Author: pastortravislv

Zechariah 1:3-4 – Therefore say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the LORD.
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Too often we neglect the reading of the prophets in God’s word because we feel the language is too dark, too frightening, and too depressing. But let us never miss the beauty and sweetness of the call of God on our lives. While it is true that he promises judgment and wrath for those who are not his and who rebel against him, he promises just as much life and goodness to those who turn to him, trust in him, and follow his word.

In this section at the beginning of Zechariah, we see the simple call from God, “Return to me, and I will return to you.” This is the beauty of grace. If you have been away from God for a time, you simply need to return to him to have him return to you. Christians believe in grace. Since we believe in grace, we reject outright the idea of penance, of paying your way back into God’s favor. IF you have walked on your own, living for yourself for a year, you do not have to do a year’s worth of good works before you can again experience the presence and favor of God in your life. While there may be things that you need to do to appropriately repent of sin (repay stolen money, confess wrong behavior, make restitution for damages done, apologize and seek another’s forgiveness), the moment that you return to God with a heart set on turning from sin and glorifying his name, God returns to you.

Of course, we must also make it clear here that there is only one way to return to God. God has made one and only one way that anyone may come to him. That way is Jesus Christ (John 14:6). Jesus tells us that no one can come to the Father except through him, and so when anyone who has lived in sin desires to return to God, he or she returns via the cross of Christ. That means that we always repent by looking to Jesus’ shed blood as the payment for our sin. We see our sin as something evil, wrong, and ugly. We reject it, no longer wanting it to be a part of our lives. We feel godly sorrow because we have sinned before such a loving and holy God. We turn away from that sin, taking whatever steps necessary to get out of the sin and not to repeat it in the future. But all of this is done in the shadow of the cross. All of it is possible because Jesus both paid the price for our sin and empowered his followers to turn away from sin toward righteousness.

Are you in sin today? Hear God’s call in the verses of Zechariah 1:3-4. He calls you to return to him, today. He promises to return to you. He warns you not to be like people of old who heard his call, but who refused to heed his call to their own destruction. Today, you have a chance. Today, you have God’s call to return to him. Do not let today end without heeding God’s call to return.

Dear Lord, I pray that all who read this will feel the working of your Holy Spirit. May all of us hear your voice in your word, and may we heed your call to return to you. I thank you, Lord, that you have provided the way for us to return to you. I thank you for the blood of Christ that covers my sin and empowers me to live rightly before you. I pray that you will draw me close to you, and that you will be near me. Help me to always turn away from sin and run to you for grace, mercy, and forgiveness.

Haggai 1:4-7 – “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.”
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After the people of Judah returned from their Babylonian captivity, they began the process of rebuilding their lives. They neglected, however, to make the worship of God a central component of those lives. They worked on their own houses, but left the temple of God, the place of worship, in ruins.

God, in this short section, responds to the neglect of his “house.” He asked the people if they thought it right for them to live in paneled houses, nice and fancy homes, when his worship was neglected. He wanted to know if they really thought they should make themselves rich and try to live at ease when they had completely forgotten to focus on him. And the obvious answer to such a question is that this is not right at all.

God then told them that it is because of how they have treated him that none of them are satisfied. They may eat, but never feel satisfied. They may drink, but never feel satisfied. They may earn some money, but it never seems to be enough. And all that is the curse that is upon anyone who seeks their own personal satisfaction above the glory of God. Anyone who seeks satisfaction in this life in the things that this world has to offer will find themselves always longing for and scraping for more.

Today, let us make certain not to make the mistakes of the people of Judah. Let us not seek for our own satisfaction in the little treasures of this life. God must be the center. His worship must be primary in our lives. When we give all that we have for his glory, we will find our hearts fully satisfied and abundantly blessed (Psalm 16:11; 63:5). Such a blessing is not necessarily the blessing of wealth and prosperity, but it is the blessing of joy in doing the very thing for which we were created. That joy, the joy that comes when we glorify God, is the only joy that will genuinely satisfy our souls.

Dear Lord, I pray that you will never allow me to neglect your glory for my comfort. Your glory is all that will truly satisfy my soul. No treasure that I could ever gain on this earth compares to the joy of a life lived for your glory. Please empower me to do your will and glorify your name. Please grant me the opportunity to live, this day, for your glory—a glory which will bring my heart ultimate satisfaction.

Zephaniah 3:7 – I said, “Surely you will fear me; you will accept correction. Then your dwelling would not be cut off according to all that I have appointed against you.” But all the more they were eager to make all their deeds corrupt.
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How do you think about the judgment or chastisement of God? Do you think of it as right, or does it make you angry? Here in Zephaniah 3, God describes his own thought process in dealing with a rebellious people. He brought upon them small judgments, warnings against their rebellion. God was telling them that, if they did not change their ways, they would suffer his wrath in large. But the people refused to heed God’s warnings, and instead became even more rebellious before him.

One way for any of us to test our hearts is to see how we respond to God when things are not going our way. If we are suffering, even potentially suffering under God’s own reproof, how do we react? We have one of two options. We may, on one hand, choose to see the pain that we suffer as a merciful call from God to turn away from sin and to embrace him as our Lord and Master. The other possibility is that we harden our hearts, bristle at God for allowing us to feel pain, and turn in further rebellion. The first is the mark of a believer; the second is the mark of the lost.

For all of us who read this passage, the call should be clear. We must willingly receive the chastisement of God as a merciful warning and call to repentance. Let us learn to not clench our fists at God whenever we suffer, but rather to fall to our knees before him and seek his mercy.

Dear Lord, I pray that you will purify my heart, that I might never rebel against you. When I step out of line, I pray that you will chastise me in order that I might recognize my error, repent, and return to walking in righteousness. Please also help me to receive your chastisement as mercy from you, because I know that you rebuke and disciple those you love.

1 Chronicles 7:24 – His daughter was Sheerah, who built both Lower and Upper Beth-horon, and Uzzen-sheerah.
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The writer of 1-2 Chronicles records an obscure fact here in the midst of the genealogies. He records for us the deeds of an industrious woman, Sheerah. Sheerah, the daughter of a figure whose story you will never hear or even be concerned about, built two cities.

Why do I find that fact worthy of note? Simply put, too many evangelicals have given into the shrill rhetoric of feminist theologians who declare that the Bible was written by ungodly chauvinists who delighted in degrading women. However, in one obscure reference, we have a very simple argument against their logic. If the writer of Chronicles had intended to put women down and “keep them in their place,” he most certainly would have had no reason to record for us the deeds of Sheerah. He never would have told us that she was even born, much less that she built two cities.

Of course, there is much to be studied to understand the issue of gender roles in the scriptures. While God makes it absolutely clear that men are no more valuable than women or women than men, God has clearly defined roles for men and women to play. We must not rebel against those roles, not because either gender is unqualified to fulfill a certain role, but simply because God has set for us how things are to be in his economy and for his glory. So, by no means does this passage in the Chronicles destroy for us the notion of male headship or biblical complimentarity.

What this passage in the Chronicles does for us is make plain to us that the authors of scripture were not the women-hating monsters that many feminists declare. These authors acknowledged the accomplishments and value of women when other societies never would have done so. As evangelicals, let us be careful to recognize that we do not have to surrender this ground when discussing the scripture with someone who puts it down based on its handling of gender issues.

2 Corinthians 12:7-9 – So to keep me from being too elated by the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
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Over the past couple of chapters of 2 Corinthians, Paul has challenged this church to stop following certain false teachers. He has challenged them to stop being enamored by those teachers’ pedigrees, and instead to be focused on the truth of God. In order to prove his point, Paul listed for the Corinthians his own qualifications for ministry, but couched all of his terms in humility, as he did not want them to think that he brought anything to the table on his own. The last of these personal ministry qualifications that Paul described was a vision in which he was caught up into heaven and beheld the glory of God (an experience unique to Paul and John as apostles and not something we should expect for ourselves).

In light of speaking about his revelation, Paul also wanted the Corinthians to know that God did something rather unique for Paul after his visions. In order to keep Paul from becoming too proud, too elated, with himself for having had such a fantastic spiritual experience, God sent Paul a thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan. While countless scholars have debated what that thorn might have been (a sickness, a demon, poor eyesight, a literal thorn, etc), I think that we have come very close to missing a very important point in this passage.

I too might have missed this point, were it not for Dr. Stewart Scott, a professor at Southern Seminary. Thus, I am indebted to him for this thought. We need to notice that Paul was sent a thorn in the flesh by God. God gave Paul something that made him miserable. God gave him something that Paul hated, and three times asked to have removed. And we had better ask ourselves why that is.

If you are thinking to yourself that Paul received this thorn in the flesh because he had gotten arrogant, you are dead wrong. Paul makes it absolutely clear that the thorn was not because of his arrogance, but it was given by God to keep him from becoming arrogant, too elated. God allowed Paul to suffer in order to protect Paul from potential future sin. The thorn in Paul’s flesh, his miserable and trying circumstance, was God’s means of protecting Paul from becoming too puffed up with himself because of his experience.

I once heard a story about a shepherd who had a sheep that was prone to wander off. As the sheep ran away from the shepherd, it placed its very life in danger. During a particularly dangerous season in which wolves were near the sheep pens, the shepherd knew that the sheep would likely wander off and be devoured by the wolves. So, the shepherd took a radical step to keep his one sheep from running away: the shepherd broke the sheep’s leg. While this hurt the sheep for a time, it kept the sheep alive until it could learn to stay with the flock under the safety of the shepherd’s watchful eye.

With Paul’s experience and that of the sheep in mind, we might do well to rethink how much we should hate pride and personal sin. It was a mercy for God to let Paul suffer the thorn in the flesh in order that Paul would not sin the sin of pride. It was a kind, merciful, gracious thing for God to do that in Paul’s life. Are you willing to allow God to be that gracious to you? Would you rather suffer than be sinful before God? Would you rather live in pain than be proud? Would you be willing to allow God, your shepherd, to break your leg in order to keep you safely close to him instead of allowing you to wander off to your death? If not, you have missed the seriousness of sin before God and the ugliness of our own pride.

Dear Lord, I pray that you will do whatever it takes to protect me and my family from sin before you. Please keep us humble in your eyes. Please grant that we would not fail by becoming proud. Please take whatever steps are necessary to lead us into righteous living before you. No, I do not want to suffer. I do not want pain. I pray that you will help me to follow you without needing a thorn in the flesh. However, if a thorn is what I need in order to most glorify you, I ask that you will grant me the grace to endure it for your glory. Lord, your glory is far more important than my comfort, so do what you must do to help me to honor you in all things.

2 Kings 22:8-11 – And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.” Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king. When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes.
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Early on in the reign of King Josiah, those working in the temple of God made a very interesting discovery. They found a book. Now, they did not even know what that book was, until they read it. And, to their shock and dismay, they discovered that the book was the book of the law of God.

This nation, which is supposed to be the people of God, had gotten so far away from the commands of God that the priests, the very men who were supposed to be teaching the word of God, did not even recognize the book. No wonder Judah had managed to fall so deeply into idolatry. No wonder they were doing all sorts of abominable things before God. They had lost his holy word, and they fell deeply into sin because they had no inspired word of God to guide them.

Thankfully, when the priests took the book of the law to the young King Josiah and read it to him, he recognized the significance of what he heard. The king tore his robes, a sign of his great distress over the sin of his people. He then began a campaign of reformation in Judah and Israel the likes of which had never been seen under the rule of any other king. He tore down pagan altars, defiled the places of cult sacrifices, and put an end to the worship of idols among his people.

While we could learn a great deal from this section of scripture (including the fact that government sponsored religious reforms do not tend to stick), the main thing that I think we need to grasp is the significance of the book. What prompted the reforms of Josiah? They were prompted by the inspired and holy word of God. You and I will never do what pleases God without doing so in direct relationship to the word of God. We will never know how to do what is right, regardless of what we feel in our hearts, without doing so in response to the commands and teachings of holy scripture. We have no greater treasure to help us to live the Christian life, to live to honor God, than the Bible, God’s word.

Today is a great day for you and me to renew our commitment to the book. If we love God and want to serve him, we must love his revealed word. The only sure way we have of knowing his revealed will and word is the Bible. Since the Bible is his communication of himself to us, we must treasure it above all other things we have. Let us meditate on the Bible, memorize it, study it, believe it, and live it. Let us remember that the Bible is our perfect standard for all that is right. Let us remember that the holy scriptures are useful to make us adequate and equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Let us become people of the book.

Dear Lord, I pray for myself and for all who will read this that we will become people of your word. Let us treasure your holy word as you want us to. Let us be like Josiah, hearing your word, learning your commands, and enacting immediate life changes because of what you have revealed. Let us hear your communication to us in the Bible, and let us never again live by the whims and feelings of our hearts.

2 Corinthians 2:14-16a – But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.
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The gospel has two distinct odors. Paul makes it clear in his imagery from 2 Corinthians 2 that there are two different possible responses to the gospel, and two distinct “fragrances” of Christ, depending on how your heart responds to the gospel. To the one who is being saved by God, the fragrance of the gospel is sweet; but to one who is perishing, the fragrance is unbearable.

Why is the fragrance of the gospel unbearable for the lost? It strikes at the very heart of the lost person with offense. Most in our world do not want to admit that they are a sinner, nor that they are accountable to God for that sin. Many want to excuse their sin, claiming that all do it, so why should they personally be judged for it. Neither can they stomach the idea of being saved by God without them doing something to earn it. The picture of Christ on the cross is one, in their minds, of unnecessary suffering, cruelty, and offensiveness, or even worse, of irrelevance.

To the person who is being saved, however, the fragrance of the gospel is sweet, sweeter than anything else in the whole world. To the one who recognizes himself as a guilty sinner without excuse in danger of facing the wrath of Almighty God, the idea that God would make for him an escape is sweet smelling news indeed. The true believer sees himself as a sinner, and does not pretend otherwise. The true believer recognizes that he or she can do not a single thing to make himself or herself better before God; but they do not use this truth to excuse further sin. Instead, the true believer feels great pain for and disgust over his or her sin, and looks to God, in faith, seeking a remedy. When the true believer sees Christ on the cross in his or her mind’s eye, they see the place where God’s righteous wrath and his overwhelming love meet. They see Jesus, the Son of God, bearing the burden of their sin. They see God demonstrating his love for them. They see hope of forgiveness, of grace, of eternal life where before there was only an expectation of judgment. They see beauty, and smell the sweet aroma of grace.

How does the gospel smell to you? When you picture Christ on the cross in your mind, what do you feel? Do you love the gospel? Do you cling to Jesus as your only hope of being right before God? Do you see the beauty and smell the pleasant aroma of grace? Or, does it bother you, disgust you, frustrate you, and turn your stomach? If the gospel does not smell sweet to you, you should fear, because the Bible says that the fragrance is one from death to death. But if, when you hear the gospel, it is a sweet aroma, than rejoice, as you smell the true scent of redemption.

Dear Lord, I pray that you will help me to see and know even more of the beauty of the gospel. I pray that you will apply to my heart the sacrifice of Jesus. I pray that you will draw to my mind the beauty of all that you have done. I thank you for Jesus, for making a way for me to be forgiven; and I place all my trust for all my eternal future in Christ and Christ alone. Lord, help me to spread abroad the fragrance of the gospel, even as I recognize that not all will sense it as sweet. Grant that I would share the gospel with many who will sense it as the fragrance of life, and who will turn to Jesus for grace. Let me do this, not because I am special, but because you are glorious.

1 Corinthians 16:8-9 – But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.
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Here in the closing portion of his letter to the Corinthians, Paul tells them that he is not planning to make a hurried visit to them. Instead, he plans to remain in Ephesus for a while, and then come see them later. His reasoning for wanting to stay where he is comes out of the fact that a great opportunity for ministry has become available to him, and he does not want to neglect it.

This passage speaks to us regarding one false factor that many Christians use to try to determine whether or not something is God’s will. We see the words of Paul here, and we say that we need to look for an opened or closed door in order to know whether or not something is what God wants us to do. But I want you to recognize that, if you look at Paul’s words, you will see that what he describes as an open door is what most who use the “open door principle” would actually call a closed one.

In the same breath, Paul says that a wide door for effective ministry has opened for him, and that there are many adversaries. He is not saying that the sign of the open door is that things are easy or simply laid out before him. On the contrary, his open door is marked by opposition and hardship. His open door is a door to a battleground for the sake of Christ. He is not looking at the ease of the ministry or the simplicity of the opportunity, but rather is looking at the fact that he has a chance to obey the commands of God in a significant way despite difficult circumstances; that is Paul’s open door.

So often, we look for open doors, and we think that open doors are those through which we can walk with comfort and ease. If the job looks good, the money looks right, and the school system looks strong, we conclude that God has opened the door for us to go to the new town. While there is nothing wrong with those three things lining up, they are not the signs of an open door. Open doors are simply these: places and circumstances in which we can obey the commands of God to the utmost of our ability. We might face terrible circumstances all the way. We might never make enough money, have any comforts, or have a moment’s peace from conflict. Such things are not the marks of open doors, regardless of how clearly the prosperity gospel preachers say they are. Paul’s open door in Ephesus led him into battle with adversaries. Your open door to ministry may very well lead you to the same place.

The point here is that we do not use our understanding of open doors and circumstantial evidence to determine whether or not a certain place or ministry is God’s will for us. There are better criteria in place. The criteria that we should use is the word of God, which calls us to live in certain ways and do certain things. Then, when we get the opportunity to obey God in those areas, we take it, even if we face adversaries along the way. The open door is an expression referring to opportunity to obey the clearly given commands of God, not of effortlessness in overcoming circumstances.

Dear Lord, I pray that you will open doors for me to do effective ministry. I recognize that such open doors need not be marked with a lack of difficulty. I simply ask that you will show me where and how I can most effectively follow your commands for your glory. That is the open door through which I desire to walk. Lead me along paths of righteousness, I pray, for your name’s sake.