Ecclesiastes 8 -- Wisdom And Authorities

Solomon discusses the value of wisdom and how it can help us exercise discernment in our interactions with authorities.  Here are some things I read:

“Suppose the king commanded the servant to do something evil, something that the servant did not want to do?  What should the servant do?  Here is where wisdom comes to his aid … Four possible approaches he could take to this problem.”

First, Disobedience – Solomon advised against this, since the king could do no wrong and no one could decide against him (since he was the king, he’d know, I guess).

Second, Desertion – “More than one person has quit a job or resigned from office in order to maintain his or her integrity.  But Solomon warned that even this action may not be safe, because the king might be offended and punish the person anyway.

Third, Defiance – Peter said, “We ought to obey God rather than men.”  My commentary said about “standing up for what is right – This doesn’t mean we can resist the law on every minor matter that disturbs us, but it does mean we have the obligation to obey our conscience.  How we express our disagreement with the authorities demands wisdom and grace.”

Fourth, Discernment – “It takes discernment to know the right procedure for the right time.  The impulsive person who overreacts and storms out of the room is probably only making the problem worse.  Wisdom helps us understand people and situations and to figure out the right thing to do at the right time.”

My commentary talked about the apostles when they went before the religious leaders in their day.  “They exercised spiritual discernment … they showed respect toward those in authority even though the religious leaders were prejudiced and acted illegally.  The apostles were even willing to suffer for their faith, and the Lord honored them.”

Father God, I value what You have to say this morning about discernment, and I ask that You continue to grow it within me.  I want to know the proper thing to do at the proper time.  Your Word shows that even religious leaders are susceptible to error.  You Son, in His wisdom and with Your blessing, showed them the error of their ways.  In all I have to face, help me to be more like Christ.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ecclesiastes 7 -- Not Paralyzed By Yesterday Or Hypnotized By Tomorrow

It’s easy to think that Solomon is just being sarcastic here.  My commentary helped out by explaining what was behind what he was saying. 

He said sorrow is better than laughter.  “Laughter can be like medicine that heals the broken heart, but sorrow can be like nourishing food that strengthens the inner person.  It takes both for a balanced life, but few people realize this.”

“We must live today in the will of God and not be paralyzed by yesterday or hypnotized by tomorrow … While you are dreaming of the future or regretting the past, the present, which is all you have, slips from you and is gone.”

Regarding adversity and prosperity, my commentary explained, “God balances our lives by giving us enough blessings to keep us happy and enough burdens to keep us humble … Whey does God constitute our lives in this way?  The answer is simple:  to keep us from thinking we know it all and that we can manage our lives by ourselves.”

It also noted that verses 10-18 are easily misunderstood.  He wasn’t telling us, “Don’t be too righteous, but don’t be too great a sinner.”  According to my commentary, “He was warning them against self-righteousness and the pride that comes when we think we have arrived and know it all … We should take hold of true righteousness and should not withdraw from true wisdom, and the way to do it is to walk in the fear of God.”

Father, help me to have balance in my life.  I feel like I’ve experienced lots of adversity this year, and I’d sure love more joy.  I know that I have it in You, and I don’t know how I would have made it without You.  You have strengthened my faith this year.  Guard my heart to keep self-righteousness and pride out.  Help me not to be paralyzed by yesterday or hypnotized by tomorrow.  Show me how to not let the opportunities You present for me today slip away.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ecclesiastes 6 -- Trusting God's Love

The previous times I’ve read this, I’ve heard and also agreed that Solomon has become incredibly sarcastic about God and about life at this point.  That makes it hard to find nuggets of truth for living.  However, my commentary seems to think Solomon is trying to get his audience to agree with him so that he can then show them the futility of a life lived without God.  Here are some of those nuggets:

“Enjoy the blessings of God now and thank Him for all of them.  Don’t plan to live – start living now.  Be satisfied with what He gives you and use it all for His glory.”

“If you devote your life only to the pursuit of happiness, you will be miserable; however, if you devote your life to doing God’s will, you will find happiness as well.”

“God has named everything … We cooperate with God as we accept the ‘names’ he has given to things:  sin is sin; obedience is obedience; truth is truth.  If we alter these names, we move into a world of illusion and lose touch with reality … We are free to decide and choose our world, but we are not free to change the consequences.”

“Solomon seems to say that it just doesn’t pay to argue with God or fight God … just accept it and let God have His way.  You can’t win … But this is a negative view … It gives the impression that God’s will is a difficult and painful thing that should be avoided at all cost.  Jesus said that God’s will was the food that nourished and satisfied Him.  It was meat, not medicine.  The will of God comes from the heart of God and is an expression of the love of God.  What God wills for us is best for us, because He knows far more about us than we do.”

Father, help me continue to surrender to Your will for my life, because I know that my sin nature will always try to deceive me into thinking You are a killjoy.  I know better.  Thank You for loving me more than I love myself.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ecclesiastes 5 -- Insincere Worship And Prayer

Solomon noticed people coming to worship, but saw insincerity in their actions.  “They were robbing God of the reverence and honor that He deserved … The worship of God is the highest ministry of the church and must come from devoted hearts and yielded wills.  For God’s people to participate in public worship while harboring unconfessed sin is to ask for God’s rebuke and judgment,” my commentary said.

He saw careless praying.  My commentary continued, “Prayer is serious business.  Like marriage, it must not be entered into lightly or carelessly, but soberly and in the fear of God … Yet there is so much flippant praying done by people who seem to know nothing about the fear of the Lord.”

Solomon saw how often people make promises to God that they have no intention of keeping.  “They live in a religious dream world;  they think that words are the same as deeds.  Their worship is not serious, so their words are not dependable.  They enjoy the good feelings when they make their promises to God … they like to dream about fulfilling their vows, but they never get around to doing it.  They practice a make-believe religion that neither glorifies God nor builds Christian character.

Father, help me to realize the incredible opportunity You have given me to come before You in prayer.  That You even choose to hear me is amazing.  Remind me that You are worthy of reverence and respect, and don’t let me be flippant in prayer.  Also, keep my relationship with You vibrant.  Constantly remind me to take care in what I promise You and help me to keep those promises or else not make them.  I don’t want a make-believe religion.  I want You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ecclesiastes 4 -- Balance In Life And Not Checking Out

What we observe of life can certainly make us cynical and sarcastic if we let it.  Solomon observed all of the unfairness, evil, and sin in society and said, “Those who have never been born are better off … they haven’t seen the evil that is done here on earth.” 

The chase of materialism was causing people to get their lives totally out of balance, and Solomon noticed their discontentment. (Of course, he had everything he wanted and was experiencing it, too.)  He saw workaholics with no family who made lots of money but never took time to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Infrastructure was so lacking back then that traveling alone was quite dangerous.  Solomon did see value in having friends and family, particularly as one gets older. 

He also noticed that youth often trumped incumbency in politics, but it wouldn’t be long before another generation grew up around the “winner” and rejected him.  My commentary quoted Oliver Cromwell, who took the British throne away from Charles I and said, “Do not trust to the cheering, for those persons would shout as much if you and I were going to be hanged.”

All of this can be very disheartening, but my commentary said, “Nowhere does he tell us to get out of the race and retreat to some safe and comfortable corner of the world where nothing can bother us … Life comes at us full speed, without warning, and we must stand up and take it, and with God’s help, make the most of it.”

Father, keep careful watch over my spirit and remind me of these truths when You see me becoming overwhelmed and wanting to retreat.  Keep me in the game.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ecclesiastes 3 -- Maybe Not Giving Up, But Something Else

“Solomon affirmed that God is at work in our individual lives, seeking to accomplish His will,” in these verses, my commentary said.  “All of these events come from God, and they are good in their time.  The inference is plain:  if we cooperate with God’s timing, life will not be meaningless.”

I have always been a finisher.  I like to see projects completed.  I remember reading this before and not liking these parts:  “ … a time to pull up plants … a time to destroy … a time to throw away stones … a time to stop looking for something … a time to throw things away…”

At that time, I was thinking that all these implied giving up, and giving up equaled losing.  But that’s not the case always.  Sometimes there are old buildings that are best torn down and replaced – like what the bank did, improving our main street.  Sometimes we hang on to “the way we’ve always done it” when a new way might work much better.  Sometimes our desire to maintain the status quo gets in the way of what God wants to do now.

Last week we had water damage in the church library and needed to move shelves and shelves of books out of harm’s way.  I saw one very thin book printed probably in the 1960’s on how to enhance the “cradle roll department” at a church.  I imagine that no one has looked at that book since the 1960’s.  Also, society has so changed since that time that I wondered why it hadn’t been thrown away.  There were many like that.

The “time to stop looking for something” really got to me.  It sounded like giving up on someone.  But then, god seemed to say, “I never give up on the them.  But sometimes you need to rest from the hunt.”

Father, I admit that as I saw those “there is a time…” verses, I thought, “Oh, boy.  Here it comes again.”  But I thank You for showing me something new in them that I needed to hear.  Please develop in me what You started this morning.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ecclesiastes 2 -- Enjoyment and Employment

My commentary said that in this chapter Solomon “decided to test his own heart to see how he would respond to enjoyment and employment.  “He did not consider God a celestial spoilsport, who watched closely to make certain nobody was having a good time.”  He found that in general, pleasure leaves the heart dissatisfied and empty.  That’s because “it usually becomes a selfish endeavor and selfishness destroys true joy … the sad result is desire without satisfaction… When pleasure alone is the center of life, the result will ultimately be disappointment and emptiness.”  It also “appeals to only part of the person and ignores the total being.”

Solomon decided to try work as means of happiness.  Solomon knew that work is a blessing from God, but it seemed only that “the journey was a pleasure, but the destination brought pain.”  Solomon wasn’t condemning work itself, but “work alone can’t satisfy the human heart, no matter how successful that work may be.”  Oftentimes achievers are unhappy people because “achievement can become the death of endeavor and the birth of disgust… Workaholics try to escape themselves, leading to disappointments.

Solomon finally concluded that he needed to accept life as God’s gift and that enjoying life is God’s will.  “He wants us to enjoy His blessings and please His heart.  If we rejoice in the gifts but forget the Giver, then we are ungrateful idolaters.”

There is another thing to employment that I don’t think Solomon ever experienced – the oppression of government has the real ability to inject futility into employment.  When regulations become so onerous that complying with them supersedes the original job itself, all hope can be crushed and desire is strangled from work.  That is an evil produced from Satan when all of his other efforts fail.

Father, I can related to Solomon here.  I need restoration and relief in order that I can find enjoyment again in the tasks You have given me.  Please change things as only You can, so that I can find enjoyment as I once did.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Ecclesiastes 1 -- Dread Turned Into Hope

When I saw that this book was next in line, my initial reaction was, “Oh great … days of listening to Solomon whine about life.”  “Under the sun” and “all is vanity” repeated over and over – it just gets old.  But my commentary said something that gave me a different outlook:  “Solomon wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (12:10-11; 2 Tim. 3:16), so what he wrote was what God wanted His people to hear.”  This wasn’t just Solomon’s boredom talking.  God has a message for me in it.

The monotony Solomon found in life existed because he only looked at life “under the sun” – from a human perspective and not from heaven’s point of view.  The dissatisfaction is there because “God has put eternity in our hearts and nobody can find peace and satisfaction apart from Him … The eye cannot be satisfied until it sees the hand of God, and the ear cannot be satisfied until it hears the voice of God,” my commentary said.

Our wisdom is often a curse, because it leaves us unfulfilled and that goes right back to Eve’s choice to sin in the Garden of Eden.  Solomon, supposedly the wisest man ever, noted here that:

11)      Life is tough, but it is a gift from God;

22)      Life doesn’t get easier if you try to run away from it;

33)      Not everything can be changed;

44)      Wisdom and experience will not solve every problem.

Something in that #3 in my commentary really stood out this morning:  “Solomon is saying, ‘The past can’t always be changed, and it is foolish to fret over what you might have done’ … We must remind ourselves that God has the power to straighten out what is twisted and supply what is lacking.  He will not change the past, but He can change the way the past affects us.  For the lost sinner, the past is a heavy anchor that drags him down; but for the child of God, the past – even with its sins and mistakes – is a rudder that guides him forward.  Faith makes the difference.”

Father, this life never makes sense unless we consider You.  You alone have the ability and power to step in and change the whole situation, and often you do in response to our prayers.  I know what I read here today is true and that it is from You.  You gave life meaning for me when You began to show me how intimately involved You are in my life.  Please keep me focused on You, seeing You at work minute by minute in my life.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Obadiah -- Called To SERVE, Not To Sit On The Sidelines

Regardless of all they’ve done to sin against God, Israel is still loved by God.  They are His children, and anyone who picks on them will see God coming to their defense.  “He says, in effect, Mess with them and you mess with Me,” Max Lucado says.

God spoke to the nation of Edom through this short book.  They were the descendants of Esau, the twin brother of Jacob, who was later renamed Israel and whose 12 sons made up the 12 tribes.

Jacob had been chosen by God to receive the double blessing of the firstborn, despite the fact that Esau was the firstborn.  But Jacob and his mom hadn’t been satisfied with waiting on God to handle it, and the trickery they used had caused a blood feud that had led to this message from God.

Here, God lets the world know that He’s already set in motion the destruction of Edom.  Their pride and their gloating over Israel’s troubles, plus their failure to help them, would now cost them their nation.

My commentary said, “Knowing that the Lord reigns over all things ought to encourage the people of God as we watch world events and grieve over the decay of people and nations.  The Sovereignty of God isn’t an excuse for believers to be indifferent to evil in the world, nor is it an encouragement to slumber carelessly and do nothing … We must still pray, ‘Thy will be done’ and then be available to obey whatever He tells us to do.”

Not doing that cost Edom everything.

Father, I pray that our nation will not stand by and let events unfold without heeding Your call.  You brought us forth as a nation for a purpose, and we should represent You and Your truths to the world, without apology.  Please help our leaders to remember this and to wisely join You to not do as Edom did – standing by and watching.  It will surely lead to our destruction if we do.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Philemon -- Love That Pays The Price

Paul’s hope in this short letter was that his friend Philemon would hear Paul’s heart and not react as society would have back then to the return of his runaway slave.  Instead, Paul wanted Philemon’s Christian character to speak volumes to others.  Paul’s primary appeal seems to be that God in His providence had arranged things so that Onesimus would wind up in Paul’s prison in Rome where he would become a Christian – a divine appointment.

Philemon was really on the spot, for “if he were too easy on Onesimus, it might influence other slaves to become Christians and want to influence their masters.  However, if he was too hard on the man, it might affect Philemon’s testimony and ministry in Colosse,” my commentary said.

Paul had a solution – he would pay the price and oh, what that showed!  My commentary continued:  “It takes more than love to solve the problem:  love must pay a price.  God does not save us by His love, for though He loves the whole world, the whole world is not saved.  God saves sinners by His grace and grace is love that pays a price.  God in His holiness could not ignore the debt that we owe, for God must be faithful to His own law.  So He paid the debt for us!”

Father, thank You for paying the price so that I could be part of Your family.  I in no way deserve it, but You loved me enough that You gave Your own Son for me and for my sins.  Such love, Father!  Such love!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Malachi 3-4 -- The One Time It's Okay To Test God

The Israelites were arguing with Malachi, and therefore arguing with God.  “They’d already argued with him about God’s love, God’s name, and God’s teaching … and now they would argue about … the justice of God, giving to God, and serving God.  People who argue with God rarely receive blessings from God.  It’s when our mouth is stopped and we submit to His will that we can experience the grace of God,” my commentary said.

God told Malachi to say, “You have tired the Lord with your words.”  They answered, “How have we tired Him?” (Arguing again.)  With all of the sins they were committing, “for God to bless people like that would mean approving of their sins,” my commentary added.

They cried that God wasn’t just.  But no one can ever truthfully claim that.  “The cross of Christ is proof that the same God who ordained the law of sin and death also took His own medicine and willingly died for sinners.”

They kept arguing with Malachi, and finally God had him say, “Bring a full tenth of what you earn … Test Me in this.  I will open the windows of heaven for you and pour out all the blessings you need.  I will stop the insects so they won’t eat your crops.  The grapes won’t fall from your vines before they are ready to pick.  All the nations will call you blessed.”  They had no idea what God could and would do if they only obeyed.

This is the one time it’s okay to test God.  I still remember the day He broke through my own resistance on this and I decided to take Him up on it.  I’ve never looked back.  He’s been more than faithful to keep His promises as I’ve kept mine.

Malachi added a note about the results of testing God and finding Him faithful and agreeing with Him:  “The names of those who honored the Lord and respected Him were written in His presence in a book to be remembered.”

Father, help me not to be one of the arguers and complainers, but one of the doers.  Help me not to argue with You or question Your wisdom, for Your thoughts are much higher than mine, and they are of blessings, not of harm.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Malachi 2 -- Losing The Specialness

God gave Malachi a message for the priests who were dishonoring His name.  They’d let their specialness slip away.  “They despised the very privilege of being priests.  They were taking for granted the high calling God had given them … Serving at the altar was a job, not a ministry, and they did it to please themselves, not to please and glorify the Lord.”  They received part of the offerings for their own us as food, and that’s about all they cared about.  They kept the people happy so that the offerings would continue to roll in.

God had already brought insects to ruin their crops (which shorted the offerings), and now He even suggested that He could make their seed not germinate.  My commentary also said, “It’s possible that the word seed may refer to their children…. God could prevent even the human seed from being productive… God would turn their children, who should be a blessing, into a burden and a curse.  It would be painful not to have children, but it would also be painful to have children who daily broke your heart and created grief in the home.”

I also read, “Nothing is so deadening to the divine as an habitual dealing with the outside of spiritual things.  What the priests were doing wasn’t ministry; it was only ritual, empty religious formality that disgusted the Lord.”

Jewish men were also divorcing their wives to marry pagan women.  “After committing these sins, the men then brought offerings to the Lord and wept at the altar, seeking His help and blessing.  Perhaps they had the idea that they could sin blatantly with the intention of coming to God for forgiveness.  But if they were truly repentant, they would have forsaken their heathen wives and taken their true wives back… These men were guilty of hypocritical worship that has nothing to do with a changed heart.”

Father, I’ve watched lately in my own life as my opportunities to teach about You have greatly diminished, and without that constant “holy pressure” that teachers feel when teaching Your word to others, I’ve seen my own life slipping.  I don’t want to lose the specialness of the calling to ministry.  I’ve also experienced the pain of my children breaking my heart through their choices.  I want to be careful now not to let anything deaden the divine in my heart, and that’s what comes from not dealing with spiritual things, but with worldly things.  I don’t want my worship to become ritual, empty religious formality.  I don’t want to sin blatantly with the intention of coming to You for forgiveness.  Help me to forsake anything that threatens to pull me away from You.  Don’t let anything tear my heart away from You.  Keep it changed.  Don’t let my worship become hypocritical.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Malachi 1 -- It's The Same Today With Us

Malachi took on the complaints the people were secretly voicing against God.  The first sin he named was their lack of love for God.  They would recite the Shema – “Love the Lord your God will all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might” – but “they doubted that God even loved them, so why should they love Him?”

Malachi showed them God’s clear statement of His love for them, along with His electing grace.  My commentary had great insight into what appears troubling in verses 2&3 where the Lord says, “I loved Jacob but I hated Esau.”  It said, “The verb hate must not be defined as a positive expression of the wrath of God.  God’s love for Jacob was so great that, in comparison, His actions toward Esau looked like hatred.”  When a person mentioned having a problem with “…but I hated Esau…”, one preacher responded, ‘I have a greater problem with verse 2, where God says, ‘Jacob, I have loved.’”

Upon returning from captivity in Babylon, the Jews failed to take advantage of God’s opportunity to witness to the world of His grace and mercy and lapsed into the sins Malachi speaks of here, my commentary said,  “They missed their opportunity to glorify God … The trials we experience … are also opportunities to glorify God before a watching world … and that’s the way we must look at the testings God sends our way.  Every difficulty is an opportunity to demonstrate to others what the Lord can do for those who put their trust in Him.”

The priests were terribly disrespectful of God, even saying impudently, “How have we despised Your name??”  They received part of the offerings as food, and they began to accept anything people offered – even sick and blind animals!  “Our offerings to God are an indication of what’s in our hearts,” my commentary said.  For Malachi, “Better there was no religion at all than a religion that fails to give God the very best.  If our concept of God is so low that we think He’s pleased with cheap, halfhearted worship, then we don’t know the God of the Bible.  In fact, a God who encourages us to do less than our best is a God who isn’t worthy of worship,” my commentary added.

Father, thank You for wanting not just my halfhearted efforts, but my best.  Stay on my case, Father.  Don’t settle.  I know where I’d be if You hadn’t let Your Son give His best on the cross!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Amos 7-9 What We NEVER Want To Hear From God

Amos struggled with the Lord.  He loved his nation, but he loved God more.  Amos had not failed to deliver the word of the Lord.  When God showed him visions of a locust plague and a devouring fire, Amos pled with God not to bring such judgments upon Israel.  In both instances, God listened and relented.

The third vision was of a plumb line, set among Amos’ people to prove how “out of true” they had become.  That’s one of the roles that Jesus performs.  Once God showed them how they had become no longer set apart and holy, because of their own actions and choices, He declared, “I will spare them no longer.”  Where in Isaiah 43:3, God had told them how He had chosen them from among all the people of the earth as His own, even giving up others for them, He now says, “Israel, you are no different to Me than the people of Cush.”  What a tragic thing to hear!

Father, please keep me from ever straying so far away from You that You’d feel like saying that to me.  Thank You for placing Your own Son as the plumb line in my life!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Amos 6 -- Woes On Four Kinds Of Attitudes

From 5:18 to 6:14, Amos pronounces “woes” on four kinds of people in the kingdom:  the ignorant, the indifferent, the indulgent, and the impudent, my commentary says.

“The circumstances are different, but we have these same people in the professing church today,” it continued.

The ignorant kept thinking the day of the Lord would be great, and they couldn’t wait for it to happen.  They completely missed the fact that it will be a day of despair, mourning, darkness, and doom for them.  They were totally unprepared for it because of “their hypocritical worship … their unconcern for others” and the way they’d let their relationship with Jehovah fall apart.

The indifferent “enjoyed an unwarranted false confidence” and complacency, thinking their geography, prosperity, government, and military strength would take care of things for them.  “Complacency is an insidious sin, because it’s based on lies, motivated by pride, and leads to trusting something other than God … When the Lord sees His people becoming complacent and self-satisfied, He sometimes sends trials to wake them up.”

The indulgent had modified their way of life to leave “no place for the disciplines of the spiritual life.  They were living for pleasure, not for the glory of God … The sin in Amos’ day was that these luxuries distracted the people from the real problems of the nation … When nations get pleasure-mad, it’s a sign that the end is near … It’s difficult today to find people who are truly burdened about the sins of the nations and the sins of the church … Too many Christians are laughing when they should be weeping and tolerating sin when they should be opposing it.”

The impudent “boasted of their fortresses, their mansions, and their elegant way of life, all of which God abhorred and would one day destroy … Humble dependence on God is the only guarantee of His help and blessing.” 

Father, show me what I don’t see, so that I will not be ignorant of what You despise.  Help me not to be complacent about it.  Don’t let me become distracted by blessings and fail to see when I should be at work with You, and keep me humble so that I will not let pride cloud my judgment or my relationship with You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Amos 5 -- A Gut Check

Again Amos calls the people to give attention to God’s Word.  My commentary said, “The way we treat God’s Word is the way we treat God, and the way we treat God’s messengers is the way we treat the Lord Himself … There can be no victory when God has abandoned you to your fate, because you have abandoned Him.”

Amos cries out for them to seek the Lord.  My commentary pulls from Isaiah to tell us how to do that:

“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”  Some people might not think of themselves as wicked because they are doing acts of sin, but they couldn’t say they were righteous because they were thinking the thoughts.  Both had to stop.

“Disobedient children of God are thinking wrongly about God, sin, and life.  They think God will always be there for them to turn to, but they forget that sinners reap what they sow … True repentance begins with naming sins and dealing with them one by one.”

God also disliked the fact that no one wanted justice anymore.  “It got to the place where the righteous wouldn’t say anything because their interference did no good.”  Although the nation appeared to be prospering, there was only “a thin veneer of religion”.

“The only proof that God is with us is that we love Him and do His will.  Religion without righteousness and justice in the land is hypocrisy.  No matter how many people attend religious meetings, if the result is not obedience to God and concern for our neighbor, the meetings are a failure.”

Father, help me to agree with You about my spiritual condition.  Help me to name my sins, being honest and truthful with You, since You know them already.  Help me then to turn away from them, both in action and in thoughts.  Remind me often that without obedience to You and care for my neighbors, it’s just religion and not a relationship with You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Amos 1-4 A Checkup For Every Church

When this local shepherd started his message from God, promising destruction of the enemies of Israel and Judah, I imagine the Jewish people cheered him on!  Six times he’d said, “This is what the Lord says:  ‘For the many crimes of ____, I will punish them.’”  With their fascination for the number seven, I’ll bet they waited with baited breath to see what nation was next!  And to their astonishment, it was their own!  Judah and Israel!

God spelled out a litany of sins they were committing.  In chapter 3, God said this punishment would be greater for them because they had been chosen and they were therefore sinning against a flood of light.  Also, they were to be a light to the world, and all they were spreading was the darkness of sin.

God called a spade a spade.  The wealthy women in Bashan were called cows.  This was not time for diplomacy.  They needed to be shocked back into understanding how they were sinning.  God even showed them how He’d tried to get His message across and how, despite everything, they had failed to listen.  He told of five specific things He’d done to wake them up, but with every one, He says, “Still you did not come back to Me.”  So what would be the result?  “So this is what I will do to you, Israel; because I will do this to you, get ready to meet Your God, Israel.”  That was not a gospel appeal.  It was a message of judgment.

These people thought they were “doing religion right”, but my commentary says, “There was no confession of sin, no brokenness before the Lord, but only a religious event that made the participants feel good.  The whole system was corrupt; the people were sinning when they thought they were serving the Lord … The test of a spiritual experience is not “Do I feel good?” or “Did we have a big crowd and a good time?”  The real test is “Do I know God better and am I more like Jesus Christ?”

Father, help us to be learning more about You and acting more like Jesus Christ.  Don’t leave us to become like the worshipers in Judah and Israel, thinking we are doing it right, but being sorely mistaken.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Isaiah 63-66 Such Love!

Wow!  What an ending!  God says so much here about His love for those who love Him:  “He has shown great mercy to us and has been very kind to us.  He said, ‘These are My people’ … So He saved them.  When they suffered, He suffered also.  He sent His own Angel to save them.  Because of His love and kindness, He saved them.”

Looking from our end, Isaiah prayed, “Lord, look down from heaven and see … Where is Your strong love and power?  Why are You keeping Your love and mercy from us?  You are our Father … Lord, why are You making us wonder from Your ways?  Why do You make us stubborn so that we don’t honor You? [This is God’s judicial blindness for our willful sin – His way of helping us see the enormity of our sin.]  For our sake, come back to us, Your servants who belong to You.”

Then we see God from a proper perspective:

“You have done amazing  things we did not expect.  You came down … No one has ever heard of a God like You … who helps the people who trust You … You help those who enjoy doing good, who remember how You want them to live.  But You were angry because we sinned.  For a long time we disobeyed, so how can  we be saved?  All of us are dirty with sin.  All the right things we have done are like filthy pieces of cloth … our sins, like the wind, have carried us away … You have turned away from us and have let our sins destroy us.  But You are our Father.  We are like clay and You are the Potter;  Your hands made us all.  Lord, don’t continue to be angry with us; don’t remember our sins forever.  Please, look at us, because we are Your people.”

It is only because of God’s mercy and grace that we receive anything from Him, because we are certainly not deserving of anything!  Yet look what He did:

“I made Myself known to people who were not looking for Me.  I was found by those who were not asking Me for help … All day long I stood ready to accept people who turned against Me, but the way they continue to live is not good; they do anything they want to do.  Right in front of Me they continue to do things that make Me angry.”

What does God have in store for those who love Him?  “All My people will be blessed by the Lord; they and their children will be blessed.  I will provide for their needs before they ask, and I will help them while they are still asking for help.”

I also was thrilled to be reminded of an awesome promise from God regarding our hardships:  “I will not cause pain without allowing something new to be born … Like babies you will be nursed and held in My arms and bounced on My knees.  I will comfort you as a mother comforts her child … Your names and your children will always be with Me.”

Father, we don’t deserve such love, but I am so thankful that You give it freely anyway.  Forgive me for my sins and help me to understand this incredible love so that I will not want to disappoint You again.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Isaiah 60-62 Us As Descendants of the Jews

I kept sensing something here that my commentary also picked up on.  These are not simply words for the Jewish people concerning their future.  Isaiah 61:9 speaks of the Jews’ descendants and that verse along with others speak of God’s children, which would include Christians today.  So when we read these blessings, we should understand that God is speaking to us as well:

“Get up and shine, because your light has come [Jesus], and the glory of the Lord shines on you … people see His glory around you … Then you will know that it is I, the Lord, who saves you.  You will know that the Powerful One of Jacob protects you … The Lord will be your light forever, and your God will be your glory … I am the Lord, and when it is time, I will make these things happen quickly…”

Because we are to be Christ’s body on earth, what Christ says in chapter 61 through Isaiah should apply to us today as well:

“The Lord God has put His Spirit in me, because the Lord has appointed me to tell the good news to the poor [in spirit].  He has sent me to comfort those whose hearts are broken, to tell the captives [to sin] they are free … He has sent me to comfort all those who are sad … You will be called priests of the Lord; you will be named the servants of our God.”

Look what 61:10 says God is doing for us and Christians:

“The Lord makes me very happy; all that I am rejoices in my God.  He has covered me with clothes of salvation and wrapped me with a coat of goodness … You will be called the People God Loves … because the Lord loves YOU …You people who remind the Lord of your needs in prayer should never be quiet.  You should not stop praying to Him…. Look, your Savior is coming.  He is bringing your reward to you.  He is bringing His payment with Him.  His people will be called the Holy People, the Saved People of the Lord.”

Father, thank You for loving me enough to include me in Your promises.  Give me all I need to tell others about You and the salvation You offer through the death of Your Son and His resurrection.  Never let the darkness of this world cover the light You’ve given me, and help me to shine out for others.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Isaiah 58-59 Are We Doing What They Were Doing?

God was calling out the hypocrites pretending to worship Him through fasting.  At first, it sounds like they are sincere: 

“They still come every day looking for Me and want to learn My ways.  They act like a nation that does what is right, that obeys the commands of its God.  They ask Me to judge them fairly.  They want God to be near them.”  They even fasted and humbled themselves.  So what was wrong with that picture?

God said, “You do what pleases yourselves on these special days … When you fast, you argue and fight, and hit each other … You cannot do these things as you do now and believe your prayers are heard in heaven … This is not the way I want people to be sorry for what they have done … Do you think this is what the Lord wants?  I will tell you the kind of special day I want:  Share your food with the hungry and bring poor, homeless people into your own homes.  When you see someone who has no clothes, give him yours, and don’t refuse to help your own relatives.”

God then told how He would bless us for doing this:  “Your light will shine like the dawn, and Your wounds will quickly heal.  Your God will walk before you and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.  Then you will call out and the Lord will answer.  You will cry out, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’  If you stop making trouble for others, if you stop using cruel words … if you feed those who are hungry and take care of the needs of those who are troubled, then your light will shine in the darkness, and you will be bright like sunshine at noon.  The Lord will always lead you.  He will satisfy your needs in dry lands and give strength to your bones … you will be known for repairing the broken places and for rebuilding … Then you will find joy in the Lord, and I will carry you to the high places above the earth.”

God again tells us what our problem is:  “The Lord’s power is enough to save you.  He can hear you when you ask Him for help.  It is your evil that has separated you from your God.  Your sins cause Him to turn away from you, so He does not hear you.”

Since we are incapable of saving ourselves and overcoming our sin, God steps in:  “Then a Savior will come to Jerusalem and to the people of Jacob who have turned from sin … My Spirit and My words that I give you will never leave you or your children or your grandchildren, now and forever.”

That’s a very motivating reason for us to do as He says!

Father, please help me to look at my life through Your eyes.  Show me where what I do and say doesn’t conform to Your will for my life.  Call me out for anything I shouldn’t be doing, and help me to live the way You desire.  Don’t let me be a hypocrite.  Show me Your way.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Isaiah 56-57 Revealing Our Own Idolatry And Pride

My commentary says that “Israel went into captivity partly because she had disobeyed the law of God, particularly the 4^th commandment about the Sabbath … This commandment was a special sign between God and the Jews; it was never given to Gentiles.”  “God never before asked the Gentiles to join the Jews in keeping the Sabbath, but here He does so.  He calls the very people He prohibited from entering His covenant nation:  foreigners and eunuchs.  This is another picture of the grace of God.”

But even the remnant didn’t obey.  They soon forgot it and returned to their old ways.  “Taking special time each week to remember the Lord and worship Him helps us to obey His will,” my commentary added.

Now God presents “an indictment against the disobedient:  the hypocritical worshipers … and the Lord pleads with people to humble themselves and submit to Him.”  Here, it was the spiritual leaders He was talking to.  They were watchmen who should put “the care of the flock ahead of their own desires.”  Here, those leaders were trusting in political alliances, and doing so was the same as trusting the false gods that those other countries worshipped, my commentary said.  “Anything that we trust other than the Lord becomes our god and therefore is an idol … one of the best ways to find out whether we have idols in our lives is to ask ourselves, ‘Where do I instinctively turn when I face a decision or need to solve a problem?’ … When the storms starts blowing, the idols will blow away like chaff … The storm does not make a person; it shows what the person is made of and where his or her faith lies.  If we make the Lord our refuge, we have nothing to fear.”

God repeatedly chastened them for their pride, but they wouldn’t change.  They wouldn’t submit.  “But now that was over.  The time had come for God to heal them, guide them, and comfort them.”

Father, all too often my pride gets in the way.  I don’t always turn to You when I face a problem.  Please show me how my doing this is like idolatry.  Show me my idols.  Help me to hate them.  Heal me, guide me, and comfort me and help me to submit to You.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford