God's graciousness

God bears the consequences of our sins.

God bears the consequences of our sins.

Jeremiah 52

Once again, in this chapter, we are reminded of how the residents of Judah were finally carried off into Babylon, and Jerusalem was destroyed. How depressing. And even though he was given every opportunity to change his course, I still couldn’t help but feel bad for Zedekiah, whose sons were killed right in front of him before his eyes were plucked out. That would be an awful image to have to remember for the rest of your life. It’s just another stark reminder of the evil darkness we face when we try to live life without God.

God's kingdom is everlasting.

God's kingdom is everlasting.

Jeremiah 50

As I read this chapter (the first of two that details the end of Babylon), I couldn’t help but ponder the fact that every single “great” kingdom of this earth hasn’t lasted. All the formidable kingdoms or empires that once conquered and ruled most of the world—the Assyrian, the Roman, the Babylonian, the British, the Egyptian, and many others—have either been totally destroyed or divested of their power.

God throws pots on the fly.

God throws pots on the fly.

Jeremiah 18

You may have looked at the title of this blog and went, huh? In case you’ve never worked with pottery before, doing what Jeremiah describes in the beginning part of this chapter is known as throwing a pot. “Then I went down to the potter’s house, and behold, he was working at the wheel. And the vessel that he was making from clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he made it over, reworking it into another vessel as it seemed good to the potter to make it.” (vs 3-4)

God is not a snob.

God is not a snob.

Isaiah 57

To me, one of the most wonderful things about God is that He isn’t a snob. No matter who we are, no matter where we’ve come from, no matter what we’ve done, when God looks at us, He sees one of His precious children. There is nothing in Him that is aloof or standoffish. He has no interest in maintaining a pecking order in His creation. He will stoop to relate to His creatures anywhere, anytime.

God must be odd ('cuz He never gets even).

God must be odd ('cuz He never gets even).

Isaiah 55

I stole the title of this blog from the title of a chapter in my father’s book, Freedom Fighter: How God Wins the Universal War on Terror. That chapter is all about God’s amazing forgiveness. (I invite you to read the chapter online.) In many ways, God’s forgiveness does seem odd to us, because unlike most of us, God never holds a grudge. Ever.

God gives abundant life.

God gives abundant life.

Isaiah 40

You know, there are some days on this blog when it seems like I’m grasping at straws to find something, anything in the chapter to write about. I particularly remember feeling that way during the ten genealogy chapters of 1 Chronicles! Today, I had the opposite problem. I think I could have written 15 different blogs from things in Isaiah 40. How come he had to cram all the great stuff in the same chapter?

God will wound you.

God will wound you.

Isaiah 30

In this chapter, God declares what will happen to those who don’t listen to Him: He will wound them. Sometimes He does that by simply turning us over to the sinful things we have chosen—as in the case of Israel choosing to trust in their “speedy horses” (vs 16) instead of trusting in God. And I believe that, sometimes, He also wounds us Himself. If we are taking a path that will ultimately lead us away from Him, He makes it very hard for us to continue on that path, in order to give us time to change our minds and turn around.

God has high standards.

God has high standards.

Isaiah 3

We hear a lot (especially in the church) about the reality of God’s acceptance. God accepts you as you are. God loves you as you are. And yes He does. There is no doubt about it! There is nothing we can do to earn His love; we already have it. But it is a fallacy to believe that God wants to leave us the way He finds us. It is because He loves us that He wants to change our hearts and lives for the better. As Max Lucado wrote in the extended title of his 1998 book, “God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be… just like Jesus.”

God is involved in a cover-up.

God is involved in a cover-up.

Proverbs 25

This chapter begins in a very intriguing way: “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter.” (vs 2) To conceal a matter… hmmmm, perhaps like the meaning of this proverb? Whatever could this mean? It has been my habit to praise God for His commitment to self-revelation. Why would Solomon say that God not only conceals things, but that it is His glory to do so?

God has no enemies.

God has no enemies.

Proverbs 24

I love it when Bible verses make me laugh out loud. This one caught my fancy today: “Don’t rejoice when your enemies fall; don’t be happy when they stumble. For the Lord will be displeased with you and will turn his anger away from them.” (vs 17-18) I just had to laugh right out loud. A call to not gloat over your enemies—not because it’s the right thing to do, but so you can keep your enemies in their troubles longer!

God blesses while we curse.

God blesses while we curse.

Psalm 109

God blesses us, even when we curse Him. This is something that is far too often ignored—or not even realized—in Christianity today. As a collective group, we Christians don’t seem comfortable with or cognizant of the fact that God repays evil with good. He is a friend to His enemies. He forgives those who hurt Him. He blesses while we curse.

God doesn't punish sinners.

God doesn't punish sinners.

Job 11

I have a feeling that the title for this blog will pique the curiosity of more than a few. There may be some who are inclined to "tune out" right from the get-go, but... please don’t! If you disagree with what I have to say about this chapter of Job, I want to hear from you! Please leave a comment, and let’s have a discussion about this important topic.

God always has a but.

God always has a but.

Nehemiah 9

Yes, before you get too worked up, observe the spelling of the word "but" in the title. It’s a part of speech, not a part of the body! And it illustrates something wonderful about God—that He is always eager to give us another chance and that He is always willing to forgive, forget, and move on.

In this chapter, as the Israelite exiles recounted the history of God and their nation, there were a lot of buts flying around:

God doesn't destroy His enemies.

God doesn't destroy His enemies.

2 Chronicles 1

I think this is one of the neatest stories in the Bible. Solomon asks for what is most important—and ends up receiving everything that is most important as well as all the "perks." It always reminds me of what Jesus told His disciples: "But seek first [God's] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matt 6:33)

God exalts others.

God exalts others.

1 Chronicles 29

1 Chronicles 29 recounts the story of David’s "passing the baton" to his son Solomon. In his final speech, he challenged Solomon and the people to remain true to the Lord, and then there was a large celebration with music, feasting, and joy. But tucked away into the description of the festivities was, I thought, a very important lesson about God.

God understands you.

God understands you.

1 Chronicles 28

If I had ever believed in the theory of evolution, I'm pretty sure my first pregnancy would have blown that belief out of the water. As I went through that experience, week by week, I marveled at the little life unfolding in my own body. From the heart that is fully functional and begins to beat by five weeks to the whole development process, it was very hard for me to understand how people (especially doctors who know the intricacies of pregnancy) could believe that there is no design involved in human development.

God is the best choice.

God is the best choice.

1 Chronicles 21

Even after David repented of his sin involving Bathsheba and Uriah, he was still struggling with the issue of being in control as king. Thus, though he knew he shouldn’t do it, he asked Joab to take a census of the army. Joab was disgusted by the request, but did it anyway. For some reason, David apparently wasn’t ready to place his full trust back in the Lord, and he wanted to make sure he could "walk softly and carry a big army" ...just in case.

One-Hit Wonder {ex17:1-6}

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"Israel drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them,
and that rock was Christ." 1 Corinthians 10:4

God gives.
He doesn't know how to do anything else.
He gives rain to the righteous
        and rain to the wicked.
He gives water to the grateful
        and water to the complainers.

God is good.
He doesn't know how to be anything else.
If you are good to Him,
        He will be good to you.
If you are evil to Him,
        He will be good to you.

Moses struck the rock
with his rod at Meribah
and life-giving water flowed out.

We strike the Rock and
Life is still the thing
that gushes out after us,
a flood of grace
        to meet our anger,
a deluge of mercy
        to defy our shame,
a surge of good
        to repay our evil.