Thursday, Ordinary 22/Proper 17-- Aug 28
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Meditation
Thursday, Ordinary 22, Proper 17 cut to the chase of God responding to the cries for help. God had a plan and made an agreement with Abraham & Sarah, Isaac & Rebekah, and Jacob & Rachel/Leah to give them the land of Promise. In two short verses, the Old Testament lesson in Exodus acknowledged that the children of Israel, the children of promise, the believers in God, were burdened under the yoke of slavery to Egypt and they cried for help. That prayer reminded God of the promise to the Patriarchs and Matriarchs and the plan for freedom was put into action.
Of course, God was at work all along. As the children of Israel were ‘punished’ and forced to work harder, there were unintended side effects. The Hebrews became strong and healthy. They were stronger and healthier than the Egyptians they served. Their numbers were amassing so they were not just a small family on a trek out of Egypt, but a great nation, who would be resourceful enough to defend themselves and manage their self-governance.
If someone were to wonder why God waited so long, one can think of all the things that were changing for the children of Israel. The Psalmist was specific God prepare the Israelites by strengthening them. The strength of the children of Israel was a fact, one that worried the Egyptians. But what about their willingness to obey God?
Scanning history, there was always some impetus for a nation to respond to the call to defend themselves. In WWII, the war brewed horribly in Europe and Africa. It was not until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor that the US rose up unified to fight back.
The people of Israel were oppressed and at the ‘end of their rope’ and it meant they would listen to a leader to lead them. Perhaps, before this time, the factions of families would have been arguing among themselves what they should do. And then there was the need for a specific type of leader—one who could speak Pharaoh’s language, and not just Egyptian, but the talk of the style and class of leaders.
God was at work and the people on the ground were building up to the moment when the call would go out to leave. God was preparing them. How did they become prepared? The New Testament lesson reminded believers that things go better when followers are obedient to God.
“God is righteous. God is love. God is merciful and wise.” To achieve the best that God has to offer, believers were called upon to change from their selfish and mean-spirited ways. The Epistle of Ephesians addressed the unity of God and how Christ-followers should be unified in their goals. Chapter 5 started out with the key—Love. Love one another in the same way that Christ loved you. When a person loves, they are not selfish or mean-spirited.
Verses four and five list actions that were often relationships of physical nature—sexual, verbal, actions on people—but they were all about selfish attitudes and actions. Loving people as God loved us would solve the issue.
People often fixate on the sexual immorality and omit the actions about greed, idolatry, vain, prideful actions. But when all the actions are grouped together, the believer was challenged to behave under the umbrella of love.
People who spew hatred in the name of Christ, or are vicious and threatening to people of homosexual nature, or people, who would kill people offering health services to women (perhaps sometimes doing abortions) all in the name of Christ, have missed this lesson.
We have been told in no uncertain terms from Christ and the apostles to not judge. We have been told to love. If we fall outside of those parameters no matter how well intentioned, we have entered the “God gets very angry when people who don’t obey him talk like that” mode.
We must be very careful how we speak ‘for God’ and this is especially true for pastors and church leaders. Our culture of ‘telling Christians’ how they should believe has become less Christ-like and more nasty. It grieves me to hear people, who claim to be Christians and working for God shouting hatred towards any group; I can only imagine what God thinks.
If we disagree, we must pray for them and leave their judgment to God. We must behave with love in all our actions because Christ has commanded us to be loving…just like Christ loved and forgave us. We can then be confident that God will be working all the details together for our good.
Thanks be to God.
All Scriptures printed below are in King James Version for copyright purposes. However, clicking on the verse locations will take you to Biblegateway.com where the text is linked to more contemporary versions.
Prayer: Almighty God, Open my eyes that I might see. Open my mind that I might understand. Open my heart that I might make your words a part of me. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Amen
Ordinary 22, Proper 17
Bible Readings
http://legacy.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+8;Exodus+2:15-22;Matthew+26:6-13&version=KJV;ERV;GNT;NCV;CEV (multiple versions)
Thursday, Ordinary 22, Proper 17
Psalm 105:1-6 Psalm 105:23-26 Psalm 105:45
Exodus 2:23-24
Ephesians 5:1-6
Daily Bible Verses to Memorize for Meditating
Psalm 124:8
King James Version (KJV)
8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
Single Bible Study chapter to study
Exodus 2:23-24
King James Version (KJV)
23 And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.
24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
OBSERVE:
Take a moment and write three observations of the verses. What strikes you? An observation is an observable fact from the Word.
1.
2.
3.
INTERPRETATION:
What do you interpret these verses to mean for you today?
APPLY:
Today, I learned _____________________________________and apply it to my life.
Prayer of Encouragement
Almighty God, we cry unto you and you hear our prayers. You heard the cries of the Hebrews who were enslaved in Egypt. In the New Testament, you taught us love so we could show love in our words and actions. In Jesus name, Amen
Conclusion
Thursday, Ordinary 22, Proper 17 the Old Testament words were simple. “We cried to God. God heard our prayer.” The Psalmist recalled the overview of the Hebrew sojourn in Egypt and their suffering which caused them to be well prepared for their departure from Egypt and transit to the Promised Land.
The work of God is consistent. We can’t always see how our spiritual muscles are growing stronger in the same way we can’t always see how our physical muscles are strengthening. We can’t see how God is changing us, but we will see the results. If we follow the guidance of the writer of Ephesians, and love others in the same way Christ loved us— we will avoid all those behaviors that undermine relationships because they are grounded in selfishness.
Let us cry unto God for him to help us love one another, so we can achieve great things in God’s name.
Go out and be ready for God to do mighty things in your life—for the glory of God.*
Thank you for visiting ChapLynne’s Daily Encouragement and Bible Study. God bless you.
*If you do not know the Lord as your personal Savior and you are seeking, please contact me. A genuine and simple prayer, asking God into your heart for the forgiveness of your sins will also do.
Thursday, Ordinary 22, Proper 17 cut to the chase of God responding to the cries for help. God had a plan and made an agreement with Abraham & Sarah, Isaac & Rebekah, and Jacob & Rachel/Leah to give them the land of Promise. In two short verses, the Old Testament lesson in Exodus acknowledged that the children of Israel, the children of promise, the believers in God, were burdened under the yoke of slavery to Egypt and they cried for help. That prayer reminded God of the promise to the Patriarchs and Matriarchs and the plan for freedom was put into action.
Of course, God was at work all along. As the children of Israel were ‘punished’ and forced to work harder, there were unintended side effects. The Hebrews became strong and healthy. They were stronger and healthier than the Egyptians they served. Their numbers were amassing so they were not just a small family on a trek out of Egypt, but a great nation, who would be resourceful enough to defend themselves and manage their self-governance.
If someone were to wonder why God waited so long, one can think of all the things that were changing for the children of Israel. The Psalmist was specific God prepare the Israelites by strengthening them. The strength of the children of Israel was a fact, one that worried the Egyptians. But what about their willingness to obey God?
Scanning history, there was always some impetus for a nation to respond to the call to defend themselves. In WWII, the war brewed horribly in Europe and Africa. It was not until the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor that the US rose up unified to fight back.
The people of Israel were oppressed and at the ‘end of their rope’ and it meant they would listen to a leader to lead them. Perhaps, before this time, the factions of families would have been arguing among themselves what they should do. And then there was the need for a specific type of leader—one who could speak Pharaoh’s language, and not just Egyptian, but the talk of the style and class of leaders.
God was at work and the people on the ground were building up to the moment when the call would go out to leave. God was preparing them. How did they become prepared? The New Testament lesson reminded believers that things go better when followers are obedient to God.
“God is righteous. God is love. God is merciful and wise.” To achieve the best that God has to offer, believers were called upon to change from their selfish and mean-spirited ways. The Epistle of Ephesians addressed the unity of God and how Christ-followers should be unified in their goals. Chapter 5 started out with the key—Love. Love one another in the same way that Christ loved you. When a person loves, they are not selfish or mean-spirited.
Verses four and five list actions that were often relationships of physical nature—sexual, verbal, actions on people—but they were all about selfish attitudes and actions. Loving people as God loved us would solve the issue.
People often fixate on the sexual immorality and omit the actions about greed, idolatry, vain, prideful actions. But when all the actions are grouped together, the believer was challenged to behave under the umbrella of love.
People who spew hatred in the name of Christ, or are vicious and threatening to people of homosexual nature, or people, who would kill people offering health services to women (perhaps sometimes doing abortions) all in the name of Christ, have missed this lesson.
We have been told in no uncertain terms from Christ and the apostles to not judge. We have been told to love. If we fall outside of those parameters no matter how well intentioned, we have entered the “God gets very angry when people who don’t obey him talk like that” mode.
We must be very careful how we speak ‘for God’ and this is especially true for pastors and church leaders. Our culture of ‘telling Christians’ how they should believe has become less Christ-like and more nasty. It grieves me to hear people, who claim to be Christians and working for God shouting hatred towards any group; I can only imagine what God thinks.
If we disagree, we must pray for them and leave their judgment to God. We must behave with love in all our actions because Christ has commanded us to be loving…just like Christ loved and forgave us. We can then be confident that God will be working all the details together for our good.
Thanks be to God.
All Scriptures printed below are in King James Version for copyright purposes. However, clicking on the verse locations will take you to Biblegateway.com where the text is linked to more contemporary versions.
Prayer: Almighty God, Open my eyes that I might see. Open my mind that I might understand. Open my heart that I might make your words a part of me. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Amen
Ordinary 22, Proper 17
Bible Readings
http://legacy.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+8;Exodus+2:15-22;Matthew+26:6-13&version=KJV;ERV;GNT;NCV;CEV (multiple versions)
Thursday, Ordinary 22, Proper 17
Psalm 105:1-6 Psalm 105:23-26 Psalm 105:45
Exodus 2:23-24
Ephesians 5:1-6
Daily Bible Verses to Memorize for Meditating
Psalm 124:8
King James Version (KJV)
8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
Single Bible Study chapter to study
Exodus 2:23-24
King James Version (KJV)
23 And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.
24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
OBSERVE:
Take a moment and write three observations of the verses. What strikes you? An observation is an observable fact from the Word.
1.
2.
3.
INTERPRETATION:
What do you interpret these verses to mean for you today?
APPLY:
Today, I learned _____________________________________and apply it to my life.
Prayer of Encouragement
Almighty God, we cry unto you and you hear our prayers. You heard the cries of the Hebrews who were enslaved in Egypt. In the New Testament, you taught us love so we could show love in our words and actions. In Jesus name, Amen
Conclusion
Thursday, Ordinary 22, Proper 17 the Old Testament words were simple. “We cried to God. God heard our prayer.” The Psalmist recalled the overview of the Hebrew sojourn in Egypt and their suffering which caused them to be well prepared for their departure from Egypt and transit to the Promised Land.
The work of God is consistent. We can’t always see how our spiritual muscles are growing stronger in the same way we can’t always see how our physical muscles are strengthening. We can’t see how God is changing us, but we will see the results. If we follow the guidance of the writer of Ephesians, and love others in the same way Christ loved us— we will avoid all those behaviors that undermine relationships because they are grounded in selfishness.
Let us cry unto God for him to help us love one another, so we can achieve great things in God’s name.
Go out and be ready for God to do mighty things in your life—for the glory of God.*
Thank you for visiting ChapLynne’s Daily Encouragement and Bible Study. God bless you.
*If you do not know the Lord as your personal Savior and you are seeking, please contact me. A genuine and simple prayer, asking God into your heart for the forgiveness of your sins will also do.
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