Author: Dave Dishman (Page 257 of 475)

God loves everyone, of that there is no doubt. He sent his son as a sacrifice for our sins. God causes it to rain on the just and the unjust. God loves each one of us, even those who don’t love him back.

But God differentiates between love and favor. Here’s how the Lord communicated favor through Isaiah his prophet:

These are the ones I look on with favor; those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.

While God loves you no matter what, God shows preference to those who walk humbly with Him, who take his words to heart. To this group God extends kindness in different and deeper ways.

A good prayer? Lord, reveal areas of pride in my life that displease you, and root your words into my life. Then I might experience your favor.

Love and favor—fascinating to ponder the difference as I consider the mysterious ways of the Lord.

Isaiah 66 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Illiya Vjestica

Bindweed roils my peaceful gardening soul. It grows prolifically, snaking along the ground and climbing up the stalks of other flowers. Removing bindweed is a pain due to how tightly it wraps around its host. It’s hard to spot, and so I only notice when it proudly opens its dainty white flowers on top of the plants I prefer.

In Paul’s role as an ambassador for Christ, he pressed everyone to be reconciled to God. Paul spoke with urgency, communicating the need to commit. He knew how a message stagnates when left unattended, and like bindweed, the world ensnarls the gospel imperative. Paul said it this way:

As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.

Don’t let the message of God sit idle. A person can receive God’s grace in vain. We can ignore it, or fail to act upon it, or live our lives as if grace means nothing to us. The longer we lay it aside, the more we bury it under other concerns.

Now is the time. This means something different for each of us, but today the Lord has something for you and for me. Ask the Lord what it might be. Don’t put seeking the Lord off until tomorrow—don’t let bindweed entangle your relationship with Him.

2 Corinthians 6 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Bindweed photo by Leslie Saunders

I followed the news about Russian oligarchs and their super yachts with fascination. So many oligarchs with ginormous yachts. These men made fortunes through corruption and collusion with their government. Their boats floated these unsavory pirates around the world in opulence, while many of their fellow citizens suffered.

It’s hard to watch evil people prosper.

The psalmist found it unbearable. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from human burdens; they are not plagued by human ills…always free of care, they go on amassing wealth.

Then more frustration—Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and have washed my hands in innocence. All day long I have been afflicted, and every morning brings new punishments.

Good people suffer indignities while evil ones collect yachts.

But then Asaph, the writer, remembered the Lord: Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Although corrupt people appear impervious to problems, they actually exist on slippery ground. Like a bad dream, the Lord eventually wipes them away. Their stripped down super yachts go up for auction.

The rest of us can join the psalmist in declaring it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.

Psalm 73 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Viktor Ritsvall

Three generations passed as the scroll gathered dust under piles of odds and ends. No one in leadership bothered with outdated ideas, including strict adherence to the worship of a single god.

But then a new king, Josiah, only twenty-six years old, launched a restoration of the temple in Jerusalem. Cleaning out corners untouched for years, the high priest reported a discovery—I have found the book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.

The finding sparked a revolution. When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. Josiah then spoke to his court—great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book.

Josiah set about righting those wrongs, instituting reforms that rocked the nation. It was written of Josiah: Neither before or after Josiah was there a king like him to turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all this strength.

The scroll carried into the light that day was likely a copy of Deuteronomy. In the initial reading the king discovered the Lord’s hatred of idolatry and the first of the Ten Commandments: You shall have no other gods before me.

Josiah’s heart wrenched as he looked at the myriad of idols filling Jerusalem and the surrounding countryside. That reading changed his life, and the lives of the citizens he served. He turned a nation’s eyes back to the Lord.

A copy of the same searing book Josiah poured over sits on my desk. It looks like any old book. But when I open it and read, living and active words rise to their work. At times imperceptibly, other times like a burning, they hound my smugness and complacency and self-centeredness.

Open the book every day. To your benefit and those around you, you’ll find your heart wrenched toward the ways of the Lord.

2 Kings 22 & 23 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2022

Photo by Sergiu Vălenaș