Notes of Faith September 27, 2023

Notes of Faith September 27, 2023

Protection in the Red Sea

EXODUS 14 / MARK 4:35–41

And He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” — Mark 4:39–40

Trust is delicate. It’s hard to earn and easy to lose. Trusting someone else takes time. Especially when it comes to our own protection. We were designed with a high level of awareness around our need for self-protection, and at the slightest threat, we fight, fly, or freeze.

If someone breaks our trust, we naturally become guarded. When someone proves they are trustworthy, our confidence in them grows and we feel safe enough to let our guard down. Why? Because there is a consistent pattern of faithfulness demonstrated.

This is the kind of trust Moses developed with God. He could trace God’s past faithful protection over and over.

Moses had seen God help him do what seemed impossible: leading the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt. Just when there seemed to be no way Pharaoh would ever heed Moses’ demand to let the people go, God demonstrated His unexplainable protection by using His power over nature to get Pharaoh’s attention. God unleashed 10 plagues over Egypt, which eventually convinced Pharaoh to let the Israelites go.

Then God demonstrated His unexplainable protection again when He led the people in a less direct path to the promised land:

But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. — Exodus 13:18a

Exodus 14:4 reveals God’s plan to yet again show His people His ability to protect them: “

And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.’ And they did so.

Just as God planned, with the Egyptians marching after them, the Israelites found themselves facing an angry sea in front of them and an angry enemy behind them. The only way for them to be saved would be for God to do something that could never have even been dreamed up with the human mind... Again it was God’s unexplainable protection.

Israel’s Path and God’s Protection

God unleashes 10 plagues over Egypt — Exodus 5:1-11

Pharoah lets Israelites go — Exodus 12:31-42

Israelites on wandering path — Exodus 13:17-22

Pharoah/ Egyptians coming after Israelites — Exodus 14:5

Parting of the Red Sea — Exodus 14:19-31

Read Exodus 14:10–12.

01 What does the people’s response to Moses show about their mental and emotional state?

Notice a common thread in the reaction of the Israelites as we’ve been studying together? Let’s also not forget there was more going on. The Israelites were not left alone or unprotected.

Read Exodus 14:13–14.

02 We don’t have a record of the people’s response after hearing Moses’ direction. What would your response have been?

The initial response after crying out to God to fight on their behalf was silence. The Israelites surely thought Moses’ advice made no sense. However, Moses was leading the people to use silence as a spiritual discipline. Moses told the people to sit silent and watch God protect them and fight on their behalf. If we were the Israelites, we would have probably demanded an explanation for what seemed like such an odd response to such a serious threat.

As we consider our own use of silence in the midst of threats, there can be many benefits. One purpose of silence may be to focus on the simplicity of God’s power over all things. Another benefit might be to quiet distractions and interruptions that tempt us to explain away God’s protection in our lives.

Maybe silence and solitude are ways for us to process and find peace with things that seem so unexplainable in our lives.

What would happen if we practiced the spiritual discipline of silence today by spending focused time meditating on the protection and provision of God in our lives? What if we intentionally remembered to trace God’s faithfulness in the past until it helped us feel more safe and secure in the faithful and secure hands of God? The Israelites were aware of this truth through tangible and visible examples but, in that moment, needed to pause and remember.

Read Exodus 14:19–20.

The more we remember what Jesus has done for us and what it means for us, the more we will be assured of His absolute devotion to protecting us.

03 Who was also with the Israelites? Describe what was happening.

The end of the story is the protection of Israel through God’s powerful authority over nature itself. God splits the Red Sea in half and creates a passageway of safety for His people to find rescue and deliverance.

As one Old Testament scholar has said, “Israel’s escape route became a classroom for them, a period of testing in time and space that shaped the people Yahweh was making.”1

Read Exodus 14:15–18.

04 Scripture demonstrates that sometimes God allows trials in order to reveal His power. Why would God work this way?

The experience at the Red Sea was a formative experience, helping the people of God better understand and live out trust in their Creator.

When we think about Jesus there are so many connections back to the Red Sea. The Israelites faced the Red Sea which was a sign/symbol of death, chaos, and disorder. Jesus faced the cross, a sign/symbol of death. The Israelites had to go through the Red Sea. Jesus had to go through the cross. On the other side of the Red Sea was the promised land for the Israelites. Jesus victory over sin and death brings the promise of the new heavens and new earth to those of us that put our trust and faith in Christ.

The more we remember what Jesus has done for us and what it means for us, the more we will be assured of His absolute devotion to protecting us.

Every moment we are with God, we are with His protection whether we realize it or not. And part of that protection, if we will trust Him and stay with Him, is how He will form us and shape us through what we experience.

05 Read 1 Corinthians 15:49. What is the goal of all of this shaping and forming?

The more we are shaped and formed to be like Jesus, the more we will be confident in God’s protection. But even more than being confident, with Jesus we can have unexplainable peace in the process. Philippians 4:7 reminds us of this truth:

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

As we conclude today, let’s turn to one more story involving another sea. In this New Testament story, found in Mark 4, Jesus is asleep on a boat in the middle of a storm on the Sea of Galilee. This is the type of storm that would put true fear in even the most seasoned sailors. In a moment of desperation, the disciples cry out to Jesus to provide protection for them. Jesus simply wakes up, rebukes the wind, and tells the sea to be still.

Simply the presence of Jesus and the voice of Jesus in the midst of the storm establishes peace. Where Jesus is present, peace is possible.

This doesn’t mean there won’t be storms, trials, tribulations, and hardships. Certainly the children of Israel and Moses experienced these. The disciples in the New Testament experienced these. And we will, too. But we are never left alone He is with us. With Jesus, even when our circumstances don’t feel peaceful, we can choose to do things His way and, in doing so, have peace that passes all understanding.

And in the end, if we will just remember to reflect on the many ways we’ve seen God move in our past and the peace available to us in the present, we can know we are being protected.

1 Eugene Carpenter, Exodus, ed. H. Wayne House and William D. Barrick, vol. 1, Evangelical Exegetical Commentary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), 503.

Excerpted from 30 Days with Jesus by Lysa TerKeurst and Joel Muddamalle, copyright Lysa TerKeurst and Dr. Joel Muddamalle.

Peace and calm are hard to claim and keep. Our natural human tendencies are to fear, be agitated, be angry, to fight or run. But being a believer and follower of Christ brings truth and understanding of who He is and who we are in Him… bringing true peace and calm to our fragile hearts. Let us give everything in life to Jesus knowing that He is in control and is allowing all circumstances to lead, guide, and direct us closer to Himself.

Phil 4:7

And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith September 26, 2023

Notes of Faith September 26, 2023

Shout to the Lord

The Bible contains promises for every problem and a word of assurance for every need. When faced with anger or anxiety, we can always find a word from God to nudge us onward and upward — if only we’ll open His Book. That’s what Darlene Zschech did one dark day in 1993.

Darlene was born in 1965 in Brisbane, Australia, and she grew up singing. When she was about fifteen, her father, who had recently given his life to Christ, enrolled her in a Christian scouting program; and through that program she received Jesus Christ as her Savior.

Years later, one day in 1993, Darlene faced a daunting and discouraging personal problem. In her heaviness, she entered the study of her home and sat at the old and out-of-tune piano her parents had given her when she was five. Opening her Bible, she started reading Psalm 96.

As Darlene meditated on that psalm, her fingers pressed the keys of the piano, and the music and words began to flow. In about twenty minutes the song was done. For several days she sang it to herself as the truths of the song ministered to her own heart. She had not previously called herself a songwriter, so Darlene was reluctant to share it with anyone. But mustering her courage, she finally asked the music pastor at her church to listen to it. She was so nervous she kept stopping and apologizing. She even asked him to stand over by the wall and turn away from her while she sang it.

He assured her the song was wonderful, and shortly afterward they sang “Shout to the Lord” during the offering at church. The congregation took to it quickly, standing and joining in the song, though the words hadn’t been prepared for bulletin or screen. Darlene’s pastor, Brian Houston, predicted it would be sung around the world.

And so it has.

Sing to the Lord a new song.

Sing to the Lord a new song;

sing to the Lord, all the earth.

Sing to the Lord, praise His name;

proclaim His salvation day after day. — Psalm 96:1-2 NIV

Darlene Zschech wrote “Shout to the Lord” while feeling discouraged and sad. How does singing it make you feel?

The psalms inspired Zschech’s lyrics, especially Psalm 96. What does Psalm 100:1 say?

Consider this line: “All of my days / I want to praise.” Desire (“want”) often determines whether or not we praise God. What happens when you don’t really want to, but you do it anyway?

What does Philippians 2:9-11 say about the sound of the name of Jesus?

Give ear to my words, O Lord,

Consider my meditation.

Harken unto the voice of my cry,

My King and my God,

For unto You I will pray.

My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning,

O Lord; In the morning will I direct my prayer,

Unto You, and will look up.

Amen.

— Psalm 5:1-3 NKJV

Excerpted from Then Sings My Soul Prayer Journal by Robert Morgan, copyright Robert J. Morgan.

Music has always lifted my heart, but singing truth about God, worshipping God, lifts even my downcast soul to the heights of heaven. Can’t sing? Make a joyful noise to the Lord (Ps. 81, 95, 98, 100) God inhabits the praises of His people!

Praise the Lord for He is good all the time!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith September 25, 2023

Notes of Faith September 25, 2023

The Physicality of Faithful Worship

Why We Bend Knees and Lift Hands

Article by Bob Kauflin

Pastor, Louisville, Kentucky

Whether you lift your hands high on Sunday mornings or keep them below your waistline, God gives us at least three reasons why it’s important to display the worth of Christ with our bodies.

1. It Matters to God

Think about it. God created us as embodied souls, not bodiless spirits (Genesis 2:7). In the new heavens and earth, we won’t lose our arms, legs, feet, hands, and torsos. They will be glorified (Philippians 3:20–21). And until we enjoy that future, Scripture encourages and models a whole-being response to God’s greatness with the bodies we have.

My heart is steadfast, O God! I will sing and make melody with all my being! (Psalm 108:1)

My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have redeemed. (Psalm 71:23)

I appeal to you . . . brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Romans 12:1)

God repeatedly connects the thoughts of our hearts with the movement of our bodies. Of course, physical expressions aren’t the whole story. Lifted hands can be a mindless act or a shallow attempt to impress others with our spirituality (Matthew 6:2). We can jump around as a way to feed our emotions and “feel” God’s presence. And Jesus rebuked those who honored him with their lips while their hearts were far from him (Matthew 15:8).

Yes, physical expressiveness can be abused or misleading. But God still intends our bodies to respond to him in worship. From Genesis to Revelation, God’s creatures respond to his worthiness in external ways. They sing. They clap. They shout. They dance. They bow their heads. They kneel. They stand in awe. And yes, at times they even raise their hands. And God receives glory when they do.

Of course, bodily expression isn’t always possible. A woman in our church in the latter stages of ALS recently shared (through her daughter) how she is losing her ability to speak and move. But nothing keeps her from worshiping God with everything she has. She can’t sing, but she worships as others raise their voices. She can’t lift her hands anymore, but she rejoices as others do.

Jesus said we are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30). As much as we’re able, that love is meant to be shown in and through our bodies.

2. It Matters to Others

God receives glory when we respond to his greatness with outward expressions of praise and dependence. But those responses send a message to those around us as well.

A Sunday morning visitor surrounded by church members mumbling lyrics or standing stoically with folded arms might have a hard time grasping that Jesus is a glorious Savior. Of course, the Holy Spirit can use lyrics alone to magnify Christ in someone’s heart. But the satisfying goodness of Jesus isn’t something we merely sing about. Our body language communicates to others our gratitude for who God is and what he’s done — or the absence of it. After all, “those who look to him are radiant” (Psalm 34:5).

God created us to be affected by what affects others. When people see my face instantly light up the moment my wife, Julie, walks into the room, they understand that I value her presence. They’ll be drawn to share in my joy and appreciation, even if they don’t know her well.

In a similar way, David says praising God with a new song will cause many to “see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord” (Psalm 40:3). Do people have the opportunity to “see and fear” as a result of observing us on Sunday mornings? Do our actions reveal that God has drawn us up from the pit of destruction and set our feet upon the rock of Jesus Christ (Psalm 40:2)? Could we be missing an opportunity to use our hands, arms, faces, and bodies to communicate that God is really present among us and that we’re amazed, humbled, and grateful?

3. It Matters to Us

Our bodily movements function in two different ways. First, they express outwardly an inward emotion or thought. Soccer fans jump to their feet and cheer when their team scores the winning goal. Parents clap and smile when their daughter takes her first step. Pro golfers raise their hands in jubilation after sinking the winning putt. A husband-to-be bends down on one knee as he prepares to place a ring on his future wife’s finger.

Why do we do these things? Because words alone aren’t enough. God gave us bodies to deepen and amplify what we think and feel. No one teaches us these bodily movements directly (although we learn a great deal through observation). Throughout the world, in all cultures, people respond outwardly to communicate what takes place inside of them.

“God is worthy of our deepest, strongest, and purest affections — and he intended our bodies to show it.”

But physical expressions function in a second way. They encourage us toward what we should think and feel. They help train our hearts in what is true, good, and beautiful. That’s one reason some churches’ liturgical practices include standing, sitting, and kneeling together.

In his commentary on Acts 20:36, pastor-theologian John Calvin elaborated on why Paul knelt to pray as he bid farewell to the Ephesian elders. His comments are as relevant in the twenty-first century as they were in the sixteenth.

The inward attitude certainly holds first place in prayer, but outward signs, kneeling, uncovering the head, lifting up the hands, have a twofold use. The first is that we may employ all our members for the glory and worship of God; secondly, that we are, so to speak, jolted out of our laziness by this help. There is also a third use in solemn and public prayer, because in this way the sons of God profess their piety, and they inflame each other with reverence of God. But just as the lifting up of the hands is a symbol of confidence and longing, so in order to show our humility, we fall down on our knees. (Calvin’s Commentaries, vol. 19, trans. Henry Beveridge [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996], at Acts 20:36)

Calvin highlights three reasons physical expressions matter in our relationship with God (similar to the three reasons in this article). First, God receives glory through our entire being, rather than just a part of us. Second, physical expressions assist us when our affections don’t align with the truths we proclaim and cherish. Third, they inspire reverence in others.

I want to draw attention to the second point here. Sometimes we need to be “jolted out of our laziness.” Occasionally on a Sunday morning, I feel disconnected from what’s taking place. I find my thoughts and affections wandering or dull. In those moments, I have knelt down or raised my hands to acknowledge that God is God, and I am not, and that he alone is worthy of my reverence, obedience, and worship. Eventually, those actions help draw my heart to appreciate more deeply what I’m singing or hearing. I’ve done the same when I’ve been alone. In both cases, my body trains my heart to recognize what is real, what is true, what matters.

Eternal, Embodied Worship

Our bodies are a gift from God that he intends for us to use for his glory, the good of those around us, and our joy. He is worthy of our deepest, strongest, and purest affections — and he intended our bodies to show it.

Obviously, we only have space here to cover a few basic principles and expressions. I’m confident discussions about the physicality of worship in the gathered church will continue and bear fruit until Jesus finally returns. But then the discussions will cease. With every fiber of our being — every thought of our minds, every word of our lips, every act of our glorified bodies — we will endlessly worship the triune God who redeemed us.

What keeps us from starting now?

I grew up in churches that never seemed to involve the body other than singing or perhaps folding hands in prayer. I always wanted to respond in a more animated way…to kneel or fall prostrate, jump with joy, laugh, sing with raised hands, even dance during the worship music. It seems that I grew up in churches very much afraid of appearing “Charismatic” an outward show for others to see but without a true heart experience. What I read in my Bible shows a lot of physical response to the glory of God not intended for show but real faith and hope in God. Let’s not be afraid to express ourselves physically to God and God alone while worshipping with others in our churches!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith September 24, 2023

Notes of Faith September 24, 2023

Husband

ISH ִאישַׁ

Ish is the Hebrew word for “husband” in Hosea 2:2, 16. The word ba’al in the Hebrew Scriptures can also be translated “husband” (as well as “lord,” “owner,” or “master”), though this term usually refers to the Canaanite fertility god Baal (ba’al does occur in Hosea 2:16, “master”). Remarkably, in Isaiah and Jeremiah, this word is also used to describe God as the husband of His people, Israel. Though we never pray to ba’al, we do pray to the God who is the ideal husband, the one who provides for and protects His people and who refuses to divorce us no matter how unfaithful we may be. In the New Testament Jesus is presented as the bridegroom and the church as his bride.

“On that day she will call me her Ish,” declares Yahweh.

“She will no longer call me her master.

— Hosea 2:16

GOD REVEALS HIS NAME IN SCRIPTURE

HOSEA 1; 2:5–7, 16, 19–20; 3:1

Open your personal Bible translation and read the same passage. Make note where God calls Himself ISH.

2When Yahweh first spoke to Hosea, Yahweh told him, “Marry a prostitute, and have children with that prostitute. The people in this land have acted like prostitutes and abandoned Yahweh.”

She said, ‘I’ll chase after my lovers. They will give me food and water, wool and linen, olive oil and wine.’

“That is why I will block her way with thornbushes and build a wall so that she can’t get through.

She will run after her lovers, but she won’t catch them. She will search for them, but she won’t find them. Then she will say, ‘I’ll go back to my first husband.

Things were better for me than they are now.’

“On that day she will call me her Ish,” declares Yahweh. “She will no longer call me her master.

“Israel, I will make you my wife forever. I will be honest and faithful to you. I will show you my love and compassion.

20I will be true to you, my wife. Then you will know Yahweh.”

Then Yahweh told me, “Love your wife again, even though she is loved by others and has committed adultery. Love her as I, Yahweh, love the Israelites, even though they have turned to other gods.

Understanding the Name

God’s passionate love for Israel is reflected in the Hebrew word Ish (EESH), meaning “husband.” When it is applied to God in the Hebrew Scriptures, it symbolizes the ideal relationship between God and Israel. God is the perfect husband — loving, forgiving, and faithful, providing for and protecting His people. This metaphor of monogamous marriage between God and His people is strengthened in the New Testament, which reveals Jesus as the loving, sacrificial bridegroom of the church. Our destiny, our greatest purpose as God’s people, is to become His bride.

God’s passionate love for Israel is reflected in the Hebrew word Ish (EESH), meaning “husband.”

Connecting to the Name

1. Why would God tell Hosea to marry a woman who would break his heart and make a fool of him?

2. Put yourself in Hosea’s place and imagine what you would feel like if your spouse were a prostitute or a philanderer. Now think about how God feels when His people stray from Him. How do you think God responds to unfaithfulness?

3. What kind of love is expressed in these verses?

4. What encouragement for your own life can you take from the story of Hosea and Gomer?

5. What encouragement can you take for the church?

6. Have you settled for a relationship that keeps God at arm’s length? In what ways could you lower your guard and start responding to Him, believing that He is your ideal husband?

Praying A PASSAGE with God’s Name

Praise God because He has revealed Himself as a husband of unlimited compassion. Focus on the name Ish, Husband, as you read Isaiah 54:5–7.

Your husband is your maker...

“Yahweh has called you as if you were

a wife who was abandoned and in grief,

a wife who married young and was rejected,” says your Elohim.

“I abandoned you for one brief moment,

but I will bring you back with unlimited compassion.

PRAYING THE NAME ISH FOR MYSELF

Look up and read: Hosea 2:16

Warnings against idol worship can be found throughout Scripture. It’s easy to think of idols as foreign objects, and ones that could be easily recognized. But, just by looking at the history of the Israelites, it seems like idols have always been insidious in nature, ready to slip into our lives without our notice. Humble yourself before God, your Ish, and ask Him to show you if there are any idols present in your life.

Promises from Ish

“Israel, I will make you my wife forever.

I will be honest and faithful to you.

I will show you My love and compassion.

— Hosea 2:19

Then I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven, dressed like a bride ready for her husband.

— Revelation 21:2

FOR DEEPER STUDY

Read the following passages, considering the name ISH and how its meaning relates to the context of the passage.

Song 8:6-7

6 Set me as a seal upon your heart,

as a seal upon your arm,

for love is strong as death,

jealousy is fierce as the grave.

Its flashes are flashes of fire,

the very flame of the Lord.

7 Many waters cannot quench love,

neither can floods drown it.

If a man offered for love

all the wealth of his house,

he would be utterly despised.

ESV

Isa 62:4-5

4 You shall no more be termed Forsaken,

and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,

but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,

and your land Married;

for the Lord delights in you,

and your land shall be married.

5 For as a young man marries a young woman,

so shall your sons marry you,

and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,

so shall your God rejoice over you.

ESV

Jer 3:14

14 Return, O faithless children,

declares the Lord;

for I am your master;

I will take you, one from a city and two from a family,

and I will bring you to Zion.

ESV

Jer 3:20

20 Surely, as a treacherous wife leaves her husband,

so have you been treacherous to me, O house of Israel,

declares the Lord.'"

ESV

Eph 5:25-30

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. 28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of His body.

NASU

Excerpted from Praying the Names of God for 52 Weeks by Ann Spangler, copyright Ann Spangler.

We have a perfect Father/Husband! God created and loves us with a perfect love even when we do not return that love to Him. Let us remember the love of God and live in our ideal and perfect relationship that He created us for.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith September 23, 2023

Notes of Faith September 23, 2023

Ladders from Heaven

God Never Gives Up on You

Gen 28:10-17

10 Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 He came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place. 12 He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, "I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. 14 "Your descendants will also be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 "Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it." 17 He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

You’ve had, or will have, moments of deep despair. You’ve had, or will have, hours in which your eyes weep a river, and your heart breaks into a thousand pieces. You’ve had, or will have, journeys through dry, barren stretches that will leave you exhausted and isolated.

You will feel stripped of all you cherish. You will look around and see no one to comfort you. You will search for strength, but you will search in vain, for strength will not come.

Yet in that desolate moment as you sit near the headstone and cry, on the barstool and drink, or in your bedroom and sigh, God will meet you. You will sense and see Him as never before.

Do not begrudge the barren stretches, for in the barrenness we encounter God.

We find the presence of God. Jacob did. And no one was more surprised than he.

In one fell swoop he’d tricked his brother and aging father. Rebekah, the mom of the twins, saw Esau’s rage and raced to warn Jacob. “He’s got that look in his eyes. Don’t pack a bag. Don’t grab a cloak. Don’t stop running and don’t look back.” She told him to hightail it to the land of her brother Laban and to stay there while Esau cooled down.

Jacob did exactly that. He grabbed a waterskin and filled a sack with figs and fruit and, with one final glance at his mother, mounted a camel and left. He set out from Beersheba to go to Mesopotamia (modern-day Turkey): 550 miles.1

Life was in free fall. Jacob left behind a weeping mother, a seething brother, and an aging, angry father. He had no herds. No servants to serve him. No guards to protect him. No cooks to prepare food for him. No companions. No resources.

Nada.

Jacob was raised in Fortune 500 wealth, surrounded by servants, shepherds, and slaves. His grandfather was “rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold” (Genesis 13:2). Abraham and his nephew Lot were so blessed that “the land was not able to support them... their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together” (Genesis 13:6). This affluence was passed down to Abraham’s son.

[Isaac] began to prosper, and continued prospering until he became very prosperous; for he had possessions of flocks and possessions of herds and a great number of servants. — Genesis 26:13–14

Jacob was the grandson of a baron. The son of an aristocrat. Had he lived today, he would have been raised in a mansion, pampered by servants, and educated in the finest schools. He had everything he needed. And then, from one moment to the next, he had nothing. He ran for his life, suddenly and utterly alone.

In the first two days he traveled forty-three miles from Beersheba to Bethel, a barren moorland that lay about eleven miles north of Jerusalem.2 The land through which he hiked was scorched and strewn with rocks, bleak like wasteland.

On the evening of the second day, as the sun set over a village called Luz, he stopped for the night. He did not enter the city. Perhaps its occupants were dangerous people. Perhaps Jacob was insecure. Why he stopped short of Luz is not revealed. What we are told is this:

He took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. — Genesis 28:11

Without so much as a bedroll for his head, he was the Bronze Age version of the prodigal son. The desert was his pigpen. But the prodigal in the parable did something Jacob did not do. “[He] came to himself” (Luke 15:17). He snapped to his senses. He looked at the pigs he was feeding, considered the life he was leading, and determined, “I will arise and go to my father” (Luke 15:18).

Jacob showed no such initiative. He made no resolve, displayed no conviction of sin, showed no remorse. Jacob did not pray, as did Jonah, or weep, as did Peter. In fact, Jacob’s lack of repentance is what makes the next scene one of the great stories of grace in the Bible.

Daylight dulled to gold. The sun slid low like a half-lidded eye. Orange gave way to ebony. Stars began to flicker. Jacob dozed, and in a dream he saw:

A ladder resting on the earth and reaching up into Heaven, and he saw angels of God going up and coming down the ladder. Then Jacob saw the Lord standing above the ladder. — Genesis 28:12–13 NCV

A ziggurat spanned the distance between Jacob’s barren, borrowed bed of dirt and Heaven’s highest, holiest dwelling. The stairway was aflurry with activity: angels ascending, angels descending. Their moving was a rush of lights, back and forth, up and down. The Hebrew wording of Jacob’s response implies raised arms and open mouth. A direct translation would be

There, a ladder! Oh, angels! And look, the Lord Himself! — Genesis 28:16, emphasis added3

When Jacob awoke, he realized that he was not alone. He’d felt alone. He’d assumed he was alone. He appeared to be alone. But he was surrounded by august citizens of heaven!

So are we.

Millions of mighty spiritual beings walk on earth around us. More than eighty thousand angels stood ready to come to the aid of Christ.4 Scripture speaks of “countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering” (Hebrews 12:22 NLT). When John, the apostle, caught a glimpse of Heaven, he saw “ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands” (Revelation 5:11). Can you do the math on that statement? Nor can I.

Angels are to Heaven what stars are to the night sky. Too many to count!

What is their task?

All the angels are spirits who serve God and are sent to help those who will receive salvation. — Hebrews 1:14 NCV

There is never an airplane on which you travel or a classroom into which you enter that you are not preceded and surrounded by God’s mighty servants.

He has put His angels in charge of you to watch over you wherever you go. — Psalm 91:11 NCV

God Never Gives Up On You

Sheila Walsh experienced the promise of the passage. At the age of thirty-four she admitted herself into a psychiatric hospital. One would not have suspected any cause for concern. Just the day prior she had cohosted a well-watched national television broadcast. Yet a storm raged within.

Eventually Sheila would be diagnosed as a victim of depression and PTSD. But on the first night no one knew what was wrong. The hospital staff placed her on suicide watch. Sheila had every reason to feel all alone. But she wasn’t.

In the early-morning hours of day two, Sheila noticed that another person had entered her room. She had been sitting for hours with her head buried in her lap. Upon sensing the presence of the visitor, she lifted her gaze. The visitor was part of the suicide watch, she assumed. But something was different. He was a strong man with tender eyes. As her mind tried to process who he might be, the man placed something in her hands — a small stuffed toy: a lamb. He told her, “Sheila, the Shepherd knows where to find you.” And with that her guest was gone.

God had sent an angel to her.

Around six that morning Sheila awoke to the sound of orderlies entering her room. She had fallen asleep on the floor. There at the foot of her folding chair was the lamb the man had delivered hours before.5

Jacob was not given a lamb, but he was given Heaven’s comfort. The message of the vision could not be clearer: when we are at our lowest, God is watching over us from the highest. Between us stretches a conduit of grace upon which messengers carry out His will.

These angels convey our prayers into God’s presence. In the apostle John’s vision, he saw an

Angel, carrying a gold censer, [who] came and stood at the Altar. He was given a great quantity of incense so that he could offer up the prayers of all the holy people of God on the Golden Altar before the Throne. — Revelation 8:3–4 The Message

As God hears our petitions, He responds with thunder!

Then the Angel filled the censer with fire from the Altar and heaved it to earth. It set off thunders, voices, lightnings, and an earthquake. — Revelation 8:5 The Message

Our prayers have a thermostatic impact upon the actions of Heaven.

Mothers, when you pray for your child...

Husbands, when you ask for healing in your marriage...

Children, when you kneel at your bed before going to sleep...

Citizens, when you pray for your country...

Pastors, when you pray for the members of your church...

Your prayers trigger the ascension of angels and the downpour of power!

Jacob saw heavenly activity. One might well wonder why God would pull back the veil and show Jacob the hosts that surrounded him. After all, Jacob had not sought God. Yet what Jacob saw scarcely compares with what Jacob heard. You’d expect a lecture, a holy scolding. But God gave Jacob something altogether different. God told Jacob that he would make him and his descendants a great people who would cover the earth. Despite Jacob’s deception and shortcuts, God repeated to him the blessing he gave Abraham and Isaac:

I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you. — Genesis 28:15 NIV

The fugitive had not been abandoned. The trickster had not been cast aside. God committed Himself to the lifelong care of Jacob.

Again we might wonder why. Had Jacob done anything to show he was worthy of the blessing? No. Jacob had done nothing but slimy stuff thus far. He leaked integrity like a sieve. He played his brother like a two-dollar fiddle. He worked the system like a riverboat gambler. There is, thus far, not one mention of Jacob in prayer, Jacob in faith, or Jacob in earnest pursuit of God.

Even so, God drenched His undeserving fugitive with a Niagara of unexpected kindness.

God did not turn away from one who had turned away from Him. He was faithful. He still is.

If we are faithless, He remains faithful. — 2 Timothy 2:13 NIV

John H. Walton, Genesis: The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), 570.

Donald Grey Barnhouse, Genesis: A Devotional Exposition (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1971), 2:83.

Kent Hughes, Genesis: Beginning and Blessing (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2004), 359.

“Do you suppose that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will immediately provide Me with more than twelve legions [more than 80,000] of angels?” (Matt. 26:53 ampc).

Adapted from Jack Graham, Angels: Who They Are, What They Do, and Why It Matters (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2016), 111–12.

Excerpted from God Never Gives Up on You by Max Lucado, copyright Max Lucado.

Heb 1:14

14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?

Those guardian angels your mother told you about are real and do serve the Lord Jesus Christ for your sake. God is faithful and sends His servants to minister to our every need!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith September 22, 2023

Notes of Faith September 22, 2023

Sorry, yesterday’s Notes of Faith were late…I had a medical procedure (not life-threatening) that made me hungry and tired afterward and so posted late on the 21st. But you are getting a 2fer, since I am send you the 22nd early. I have a ministry breakfast meeting at 6:30 am tomorrow. Please enjoy this early…

Attack at Dawn

The Spiritual War Against Ordinary Devotions

Article by David Mathis

Executive Editor, desiringGod.org

Every morning summons us to a feast. With each new day, the inviting voice of Isaiah 55 beckons, “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. . . . Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food”

(Isaiah 55:1–2).

So, with the Book in hand, we turn Godward with the parched and famished soul of Psalm 63, acknowledging our need and anticipating his banquet: “My soul thirsts for you. . . . My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food” (Psalm 63:1, 5). In Christ, we come to God, through his word, as those who thirst come to water, to receive wine and milk without cost (Isaiah 55:1), as those who hunger to be satisfied with true bread.

Each new morning dawns with divine mercies to quench our thirst and satiate our souls.

Ideally, this is the main feel of morning meditation in God’s word: feeding, eating, drinking, being satisfied. Not the feel of battle and combat, but of feasting. But mark this: as sinners, in a cursed world, with a real enemy — to keep feeding, we also must fight.

Ordinary devotions are nothing less than war.

Devil Rises Early

“Did God actually say . . . ?”

From that very first temptation, the enemy has set his sights on the words of God. If we’ve already heard them, he’ll question them. But even better, he knows, would be to keep us from hearing God in the first place.

The devil and his team know how powerful are the words of God, and how vital they are for our life and health. They know the devastating power of ordinary Bible intake. They know the power of fire to warm coals, and the power of God’s word to feed saving faith and keep believing hearts soft. They know, and tremble at, the explosive, world-altering force of faithful Christians sitting down morning by morning — without fireworks or theatrics or applause — to the quiet glory of ordinary devotions.

So, the devils will do whatever they can to disrupt the morning feast. They launch their campaign under the cloak of darkness, and attack at dawn. But we are not left to be outwitted by their schemes, ignorant of satanic designs (2 Corinthians 2:11). The devil may prowl like a roaring lion, seeking to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Yet with sober-mindedness and watchfulness, we can observe, and reinforce, his likely points of attack.

Three Assaults on Bible Intake

Consider, then, how our enemy often leverages the patterns of our world, with the sins and weaknesses of our own flesh, to plot against the ordinary, quiet, unhurried, early-morning feeding of our souls in the word of God.

1. Keep Them Up Late

The campaign begins the night before, at dusk: keep them up too late. It could be a sleepless child. It could be some tangible, late-breaking need, requiring an act of love. It could be analog human conversation or a late-night event. All the old stuff. But these days, machines are now doing a good bit of the work. Our many screens — from big ones on the walls to the little ones in our pockets — are very efficient at burning the midnight oil.

The spiritual war for ordinary devotions begins long before the sun comes up. The sober-minded and watchful observe it, and act with wisdom — ready to sacrifice the good of sleep in the call of Christian love, and eager not to squander God’s gift for the follies of late-night bingeing and scrolling. One bad habit can knock other good ones out of sync. The enemy would have us be blinded to the cascading effects of empty late nights.

2. Distract Them

If we do retire at an actual human hour, not all is lost for the enemy: distract them in the morning. Which can be quick work.

In one sense, it’s always been easy. Even in the mid-seventeenth century, Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) lamented our universal proneness to distraction: “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” We don’t need endless news and the Internet to sidetrack our attention — yet now we have them and, oh, how susceptible we can be. The smartphone, its notifications, and infinite scrolls are particularly ensnaring.

3. Make Them Rush

A third enemy scheme is hurry. The devil would have the motor of our souls run at the same RPMs first thing in the morning as it does the rest of the day. He would have us move at the world’s pace, rather than the Word’s. He would even happily have us try to do too much in morning devotions, so that we do it all too quickly.

As columnist Thomas Friedman has written, we find ourselves living in an “age of accelerations.” Our world pressures us and conditions us to adopt its pace, and we are prone to internalize its speed as our own — and bring the rat race with us when we come to God’s word.

But the morning feast of Bible meditation is not fast food, and not to be treated as such.

Three Attacks on Temptation

How, then, might we combat the devil’s schemes? It’s one thing to anticipate how the demons will attack; it’s another to act on that knowledge. What will you do to thwart the evil forces set against daily Bible reading and meditation?

1. Handle Screens with Care

Among other practical strategies, we might learn to handle our screens with special care. Think how much less prone to morning distraction you might be if you kept the phone silenced, upside down, and further away than arm’s length. Or even better, in another room.

For our souls to start the day feasting on God, we need not only to make time, and be realistic about what we have, but also to guard it by getting to bed, getting up, and avoiding morning diversions. Both the night before and morning of, screens and their content, with their glittering pixels, are great distractors of souls.

For many of us in modern life, we can hardly avoid them. We work at them and use them for our jobs. We spend a shocking amount of our days and weeks on them, much of it for good. But exercising particular caution with our screens after dark, and before meeting with God in his word, is becoming the greater part of modern Christian wisdom.

You might also consider going old school with a paper Bible. Those do not ring, vibrate, or notify. And paper actually helps a reader slow down and experience “the precious milliseconds of deep reading processes.”

2. Gather a Day’s Portion

A glorious simplicity accompanies “ordinary devotions,” the kind that feed and sustain souls for a lifetime. Admirable as it may be to try to read this book and that commentary, and study these topics, and memorize those verses, and even pray long lists — and all that in addition to reading and meditating on God’s word — trying to do too much in the morning will undermine the rest and feast of being in God’s presence and enjoying him, and his Son, through his word.

One way to put it: seek simply to gather a day’s portion each morning. Like God’s people, collecting manna each day in the wilderness, aim to feed your heart’s hunger and quench your soul’s thirst for just that day. No need to catch up from yesterday’s missed readings, or try to get ahead to store up for tomorrow or next week. God will take care of tomorrow. Rather, come to eat and drink and be satisfied today. In other words, don’t bite off more than you can chew. Don’t try to do too much, but cultivate a faithful realism for the long haul.

3. Chew Your Food Slowly

Finally, save your hustle for the rest of the day. Slow down, if you’re still able. It may take some time to learn how. Seek to chew your food slowly and enjoy it. Such savoring in the moment also helps us to carry it with us into the ups and downs, and pressures and accelerations, of the day.

The biblical image of meditation dovetails with the feasting pictures of Isaiah 55 and Psalm 63. Hebrew meditation is like an animal chewing the cud. I’m no farmer, but the few cows I’ve observed doing this did not seem to be in any sort of hurry. If you’re going to be like a cow, be it first thing in the morning as you chew slowly, unhurriedly, even leisurely, on the words of God in Scripture.

Ancient books in general, and the Bible in particular, were not meant to be read with speed, like we today have been conditioned to read (that is, skim). Learn a whole new gear for Bible reading. Read slowly, and reread. Seek to enjoy God and his world and his glory and his Son. Don’t swallow too quickly and move on, but chew slowly and savor his grace.

War is not the main mindset for early mornings. Come to God’s word to feast and be satisfied. But know this is nothing less than battle. Consider the devil’s common schemes, and fight to guard the feast.

Eph 6:12-14

12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

Join me in the Lord’s army and watch Him do all that is necessary to lead us to victory and eternal life!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith September 22, 2023

Notes of Faith September 22, 2023

Sorry, yesterday’s Notes of Faith were late…I had a medical procedure (not life-threatening) that made me hungry and tired afterward and so posted late on the 21st. But you are getting a 2fer, since I am send you the 22nd early. I have a ministry breakfast meeting at 6:30 am tomorrow. Please enjoy this early…

Attack at Dawn

The Spiritual War Against Ordinary Devotions

Article by David Mathis

Executive Editor, desiringGod.org

Every morning summons us to a feast. With each new day, the inviting voice of Isaiah 55 beckons, “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. . . . Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food”

(Isaiah 55:1–2).

So, with the Book in hand, we turn Godward with the parched and famished soul of Psalm 63, acknowledging our need and anticipating his banquet: “My soul thirsts for you. . . . My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food” (Psalm 63:1, 5). In Christ, we come to God, through his word, as those who thirst come to water, to receive wine and milk without cost (Isaiah 55:1), as those who hunger to be satisfied with true bread.

Each new morning dawns with divine mercies to quench our thirst and satiate our souls.

Ideally, this is the main feel of morning meditation in God’s word: feeding, eating, drinking, being satisfied. Not the feel of battle and combat, but of feasting. But mark this: as sinners, in a cursed world, with a real enemy — to keep feeding, we also must fight.

Ordinary devotions are nothing less than war.

Devil Rises Early

“Did God actually say . . . ?”

From that very first temptation, the enemy has set his sights on the words of God. If we’ve already heard them, he’ll question them. But even better, he knows, would be to keep us from hearing God in the first place.

The devil and his team know how powerful are the words of God, and how vital they are for our life and health. They know the devastating power of ordinary Bible intake. They know the power of fire to warm coals, and the power of God’s word to feed saving faith and keep believing hearts soft. They know, and tremble at, the explosive, world-altering force of faithful Christians sitting down morning by morning — without fireworks or theatrics or applause — to the quiet glory of ordinary devotions.

So, the devils will do whatever they can to disrupt the morning feast. They launch their campaign under the cloak of darkness, and attack at dawn. But we are not left to be outwitted by their schemes, ignorant of satanic designs (2 Corinthians 2:11). The devil may prowl like a roaring lion, seeking to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Yet with sober-mindedness and watchfulness, we can observe, and reinforce, his likely points of attack.

Three Assaults on Bible Intake

Consider, then, how our enemy often leverages the patterns of our world, with the sins and weaknesses of our own flesh, to plot against the ordinary, quiet, unhurried, early-morning feeding of our souls in the word of God.

1. Keep Them Up Late

The campaign begins the night before, at dusk: keep them up too late. It could be a sleepless child. It could be some tangible, late-breaking need, requiring an act of love. It could be analog human conversation or a late-night event. All the old stuff. But these days, machines are now doing a good bit of the work. Our many screens — from big ones on the walls to the little ones in our pockets — are very efficient at burning the midnight oil.

The spiritual war for ordinary devotions begins long before the sun comes up. The sober-minded and watchful observe it, and act with wisdom — ready to sacrifice the good of sleep in the call of Christian love, and eager not to squander God’s gift for the follies of late-night bingeing and scrolling. One bad habit can knock other good ones out of sync. The enemy would have us be blinded to the cascading effects of empty late nights.

2. Distract Them

If we do retire at an actual human hour, not all is lost for the enemy: distract them in the morning. Which can be quick work.

In one sense, it’s always been easy. Even in the mid-seventeenth century, Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) lamented our universal proneness to distraction: “All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” We don’t need endless news and the Internet to sidetrack our attention — yet now we have them and, oh, how susceptible we can be. The smartphone, its notifications, and infinite scrolls are particularly ensnaring.

3. Make Them Rush

A third enemy scheme is hurry. The devil would have the motor of our souls run at the same RPMs first thing in the morning as it does the rest of the day. He would have us move at the world’s pace, rather than the Word’s. He would even happily have us try to do too much in morning devotions, so that we do it all too quickly.

As columnist Thomas Friedman has written, we find ourselves living in an “age of accelerations.” Our world pressures us and conditions us to adopt its pace, and we are prone to internalize its speed as our own — and bring the rat race with us when we come to God’s word.

But the morning feast of Bible meditation is not fast food, and not to be treated as such.

Three Attacks on Temptation

How, then, might we combat the devil’s schemes? It’s one thing to anticipate how the demons will attack; it’s another to act on that knowledge. What will you do to thwart the evil forces set against daily Bible reading and meditation?

1. Handle Screens with Care

Among other practical strategies, we might learn to handle our screens with special care. Think how much less prone to morning distraction you might be if you kept the phone silenced, upside down, and further away than arm’s length. Or even better, in another room.

For our souls to start the day feasting on God, we need not only to make time, and be realistic about what we have, but also to guard it by getting to bed, getting up, and avoiding morning diversions. Both the night before and morning of, screens and their content, with their glittering pixels, are great distractors of souls.

For many of us in modern life, we can hardly avoid them. We work at them and use them for our jobs. We spend a shocking amount of our days and weeks on them, much of it for good. But exercising particular caution with our screens after dark, and before meeting with God in his word, is becoming the greater part of modern Christian wisdom.

You might also consider going old school with a paper Bible. Those do not ring, vibrate, or notify. And paper actually helps a reader slow down and experience “the precious milliseconds of deep reading processes.”

2. Gather a Day’s Portion

A glorious simplicity accompanies “ordinary devotions,” the kind that feed and sustain souls for a lifetime. Admirable as it may be to try to read this book and that commentary, and study these topics, and memorize those verses, and even pray long lists — and all that in addition to reading and meditating on God’s word — trying to do too much in the morning will undermine the rest and feast of being in God’s presence and enjoying him, and his Son, through his word.

One way to put it: seek simply to gather a day’s portion each morning. Like God’s people, collecting manna each day in the wilderness, aim to feed your heart’s hunger and quench your soul’s thirst for just that day. No need to catch up from yesterday’s missed readings, or try to get ahead to store up for tomorrow or next week. God will take care of tomorrow. Rather, come to eat and drink and be satisfied today. In other words, don’t bite off more than you can chew. Don’t try to do too much, but cultivate a faithful realism for the long haul.

3. Chew Your Food Slowly

Finally, save your hustle for the rest of the day. Slow down, if you’re still able. It may take some time to learn how. Seek to chew your food slowly and enjoy it. Such savoring in the moment also helps us to carry it with us into the ups and downs, and pressures and accelerations, of the day.

The biblical image of meditation dovetails with the feasting pictures of Isaiah 55 and Psalm 63. Hebrew meditation is like an animal chewing the cud. I’m no farmer, but the few cows I’ve observed doing this did not seem to be in any sort of hurry. If you’re going to be like a cow, be it first thing in the morning as you chew slowly, unhurriedly, even leisurely, on the words of God in Scripture.

Ancient books in general, and the Bible in particular, were not meant to be read with speed, like we today have been conditioned to read (that is, skim). Learn a whole new gear for Bible reading. Read slowly, and reread. Seek to enjoy God and his world and his glory and his Son. Don’t swallow too quickly and move on, but chew slowly and savor his grace.

War is not the main mindset for early mornings. Come to God’s word to feast and be satisfied. But know this is nothing less than battle. Consider the devil’s common schemes, and fight to guard the feast.

Eph 6:12-14

12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.

Join me in the Lord’s army and watch Him do all that is necessary to lead us to victory and eternal life!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith September 21, 2023

Notes of Faith September 21, 2023

The Signs and Secrets of the Serpent

Nicodemus the Pharisee came to Yeshua in the night, seeking clear answers.

Instead, Yeshua revealed to him mysteries and miracles, without Nicodemus even asking. Every part of this conversation has significance.

“Unless one is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” “How can these things happen?” Nicodemus asked. — John 3:3-4a

By way of an answer, Yeshua started to explain:

“No one has gone up into Heaven except the One who came down from Heaven — the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,” said Yeshua, “so the Son of Man must be lifted up. — John 3:13–14

Why on earth would Yeshua compare Himself to the serpent on the pole? We need to know because this is a foundational scriptural truth that often doesn’t get enough attention. What does it mean, and what’s the deeper spiritual significance? In the sign and secret of the serpent, we find a remarkably well-designed connection between the Old Testament and New, between Moses and the Messiah, that reveals new depths in what Yeshua has done for us, and the miraculous power He has today to atone, to provide, to heal, and to transform. As we explore the image of the serpent, we find that God has much to reveal to us.

What Is the Serpent on the Pole?

In His conversation with Nicodemus, Yeshua built on the idea that He was the greater Moses — the true Messiah:

Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life! — John 3:14–15

What is the meaning of this mystery of the serpent on the pole? On the surface, it seems like a strange analogy that Yeshua made. But all of this is based on Numbers 21:4–9, the account of the children of Israel wandering through the desert. And clearly, they were becoming disgruntled.

They travelled from Mount Hor along the route to the Sea of Reeds in order to go around the land of Edom. The spirit of the people became impatient along the way.

The people spoke against God and Moses: “Why have you brought us from Egypt to die in the wilderness, because there is no bread, no water, and our very spirits detest the despicable food [manna]?” So Adonai sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people and many of the people of Israel died.

The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against Adonai and you! Pray to Adonai for us, that He may take away the snakes!” So Moses prayed for the people.

Adonai said to Moses, “Make yourself a fiery snake and put it on a pole. Whenever anyone who has been bitten will look at it, he will live.” So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole, and it happened that whenever a snake bit anyone and he looked at the bronze snake, he lived.

A harrowing story. Why would God do this? And why would God instruct Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole to represent salvation? More to the point, why would Yeshua connect Himself to this act of Moses? The first thing to understand is that Yeshua said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent.” The Hebrew word for “to lift up” is nasa. It can mean “to lift up,” but it can also mean “to bear,” “to carry,” or “to forgive.” The meaning in John 3:14 is “to bear” or “to carry” sin and guilt. In the Jewish system of atonement, a scapegoat was offered in the temple, on the Day of Atonement, to make atonement for the people; the goat carried the sins of the people: “The goat will carry [nasa] all their iniquities by itself into a solitary land and he is to leave the goat in the wilderness” (Leviticus 16:22). The Hebrew word nasa is one of the most critical words connected to salvation.

As a side note, we could say the English abbreviation NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, gives us the mental picture of lifting off, taking off, or going higher into outer space. That’s what the cross does for us. It causes us to blast off, to be able to leave earth, to go from death to life, from darkness into light, to go into the heavens where we’ve never gone before.

Yeshua was lifted up on the cross because He bore our sin like the scapegoat, just like the serpent on the pole.

Yeshua was lifted up on the cross to bear our sin.

The Messiah on the Cross

Isaiah 53:4 says,

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our pains. Yet we esteemed Him stricken, struck by God, and afflicted.

When it says He “carried our pains,” the word for “carried” is nasa. In the Hebrew New Testament, the serpent in the wilderness was “lifted up” (nasa), and it bore the sins of the people who were grumbling. And as they lifted up (nasa) their eyes to look at that serpent, they found healing. When the Messiah was lifted up (nasa) on the cross, as the serpent was lifted up on the pole, He bore our sin and our pain, and it was for our gain. Just like the people who looked at the serpent on the pole found healing, when we look to Yeshua on the cross, we find healing and wholeness. So, Isaiah 53 — one of the most important messianic prophecies — connects back to the serpent on the pole in the wilderness. The serpent on the pole connects back to the scapegoat, which in turn connects to the cross, where the Messiah would bear our griefs and carry our pains.

Why would Yeshua need to be lifted up like the serpent on the pole, as He revealed to Nicodemus? Think about it. The first man and woman stole from the tree in the garden of Eden. When humankind took fruit down from the tree, it was a descent. There was a lowering spiritually, morally, physically, emotionally, and relationally — on every level. When humankind pulled that fruit off the tree and disobeyed God’s command, we dragged ourselves and all of creation down with us. So the Messiah had to descend from Heaven, and He had to be lifted back up onto the tree for you and me.

When He was lifted up, He was placed back on that tree to replace what we stole from the tree; He was placed on the cross to atone for the sin of the first man and woman and to redeem and repair us.

I don’t know about you, but I think what He did for us on that cross was amazing — a miracle. It brings to mind the words of Moses and the Israelites, singing to the Lord: Mi kamocha ba’elim Adonai, Mi kamocha nedar ba’qodesh, Nora tehillot oseh fele. Or,

Who is like You among the gods, Lord? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, Awesome in praises, working wonders? — Exodus 15:11 NASB

We brought a descent, and Yeshua descended so that we could ascend.

Excerpted from Signs and Secrets of the Messiah by Rabbi Jason Sobel, copyright Rabbi Jason Sobel.

Jesus is indeed our Savior, Lord, and King. He died and rose again that we might die to sin that separated us from God, and rise to new life in Him, never to die again.

Rom 6:23

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith September 20, 2023

Notes of Faith September 20, 2023

Make every day a better day… when you start with the Lord!

A Proverb a Day

Wisdom for Every Aspect of Your Life, in One Short Book

Nothing ever becomes real until it is experienced. Even a proverb is no proverb to you till your life has illustrated it. — John Keats, letter to George and Georgiana Keats

Two prostitutes approached the king’s bench. The first had given birth to a baby boy, and three days later, in the same house, the second gave birth to a baby boy. During the night, the second woman rolled over and accidentally smothered her newborn. What did she do? She switched infants. The next morning the first prostitute awoke to a dead child and the other woman claiming her live child.

“She’s lying!” the second prostitute shouted. “Her baby is dead! This baby belongs to me!”

A court hearing circa 900 bce predates DNA testing, and the king had a long docket. He asked to have a sword brought to him, and an aide produced a blade. Gesturing, the king said: “Cut the child in two and give each mother half.” “No!” the first mother cried out, “give the baby to her!”

“Fine!” the second one yelled, “no one gets him!”

“The first woman is the mother,” the king said. “Give her the baby.”

The monarch whose reputation for wisdom was sealed that day was Solomon, son of David, Israel’s first king, and David’s wife Bathsheba. Toward the beginning of his forty-year reign, Solomon collected wise sayings and pored over them. At some point he winnowed the riches into a book in the Bible’s Old Testament under the simple name Proverbs. From nearly a thousand years before Christ, Proverbs is one of the earliest examples of wisdom literature, a priceless guide still widely considered the gold standard of counsel.

Of the Bible’s sixty-six books, to my thinking, Proverbs is the most provocative. Two dozen centuries before Sigmund Freud and psychological profiling, thirty-one short chapters penetrate human nature with insights into sex, anger management, slander, wealth, welfare, business ethics, intoxication, pride, and fissures in character as relevant as tomorrow’s top trending topic.

Proverb is a Hebrew word meaning “to rule or to govern.” Much of it has to do with self-mastery, and the only thing better than reading it is reading it routinely. If you were to take in a chapter a day, in one year you’d have twelve readings of a book that I consider boredom-proof. After nearly four hundred trips through the entire book, I still rely on it for new insights, reminders of timeless truths, and life-guiding principles.

Billy Graham said he read five psalms a day “for getting along with God,” and a chapter of Proverbs a day “for getting along with my fellow man.” In my growing-up years, I saw my father do the same thing. He also read every year through the Old and New Testaments, still another reminder that a mind and character cannot be left to chance.

To sample Proverbs, flip around. Just don’t be deceived by the simplicity. A proverb is an acorn with a tree inside — a puzzle piece to character — and character, in the words of Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Barbara Tuchman, is destiny.

Here’s my sample for you, from the NKJV translation (italics added):

Proverbs 1:33: “But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil.” If we listen to it, wisdom will protect us.

Proverbs 2:11: “Discretion will preserve you; understanding will keep you.” Like an invisible shield, good judgment deflects problems before they can strike and destroy.

Proverbs 4:25: “Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you.” Life’s highway is lined with wrong exits, fake billboards, flashing arrows, and wreckage. A farsighted driving instructor warns us to keep our eyes on the road.

Proverbs 5:21: “For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He ponders all his paths.” We can lie to ourselves. We can lie to the IRS, our spouses, coworkers, neighbors, bosses, personal trainers, and the guy who mows the lawn. God reads us straight through.

Proverbs 6:27–29: “Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals, and his feet not be seared? So is he who goes into his neighbor’s wife; whoever touches her shall not be innocent.” Enough said.

Proverbs 8:11: “For wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.”

Wisdom is the ace in every play. Nothing comes close.

Proverbs 10:19: “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise.” The difference between speaking words or withholding them can be the difference between sin and wisdom.

Proverbs 12:1: “Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.” Your critics have information that your friends are withholding. If you love the truth and want to grow, the people who correct you have the goods.

Proverbs 15:1: “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Most arguments begin with tone of voice. If your first reaction to a tone is anger, wait for your second reaction and soften your tone. Even if you have to fake it, soften it and feel your temperature cool.

Wisdom is the ace in every play. Nothing comes close.

Proverbs 16:18: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” A triumphant general entering Rome is said to have paid an attendant to walk alongside and whisper in his ear, “You are but mortal.” When delusions of grandeur threaten your grip on reality, repeat as often as needed: “There is a God, and it’s not me.” The fifth verse of this chapter says, “Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord.” Everyone. And “Though they join forces, none will go unpunished.” None.

Proverbs 19:17: “He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, and He will pay back what he has given.”

Think of it: when we give to the poor we lend to the Lord, and He repays us.

Proverbs 20:18: “Plans are established by counsel; by wise counsel wage war.” The advice on seeking advice is to do it. Before you lay out a project, consult the veterans.

Proverbs 22:1: “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches.” A certain celebrity cleaned up from a drug habit and the life that went with it. Years later when he was falsely accused of something else, the court of public opinion knew his record and believed the worst.

It’s easier to restore a life than a name.

Proverbs 24:17–18: “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles lest the Lord see it, and it displease Him.” Take the high road and let God take care of our enemies.

Proverbs 26:4: “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him.” The next time someone baits you, overreacts, boasts, or is patently outrageous, do nothing. Relax into the silence. Self-restraint won’t get you hits on social media, but it will steer you past senseless exchanges.

Proverbs 28:6: “Better is the poor man who walks in his integrity than one perverse in his ways, though he be rich.” They’re not mutually exclusive, but given a choice between wealth and integrity, choose the latter.

Proverbs 31:10: “Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies.” The image of a rare jewel reminds young men of what to look for in a life mate and older men of the priceless fortunes in wives of noble character.

I hated having to edit this list, by the way. The point is to read the entire textbook.

A single chapter in Proverbs averages thirty verses and five minutes of reading time. I can’t predict how much wiser you’ll be for making it a daily habit. I can guarantee you’ll be wiser for it than using the same minutes to scroll through Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok. “Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors,” Solomon writes of wisdom. “For whoever finds me finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord”

(Proverbs 8:34–35 NKJV).

One morning when April was running late, she saw me sit down and open my Bible. “Read me whatever you’re reading,” she said. Turning to that day’s chapter in Proverbs, I saw a subheading. “It’s about ‘The Crafty Harlot,’” I said. “You still want to hear it?”

“No,” she said, “but I want you to hear it. Go ahead!”

I get these flashing warning lights every month, and I welcome them.

I’ll close with an endorsement. My son, Mookie, is in his thirties now. On the morning of his graduation from high school, he left a priceless note on my desk with a final line that still makes my eyes sting: “I’ve been reading a chapter of Proverbs every day since eighth grade because of you.”

I hadn’t known he was doing that. The habit came from his father, who got it from his grandfather, whom he never met. Three millennia after the book’s first publication, Solomon was right again: “A wise son makes a father glad”

(Proverbs 15:20 NKJV).

Excerpted from The Little Red Book of Wisdom by Mark DeMoss, copyright Mark DeMoss.

Your being in the word of God daily would make this pastor happy and tearful… it doesn’t even have to be the book of Proverbs! Growing in the grace and truth of the Lord Jesus Christ will be found on the pages of Scripture. I beg you to read, listen, meditate, and study them daily that you be blessed and become more like Jesus every day! His promise, not mine.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith September 19, 2023

Notes of Faith September 19, 2023

Understanding and Leading Your Internal Parts

Especially in moments of stress, our internal fog can obscure healthy paths before us. We often do not understand ourselves or why we do what we do. Many people live unaware of why the fog comes, how it consistently derails them, or how to humbly and healthily lead their own souls through it. Even though the same things happen to them over and over, they are always a little shocked at the negative effects of their unawareness. They feel helpless to lead themselves, often thinking that doing so is some sort of self-help nonsense. After all, Jesus is all we really need, right?

But what if Jesus wants to help us respond to the Spirit’s leading so we can align ourselves with truth? He does — and that is why when we say “lead ourselves,” we don’t mean “be our own saviors.” Only the grace found in the gospel can transform us. Even so, as Christ does this transformative work through His Spirit, He intends for the fruit of self-control, which is being divinely nurtured and matured within us by His Spirit, to spur us on toward this transformation. He is not just enacting change upon us, apart from us. Rather,

He is transforming us through our very lives, even the resistant, stuck, or foggy parts of them.

Through His work in us, we can understand and welcome our conflicting internal emotions instead of experiencing shame or anger over them, which leads us to either reject them or react negatively to their overwhelming influence. By grace, we can instead accept, listen to, and lead the parts that make up our own internal worlds, reminding each of them of what is most true in the gospel. In other words, when we learn to become aware of and lead our internal parts, we do not bypass the work of Christ; they are integral elements of that very work.

But is this work biblical, or is it just a religious spin on a worldly idea of self-appreciation and self-help? Paul pondered this line of questioning in Romans 7:15:

I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. — ESV

The New Living Translation of the first few words of this verse expresses the whole of the matter in a way all of us can relate to: “I don’t really understand myself.”

Because of Adam and Eve, we are born into fallenness. And along the way, we each choose sinfulness. These two factors contribute to our inability to clearly understand ourselves. The psalmist referred to this when he said,

My sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. — Psalm 40:12

This state of being keeps us from “seeing” clearly in the fog around us. But we weren’t meant to stay there.

Christ is actively redeeming all things from humankind’s fallenness, and we are invited to be included in this ongoing process of redemption. This means that though we will never fully arrive on this side of the fall — that is, have complete clarity on and self-control over every internal part in every situation — we can develop patterns for welcoming and rewelcoming the ongoing work of Christ in these fallen places, even when we fall yet again.

Scripture calls this being transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1–2). This is a present-tense process, which indicates that we will constantly, actively need to be renewed. How can this be okay? Shouldn’t we finally get it right? Remember, the heart of our Shepherd never tires of us. Especially in our foggiest moments — in our fallenness and sinfulness — He actually draws closer.

David seemed to already understand this nature of God, as well as his own lack of awareness of his internal world and its parts. He expressed his own journey into the vast, dense fog within himself by saying to God,

You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are Your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

— Psalm 139:13–15 ESV

If you are a Christ-follower, you are probably already familiar with this passage. Its most common modern application references the wonder and beauty of God’s formation of the trillions of coalescing variables that make up the body and brain of a precious, unborn child being developed in her mother’s womb. So many miracles happen in this environment, sometimes minute by minute. This is certainly an accurate way to apply these verses.

All your parts, including the unseen parts of your internal world, reflect the beautiful and gracious complexity of God’s handiwork.

But we can also think of this in much broader terms than just the body or the brain. Specifically, we can also ascribe to God the unfathomable number of less-observable aspects of His creative genius. If you’re a parent, you’ve already had a front-row seat to the divine development of these other “inward parts” — that is, the completely unique characteristics, personalities, and dispositions that accompany our children at birth. Yes, most babies are blessed with the same set of internal organs and outward extremities, but each is also uniquely, “intricately woven” by God into his or her own distinctive self. We often fail to acknowledge that this weaving is more complex and miraculous than mere sinew and synapses.

All your parts, including the unseen parts of your internal world, reflect the beautiful and gracious complexity of God’s handiwork.

Yet David didn’t just point out the fact that he had parts he didn’t understand. This was only the first step on his journey to becoming aware. He also invited God to help him see these parts accurately, as well as help them become aligned to God’s ways.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. — Psalm 139:23–24 NLT

We tend to read this in a modern context and assume that David is asking God to know his “heart” as a singular thing. In our culture of extremes, this is how we see people and the world. “This guy is good, while that guy is bad.” “This viewpoint is perfect, while that viewpoint is garbage.”

But pay attention to David’s prayer: “Point out anything in me that offends You.” This speaks to the fact that David assumed there was more than one part of his heart that needed God’s interventional care. He didn’t just say, “Fix my heart in one fell swoop!” Yes, that would be great, but David seemed to know that there was more than one thing going on inside him. He also seemed to know that he could seek God’s help in learning to recognize those parts for himself, which is why he invited God to “point out” what was going on in all the parts of his internal world, even those that were repeat offenders.

We’ve already acknowledged that we all have areas of repeated offense, but discovery of these parts is not recovery from their patterns. Stepping on a scale is a very important component of beginning healthier patterns toward physical fitness, but merely weighing yourself doesn’t cause you to lose weight. There has to be more than just the knowledge of what needs to change. We must walk a continual path so change can occur consistently and incrementally.

As we learn to understand and lead our parts closer to Christ by the strength He affords us, the Holy Spirit does the heavy lifting of transformation within us — but He doesn’t do it without us. An ancient quote often attributed (though unproven) to Saint Augustine sums it up nicely:

“Without God, I can’t. But without me, God won’t.”1

In other words, God desires relationship, and relationships require mutual participation.

Much of the “change” language Paul used in Ephesians 4:21–24 tells us that we should constantly be tending to our internal parts.

Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God — truly righteous and holy. — NLT, emphasis added

Take note of the active, present nature of these verses. “Throw off” and “put on” indicate something you are invited — even compelled by grace — to do today. Right now. In this very moment.

In moments of misalignment, if you believe you are only one thing (“I’m just an idiot,” “I have good reasons for incessantly screaming,” or the like), throwing off whatever seems “bad” leads you to condemn, shame, or ignore only one thing: yourself. This is “all or nothing” thinking.

But since you are intricately, miraculously, wonderfully woven as a whole person with multiple parts, there are elements within yourself that can be identified and shepherded when they become misaligned. You are of infinite value to your Father, and your heavenly Brother, Jesus, has not only died to redeem you but also lives to constantly intercede and advocate on your behalf. This frees you to focus on your misaligned parts not so you can condemn them, but rather so you can understand them and once again become aligned with the grace and truth of the gospel.

Excerpted from More Than Your Number by Beth & Jeff McCord, copyright Beth McCord and Jeff McCord.

We do not know ourselves as we are known by God. Maybe when we are with God in eternity we will. Until then we must pursue our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to follow Him, to be like Him in this life. Our struggles with sin and all that is caused by sin will be with us until God calls us home. Remember the words of Paul…

Rom 7:14-25

14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! ESV

Pastor Dale