“Offer sacrifices in righteousness and trust in the Lord.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
As David continues wrestling with the angst of some offense he’s been dealt, in v. 5 here, he turns explicitly religious for the first time. What on earth will offering “sacrifices in righteousness” do for us when we’ve been offended? Is religion supposed to save us when we’re mad? Read the rest…
This week we kicked off a brand new teaching series called Gravity: Overcoming the Weight of Our Stuff. For the next few weeks we are going to take a look at the pull that our stuff can have on our lives, including keeping us from drawing as near to God as we would like, and how we can overcome it. In this first part, we look at just how strong this pull can be. Thanks for being a part of this conversation.
Wealth Has Gravity
Rich people have it made, don’t they? I mean, if you’re rich and something breaks, you can just call someone to come fix it. Better yet, you can just throw the old one out and get a new one. When you’re rich and a new version of something you have comes out, you can just go and get an upgrade. When you’re rich, you don’t have to do things like wait in line at a theme park. You can just pay extra money and walk right to the front. When you’re rich, you don’t have to worry about transportation. You can just drive one of the multiple cars you own. Or, forget that, you can hire someone to drive for you. Think about that: When you’re rich, you can get someone whose job is to drive people around and have them drive you around wherever you want to go. And oh, the things you can buy. Read the rest…
“Be angry and do not sin; on your bed, reflect in your heart and be still. Selah” (CSB – Read the chapter)
When we’ve been hurt, one of the many emotions we experience is anger. I was angry yesterday. I was angry because my computer wasn’t working in spite of multiple attempts to get it back up and running. I finally called to file a warranty claim on it because this has been a recurring problem. With emotions already running high, as I looked for the information I needed to file the claim, I couldn’t find it, the boys were going stir crazy and making enough noise to rattle the windows, and the computer still wouldn’t work. And my head was hurting on top of everything. I was about to explode. Have you been there? Sure you have. Read the rest…
“I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.” (ESV – Read the chapter)
There’s a lot going on here, but at a glance, this seems like another one of those places where, yes, though Saul didn’t do what the Lord had apparently told him to do, He’s overreacting to his failure to do so rather wildly. But, while that is perhaps the obvious understanding, it misses the bigger and more important picture. Let’s take a look at that one. Read the rest…
“Know that the Lord has set apart the faithful for himself; the Lord will hear when I call to him.” (CSB – Read the chapter)
Trying to sleep with disquiet in your heart is no easy thing to do. In fact, it can be downright impossible. This becomes particularly true when the turmoil is the result of some offense we have been dealt. It’s easy to lie there and just stew about it, but it’s better—and it may actually ultimately lead to a good night’s sleep—to have a conversation with God about it. Yet, where do we start? Psalm 4 offers us a great model to follow. Read the rest…
The Nexus 