Author: Dave Dishman (Page 63 of 414)

Some good friends invited my wife and I over for dinner this weekend. Smash burgers from the grill, roasted potatoes, a couple types of salad followed by ice cream, berries and home-made granola for dessert. A veritable feast.

Then the following morning I read a passage reminding me of God’s good hand in our feasting:

He rained down manna for the people to eat, he gave them the grain of heaven. Human beings ate the bread of angels; he sent them all the food they could eat.

Like manna enjoyed by the children of Israel, everything I eat comes from the hand of God. I produce minuscule amounts of my own food—a few late season tomatoes, blackberries and strawberries (fresh from the garden strawberries might be the fruit of angels). I depend on farmers and ranchers, dairy operations and fishing fleets for my sustanence. Other people pick, process and package every item for me. Like manna from heaven.

All the food I can eat characterizes my life far more than periods of hunger. In the midst of plenty it’s good to remember, and give thanks to, the One who originates the feasting I enjoy.

Psalm 78 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Eiliv Aceron

Certain tastes rise above all others—a warm chocolate chip cookie fresh from the oven, the bark on a rib just off the smoker, or the gush of a ripe peach. We associate warm feelings with good tastes. Which is perhaps why David encouraged us to embrace this most powerful of senses when approaching the Lord.

Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed in the one who takes refuge in him.

I’ve been all over the world, and tried loads of dishes new and exotic to me. Most were excellent (with only a occasional miss). Tasting each required the risk of putting something foreign in my mouth. But again and again those first tastes emerged into rich experiences.

So it is with the Lord. We risk something of ourselves every time we approach the Lord. We take a bite and hope for the best. But rest assured, with the Lord you find your plate heaped with the best. Far beyond Michelin-starred restaurants, the goodness of the Lord infuses your life.

Go ahead. Try it, you’ll like it. Just a taste and you may find yourself hooked.

Psalm 34 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Food Photographer | Jennifer Pallian

Civil discourse in this country rarely stays civil. Always brutal, politics now resembles a blood sport. Social media incites mobs. Often without knowing the facts of a situation, the swarm makes a ruling and metes out punishment. All without mercy.

Paul described this situation as a state of people living with corrupted minds:

Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.

Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.

From two thousand years in the past Paul’s description hits the bulls-eye. In the media and wired realms commentators swiftly run to shed blood, and the phrase no fidelity, no love, no mercy, describes such actions perfectly.

What does a follower of Jesus do in this vicious world? Paul reminds us that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes. The gospel brings faith and love and mercy, and the Holy Spirit empowers us to share these with others.

As a believer I choose to give very little time to the media hype going on around me. But I still hope to engage with those people the God puts in my path, and with the Lord’s power I might show them mercy, whether they reciprocate or not.

Romans 1 & 3 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by James Wainscoat

I enjoy biographies of leaders. I just finished listening to one about George Armstrong Custer, a man of low morals and unparalleled battlefield ability (until overwhelmed at Little Bighorn). Leaders carry heavy responsibilities and their decisions, wise or foolish, effect all who fall under the umbrella of their actions.

King David decided to take a census of the nation’s fighting men. While such a count was not wrong in itself, David’s order arose from pride. Even Joab, the leader of the armed forces, objected to this wrong-headed idea. But David insisted and the numbering began.

As a result the Lord punished not just David, but the entire nation. A plague broke out and killed 70,000 people. Broken and mourning, David appealed to God. Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I, the shepherd, have sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? Lord my God, let your hand fall on me and my family, but do not let this plague remain on your people.

The Lord relented but the lesson burned. Leadership carries broad implications. Thoughtful decisions (or no decision in this case) bless many. Poor ideas broadly implemented create suffering, as David discovered too late.

We’re encouraged to pray for our leaders: I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness (1 Timothy 2).

I fail on this account by rarely praying for those in leadership. I lose sight of just how much leaders influence how I live. One clear reason we pray for our leaders—national, statewide, local and at work—is that in praying for our leaders we’re also praying for ourselves.

1 Chronicles 21 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Markus Spiske