God Can Install and Uninstall Whom He Pleases

Scripture: And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, Judges 9:23

Observation: Abimelech went to the leaders of Shechem, his relatives, and offered to kill his 70 brothers and become their king. Instead of 70 strangers ruling them, they could have one relative. They agreed, and yet soon they turned against Abimelech and tried to kill him. What soured their relationship so quickly? God himself. He sent an evil spirit in between them to divide their relationship. And though Abimelech had taken the throne illegally, without God's appointment, God was able to correct this.

Application: God can get his way. He can correct injustice. He is more powerful than the schemes of violent men. I am sure there were people who wondered where God was when Abimelech took over. The truth is, God was right there and he had a plan. God is able to install and uninstall people from positions.
I have seen God do this in a smaller scale in my life. People that need to be removed from a position or a a company or even a church. I wonder what God is doing and then I see his plan at work. I need to trust that God knows what he is doing and is at work, behind the scenes, to accomplish his purposes. And that sometimes he has to allow the occasional Abimelech.

Prayer: God, today I affirm my trust in your leadership. You know what you are doing. Evil does not win. Your kingdom moves forward. Help me have the peace of trusting you today.

My Hope in Spiritual Warfare

Scripture:
O you who love the LORD, hate evil!
He preserves the lives of his saints;
he delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Psalm 97:10

Observation: The Lord reigns. Those who worship him can rejoice, knowing that God is in control. This control extends to the lives of his saints, especially when they face the wicked. God’s concern and care is not only global, but local. God cares for and can deliver his people from evil.

Application: I am in the middle of preparing this week to talk about spiritual warfare. While it is easy in this topic to get lost in debate, or to value experience over scripture, the simple truth is that God reigns. God reigns over Satan and all the demonic host. The Most High over all the earth is most high over all the enemies in the earth as well. There is victory and protection found in God and God alone. Not in formulas or objects, not in spiritual relics or human power. Our victory does not lie in our own ability to fight well. The Lord reigns. He alone is the Most High over the earth. He alone delivers us from the hand of Satan.
I need to remember this in my own spiritual battles. My victory is found in Christ alone. When it comes to the enemy, I must remember the words of Martin Luther: “One little word shall fell him.” That little word is Jesus.

Prayer: God, thank you for your complete power over all creation, both seen and unseen. Help me to truly have faith in you, and not in myself. Not in my words, my posture, my attitude, but to stand firm in my faith. I believe you when you said that everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Help me believe and preach You this week.

Is it Okay to Ask for My Will Be Done?

Scripture: While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” Luke 5:12

Observation: Such a simple statement of faith. The man believes that Jesus can heal him; what he does not know is if Jesus wants to heal him. For this leper, the only limit is God’s will, not his power. Not knowing what the will of God is, he simply asks for his own will—to be healed.

Application: I had someone ask me this week about God’s will. Outside of clear passages from the word, we don’t always know what God’s will is. In these cases, what do we do? When we do not know God’s will, it is okay to ask God for our will to be done. God still has the right to say yes, no, or wait. When we take an attitude of reverence and dependence like this leper, it is okay to ask for our will until he reveals his will.

Prayer: God, let me be bold in my requests for the things I want to see happen in my life. You always get the last word, and I submit to your will. But when I don’t know your will, I’ll ask you for mine.

But For This Purpose

Scripture: Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me.” Exodus 9:13
But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. Exodus 9:16

Observation: God declares his purpose for people. His purpose in rescuing his people is that they might serve him. His purpose in placing Pharaoh in power is so that God’s name may be proclaimed. For both the faithful and faithless, God has a plan. He uses all for his purposes.

Application: I think loss of purpose is a modern-day plague that affects us all. It affects those far from God in that they live lives unaware of the purpose for which they have been created. It affects even believers who tend to forget why they were rescued. Believers can easily think they were rescued for some future purpose—Heaven. Or they were rescued to be free from a past consequence—their sin. But it is easy to forget we are saved to serve. We are rescued to follow and obey God. When we see this, it helps us put the purpose of evil in context. Instead of shaking our fists at Heaven and asking why an evil like Pharaoh has power in this world, we can see that ultimately, Pharaoh is a pawn of God, moved around His chessboard for the purpose of proclaiming God’s name. Because of Pharaoh’s evil, the power of God to rescue is a bell that still sounds to this day. Without the evil, there could be no deliverance.

Prayer: God, help me remember my purpose. You saved me to serve. You use even evil to proclaim your name. Help me remind my kids of this, myself of this, my church of this. God has a purpose for Pulpit Rock—he saved us to serve His purpose now. Thanks for your sovereignty. It has always been a rock I come back to again and again when the world spins.

Negotiating with God

Scripture: Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes.” Genesis 18:27

Observation: God announces his intention to destroy the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham speaks up and gets God to agree that if God can find 50 righteous people in the city, he will spare the whole city. Abraham then gets God to drop that number from 50 to 10 righteous people who can save the city. What gave Abraham the idea that he could negotiate with God? Why did the all-powerful God of the universe listen to the dust and ashes of a man like Abraham? Maybe what was driving Abraham to speak so boldly was the fact that God had already commissioned him to be a blessing to the world. If these cities were destroyed, how could Abraham bless them? Also, by destroying these cities, God would be killing many righteous people along with the wicked. Abraham was concerned for God’s character and reputation and sense of justice.

Application: This text puzzles me with questions about prayer and sovereignty. I also wonder why Abraham stopped at ten. Maybe he felt he could “press his luck” only so far. Maybe there was something in God’s tone that signaled negotiations were at an end. It kind of reminds me of when my kids negotiate with me for dessert. The difference here is that Abraham was negotiating not for his own benefit, but as his role as blesser of the world. Abraham is standing in between the power of God and the destruction of a city. The sense of responsibility to his mission and his desire to see God act justly towards the wicked and righteous gave him boldness.
Question: What do I feel so strongly about from God’s word that I would be willing to undertake to speak to the Lord about it? What would I be willing to press my luck with God over? How far can I press my luck before the proverbial lightning bolt falls? It seems God is not angered by Abraham’s boldness, as Abraham is acting not for selfish gain, but for the good of God. Could this principle guide me to test my motives before I open negotiations?

Prayer: God, give me bold humility in my dealings with you. Who knows that you were planning this all along and part of your plan was to get Abraham to engage with you in prayer? What is it in my life you wish me to wrestle with you over? Please continue to grow me in the area of prayer, and in this area of bold approach.

While I'm Waiting for the Rain

Scripture: Whether for correction or for his land or for love, he causes it to happen. Job 37:13

Observation: Job’s friend is talking about the absolute power God has over creation—ordering snow to fall, breathing out ice, scattering lightening. He explains that God exercises his control sometimes to correct people, or show them his love, but sometimes just because the land needs it.

Application: Sometimes I tend to think it is all about me. That I am the only actor in the drama of life. That I am the only field needing rain. That when God is making his decisions or exercising his power, I am the top consideration. But God has a lot he is trying to accomplish through his exercise of sovereignty. Sometimes he acts in my life to correct something or refine me. Sometimes he acts to show me his love. But sometimes, he acts in my life to accomplish other things unrelated to me. That God can balance all of these things throughout our entire world of billions is a reminder of his absolute power and Godhood. So when I sometimes get impatient with His timing, when I want the rain to fall right now, I need to remember that he has other fields and purposes He is working out. He might be delaying the rain not to teach me, but because he is working on another situation or person.

Prayer: God, I trust you. It is not all about me and my timing and needs. I trust that you know my needs, I am on your radar. You are working out my life while balancing out all the other work you are doing. Please let me see your bigger picture and develop patience in your timing.

Why Am I Really Mad At God?

Scripture: They wrong the barren, childless woman, and do no good to the widow. Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power; they rise up when they despair of life. Job 24:21-22

Observation: Job is frustrated with the struggle between God’s sovereignty and the obvious injustice in the world. If God does whatever he desires and no one can turn him back (23:13), then why do those who take advantage of the poor prosper? Why do those who perpetuate injustice seem to flourish under God’s control? This is why Job is so bitter: God says he cares about injustice, yet seems to do nothing when it occurs.
But is Job really that concerned about injustice in his world, or is he using this to protest his own feelings about how God has dealt with him? Job feels he has done everything right before God, and he has been treated unjustly. This bitterness turns into a general complaint about how God deals with injustice.
So often, we get riled up over how God deals with this world when the real issue is between God and us. We hide behind theological and philosophical arguments and talk about situations half-way around the world when the real issue is: We are mad at God about *our* situation.

Application: I often find myself angry about things I see in this world, or actions of others. And I can easily characterize these things as indictments of God. But could it be that the reason for my anger is that I feel I have gotten a raw deal? Am I failing to go to God and directly deal with the issue, instead hiding behind theological and philosophical arguments about good and evil?

Prayer: God, help me look below the waterline, to see what really motivates my feelings and actions. To see if my anger is motivated by holy discontent, or a sense of personal loss. Show me what is going on in the waters of my heart.

Only As He Allows

Scripture: Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. Revelation 13:7

Observation: During the last days, the beast (probably a world leader) will rise to power and one act will be to successfully make war against believers. The key word here in the verse is allowed. God allows this ‘success’ for his purposes.

Application: I must remember as I read Revelation that at all times God is in control and his plan is intact. Satan, the antichrist, judgments, even the apparent defeat of the saints only happen as allowed by God. At no time is God’s kingdom in serious jeopardy.

Prayer: God, thank you for your sovereign command over the kingdoms of this world. You are in control. Today, I trust your control in the conversation I need to have with my neighbor.