Undeserving, But Blessed

Matthew 15:21-28

During His brief, yet profound and impactful ministry in the earth, Jesus had taken on a reputation for Himself that blew up like the skies during July 4th celebrations. While it’s recorded, Jesus came not to make himself a reputation, His actions and obedience to God’s will, set Him apart from all who ever walked the face of earth. People from nations far and wide, had heard of the miraculous things that were done by the hands of the Son of God, and waited with great anticipation, for Him to cross their path.

In nearly every city He visited, there awaited Him some who were in desperate need of the power that flowed through Him, and our text mentions a woman, who was willing to go against tradition, so that healing could come to her house. When the woman came to Jesus, crying for help, His insensitive disciples told Him to send her away. I wonder, where the love was in them that Jesus spoke of consistently? Unfortunately, it is possible to become so spiritually minded, until you neglect real needs right before you. The disciples’ words could have turned the woman away, but she wasn’t leaving until her request was granted.

Not only were the disciples insensitive to the woman’s need, but it seemed as though Jesus was also when He said, “It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and cast it to dogs.” (vs. 26). Let’s be real! If Jesus called you a dog, to your face, how would you respond? To clarify, Jesus wasn’t referring to the woman as a dog, but was simply comparing how Jews considered pagan people, with His own judgment. I love this woman, because she was willing to be called a dog, if only to see her daughter healed. She didn’t argue, nor respond in offense, but accepted her position, and was called by Jesus, a woman of great faith!

The next time you make a request to God, be sure to do it in humility, because no one deserves any good thing from the Father, but because of grace and the blood of Jesus, we can come before His throne with boldness.

“He didn’t have to do it, but I’m grateful He did.” – Ell

Moses resists God’s proposal

Exodus 32:7-14

How soon we forget all the bountiful blessings the Lord has bestowed upon us, during times of peace and tranquility. In those seasons when our faith and patience is being pushed to the limit, our dependence on God to deliver us is focused and unphased by all distractions. Ironically, the moment when it seems as if all things are going good, is the ideal time to draw nearer to God, because these are the moments when sin can creep in, and cause us to glory in selfishness, while forgetting that God was responsible for our deliverance, and abundant blessings. Monitor your behavior the next time you’re going through a severe storm in your life, then compare your attitude with how you behave after deliverance has come. Hopefully, you’re identical in the way you represent godliness in both instances, just as Job did during his season of suffering.

God watched as the children of Israel consistently struggled to keep His commandments, from the time He delivered them from Egypt, all the way through their wilderness journey. During this time, God spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai concerning establishing order amongst the people, and setting up the tabernacle, with all its holy inclusions,. For 40 days, Moses fasted, while receiving all the revelation about the tabernacle, the priesthood, garments, and other things. While on the mountain, God also gave him “two tables of testimony, tables of stone written with the finger of God” (31:18).

Apparently, the stiffnecked people felt that Moses was taking too long to return from the mountain, so rather than pray, or meditate on the goodness of the Lord, they decided that doing things contrary to godliness was a more desirable course of action. It’s one thing to practice sin without knowing the standard you’re expected to live by, but it’s worse to willingly go against what God commanded you to do. I’ll let you read for yourselves, the wicked acts the children of Israel, including Aaron, took part in. “…the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the Lord. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play” (vs. 1-6). I’m speechless……… after all God had done for these ungrateful people, they “turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them” (in God’s own words). Whether they thought Moses was consumed by the fire, or suffered some other death, why resort to rebellion against the God who saved them? Of all people, Aaron should have spoke out, and stopped the wicked intentions of the unthankful crowd, but he rallied right along with them.

Moses may have been enjoying his time with the Lord so much, until he hadn’t thought much about the people, until God told him to go down and see what they were doing. God could have shared all the juicy details with Moses, but He waited to see how far the people would go before telling him all the goings on. God was ready to wipe out all the people who turned against him during Moses’ absence, but Moses interceded on their behalf (not knowing the full extent of what was taking place), and reminded God of the promise He made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob of multiplying their seed, and giving them an overabundance of resources in Canaan. The Bible reads that the Lord repented of the evil He was about to do to the people, or He put his pistol back in the holster, because of Moses plea to spare their lives. Interesting, isn’t it? Had Moses known what was really going on in the camp, he probably would have had a different prayer.

Never get upset when people change after you leave their company. We all have to work out our own soul salvation, and many will be drawn away into the pleasures of sin, no matter how much we preach to them. As saints, we must continue in holiness, despite who turns away, because we are responsible for keeping ourselves unspotted from the world, and can’t blame others if we drift away.

Walk in love,

Ell

Pleading justice for the righteous

Genesis 18:30-33

Is it wrong to question those in authority? If I feel that a situation is being handled unfairly at home, work, or in the community, can I freely speak my thoughts without fear of being punished? What about from a spiritual perspective? Is it wrong to question God about situations that seem unfair? Well, there are many examples of men who questioned God in Scripture, but most were for good reason.

In our text, God was preparing to bring the hammer of judgment down on Sodom and Gomorrah for their relentless efforts in practicing sin. Not only were they denying the power of God, and willingly embracing the powers of darkness, but they completely ignored the fact that they would soon be judged for their rebellion. God revealed to Abraham His intention to destroy the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, but before that judgment was implemented, Abraham considered the fact that there may some who are righteous, entangled amongst the wicked, and God should spare the cities for their sake. He was bold enough to question whether or not “the Judge of all the earth” would do right by sparing the just, and not punish them with the wicked. He asked God if there were 50 righteous people in the city, would He spare everyone. God replied, if 50 righteous people could be found in the cities, He would indeed spare everyone for the sake of the righteous few. From 50, to 45, to 40, to 30, to 20, and all the way down to 10, not one was found righteous, yet God spared Abraham’s nephew, Lot, and his daughters.

After reading this lesson, it got me to thinking that some people are still alive, because we abide in their presence. God is sparing the lives of some, simply because they are connected to our lives in some way. As a Christian, continue living a holy and separated life for God, and pray that in time, He’ll change those around you from walking in darkness, to living in the light of His Word. Just as Abraham interceded for those in Sodom and Gomorrah, take time daily to pray for the lost in your community. God loves everyone the same; the just, as well as the wicked, but until confession is made unto salvation, the wages for sin will be death.

Wall in love,

Ell