My Provider

Today's Reading: Genesis 22:1-14

Jehovah Jireh, a name attributed to God identifying Him as our provider. In Genesis 22:1-14 we read about God’s test of Abraham’s faith. The test: take your only son and go to the region of Moriah and sacrifice him as a burnt offering. We read that Abraham began his journey early the next morning and aren’t given any more detail. Even though we aren’t given any more detail I don’t believe this was a thoughtless act by Abraham. I believe Abraham had found God to be his provider and trusted Him to provide once again.

If we are to realize how much of a provider God is we must be aware of the times when He has been our provider. Unfortunately we have so many things that influence us to the contrary that we begin to think we are the ones who have been our provider. We forget that God made us who we are and gave us abilities and gifts to use to His glory. We buy into the propaganda that the world bombards us with. Yet who do we blame when things don’t happen the way we want and or expect? Often times it is God. It is my belief that God is in control and will provide us with all we need but not all we may want or think we should have. He knows what we need most. Our challenge is to be in tune with God as much as Abraham was so we too are ready and willing to do what He asks and confident that He will provide for us as well.

- Ken Brueshaber

Every Step of the Way

Today's Reading: Exodus 6:1-8

In Exodus 5, Moses and Aaron are sent by God to rescue His people in Egypt. They appear before Pharaoh and request that the Israelites be allowed to march into the desert for three days to worship their God. Pharaoh's response was to increase the burden on the Israelite slaves by making them find their own straw to make the bricks and not reducing their daily quota. In verse 22, Moses speaks to God and reports that Pharaoh has just increased the trouble for God's people and that this doesn't appear to be much of a rescue.

Have you ever felt like that? You were looking for a rescue and what happened next was far from any rescue you might have imagined!

Our reading for today opens with God's answer to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country." He goes on to say that He was known as God Almighty to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob but is now revealing Himself as Yahweh, or I AM, to His people.

"Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord."

God is now revealing Himself as the great I AM. The God who can and will rescue them. The God who is the one and only true God. As you read through the rest of Exodus then, you see that God did just that. He delivered His people...made good on all His promises...performed miracles and wonders...provided for them...cared for them...led them.

The question for us is: do we believe that the great I AM of Moses' day is still the great I AM that we need today? Do we believe that He will rescue us? Do we believe that He will fight for us? Do we believe that He will fill in the gaps where we are weak or lacking?

As we enter a season of great faith for our church family, we must believe that He was and is and will always be the great Yahweh, I AM...that He can provide ways for us to sacrifice to meet the goals laid out before us...that He will bring those who don't know Him here for us to minister to...that He will bless us in ways that we haven't even begun to think about.

And then one day, just like the Israelites, we will be able to look back and see how His hand was at work every step of the way.

- Holly Barrett

The Most High God

Today's Reading: Genesis 14:1-20

After Abram has defeated those who took his nephew and the people of Sodom away as slaves, he is met by Melchizedek, the King of Salem (or King of Righteousness).  God is first referred to as the Most High God by this Gentile priest, and the name God Most High is used frequently when referring to God as the God of the Jews and the Gentiles.

As we think of Who we belong to and Who we serve, this title reminds us that He is Creator of heaven and earth, the One who made it all, who made us, and “in whom we live and have our very being.”  Without God Most High decreeing it should be so, we wouldn’t take one more breath.  We wouldn’t live here, now.  Everything we have and are is His. 

Yet He is gracious and showers us with incredible blessings every day.  He calls us to be the conduit of His love and His blessing to those around us that they, too, may come to know God the Most High.

Isn’t it amazing that the Creator of heaven and earth wants us to reflect His generous nature as we join Him in His redemptive work here on earth?

 - Lee Thrasher

El Shaddai - A Covenant with God

Today's Reading: Genesis 17:1-8

In this passage, God repeats His promise to Abraham. On two earlier occasions He made the promise (Genesis 12 and 15), but this time it's much more detailed. The promise is actually made up of four parts:

1. God would give Abraham many descendants (v. 2),
2. God would make Abraham the father of many nations (v. 4),
3. God would maintain His covenant not only with Abraham, but with his descendants also (v. 7), and
4. God would give Abraham and his descendants the land of Canaan.

Those are some pretty amazing promises. Especially to a man who, at that point, had no heir!

Perhaps that's why God, before giving any of the promises, identifies Himself as El Shaddai -- God Almighty. It would surely take a mighty God to pull of these kinds of promises. And as soon as God makes the promises, He considers it already done. Verse 5 says, "...your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations." It's a done deal!!

We serve a God who is mighty! Mighty enough to keep the promises He has made to us, just as he did with Abraham.

- Steve Klemm

What's Your Name?

Today's Reading: Genesis 1

“What’s your name?”

It’s a pretty simple question, one we answer without even thinking… until you ask it about God.  Throughout the Bible, God is described with many names.  Some of them describe a particular attribute of his nature or his authority. Others point towards a powerful action he has taken: “I am the God who brought you out of Egypt.”

But some names are unique. Take the first name for God given in scripture: Elohim.  It is used over 2,500 times in the Bible. In our scripture reading for today, this name of God shows up in the first verse: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  (Genesis 1:1)  That sums it up.  This is the God who spoke the universe into being and will be the Judge of all mankind when he calls our world to a halt.  This may be the most powerful of God’s name. It is the name above all names, for there is only one God, the God.

Yet there is a little surprise in this name: Its plural!

So how can there be only One true God if his name, Elohim, is a plural masculine term?  One of the great mysteries of God’s nature is captured in this name.  God is one, yet he is three. Notice the language used in verse 26:   “Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."  We sometimes use the term “God-head” to describe this aspect of God’s nature.  He is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.  Many symbols have been used through the centuries to try to graphically portray what the mind can't quite wrap itself around.  

One well known Irishman who came to be called “St. Patrick” responded to confused seekers with a simple image.  He held up a shamrock to the angry pagans who were demanding an explanation about how God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are one God yet three beings.  The preacher asked them if he was holding up one leaf or three. If three leaves then why one stem? If one stem then why three leaves? The crowd was silenced and St. Patrick said; "And if you cannot explain so simple a mystery as the shamrock, how can you hope to understand one as profound as the Holy Trinity?"

Whatever mental picture you use, Elohim is a name that should give us confidence.  No matter what words we use to try to explain this we always fall short. God is too big for us; at least he is too big for our small minds with such limited capacity. We serve the God who made it all and the one who will see us through it all. We can rest in the power of Elohim!

Take time to meditate on this great name of God today and be humbled as you consider all he is and all he does. As he commanded us, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."  (Psalm 46:10)

God bless you as you love Elohim with all you are!

- Jeff Walling

The Life Jesus Promised

Today's Reading: John 10:1-15

During this past seven weeks of Bible reading we have been looking at the power of God's word to...

...comfort
...heal
...teach
...convict
...change
...guide
...give life

We know from John 1 that Jesus is the Word of God. He was in the beginning with God and was God and through Him all things were made.

And then He became flesh and dwelt among us.

The very Son of God. Allowed Father to rip open the heavens and He walked through. He became flesh and dwelt among us.

Why?

Because as He tells us in John 10, He is the gate. He is the good shepherd. He came that we may "have life and have it to the full."

I don't know about you...but I want some full life. No puny living for me. I ascribe to the theory that if you aren't living life on the edge, you are just taking up space! I may not always live that way, but it's a theory I love! I am not a fan of roller coasters...not because of the fear factor but because of the upset stomach factor. But I will tell you that if I have to get on a roller coaster, I want to be in the front car with my hands in the air, screaming the whole way down!

Our lives with Jesus can be like that. When we are willing to follow Him without question, without fear, and with excitement for what comes next, we can live the life He promises. Exciting. Fast. Breath-taking. And at times, even slightly nausea-inducing. But you know, that sounds like life to the full to me.

That's the life Jesus promised.

That's the life He gives.

- Holly Barrett

The Words of Life

Today's Reading: John 6:60-69

Many times our first reaction to hearing about God's expectation of us is to evaluate it in terms of our ability to accomplish it -- humanly speaking. We think that we are the "masters of our fate, the captains of our soul," and therefore are able to be self-sufficient in all things. That first reaction can include serving God.

Jesus' discourse in the preceding verses about Him being the "bread of life" and "eating His flesh" and "drinking His blood" would, of course, offend the sensibilities of any self-respecting Jew. Any perception of an actual act of spiritual cannibalism could not be tolerated. Even those listening who realized He was speaking in an allegorical sense would have found their capacity to accomplish such a task woefully lacking.

Of course, we understand Jesus was not referring to spiritual cannibalism, but to spiritual absorption. Later, Jesus would speak to His disciples about the Comforter coming to enable them to accomplish what He was leaving for them to do. Their human condition (and ours) would not allow them to do what needs to be done. The necessary power does not rest in us. That power can only come from God.

The power they derived and we derive to absorb Jesus' essence is provided by the Holy Spirit God has given us. That absorption made itself known in the disciples' lives and makes itself known in our lives by attitudes and actions of each life to honor God by serving Him.

Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:18 to "be filled with the Spirit." The Holy Spirit already indwells us. The filling is a repeated process. Paul is not saying that we get more of the Holy Spirit, but that He gets more of us over and over!

In verse 63 where Jesus says, "It is the Spirit who gives life...," the word translated life is the one used to define raising the dead to life. In His phrase at the end of the same verse, "...the words I have spoken to you are about spirit and life," the word translated life refers to the principle of life in the spirit and soul. Jesus, in one statement, encompasses the spiritual aspect of life that results in the most valuable form of life -- the one eternal.

We absorb food to sustain life. Denial of food to the body will result in the body dying. We must absorb the essence of Jesus to sustain spiritual life here. The sustaining of spiritual life here will result in eternal life in the future.

Real life -- living for God here and with God in the future -- can only be done through the power He gives. He has given it for us to find in His word.

- Danny Valdetero

The Word Became Flesh

Today's Reading: John 1:1-14

John, the beloved disciple of Jesus, was given the inspiration by the Holy Spirit to present his friend as "The Word." John starts his letter by introducing the readers to the awesome power that created all that exists. John takes a line from Moses when he writes "in the beginning" and the reader remembered that the earth and the stars and all living creatures were created by God. John in this letter reintroduces us to the creator not only as the creator of the physical life, but now as the creator of eternal life.

In our limited understanding, we accept that God is eternal in all of His character. John shares with the reader that "all who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." Just think that as God is eternal in His existence, then we are His children and will share the same characteristic of God which is eternal life. John continues to explain his position that "children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."

The Word wrapped flesh around himself and revealed himself to man as a man. Thus man has been given the opportunity of placing this same "word" in himself, being born again, and possessing eternal life.

- Tom Latimer

The Bridge to the Unseen

Today's Reading: Psalm 23

Psalm 23 (NIV)

A psalm of David.

The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

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You can learn many things through books and classes, but some things are learned only through experience. That’s the message I get from Psalm 23, which to me traces the path of one’s spiritual development. 

Psalm 23 starts peacefully as we learn how God satisfies our basic needs for food, shelter and protection. Striking out into the world, God shows us the proper paths to follow and restores our soul as we make mistakes. As we grow older, our relationship with God grows as well (notice how the description of God changes from “he” to “you” starting in verse four). We fear less and less in life as we come to trust God’s guidance - His rod gently disciplining and teaching us; His staff lovingly pulling us back onto the path as we stray. We develop courage as we learn to face those who would want to do us harm, and we experience God’s blessings as a result. Then, with a mature spirit at our journey’s end, we enter God’s house to live with Him forever. 

While we have read and heard this psalm preached many times, there is a difference between understanding the text intellectually and coming to know and trust the God of whom the text speaks. It is difficult just to sense an unseen God’s presence, let alone follow His guidance. Helping people make that leap of faith is a role of the church. We, the church body, help God create new disciples and mature them through our love for them in community fellowship, mutual support, prayer, Bible study and worship. 

The realization of God’s presence can come in many ways – including witnessing His influence in your own life or the lives of others, having personal spiritual experiences, coming to a realization of God’s hand in the beauty of nature or human life, or as a result of a life-changing event. 

What was God’s contribution to the cause of our spiritual development? Why Jesus, of course! In John 14:5-14 Jesus tells His disciples “If you really knew me you would know the Father as well.” Additionally, throughout the gospels He tells people about “the kingdom of God”. Jesus, in effect, was God’s “bridge” between the seen and unseen worlds, to help us make the leap in understanding necessary to develop the spiritual relationship God wants us to have with Him.

- Mark H. Brooks

Do You Not Understand?

Today's Reading: John 16:1-15

Christ was talking to his disciples the night before He was crucified. Here are the questions that came to my mind during this reading:

How do you get others that feel so close to you to understand that you have to die?

How do you explain that there will be no salvation unless you die?

How do you convince them that your death is necessary to defeat Death?

How do you get them to understand that you as the Christ has to return to the Father in heaven so that the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, will come to them and the world?

How do you get them to understand that the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, will guide them and us into all truth (John 16:13)?

The disciples did not want to hear it. They were heartbroken, confused, disoriented, scared, and baffled that Jesus was leaving. THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND.

They eventually understood all that Christ had been telling them. The Holy Spirit (the Comforter) was not only with them as Jesus had been but was in them as well. The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity who exercises the power of the Father and the Son in Creation. When Christ left the earth, He sent the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells within everyone who believes. The Spirit would comfort them, GUIDE them to know the truth, remind them of Jesus' words, give them the right words to say, and fill them with power (John 14-16).

In reading John 16:1-15, I knew the feeling the disciples were having. I had been there like maybe so many of you have. It is very painful when the heart is filled with too much sorrow. A sample of this happened to us over 25 years ago. Let me try to take you there...

Our daughter, Regina Bernadine, was born prematurely on December 9, 1986. She stayed in the hospital for over two months until she was strong enough to come home in the last week of February 1987. We really enjoyed being with her and being a part of her. We were all very close to each other. After about a week, she had to go in for a regular check up and shots on February 27, 1987. Regina went home to be with the Lord early the next morning in what they called SIDS.  

We did not want to hear it. We were angry, heartbroken, confused, disoriented, scared, and baffled. WE DID NOT UNDERSTAND. We eventually understood what Christ had been telling His disciples. We know that the Spirit continues to comfort and GUIDE.

Jesus, in His last moments with His disciples, warned them about further persecution. He also told them where, when, and why He was going away. He assured them that they would not be left alone, and that the Comforter (Holy Spirit) would come and GUIDE them. Many of us blindly stumble our way through the Christian life under our own strength. Seemingly we are unaware that God has provided a supernatural Guide to lead us.

Father, we pray that the Holy Spirit continues to guide us as we continue to reach out to others in Charlotte and the world.

- Otis Bernard Gaither