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Acts 9
Imagine being Ananias. Would you obey God in that situation? What would it take to convince you? I wonder if Ananias was one of those 120 who followed Jesus and received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It is clear that he knew the Lord. And I mean really knew Him. I know this for two reasons. First, Ananias recognized the Lord’s voice when he heard it. The sheep know the voice of their shepherd. Second, though Ananias had reason to fear, he chose trust. Ananias told the Lord that he knew of Saul and what he was there to do. But when the Lord confirmed that Saul was His chosen instrument, Ananias went. I strive to know Jesus on that level, so that I will recognize His voice when He speaks to me and will never let fear stand in the way of my obedience to that voice.
Ex. 15-16
Celebration was soon followed by grumbling. What causes you to lose your joy? What do you do to regain it? The Israelites sang a victory song after their salvation from the Egyptian army at the Red Sea. It was a song of praise to God, who delivered them. The third line in this song is, “The LORD is my strength and my song” (Ex. 15:2a). The NIV translates this a little differently, though. Instead of “song”, it uses the word “defense”. That intrigued me. In what way are “song” and “defense” the same thing?
In thinking about that, I considered how song, or music, connects with something in us far deeper than our brain. It evokes our emotions, which I’ve been learning are essential to our decision making process. That is part of why it is so much easier to remember something that is put to song. God repeatedly tells His people to remember what He has done. What better way to do that then to put His wondrous deeds to song, as they did here? I’m not sure I have a solid explanation for my thoughts here, but it seems that remembering God on a level that reaches deeper than just our thoughts helps us to trust, and thus obey, Him. So if God is your song, He is also your defense.
How did God provide for Israel in the wilderness? Have you noticed that when things get hard or unpleasant, where we were suddenly becomes better than where we are? Egypt was horrible for the Israelites! But as soon as they faced a little hardship, they forgot all about that part. When we focus on the hardship and on what we lack, our memories become grossly distorted around that focus. Remembering is important, but remembering the right things is imperative. We need to remember with our focus on God, not on whatever we are facing. We also need to remember with the right purpose. The purpose is not to compare “then” with “now”. We remember so that we can press on with confidence. God doesn’t want us looking back, after all. He wants us looking forward. Because where we’re going is far better than where we were or where we are.
Ps. 15
List the character qualities required to live in God’s presence. Where can you improve? I was thinking about what it means to “despise a vile person” (Ps. 15:4a). I am not at all convinced that God wants us to fill our hearts with hate or to do wrong to or even wish evil on these people. The contrast to that statement is, “but honors those who fear the LORD” (Ps. 15:4b). So I’m thinking that to despise here leans more toward not honoring than toward what we think of as hating.
Give a vile person no regard. Do not look up to or desire to follow in their ways. Consider them as toxic material – something that you don’t desire to have in your presence and treat very carefully when you must. It isn’t about wishing evil on them. It is about recognizing what they are and not letting yourself be enticed by them in any way. Which I think includes not letting them consume your thoughts and fill your heart with hate.