God is... (Isaiah 30)

Observations from Isaiah 30 (ESV):

The Lord IS a Father (v. 1), The Holy One of Israel (v. 12), a God of Justice (v. 18), and our Teacher (v. 20). He HAS plans (1), GIVES his Word (8), INSTRUCTS his children (9), SPEAKS to his people (15), WAITS to be gracious (18), EXALTS himself (18), SHOWS his mercy (18) and SHOWS himself (20), HEARS his people (19), BINDS up brokenness (26), and HEALS the wounded (26).

Hallelujah! What an amazing day to begin asking "Who are you showing yourself to be, Lord?" during my quiet times! What a mighty God we serve! 

Seeds of Context

As I walked past this bowl of fruit this morning, I was reminded of a quick illustration regarding context, especially with regards to the Scriptures. The thought came from the Life Group curriculum that we're using at ROCKharbor and that was developed by Francis Chan, so the OTHER reason I was reminded of this thought is that I adapted it into the introduction for the Bible study Alicia and I are co-running this semester on Acts. But the bowl was the "reminder of the reminder" this morning, so I'll stick with that!

Chan writes, "When studying Scripture, think apple rather than orange." He explains:

Typically, when you eat an apple, you take a bite out of the whole fruit. When you eat an orange, you break it into isolated pieces and then eat the pieces individually. Whenever we read a verse, we should be mindful that we are taking a thought (a "bite") from a larger story. Always keep in mind that every verse is connected to a chapter, a book, and the entire Bible.

I know I may seem like a broken record here, but to use the potentially easiest example, Jeremiah 29:11 is an amazing and powerful verse. By itself, it's a pretty tasty morsel. Let's remember that it's part of the "apple" of Jeremiah (70 years of captivity, judgement, exile) though :).

God, reveal to me the larger story that your Word paints. Open my eyes that I might behold wonderful things from your Law (Psalm 119:18), because without your Spirit illuminating it I am prone to make mistakes. Thank you for the gift of your Word-may I and others handle it carefully and accurately. 

Crossing the Jordan

The specific period of wilderness that I was in the midst of is over. I can say this with confidence due to several confirmations either directly from the LORD or through those that are attuned to His will and who have spoken truth and insight into my life.

Deuteronomy 8 is a chapter that has spoken deeply to me recently. This chapter is Moses' address to the people at the end of their 40 year wandering in the Sinai Desert before they crossed into the Promised Land. He explains that God had a purpose for this time-a purpose of testing to expose what was in their hearts and a purpose of provision so that they would have no one else to give credit to other than Him.

"You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not...He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; He brought water for you out of the rock of flint. In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that he might test you, to do good for you in the end."

~Deuteronomy 8:2, 15-16

I am currently living in Long Beach, finally able to participate in the Navigator ministry at Cal State Long Beach! (although I also am still partially focusing on raising funds) It is a great joy to be able to more fully join in with the work that God is doing here on the campus at CSULB and I am eager to get into the rhythm of things.

However, just because I have left the wilderness and have something new before me does not mean it will be any less difficult or trying. The book of Joshua tells the story of Israel's conquest of Canaan. This was not an easy task-the people that lived there had no intention of giving up the land without a fight. Leaving the wilderness did not mean an end to Israel's troubles, it just meant new problems were facing them.

Both surviving in the wilderness and conquering Canaan were impossible tasks without God-and that is exactly why God commanded Israel to do those tasks. Joshua 3:9 says: "Joshua said, 'By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will assuredly dispossess from before you the [enemies in Canaan].' " It was purely by God's might and strength that the Israelites conquered the land. It will be only by His strength and His grace that anything I do here at CSULB will succeed.

God, I need you just as much (if not more) right now then I have in the past few weeks-help me to remember that. Be with me, go before me, and continue to chip away at my faults, my pride, creating in me a new heart.

Lord I give You my life, I give You my all

There is a tension that runs through the narrative of the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation: Obedience versus Sacrifice. It's the theme of first and second chances (and third, and fourth, and so on). Read any book in the Bible and the conflict between these two ideas jumps right out at you. It's inescapable.

Out of the two options, God has a preference for which one we give to him. When rebuking Saul's choice to disobey God and not wipe out the Amalekites but spare some of their herds and offer some as burnt offerings, Samuel asks this question: "Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD?" (1 Samuel 15:18, NASB). Saul is confused. What did he do wrong? It's not as if he was keeping the flocks for himself-he spared the flocks for a burnt offering, after all! "I did obey the voice of the LORD" (v 19, emphasis mine) he responds. He destroyed the Amalekites to the man and the things that they kept were to be sacrifices to God. Where is the error in that? Samuel's response leaves little doubt as to what Saul's mistake was:

"Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams" (v 22).

Obedience is better than sacrifice. Disobedience, even for the sake of sacrifice, is not acceptable. One of the other numerous passages that deal with the tension between these two ideas is found in Jeremiah 7:22-23:

"For I did not speak to your fathers, or command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this is what I commanded them, saying, 'Obey my voice, and i will be your God, and you will be my people; and you will walk in all the way which I command you, that it may be well with you.'"

Obedience predates sacrifice. The first recorded command in the Bible comes in Genesis 2:16-17, where God commands Adam not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The first recorded sacrifice is found in the next chapter, Genesis 3:21- "The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them." God killed animals and made clothes from the skin for Adam and Eve. Because of Adam's sin, it is impossible for us to fully and completely obey, thus the necessity of sacrifice.

Sacrifice covers the shame that comes from disobedience. In the case of Adam and Eve, the first sacrifice literally covered their shame, their nakedness. In the same way, all future sacrifices served as a temporary covering for shame and sin.

Obedience and sacrifice were finally reconciled on the Cross. Just as Abraham's obedience involved the sacrifice of his son Isaac, Jesus' sacrifice was the ultimate obedience to the Father. Before his sacrifice, we had no hope of measuring up to the Law and obtaining salvation through obedience. Now, however, "[We] have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer [us] who live, but Christ lives in [us]; and the life which [we] live in the flesh [we] live by faith in the Son of god, who loved [us] and gave himself up for [us]" (Galatians 2:20).

We can still fall into the trap of trying to cover our shame and sin ourselves, via sacrifice. The good old Gospel of Works is never far away from our thoughts and attempts to please God. That's why Paul doesn't stop with verse 20 in Galatians 2, but continues: "I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly" (v 21). By reverting to a works-based attempt to save ourselves via our own efforts and sacrifice, we invalidate Christ's sacrifice.

"Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship" (Romans 12:1). God wants our hearts and our obedience, and through the Cross He's enabled us to give it to him. What's holding you back?

From Mourning to Morning

In Psalm 57, David is in the midst of difficult times. Trouble surrounds him and he has nowhere to turn except God. Anointed as the rightful king of Israel but waiting on God's timing, David is pursued by Saul through the desert again and again, day after day. "My soul is among lions," he says. "I must lie among those who breathe forth fire, even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows and their tongue a sharp sword" (verse 4).

David's first thought is not to focus on himself but rather to exalt God. How easy would it be to curse God for orchestrating where he finds himself? Does not God make everything come to pass? Could not God have kept David from hardship and danger? Why doesn't God make David king now instead of later? But David doesn't take this path, perhaps because he's already been there time and time again and it has become part of his character to respond in this manner to God. He's already tended his father's flocks and protected them from the bears and lions. He's already slain Goliath, armored and protected by the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel. But whatever the reason, instead of lashing out and losing faith, David praises God. "Be exalted above the heavens, O god; Let Your glory be above all the earth" (v 5).

David is prepared to wait for what God has in store for him, and joyfully at that. "My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing, yes I will sing praises" he proclaims (v 7). Nothing can move his heart and steal the faith and joy he finds in trusting the Lord. Nothing can keep him from singing out the praises of the God who has been with him and who promises such good things to him.

David's heart literally overflows with praise for God and he cannot contain it. This is my favorite part of the Psalm-David stirs his heart and soul in a jubilant cry of praise and exaltation. "Awake, my glory! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn" (v 8, emphasis mine). David sings in the dark of night, ushering in the morning with his strains of melodic praise. How can David sing so jubilantly? How, when it's so dark all around him, can he eagerly expect the breaking of the dawn? The answer is that the morning symbolizes God's continual faithfulness and love for us.

There's an old adage that says it's always darkest just before the dawn. David therefore sees the growing darkness around him as just a precursor to God's glory breaking through. The current troubles are just a prelude to God's might and power displayed for all to see. The darker it gets around him and around us, the brighter God's glory will be when He acts. And the morning is coming-there's no way to stop it!

David sings a song of Truth and a song of Hope-he knows the end, and so do we. Let us therefore sing along with him, extolling the Lord our God even (especially) when we don't even have enough light to see.

"For His anger is but for a moment,

His favor is for a lifetime;

Weeping may last for the night,

But a shout of joy comes in the morning."

~Psalm 30:5

Phenominal Cosmic Power...Itty-Bitty living space.

“For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:5


As I read through Satan's temptation of Eve, I had a thought that I'd never considered before that was prompted by a note in my study bible. Whenever I'd previously thought about the Fall and Eve's sin in particular (as separate from and distinct from Adam's sin), the idea of wanting to be like God had always been lumped in there with the sinful thoughts. After all, that was Satan's original sin of rebellion, right? However, I realized today that that wasn't Eve's sin.


It's not wrong to want to be like God. In the long run, it's the whole goal of sanctification.


I'll say it again: it's NOT wrong to want to be like God.

Now let me clarify: Eve DID sin. But it wasn't her desire to be like God that was so wrong. It was her chosen method of accomplishing it. By directly violating God's command, Eve chose to attempt to elevate herself to a status that wasn't hers to take. While we are made in God's image, it's HIS place to decide for us what is best and our place to submit to that.

Living in a fallen world where we aren't even close to the perfection that Adam and Eve experienced for a brief while, it's even more important for us to want to be like God. But we need to be wary of Eve's mistake-there's no way that WE can do it ourselves, even if it seems as easy as reaching out and taking a bite. The good work of sanctification is GOD's to complete, not ours.


God, give me a desire to be like You but also a willingness to let You do the work and not to try to achieve it on my own.