It's on to the Histories!  By now you probably know that I love stories and the Old Testament history books are filled with great stories.  The books of the Old Testament Histories are included in the books of 1 Samuel through Esther.  They are filled with heroes and heroines but they also filled with disaster and devastation.  They are filled with the faithful but also the proud and sinful.  In the histories you find real people whose lives are changed when they trust fully in the Lord and gravely altered when they trust in foreign goods and compromise in their sin. 

 Frankly it's hard to find a man or a women who is without sin when you look at these books.  Like our great westerns we want our cowboys to wear white hats.  Unfortunately it seems that every white hat is stained with blood and mired in the mud.  Yet, through it all we get a picture of God.  Sometimes that view is challenging and we wonder,  "Can anyone stand under the judgment of God?"  Other times his grace abounds and God is revealed as one who's faithful to his people despite their sins.

Yes, I love the Old Testament history books!  I hope you'll sense that as I blog over the next several weeks but perhaps like you at times I'm challenged and disturbed especially by the blood shed and destruction.

Today I'm thankful that I can look back upon the history books through the lens of the New Testament.  Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law. Jesus is the one who takes the punishment that I deserve.  God's grace abounds through Jesus but don't be surprised if you'll find his amazing grace in the Old Testament as well.  So join me as we walk through the word.

Let's begin!

There are many wonderful hero's of the faith to be found in the first and second book of Samuel.  Samuel the prophet and judge was one such man!  But seeds of his greatness came from the heart of Hannah his mother.

Hannah was a woman of prayer and her prayers came from the burden and pain in her heart.  She was unable to conceive and bare a child to her husband Elkanah.   This was a sin of shame for women in those days because children were viewed as the blessing of the Lord.  To complicate things her husband  was married to another woman as well.  Her name was Peninnah and she did have children.   Peninnah also had a way of making sure Hannah knew all about it which didn't help matters for Hannah.   But Elkanah loved Hannah. 

At one point he said to her.  "Hannah, why are you weeping?  Why don't you eat?  Why are you downhearted?  Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?" 1Samuel 1:8.

Now I want to offer a note to husbands out there everywhere.  Don't say things like that to your wife.  It doesn't really help.   Now I know that Elkanah may not have meant it this way as most of us men don't mean everything we say.  Generally speaking men don't always think before they speak. ha!
But I wonder if all Hannah hear was this.....   "Honey I'm sorry you don't have a child but look on the bright side,  at least you have me!"    I'm sure that wasn't what Elkanah meant.  It was obvious the Elkanah deeply loved her as evidence to her kindness to her and you can read about that in the first chapter of 1 Samuel which I would highly recommend you do!

Hannah was in the temple one day praying to the Lord pleading with the Lord for his favor to overshadow her.  There she made a vow to the Lord saying, "O Lord Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head."           1 Samuel 1:11  

God was faithful to her and over time she proved to be faithful to God and to the child given to her as a gift.   As we read Hannah's song or Hannah's prayer in 1 Samuel 2,  we see just how over joyed she was.  These are beautiful words indeed!  They are words that might remind you of another later song offered by Mary the mother of Jesus many years later.

To Ponder:  Perhaps you could read those words as your own today.  I pray that the Lord has been your rock and deliverer.   I hope you can say along with Hannah that there is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.

I'll talk more about these words and the wonderful story of Hannah and Samuel in the week to come but today I encourage you to read 1 Samuel 2: 1-10.  Thank God that he is your strength and your provider.  Indeed God continues to guard the feet of his saints!  1Samuel 2:9a

Faithfulness of Ruth

"Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God." Ruth 1:16

Ruth was a young woman.  She had her life to look forward to but her husband died... But she still had her mother in law.  Not much consolation there because her mother in law Naomi was a widow herself!   Widows in that day did not have it very easy.   There were no Federal benefits and jobs for women where next to nothing.  As Naomi looked into her future she could only imagine the shame of begging on the streets of her hometown.   But Ruth was young and attractive she could probably find another husband in her home land of Moab but she was determined to stand by Naomi her mother in law who was heading out for good.   The distance from Moab to Bethlehem was so far that this was permanent and there were no phones to call home or busses available for a return trip.

Perhaps Naomi had the right idea to send her daughter in law back home where she could find a new husbands.  Naomi was surely not going to find a new husband and raise more sons for Ruth.  However, Ruth refused to leave the side of her mother in law.   Once again I point out that Naomi was Ruth's "mother in law" and Naomi was from the far away foreign country.   You might look at Ruth's decision as a very foolish death sentence.  If Ruth was going to die why not do it in her homeland where she might have a chance among her own people. 

This would make more sense, right?  But when Ruth left her father and mother to be joined with her husband, she also joined with her husbands family and their faith. To that she would remain..... faithful.

You might ask why?  Yes, her loyalty is commendable and it would be rewarded greatly but Ruth would have no idea of what was in the future.   Personally I believe that there was something compelling that Ruth saw in the faith of her husband and Naomi that inspired her and yes transformed her.   Ruth was a believer and her wonderful statement (see above) is evidence of her loyalty to Naomi but also her faith in the God of Israel.   Yes, Ruth could have stayed in Moab but to do so would have meant that she had to leave the God that she loved!  For her it would be better to die with Naomi and the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob than to live in Moab..... alone.   She had amazing faith and amazing love and she would be rewarded by the providence of God.  In addition her faith would save Naomi as well.  Just read the entire book and you will marvel at Ruth and at God's faithfulness.  (If you haven't read the complete story yet.  Your missing out because it is a great one!)

Today lets consider the idea of faithfulness to God and the people of God.  The question is this.  Would you follow God if you knew that the path would probably lead to your death on earth?   Now mind you most, if not all of us, will never have to make that choice.   But we are all called to be faithful to our God and faithful to our families.

It's not like faithfulness to Naomi would be easy.  As I read the first couple chapters, Naomi wasn't exactly the most optimistic and encouraging person to live with.   If you look at the text you could  get the impression that Naomi really didn't want Ruth around.  Perhaps it would have only added to her shame to return home to Bethlehem without her husband and sons but with a pagan woman from Moab.   In the text Ruth is called a Moabites.   That was even a less complementary title then what it sounds like to our ears.  It sounds a lot like arthritis or gingivitis or some other awful infection.   That's surely how the people of Bethlehem might have treated Ruth.   But that didn't matter to Ruth she would be faithful!

I pray that we can be so faithful to God, to our families and dare I say our in laws.....

to ponder:  What does my faithfulness to God cost me?  What blessings have I received because of my faithfulness to God in a less than Christian world?

Of course there is no guarantee that our faithfulness to God will be rewarded here on earth.  Just read the great Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11 to see evidence to this fact but we can be assured that God will be faithful and we will be rewarded in heaven!

What We Bring with us. Deuteronomy 6:6-9

"These commandments that I give you today are to be open your hearts. Impress them on your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6:6-9


When I was young I used to remember being in a Sunday School class or in a youth group setting and we would play this game called "what would you bring with you?".   Back then it seemed like there was a real problem with people being lost on a deserted Island so the question in the game went like this.   "If you were to be stranded on a deserted Island and you could only take 5 items with you what would those items be?"   Now our mothers of course would want us to take a change of underwear or something practical like that. ha!  I think I would take a Wilson volleyball to keep me company. 

Well we could have fun with about four of the items but being the good "Christian Kids" that we were we knew that one of the "right answers"  had to be the Bible.   To tell the truth we probably said the Bible to avoid a long lecture by the Sunday School teacher about the importance of God's word......

Today this game isn't nearly as fun because people could say they would take their Ipod, tablet or cell phone with a Bible already loaded on it along with pictures, video games......  Hopefully you could also take a solar charger with you.  My point is that even as children in the church we knew we should take the Bible with us.

 Our problem today is the Bible tends to takes up more space on our coffee table then it does in our heart.   Actually as a pastor when I visit people in their homes, I wonder if the Bible on the coffee table is more for my sake...  Perhaps they think I'll feel more at home with the Bible around.  (Ok... I'm just joking.  Actually, I don't mind that you display your Bible when I show up as long as you book mark our text for this week and ponder it in your heart if only for a brief moment).   To tell the truth I believe that most of us do truly value the Word of God.... especially those who would take the time to read my blog!

The key for God, as expressed in our passage for today, is not simply having a Bible in hand but to have the Bible in heart.  As parents we receive the added burden of  impressing the commands on our children's hearts as well.  The idea of course is to know the Word of God enough to share it with our children.  And like everything else the best way to get it into our heart and into our minds is to prepeat the words,  write them out, repeat them some more and by all means live by them!

Sadly most of us probably know the rules and commands regarding games like baseball than we do about the word of God.   However, no matter how many excuses we use regarding not understanding the Bible and not having time to read it,   God makes it very clear in passages like ours today that we are indeed required to become familiar with the commands, laws, and the words of Scripture.    Yes,  God believes that having the Bible on the top 5 items is a very good idea.

Thought to ponder:  What creative ways can you come up with to meditate upon the Word of God throughout the day?  What ways can you impress the word into your children's heart.

Give me your comments!  Let's share some ideas!   Maybe your good at memorizing Scriptures.   Let us know how you do it!   Or maybe you can share what five things you would bring with you on the deserted Island.   May the Lord bless you as you "walk through the Word".