Today’s reading is Acts 7:1-8:40.

“And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household” (Acts 7:9-10).

But that took 13 years (cf. Genesis 37:2; 41:46), over 1/3 of Joseph’s life to that time. Then it was at least another 7 years before seeing his family again. What were those 13 to 20 years like for Joseph? While enslaved did he wonder if God was with him? When his enslavement ended in imprisonment, did he begin to think that maybe God had forgotten him? I don’t know about him, but that is the kind of thinking I do. If my afflictions aren’t resolved in a matter of months, weeks, and even days, I begin to wonder what on earth God is doing up there in heaven.

I learn from Joseph that God is with me during my afflictions, not that God is with me if I’m kept out of affliction. Some afflictions may even last for quite some time. But I can trust God to see me through to the other side. If there is no great “victory” in this life, there will be eternal life in the next.

I can have confidence that whatever affliction I’m facing today, no matter how long it lingers with me, God is with me and He is stronger than the affliction. In His good time, He’ll get me through it to glory and victory on the other side.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Colossians 1:1-2:23.

Once again, reading the Bible tells me I have gotten things exactly backwards. No wonder I’ve had so many struggles.

Colossians 1:11-12 says, “May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. Then Colossians 1:29 says, “For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.”

The concept I have unwittingly had for years is if I endure, if I am patient, if I maintain joy, God will then be with me. But that is not what these passages say at all. Rather, they say that if I am with God, He will empower me to endure, He will empower me to be patient. He will empower me to have joy. If I am with God, He will empower me to toil and struggle and overcome. If I am with God, He will empower me to accomplish His work.

No I don’t believe this is saying God has marked out before time those whom He will empower arbitrarily. I must definitely choose to be with God. I must choose to trust Jesus. However, my power will accomplish nothing. If I’m waiting on me to be powerful enough for God to come be with me, I won’t make it. Rather, I must recognize how powerless I am and abandon myself to God. Then the God of power will be with me and empower me.

I need to get rid of this concept of, “God, I’m trying really, really hard to serve you.” Instead, I need to have the concept of, “God, when I try hard, I mess it up. I’m just going to surrender to you and you empower me to struggle, endure, and overcome. Thank you for qualifying me.”

“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God…For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (I Corinthians 1:18, 21-24, ESV). 

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes get discouraged as I walk through the local bookstore and hit the religious or philosophy section only to notice the academics who ridicule and berate anything to do with Jesus Christ and Christianity. Sometimes, I get caught in the trap of thinking I need to become as academic as they are and then try to fight them with their own sword. (Certainly, there are some very scholarly and academic Christians who fight these battles and I’m glad for them, I’m not disparaging them at all.)

However, this passage reminds me that the answers of persuasion will not be found in the halls of academia, philosophy or worldly wisdom. Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for studying everything and seeing the whole picture. I’m not talking about putting my head in the sand and ignoring proven facts out there. I’m simply pointing out that Paul says if I move the battle ground into the halls of academia and philosophy of man’s wisdom, I can’t win the battle here. No matter what I say, those who don’t want to believe in Jesus won’t. No matter what I say, those who don’t want to believe the Bible is from God won’t. If I disparage some academic argument, they will only find another. 

Further, I do not have to feel foolish just because some academic thinks he is better and smarter than I am. No doubt, there are more people smarter than I am than I can count. God hasn’t asked me to be the smartest person in the world. He has simply asked me to trust Him that His way is right and, therefore, follow His way. In the end, wisdom will be vindicated by her children. 

Here is the problem, the Jews look for a sign and the Greeks look for wisdom. Though this was in a different age, I have met both of these kinds of people. I’ve met the guy who said if God really wanted him to do something, God would have to give him some kind of sign, like a bolt of lightening from heaven. I’ve met the guy who says the whole Bible and Jesus thing just doesn’t make sense to him. We preach Christ crucified. The one seeking a sign, merely sees this as a stumbling block. The early Jews just couldn’t get their minds around a crucified Messiah. The early Greeks just couldn’t make sense out of God who sacrificed Himself for His people. Modern men looking for signs don’t think a crucifixion and resurrection is enough. They want God to personally attend to them and give them a personal sign. Modern men with earthly wisdom, can hardly get their minds around a real God, let alone one who sacrifices Himself for us. 

What I have to do is simply keep sharing my faith. Instead of being discouraged by those who are so wise in the world they can’t seem to accept the wisdom of God, I need to simply pass on God’s wisdom. It will not return to God void. I don’t have to be embarrassed or discouraged. I know the wisdom of God will eventually be vindicated.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brother affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make our calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

II Peter 1:5-11 (ESV)

I recognize we cannot earn our way into heaven. If we are saved, it will be because God is good enough; not because we are. At the same time, I recognize not just everybody will be provided with an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In fact, it seems not just everyone who has ever believed and obeyed Jesus for a time will be provided that entrance. 

Rather, those who pursue this standard of growth will gain entrance. Our growth rests on the foundation of faith, but we must add to it. We must continually work on…

• Faith–believing in God, believing God and trusting God’s way is right.
• Virtue–the moral excellence to do what is right because it is right.
• Knowledge–getting God’s word into our heads and hearts.
• Self-control–doing what is right in the face of persuasion to do otherwise.
• Steadfastness–stringing moments of self-control together in a row, even in the face of opposition.
• Godliness–honoring God and revering Him with every action.
• Brotherly affection–treating our brethren with kindness, tender-heartedness and forgiveness.
• Love–obeying God from the heart and seeking what is best for others.

There are some things I recognize from this passage:

1. “Going to church” is not the equivalent of being a disciple.
2. I need to work on me; I need to work on my relationship with others; I need to work on my relationship with God; I need to work on these every day.
3. I don’t get to rest based on what I accomplished yesterday, I have to keep growing.
4. I don’t have to be perfect today, I just need to make progress.

I’m not sure that there is a more comforting set of verses than Philippians 3:12-14.

“Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (ESV).

Wow! You mean Paul, the apostle, wasn’t perfect? He didn’t do everything right? I mean I know before he became a Christian he did some really bad things. I’ve always been certain he did become great the first day he was a Christian. But here he is writing letters to let people know how to live in their service to God and he claims he is still not perfect. He still has to grow. 

That just comforts me. I’ve been a Christian now for 22 years. That is hard for me to imagine. When I consider how badly I still mess things up spiritually I get very discouraged. Some days I even am willing to just throw in the towel. Why keep trying? 

Surely Paul felt that way sometimes. Yet, his response was to just keep pressing on. Think about it. If Paul could say he wasn’t perfect, then just like me, he could pinpoint somethings that had just happened that demonstrated his imperfection. Instead of allowing that to make him stop, he pressed on. He kept going. He understood that serving God is not about where we are, but about where we are growing.

If you’re like me, you can pinpoint a dozen things and more that have happened in the past few days to remind you how imperfect you are. Don’t let those get you down. Keep looking forward. Keep pressing forward. Keep running the race. As long as you don’t quit, you will win the prize.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Once again, I am completely astounded that Calvinists view Romans as a stronghold of their faith. Calvinists teach us that it is impossible to fall away. Some suggest if a person appears to have fallen, it means they were never part of the body to begin with. Some suggest that it is impossible for a person to be cut off from Christ once they are connected to Him.

However, Romans 11:19-24 is pretty blatant:

“Then you will say, ‘Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.’ That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree” (ESV).

There it is. People have been cut off from Christ and we can be. If we become self-confident rather than have a healthy fear… If we step away from God’s kindness… If we choose to quit serving the Lord, His way, we will be cut off. 

Of course, there is the great comfort, however, that no matter how badly we have botched it in our rebellion, if we return to the Lord in humility, He will regraft us into the tree which represents His body.

Keep the faith and keep reading.

ELC