Author: Jennifer Armstrong

Today’s Reading:  Hebrews 6:13 – 7:14

Yesterday, BJ unpacked Psalm 31 for us.  David, the writer of the Psalm, remembered God’s grace and generosity to him through some really tough circumstances.  Even though the circumstances were a result of David’s poor choices, God remained faithful.

Hebrews 6:13-20 carries a very similar theme.  In my Life Application Study Bible (Tyndale House), this section is titled God’s Promises Bring Hope.  It is focused on God’s outlandish promise to bless Abraham and give him many descendants, even though he was childless and advanced in age (Genesis 12).  After 25 years of waiting, Isaac was born to Abraham.

The main point here is that God’s promises are true.  They are unchanging and trustworthy because God is unchanging and trustworthy.  While God’s timing doesn’t always align with our timing.  He promises us unconditional acceptance and deliverance if we truly seek him.  This is hope!

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure (Hebrews 6:19a).

Today’s Reading:  Isaiah 40

This week my son and I attended Freshman Orientation at the University of Missouri.  Since this is my oldest child, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.  After check in, their first item of business was to send the parents to one location and the students to another.  I’d say about half of the auditorium was filled with rookie parents like me – parents who were sending their first child to college.  Opening remarks were given by the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs / the Dean of Students, who designed his entire 15 minute message to give parents comfort.  After watching over and protecting these kids for the last 18 years, he wanted to give us confidence that Mizzou had all the right resources to help our kids be successful as we launched them into adulthood.

In much the same way, Isaiah 40 is all about comfort.  Through the prophet Isaiah, God’s message was aimed at giving his people confidence that he would take care of them, that he alone was all they needed.

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God… 

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint (Isaiah 40:1, 28-31).

Am I comfortable sending my 18 year old on his own to a university with 30,000 other students?  I am, but not necessarily because the university has all the right resources he needs to be successful.  But rather because he and I both put our faith in the one true God who provides all we need.

Today’s Reading:  Psalm 47

Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises (Psalm 47:6).

Praise:  verb – to express approval or admiration of; commend; extol (Dictionary.com).

Did you know the word “praise” appears in the King James version of the Bible 259 times?  As children of God, we are commanded to praise him.  Does this seem a little counterintuitive?  Throughout history, I would tell you every leader I know of that demanded his/her followers to salute, bow, or offer some sort of praise could be categorized as a narcissist (a person who has an excessive interest in or admiration of themselves).  So does it seem a little backward to you that God, who teaches his followers to be humble and to turn from self-centeredness, would require us to praise him?

It does to me.  While I trust God knows what is best, a little context on why always goes a long way for me.  A few thoughts on why we are commanded to praise God:

• Because he is worthy of our praise. You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being (Revelation 4:11).
• Because it is pleasant for us.  Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant (Psalm 135:3).
• Because it builds our faith.  Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Romans 5:3-5).
• Because it silences our enemies.  Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger (Psalm 8:2).
• Because he enjoys it.  God inhabits the praises of his people (Psalm 22:3).

Today’s reading:  Isaiah 61

On May 4, NBC News reported that COVID 19 deaths in the United States passed one million.  On May 14, an 18 year old gunman motived by hate killed ten people at a local grocery store in Buffalo, New York.  As of May 15, approximately 3,700 Ukrainian civilians had been killed, and an additional 3.4 million refugees driven from their homeland, by Russian forces that began invading Ukraine on February 24.  Unfortunately these are just examples of the destruction happening around our world as we speak.  It is heart breaking.  Do you ever find yourself asking why?  Not why bad things happen, because we know that is a result of sin, but why doesn’t God do something to stop the destruction and heartache?

I think our text for today, Isaiah 61, gives us some insight.

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn…(Isaiah 61:1-2).

Why isn’t God doing anything now?  The answer is that God already did something to address the broken world when he sent his son Jesus.  Isaiah 61 pointed to the coming Messiah, the savior of the world.  Jesus himself referenced this same text in Luke 4 when he revealed himself as the Messiah to religious leaders in the synagogue.

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor…today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing (Luke 4:18-21).

Look closely.  Do you notice the difference between the passage in Isaiah 61 and the passage in Luke 4?  Luke 4 stops after the year of the Lord’s favor and leaves out the reference to God’s vengeance.  Why?  Because Jesus’ arrival as the Messiah ushered in the year of the Lord’s favor, when everyone was given the opportunity to come to faith in Jesus. God desires for every person to confess Jesus as Lord so they can be saved.  Because, when Judgement Day comes, God will judge every person.  No exceptions.  Those who have already accepted his invitation will spend eternity with God.  Those who have not will be separated from God and endure eternal punishment.  Until that day, we have the freedom to choose.

Choose wisely.

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it (Matthew 7:13-14).

Today’s Reading: 1 Kings 16:29-17:7

Motivational speaker Jim Rohn says we are the average of the five people with whom we spend the most time.  He asserts that surrounding yourself with people that look like you want to look and/or act like you want to act, increases your propensity to become who you want to be.

Our text for today introduces us to King Ahab who, like the seven kings before him, did evil in the sight of the Lord.  In fact, verse 33 tells us King Ahab was the most evil of all the Israeli kings.

He did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than any of the other kings of Israel before him (1 Kings 16:33).

Do you know why King Ahab was so evil?  You guessed it, he spent all his time with the wrong people.  King Ahab married Jezebel, a pagan woman.  Not only did she lead King Ahab to worship idols instead of following the ways of the Lord, she also encouraged him to listen only to people who brought him good news and who encouraged him to do whatever he wanted.

God sent the prophet Elijah to advise King Ahab, much like he had sent prophets to counsel the kings before him.  (Remember King David’s friend and trusted advisor Nathan?)  The problem was that King Ahab didn’t want to spend any time with Elijah because Elijah only gave him bad news that he didn’t want to hear.  Ultimately, by refusing to listen to Elijah’s warnings and humble himself before God, King Ahab brought destruction on himself and all his descendants (1 Kings 21:29).

Bad news, or counsel that goes against what we want, is hard to accept.  Sometimes, however, it is just what we need to set our paths straight.  God encourages us to seek advice from wise counselors.  But how do you know if your advisors are wise and their guidance is good?  Wise counsel always aligns with the principles outlined in God’s word, the Bible.

Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm (Proverbs 13:20).

Today’s Reading: Hosea 2

As a parent, why do you (or did you) punish your kids when they disobey / make choices they know are wrong?  You do it to help them see the error of their ways and turn back to what is right.  You do it because you, as their parent, generally know what is best for them more than they do.  Punishment isn’t enjoyable for either the kid or the parent, but we know it leads to a better result long-term.

B.J. introduced us to Hosea yesterday.  God asked his prophet Hosea to do something completely absurd, something that seemed contrary to God’s design for marriages, when he asked him to marry a prostitute that both God and Hosea knew would be unfaithful.  Part of God’s plan was to use the lives of Hosea and Gomer to illustrate the relationship between the Israelites and God.  The Israelites, like Gomer, had been unfaithful.  They had turned away from God and were worshipping pagan (false) gods.

Hosea chapter 2, our text for today, has two distinct themes – punishment and restoration.  The first half of the chapter outlines how God was going to punish his people for worshipping false Gods.

• I will make her like a desert, turn her into a parched land, and slay her with thirst (Hosea 2:3).
• I will not show my love to her children… (Hosea 2:4).
• Therefore I will block her path with thornbushes; I will wall her in so that she cannot find her way (Hosea 2:6).
• Therefore I will take away my grain when it ripens, and my new wine when it is ready.  I will take back my wool and my linen, intended to cover her naked body (Hosea 2:9).
• So now I will expose her lewdness before the eyes of her lovers; no one will take her out of my hands (Hosea 2:10).
• I will stop all her celebrations: her yearly festivals, her New Moons, her Sabbath days—all her appointed festivals (Hosea 2:11).
• I will ruin her vines and her fig trees…I will make them a thicket, and wild animals will devour them (Hosea 2:12).

Just like a parent, God’s punishment was purposeful.  It was designed to help the Israelites see the error of their ways and turn back to God.  As their “parent”, God knew what was best for the Israelites more than they knew what was best for themselves.

The second half of Hosea 2 is focused on restoration.  How God would restore his relationship with the Israelites when they turned back to him.  See, despite their unfaithfulness, God was still faithful.  The Israelites turned their back on God, but he refused to give up on them.

Here is the good news.  None of us are perfect.  We all make choices we wish we wouldn’t have made.  And, none of us like punishment.  But our God is the same yesterday, today and forever.  Just like he was faithful to the Israelites, he will be faithful to us.

As you find yourself in negative circumstances, consider whether God might be using challenging times to turn you back to him.  In the end, he knows what is best for us even more than we do.  Will you trust him?

I will show my love to the one I called ‘Not my loved one.’ I will say to those called ‘Not my people,’ ‘You are my people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God’ (Hosea 2:23).

Today’s reading: Habakkuk 2

I’ve told you before that I ask a lot of questions (and often drive my family nuts).  Sometimes my motive is to find out what is going on so I can meet the demands of the situation – due dates, arrival times, transportation needs, etc.  Sometimes it is just because I’m interested in the subject or entertained by the art of the conversation.  But some times I ask questions to gain understanding.  Either additional information is going to help me connect the dots and buy into the story, or it will help me see through the erroneous information so I am able to help resolve the issue.

What we know about God’s prophet Habakkuk was that he too asked a lot of questions.  Habakkuk was a contemporary of Jeremiah.  During this period, God’s people were in conflict with the Babylonians who eventually overtook Jerusalem and exiled God’s people into slavery.  At the time, Habakkuk didn’t know how things were going to turn out and cried out to God for understanding. The short book he authored, the fifth to last book of the Old Testament, is just three chapters long.  The first chapter outlines Habakkuk’s questions for God and the second chapter, our passage for today, records God’s answer.  Habakkuk’s questions to God were a cry for understanding.

Question 1 – How long would would the evil ways of the world prevail?  How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?  Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save (Habakkuk 1:2).

Question 2 – Why are you letting wicked people win?  Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves (Habakkuk 1:13).

When Habakkuk cried out in his time of struggle, God provided a clear answer – wait patiently.  God’s timing sometimes seems slow, but we must remember God hates sin even more than we do.  He will not overlook it.  Eventually, in his time, he will punish the unrighteous.  For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay (Habakkuk 2:3).

God wants us to come to him with our questions.  We may not always get the answers we want or expect, but he is sovereign and he will answer.

The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him (Habakkuk 2:20).

Today’s reading: Lamentations 1

The prophet Jeremiah wrote 2 books of the Bible on the same subject.  The book of Jeremiah predicts the destruction of Jerusalem and the book of Lamentations is a dirge, or a funeral song, to mourn the once great city.

As God’s prophet, Jeremiah’s job was to warn God’s people of the coming judgment if they didn’t leave their sinful ways and turn back to God.  For forty years he pleaded with the tribe of Judah to take action, but no one listened.  In 586 B.C. Babylon eventually conquered Jerusalem, destroyed the temple and carted God’s people back with them as slaves.

Two key messages I take away from this story:

Unconfessed sin brings God’s judgment.  The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23a).  Judah’s destruction and exile at the hands of the Babylonians was a result of their sin/immorality/disobedience.  If we do not confess Jesus as Lord and let his sacrifice on the cross pay the price for our sins, we will eventually experience God’s judgment.

God’s promises are true, both good and bad.  God sent Jeremiah to warn his people to turn from their sinful ways or suffer the consequences.  When they rejected Jeremiah and his message, guess what?  God kept his promise and allowed the Babylonians to conquer them, destroy their city, kill many people and take everyone else as slaves.

God isn’t joking around.   When we ignore sin and disregard God’s direction, we invite disaster.  Trusting our own leadership, resources, intelligence and power instead of surrendering to him will bring God’s full judgment upon us.

Fortunately God loves us enough to show us a way out, and loves us enough to give us time to choose it.  The ball is in our court.

Today’s reading:  Psalm 80

How easy is it for people to really get to know you?  I mean, do you naturally share your thoughts/feelings in a way others can see the “real” you?  Like I’ve said before, I’m an introvert at my core.  Different than a lot of introverts, it is easy for me to engage in conversation with others.  I admit, however, that much of this easy conversation is just small talk.  For me to share my true thoughts/feelings with others, I have to trust that they aren’t going to use what I share against me.  Getting to this level of transparency takes an investment of time and energy from both sides.  So, am I easy to get to know?  Probably not, I suspect none of us really are.

As I was reading Psalm 80 in my Life Application Study Bible (Tyndale House Publishers) this week, I came across a section titled Prayer in the Book of Psalms that offered some challenging insights for me.  The Book of Psalms is a collection of song-type prayers (much like the worship songs we sing today).  A key feature of these prayers is true honesty/transparency.  We see the authors expressing their raw thoughts and feelings to God, which is a model for how God wants us to communicate with him.

This is where the challenge came in.  Am I communicating with God in the way he wants or am I only offering small talk?  Am I being completely honest with him or am I only sharing a watered-down version of my feelings because I’m afraid they are outside of his will, I don’t want to spend the time it takes, or I don’t want him to see my true motives?

Three times in Psalm 80 the author asks God to:

Turn us again to yourself, O God. Make your face shine upon us.  Only then we we be saved (Psalm 80: 3, 6 and 19).

If we want God to turn us to himself, we have to be willing to be transparent with him.  We have to spend quality time in deep conversation with him, letting him see our passions, our raw emotions and our true motivations.  This is more time than a prayer around the dinner table and/or praying alongside your child at bedtime.

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded (James 4:8).

Today’s reading:  John 14:15-31

Resilient – tending to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change (Mirriam Webster).

Last month I signed up to attend a six week group coaching session on resiliency.  Each session is focused on strategies we can use to increase our capacity and/or help our teams increase their capacity to recover from difficulties.  One of the first things we learned was that emotional regulation is important for resiliency.  While we can’t change and/or run from everything that bothers us, we are more resilient when we are aware of situations that trigger unwanted emotions in us and then employ strategies for regulating them.  For example, recognizing emotions earlier, finding productive ways to let them out, and reframing emotions are all strategies that can help.

As I read John 14 this week, I saw Jesus use some of these same strategies to encourage, or promote resiliency, in his disciples.  Earlier in the chapter (John 14:3), Jesus reminded his disciples that he was going away.  These men, who had given up EVERYTHING to follow Jesus were beside themselves.  To say their emotions were getting the best of them is probably an understatement.  First, Jesus encouraged his disciples to talk about their angst – let their emotions out.

• Thomas jumped in first and told Jesus they couldn’t follow him because they didn’t know the way to where he was going.  Jesus responded by telling Thomas He was the way, the truth and the life.  Knowing him was all they needed.
• Philip followed up by telling Jesus that if he would just let them see God, that would be enough the give them confidence/calm their fears/make them resilient.  Jesus responded by telling Philip he had already seen God – “Whoever has seen me has seen the father”.

In verse 15, Jesus started to reframe their emotions.  The disciples wanted Jesus to stay, but he turned the conversation around to help them understand why it was better for them if he went away.  Why?

Because he was sending the Holy Spirit, who would not just be by their side, but actually live inside them…

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you (John 14:16-17).

How resilient are you?  If you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit lives in your heart.  Are you taking advantage of that?  Are you letting him help you?  He will lead you toward resiliency if you ask.