Christ’s kingdom truths, thinking, “Bill, don’t you get it!” Or maybe even God is saying about Bill Berry, “Oh, by even My grace, how do I deal with such dumb!”

But no, that’s not how God deals with Bill Berry, nor was it how Jesus dealt - even though frustrated - with the twelve men God, the Father, had sent to The Messiah Rabbi to teach them. No, ... God patiently - and with infinite compassion and patience - deals with dumb disciples like yours truly. And as Jesus continued on with His disciples, teaching and giving these recruits more examples, more teaching, and more opportunities to see with their eyes and hear with their ears about the reality of Jesus, The Messiah, and Christ, their Lord.

Today Dr. Smith, my devotional shepherd during my 2010 trek through God’s word asks a probing (and for me, convicting) question, writing, ”For all that I think I know about the kingdom of God, what profound truths am I still missing?” And I can just imagine Jesus looking me in the eyes and asking much the same questions of me that He asked of his twelve disciples back there in Galilee.

But fortunately, I know that God, the Holy Spirit, will be patient with me; and as long as I doggedly pursue knowing His mind and His ways, He will be there, shining a light on my path and showing me His truths through His word. That is the promise of Proverbs 3: 5,6 as well as all of Psalm 119, so though I may be one of those “dumb” ones my God is teaching, I know He’ll keep showing me His mind as I pursue knowing it (check out the promise of James 1: 5,6 [linked here] in this regard).

My Prayer for Today: Lord, show me THE way - Your way. Shine Your light on Your truth so that I can see it clearly and follow You doggedly. Amen

2010 – August 7 – Contempt for God’s Word

Study from God’s Word… Jeremiah 36: 1 - 4; Jer. 45: 1 – 5; Jer. 36: 5 - 32 … Passage for Reflection: Jeremiah 36: 23 – 24 … NIV 23 Whenever Jehudi [the agent for Jehoiakim, King of Judah] had read three or four columns of the scroll, the king cut them off with a scribe's knife and threw them into the firepot, until the entire scroll was burned in the fire. The king and all his attendants who heard all these words showed no fear, nor did they tear their clothes.

My Journal for Today: Just this past week an activist US District Judge (his name is Vaughn Walker) defiantly declared that the controversial “Prop 8” California constitutional amendment, passed by the citizens of CA, declaring for traditional marriage and banning gay marriage, was unconstitutional and thereby null and void. In doing so, this one judge has deactivated the vote of the citizens of California and made his own law which has also, in turn, declared (in the legal opinion Walker wrote) that no law can be based on the premise of faith or faith traditions. So, … in the headlines of our times we have a very similar case to what happened when the King of Judah, Jehoiakim, bad son of the good King Josiah, ordered that Jeremiah’s prophesies of God’s word, which had been written down in a scroll, be cut up and burned.

It is sad; but I don’t think that Judge Walker has a clue as to the ramifications of his declared legal opinion … just like King Jehoiakim (see verse 24 above) was so brazen about his decision to burn the truth of God written down in Jeremiah’s scroll [which BTW was later restored and re-written]. Now we don’t know what will happen in the appeals process since this District Court opinion will be challenged. It may ultimately be restored by the US Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court; but like Jehoiakim’s challenge of God’s word and will, Judge Walker has acted brazenly to affront God’s written truth. Prop 8 in California was simply a written affirmation of thousands of years of Judeo-Christian values concerning marriage; and it is affirmed by the Bible itself. Judge Walker saw fit to write his legal “tearing up” of Prop 8; and in the process struck out directly and brazenly against God’s way and His will. And like God’s recompense against Jehoiakim, somehow and in some way, Judge Walker is going to pay God for his actions. May God have mercy on him; and may he repent of his decision before God’s hammer of wrath falls as it did on Jehoiakim and his family (see Jeremiah 36: 30 – 31).

But even more importantly for you and me is the application of God’s word in Jer. 36 for our personal lives and how we follow God’s word. And testing this premise, Dr. Smith closes his devotional for today with one of his redundant personal challenges, writing, ”Are there any verses ‘MISSING’ from my Bible (application) because I’ve purposefully chosen to ignore them?” Because, … if the answer to the latter question is “YES,” we are no better in living out our lives than was Jehoiakim trying to eradicate God’s written word or Judge Walker trying to make Judeo-Christian truths null and void in support of gay marriage.

We simply cannot treat God’s word like a smorgasbord, blissfully taking in things which seem to be easy for our palates and ignoring those parts of our truth diet we find difficult to consume. God’s word is ALL truth, as declared by the Apostle Paul to his young Mentee in 2nd Tim. 3: 16-17, … ALL of it is necessary for our living our lives; and we cannot “tear out” concepts or pages from it because they don’t seem appealing to our tastes. We cannot be like Jehoiakim or Judge Walker; because if we do, we risk the very wrath of God coming down like it did for the defiant king in today’s historical account of Jehoiakim or it very likely will for Judge Walker.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, I pray that I – and any who read here – take this lesson to heart and live by ALL of Your word … ALL of the time. Amen