the good old days

As I read through Psalms 35-45 I am struck by the similarities between the authors of the Psalms and myself.
Take Psalm 44 as an example:

Psalm 44:1
"O God, we have heard with our ears, 
our fathers have told us,
what deeds you performed in their days,
in the days of old:" 
We both grew up hearing stories of God's faithfulness in "the days of old."
We both grew up hearing about how God saved Noah's family from the flood.  Stories of God parting the Red Sea so the Israelites could walk through on dry land.  Stories of how God made the walls of Jericho go tumbling down.   

Psalm 44:9
"But you have rejected and disgraced us . . ."
We both are disappointed at times with how God is working in the present.
It's like we both grew up listening to God's Greatest Hits, and we want him to show up for us in the same way.  We feel rejected because God hasn't come through for us like we want.

Psalm 44:26
"Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!"
We both cling to our hope in God's redemption.
At the end of the day both the Psalmist and myself know of nothing else to do other than turn to God with hope in his redemption.  We both believe in his steadfast love, and trust that he will remain steadfast to us.

Paul gets punched in the face

Throughout Acts 21-24 the apostle Paul is either in jail or on trial.  My favorite moment happens as Paul stands before the Jewish religious leaders and the High Priest orders him to be punched in the face.  So how does Paul respond?  Does he check his WWJD bracelet and stand there calmly?  Does he look his striker in the face and humbly say, "I forgive you"? . . . No.  He lifts his head up (in the style of Clint Eastwood) and says, "God is going to strike you, you hypocrite! By hitting me you break the very law that you claim to be enforcing!" (my paraphrase)

So often Christians are expected to be meek and mild pacifists who constantly turn the other cheek and get pushed around and taken advantage of.  But thank God for Paul.  He models for us a different version of Christianity.  A Christianity that stands for something and won't be taken advantage of.  A Christianity that stands up for truth and calls out hypocrisy.  A Christianity that is fearless, brave, and most importantly tough.  

God bless the pacifists, and obviously there are situations in which the Christian thing to do is to turn the other cheek.  However, as Paul demonstrates for us here there are times in which the Christian thing to do is look your attacker in the eye and fearlessly call them out for the corrupt coward that they are.  Sign me up for Paul's version of Christianity.

I didn't wash my hands today

I like to apply my Bible reading to my life, so before I sat down to my grilled cheese and cheesy broccoli soup this afternoon, I intentionally did not wash my hands (nor did I wash them before preparing my delicious little feast).  You see, I read Matthew 15-17 this morning and in chapter 15 the religious leaders said to Jesus, "why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders by not washing their hands when they eat?" And Jesus basically tells the religious leaders that they are hypocrites because they are more concerned with their religious traditions than with honoring God with their hearts.  Jesus says that what goes in your mouth is not what defiles people, but rather it is what comes out of your mouth that defiles people.  He said that out of the overflow of your heart your mouth speaks, and that the religious leaders ought to be a little more concerned about the self-righteous, judgmental garbage that was spewing out of their mouths, and a little less concerned about the dirty hands going into the disciples' mouths.

So I figure if non-handwashing is good enough for Peter, James, and John; then it is good enough for me. I hate washing my hands anyways--it is such a drag.

Perhaps that's not the primary application of this teaching of Jesus.  Perhaps the primary application is that Jesus' primary concern is not with our physical actions and not even our words--his primary concern is the condition of our heart.

I once heard the story of a foul mouthed coach who went to his pastor for help. He told his pastor that he had a cussing problem.  The pastor replied, you don't have a cussing problem.  You've got a heart problem.

A few observations from Exodus and Leviticus

I got a little behind in my Bible reading plan, and so I just finished reading from Exodus 16-Leviticus 7.  wow.  I'll lay it out here in a broad brush stroke:
Twice the Israelites complain-->Twice God provides-->God wins a battle--> God descends in a cloud-->10 commandments-->LOTS of details on laws, sacrifices, and how to build the Tabernacle (God's dwelling)--> Israelites start worshipping a gold cow-->God destroys many Israelites--> laws and sacrifices renewed-->Israelites build the Tabernacle-->more regulations for sacrifices.

A few observations:
God is holy.
The majority of the verses in this section are focused on the special way they are expected to live in light of the fact that God is in their midst.  I'm not going to lie--these verses initially strike me as dry, antiquated, and confusing; but they clearly communicate that God is not to be dealt with flippantly.

God is faithful and forgiving.
Twice in this section the Israelites complain and twice God meets their need.  Right after that God descends on a mountain in a breathtaking scene witnessed by everyone, but within a short time everyone (except Moses and Joshua) has decided to forget God.  They go to Aaron and together they build an idol and begin worshipping it through all kinds of pagan rituals.  God judges them, forgives them and continues to be faithful to them (bread from heaven every day for 40 years and His presence in a cloud guiding them throughout their journey).  Aaron and his sons go on to become the high priests of Israel.

God hates idolatry.
The first 2 commandments are "Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make for thyself any idol" (I paraphrased from memory and weaved in some good old King James language).  When the Israelites made the golden calf idol, God's judgment on them is severe, Ex 32:27.

A few applications:
God is holy.  May I not deal with him flippantly.
God is faithful and forgiving.  May I extend the same faithfulness and forgiveness to others that God in Jesus has shown me.
God hates idolatry. May I carefully and intentionally prioritize my life so that God is at the center and nothing else.

(as a side note--the Tabernacle was a seriously bloody place and the priests were more like modern day butchers than modern day pastors)

the shining (this is not a movie review)

As I read through Psalm 29-34 this morning, two verses jumped off the page and locked arms together.

Psalm 31:16

Make your face shine on your servant

Psalm 34:5

Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed

In the Gospels Jesus tells his followers to be lights in a dark world, and these two verses from the Psalms speak beautifully to how it is that we shine as lights . . . We reflect the light that shines from the face of God.  If we choose not to look to God, our faces blend in with all the other faces in this world--faces characterized by shame.  BUT if we look to God, we will never be ashamed. Instead our faces will reflect the radiant light from His face, and we will shine brightly in a dark world.  

May I look to God today and reflect His radiant light.