God Protects

Who built your house? Do you trust that it was built correctly and will withstand the storms of the world? Who protects the town or city where you live? Are they all trustworthy people? How can you aid in the strength of your house? How can you aid in the protection of your town?

We all live in houses or apartments that are typically built by professional builders. Most of them have been building for many years. They also have a set of codes or rules they must follow as defined by the state and city. These requirements provide us some comfort.

Our towns and cities are typically protected by police officers or Sherriff’s deputies. These men and women have taken an oath to protect and serve the community. There are times when they put their life on the line to protect someone else. We likely don’t often think about them. Honestly, we often take them for granted.

The Psalmist tells us that only the Lord can build a house that will stand. All others labor in vain. We are also told that only when the Lord guards the city is it truly safe. Otherwise, the watch standers labor in vain. Does this bring us comfort or concern? Have we put our faith in people or in God? How can we help make things safer?

First and foremost, we can pray. In fact, we should pray as we choose a house to purchase. We should ask God if it is the right choice for us. We should continue to pray that God protect our house and all those who live in it. Through prayer, we are asking God to be with us so that our labor is not in vain.

Second, we should pray over our city police departments and county Sherriff’s offices. As we pray over the leaders of those departments and the men and women who work for them, we bring God’s protection over them. As God protects them and works in their lives, they protect our families and friends. Bringing God into all situations is always the best answer.

I pray we all ask for God’s guidance when choosing a house. I pray we ask God to protect our police forces. I pray each one of will bring God into every situation and ask him to protect us. Ask for God’s guidance. Ask for God’s protection. Know that God is always available. Pray for God to work in your life.

Psalm 127:1

Unless the Lord builds the house, 

those who build it labor in vain. 

Unless the Lord guards the city, 

the guard keeps watch in vain.

Future Impact

Have you considered how God might be using you? Have you thought how he might use your children or grandchildren? What if God is using us to set up something wonderful two or three or four generations down the road? What if you never know how God is using you?

God works out his plan through people who may not ever know just how they fit in it. He may be using us in this life to accomplish something for a generation much later down the line. We must remember that God can see all of time at the same time, though we cannot.

Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz were all being used by God to accomplish his plan for the coming Messiah. Naomi had lost her husband and her sons. She was a destitute woman. Ruth was a daughter-in-law and a Moabite. She refused to leave Naomi and committed to worshiping Naomi’s God. So, she returned to Bethlehem with Naomi.

Boaz was a kinsman redeemer, which means he was related to Naomi’s husband and could take redeem the land he had left behind when he left for Moab. Naomi knew this and prodded Ruth to go to Boaz. Boaz ultimately married Ruth and redeemed the land. What neither of them knew was that they would be in the lineage of Jesus.

Since we do not know how God may be using us, we should continue to trust him. We should continue to be willing to follow him, listen for his calling, and do what he guides us to do. We have no way of knowing how our willingness to follow him throughout our lives will impact future generations.

I pray we all are willing to be used by God. I pray we choose to follow God’s plan for our lives. I pray each one of us trust God is at work in our lives and can use our life to impact future generations. Submit to God. Follow God’s plan for your life. Trust God is at work.

Ruth 4:13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the Lord made her conceive, and she bore a son.

Be A Paladin

Are there people you seek to provide security for? Do you seek security for your children? Do you seek to provide security for your elderly parents? Do you seek to protect your spouse? Do you and your friends look out for one another? How do you go about protecting them?

Many of us are what I call Paladin’s. A paladin was any one of the twelve knights who attended Charlemagne. In today’s vernacular, they are defined as someone who is an advocate or defender of a noble cause. Protecting people we care about is a noble cause.

We might consider Naomi a paladin. She wanted to protect and provide for Ruth’s future. She did not want Ruth to be left to fend for herself. After all, at that time, if a woman was not married, she often had no way to provide for herself. Women were not typically allowed to learn a trade. Therefore, women who had no husband generally had to resort to begging or prostitution. Naomi did not want that for Ruth.

As we seek to protect those we care about, we do so with love, just as Naomi loved Ruth. We seek to provide them with a future of possibility and promise. We look for opportunities to provide the protection for them that we believe they need. Naomi did the same, even if a little different than we might do today.

Just as Naomi sent Ruth to a relative who could provide a future for her, we might send a friend to a company who is hiring. We might also send a child to a grandparent for assistance or advice. Regardless of what we do, we do it with love that seeks the best for those we care about.

I pray we all seek to be a paladin. I pray we advocate and defend a noble cause. I pray each one of us seek to protect the people we love and provide them with possibility and promise for their future. Advocate for a noble cause. Defend a noble cause. Be a paladin. Protect those you love.

Ruth 3:1 Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, I need to seek some security for you, so that it may be well with you.”

Planting and Watering

Do you like to garden? Does it feel good to get your hands dirty, digging in the soil to plant vegetables or flowers? Do you like tending to the plants, fertilizing and watering them? Have you considered how that applies to your faith?

Planting and tending to a vegetable garden takes time and energy. Many do not have such gardens because of the investment required. The same is true, to a lesser extent, with flower gardens and flowerpots. They don’t require quite as much time but do require some.

The Apostle Paul uses the analogy of planting and watering for explaining the growth of the church and the members faith. Though he was speaking nearly two-thousand years ago, the analogy still holds true today. Our faith needs to be tended by pastors and teachers.

Because our faith needs to be tended to, we need to be in worship services whenever we can. We need to participate in Bible studies. The more we can interact with and hear God’s Word through teachers who have studied it, the more God can grow our faith. Make no mistake, it is not all about knowledge. However, the more knowledge we have, the deeper our faith can grow.

How can we help ourselves? First, we can read God’s Word. Second, we should pray as we are heading to worship services and Bible studies. We should ask God to open our hearts and minds to understand what he wants us to understand. We should ask God to deepen our faith through them.

I pray we all strive to be in worship services and Bible studies. I pray we read God’s Word. I pray each one of us will pray that God deepens our faith through worship and Bible studies. Go to worship services. Participate in Bible studies. Ask God to reveal his understanding to you.

1 Corinthians 3:6-7 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

Act Wisely

What does it mean to you to answer a question wisely? When someone acknowledges you have answered wisely, do you feel good? Are you appreciative that they noticed? Does it encourage you to answer wisely again? Is this true when you give an answer about God?

We take a variety of tests as we progress through school. Many of us take a variety of tests to be certified for our jobs. Those tests require specific answers. When someone else asks us to pontificate on a particular issue, we may answer emotionally rather than wisely.

An answer is wise if it has significant thought put into it. It requires research and knowledge mixed with the thought. It includes considering multiple viewpoints and perspectives. A wise answer provides insight to an issue others may not have thought about. It also is a truthful answer.

Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was and answered by giving the two great commandments—love God and love neighbor. The scribe, or lawyer, replied that Jesus was correct in giving His answer. He added they are more important than burnt offerings. Jesus then told the scribe he was not far from the kingdom of God. Jesus had seen the man had answered wisely.

We should also think about the truths Jesus stated, ponder them, and learn from them. Jesus taught great lessons that are meant for us to think about and discern how we can apply them in our lives. When we apply them, we are acting wisely, and Jesus acknowledges it. We may not see Him acknowledge it in the same way. Yet, Jesus blesses us as we wisely use His teachings.

As we act wisely and speak wisely according to Jesus’ standard, we step closer to the kingdom of God. We take another step toward living as Jesus would have us live. As we begin living more as Jesus wants us to live, we begin living the abundant life He came to give us.

I pray we all seek to learn Jesus’ teachings. I pray we discern how to apply His teachings in our lives. I pray each one of us will act wisely and live the abundant life Jesus intended for us to live. Learn from Jesus. Apply His teachings in your life. Act wisely. Live the abundant life.

Mark 12:34 When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

The Greatest Commandments

Jesus gives us the two greatest commandments. We often shorten them to “love God and love your neighbor.” That is fine for a quick response or quick recall to our minds, but are we failing to remember the full meaning of those commandments by doing so?

Read today’s passage slowly. Concentrate on each word. Break them down into bite sized chunks. When we do so, we find there is quite a lot packed into them. Let’s take a look.

The first commandment is known as the Shema by the Jews. It starts with stating God is one. We, too, confess there is one God. However, we recognize three personhoods within the one God—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is why we will call Jesus both the Son of God and God interchangeably. It is also why we say God lives within us through the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Mark records Jesus saying we are to love God with our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Though we may look at these as being separate, they overlap one another. The meaning behind heart is our physical, mental, and spiritual life. Soul can mean our inner life or life principle. Mind refers to our cognitive functions—thinking, comprehending, reasoning. Strength is our vitality or life force that motivates all the previous functions. We can sum them up by saying we are to love God with every fiber of our being.

The second commandment implies that we must first love ourselves, then love others. Though this is true, it does not mean we put ourselves above others. Instead, it means we are to love everyone as God’s creation. We can interpret this to mean the same as loving God. If we love God with our entire being, we will also love his creation, including ourselves and others.

Jesus finishes His answer to the question posed by stating there is no greater commandment than these. In other words, we are to make these two commandments our top priority. If we obey these two commandments, everything else falls in place and we will obey all other commandments naturally. Therefore, if we are struggling with obedience to God, we must first ask ourselves if we love God with our entire being and love others in the same way.

I pray we all choose to love God with our entire being. I pray we choose to love ourselves and others. I pray each one of us understand that by obeying these two commandments we will obey God’s other commandments. Love God. Love yourself. Love others. Be obedient.

Mark 12:29-31 Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Be Redeemed

Are you looking for good things? Do you want the best for you and your family? Do you the best available to you? Do you know eternal redemption is available for everyone? Do you it is because Jesus Christ came to be the perfect Lamb of God, to give Himself up to save the world?

The Israelites lived with a sacrificial system for hundreds of years. Every year they had to provide a perfect sacrifice to have their sins forgiven, both as individuals and as a nation. It was only through the blood of the sacrificial animal that they could be forgiven.

When Jesus came down from heaven to walk this earth as a human, His purpose was to eliminate that sacrificial system. Not only did His sacrifice eliminate the need for the Israelites to sacrifice to be forgiven but His blood covered the sins of the entire world. Through His sacrifice everyone, even those who were not Jewish, could come to God, be redeemed, and eternally saved.

Each one of us can be redeemed and eternally saved. Not because of anything we have done to earn it but because of what Jesus has done. How? We confess our sins, put our faith in Jesus, and accept Him as Lord and Savior. Make no mistake about it, it is a big decision. It is only we should make lightly. It requires us to open our hearts and minds to be changed by God.

Jesus is our High Priest. He is at the right hand of God the Father, continually interceding on our behalf. When we stand in judgment, we will be exonerated, seen through Jesus as being righteous. Though we have not earned it, Jesus has made it available to you. Make the choice to accept the redemption that comes through Jesus today.

Know that Jesus is the perfect Lamb of God. Know that Jesus came to abolish the sacrificial system. Know that Jesus came to be the perfect sacrifice that would save the entire world. Confess your sins before Jesus. Accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. Be redeemed by Jesus.

Hebrews 9:11-12 But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.

Who to Trust

Today’s passage from Psalms is very appropriate for the times we live in. So many people are putting their hope into a specific candidate, government support, or other human institution. What the Psalmist knew nearly three thousand years ago is still true today.

We live in a material world. We seek after material solutions. We often look to people in power to solve the problems we see all around us. It is a false sense of security to believe one person in power can rectify all the issues we face. There is only One who can fully fix them.

Our frailty limits our ability to see fully the way God sees. It is not merely physical frailty but psychological and emotional frailty. Our minds are not able to comprehend what God comprehends. As the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:12, “For now we see in a mirror, dimly.” All the more reason to put our trust in God.

As the Psalmist writes, the plans of a human leader fail once they have died. As stated, we should not put our trust in government leaders. Not that we are to be cynical, but that we should trust in God and do for ourselves all that we can do. Trusting someone else to ride in and save the day is setting ourselves up for disappointment.

God alone is always with us. God alone oversees the entire earth. God alone knows what will has happened yesterday, what is happening today, and what will happen tomorrow. He does not control us like a puppet master, but he is in control of all things. If we want to see a sweeping change occur in our world, we should pray that God move mightily throughout the world, bringing people to him. It is only by people coming to God that our world will change for the better.

I pray we all see to fruitlessness of trusting human leaders. I pray we trust God in all situations. I pray each one of us goes to God in prayer and asks him to move mightily throughout the world. Do not trust human leaders. Trust God. Trust him always. Ask God to move mightily. Ask God to change our world.

Psalm 146:3-4

Do not put your trust in princes, 

in mortals, in whom there is no help. 

When their breath departs, they return to the earth; 

on that very day their plans perish.

Tough Decisions

Have you had to make tough choices? Have you had to choose between doing what you want and what you know to be right? Which did you choose? How did it turn out? Would you change your decision if you had to choose again? Are you choosing to follow God’s lead?

Tough decisions are part of life. Some are tougher than others. We may need to choose between doing what we want to do and what we know we should do. We may have to choose between going with friends or following God. It can be a tough choice.

Ruth had a tough choice to make. He husband had died. Her mother-in-law was returning to Israel. Neither of them had a way to provide for themselves, other than begging. Naomi released Ruth of any obligation, even encouraging her to return to her parents’ home. Ruth could have gone home and sought finding a new husband. Instead, she chose to continue with Naomi. Not only that, but she chose to worship God along with Naomi.

Our choices can be very difficult. They may seem to be choosing between the lesser of two evils. But if we choose to follow God’s path, we can be assured it will be to our benefit. God will provide for us as we walk the path he wants us to follow. I have personally experienced God providing on multiple occasions, one such situation I mentioned yesterday.

When we are confronted with tough choices, we need to pray and listen. God will speak to us. He may speak through a person we trust. He may speak to us through actions of others. He may speak to us with a quiet voice in our minds or through a “gut feeling” to guide us. If we are unsure, we should ask for confirmation and wait until we receive it.

I pray we all seek God’s guidance. I pray we ask God to guide us with tough decisions. I pray each one of us will spend quiet time with God in prayer and listen for him to speak to us. Seek God for tough decisions. Ask God for his guidance. Spend quiet time in prayer. Listen for God to speak.

Ruth 1:16-17 But Ruth said, “Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die— there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!”

When Things Go Wrong

Have you had something happened that appeared to be bad only to see how it worked out for the best later? Did you recognize it at the time? Did you recognize it later? Have you recognized it at all? Did it strengthen your faith? Did you give God the credit for using it for good?

Sometimes, things happen that we believe to be bad. They may even be bad. Yet, we are not to lose heart. We are to continue to believe God is in control. We are to believe that God can bring good from the bad. He has done it in the past and he can do it again in the future.

The pandemic was bad. Many, many people died during it. Many more continue to deal with the effects of being isolated for such a long time. However, God worked good through it in my life. I had been fired from IT consulting job. The additional unemployment payments I received allowed me to study and go to school to be a pastor.

We see in the book of Ruth how God uses another bad situation to work good. There was a famine in Israel. A man named Elimilech moves his wife and two sons to Moab to find food. Ultimately one of the sons marries a woman named Ruth. When we look at the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1, we see Ruth’s name listed. Is it not amazing how God can use something bad to create good?

The next time something bad happens to you, do not wallow in misery. Instead, ask what God is doing. Ask what good he will bring from it. Ask God to reveal it to you. Do not ask God to give you what you want but reveal what he is doing that will result in good for his kingdom and according to his plan.

I pray we do not see bad things as the end. I pray we seek to see the good God can work from the bad. I pray each one of us will ask God to reveal to us the good he is doing in the midst of our struggles. God can work good from bad. Ask God to reveal his good to you. Know he is always working and always with you.

Ruth 1:1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live in the country of Moab, he and his wife and two sons.