Judges 1

 

When this chapter opens, Judah is being blessed by God, and they are having victories. They ask the tribe of Simeon to join them, but when we get to verse 19, they find they can’t get victory. It is recorded that they couldn’t overcome the iron chariots, which was true, but what we don’t see is them calling on God here or asking for more help from the other tribes. They started off good, but when things changed and it got harder, they quit. How human, let us learn from them and when victories stop to seek God and maybe even help from our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Photo by Art Institute of Chicago on Unsplash

Love Unites, Hate Divides! (Maybe not)

Love is a powerful emotion and an even more powerful choice. We can overcome prejudice, weakness, and fear when we choose to love. The problem is, we can also twist love to mean something it isn't. In Greek, there were four words for love, whereas in English, love comes in only one word. To say it another way, the Greeks would disagree that love is love. 

This is just the top of the way people often look at love. One big idea that has been promoted is that love unites and hate divides. This sounds really great, but it falls short on real examination.  Looking at scripture and history, I could say just as easily that Hate unites and love divides. 

God is love, but it is clear that doesn't mean that he tolerates sin in his presence, a separation. Jesus showed love, but he too spoke of people being divided from God. Shockingly, Jesus also said in Matthew 10:34-36, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, -- a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household." If that isn't division, I don't know what is. 

Often, people think that love means we don't correct or disagree. The Bible speaks of love motivating God to discipline us and tell us we need to change. Which, in the West, isn't called loving. However, even in The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli (a very un-Christian political theorist) says it's better to be feared than loved because someone can love you and not obey or even work against you because of that love. Love doesn't leave us as we are and it can divide. 

Hate, on the other hand, can divide, but it can also unite. Nothing unites people like a common enemy. WW2 brought together people who despised each other so they could fight against someone they hated. Even the "Love unites" (meaning, celebrate me even if it's a sin) groups are often united in hate against those who disagree with them. 

Jesus speaks of what seems to be a paradox in many people's minds. He says love your enemies, but also to choose Him over family, money, and power. He wants unity in his body according to Scripture, but also for us to be separate from the world without being separated from the world. The Scriptures say that hate towards people destroys and that human anger doesn't produce the righteousness of God. Yet, we are to hate the world's system and our own sin. If we want to define love as tolerance, then what the Bible says doesn't make sense, but when we see love as a choice to seek the best in ourselves and others, then it does. 

Let's define love and hate in God's way.

Jeremiah 10

 One of these things is not like the other. This phrase is often used to point out what should be an obvious difference in things. Jeremiah is saying, Look at the gods the nations around are worshiping. They are nothing but wood and metal that people create. They don't talk or have power. God, on the other hand, made the universe. He is uncreated. The obvious answer is, Why are you worshiping these things? Today, we in the West may not worship carved idols, but often we do worship or at least serve Idols we make with our own hands. We serve money, family, organizations, and countries that men have made, and they are just as foolish to worship as an idol made of wood.

Photo by Alexandre Jaquetoni on Unsplash

1 Corinthians 7

 

I read this chapter in a morning Worship service and was challenged once again about my relationship with God. The leader of the group pointed out that as we read this Scripture, we see that since marriage is a covenant relationship, our Spiritual life isn’t just us and Jesus. Our spouse is part of this. If marriage is what it should be, then our salvation is between ourselves and Jesus, but our life, including our spiritual life, is bound with this other person. We can’t say that our marriage is separate from our spiritual life because our spiritual life should be our life; there is no divide. 

Photo by William Rouse on Unsplash

1 Corinthians 6

 Paul is confronting people who are saying My body is my own, I can do what I want with it, besides, it's going to be destroyed anyway. Paul makes it clear that our bodies aren't our own if we are Christians; they belong to God. The only way your body is your own, and therefore especially when you sin sexually, you are sinning against your own (God's) body. The more we discover about sex and sexually transmitted diseases, the more we have proof other than the Scriptures to point out that this is true. So what do we do with these bodies? Honor God with them, just as we are to honor God with every other area of our bodies. 

Photo by Biel Morro on Unsplash

Psalm 68

 This psalm pictures God in triumph over all. However, we see in verse 18 a scripture that Paul repeats in Ephesians 4. In ancient times, when a king was victorious, he would give gifts to those who served him faithfully. David and Paul both see that God will, and in Paul's case, has done this. This Psalm gives a promise, but I'm sure that David could never have imagined the gifts that Jesus would give. These gifts of the Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, and Teacher are given not as rewards to bring pleasure or fun but as tools to help us become all God wants us to be. It reminds me of the gifts Father Christmas gave the Pevensie children in CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. God knows what we need and gives it to his people, and rarely what we may like but would diminish us.

Photo by Wijdan Mq on Unsplash

Psalm 67

This psalm tells us that God blesses us so that the world may fear Him. This sounds a little strange, but if we remember that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, then this is actually a gift. God blesses us, and seeing the power of God in action can bring fear. We see this in Joshua and see two different results. God blessed Israel and protected them, causing Rehab to help the spies and turn to the God of Israel, but the others feared and locked up the city or fought against Israel. The gift is there, what we do with it is up to us, will we or others let it draw them to God or drive them away? 

Photo by M.T ElGassier on Unsplash