Tag Archives: Created by God as Good

I Will Serve the Lord

Living in the Spirit

November 23, 2020

Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 8:7-18
For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you may mine copper. You shall eat your fill and bless the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you.

Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I am commanding you today. When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, an arid waste-land with poisonous snakes and scorpions. He made water flow for you from flint rock, and fed you in the wilderness with manna that your ancestors did not know, to humble you and to test you, and in the end to do you good. Do not say to yourself, ‘My power and the might of my own hand have gained me this wealth.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today.

This is a scripture for this time, this nation, our people. The first paragraph tells us that God brought us into a good land with everything we need. The next paragraph warns us not to mess it up. Do not morph from a people that welcomed God’s abundance to taking credit for everything God does. We must not define ourselves by our nation’s worldview Pull yourself up from your own bootstraps. Be a self-made man. She needed a hero, so that is what she became. I can do anything I want to do whether it hurts others or not.

Self-reliance, being all that one can be, and overcoming obstacles were instilled in us through the creative acts of God. God surrounds us with guidance through scripture, the example of Jesus Christ, and the gifts of the Spirit. We separate ourselves from God when we say, ‘My power and the might of my own hand have gained me this wealth.’ Such an attitude is rampant in the USA today. A review of the ancient Hebrew prophets’ writings verify that such an attitude was prevalent among the people of Israel leading up to their exile.

The Israelites and God’s people in the USA might want to thumb back a little earlier in their faith history to Joshua’s saying, Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.’ –Joshua 24:15

Prayer: Creator God forgive us for separating ourselves from your guidance and love. Accept us back into your service of love. Amen.

Free to be who we are

Kingdom Building

October 14, 2019

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 31:27-34

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of humans and the seed of animals. And just as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring evil, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord. In those days they shall no longer say:
‘The parents have eaten sour grapes,
   and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
But all shall die for their own sins; the teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes shall be set on edge. –Jeremiah 31:27-31

Jeremiah reports here that God will do a new thing, a different thing. Deuteronomy 5:9: states You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me,

I see funny stories on social media about people seeing their parents in their actions as they age. For better and sometimes for worse, we are our parent’s children. What we sometimes forget is that we are unique individuals too. We are shaped by genetics, history, the environment and our cultural. Ultimately we are responsible for our successes and failures by accepting who we are and becoming all that we can be. I read once somewhere I cannot tell you where that Pete Rose was not the most talented baseball player. He holds the major league records for games (3562), at bats (14053), hits (4256), and singles (3215). He also has the most RBI of any player without a season of 100 or more (1314, with a career-high of 82 in 1969)*. I guess he just loved baseball and gave it all he had.

God created each of us in God’s image and loves us enough to provide us guidance through the life of Jesus particularly on how to live among others, gifted us with grace through the resurrection of Jesus the Christ, and provides the Holy Spirit to be our constant link to God.  Maintaining these relationships is paramount to our fulfilling our covenant with God our Creator as we take full responsibility for our actions and decision, whether we sin or not. We suffer the consequences of our behavior, good or bad, sour grapes and all.

Prayer: Creator God, show us the way to find ourselves in our relationship with you for we know that all you created is by nature good. Help us develop our goodness. Amen.

*https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Pete_Rose#targetText=He%20holds%20the%20major%20league,high%20of%2082%20in%201969).

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.