Count My Life as Love for You

“For this is the love of (for) God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3 [NASB])

At different times in our lives, we hear of someone who is making a “big splash” (a big impression) for God and see he or she is doing well in all areas of his or her life. At other times, we hear of someone doggedly following God day by day and he or she is making no huge splash, yet they keep following God. Doing well or merely surviving is not a result of one’s following God. Jesus never said, follow Me and I will make you rich, healthy, or famous all the time. He taught in the Sermon on the Mount God will provide all your needs. What Jesus taught was “follow Me and I will make you fishers of men”. (Matthew 4:19) What does it mean to be a “fisher of men?” Jesus and His disciples explain that to us.

In John 14:15, Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” This one statement sums up the Law to love the Lord God will all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. (Luke 10:27) Notice, the Law is summed up with love. God wants a relationship with each person. Love for God is shown by obeying His commandments. Jesus said this in John 14:15. John said it in 1 John 5:3 when he said, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome.” [NASB] He reiterated it in 2 John 1:6 when he said, “And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard it from the beginning, that you should walk in it.” [NASB]

Paul gives examples of it in his writings to the different congregations. Particularly, in his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul, while entreating the people to return to following Christ in the way he taught, emphasized to them the difference between what he taught and did and what the false teachers taught and did. In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul alluded to a “teacher” who “showed” he had great visions and revelations, and that caused people to follow him. He wrote about one “teacher” who exalted himself by pointing out he had no affliction (“thorn in the flesh”) so he “must be” a true teacher of God and, hence, Paul was not since he had a thorn in the flesh.

Paul’s reaction to these statements was multi-fold. He said God allowed him to have the thorn in the flesh to keep him from exalting himself (vs 7). Ouch, the other “teacher” would have said to that jab. Paul also reminded the Corinthian church he persevered in Corinth even with the thorn in the flesh. He did not just enter the city, gain fame, and then leave. He lingered there for months and taught the people. Paul performed signs and wonders and miracles, too, just as the other “teacher” did. In addition, Paul did not burden the people with a requirement that they support him as the other “teacher” did. He then stated, when he returned to Corinth a third time, again he would not burden them to support him.

As if these arguments were not enough, Paul gave climax to his argument for himself as a true apostle and teacher of the Lord as compared to the other “teacher.” He said in 1 Corinthians 12:15, “I will most gladly spend and be expended for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?” Paul said he went to and taught the people in Corinth because of his love for them. He willingly would give himself, so their souls would be saved. With verse nineteen, Paul explained why he would go to a people he did not know, stay with them teaching them at his own expense, and do this even though he had a burdensome “thorn in the flesh.” He said, “All this time you have been thinking that we are defending ourselves to you. Actually, it is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and all for your upbuilding, beloved.” Paul went to Corinth and spent himself and kept spending himself through prayers for and letters to them because of God. He did this ministry for and to the Corinthians in the sight of God, that is because of his love for God and his resultant love of lost people, of whom the Corinthians were. Paul showed his love for God through his obedience to Him to be a “fisher of men.” Paul obeyed Jesus’ teaching to love the Lord with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love his neighbor as himself.

Following the Lord, being His servant and obeying His commands, comes out of a natural outpouring of our love for and thanks to God for His marvelous grace and mercy shown to us through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus the Messiah. Our obedience to God is not evidenced only by tangible, visible blessings from God such as health, wealth, and fame. Our obedience to God can be seen most obviously by our following His commands to love Him and our neighbor so that all people may come to hear the gospel. God promises always to be with us and to take care of the needs of His children. God’s taking care of a person is not part of the equation of loving Him and others. Wealth or lack, health or sickness, fame or obscurity can happen to any of God’s children, but it is not an indicator of a person’s salvation or obedience to God. The true indicator of a person’s salvation is his or her spiritual fruit-love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, meekness, and self-control. The true indicator of a person’s love of God is his or her obedience to God, to love Him and people at the expense of him- or herself.

Paul knew what loving God at any expense meant. He had lived in wealth and poverty and learned to be content in whatever circumstances he found himself. (Philippians 4:11-13) A true child of God, one who loves Him with all He gives him or her, knows times of hardships will follow times of plenty and vis versa. Paul spoke about not receiving God’s grace in vain in 2 Corinthians 6:3-10. He said not living life in vain means:

Giving no cause for offense in anything, so that the ministry will not be discredited, but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God,

in much endurance,
in afflictions,
in hardships,
in distresses,
in beatings,
in imprisonments,
in tumults,
in labors,
in sleeplessness,
in hunger,
in purity,
in knowledge,
in patience,
in kindness,
in the Holy Spirit,
in genuine love,
in the word of truth,
in the power of God,
by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left,
by glory and dishonor,
by evil report and good report,
regarded as deceivers and yet true,
as unknown yet well-known,
as dying yet behold, we live,
as punished yet not put to death,
as sorrowful yet always rejoicing,
as poor yet making rich,
as having nothing yet possessing all things. [NASB]

Every person wants to avoid the first ten items on Paul’s list and have the next nine items. Yet, as Paul notes in the last nine items, we each will have the whole list if we are true followers of Jesus Christ, if we are in a saving relationship with God, and if we love the Lord with our whole being. With any of the three parts of this list, we can make a “splash” in the world, yet only when we love the Lord with our whole being will we make a big splash for God. Only then will we be fishers of men.

God will provide all you need. Will you let Him use you for what He wants?

Oh Lord, I have been so blinded by the ways of the world so that I rarely see you at work through people who are seemingly small in the world’s eyes. My looking at the world this way means I have become useless for You through my life; I have closed myself down to You. Lord, forgive me my short-sightedness, lack of understanding, and lack of growth. Fill me with Yourself anew and grow me to be more like You. Help me draw close to You again. Use me for Your will whether it means living in poverty or wealth, sickness or health, obscurity or fame. I am never poor, dying, or obscure in Your eyes. Your love for me is all that counts. Let my life count as love for You. Amen.

Yahweh, Revered Teacher

Then Moses said to the Lord, "Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue."  (Exodus 4:10 [NASB])

We each understand Moses’ hesitation here, his fear. Who am I that I should lead a million people? Who am I to question the leader? Who am I that I should stand up for God and what is right? Where do these doubts originate? They originate with fear, fear of inadequacy. Mostly these doubts begin with the fear that the still small voice in my conscience does not come from the all-wise and all-powerful God, Yahweh. When we doubt, we question God’s ability, wisdom, and love, and we put into question our love of God and people, our neighbors.

What did Moses say in verse ten? He said, “I have never been eloquent…for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” Moses realized his natural inadequacies, or rather his fear of inadequacies, but he did not take into consideration the training God had given him or the power of God. Moses was not a servant or slave in Egypt like the other Israelites. His own mother taught him at her breast and knee about their God, Yahweh. She taught him orally about the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the One who is all-knowing, all-powerful, Creator of all things, the Provider and Protector, and the faithful, covenanting God. Moses learned about Yahweh. Moses received the education of a prince of Egypt, too. God ensured His future leader of His chosen people was educated. Now the LORD would show Himself mightily to Moses to give him a personal knowledge of Himself.

In Exodus 3, God told Moses to go back to Egypt, speak to Pharaoh, and tell him to let His people go three days into the desert to worship Him. God realized Pharaoh would not allow it and had a plan to convince Pharaoh that He is the One and only almighty God. First, He had to prove to Moses He is absolutely God. In Exodus 4:1, Moses’ doubts about Pharaoh not listening to him about Yahweh reared its head. God proved His power to Moses with two miraculous signs (a staff turned to adder then back to staff, and a non-leprous hand turned leprous then back to non-leprous), yet Moses’ fearful mind overwhelmed his belief in the power of God. Moses’ fear overwhelmed his understanding of God’s love for himself and the Israelites. He had forgotten the faithful LORD of the Israelites who covenanted with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants. Moses allowed his fear to put a blanket (blinders) over his heart’s eyes so he could not see almighty God, just his human, fallible self.

Moses pleaded his case with Yahweh of his own inability, not recognizing Yahweh’s ability to make Moses what He called him to be, His spokesman. Three times in the next five verses, Yahweh unveiled to Moses who He is. He used anoki statements in verses eleven, twelve, and fifteen. Remember, anoki statements are God’s revealing His nature to humanity. Anoki in Hebrew means “I am.” With anoki statements, God showed His nature to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Abimelech in Genesis. The LORD told Abraham He is His King, Protector, and faith. He told Abimelech He is all-knowing and all-powerful. The LORD told Isaac and Jacob He would bless them, be with them, protect them, lead them, and is ever-present, almighty, faithful, transcendent, and imminent. Yahweh disclosed His nature to Moses in the burning bush giving His ultimate statement saying, “I AM WHO I AM” in Exodus 3:14. This meant to Moses the LORD is the self-existent One, unchanging, eternal, the One Who was before time, is during time, and will be after time ends. Each time Yahweh reveals Himself to humanity, He seeks for people to know Him better, to draw near to Him, and to grow in likeness to and trust in Him. Yahweh is not just these things, He is the source of these things for those people who believe. God does not call people to do things without providing what they need to accomplish the task. Moses’ fear caused him to doubt or forget the revealed Yahweh.

Yahweh God replied to Moses in verses eleven and twelve. He reminded him He is Creator and has all power and authority. God said to Moses, “Who gave man his mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, sighted or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go! I will help you as you speak, and I will teach you what to say."  He told Moses, I am Yahweh, the self-existent One and I am all-powerful. Next, Yahweh gave him a command. “Now go!” Moses’ fear still blinded him to the reality of God, His power, wisdom, might, and authority. He heard God’s command, but just like a frightened mule, he would not budge. Moses said in verse thirteen, “Please Lord, send someone else.” Notice Moses didn’t call God the LORD, but Lord. He gave Him the title for one revered but didn’t recognize Him in his heart and mind as almighty God. His doubting caused him to falter and faint.

Next, we read the LORD’s anger “burned” against Moses. This brings a fear into my heart and it should have to Moses, too. Why do we doubt and fear until God’s anger at our unbelief burns against us? Why can’t we act when asked? The LORD realized Moses’ faith in Him was too small and so provided what He needed to bring His people, the Israelites, out of slavery in Egypt. God recognized Moses trusted most what he could see and what he knew. Moses knew and trusted his brother and so God sent Aaron to Moses. With verse fifteen, God said, " You are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. I will help both of you to speak, and I (anoki) will teach you what to do.” Moses realized he heard God, but he feared Pharaoh more than God. He recognized Aaron “was glad in his heart" to see him (verse 14) and respected him because he trusted that Moses had encountered God at the burning bush. So, when God told Moses to tell Aaron and put His words into his mouth, Moses believed God. Moses trusted Aaron and feared God more than him. He trusted God to help them both speak and to teach them what to do. God showed Moses something new of His nature in this verse. He taught him He is Teacher. Being the most wise, power, Creator God is also the most wise, most knowledgeable Teacher. Moses, as a highly educated man, revered teachers and looked up to them. God as Teacher got Moses’ attention and reverence. God, being greater than Aaron, was the One Moses wold fear more in this new equation.

Yahweh prepared Moses for the task to which He called him. He told him what his task would be. The LORD gave Moses miraculous signs to remind him of Who He is. Still, Moses doubted and feared. He chose to be more afraid of what or who he knew personally, the Pharaoh, than the God of whom he learned about from his mother and the God with Whom he spoke in the “hard-to-believe” encounter at an unconsumed burning bush. Only when Yahweh provided someone tangible whom Moses recognized and feared less than the LORD, did Moses agree Yahweh could use him for the mighty task only He could do-set His people free.

God calls each of us who are His children to tasks for His purposes. He doesn’t call us then leave us to our own devices. God gives us from Himself everything we will need to do what He told us to do. From God who is (anoki) all-power, all-wise, all-knowing, all-mighty, Creator, faithful, love, Protector, Provider, Teacher, Shepherd, Savior, et al., He gives to each of us what we need to do what He asks. God is these things and the source of these things. These are gifts from His nature. God shows Himself to us to grow us, teach us, draw us near to Him, and to show us He is all we need for all things in life.

What keeps you from saying yes to God and becoming His child through faith in Jesus Christ? What keeps you from saying yes to God in doing the task to which He calls you now? It’s fear. Fear you are wrong to believe in God Whom you think you cannot see. Fear people will laugh at you and mock you. Fear instead of love. A love for God Who saves. A love for the people to whom He tells you to speak. We should remember what Paul said in Romans 8:31. He said, “If God is for us, who is against us?” Nothing we fear can stop God. With God, nothing can stop us. Consider what David said in Psalm 27:1, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the defense of my life: whom shall I dread?” David and Paul both realized God casts out fear. With God there is nothing to fear because He is our shield, our Protector, our King, our faith.

What keeps you today from obeying God’s command? After Yahweh called Moses, He said, “Now go!” When God calls you, He equips you with His power, His words, and His love to go and do what He said.

Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us.  (1 John 4:15-19 [NASB])

LORD, God, You are almighty and all-knowing and I am not. I have doubted Your calling of me. I have allowed fear to stop me from accepting Your gift of forgiveness and salvation from cleansing me and making me Your child. LORD, I have run away in fear when you called me to do something that set me apart as Your child. I understand this shows my love for You and for other people is very small. Please forgive me my doubts, fear, and lack of love. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit so I am fit to do the tasks to which You call me. Be my strength and shield. Be my Savior and King. Amen.

Yahweh's Anoki Statements

“God, furthermore, said to Moses, ‘Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.’” Exodus 3:15 (NASB)

In Exodus 3:14, Moses saw a burning bush blaze with flames that did not consume it. It did not burn to ash. His curiosity wanted to see this amazing thing. As Moses approached the flaming bush, God called to him telling him he stood on holy ground. Moses, taught by his mother who wet-nursed him at the request of Pharaoh’s daughter, learned about the God of the Hebrew people, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. As the adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter, he learned about the gods of the Egyptians when the hired tutor taught him. Moses was a very educated man. God had a purpose for his life.

In this story, after the burning bush, God told Moses he was the one He chose to send to bring His people, the Israelites, out of Egypt. He told Moses to speak with the Hebrew elders and Moses asked whom should he say sent him to them. Verse fourteen is God’s answer to Moses. God told him to tell the Hebrew elders, “I AM WHO I AM.” This “I am” statement is greater than the anoki studies learned from the book of Genesis. In those passages, God told Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Abimelech about Himself in relation to them. He explained a part of His nature to them. In those passages, God was immanent; He was personal. He gave Abraham a promise of an heir when Abraham grieved the lack of an heir. God added that he would be the father of many descendants and nations. He explained He would be Abraham’s shield-his King, Protector, and faith. For Isaac and Jacob, God reiterated this promise, His covenant, He made with Abraham and added other facets of His nature. He said He would provide for them, be their Victor, and is all-knowing and all-powerful. To Abimelech, not from the line of Abraham, God revealed His knowledge and power. He revealed different facets of His nature to people to help them know Him and/or to deepen their relationship with Him.

The I AM whom Moses encountered in the burning bush was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as He said in Exodus 3:13, & 15-17. God identified Himself to Moses in verse fourteen as I AM WHO I AM. This name comes from the Hebrew clause ‘ehyeh ‘aser ‘ehyeh. “I am the One who is and who will be what you will need” is what this clause means. God’s revealing of His nature, His characteristics, to people with anoki statements in the Old Testament helps define for people who He is and will be for His children whenever they need Him. It’s not that He is becoming more “God,” but He, as part of who He is, will utilize whatever part of His nature and character is needed to rescue, redeem, provide for, heal, and protect, etc. His children. I AM is immanent; He is personal to each human. He cares and so intervenes in the lives of people.

With Exodus 3:15, God answered Moses’ question. Moses asked Him by whom and for what purpose should he tell the Hebrew elders he went to them.  God called Himself I AM. Moses asked for a name. God named himself in verse fifteen. He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.” Did you catch what God said? He said, “The LORD…This is My name forever.” The Hebrew word translated as LORD in this verse and wherever in the Bible you see LORD written all in capital letters is Yhvh. No one knows exactly how to pronounce this word. The Israelites felt the name of God was so sacred no one should speak or write it, so they noted it with a tetragrammaton. The Hebrew language of the Old Testament did not have vowels in its alphabet, hence the spelling of God’s name with no vowels. English translators of the Old Testament added the vowels, so English-speakers could read the LORD’s name. They wrote it in the Old Testament as Yahweh. In the New Testament, the English translation of the Greek word for LORD is Jehovah. The important thing to remember is God gave Moses His name. He named Himself Yhvh (Yahweh). Most often whenever an Old Testament character spoke about God helping him or her, they spoke about Yhvh, the immanent (personal) God. The One Who is as near to you as your next breath.

Yhvh is the One who interacts with humanity in the Old Testament. He is the one who makes the anoki statements and says, I am your shield to Abraham (Genesis 15:1), I am the God of your forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Genesis 26:24 and 28:15), and I know your heart and have kept you from sinning against me (to Abimelech, in Genesis 20:6). Yahweh (Yhvh) used anoki statements when He spoke to Moses in Exodus 3:12,14, & 16-17. In verse twelve, He said He would be with Moses and the Israelites. In verse fourteen, Yahweh told Moses to tell the Israelites He sent Moses to them and would be with them. With verse sixteen, Yahweh told the Israelites and Moses He is the One most concerned about them. Yahweh revealed His nature to Moses in verse seventeen as the Deliverer/Savior/Redeemer and Provider.

In each of these verses, Yahweh made the anoki (I am) statements that revealed to humanity another part of His nature/character. These individual parts of his character did not singly define Him. Yahweh is the whole of His being. He is self-existing, or as translated by the Jews, He is the “existing One.” Yahweh was before time was created, is now, and will be after time ends. He defines time, which is His creation, just as He defines what is human, cow, serpent, earth, star, moon or any other created thing. Yahweh has always been and will always be. He made “I am” statements to Old Testament people to reveal Himself to them to begin, restore, or grow a relationship. Yahweh, our Elohim (God), draws people to Himself because He desires to have a relationship with us. His character of love shows the different parts of His nature (to provide, keep, protect, save, redeem, forgive, lead, etc.) to people.

God is holy. His love is pure. Humanity is tainted by self-interest and self-serving to the extent we do things against other people and God to get what we want. This selfishness is sin and creates a wall between Yahweh and us because He is holy, and we are not. Holiness and sin cannot be in the same place. Because of that, God provided from the beginning of time a way for humanity to receive cleansing from sin and unholiness. The way He provided was through the sacrificial death of His Son, Jesus, as the judgment for and cleansing of our sins. Yahweh loves us enough to provide this self-sacrificing gift, so we can be in a relationship with Him.

The apostle John said, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) God did that for humanity, for all people. Yahweh, the always “existing One”, desires to be in a relationship with you. He has revealed Himself to you through the Bible, teaching, preaching, and in personal (immanent) ways. These personal ways are like when He provides you a job and food, or keeps you safe in hazardous situations, or protects your reputation, or gives you a family. God shows Himself to each of us personally for each of our individual needs through the different attributes of His nature. He has been in your life providing, protecting, leading, gifting, etc, hoping you would see Him and desire to be in a relationship with Him. These were His anoki statements to you. Yahweh made it possible. Will you accept His love, forgiveness, and salvation? God is waiting for you to open the door to your heart and life to Him.

God, so often I have worked hard to give myself something or provide for my family. I have not recognized you as Yahweh, the existing One who loves me and wants a relationship with me. I have not recognized You as the One who has given me everything I have, protected me, and guided me. I have taken all the glory and praise. You have made Your anoki statements in my life and I have not listened to You. Please forgive me for my self-centeredness. Forgive me for my sins and keeping my back turned to You. Lead my heart so I desire a relationship with You. Teach me how to grow more like You. Lord, I surrender myself and all I have to You.

I AM, the Eternal Victor

We each come to a point in our lives, actually many points in our lives, when we must decide if we will let our circumstances get us “down.” For some people, death seems to take them “down.” Others face illness or a diagnosis they didn’t expect, and that gets them “down.” Possibly losing a job or not getting a promotion will cause a person to be “down.” For other people, not finding a spouse or being childless can make a person feel “down.”

A whole host of things in life confront us and we get to decide how they will affect us. Notice I said, “We get to decide how they will affect us.” That doesn’t mean I am immune to feeling trampled by life because of illness, death, dark thoughts, lack of family or love, or any of thousands of other non-happy things in life. It means at this place in my life, at least for today, I can say my situation has not made me feel “down.” For me to admit that is a major step in my faith journey. Yes, I have been through difficult times without feeling pummeled before, but they were few. Still, the times of feeling “down” because of circumstances are becoming farther apart. As I pondered that today, I have come to conclusions.

God has been busy teaching me the last year or two that circumstances don’t define Him, but He defines circumstances. This year, He began teaching me more, and I am just at the start of this learning experience. God is teaching me about Himself as He revealed Himself to the people of the Old Testament using the Hebrew word anoki, meaning “I am.”

Any of us who has ever read about Moses and the burning bush thinks, “I know this one!” But maybe you don’t. The I AM God who spoke to Moses does not come from the Hebrew word anoki, but is significant. As I’ve said, I have only begun to study where God says anoki and have finished reading through Genesis. Each time God said anoki in the six instances in Genesis, He revealed something about Himself, about His nature, how we can relate to Him, and how He helps us because of that particular characteristic or nature.

To Abraham in Genesis 15:1, God said, “I am your shield.” He meant He is and would be Abraham’s King, Protector, and faith. Abraham could draw faith from God, the Source of faith, and could rely on God to protect and provide for him. He would also be able to go on the defense or offense in obedience to God because God is His King and Protector. God gives Abraham his shield to do battle for Him and to protect him from harm in a defensive battle just as Paul taught in Ephesians 6 with the armor of God.

To Abimelech in Genesis 20:6, God said, “I know you and I kept you.” God knew Abimelech, his heart as well as his actions and thoughts. He knew Abimelech better than Abimelech knew himself. God is all-knowing and all-powerful. He kept Abimelech from sinning against Him, Abraham, Sarah, and himself even when he didn’t realize what he had thought to do would be a sin. God is as close as our next breath and is transcendent knowing the big picture and able to keep things from happening. He protects us from ourselves and from harm by other people. Remember, Abimelech told Abraham what God revealed to him and so Abraham learned, too, that God is all-knowing and the one who is all-powerful and can keep people from sinning.

To Isaac in Genesis 26:24, God reiterated His revelation of Himself to Abraham, Isaac’s father. He reminded Isaac He is with him by saying He is his father’s God-the King, Protector, source of faith, faithful One, all-knowing, and all-powerful. He adds to this promise for Isaac what He didn’t tell Abraham. God told Isaac not to fear. Lack of fear is assumed when God is immanent. Immanence means God is always with you; He is near. Still, sometimes we people need to hear “do not fear.” Isaac needed to hear that. The king of the Philistines, because Isaac’s people and possessions had become large, asked him to leave their land. They filled in the wells Isaac’s men dug. As Isaac’s people moved on, the herdsmen of the Philistines kept fighting over the wells Isaac’s people dug so that Isaac kept having to move on and felt threatened. Then one night, God met with Isaac and told him, “Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and will multiply your descendants, for the sake of my servant Abraham.” When faced with enemies or bad situations over and over, sometimes we need to hear God’s reassurance we need not fear. God is faithful to His promises, and He has it all under control. He is faithful, loving, protector, keeper, all-knowing, all-powerful, and the God of Abraham, your father. Who can be afraid when confronted with this nature of God?

To Jacob in Genesis 28:15, God reminded him He is immanent, protector, and faithful. At this point in his life, Jacob was afraid. As the second-born son, he had just been part of the trickery to steal the birthright of the firstborn son from his twin brother, Esau. Esau had a fiery temper and Jacob was afraid. His father, Isaac, told him not to marry a woman from among the Canaanites, but to return to Paddan-aram, the birth home of his grandfather, Abraham. To get there, he would likely cross territory in which Esau lived. God calmed Jacob with a vision of a ladder that reached from the ground to heaven with angels descending and ascending on it. At the top of the ladder God stood and told Jacob, “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.” All the lessons Abraham and Isaac taught Jacob and Esau about God and His nature, God reiterated in this dream. He added another element to His faithfulness. God’s faithfulness to Abraham and Isaac, and His covenant with them meant He must provide for the bodily needs of Jacob and Abraham’s other descendants. Besides protecting, God would feed, clothe, give water, and provide a wife for him. He would bring him to the land He promised his fathers before him. God said He would not leave him until He had done what He promised. This statement was the prelude to God’s statement to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 3:16 when He told them He would not leave them or forsake them.

With Genesis 35:11 and 46:3-4, God reminded Jacob He is almighty; nothing can thwart His plans or purposes. He commanded Jacob to be fruitful and multiply. God promised from him nations and kings would come. Even though hard times would fall on them, God could still make a great nation come from Jacob. He said He was immanent to Jacob and would protect Him and His offspring, provide for them, and would remain faithful to His covenant to him and his fathers. Even though Jacob and his descendants would walk through the valley (Egypt), God would surely be with them. He invested greater immediacy with this latter set of verses to give Jacob greater courage and conviction to go to a foreign land, walk through an unknown place, and have faith in Him.

For each of these men, as for most people of Bible times, continual verbal retelling of history relayed history from one generation to the next. It was an oral society, not a literate society. Abraham relayed to Isaac and his descendants who God is, what He promised to him, and how He intervened in his life. Isaac, Jacob, and each descendant afterwards carried on this oral tradition. Sometimes God reminded the next generation who He is with another anoki statement. Sometimes He revealed something new about Himself to the person to whom He spoke.

Why does God reveal Himself and His nature to people? Because He wants us to seek Him with all our hearts and find Him. God wants to have a relationship with us. He wants to be our faith, Protector, King, Provider, Keeper, Blesser. He wants us to know Him immanently and to know He is transcendent. God wants us to trust Him. He wants us to know Him. That’s yada knowing, experiential knowing so we know Him with our heart, soul, and mind. God wants us to realize at all times-before, during, and after difficult times-He is with us, knows us, protects us, strengthens us, loves us, keeps us, blesses us, and is all-powerful.

God revealed Himself with the anoki statements, the “I am” statements, in the Old Testament. He revealed His nature and by doing that He revealed to our finite minds how we can understand and relate to Him. More important than these “I am” statements and our holding on to this God of love, protection, omniscience, and omnipotence, is the God Moses first came to know. Moses encountered Elohim God the first time in the burning bush and God commissioned him to go to Egypt to bring His people out of slavery there to His Promised Land. He asked Elohim, “And who shall I say sent me?” (Exodus 3:13) God told Moses to tell them, “I AM WHO I AM. That is what you are to say to the Israelites. I AM has sent me to you.” (Exodus 3:14) This statement by God of who He is carries more weight than any of the anoki statements. God’s description of Himself includes and goes beyond all the characteristics He reveals to people. I AM is the One Who was, is, and always will be. Understand this. I AM is eternal!

With this understanding that God is before, during, and after time, we gain a new, fresher, and more accurate perception of our particular situations, our troubles, the things that make us feel “down.” Keeping our eyes on God eternal-almighty, all-knowing, faithful, Protector, Provider, Lover of our souls, King, faith, Blesser, Covenanter, immanent, transcendent, Savior-changes our perspective. If our God is for us, who can be against us. (Romans 8:31) Better yet, with our God for us, nothing can beat us. Whether we are sick or well, rich or poor, smart or not, big or small, old or young, God is the same. Circumstances do not define God; He defines them. When Elohim is your God, nothing can defeat you. God already has won the victory. Because of this, you can face difficult days without being “down.” You are not defeated because God has won the victory for you.

“Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear NO evil, for Thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff comfort me.  Thou preparest a table for me in the presence of my enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Psalm 23 is not a death song. It is a victory song.

Lord, so often I fall prey to the victim mindset. Forgive me for giving up on myself and You. Forgive me for mentally allowing my situation to define You. Nothing defines You. Help me to remember You define my circumstances. Help me not to give up or get “down,” but to give praise and testimony for You, I AM, what You have done and what You will do. Help me keep my eyes on You in faith. I am trusting You in my situation today. Amen.

Beware and Seek

“Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33

Jesus taught His Sermon on the Mount to a multitude of people. Some were Jews, others were seekers, and some were His disciples. Jesus began this part of His sermon the way He ended it, with a command. He began the first command on a negative note. Jesus ending command was positive.

Jesus said in verse one, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them.” He put people on notice not to do something in verse one. Jesus taught the people not to do things to “be noticed,” to receive honor, prestige, and glory. If you aim to do good things, those good deeds are ideas from God and He should receive the glory, not you. When you give to the poor, no one besides the person who you helped, God, and yourself should know. Jesus said the same thing about praying. You should not pray so people will notice you, but instead pray to God for Him to notice you, and to develop your relationship with Him. Prayer is about building your relationship with God and staying in a close relationship with Him. If you pray so others will see you and give you honor and praise, that will be your only reward. You get what you wanted-honor and glory. Your intention for prayer would not be for God to hear you, for you to hear from Him, and to have a deeper relationship with Him, but for people to recognize how “devout” you are. This desire for honor and glory is not righteous. Taking the honor and glory steals from God and makes you unrighteous.

What happens, though, when you pray so people will see or hear you or when you do good works so people see you doing them, the deeds God initiated in your heart? When you do these things to receive honor for yourself, the focus of your heart has changed from God to yourself. Instead of living a “top-down” life, that is acknowledging God and His will as primary in your life, you live an upside-down life with your will being primary in your thoughts, words, and actions. This leaves God to be secondary or non-existent in your life. The latter is of what Jesus told His hearers to “beware.” If you live an upside-down life, then your honor and glory, and your desires are primary motivators in your life. But, as Jesus pointed out in this chapter, you will end up worried and concerned about daily life things such as clothing, food, and drink. You might receive honor for yourself, but you end up worrying how you will provide for yourself and your family, basic things of life. You will have excluded God from your life and trust in Him that He will provide all your needs is nonexistent.

Why does this happen? It happens because God is not primary; He is not Lord of your life. When God is primary in your life, you can pray as Jesus taught in verses nine through thirteen. You reverence God and acknowledge He is the true God, and He is holy, not you. You seek His kingdom, His reign and wisdom, to come rule over earth just as it is in heaven. You desire God’s reign in your own life, too. For this to occur, you recognize only God is righteous and makes people righteous. In being made righteous by God, you want and sometimes must apply discipline to seek a growing relationship with Him. Your growing relationship with God teaches you that God will always take care of your needs. Just as He beautifully clothes relatively small, inconsequential creations like birds and the lilies of the field, He will clothe you, a human made in His image. As long as you stay in a relationship with God, Jesus said, you need not worry about what your body needs.

Jesus basically said to stay in a “top-down” relationship with God as primary in your life. With God at the head of your life, you recognize Him as God and King over you. You receive your righteousness from Him and acknowledge He is Lord. Your main goal in your connection with God who gives you righteousness is to stay in a growing relationship with Him. When you choose as the main thing in your life to have a growing relationship with God, then all other things fall into place. God remains King of your life, you give Him honor and glory, He provides everything you need, and your love for Him deepens so you obey Him.

 This is what Jesus meant in verse thirty-three when He told His followers, “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.” Jesus emphasized this point for a second time in this chapter. At the beginning of the chapter, He spoke about it in a negative format using the command “beware.” At the end of this chapter, Jesus used the positive command “seek.” “Beware” of doing this (seeking your own glory) and, instead, “seek” for God is what He told His hearers. What did Jesus mean when He told the people to seek God’s kingdom?

Our primary task as Christians is to stay in relationship with the God of our salvation and righteousness. That should remain our focus. Being in a close relationship with Him means we will obey Him when He tells us to do good, pray, fast, visit the sick, teach, preach, or any other thing He commands us to do. Our obedience shows our love for God. When we seek a growing relationship with God so that our will is to obey Him, that is “seeking first His kingdom.” Because we seek God, He will provide for all our needs. We will not put our glory or honor first and seek to provide for ourselves what we think we need. Instead, we seek God first. Instead we give God the glory. Instead we let God take care of us.

As Jesus said, we cannot serve two masters-God and our own self. We will end up hating one and loving the other. Instead of trying to make yourself master of your life and ending up worrying how you will give all your family needs, pay your bills, or bring your prodigal home, let God be Master of your life. Let Him provide for you. Let Him bring your prodigal home. Let Him be your Lord and Savior, your King. Anything you give yourself and family will be destroyed, rust, or rot. God gives what you need, and it will last forever. Instead, do as Jesus taught and don’t worry.

“Seek first His [God’s] kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” [NASB]

Lord, please forgive me for trying to rule my own life. You’ve been patient and watched me as I tried and fumbled. Lord, I recognize You as my Savior and King. Please forgive me and take control of my life. Help me grow in my relationship with You each day. Give me the burning desire to seek You daily. Use me for whatever you want. Lead me in your ways. May You receive all the honor and glory. Provide everything I need. Help me not to worry but give all my cares to You. I am taking my hands off the steering wheel of my life, Lord. I give its control to You. Thank you for being King and ruling with unconditional love and wisdom. Amen.