March 16 – Day 76 – 1 Samuel 12-14; Mark 2 Day 351 – Philemon; Luke 10

[NOTE: For those who are continuing the 1-year Bible reading plan we started on April 1, 2018, just go to the end of this entry and you will find the Day 351 – Philemon; Luke 10 summary!]

1 Samuel 12 presents us with Samuel’s farewell speech to the people of Israel. The speech contains three main points: 1) I have been faithful and cheated no one; 2) you have forgotten the LORD’s leadership, which has been with you since you were slaves in Egypt by choosing a king; and 3) Nevertheless, if you are obedient to the LORD and the king, God will continue to be with you. Samuel concluded his speech with a miraculous demonstration of the LORD’s power by calling for rain in the dry season. The rain came.

The people recognized that in points two and three they had turned against the LORD’s will and purpose, and they said as much to Samuel. Samuel reminded them again the LORD would be with them, as long as they demonstrated obedience, and Samuel promised to pray for them. In our lives, God’s presence is not contingent on our obedience, but our obedience brings blessing. We’ve seen that principle demonstrated over and over again in the Old Testament, and the clearest statement of it in the New Testament comes from Jesus’ own words in John 13 where He told the disciples if they knew His commandments, they would be blessed if they did them (or obeyed them.) As fallen people, even redeemed fallen people, we have a “bent” toward sin, toward disobedience. Thankfully, in the power of the Holy Spirit, we can bend the other way, back to God and His will for our lives. The key is not only to be able to do that, but to do it!

1 Samuel 13-14 offers us the beginning of the end for King Saul’s reign over Israel. Even though we’re told Saul reigned over Israel forty-two years, nearly from the outset the reign was condemned, because of Saul’s disobedience to the commands of the LORD. The first example comes in 1 Samuel 13, when Saul took the work of a priest into his hands, because Samuel didn’t show up “in time” to offer a sacrifice before the Israelites went to battle against the Ammonites. Samuel had said he would come at an appointed time, but Saul grew impatient, because Samuel didn’t come. He offered the sacrifice. As a result, when Samuel showed up shortly afterwards, Samuel told Saul the kingdom would be taken from him. Saul made excuses, but it was too late. The future had been established, and Saul’s family would not reign over Israel for more than one generation.

That didn’t mean Saul’s son, Jonathan, wouldn’t have an impact on Israel. Indeed, as we see in the remainder of chapter 13-14, Jonathan was a brave man, who led a charge against the Philistines that resulted in a major victory for Israel. The problem was King Saul had hamstrung Israel’s soldiers by telling them they couldn’t eat anything before nightfall. Fighting takes energy and the soldiers became weaker as the day moved forward. Jonathan hadn’t heard the command and ate some wild honey that was all over the land where the battle took place. He was strengthened by it, but when the battle was over, Saul knew someone had disobeyed him. Through a process of discernment, it was determined Jonathan was the one who had eaten the honey. Saul was determined to kill Jonathan on the spot. The will of the army prevailed, though, and Jonathan’s life was spared. In these two chapters we see many reasons why Saul was eliminated as the leader of Israel. Again, it would take forty-two years, before God replaced him, and much more negative leadership would come forth from Saul, but we learn in these two chapters, or I should say, we are reminded once again: obedience is the key to blessing when it comes to matters of the LORD.

As we return to Mark 2, the two main events that took place were the healing of the paralytic and the calling of Levi. Both involved the Pharisees being outraged at Jesus, because He claimed the ability to forgive sins, and He associated with sinners. Jesus’ actions show us we must follow God’s will and purpose, even if “good” people tell us we are in the wrong. Jesus’ unswerving commitment to overcome sin, sickness, and the works of the devil brought Him into conflict with those in the religious establishment, who were more concerned with maintaining an appearance of good, than with overcoming evil. We must never confuse the two as we serve Jesus!

Day 351 – Philemon; Luke 10

Today we turn to the Apostle Paul’s brief letter to Philemon. It contains only one chapter and amounts to Paul’s personal appeal for Philemon to receive a runaway slave named Onesimus back without punishment. Onesimus had become a believer while with Paul and had done great good for Paul. Now, Paul was requesting Philemon’s good treatment. Paul mentioned that Philemon owed Paul his very soul, but stated he wasn’t relying on that, but rather on Philemon’s character as a believer. This brief letter reminds us each of us can have an impact if only on one other person, and the key is to concern ourselves first and foremost with Jesus’ will rather than our own personal benefit.

As we return to Luke 10, we see Jesus expanding His ministry through others as He sends out the 70 or 72 additional followers to preach, teach, heal and deliver people. The work was successful, and the crew came back rejoicing. In the charge to the team, Jesus offered a condemnation of several Galilean cities that had rejected His ministry. The second major event in Luke 10 took place when a teacher of the Law asked Jesus what was the greatest commandment in the Law of Moses? Jesus asked the teacher what he thought? The teacher offered responded to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, strength and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus affirmed the response. We’re told at this point the teacher wanted to “justify” himself, so he asked, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus responded with a parable about two upstanding members of Jewish society who had the opportunity to help a man who had been beaten by robbers and left for dead. They didn’t help. Then along came a Samaritan, a man considered a half-breed, and hated by Jesus’ Jewish audience, who helped the man, dressed his wounds, and took him to an inn to receive further treatment. Jesus asked which proved to be neighbor to the man in need. As much as it must have pained the teacher to say it, he responded it was the man who helped the man in need. Jesus said, “That’s right. You go and do the same. The chapter closes with Jesus interacting with Mary and Martha, two close friends, whose brother, Lazarus, Jesus raises from the dead in John 11. The interaction shows us that sometimes “being” is more important than “doing.” Martha was frustrated, because Mary sat at Jesus’ feet, while Martha prepared dinner. When she complained to Jesus, Jesus took Mary’s side, and told Martha she was worried and troubled about so many things, but only one thing was necessary.  What is the one thing? A relationship with Jesus!

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