John 15 – So this is how grapevines feel

“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.”

If you are a Christian, if you have a faith in Jesus, then I can guarantee that God is pruning you. How is God pruning you? It is very healthy to regularly look at your life and assess how God is pruning you.

The unfortunate part of pruning is that it is usually somewhat painful. God is using people and situations to smooth out your rough edges and make you better able to be a productive member of the family. It is no fun to be pruned, but it is a constant reality.

To use good technical seminarian words, God is sanctifying us; He is leading us toward perfection. None of us are going to reach perfection anytime soon, but it is the end point.

Sin is not usually something we want to give up. It is usually something that gives us some feeling of pleasure, security, comfort, etc. But it is a false feeling. Giving up our crutches and fully relying on God is difficult.

How is God pruning you? What can you do to help the gardener prune you?

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John 5 – What is the Bible?

The following words may show up in your Bible, but they were almost certainly not a part of the original text:

John 5:3b-4 waiting for the moving of the waters; for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.

This phrase appears to have been added by a later scribe in an attempt to explain verse 7:

John 5:7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”

In all likelihood the scribe was trying to explain why it was that the man wanted down into the water. This scribe was probably working with good motives; trying to make it easier for those who would come after to understand what is going on.

Does it change the meaning of the text? Possibly. At the least it gives an event that may be mere legend, more validity.

How does it make you feel to know that someone may have added to this book which became part of our Bible? Does it affect what you understand the Bible to be? Does it trouble your faith? If so, your faith may be in the wrong thing.

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John 3 – Night is a popular time to go to Jesus

“Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, ‘Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.’ In reply Jesus declared, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.’ ‘How can a man be born when he is old?’ Nicodemus asked. ‘Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!’ Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, “You must be born again.” The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.’”

I have always wondered why the first Greek word “pneuma” is translated wind and the second is translated “Spirit”. Did Jesus mean to express two separate ideas or is he referring to the same idea and we need to adjust how we understand Spirit/wind. I’m sure there’s a good dissertation out there on this subject that I need to read.

Overall this is where we begin to learn more of what John introduced in chapter one: how to be a child of God. In chapter one we learned that all who receive/call on the name of Jesus have been given the right to be children of God. Here Jesus goes further by saying we must be born again of the Spirit. So we may be able to infer that to be a child of God we must receive Jesus who will rebirth our spirit via the Spirit of God.

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John 1 – My favorite passage in the Bible

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God–children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

For me, this is the most theologically significant passage in the Bible. This passage from John is what I base my understanding of salvation upon. It is through this passage that I read the rest of the Bible. At the end of the day I believe that Jesus reveals himself to all people and all those who receive Jesus are made a part of God’s family. That is the Fundamental Theorem of Christianity. If anyone receives Christ then I consider them my brother or sister, and look forward to spending eternity with them in the family of God. All other theological considerations are secondary family debates that should never be a reason to break fellowship.

I know lots of people who want the Psalms read on their death bed. I have always said if someone starts reading Psalms to me while I’m dying, I will tear the Bible from their hands. This is the passage I want read. When I leave this world I want to go out with the words of John 1 guiding my soul to the next.

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Joshua 24 – When have we failed you, God?

“Then Joshua said to the people, ‘You will not be able to serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgression or your sins. If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after He has done good to you.’ The people said to Joshua, ‘No, but we will serve the LORD.’ Joshua said to the people, ‘You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen for yourselves the LORD, to serve Him.’ And they said, ‘We are witnesses.’”

One way of reading the Bible is a series of conversations between people and God that goes something like this…

God: I will bless you if you obey me.
People: We will obey you.
G: Okay let me help you
P: Come on God, it’s us, we can do it ourselves.
G: I can make it easier for you.
P: God, we got this.
G: Are you sure.
P: You are just like our parents.
G: I just want you to succeed.
P: God, it’s us…when have we failed?
G: (silence)
P: Come on God we got this.
G: You’re sure you want to do it yourself?
P: For the last time God, we got it.
G: I’m going to hold you to that.
P: Don’t worry, we are totally in control.

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Joshua 23 – To whom do you cling?

“You are to cling to the LORD your God, as you have done to this day. For the LORD has driven out great and strong nations from before you; and as for you, no man has stood before you to this day. One of your men puts to flight a thousand, for the LORD your God is He who fights for you, just as He promised you. So take diligent heed to yourselves to love the LORD your God. For if you ever go back and cling to the rest of these nations, these which remain among you, and intermarry with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, know with certainty that the LORD your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you; but they will be a snare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you.”

With these words Joshua instructs the nation of Israel as he nears death.

Joshua offers two options for their future: they can cling to God or they can cling to “the rest of these nations”. The Israelites can live in fellowship with God or they can live in fellowship with the world around them. One of these options offers prosperous life and one offers death and destruction. Who will they choose to cling to?

Who do we cling to? Do we cling to Jesus? Do we cling to comfort? Do we cling to God? Do we cling to man?

With apologies to Robert Zimmerman you “Gotta serve somebody”.

You may be a construction worker working on a home,
You may be living in a mansion or you might live in a dome,
You might own guns and you might even own tanks,
You might be somebody’s landlord, you might even own banks

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.

You may be a preacher with your spiritual pride,
You may be a city councilman taking bribes on the side,
You may be workin’ in a barbershop, you may know how to cut hair,
You may be somebody’s mistress, may be somebody’s heir

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.

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Joshua 22 – A blessing

“‘Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.’ So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.”

This is very similar to the commandment in Deuteronomy and the Gospels to love God with all you heart, mind, strength, and soul. Let’s break it down:

Love the Lord your God and…
1) Walk in his ways
2) Keep his commandments
3) Hold fast to him
4) Serve him with all your heart and soul

With this instruction the Joshua blessed the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

This weekend may you walk in the ways of Jesus, keep his commands, hold fast to Jesus in all your circumstances, and serve Jesus with all your heart and soul.

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Joshua 21 – The Lord keeps his promises

“So the LORD gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it. And the LORD gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the LORD gave all their enemies into their hand. Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.”

There are a number of passages in the Bible you can turn to during troubled times to receive assurance that God is faithful to do what he says he will do. This is one of those passages.

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Joshua 20 – Mosaic Law fulfilled

“Then the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying, ‘Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, “Designate the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, 3 that the manslayer who kills any person unintentionally, without premeditation, may flee there, and they shall become your refuge from the avenger of blood. He shall flee to one of these cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and state his case in the hearing of the elders of that city; and they shall take him into the city to them and give him a place, so that he may dwell among them. Now if the avenger of blood pursues him, then they shall not deliver the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor without premeditation and did not hate him beforehand. He shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the manslayer shall return to his own city and to his own house, to the city from which he fled.”‘ So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they designated Bezer in the wilderness on the plain from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh. These were the appointed cities for all the sons of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them, that whoever kills any person unintentionally may flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the congregation.”

It’s fascinating to see aspects of the Mosaic law finally coming into fulfillment.

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Joshua 19 – A challenge

Joshua 19:9 “The inheritance of the sons of Simeon was taken from the portion of the sons of Judah, for the share of the sons of Judah was too large for them; so the sons of Simeon received an inheritance in the midst of Judah’s inheritance.”

This is one of those passages that caught my eye as something I need to look up. There is a fifty-fifty chance that something interesting is going on with this passage. I challenge anyone reading this to look it up and tell me if there is something interesting or if it’s just what it sounds like.

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Joshua 18 – In the hands of God

“And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD, and there Joshua divided the land to the sons of Israel according to their divisions.”

If we made decisions in our churches today by casting lots I think there would be a scandal. It just isn’t the way things are done. It smacks of gambling, and irresponsibility; doesn’t it?

The other side of casting lots is that, to a certain extent, it places the outcome in God’s hands. It seems to me that a hard-core Calvinist, who believes that God is directly in control of everything that happens on earth, would be comfortable using this decision making method.

Speaking as someone who does not believe that God directly orchestrates the universe, I think we do need to focus on making responsible decisions guided by reason, scripture, prayer, and (yes I dare say it) tradition. However, as I do believe that God does still interact with the universe, there may be times when the best course of action is to allow God to make the decision; whether that be by casting lots, flipping a coin, or throwing a dart. Sometimes that is the only way a decision can be made.

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Joshua 12 – Israel beat up on a lot of kings

“Now these are the kings of the land whom the sons of Israel defeated, and whose land they possessed beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise”

I like the contrast between the poetic image of possessing land “toward the sunrise” and the violence and destruction caused by the conflict to take possession of that land.

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Joshua 11 – Hard hearts

“For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, to meet Israel in battle in order that he might utterly destroy them, that they might receive no mercy, but that he might destroy them, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.”

The Lord hardening hearts which leads to the eventual destruction of the people is a hard thing for me to read. I don’t know what to think of it or how to process it. Does God still harden peoples hearts and lead them to destruction. My theology would say no; but the Bible would seem to contradict that. I have no answers. It’s just one of those areas of tension, that I may eventually resolve; or maybe not.

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Joshua 10 – Allowing God to move

“So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, Until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies. Is it not written in the book of Jashar? And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day.”

Don’t get caught up in trying to explain this scientifically; just enjoy the image of God being willing to stop the earth for God’s people.

“Joshua captured all these kings and their lands at one time, because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.”

God is able to accomplish more than we can imagine if we don’t insist on doing everything ourselves.

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Joshua 9 – Short term gain, long term loss

“So the men of Israel took some of their provisions, and did not ask for the counsel of the LORD.”

And because Israel did not seek out the Lord’s counsel, they were forced to share a portion of their land with a people that God would have driven away. Eventually this will cause the people to disobey and fall away from God.

When we do not seek out God’s counsel we make mistakes. The consequences of those mistakes can be harsh and long lasting.

I now I can get impatient and start to make assumptions, but taking the time to talk to God will always benefit me and will always help me make a better decision.

Don’t risk a short term gain for a long term loss. In everything you do seek out the counsel of the Lord.

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Joshua 8 – God as artisan

“Israel took only the cattle and the spoil of that city as plunder for themselves, according to the word of the LORD which He had commanded Joshua.”

This time everyone follows the instructions of the Lord and nobody is stoned after the battle. It’s amazing how things turn out better when we follow through on all of God’s instructions.

“Then Joshua built an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, in Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the sons of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of uncut stones on which no man had wielded an iron tool; and they offered burnt offerings on it to the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings.”

Having done no research on the subject I was curious why it would be important for the stones of the alter to be unhewn. My guess would be that few people, if anyone, would be worthy enough to cut the stones for the Lord’s alter. I think back to Bezaleel in Deuteronomy. There were some significant requirements to be worthy to build the Ark of the Covenant. An alter to the Lord could be similar; and so naturally cut rocks were used as God was their craftsman.

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Psalm 14 – A corrupt generation

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good. The LORD has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men To see if there are any who understand, Who seek after God. They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one. Do all the workers of wickedness not know, Who eat up my people as they eat bread, And do not call upon the Lord? There they are in great dread, For God is with the righteous generation. You would put to shame the counsel of the afflicted, But the LORD is his refuge. Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores His captive people, Jacob will rejoice, Israel will be glad.

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Psalm 8 – How majestic is Your name!

For the choir director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of David.

O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens! From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength Because of Your adversaries, to make the enemy and the revengeful cease. When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth!

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Psalm 7 – There is no one righteous, not even one?

O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; for the righteous God tries the hearts and minds.

If this is going to be your prayer you should make sure that you are actually among the righteous. Most of us think we are righteous. Most of us think we are pretty good people. Most of us think we have a better understanding of God than the people we disagree with. I would suggest that it is better to focus on God trying our hearts and minds than to focus on God bringing the wicked to justice.

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Psalm 6 – God’s spanking

For the choir director; with stringed instruments, upon an eight-string lyre. A Psalm of David.

O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger, Nor chasten me in Your wrath. Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am pining away; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are dismayed. And my soul is greatly dismayed; But You, O LORD– how long? Return, O LORD, rescue my soul; Save me because of Your loving kindness. For there is no mention of You in death; In Sheol who will give You thanks? I am weary with my sighing; every night I make my bed swim, I dissolve my couch with my tears. My eye has wasted away with grief; it has become old because of all my adversaries. Depart from me, all you who do iniquity, For the LORD has heard the voice of my weeping. The LORD has heard my supplication, The LORD receives my prayer. All my enemies will be ashamed and greatly dismayed; they shall turn back, they will suddenly be ashamed.

I spanked my kids today. We do spank in my household; we don’t beat, we don’t whip, but we do occasionally apply a firm swat with the hand to their bottom. There are three ways my kids can earn a spanking. The first is if I tell them “do X before I count to three or I will swat your bottom” and they don’t do it. The second is if they go where they have been told not to go (e.g. outside alone, or mom and dad’s room). The third is if they hit someone else. My kids do other bad things but usually we sit and talk with them or put them in their rooms. Overall punishment is rare but relatively consistent.

Just as I discipline my kids in hopes of developing them into mature human beings, God occasionally disciplines each of us in hopes of developing us into mature spiritual beings. I don’t like it when God spanks me, but there are times when I fail to do what God asks me to do, there are times when I go where I’m not supposed to go, and there are times when I hurt other people.

My desire during times of discipline needs to be for healing and grace.

After I discipline my kids, I usually sit and hold them for a little bit. I love them and wish that they would never experience the pain of discipline; but, I also want them to eventually become mature. Discipline and expressions of love must be interwoven for either to be effective. God is there to discipline; God is there to love.

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